Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors.
Introduction
Though most people might not recognize it as such, information seeking is an active process that takes place when we have an information need. This process is something that I find myself engaged in whether I am doing research for a scholarly project or looking for a new recipe to try making for dinner. As I form a better understanding of my need, I move through this process and knowing where I am—and where others I might be assisting are—in the process can help me understand my own information needs and allow me to offer the right amount of information to others.
For any given information need, I might be performing or engaged in one or more of the prominent theories of information seeking behavior. If I am working on a project where I have total freedom (let’s say I’m planning a themed birthday party), I might begin by browsing to see what interests me. At this early stage in my project I have recognized that I have an information need and am casually scanning various websites and maybe looking at those which encourage this behavior, such as Pinterest, Etsy, or Tumblr, to get ideas. At this point I might not have anything specific in mind so there is some uncertainty to my process, I am more open to exploring options, and my attitude is invitational. As I find things I like from a variety of sources, I begin to take note of them and engage in berrypicking to gather ideas from these sources.
From there, once something catches my eye I begin to solidify my idea of what kinds of things I want and I switch modes to analytical searching. Maybe after a period of frustration and reconsidering my original idea I have found a theme that I fall madly in love with. Now I am on a mission to find decorations and food related to this theme, and my searching has a definite purpose and goal. At this point, my attitude is more indicative—I am closing in on my final results. I do searches with this theme in mind and if I don’t find anything, I reformulate and try another, then another, until I find what I am looking for and my search ends. Now that I have what I need, I can put my items to use and have a fantastic birthday party. Not every search I perform is for something fun, but my behavior is generally the same at each point no matter what I am searching for.
Evidence
Construction of a Classification Scheme
My first piece of evidence is a project in which I designed a classification scheme for 28 photographs taken from the book Life: The Year in Pictures 1998. My objective was to create a hierarchical classification system based on how users might search for the photographs while allowing for growth in the collection. In designing the system, I first assessed the collection as a whole and did a word association exercise in which I organized the images based on the first word that came to mind when I looked at them. Once the images were grouped in this way, I did the same thing with each original group until I had worked out a scheme that I was satisfied with. One of the challenges I had in making this scheme was accounting for the different people might eventually be using it, so I had to make sure that my terms were both general and specific at the same time.
My second piece of evidence is a collection of ten responses to the opening questions from academic library reference interviews. In this exercise, I was asked to provide information based only on the information presented in the question and in some cases, not much was provided. Using aspects of Carol Kuhlthau’s information search process model, I had to infer, based on the nature of the question, how far into the process the patron was and how much knowledge they might already have about the subject. Determining where a patron was in their information seeking process was essential in this exercise because it helped me provide the right type and amount of information.
Professional Development
The writings of Carol Kuhlthau, Marcia Bates, Brenda Dervin, and others on information seeking behaviors are still relevant today even though the environment in which we seek information is changing rapidly. In order to remain current on these issues, I plan to look for new writings from the above mentioned theorists, and to seek out new theories and discussions in journals such as Information Processing & Management and the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. Additionally, I can attend conferences and forums on topics related to information seeking behavior. Taking these steps will allow me to keep up with current issues on this topic, allowing me to form and voice my own opinions when presented with the opportunity.