Information Seeking in Context: : Proceedings of an International Conference on Research in Information Needs, Seeking and Use in Different Contexts, 14‐16 August 1996 Tampere, Finland

Citation

Riley, B. (1999), "Information Seeking in Context: : Proceedings of an International Conference on Research in Information Needs, Seeking and Use in Different Contexts, 14‐16 August 1996 Tampere, Finland", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 59-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.8.2.59.5

This weighty volume presents papers from the Conference on Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) held at the University of Tampere, Finland, in August 1996. The 25 papers come from many influential voices in information science. It is not surprising that the majority are from North America, but there are also four contributions from Australian researchers, and a variety of papers from northern Europe. The collection is thus truly global in scope. The foreword points out that the number of conferences dedicated to the research of information needs and seeking has been low, especially in recent times. This conference could be the catalyst of a new beginning for information needs and seeking research.

The conference papers centre around five main areas of information seeking: basic issues in information needs, seeking and use; theoretical and methodological issues; modelling information‐seeking behaviour; job related information needs, seeking and use; and everyday life information seeking. The basic issues section begins appropriately with a paper by Brenda Dervin discussing the nature of context, and concludes with a paper discussing information behaviour from an interdisciplinary perspective. The theoretical and methodological issues section looks at a variety of theoretical frameworks, including combined sense‐making and semiotic approaches to information understanding, a “theory of knowledge formations”, and a social constructionist approach to the study of information use.

The next section, on modelling information‐seeking behaviour, presents an interesting model of information seeking, and a paper discussing a person‐in‐situation approach to information needs. This is followed by a group of papers discussing job‐related information needs, seeking and use which include a host of case studies. A variety of other papers in this section explore a range of issues and developments in job‐related information‐seeking contexts, many papers building on classic information‐seeking research.

Perhaps the most interesting papers are those in the section focussing on everyday life information seeking, including papers on the information needs and seeking of older adults in Australia, information utilisation by adolescent girls (an analysis based on Brookes’ fundamental equation), and home information systems use in Scotland.

Information needs and seeking is a fascinating and important area of research, which deserves far more attention from within and outside the information science discipline. While these papers are complex, the reader will be rewarded with deep insight into the current issues in information needs and seeking research. Anyone involved in the design of information systems and provision of information services should consider reading these proceedings.