Search results
1 – 10 of 876The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour by examining how researchers have approached this issue. To…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour by examining how researchers have approached this issue. To this end, particular attention is directed to how they have characterized everyday life as a constellation of work-related and non-work constituents.
Design/methodology/approach
Evolutionary concept analysis was conducted by focussing on 40 studies on the topic. It is examined how the conceptualizations of everyday life and the relationships between work-related and non-work constituents have been evolved since the 1990s. The analysis is based on the comparison of the similarities and differences between the characterizations of the above constituents.
Findings
Early conceptualizations of everyday life as a context of information behaviour were largely based on Savolainen's model for everyday life information seeking. Later studies have proposed a more holistic approach to everyday life in times when the boundaries between work-related and free-time activities have become blurred, due to the growing use of networked information technologies and telecommuting. Since the late 1990s, the understanding about the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour has become more nuanced; thanks to a more detailed identification of the overlaps of work-related and non-work constituents.
Research limitations/implications
As the study is based on a sample of studies examining the relationships of work-related and non-work constituents, the findings cannot be generalized to concern the contextual nature of everyday life as a whole.
Originality/value
The study pioneers by offering an in-depth analysis of the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour.
Details
Keywords
Karen Tølbøl Sigaard and Mette Skov
The purpose of this paper is to operationalise and verify a cognitive motivation model that has been adapted to information seeking. The original model was presented…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to operationalise and verify a cognitive motivation model that has been adapted to information seeking. The original model was presented within the field of psychology.
Design/methodology/approach
An operationalisation of the model is presented based on the theory of expectancy-value and on the operationalisation used when the model was first developed. Data for the analysis were collected from a sample of seven informants working as consultants in Danish municipalities. Each participant filled out a questionnaire, kept a log book for a week and participated in a subsequent interview to elicit data regarding their information source behaviour and task motivation.
Findings
Motivation affected source use when the informants search for information as part of their professional life. This meant that the number of sources used and the preference for interpersonal and internal sources increased when the task had high-value motivation or low-expectancy motivation or both.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a relatively small sample and considers only one motivation theory. This should be addressed in future research along with a broadening of the studied group to involve other professions than municipality consultants.
Originality/value
Motivational theories from the field of psychology have been used sparsely in studies of information seeking. This study operationalises and verifies such a theory based on a theoretical adaptation of this model made by Savolainen (2012c).
Details
Keywords
To elaborate the nature of critique presented in the models and concepts of human information behaviour (HIB) research by identifying the issues to which the critique is…
Abstract
Purpose
To elaborate the nature of critique presented in the models and concepts of human information behaviour (HIB) research by identifying the issues to which the critique is directed and the ways in which the critique is conducted.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual analysis focusing on 58 key studies on the topic. First, the objects and ways of conducting the critique were identified. Thereafter, three levels of depth at which the critique is conducted were specified. The conceptual analysis is based on the comparison of the similarities and differences between the articulations of critique presented at these levels.
Findings
At the lowest level of depth, critique of HIB research is directed to the lack of research by identifying gaps and complaining the neglect or paucity of studies in a significant domain. At the level of critiquing the shortcomings of existing studies, the attention is focused on the identification and analysis of the inadequacies of concepts and models. Finally, constructive critiques of research approaches dig deeper in that they not only identify weaknesses of existing studies but also propose alternative in which the shortcomings can be avoided, and the conceptualizations of HIB enhanced.
Research limitations/implications
As the study focuses on critiques addressed to HIB models and concepts, the findings cannot be generalized to concern the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) as a whole. Moreover, due to the emphasis of the qualitative research approach, the findings offer only an indicative picture of the frequency of the objects critiqued in HIB research.
Originality/value
The study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the nature of critiques presented in a LIS research domain.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of everyday life information needs of a group of people in an area with limited access to information, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of everyday life information needs of a group of people in an area with limited access to information, and to investigate how the major dimensions of the everyday life information seeking (ELIS) model apply to information needs in the contexts of the Catholic clergy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied the concurrent triangulation strategy of mixed-methods research. Data from 15 episodic interviews and surveys of 109 Catholic clergy in Northern Nigeria were collected and analyzed.
Findings
A map of the everyday life information needs was developed. Three types of everyday life information needs were identified: essential needs; circumstantial needs; and occasional needs. The information needs of these clergy did not fit into the two major dimensions of Savolainen’s ELIS model.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted only with Catholic clergy serving in the Northern Catholic dioceses of Nigeria.
Originality/value
Although the ELIS model has been applied in several studies, not much attention has been given to comparing how the major dimensions of the model apply to information needs of a group of people in a variety of contexts. This study contributes to the ELIS model by pointing to other contextual situations where seeking orienting and practical information may not be sufficient to account for the everyday life information needs of some types of users.
Details
Keywords
Shimelis G. Assefa and Mary Stansbury
The purpose of this study is to investigate information seeking behavior of immigrants in disadvantaged communities in the state of CO, USA, using school choice decisions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate information seeking behavior of immigrants in disadvantaged communities in the state of CO, USA, using school choice decisions as a problematic situation. The study investigated the extent to which immigrant families in poor neighborhoods took advantage of school choice policies and the extent to which these decisions were mediated by information seeking activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative study using survey questionnaire was used. The study design used everyday life information seeking behavior (Savolainen, 1995) and information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people (Chatman and Pendelton, 1995) as a framework and theoretical lens, respectively. Parents of school-age children who met the criteria of “poor” based on the federal poverty guideline were recruited to participate in the study.
Findings
The study found that only 21 per cent (24 families out of 113) participated in school choice programs. Within the smaller group of parents that took advantage of school choice policy, 72 per cent gathered information before choosing a school, and of this group, about 80 per cent asked friends followed by school visit and a phone call to schools as information sources. Library use as sources of information was also selected by 61 per cent of the respondents. One important finding of this study is that although a majority of the families are aware of school choice policy, their level of participation is low and that is largely due to their economic and life circumstances.
Social implications
Access to quality education is widely investigated and multiple entities have a stake in it, including parents, policymakers, researchers and school districts. The social implications of this study are significant in that the mere presence and awareness of school choice policy did not translate into increased participation by parents from disadvantaged communities for whom the policy was designed to benefit. Consistent with findings in the extant literature, parents in low socio-economic status also value quality education for their children. To address the issue of low participation in school choice, cities need to work toward strengthening schools and library systems in poor neighborhoods instead of diverting resources away.
Originality/value
Based on two theoretical accounts – i.e. the information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people, or the outsiders, (Chatman, 1999, 1996), and theory of everyday life information seeking (Savolainen, 1995) – this study investigated how immigrants and disadvantaged communities seek, acquire and use information to navigate school choice policy in the city of Aurora, CO. The findings of this study are relevant for educators, policymakers, libraries, school districts, cities, counties and parents to determine the necessary policy measures that are required to increase school choice participation by immigrants and disadvantaged communities.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the motivators for information behaviour by examining the nature of information need as a trigger and driver of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the motivators for information behaviour by examining the nature of information need as a trigger and driver of information seeking.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual analysis was made by focussing on the ways in which researchers have conceptualised information need in models for human information behaviour (HIB). The study draws on conceptual analysis of 26 key studies focussing on the above topic.
Findings
Researchers have employed two main approaches to conceptualise information needs in the HIB models. First, information need is approached as a root factor which motivates people to identify and access information sources. Second, information need is approached as a secondary trigger or driver determined by more fundamental factors, for example, the information requirements of task performance. The former approach conceptualises information need as a trigger providing an initial impetus to information seeking, while the latter approach also depicts information need as a driver that keeps the information-seeking process in motion. The latter approach is particularly characteristic of models depicting information seeking as a cyclic process.
Research limitations/implications
As the study focusses on information need, no attention is devoted to related constructs such as anomalous state of knowledge and uncertainty.
Originality/value
The study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the nature of information need as a trigger and driver of information seeking. The findings refine the picture of motivators for information behaviour.
Details
Keywords
Andrew M. Cox, Brian Griffin and Jenna Hartel
The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the role of the body in information in serious leisure by reviewing existing work in information behaviour that theorises the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the role of the body in information in serious leisure by reviewing existing work in information behaviour that theorises the role of the body, and by drawing selectively on literature from beyond information studies to extend our understanding.
Design/methodology/approach
After finding a lack of attention to the body in most influential works on information behaviour, the paper identifies a number of important authors who do offer theorisations. It then explores what can be learnt by examining studies of embodied information in the hobbies of running, music and the liberal arts, published outside the discipline.
Findings
Auto-ethnographic studies influenced by phenomenology show that embodied information is central to the hobby of running, both through the diverse sensory information the runner uses and through the dissemination of information by the body as a sign. Studies of music drawing on the theory of embodied cognition, similarly suggest that it is a key part of amateur music information behaviour. Even when considering the liberal arts hobby, the core activity, reading, has been shown to be in significant ways embodied. The examples reveal how it is not only in more obviously embodied leisure activities such as sports, in which the body must be considered.
Research limitations/implications
Embodied information refers to how the authors receive information from the senses and the way the body is a sign that can be read by others. To fully understand this, more empirical and theoretical work is needed to reconcile insights from practice theory, phenomenology, embodied cognition and sensory studies.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates how and why the body has been neglected in information behaviour research, reviews current work and identifies perspectives from other disciplines that can begin to fill the gap.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to address the gaps in knowledge about how people get information in a flood and what they want to know.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the gaps in knowledge about how people get information in a flood and what they want to know.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 27 people were interviewed from two communities that suffered flooding in the 12 months before the interviews. Slow‐moving flood and flash flood were covered.
Findings
The type of disaster determines how people seek information. In slow‐moving flood, people heard from others, tracked it visually and via web‐available river gauge information, and talked to others with more flood experience. Radio was an important confirmation tool in the slow‐moving flood. In flash flood, people first heard from others and then turned to television.
Research limitations/implications
Participants made up a small sample skewed toward regional areas and were selected by snowball/convenience sampling methods. A survey is required to confirm or refute findings.
Practical implications
Word of mouth needs to be tapped into by agencies, and mobile phone networks and social media are critical to this. Radio and television should be more proactively used by emergency agencies and maps should be a feature of all flood communication.
Originality/value
The focus of disaster communication research tends to have been on agency use of communication rather than the individual's use of a range of communication channels. This study encourages agencies to look at how individuals look for information, the channels they use to get information and the type of information they seek.
Details
Keywords
Davide Nicolini, Maja Korica and Ila Bharatan
The authors review the literature on information behavior, an autonomous body of work developed mainly in library studies and compare it with work on knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors review the literature on information behavior, an autonomous body of work developed mainly in library studies and compare it with work on knowledge mobilization. The aim is to explore how information behavior can contribute to understanding knowledge mobilization in healthcare management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a narrative review using an exploratory, nonkeyword “double-sided systematic snowball” method. This is especially useful in the situation when the two traditions targeted are broad and relies on distinct vocabulary.
Findings
The authors find that the two bodies of work have followed similar trajectories and arrived at similar conclusions, with a linear view supplemented first by a social approach and then by a sensitivity to practice. Lessons from the field of information behavior can be used to avoid duplication of effort, repeating the same errors and reinventing the wheel among knowledge translation scholars. This includes, for example, focusing on sources of information or ignoring the mundane activities in which managers and policymakers are involved.
Originality/value
The study is the first known attempt to build bridges between the field of information behavior and the study of knowledge mobilization. The study, moreover, foregrounds the need to address knowledge mobilization in context-sensitive and social rather than technical terms, focusing on the mundane work performed by a variety of human and nonhuman agents.
Details
Keywords
P. Savolainen and J. Kivilahti
Polyester connector strips were joined to polyimide substrates with anisotropic electrically conductive adhesives. Copper conductors as well as Au/Ni‐coated copper…
Abstract
Polyester connector strips were joined to polyimide substrates with anisotropic electrically conductive adhesives. Copper conductors as well as Au/Ni‐coated copper conductors were used on flexible circuits. The adhesives were composite materials consisting of heat curing, one‐component epoxy resin and powdered ternary solder alloys: tin‐bismuth‐zinc, tin‐indium‐zinc and tin‐zinc‐aluminium. An adhesive filled with eutectic tin‐bismuth alloy powder was used as reference. The effect of bonding parameters (e.g., temperature, dwell time and pressure) on contact resistance values was evaluated. The contact resistance values were measured for evaluating the reliability of adhesive joints during a 60°C/95%RH test. Furthermore, the joint microstructures were examined with optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that with the copper conductors the initial contact resistance values were lower than with the Au/Ni‐coated copper conductors. The most reliable joints were produced with low melting filler alloys (with respect to bonding temperature) on bare copper metallisation. The most likely reason for failure of the Au/Ni‐coated circuits was strong oxidation of locally exposed nickel in the presence of moisture.