Human beings are one of the finest living beings and the most intelligent animals among the animal kingdom. They are smart in terms of their knowledge but what makes them smarter is their urge to acquire more information. Human beings want to learn about new things they search for different ways and methods like observation, and experiments to get the answers to their questions by using available information applying it to different methods. Information, information seeking and information seeking behavior are closely related to each other but three different things. Information is needed in every walk of life. Despite of its type it helps people in their socioeconomic development, in decision making and grooms them according to the society. In information science the behavior of seeking Information can be defined as the information apprehensive to the user’s need. To access the information which is required by the user or which he is searching for. It has been found that people with different intentions, motives and searching behaviors look for information on various channels. The way by which they inhibit and use the information totally depends upon their psychology. (Tubachi, 2018)
Table of Contents
INFORMATION
The word information is taken from a Latin word. A Latin word which gave rise to this term is ‘Informatio’ meaning to “to give form to mind’, ‘instruction’ or ‘teach’. It is a link between knowledge of an event or a condition. It is a set of structured and processed data. Information is an important product required by human beings in life. Moreover it is the extension of knowledge which is derived from observations, study or experience. (Doraswamy, 2017)
INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR
Today many people are not even sure of their intentions and demands. They don’t know how to search for their answer. This is because many empirical investigations didn’t say much about it. They don’t tell about the proper ways by which we can find information. The concept of information seeking is not clear as many researchers haven’t given a proper definition. Furthermore some authors have given a clear cut definition for information seeking. According to their definition “information seeking is a process performed by researchers and information seekers in order to discover new things and to fill gaps were required. Case (2007) According to Wilson, information seeking is a planned process in which the researcher searches to achieve some goals or get answers to his questions (Wilson, 2000, p. 49). Moreover information seeking is a purposeful action performed by an individual to satisfy his information needs (Feinman,Mick, Saalberg and Thompson,1976, p. 3).It is a process in which people seek for knowledge in order to identify a message that satisfies their needs.
THE CONCEPT OF INFORMATION NEED
The term information need actually refers to the importance of information. It is the users need regarding the information he wants to search for. The need to get information about anything, individually or in group to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need is the significance of information. Moreover information need is a vague awareness of something that is needed by people according to their interests. It figures out the knowledge that plays a role in understanding and to give meaning to unknown things. (Doraswamy, 2017) A study that includes information behavior, information seeking and searching behavior and information use is defined as information behavior.
This term “information need” was not well defined by many researchers. But it is the type of information required by the seeker to overcome his needs, and to clear situations which are not much clear. (Kari, 1998, p.3)
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDYING INFORMATION SEEKING
It’s important to study information seeking. It tells about its importance and various ways by which researchers can search to satisfy their information needs. Furthermore when one study’s about information seeking, new attitudes and behaviors of information seekers can be observed. Information is generated in the form of knowledge. Various studies on information seeking behavior helps to build up better policies for acquiring good information sources that will lead to authentic information.
The concept of need of Information based up on searching for answers defines it as an indefinite form of need for something which is not fulfilled and not expressed verbally. It is a need which may change in its form or quality after the addition of information. Taylor (1962, p. 392) Information seeking is “a qualified and rational statement” of the question. But what people usually think and perceive as a need may appear to be different from what is showed in words. Moreover the way people express their query either in form of a question or a search term shows the ability of an individual the way he communicates his thoughts to the second person. Case (2007) People search for more reliable and better ways in order to reduce uncertainty. Many authors’ in 1970’s conceptualized the need for information as a result of uncertainty (Case, 2007). Researchers want to search; they are motivated and want to search for information to reduce unreliability. Information need was defined by Atkin as “a state of uncertainty obtained by relation between the individuals current level of unreliability about his environment and other important objects of concern and the state of knowledge that he wants to achieve” The events about which he wants to learn are is in his own environment and the objects of psychological importance surrounding him like “people, ideas, things and events”. (Case, 2007, p. 73) According to Belkin, Oddy, and Brooks, a person is in an ‘Anomalous State of Knowledge’ (ASK) when he knows that he lacks at some point in his knowledge about any certain object. It is a state when he recognizes the gap or uncertainty about any situation or topic and he knows that he can only fill that gap by seeking more information channels. Thus search for information is maintained by ‘ASK’. A person who is seeking for knowledge already has an internal knowledge structure of great complexity. A need for information arises when someone feels problem or unsatisfied with his knowledge structure. He may feel a gap, conflict and internal inconsistency this is called the “anomalous state of knowledge,” or ASK. This system has a strong system for the retrieval of information. The ASK provides a suitable and problem solving approach because in it the system helps the user in solving the problem. While other systems demand specification in the research from the user and only provide the results that are closely related to the search.
Sense-making approach claims that a person only seeks for information from external platforms when his own internal sense has run out” his own intelligence, mind and knowledge are limited to answer his questions then the person gives rise to a new sense. This ultimately means that the he will only look for information when his own senses are not responding or less to overcome a certain situation. A sense-making model known as SITUATION-GAP-USES defines situation as “the time period during which a sense is constructed” while GAP is a break whether in knowledge or in replying to certain questions and these gaps need to be filed by understanding. Information seeking is a state which arises only when a person recognizes any gap or deficiency in his inner self and knowledge. In order to fill that gap he searches for ways to get information because he knows that gap can be removed by information. Furthermore if a person observes his surrounding world, many questions can arise so in order to get answers for those questions or about a situation in time and space he makes searches. He may ask questions to another person, or to various searching platforms which trigger a search for information. These questions are regarded as information needs.
Sense-Making approach is based on core theoretic premises. It presents the baseline assumptions about the nature of reality, the relationship of humans to the reality, the nature of information, the use of information, the nature of communicating, and the best ways to search for communicating behavior. Sense-Making begins with a point that reality related to anything is never complete nor constant. Reality is filled with several discontinuities and gaps. Here Sense-Making assumes that the discontinuity or gaps are general and normal because all things in reality are not connected and things are constantly changing with time. Furthermore according to Sense-Making information is something that is gained by observation and examination. It doesn’t exist in internal and external factors. It deals with both knowledge gained by direct observation and the one gained by others. These observations are mediated by human minds and the mind chooses itself what to observe, how to observe, and the interpretations of the products of the observing. Sense-Making assumes that all information is subjective. It is not biased nor limited as it I believed that observation is not trapped.
Need of information in daily routine is a necessity. According to Wilson (2006) human being strive to satisfy them, they want to fulfill their own basic needs and this motivates them to engage in information seeking behavior. Their needs and interests lead them to search to satisfy their individual and societal level needs. A psychologist known as Abraham Maslow lived from 1908 to 1970. There are five levels of basic human needs according to Abraham Maslow. The 5 levels of basic human needs were physiological, safety, belonging, esteems needs, and need for self-actualization. The physiological needs are the basic necessities of life like food, shelter, oxygen, water, clothing, nice life style, a constant body temperature, heath and clothing. According to Maslow these are the most important needs before any other need of a living being especially humans and they can do anything to fulfill their needs. The second most basic necessity of humans is safety. Safety is the second most basic needs of an individual. A person thinks about it after the satisfaction of the first need (physiology). Safety is a required in order to have a structure, stability and protected environment. The need for safety arises after observing how insecurity feels like. The signs or insecurity are more prominent in a child, which can be seen at times of illness, when roughly handled by parents or when sitting alone with a stranger. Adult usually feel insecure during bad situation or in emergency conditions like fights, pandemic’s, war, natural disasters or in crime (Green, 2000). Whereas belonging are the needs which arise in a person as a consequence of the pressure exerted by society and community. It includes wish to get education, to marry and have children, to be a member of a church and other societal affairs. (Boeree, 2006) Talking about esteem, Maslow gave two types of needs for esteem. The lower is the one in which a person wants to make his name. He wants to gain attention, respect, gory, reputation. Whereas a higher one characterized by the need for independence, freedom and self-respect. After the fulfillment of both higher and lower esteem he gets satisfied and thinks that now he is a respectable and valuable member of society. If a person feels to meet his purposes and esteem he may feel useless, frustrated, worthlessness and helplessness. The last level of human needs is self-actualization or inner peace. It is the point in one’s life when he satisfied from his life; he thinks that he has fulfilled the purpose of his life or which he came into this world. This level of satisfaction or self-actualization can only be achieved when an individual’s all five levels of need are met.
Meta-theories such as Cognitivist approach Constructionist approach Constructivist approach
Meta-theory is a theory whose investigations are a part of the philosophy of science. A meta-theory should have some connections with the information which is already present in the information science, presenting its strengths and weaknesses. If a meta-theory fulfills these requirements then it will prove to be fruitful.In information science a theory is defined as an explanation of information system’s efficiency by theoretical means. A theory briefly tells about the user behavior, nature of the document, various search elements used by the user, titles, descriptors and citations. Theories appear in all subjects but an ‘information theory is not known as a theory in information science but a theory in computer science.
In a metatheoretical theory a given term is used several times in a research or text. The greater it appears more will be the likelihood that the paper is about the concept that is expressed by that term. The meta-theories are broader, they include a wide range of data and our less specific than theories. Meta-theories are closely related to theoretical, empirical, and practical work. Metatheoretical assumptions are a part of interdisciplinary trends connected to philosophical views which again can be connected to the Zeitgeist. Various approaches in information sciences such as physical and the cognitive paradigms can be taken d understood as a part of interdisciplinary theoretical trends. Each of these trends has their own strengths and weaknesses, which can be lighten up by a more conscious philosophical analysis. Philosophy is a branch of science which analyzes the metatheoretical issues in information science and also the substantial theories present in information science. (Hjørland, 1998)
Themetatheoretical research is valuable because it offers tools which are helpful in identifying a wider range of theoretical orientations and develops practical solutions. The research in information science should propose novels and frameworks design. Information science is thought to be very complex and appears to be problematic in defining its major paradigms. Now there are three basic premises of metatheories which represent the information seeking, retrieval and knowledge organization in information science. These three metatheories are labeled as constructivism, collectivism and constructionism.
These meta-theories centers on five main questions. These questions can be concluded as the criteria by which constructivism, collectivism and constructionism can be identified as part of metatheories? What are the basics of these assumptions? What types of criticisms have been presented of these metatheories? How these metatheories work in an information science research? And what further more areas can be proposed for their actions? According to Gergen (1999) constructivism is a process which occurs in the relation to the external world in which a person’s mind builds up or constructs reality but in a systematic way. The person makes a plan according the situation of his surroundings. Talking about information science in it the person who constructs (constructivist) is labeled under “the cognitive viewpoint”. “The cognitive viewpoint” doesn’t refer to cognitivism. However cognitivism is an approach similar to behaviorism it tells about the role played by environmental factors in facilitating a researchers learning and searching ability. Furthermore it is a sort of artificial intelligence which draws analogies between human information processing and computing. Constructivism and cognitivism are different from each other and the cognitive viewpoint in differs from cognitivism. Because cognitive viewpoint greatly emphasizes on the way by which knowledge is built up focusing on internal and external reality.
Constructivism (Cognitive constructivism) was influenced by Kelly Piaget and Bruner. While Collectivism (Social constructivism) was influenced by Bruner (later work) and Vygotsky and constructionism was philosophically influenced by Bakhtin, Foucault, Garfinkel, Gergen, Wittgenstein (later work) and Volosinov.
Social constructivism is a metatheoretical position, according to which during the formation of a new thought or when the mind constructs reality in its relationship to the world. This formation occurs because the mind has received some stimuluses’ from societal conventions, history and interactions. In information science the socio-cognitive viewpoint and the domain analytic approach represents social constructivism. But in order to define terms in a broader way in information science a wider term can be used named as collectivism. This term is used to those approaches which reorient the unit of study from individual level to social, organizational or disciplinary communities. Moreover according to Taylor’s and Rosenbaum’s work collectivism is a term used to information science which describe the methodological stance of the domain analytic approach in opposition to the methodological individualism of the cognitive viewpoint.
In late 1970s and 1980s as a reaction against the then predominant information transfer model cognitive constructivism was emerged in information science. Cognitive constructivism is a metatheoretical position according to which production of knowledge is a creation of mental models. This position of cognitive constructivism was influenced by Piaget’s theory. According to this cognitive development theory humans cannot be surprised with an information which instead they must “construct” their own knowledge. One should thrive hard to get knowledge through their experiences. Their hard work will enable them to build “mental models” of the world. The mental models are stable conceptual structures orienting action. These models are built by people who search and seek information. These mental models consist of schemas, scripts and knowledge structures. They can be more detailed when people receive new sensory data and information or encounter novel situations.
Collectivism is an overlap between cognitive constructivism and the socio-cognitive viewpoint in information science. According to Vygotsky cognitive processes and the social milieu both are important in the formation of knowledge. But Piaget believed that knowledge is constructed by one’s experiences. The way it is built up depends upon the actions in the world. From the Vygotskyan point of view, knowledge is developed by deep observations and experiences which take place within a socio-culture. When a person is good at social interaction he will develop at his own Individual level and personality. And when a person interacts with his society and other groups knowledge will build up at both environment and individual level. Thus collectivism is a set of relationship between the both individual and the socio-cultural milieu.
Constructionism in human and social sciences is a synonym for “the linguistic turn”. Constructionism emphasizes more on linguistic process than that of mental. It won’t be wrong to say constructionism is a language-based metatheory. It doesn’t work with concepts such as cognitive space, cognitive functions, mental models or knowledge structures. It is based more on mind and language game. According to this metatheory language is constitutive for the construction of selves and the formation of meanings. Cognition is something more related to an individual’s thinking, mental abilities and imaginary world. But constructionism is related more to vocabularies, words, meaning thus replacing the concept of cognition with conversations. From the constructionist point of view, conversation is a condition for social world, knowledge and identities. Cognition and language work together leading to a better communication. Because communication is a two-way process which takes place between two or more human beings by virtual and physically means. (Talja, Tuominen and Savolainen, 2021)
In information science all three metatheories are equally applicable. Cognitive constructivism, collectivism and constructionism clearly support each other. They solve various types of research questions; give rise to different research programs. Bates (2002, p. 13) each metatheory has its own area of applicability and each theory encourages and consists of a distinctive type of learning, research and understanding, which gives a valuable continuing role for all of the analyzed metatheories.
In 1981, Wilson gave his theory on information behavior according to which “information behavior is similar to human behavior in relation to sources and means including both active and passive information-seeking platforms and its usage. Information-seeking behavior is similar to information need. Wilson in 1981 stated that something experienced by a person but in his mind in the times of need, is limited only to his mind and cognitive system and is not directly accessible to an observer. The need for knowledge an only be experienced by the one who feels some gaps, loss or deduction from behavior. Although the person gets motivated by his own thoughts and will but still the concept of motiveis not that much importantin the study of information-seeking behavior. If a person feels a need to get information about anything, there must be a specific thought which has motivated him. But talking about the general theory of motivation suggests that, when a person gets motivation about anything a matrix known as belief-value matrix within him is stimulated. By that matrix the person creates and imaginary world and images of the objects he wants to achieve.
Different categorizations of information need have been produced. Weigts et al. (1993) suggests the categorizes; like information is required because there is a need for new information, in order to elucidate the information held and to confirm the reliability of information already present. Moreover it is searched to fulfill the need to explain beliefs and values held and to confirm them. Stress and coping Is another factor of Wilson’s model. In order to search, seek and gain information one can stress and coping may seem to be more helpful. According to (Folkman,i 984) Stress is a relationship between a person and his environment that is judged by the person by his resources and well-being. And coping is a professional and mater mental skill which helps to reduce the unauthentic demands created by stressful and unfavorable situations. By coping a person can defeat those unwished cognitive and behavioral thoughts. Coping has two most important functions it regulates the emotions and helps to manage problem that causes the distress. The problem-focused coping works in order to change nature of an encounter in the environment. Whereas emotion-focused coping “includes cognitive activities that doesn’t change the relationship with the environment but changes the way in which the person-environmental relation is perceived. The relationship between stress and coping suggests it to be useful in a general theory of information behavior. It can be said that stress and coping theory together with Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS) model is a useful tool which can be used to find out information-seeking behavior. It can have a wider approach in various fields because stress can arise in many situations normal, serious or even life-threatening.
Wilson’s (Wilson, 1981) model proposes three sets of “barriers”. The barriers occur in the process of information-seeking behavior. These barriers were related to the dimensions of the situation in which the person finds himself or herself. The three barriers included In Wilson’s model were personal barriers, social or role-related barriers and environmental barriers. Moreover in research some economic barriers also arise. These barriers are related to information-seeking behavior and have two categories direct economic costs, and the value of time. These are applied in the process of information seeking or to the consequent actions. Stigler’s has worked a lot, his work shows that some economic aspects greatly impact when they are considered for searching information. In all markets prices for various product changes rapidly. Stigler’s model, used a simple model for the regulation of congress and agency as the regulations are passed only for the benefit of large firms, not for the benefit or protection of consumers. For a consumer the cost may be considered as proportional to the number of sellers approached, according to time”. According to Stigler the cost won’t be same for all persons, as the cost is higher for people with larger incomes. If better search quality and rates are supplied to people they will be willing to pay more for the information. But it’s important to keep all buyers in a market informed about the current prices of all items.
The model proposed by Wilson was considered as a global model of the field as it is a problem-solving model. A person seeks for information by following simple and conventional methods. He searches for information at different stages to achieve his goals and to solve the problem. In problem solving the stages are as follows; recognition of the problem statement, problem definition, problem resolution, and solution statement.
Although a lot of research was showed up by Wilson but this model is not complete and doesn’t include everything. Like at time it puts a lot of emphasis on a person’s aspects and situation. The situation in which the need for information arises shows up a lot of variables. The role of information seeking is analyzed less. A person seeks for information by observing his social, physiological, affective and cognitive states. In this process he may come across some barriers which can be personal, job related or due to surroundings. But for seeking information he may search, browse, monitor, extract information and conclude the results. (Wilson, 1997)
Youngsters in the early 21st century are “growing up digital,” Computer and digital media is very common for the people born after 1977. Because of excessive advancement in technology they have experienced a life in which computers are commonplace. It won’t be wrong to say that today generation children are “cyberkids” because they are excessively bound up Internet-saturated setting. Talking about the information seeking behavior of these cyberkids is very different from others. Dresang in 1997 introduced the theory of Radical Change in a scholarly publication. According to Dresang digital media refers to all of those media with microchip and handheld materials with the availability of digital environment. The digital environment has greatly influenced nondigitized media to get them involved in digital characteristics. Dresang explained interactivity, connectivity, and access of youth towards the digital world. Excessive connectivity of the digital environment extends far beyond the actual living and connectivity of people. Researchers are examining the nature of communities who search on line. The information-seeking behavior of children can be concluded that children are more likely to follow trends; youth’s information-seeking behavior largely focuses on the deficiencies and an urge to learn more, computer technology should be used in groups then that of being socially isolated, digital materials have increased the usage of media and technology but reduced the urge to visit libraries and book reading. If children will interact with each other they will get information and the personality will also groom.
The model of ELIS was developed by McKenzie’s Model of Information Practices in 2003. It was a two-dimensional model that was made to study health. It was based on studying Canadian women pregnant with twins. It consisted of four modes of information practices. The four modes of information practices were active seeking, active scanning, non-directional monitoring and by-proxy. The active-seeking involves seeking for information but in a systematic way by using planned questions and strategies. In this model active scanning involved spontaneous questions when searching for information. It involves semi-directed browsing or scanning methods, works by listening to conversations, and observations of behaviors and actions. Non-directed monitoring works by using information in an unexpected domain without actually looking for information at all, or while monitoring information sources with no intent of becoming informed. While the last mode involved enlisting of the sources that have been suggested by other people from where the information was taken from. (Dresang, 2005)
A “small world” is a concept which views things on a small scale. According to Luckmann (1970) world is defined by beliefs shared by people living in it. The beliefs which are working in accordance with known norms and expectations came from the world. Life in a small world means that people are bound to live and think in a small world is one in which all activities are performed in routine, and are predictable nothing is new. While social control binds people to this world by social norms and values.
According to a study the theory of small world works well as it allows people to share a similar cultural and intellectual space. There are four elements of small world theory that include worldview, social norms, social types and information behavior. These components allow ignoring and approaching information and the behaviors of the information seeker. Weak links can cause failure to the management, creating problems on the basis of norms and values but small world theory can add explanatory power to the weak links of an area. This study proves that small world theory is sufficient for analyzing organizational information behavior. In an organization whether small or large they have weak and strong links. SIM theory examines such links, but small-world theory adds valuable analytical power to the examination. (2021)
Chatman’s theory named “life in the round” stated that “people living in a small world or in a small society don’t cross their boundaries in order to get information. According to Chatman a life spent in a round brings negativity and is not productive. They are easy in their own comfort zone and don’t go beyond the boundaries of their world to seek information. In this study the authenticity of Chatman’s proposition was tested on a special population of Catholic clergy from northern Nigeria. The results were supporting Chatman’s proposition and it was found that clergy don’t bother to cross boundaries of their small worlds to seek information instead they prefer to seek such information within their circle of clergy. (2021)
While seeking for information people show different behaviours. In information seeking process the experienced information seekers are known as navigators and inexperienced information seekers are named explorers. Navigators visit and revisit several domains; they follow various searches in sequence and have few deviations within their search patterns and interactions. While explorers visit many domains; search for various questions. Both navigators and explorers have a highly consistent or highly variable search interaction. (Investigating behavioral variability in web search | Proceedings of the 16th international conference on World Wide Web, 2021).
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