Literature/2004/Foster


 * First published online: 11 NOV 2003. DOI: 10.1002/asi.10359

Authors

 * Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3AS, Wales, United Kingdom
 * Email: Allen Foster (aef@aber.ac.uk)
 * Correspondence: Allen Foster, Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3AS, Wales, United Kingdom

Abstract
This paper offers a new, nonlinear model of information-seeking behavior, which contrasts with earlier stage models of information behavior and represents a potential cornerstone for a shift toward a new perspective for understanding user information behavior. The model is based on the findings of a study on interdisciplinary information-seeking behavior. [...] This model illustrates three core processes and three levels of contextual interaction, each composed of several individual activities and attributes. These interact dynamically through time in a nonlinear manner. The behavioral patterns are analogous to an artist's palette, in which activities remain available throughout the course of information-seeking. In viewing the processes in this way, neither start nor finish points are fixed, and each process may be repeated or lead to any other until either the query or context determine that information-seeking can end. The interactivity and shifts described by the model show information-seeking to be nonlinear, dynamic, holistic, and flowing. The paper offers four main implications of the model as it applies to existing theory and models, requirements for future research, and the development of information literacy curricula. Central to these implications is the creation of a new nonlinear perspective from which user information-seeking can be interpreted.

[...]

Excerpts

 * External Context Information behavior is not isolated from the context within which the information seeker works. Major external influences were categorized as Social and Organizational, Time, The Project, Navigation Issues, and Access to Sources. The social networking aspect of interdisciplinary experience was one of the most significant.
 * Internal Context Internal influences are primarily the level of experience and prior knowledge held by the information seeker. Major influences were categorized as Feelings and Thoughts, Coherence, and Knowledge and Understanding. Each represents complex concepts within the analysis, including internal feelings of uncertainty, self-perception, self-efficacy, perception of topic, complexity, and distraction. Knowledge and Understanding covers experience, information need, and knowledge level. Internal influences are factors unique to each information seeker's own profile.