Information-seeking behavior of social sciences scholars: a nigerian case study
10 Aug 2015-Brazilian Journal of Information Science: Research Trends (Universidade Estadual Paulista)-Vol. 9, Iss: 1, pp 6
TL;DR: The author provides suggestions on how current information services and products can be improved to better serve the users and makes recommendations for improving library services and technologies to better meet the information needs of social sciences scholars in general.
Abstract: Information-seeking behavior is one of the most important areas of user studies and a concept affected by many factors. Previous researches in these areas indicate that the information-seeking practices of scholars are dependent on their field of research, and vary from one discipline to another. This paper examines the information-seeking behavior of scholars in the social sciences, based on the premise that information-seeking behavior follows universally applicable stages and patterns worldwide. The study was conducted at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Fifty eight active social sciences scholars were interviewed via a questionnaire about their information sources for research and consultancy purposes, their preference for electronic or printed formats, their use of electronic or Internet resources, and how they meet or satisfy their information needs, among others. Results show that journals and books were the most preferred information sources, and a large majority of scholars “regularly” used electronic information resources for their research and consultancy needs. The findings of the study also demonstrate diverse usage patterns for electronic information resources among users of different academic ranks and age range. Based on the research findings, the author provides suggestions on how current information services and products can be improved to better serve the users. The author also makes recommendations for improving library services and technologies to better meet the information needs of social sciences scholars in general.
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29 Apr 2016
TL;DR: The 4th edition of this popular text presents a comprehensive review of over a century of research on information behavior, and includes significant structural and content changes from earlier editions.
Abstract: The 4th edition of this popular text presents a comprehensive review of over a century of research on information behavior. It is intended for students in information studies and disciplines interested in research on information activities. Now co-authored, this new text includes significant structural and content changes from earlier editions.
47 citations
10 Mar 2010
TL;DR: Examination of the information‐seeking behavior of science and social science research scholars, including service effectiveness, satisfaction level on different type of sources and various methods adopted by the scholars for keeping up to date finds no significant difference.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the information‐seeking behavior of science and social science research scholars, including service effectiveness, satisfaction level on different type of sources and various methods adopted by the scholars for keeping up to date.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered using a questionnaire survey of 200, randomly selected, PhD students of science and social science departments of four universities in Kerala, India.Findings – Although similarities exist between social science and science PhD students with regard to information‐seeking behavior, there are significant differences as well. There is a significant difference between science and social science scholars on the perception of the adequacy of print journals and database collection which are very relevant to the research purposes. There is no significant difference between science and social science scholars on the perception of the adequacy of e‐journals, the most used source for keeping up...
3 citations
OCLC1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the impact of the educational stage on the likelihood of attending to digital and human sources across four contexts: professional or personal, successful or struggled, and found that people at higher educational stages are more likely to attend to digital sources and less likely to attending to human sources.
Abstract: How does educational stage affect the way people find information? In previous research using the Digital Visitors & Residents (V&R) framework for semi-structured interviews, context was a factor in how individuals behaved. This study of 145 online, open-ended surveys examines the impact that one's V&R educational stage has on the likelihood of attending to digital and human sources across four contexts. These contexts vary according to whether the search was professional or personal and successful or struggled. The impact of educational stage differs based on context. In some contexts, people at higher educational stages are more likely to attend to digital sources and less likely to attend to human sources. In other contexts, there is no statistically significant difference (p
2 citations
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TL;DR: Findings are pointed to that enable the system designer to put the design process in the wider context of the user in the organization.
Abstract: Introduction Until recently the computer science and information systems communities have equated 'information requirements' of users with the way users behave in relation to the systems available. In other words, investigations into information requirements were concerned almost entirely with how a user navigated a given system and what he or she could do with the data (rather than information) made available by information systems. This is now beginning to change as ethnographic methods are introduced into the requirements definition stage of systems design, and Beyer and Holtzblatt (1998) have shown the benefits. However, even when such methods are employed, the designers appear to be asking, "How is this person using the system?" rather than seeking to determine what the individual's (or the organization's) information needs may be and how information seeking behavior relates to other, task-oriented behavior. In fact, a concern with what information is needed has been the province not of information systems as a discipline, but of information science and, before that, librarianship. To these fields we can add consumer behavior research, marketing, psychology, health communication research, and a number of other disciplines that take the user as the focus of interest, rather than the system. The aim of this paper is to review some of this research and to point to findings that enable the system designer to put the design process in the wider context of the user in the organization. Some Definitions Some definitions are needed before we go further. In this paper, four terms are used: information behavior, information seeking behavior, information searching behavior and information use behavior. They are defined as follows: Information Behavior is the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information seeking, and information use. Thus, it includes face-to-face communication with others, as well as the passive reception of information as in, for example, watching TV advertisements, without any intention to act on the information given. Information Seeking Behavior is the purposive seeking for information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. In the course of seeking, the individual may interact with manual information systems (such as a newspaper or a library), or with computer-based systems (such as the World Wide Web). Information Searching Behavior is the 'micro-level' of behavior employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems of all kinds. It consists of all the interactions with the system, whether at the level of human computer interaction (for example, use of the mouse and clicks on links) or at the intellectual level (for example, adopting a Boolean search strategy or determining the criteria for deciding which of two books selected from adjacent places on a library shelf is most useful), which will also involve mental acts, such as judging the relevance of data or information retrieved. Information Use Behavior consists of the physical and mental acts involved in incorporating the information found into the person's existing knowledge base. It may involve, therefore, physical acts such as marking sections in a text to note their importance or significance, as well as mental acts that involve, for example, comparison of new information with existing knowledge. In all of the above definitions data is subsumed under information, that is, data may or may not be information depending upon the state of understanding of the information user. A datum such as "hbar=h/2pi = 6.58*10 [conjunction] -25 GeV s = 1.05*10 [conjunction]-34 J s" does not inform me because I have no framework of understanding in which to incorporate the datum. …
1,392 citations
"Information-seeking behavior of soc..." refers background in this paper
...Wilson’s (2000, 49-55) investigation of human information behavior revealed that information-seeking behavior is the purposive seeking for information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. Wilson also described informationseeking behavior as the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information-seeking, and information use. Krikelas (1983, 5-20) examined the patterns and concepts of informationseeking behavior. He defined information-seeking behavior as any activity of an individual that is undertaken to identify a message that satisfies a perceived need. In other words, information seeking begins when someone perceives that the current state of possessed knowledge is less than that needed to deal with some issue (or problem). During the 64 IFLA General Conference held in Amsterdam, Ucak and Kurbanoglu (1998) presented a paper on the “Information Need and Information Seeking behavior of Scholars at Hacettepe University, Turkey....
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01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: In this paper, an article de synthese examinant les divers elements des etudes d'utilisateurs and tentant de les integrer a un modele general de comportement de recherche d'information.
Abstract: Article de synthese examinant les divers elements des etudes d'utilisateurs et tentant de les integrer a un modele general de comportement de recherche d'information. Bibliographie importante d'articles et de rapports sur le sujet
480 citations
TL;DR: The David Ellis model of information-seeking behavior for social scientists, which includes six characteristics: starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring, and extracting, is extended.
Abstract: This article focuses on how electronic information resources influence the information-seeking process in the social sciences and humanities. It examines the information-seeking behavior of scholars in these fields, and extends the David Ellis model of information-seeking behavior for social scientists, which includes six characteristics: starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring, and extracting. The study was conducted at Tennessee State University (TSU). Thirty active social sciences and humanities faculty, as well as doctoral students, were interviewed about their use of electronic information resources for research purposes, their perception of electronic and print materials, their opinions concerning the Ellis model, and ways the model might apply to them. Based on the interview results, the researcher provides suggestions on how current information services and products can be improved to better serve social sciences and humanities researchers. The author makes recommendations for improving library services and technologies to better meet the needs of social sciences and humanities scholars.
97 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the information-seeking behavior of social science faculty studying the Kurds was assessed using a questionnaire, citation analysis, and follow-up inquiry, and the results showed that besides using traditional methods for locating relevant government information, social science researchers studying Kurds use the World Wide Web and electronic mail (e-mail) for that purpose, suggesting that these faculty are aware of, and utilize, new information technology to support their research.
Abstract: The information-seeking behavior of social science faculty studying the Kurds was assessed using a questionnaire, citation analysis, and follow-up inquiry. Two specific questions were addressed: how these faculty locate relevant government information and what factors influence their seeking behavior and use of such information. Results show that besides using traditional methods for locating relevant government information, social science faculty studying the Kurds use the World Wide Web (Web) and electronic mail (e-mail) for that purpose, suggesting that these faculty are aware of, and utilize, new information technology to support their research. Results also show that the information-seeking behavior of social science faculty studying the Kurds is influenced by factors similar to those influencing other social science faculty. Moreover, results also show that accessing the needed materials is a major information-seeking activity that should be added to David Ellis' behavioral model, and that faculty examined here employ somewhat a more elaborate “differentiating” information-seeking activity than the one described in the model. Some elements of interdisciplinarity of Kurdish studies as a field of research have been discovered, however, further research is required to verify that. Implications for library services and suggestions for future research are presented.
85 citations
"Information-seeking behavior of soc..." refers background in this paper
...…that social sciences faculty make extensive use of electronic resources in their research, and that information technology is having a major impact on their patterns of communication and information-seeking behavior (Costa and Meadows, 2000, 255-62; Meho and Haas, 2001, 5-25; and Shen 2007, 4-13)....
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TL;DR: Some of the major studies that have been done in the information-seeking behavior of social science researchers are reviewed and the implications of the findings for the development of services for this group of clientele are discussed.
Abstract: In the last three decades, there have been a number of studies that have explored the information-seeking behavior of social science researchers. Over the years several themes have remained constant. Journals remain the preferred source of information and rank above most every other source. References to relevant materials are identified through following the citations from journals in hand rather than utilizing indexing and abstracting services. Libraries and librarians are not viewed as a primary, or in some cases, even an important source of information. This article will review some of the major studies that have been done in this area and discuss the implications of the findings for the development of services for this group of clientele.
61 citations