In this response, my purpose is to identify a particular feature of Elmborg’s argument for a constructivist approach to reference desk services, which is significant in the acceptability of his argument. Without this feature, his argument could lose credibility and merit with some educators.
Elmborg’s argument that the reference desk can be a powerful teaching station is based on the learning theory called constructivism, which posits that people generate knowledge from their experiences. Further, this theory states that the learner learns best when in charge of the learning activities. Elmborg quotes from five scholars who studied and reported on the librarian in the reference services process during the 1990’s. All five authors emphasized the shift of academia to the “student-centered pedagogies”, known as constructivist pedagogies.
In the era of these studies and analyses the constructivist learning theory was quite popular and a movement existed throughout the United States to adopt the constructivist principles in public school curriculum and teaching methods. At that time, my children were in elementary and middle school and the community where we lived became embroiled in significant political debate over this movement. In fact, the school board president and another member of the board were voted out of office to counteract this movement. Because of that emotional experience, I became increasingly interested in Elmborg’s arguments.
On pg. 457 of his article, he makes a distinction of moving from cognitive constructivism to social constructivism. The ‘cognitive’ requires an emphasis on the mental models of the learner and the teacher having some understanding of those models, whereas the ‘social’ “emphasizes the social nature of knowledge formation”. His reasoning for this adoption of the ‘social’ is that “very few librarians are comfortable in making the sophisticated diagnoses required in a cognitive interview.”
Monday night, September 28, 2009, I listened to a radio program in the Chicago area called Extension 720, on WGN 720, wherein two renowned experts in the field of education were in a discussion with the program’s host about education in inner-city schools and in particular they espoused the adoption of more charter schools. A caller to the program (himself an educator) took issue with one of the guest panelists, Herb Walberg, who had somewhat denounced constructionism (a form of constructivism theory). Mr. Walberg, however, defended his position by citing studies that had proven some errors in constructivism. For one thing, the theory is weak when applied with a population of novice learners. The panelist accepted the value of constructivism for experienced or high IQ learners, but suggested it is not appropriate for general populations. The Wikipedia article on constructivism also identifies some opposition to the theory.
It occurred to me as I read Elmborg’s article, that his argument gains strength when he emphasized the social constructivism , which sets the learner in a social environment, rather than remaining alone. A novice learner in a cognitive constructivist environment must be highly capable and motivated in order to effectively learn. The social constructivism approach not only frees the reference librarian from making the difficult diagnoses spoken of, but also allows for another party to be involved with the learner. In fact, this other party is to be engaged with the learner from a position of one with special knowledge who can guide the learning process. This model fits well for a novice learner and is much more apt to be effective at the reference desk.
Elmborg, James K. “Teaching at the Desk: Toward a reference pedagogy.” Portal: libraries and the academy 2 (2002): 455-464.
Constructionism on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructionist_learning, 30 Sep 2009
Constructivism on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_%28learning_theory%29, 30 Sep 2009
Extension 720 Broadcast of 28 September 2009
http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/ext720/wgnam-x720-uncut090928a,0,6044235.mp3file
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Digital Collections Assessment
A Collection Featuring Created Surrogates from Existing Holdings
The Darlington Digital Library was created from the first major collection of materials donated to the University of Pittsburgh. This donation included books, manuscripts, atlases, images and maps that had been assembled by William M. Darlington, an attorney and native son of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, born in 1815. His family and estate made the donation in 1918, some 29 years after his death. The online collection is made up of surrogate digital images created by the university from its physical holdings in a special collection called the Darlington Memorial Library, and is presented on the website http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington/.
Of particular note, the collection includes two major works of John James Audubon: a complete set of Birds of America and a companion work, Ornithological Biography. Both books are a prized part of the assembled materials of Mr. Darlington. Audubon created these two important works simultaneously, and they were acquired by Darlington in the mid 1800’s. The collection website states that “The University of Pittsburgh is fortunate to own one of the rare, complete sets of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. It is considered to be the single most valuable set of volumes in the collections of the University Library System. Indeed, only 120 complete sets are known to exist.”
Because of the singular nature of these books, a special Audubon Website was created, http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/, to dipslay them. The quality of the artwork and of the scientific data contained in this site is impressive. I am not an ornithologist, nor have I had any real interest in the study of birds. However, exploring this site was captivating. The available viewing tools allow the user to enlarge the images to a significant degree and the detail of these prints is astounding. Further, the variety and breadth of Audubon’s work is obvious and easily detected immediately, even for one as unschooled and inexperienced as I am in this field of study.
The main body of the Darlington Digital Library reveals Mr. Darlington’s interest in the colonial history of the United States, particularly the development of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The materials are eclectic in nature and cover areas of interest from civil war soldier escapades, 18th and 19th century methods of advertising and publishing announcements, and correspondence between British noblemen and American colonists. The maps provide an historical view of the development of the United States, as populations moved westward. The scope of the collection is large and varied.
The material is organized into category headings and is searched by these headings: Atlases, Books, Broadsides, Images, Manuscripts and Maps. Users will also find a detailed description of the digitization process executed by the library staff, and a helpful background explanation on how the collection came to be. The site also provides links to published overviews of the collection and the Darlington family, which places the materials in an historical context and helps to explain its eclectic nature.
The 1,680 books in the collection can be searched by author, title and subject. Bibliographic, Boolean and proximity searches are also available, and a general search box on the books page offers a general word search. All search attempts provided quick results, whether broad or targeted in scope. In addition to the books, there are only 5 atlases, 51 broadsides, but 1,825 images and 853 maps in the digital collection. Digitization of the manuscripts is still underway, and none are available digitally at this time. Each of these categories offers similar search features and organization structure, where applicable, as the books category.
A researcher desiring information on a specific period or episode of US history can easily
determine if it exists in this collection, and, if extant, locate it in the collection. Certainly, it is not a comprehensive collection on any one subject, but the organization of the materials makes each item easy to find. An ornithologist will definitely enjoy a review of the special Audubon Website appendage to the collection.
A Collection Featuring Third-party Domain Sources
From the Internet Public library main page, various collections are available for selection. The “Special Collections” section includes an interesting and informative collection about US Presidents, called POTUS, accessed through the URL: http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/.
On the POTUS site main page the forty-four presidents are listed and linked to articles containing information on the IPL site under the following standardized category headings: Presidential Election Results, Cabinet Members, Notable Events, and Internet Biographies, Historical Documents, Media Resources, Other Internet Resources and points of Interest. Clicking on a president’s name will display that president’s page with detailed information under those headings.
Within those category sections, links are available to third-party sites that give extensive and detailed information about the president selected. These third-party sites are not standard on each president’s page, but are similar in nature. The Media Resources category doesn’t provide any links for presidents prior to Grover Cleveland, since recording technology was only just being developed in the 1880's.
The user can easily find much detailed information about each president. The format is simple to understand and it takes only a few seconds to a minute for the user to identify the structure of the information. From that understanding a search strategy can be formulated and executed leading to a significant volume of web information. A searcher will have to verify authority of the third-party sites, which can be done through corroboration of the multiple sources of information. Cross-checking with encyclopedias and other reference sources, some of which are linked to this site, may be necessary to achieve full confidence in the veracity of the information, if the need exists. For less than in-depth research, significant information about a president is available through this collection.
The collection is remarkably current. Complete video of President Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations General assembly given today, September 24, 2009, is already accessible from this site by cyberlink.
The Darlington Digital Library was created from the first major collection of materials donated to the University of Pittsburgh. This donation included books, manuscripts, atlases, images and maps that had been assembled by William M. Darlington, an attorney and native son of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, born in 1815. His family and estate made the donation in 1918, some 29 years after his death. The online collection is made up of surrogate digital images created by the university from its physical holdings in a special collection called the Darlington Memorial Library, and is presented on the website http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington/.
Of particular note, the collection includes two major works of John James Audubon: a complete set of Birds of America and a companion work, Ornithological Biography. Both books are a prized part of the assembled materials of Mr. Darlington. Audubon created these two important works simultaneously, and they were acquired by Darlington in the mid 1800’s. The collection website states that “The University of Pittsburgh is fortunate to own one of the rare, complete sets of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. It is considered to be the single most valuable set of volumes in the collections of the University Library System. Indeed, only 120 complete sets are known to exist.”
Because of the singular nature of these books, a special Audubon Website was created, http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/, to dipslay them. The quality of the artwork and of the scientific data contained in this site is impressive. I am not an ornithologist, nor have I had any real interest in the study of birds. However, exploring this site was captivating. The available viewing tools allow the user to enlarge the images to a significant degree and the detail of these prints is astounding. Further, the variety and breadth of Audubon’s work is obvious and easily detected immediately, even for one as unschooled and inexperienced as I am in this field of study.
The main body of the Darlington Digital Library reveals Mr. Darlington’s interest in the colonial history of the United States, particularly the development of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The materials are eclectic in nature and cover areas of interest from civil war soldier escapades, 18th and 19th century methods of advertising and publishing announcements, and correspondence between British noblemen and American colonists. The maps provide an historical view of the development of the United States, as populations moved westward. The scope of the collection is large and varied.
The material is organized into category headings and is searched by these headings: Atlases, Books, Broadsides, Images, Manuscripts and Maps. Users will also find a detailed description of the digitization process executed by the library staff, and a helpful background explanation on how the collection came to be. The site also provides links to published overviews of the collection and the Darlington family, which places the materials in an historical context and helps to explain its eclectic nature.
The 1,680 books in the collection can be searched by author, title and subject. Bibliographic, Boolean and proximity searches are also available, and a general search box on the books page offers a general word search. All search attempts provided quick results, whether broad or targeted in scope. In addition to the books, there are only 5 atlases, 51 broadsides, but 1,825 images and 853 maps in the digital collection. Digitization of the manuscripts is still underway, and none are available digitally at this time. Each of these categories offers similar search features and organization structure, where applicable, as the books category.
A researcher desiring information on a specific period or episode of US history can easily
determine if it exists in this collection, and, if extant, locate it in the collection. Certainly, it is not a comprehensive collection on any one subject, but the organization of the materials makes each item easy to find. An ornithologist will definitely enjoy a review of the special Audubon Website appendage to the collection.
A Collection Featuring Third-party Domain Sources
From the Internet Public library main page, various collections are available for selection. The “Special Collections” section includes an interesting and informative collection about US Presidents, called POTUS, accessed through the URL: http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/.
On the POTUS site main page the forty-four presidents are listed and linked to articles containing information on the IPL site under the following standardized category headings: Presidential Election Results, Cabinet Members, Notable Events, and Internet Biographies, Historical Documents, Media Resources, Other Internet Resources and points of Interest. Clicking on a president’s name will display that president’s page with detailed information under those headings.
Within those category sections, links are available to third-party sites that give extensive and detailed information about the president selected. These third-party sites are not standard on each president’s page, but are similar in nature. The Media Resources category doesn’t provide any links for presidents prior to Grover Cleveland, since recording technology was only just being developed in the 1880's.
The user can easily find much detailed information about each president. The format is simple to understand and it takes only a few seconds to a minute for the user to identify the structure of the information. From that understanding a search strategy can be formulated and executed leading to a significant volume of web information. A searcher will have to verify authority of the third-party sites, which can be done through corroboration of the multiple sources of information. Cross-checking with encyclopedias and other reference sources, some of which are linked to this site, may be necessary to achieve full confidence in the veracity of the information, if the need exists. For less than in-depth research, significant information about a president is available through this collection.
The collection is remarkably current. Complete video of President Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations General assembly given today, September 24, 2009, is already accessible from this site by cyberlink.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Reading Response #2
Collection Developers – Past, Present and . . . Future?
Buckland’s, Lee’s and Sandler’s articles particularly caught my interest. A feeling of relief warmed my soul as I read the passionate predictions by the first two authors that the role of the collection developer will be enhanced, rather than eliminated by the increasing presence and sheer magnitude of the digital collection. When I reached Sandler’s contention in the reading that ‘it is potentially a world of disintermediation for libraries of all types’ (pg. 241), the warmth turned icy and the future became bleak. Thankfully, even Sandler eventually finds a use for collection developers, if not by name at least by task, in the area of special collections. So, is there a future for collection developers?
Each of the authors described in one way or another not only their contention that there is a future for this role, but also why they believe there is a future. Lee expressed it (pg. 1110) by quoting Taylor, saying that selectivity is ‘the value added when choices are made’ by developers on the merits of the information and its appropriateness for the community served. Sandler pins the survival of the local library collection on relevancy and continual recognition of trends and making the necessary changes. These, are changes, or choices, that must be made by human decision makers, or by another name, collection developers.
Buckland, I think states the case best, when he describes the classical book selection theory. Quoting a number of scholars on the subject, he portrays a sound business model based on meeting demand and delivering value. Because meeting demand can be a quantitative process, it will likely not be a distinguishing feature in the future, since computers will (may already have) take over that analysis and decision process. On the other hand, making the right choices on materials will be subjective tasks that require human cognitive capabilities. The better it is done, the more value to be found in the resulting collection, which is a distinction of note. Buckland quotes Lionel McColvin, an early contributor of the selection theory, to make the point that having the right materials in the collection is the most important aspect of the developer’s job. Buckland makes a strong case that an information professional will be needed to do that for the foreseeable future.
Creating value is obviously a key to survival. Providing services that are valued by patrons, beyond mere perceptions, will ensure a place for information workers of all kinds, including the collection developer. In fact, value creation is the underpinning of all employments in a capitalistic and democratic society. It is a law of economics that when a product or service no longer brings value to a consumer, that product or service will cease to exist. This is as true for collection developers as it is for carmakers.
Interestingly, in as much as these concepts parallel business so closely, comparisons are easily made between libraries and retailers. The tried and true retailing rule of delivering the right product at the right place at the right price is basically what collection development is all about. Buckland makes the case that the development decisions have brought value in the past and continue in the present to do so by giving access to the right materials that patrons are seeking. He claims that there is no reason for that value process to end in the future. In fact, he thinks the value of these decisions will be enhanced in the digital collection environment. The selection of sources into a collection will even more effectively guide the user to the desired information, in spite of the overwhelming amount of available data. Now that is value! And, value means there is a future!
Buckland, M. (1995). What will collection developers do? Information Technology and Libraries 14(3): 155-159.
Lee, H.-L. (2000). What is a collection? Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51(12): 1106-1113.
Sandler, M. (2006). Collection development in the [age] day of Google. Library Resources and Technical Services 50(4): 239-243.
Buckland’s, Lee’s and Sandler’s articles particularly caught my interest. A feeling of relief warmed my soul as I read the passionate predictions by the first two authors that the role of the collection developer will be enhanced, rather than eliminated by the increasing presence and sheer magnitude of the digital collection. When I reached Sandler’s contention in the reading that ‘it is potentially a world of disintermediation for libraries of all types’ (pg. 241), the warmth turned icy and the future became bleak. Thankfully, even Sandler eventually finds a use for collection developers, if not by name at least by task, in the area of special collections. So, is there a future for collection developers?
Each of the authors described in one way or another not only their contention that there is a future for this role, but also why they believe there is a future. Lee expressed it (pg. 1110) by quoting Taylor, saying that selectivity is ‘the value added when choices are made’ by developers on the merits of the information and its appropriateness for the community served. Sandler pins the survival of the local library collection on relevancy and continual recognition of trends and making the necessary changes. These, are changes, or choices, that must be made by human decision makers, or by another name, collection developers.
Buckland, I think states the case best, when he describes the classical book selection theory. Quoting a number of scholars on the subject, he portrays a sound business model based on meeting demand and delivering value. Because meeting demand can be a quantitative process, it will likely not be a distinguishing feature in the future, since computers will (may already have) take over that analysis and decision process. On the other hand, making the right choices on materials will be subjective tasks that require human cognitive capabilities. The better it is done, the more value to be found in the resulting collection, which is a distinction of note. Buckland quotes Lionel McColvin, an early contributor of the selection theory, to make the point that having the right materials in the collection is the most important aspect of the developer’s job. Buckland makes a strong case that an information professional will be needed to do that for the foreseeable future.
Creating value is obviously a key to survival. Providing services that are valued by patrons, beyond mere perceptions, will ensure a place for information workers of all kinds, including the collection developer. In fact, value creation is the underpinning of all employments in a capitalistic and democratic society. It is a law of economics that when a product or service no longer brings value to a consumer, that product or service will cease to exist. This is as true for collection developers as it is for carmakers.
Interestingly, in as much as these concepts parallel business so closely, comparisons are easily made between libraries and retailers. The tried and true retailing rule of delivering the right product at the right place at the right price is basically what collection development is all about. Buckland makes the case that the development decisions have brought value in the past and continue in the present to do so by giving access to the right materials that patrons are seeking. He claims that there is no reason for that value process to end in the future. In fact, he thinks the value of these decisions will be enhanced in the digital collection environment. The selection of sources into a collection will even more effectively guide the user to the desired information, in spite of the overwhelming amount of available data. Now that is value! And, value means there is a future!
Buckland, M. (1995). What will collection developers do? Information Technology and Libraries 14(3): 155-159.
Lee, H.-L. (2000). What is a collection? Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51(12): 1106-1113.
Sandler, M. (2006). Collection development in the [age] day of Google. Library Resources and Technical Services 50(4): 239-243.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Information Seeking Behavior of Graduate Students
Journal article reviewed in this paper:
Hyldegard, Jette (2008). Beyond the search process – Exploring group members’ information behavior in context. Information Processing and Management 45 (2009) 142-158. http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.library.uiuc.edu/10.1016/j.ipm.2008.05.007
Introduction
This paper reports the findings of a case study, which considered Kuhltau’s information seeking process, the (ISP)-Model, in a group based in an academic setting. According to Hyldegard, implicit in many other information process studies is the assumption that the information seeker is an individual. His team set out in this study to look into the impact of contextual and situational factors of a group on the information seeking behavior of group members. The stated purpose of the study was to explore if group members would behave differently from the individual modeled in the ISP-model and why.
Methods
The study was conducted at the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2007. Three groups of students were observed, two groups consisted of three students each and the third included four students. The class, including these students, was assigned a group project. Study participants were interviewed by researchers at three stages of the project -- beginning, middle and conclusion. Additionally, students were required to maintain regular diaries of all activities throughout the assignment. Student feelings, thoughts and actions were recorded and described in the diaries and interviews.
The research team measured the influence of activities in terms of three aspects: feelings (affective), thoughts (cognitive) and actions (physical) on individual group members during completion of various tasks required by the assignment. The researchers paired the six stages of the ISP-model with the associated expected feelings as follows: Initiation - uncertainty, Selection - optimism, Exploration - confusion/frustration/doubt, Formulation - clarity, Collection - sense of direction/confidence, and Presentation - satisfaction or disappointment. The interviews and diaries were used to measure if and to what extent each of these feelings were present at each stage of the project.
The impact of the work process dimension (focus formulation) and the group process dimension (working with others) on the information seeking process dimension of individual students were measured. This enabled the researchers to view the information seeking process within the context of the group assignment.
Findings
The study showed that the group setting did impact individuals in cognitive and affective ways that influence information seeking behaviors differently than predicted by the ISP-model. In fact, the influences were noticed in all three project dimensions observed in the study. A particularly interesting feature of working in a group is introduced when members have to depend on others to fulfill segments of the information seeking process. This feature influenced feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and confidence or uncertainty, depending on the actions of others.
Additional conclusions showed the general stages of information seeking, the cognitive pattern associated with focus formulation and the tendency towards an increase in writing while searching decreased as the project progressed were similar between group members and the individual in Kuhltau’s ISP-model. The research also concluded that group based problem solving seems to be a dynamic process that shifts between a group perspective and an individual perspective. Lastly, this activity is further influenced by contextual and social factors beyond the mere information seeking process.
Hyldegard posits that the ISP-model does not fully comply with group members’ problem solving process and the involved information seeking behavior. He suggests further, based on these findings, that academic problem solving seems to be even more complex when it is performed in a group based setting.
Design Implications
The study itself identifies several important limitations. My additional observations are that this study observed activities of very small groups. A study design covering larger groups could amplify these findings or even uncover new information about information seeking behaviors, but studying larger groups might also add complexities beyond its effectiveness.
Knowing that the study is being conducted potentially influences behavior. It doesn’t appear that any steps were taken to establish a “control” group. That may not even be possible, since the study of human subjects requires some prior notification, but the issue is an important consideration.
Hyldegard, Jette (2008). Beyond the search process – Exploring group members’ information behavior in context. Information Processing and Management 45 (2009) 142-158. http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.library.uiuc.edu/10.1016/j.ipm.2008.05.007
Introduction
This paper reports the findings of a case study, which considered Kuhltau’s information seeking process, the (ISP)-Model, in a group based in an academic setting. According to Hyldegard, implicit in many other information process studies is the assumption that the information seeker is an individual. His team set out in this study to look into the impact of contextual and situational factors of a group on the information seeking behavior of group members. The stated purpose of the study was to explore if group members would behave differently from the individual modeled in the ISP-model and why.
Methods
The study was conducted at the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2007. Three groups of students were observed, two groups consisted of three students each and the third included four students. The class, including these students, was assigned a group project. Study participants were interviewed by researchers at three stages of the project -- beginning, middle and conclusion. Additionally, students were required to maintain regular diaries of all activities throughout the assignment. Student feelings, thoughts and actions were recorded and described in the diaries and interviews.
The research team measured the influence of activities in terms of three aspects: feelings (affective), thoughts (cognitive) and actions (physical) on individual group members during completion of various tasks required by the assignment. The researchers paired the six stages of the ISP-model with the associated expected feelings as follows: Initiation - uncertainty, Selection - optimism, Exploration - confusion/frustration/doubt, Formulation - clarity, Collection - sense of direction/confidence, and Presentation - satisfaction or disappointment. The interviews and diaries were used to measure if and to what extent each of these feelings were present at each stage of the project.
The impact of the work process dimension (focus formulation) and the group process dimension (working with others) on the information seeking process dimension of individual students were measured. This enabled the researchers to view the information seeking process within the context of the group assignment.
Findings
The study showed that the group setting did impact individuals in cognitive and affective ways that influence information seeking behaviors differently than predicted by the ISP-model. In fact, the influences were noticed in all three project dimensions observed in the study. A particularly interesting feature of working in a group is introduced when members have to depend on others to fulfill segments of the information seeking process. This feature influenced feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and confidence or uncertainty, depending on the actions of others.
Additional conclusions showed the general stages of information seeking, the cognitive pattern associated with focus formulation and the tendency towards an increase in writing while searching decreased as the project progressed were similar between group members and the individual in Kuhltau’s ISP-model. The research also concluded that group based problem solving seems to be a dynamic process that shifts between a group perspective and an individual perspective. Lastly, this activity is further influenced by contextual and social factors beyond the mere information seeking process.
Hyldegard posits that the ISP-model does not fully comply with group members’ problem solving process and the involved information seeking behavior. He suggests further, based on these findings, that academic problem solving seems to be even more complex when it is performed in a group based setting.
Design Implications
The study itself identifies several important limitations. My additional observations are that this study observed activities of very small groups. A study design covering larger groups could amplify these findings or even uncover new information about information seeking behaviors, but studying larger groups might also add complexities beyond its effectiveness.
Knowing that the study is being conducted potentially influences behavior. It doesn’t appear that any steps were taken to establish a “control” group. That may not even be possible, since the study of human subjects requires some prior notification, but the issue is an important consideration.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Reading Response #1
Inquiring Minds Want to Know – But Why?
Due to my own seemingly insatiable need for information, evidenced by 10 magazine and 3 newspaper subscriptions, of which almost each issue is read start to finish, in addition to reading two non-fiction books every other week or so, the chapters from the Case text on information behavior struck my interest. I have often wondered why some of us are “wired” to be so interested in information. Beyond knowing facts or data, the drive is sometimes deeper and taken to the level of wanting to understand the reasons for things; why are things the way they are, or why are people the way they are.
In chapter 4 of “Information Needs and Information Seeking”, Case notes that information researchers analyzing the issue of human information needs generally cite one of four main authors: Robert Taylor, Nicholas Belkin, Carol Kuhlthau, and Brenda Davis. While the theories of all four authors appeal to me, it seems that their approaches play themselves out in different ways at different times in my own experience. This may also impact how the need is satisfied (when the search is over), the sources and number of sources to be searched, and how the information is then used and incorporated into a body of knowledge.
For example, when facing a simple information need that by all appearances may have a specific and straight forward answer, Belkin’s suggestion of the “ASK Model” may most closely match the motivating force for seeking information. In other words, when the information gap becomes recognized and needs to be answered, the information seeking strategy is also straight forward: get the answer to a specific unknown, and move on. However, when trying to understand the reasons behind any large history-making action or monumental occurrence, Dervin’s approach suggests a different strategy. A more “in-depth” activity is required in order to try and make sense of something. Such a motivation may require more extensive search activity and effort to get underneath the surface of the event. The strategy may lead to context development, analyzing the personalities of the involved people, identifying any extenuating environmental issues, and so forth. All of that background development to me is what Dervin means by making sense of it. It leads to answering the question, “why was it that way”, as opposed to just “how is it”, or “what is it”. Making sense seems to call for a deeper search.
Further, the way that these different models of information seeking motivations play out may very well be related to the concept of satisficing expressed in the Bawden and Robinson reading. For instance, if the motive for information seeking comes from a deeply-seated visceral position, perhaps it is strong enough to cause an in-depth search to really understand and make sense of things. On the other hand, lacking a sense of uncertainty and just wanting to satisfy some curiosity about an information gap may mean that the information seeker is more easily satisfied to just get the first answer from a source and not be overly concerned with authority, scope and treatment of the information by the source.
This may simply be one way of considering Case’s “Spectrum of Motivation”. While there is not necessarily significant difference along the spectrum, or between the models, there is diversity in approach that may encompass more than just the motivation itself. It may also influence the search strategy, commitment to the search and final results or accepted end-point of the seeking exercise.
References
Case, D. O. (2007). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. 2d ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Chapter 4. Information needs and information seeking (pp. 68-83) Bawden, D.; Robinson, L. (2009). The dark side of information: Overload, anxiety and other paradoxes and pathologies. Journal of Information Science 35(2): 180-191.
Due to my own seemingly insatiable need for information, evidenced by 10 magazine and 3 newspaper subscriptions, of which almost each issue is read start to finish, in addition to reading two non-fiction books every other week or so, the chapters from the Case text on information behavior struck my interest. I have often wondered why some of us are “wired” to be so interested in information. Beyond knowing facts or data, the drive is sometimes deeper and taken to the level of wanting to understand the reasons for things; why are things the way they are, or why are people the way they are.
In chapter 4 of “Information Needs and Information Seeking”, Case notes that information researchers analyzing the issue of human information needs generally cite one of four main authors: Robert Taylor, Nicholas Belkin, Carol Kuhlthau, and Brenda Davis. While the theories of all four authors appeal to me, it seems that their approaches play themselves out in different ways at different times in my own experience. This may also impact how the need is satisfied (when the search is over), the sources and number of sources to be searched, and how the information is then used and incorporated into a body of knowledge.
For example, when facing a simple information need that by all appearances may have a specific and straight forward answer, Belkin’s suggestion of the “ASK Model” may most closely match the motivating force for seeking information. In other words, when the information gap becomes recognized and needs to be answered, the information seeking strategy is also straight forward: get the answer to a specific unknown, and move on. However, when trying to understand the reasons behind any large history-making action or monumental occurrence, Dervin’s approach suggests a different strategy. A more “in-depth” activity is required in order to try and make sense of something. Such a motivation may require more extensive search activity and effort to get underneath the surface of the event. The strategy may lead to context development, analyzing the personalities of the involved people, identifying any extenuating environmental issues, and so forth. All of that background development to me is what Dervin means by making sense of it. It leads to answering the question, “why was it that way”, as opposed to just “how is it”, or “what is it”. Making sense seems to call for a deeper search.
Further, the way that these different models of information seeking motivations play out may very well be related to the concept of satisficing expressed in the Bawden and Robinson reading. For instance, if the motive for information seeking comes from a deeply-seated visceral position, perhaps it is strong enough to cause an in-depth search to really understand and make sense of things. On the other hand, lacking a sense of uncertainty and just wanting to satisfy some curiosity about an information gap may mean that the information seeker is more easily satisfied to just get the first answer from a source and not be overly concerned with authority, scope and treatment of the information by the source.
This may simply be one way of considering Case’s “Spectrum of Motivation”. While there is not necessarily significant difference along the spectrum, or between the models, there is diversity in approach that may encompass more than just the motivation itself. It may also influence the search strategy, commitment to the search and final results or accepted end-point of the seeking exercise.
References
Case, D. O. (2007). Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior. 2d ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Chapter 4. Information needs and information seeking (pp. 68-83) Bawden, D.; Robinson, L. (2009). The dark side of information: Overload, anxiety and other paradoxes and pathologies. Journal of Information Science 35(2): 180-191.
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