Trends in information behavior research, 1999-2008: A content analysis

A content analysis of articles published between 1999 and 2008 in the area of information behavior yielded results directly comparable to previous research and demonstrated little change in research methods employed, relative interest in particular user groups, or attention to affective variables. However, interdisciplinarity of the literature has increased, and it appears that the proportions of researchers and practitioners contributing to the literature in this area have reversed: now a majority of authors are researchers. This suggests an increase in scholarly activity in the area, a finding consistent with other recent reviews.     

Emotions as motivators for information seeking: A conceptual analysis

This conceptual analysis of how emotions and feelings are characterized as motivators for information seeking draws on the appraisal theories suggesting that emotions motivate individuals by triggering action readiness to approach or avoid sources of information. The findings indicate that emotions and feelings motivate in five major ways: they start, expand, limit, or terminate the information-seeking process, or they lead to information avoidance. Information scientists have mainly characterized the motivational aspects of negatively colored emotions such as anxiety and fear while the role of positive emotions such as joy has remained secondary.     

Toward community-engaged information behavior research: A methodological framework

There is a dearth of information behavior research employing a community-engaged approach. This research takes the concept of community engagement as its central focus, reviewing its proximal use in information behavior research and arguing its potential as an integrative process that can restore and reposition the community-researcher relationship in the information behavior field. The “why – what – how” of undertaking community-engaged information behavior (CEIB) research were elaborated and a methodological framework was developed based on these discussions. The CEIB methodology introduced advances a new approach to study human-information interactions, consisting of principles and core components and characteristics of CEIB research that moves beyond the one-sided, researcher-led information behavior study.     

图书馆用户信息行为研究综述

现代图书馆的信息环境使得图书馆用户信息行为的研究具有普遍的意义。文章在文献调研的基础上对国内图书馆用户信息行为研究的进展及研究方法进行了分析总结，提出了未来研究的思路。     

Proactivity in digital public services: A conceptual analysis

Public organizations are looking for new ways to use digital technologies to increase the efficiency of their internal processes and improve their interactions with clients, whether citizens or businesses. In response, scholars suggest that public organizations be proactive in digital public services such that the organizations approach their clients, rather than the other way around. In the most extreme form of proactivity, clients do not have to do anything to receive a public service. Although various examples of proactive public services are in use, how proactivity changes the conceptual understanding of digital public services remains unclear. Therefore, we derive the changes that proactivity causes in a conceptualization of digital public service by means of a conceptual analysis through the lens of a seminal theoretical work on proactivity. The results indicate that proactivity can ensure equal accessibility to a subset of public services, rely on more comprehensive integration of IT systems on the back end, and change how value is co-created in the service process. We formulate the changes as propositions that future work can investigate empirically and discuss proactive digital public services as a way to reduce clients' administrative burden. We contribute to theory by clarifying the conceptual changes in digital public services that proactivity invokes and call for joint research by scholars of public administration, information systems, and service management to relate the research streams of administrative burden and proactive digital public service.     

Companion animal representation and voice in information behavior research

Animals, specially companion species, are an integral part of our daily homes and cities but have not been the focus of everyday information behavior research to date. The practice of incorporating animals into research is not straightforward because they do not share our language or norms. The question this research aims to answer is: how can the perspective of other animal subjects be incorporated in information behavior research? This preliminary study of four multispecies families, included humans, dogs, and cats in the research design, and a more-than-human perspective was used as a research paradigm, offering different ways of thinking about ethnography and phenomenology methods. Five methodological strategies (speaking for the animal, listening differently, walking and sensing, photography, and technological mediation) proved effective in making the role of animals in the information experience of multispecies family visible. The article concludes with a discussion of the methodological implications that emerge when a researcher claims to view humans as conjoined with other life forms and seeks to include animals in information behavior research.     

Use of narrative interviewing in everyday information behavior research

With an increasing focus on developing a theoretical understanding of everyday life information behaviors, researchers need to consider the appropriateness of the methods and techniques utilized in empirical research in this area. Progressively, studies articulate the need for a person-centered approach to researching human information behavior, yet research methods can be adopted that do not encourage the study participants to express freely their views and experiences. This article proposes that narrative and episodic interviewing techniques are qualitative research methods that sustain a person-centered paradigm of human information behavior and that provide a particularly useful methodological framework for studies of everyday life information-seeking behavior. Furthermore, the author discusses her own work-in-progress that involves narrative interviews.     

Popular information: An analysis of FOI use and behavior

A substantial amount of freedom of information research exists, though a majority is focused on U.S. laws' outcomes and FOI's shortcomings. But little is known about who makes requests and why requests are made in the United States. The exploratory study addresses these gaps via a nationally representative survey across key demographic variables of 1116 U.S. residents. Analysis found advanced education to be a strong, positive predictor of FOI familiarity and request submission. Malegender and a belief that FOI improves government accountability were also found to be significant predictors of FOI knowledge and use. The survey sampled U.S. residents, but the results may have international application and suggest continued research on who uses FOI laws and why.     

Diversity-related research reported in high-impact library and information science journal literature: A content analysis

This study reports a content analysis of the frequency distribution of diversity-related research in four high-impact Library and Information Science (LIS) journals published between 1995 and 2014. High-impact journals (with high rankings and impact factors) were chosen because empirically based articles from them are more likely to be able to influence future research direction. The journals chosen were published articles quarterly or bi-monthly, with an average of 5–6 articles per issue. A total of 1766 research articles were collected, with 28.71% determined to be related to diversity. Results show an increasing interest in diversity-related research in the LIS field, with a dramatic increase between 2010 and 2014. The majority of diversity-related research focuses on age, gender and ethnicity. Only a small portion of research discusses issues concerning specific populations and emphasizes diversity-related theoretical concepts. More efforts are needed to highlight the link in order to contribute to the diversity and inclusion agenda in LIS.     

浅析科研管理中的情报信息工作

阐释了情报信息在科研管理中的重要地位和作用，认为情报信息在科研管理中有决策参考、调控依据、评价反馈等作用，探讨了科研情报信息的获取和利用，并对在科研管理中加强科研情报信息工作进行了策略思考。     

Scenarios in information seeking and information retrieval research: A methodological application and discussion

Scenario has been used as a research tool to study information seeking and information retrieval. This review of the nature and development of scenario use reveals a variety of applications and a number of practical methodological issues. While scenarios have a number of advantages, there are limitations. Consideration of these advantages and challenges leads to recommendations for constructing and presenting scenarios.     

The attributes of research on end-user online searching behavior: A retrospective review and analysis

A total of 163 studies examining end-user behaviors (as reported in 175 individual articles) were selected and analyzed for their research attributes. From the earliest identified study to those conducted before the end of 2000, recurring themes emerged, as did characteristics unique to particular studies. The majority of researchers employed nonexperimental quantitative data collection methods. However, a select group of qualitative studies and a few experimental investigations also were identified. Research designs combining multiple methodologies were the norm. The variables prevalent across studies were broadly classified into a typology under end-user traits, system attributes, organizational setting, task and request characteristics, performance outcomes and obstacles, and results measures. The specific behaviors that researchers concentrated upon most often were the end-users' searching techniques, relevance judgments about information they found, satisfaction with search results, and prior knowledge brought to bear on online searching assignments. Also examined were trends in publishing, geographic locations of field sites, databases selected for searching activities, and the characteristics of searcher cohorts.     

A scoping review of individual differences in information seeking behavior and retrieval research between 2000 and 2015

Individual differences have long been of interest in information science as they bear on the design of information systems and services for specific populations. Yet little is known as to which individual differences make a difference to search outcomes, both across applications and for diverse user groups. A scoping study of information seeking and retrieval research from 2000 to 2015 was conducted. Over 2100 articles retrieved from eight scholarly databases were screened based on title, abstract, and full-text (using specified inclusion criteria), resulting in 223 papers for analysis. Data were extracted to provide an overview of the literature, including types of individual differences studied, publication volume over time, measures, samples, and study outcomes. Findings are inconclusiveness regarding how individual differences affect search outcomes, and raise issues around measurement and generalizability. This study represents an essential first step to developing a more systematic investigation of individual differences research and connecting individual research studies to anchor and guide future work.     

信息消费动力及其行为分析

本文从信息经济学角度 ,针对信息消费内涵、信息消费动力以及信息消费行为等信息消费的核心问题进行了分析。     

A clickstream data analysis of Chinese academic library OPAC users' information behavior

Chinese academic libraries have been devoting great effort into introducing next-generation online public access catalogs (OPACs) in order to provide a better user experience. However, there is a lack of empirical research on their usage. In this study, a transaction log file from a typical next-generation OPAC, the Wuhan University Library OPAC, formed the basis for an investigation of users' information behavior, using a clickstream data analysis framework. The 26,732,368 clickstream records in the original log file were cleaned, parsed, coded, then analyzed at the footprint, movement, and pathway levels. The results showed that the users relied heavily on the single-box simple search interface, seldom involved themselves in an exploratory search process, and preferred page navigation over search refinement when interacting with search results. The OPAC was used as a lookup tool to locate known academic resources and as a personal information management tool to utilize basic library services, instead of as a discovery tool as intended.     

Mixed methods research in library and information science: A methodological review

Mixed methods research is gaining prominence in the library and information science (LIS) discipline. However, according to previous analyses, few LIS studies utilized mixed methods research, and the researchers did not recognize or describe them as such. The present methodological review assesses the current state of mixed methods research in LIS. Eighty-four articles published between 2017 and 2018 and indexed in two core LIS databases, match the common definition of mixed methods. Out of those, 65 articles self-identified as mixed methods were analyzed focusing on reporting and conduct, specifically, the integration of quantitative and qualitative components. Review results suggest that more efforts are needed to raise awareness about using and reporting mixed methods research in LIS. This review provides guidance for future work and contributes to the discussion on how we can further improve methodological rigor, research training, and reproducibility in LIS.     

Interpersonal communication: A conceptual framework

A conceptual framework based on the fundamental psychological needs of recognition and belonging, permits a classification of communication situations which puts into clearer perspective the relationship of these psychological needs to favorable and unfavorable attitudes in communication.     

网络用户信息行为研究

本文将从网络信息行为的概念入手，探讨了网络信息行为的影响因素，然后从信息检索行为、信息交流行为两个方面探讨网络用户信息利用的规律。