Information sources used by lawyers in problem solving: An empirical exploration

The information-seeking behavior of lawyers has not been fully investigated empirically. Prior work has tended to focus on legal research as the central task performed by lawyers in their information-seeking activities. This analysis of more than 150 interviews of practicing lawyers showed that legal research should not be considered information-seeking. The lawyers interviewed identified other tasks, such as administration of their law practices, as constituting problem-solving, information-seeking activities. In solving their problems, the lawyers overwhelmingly preferred informal sources when seeking information. In addition, they preferred sources of information internal to their organizations rather than external sources, although this was less true for lawyers from smaller firms. Neither the lawyer’s gender nor the size of the center in which the practice was located influenced the type of information sources chosen. The model for the information-seeking behavior of professionals advanced by another author group is discussed and modifications are suggested that create a new model offering a fuller picture of the behavior of lawyers.     

Literary critics at work and their information needs: A research-phases model

This article focuses on the information needs of literary critics when producing literary criticism. A fundamental aspect of this research, the six-stage model of producing literary criticism, was developed from interviews with literary critics. Using a mail survey, the model was tested and substantiated. The research-phases model provides the context to understand the function of information at each of the identified stages of literary criticism, that is, idea generation, preparation, elaboration, analysis and writing, dissemination, and further writing and dissemination. The model is contrasted with research-phases models of other disciplines. This holistic approach, linking information functions to research stages, advances the study of information-seeking behavior in context.     

Terminology deconstructed: Phenomenographic approaches to investigating the term “information”

Although considerable attention has been focused on information users in recent years, little phenomenographic research into the word “information” has been conducted, perhaps because cursory consideration may suggest that work of this type is less useful than explorations of areas such as information-seeking. The lack of an established methodological framework discourages inquiry and, if understandings of the term are unique to each individual, there seems little scope to develop even broad principles for practice. Nevertheless, phenomenographic research helps professionals to learn how far users’ attitudes to the term “information” are consistent with their own and can reduce confusion between information providers and their clientele. Despite the absence of an accepted framework, several individual techniques are available. Ultimately, the research findings may prove highly instructive. They may, for example, influence the use of the word “information” by professionals when they interact with clients, whilst also offering insights into information behavior and information worlds.     

Terminology deconstructed: Phenomenographic approaches to investigating the term “information”

Although considerable attention has been focused on information users in recent years, little phenomenographic research into the word “information” has been conducted, perhaps because cursory consideration may suggest that work of this type is less useful than explorations of areas such as information-seeking. The lack of an established methodological framework discourages inquiry and, if understandings of the term are unique to each individual, there seems little scope to develop even broad principles for practice. Nevertheless, phenomenographic research helps professionals to learn how far users’ attitudes to the term “information” are consistent with their own and can reduce confusion between information providers and their clientele. Despite the absence of an accepted framework, several individual techniques are available. Ultimately, the research findings may prove highly instructive. They may, for example, influence the use of the word “information” by professionals when they interact with clients, whilst also offering insights into information behavior and information worlds.     

Discovered by chance: The role of incidental information acquisition in an ecological model of information use

The role of information which is incidentally or accidentally acquired has been neglected in the study of information-seeking behavior. The study reported in this article focused on “incidental information acquisition” as a key concept and investigated the information-seeking behavior of 202 older adults, aged 60 and over, from both metropolitan Melbourne and rural areas in the Australian state of Victoria. The approach to the study was ecological in the sense that a picture was built up of information seeking in the context of the lives of the people in the sample, both individually and collectively. A particular and unusual focus of the study was the role of telecommunications, especially the telephone, in information seeking. The implications for society's systems of information provision are discussed, together with ramifications of the finding that older people will be slower than other groups to accept computer-based sources of information for everyday life.Everyone has some set of habits or routines for keeping his internal model of the world up to date…. We have friends, relatives, work associates, and acquaintances to whom we talk regularly and with whom we exchange news and views. We have habits of reading and watching and listening to public vehicles of communication—newspapers, television, radio, magazines and books. These are not random, but patterned activities…. [I]nformation is in part acquired because it is deliberately sought…. It is also found where it is not specifically sought, as an accidental concomitant of routine activities with other purposes or as pure accident.… [I]t is clear that we could describe individual patterns of information-gathering activity, both where the search for information was the primary motive and where it was incidental….(Wilson, 1977, pp. 36–37).     

Is Information-Seeking Behavior of Doctoral Students Changing?: A Review of the Literature (2010–2015)

The advent of the Internet and networked communications in the last 15 years has arguably considerably changed the information behaviors of doctoral students, including the discovery process. Information seeking includes initiating a search, constructing search strategies, and locating and evaluating the identified sources. Current research on information-seeking behaviors is focusing on understanding how the Internet, social media, and other technological and communication-based changes, including mobile technologies, have changed the way students seek information in order to understand the information behaviors of the students of tomorrow. This article offers a review of the literature on information-seeking behaviors, with a particular focus on recent years (2010–2015). It aims to determine whether notable changes in the information-seeking behavior of doctoral students have emerged in recent years. The study shows that the information-seeking behaviors of doctoral students follow a steady trend, with some subtle changes, particularly in the (patchy) use of social media and networking sites. There appears to be more similarities than differences across disciplines in the information-seeking behaviors of doctoral students. Considerations to their information literacy skills are given to understand better the role supervisors and library staff can play to support the doctoral students population in the early stages of the research process.     

When off-line seeks information online: The effect of modality switching and time on attributional confidence and social attraction

This study’s goal was to learn how adding the extractive information-seeking behavior of Facebook profile viewing following face-to-face information-seeking behavior in initial interactions affected attributional confidence (AC) and social attraction (SA). Additionally, the present study was a quasi-replication of research exploring how changes in time spent on information seeking impacted AC and SA testing two uncertainty reduction theory axioms. Two modalities, face-to-face (FtF) only versus FtF and profile viewing, across three time conditions of 4, 6, and 8 minutes yielded six experimental conditions. AC for the two modalities were similar when time was held constant. Comparing the two modalities for 8 minutes resulted in higher social attraction for the FtF-only condition. Also, the data report a significant interaction with modality and time. Time impacts AC and SA even with relatively small changes.     

Theories for practitioners: two frameworks for studying consumer health information-seeking behavior.

Consumer health information studies in library and information science (LIS) are typically not grounded within a theoretical framework. This article explains the importance of theory to LIS research in general, and the specific value of using theories from other disciplines to study consumers' health information-seeking behavior. The argument is supported with two examples: Miller's psychological theory of blunting and monitoring behavior and Granovetter's sociological theory of the strength of weak ties. These theories can be applied by practitioner-researchers to investigate a variety of research problems.     

Scholarly Information Seeking of Academic Engineers and Technologists

This study aimed to investigate the scholarly information-seeking behavior of academic engineers and technologists working at the University of the Punjab. The purpose of the study was to investigate the various information sources being used by academic engineers and technologists for their scholarly tasks, with a focus on use patterns of e-journals. A quantitative study employing “survey” method was conducted to achieve the research objectives. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all regular and contractual academic engineers and technologists working at the university and a response rate of 61% was achieved. The study findings showed that the respondents' most-used information sources were e-journals, e-books, discussion with colleagues, and electronic research reports. They accessed e-journal articles through general search engines, Google Scholar, and open access e-journal websites. Majority of the respondents used e-journals for keeping themselves up-to-date and supervising researchers. While previous studies have investigated academic and practitioner engineers' information-seeking habits, this study is valuable as it investigated academic engineers' and technologists' scholarly information-seeking behavior in relation to their e-journals use patterns.     

The impact of information-seeking self-efficacy and online learning self-efficacy on students' performance proficiency

This study surveyed 359 online undergraduate and graduate students regarding their information-seeking self-efficacy, online learning self-efficacy, and performance proficiency. A mediation model was conducted to examine the direct effect of students' online learning self-efficacy on their performance proficiency and the mediation effect of information-seeking self-efficacy. Multivariate correlational analysis showed that all three variables significantly correlated. Of the three variables, online learning self-efficacy has the strongest correlation to performance proficiency, while the variable with the least amount of correlation is between online-learning and information-seeking efficacies. Moreover, a significant regression equation showed that students' average performance proficiency increased by 0.359 for each point of online learning self-efficacy and 0.323 for each point of information-seeking self-efficacy. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that information-seeking self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between online learning self-efficacy and performance proficiency. In conclusion, information-seeking self-efficacy is a partial mediator and plays a buffering role between online learning self-efficacy and performance proficiency.     

Does Age Matter?: The Information-Seeking Behavior of Filipino Aquaculture Researchers

Findings of previous studies revealed that regardless of the objective, age does affect the information-seeking behavior of an individual. Likewise, this study found the same results. Although all of the younger Filipino aquaculture researchers preferred the Internet to begin their search process, it was found that they were more frequent library users, and more reliant on librarians than their older counterparts. Likewise, they preferred the combination of print and electronic formats when reading. Thus, they would print and save the retrieved electronic copy of information at least very often. The study is a valuable addition to the information-seeking behavior studies on Filipinos, and the first to tackle the effects of age on the information-seeking behavior of Filipino aquaculture researchers.     

Social media use for work during non-work hours and work engagement: Effects of work-family conflict and public service motivation

Social media is widely used for work by civil servants in China at present. In Chinese cultural context, social media use for work during non-work hours (SMUNW) has many different effects on civil servants from those in Western countries. However, we have little understanding about how social media use for work during non-work hours could affect the psychological state of civil servants at work. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory and work-family border theory, this study utilized a moderated mediation model to investigate the relationship between SMUNW and employee work engagement. Based on data collected from 423 Chinese civil servants, the results demonstrated that SMUNW was negatively associated with work engagement. The work-family conflict played a mediating role between SMUNW and work engagement and public service motivation (PSM) moderated the negative effect between work-family conflict and work engagement. More importantly, our findings showed that the indirect relationship between SMUNW and work engagement through work-family conflict was more pronounced for civil servants with higher PSM rather than lower. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

国外高校群体信息查寻行为研究综述

查寻信息已经成为人们日常生活、工作、学习中不可缺少的行为,本文从信息查寻行为的研究方法、影响因素、研究结果应用等三方面对国外高校群体信息查寻行为研究进行综述.     

The role of information in successful aging: The case for a research focus on the oldest old

There are gaps in research regarding the role of information in successful aging as well as concerning the information-seeking behavior of the “oldest old” (those aged 85+). This article encourages researchers in library and information science (LIS) to consider undertaking research to fill these gaps. It therefore addresses issues about the importance of the oldest age group; aging theories, including those specific to successful aging; available theories from the field of human information behavior; prior research about the information needs of the oldest old and source use (including the Internet); and the role that information might play in whether or not people are aging successfully.     

Issues arising from youngsters' information-seeking behavior

Much of the research on the information-seeking behavior of young people has examined either the degree to which they use particular providers or the manner in which they exploit such sources or materials. Considerably less attention has focused on the identification of generic characteristics that relate to the use of a range of information sources. Nevertheless, a recent qualitative research project undertaken in England has revealed that a variety of patterns appear to emerge even when sources of different types are used. While a few are indicative of the nature of the information-seeking process itself, some pertain to users' information-seeking problems and others to patterns of behavior. Many of the recurring features of user behavior reflect attempts by youngsters to simplify the task of information seeking and reduce the effort expended.     

The Effect of Web Search Result Display on Users’ Perceptual Experience and Information Seeking Performance

ABSTRACT

Adding multiple sources of information in the display of Web search results may negatively affect users’ perceptual experience and information-seeking behavior. This claim was established by investigating the impact of different Web search compositions on users’ ability to extract specific information. In this article, we assumed that the quantity and order of different compositions (areas) in the Web search results page may contribute to individual’s ability to find information relevant to their search queries. An eye-tracking device was used to observe and compare the perceptual behavior of 14 users in an information-seeking task. The results showed that the use of different compositions in the display of Web results page significantly influenced users’ perceptual experience by reducing their attention to the organic results area. The quantity of these compositions was found to greatly increase the cognitive load of users when attempting to retrieve information from the organic area, which negatively affects their information-seeking performance. Our finding provides a rationale for further studies to consider the impact of quantity and order of Web page compositions on individuals’ perceptual attention and cognitive load in information-seeking task settings.     

Information-seeking behavior and use of social science faculty studying stateless nations: a case study

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.     

The relationships between work roles and information gathering of the faculty at SUNY,college at Fredonia

A survey of the faculty at the State University of New York (SUNY), College at Fredonia provided data for an investigation into the effect of faculty work roles upon information gathering. Faculty roles of teaching, research, and service are the key components of academic work. The extent to which these roles influence the faculty member's use of six categories of information sources forms the basis of this investigation. The findings indicate that there are discernible patterns in the faculty's use of various sources of information and that one's commitment to teaching, research, and service are factors that influence information gathering, although not always in the manner that had been predicted. Additional investigation of the research role reveals that the faculty member's age, possession of a doctoral degree, and quality of the doctoral degree have a relationship with commitment to research.     

Correlates of Undergraduates’ Information-Seeking Behavior

This study explores the correlates of information-seeking behavior of University of Botswana undergraduate students. Six hundred undergraduate students selected from twelve departments of the university formed the study sample. Two research questions were developed to guide the study. A modified instrument tagged information-seeking behavior scale was used to gather data. Multiple-correlation and multiple-regression statistical tools were employed to analyze the data. The results obtained show that out of the correlate variables, self-efficacy had the highest correlation and greatest significant effect on undergraduates' information-seeking behavior. Furthermore, gender, discipline, enjoyment in seeking information, and self-efficacy significantly predict undergraduates’ information-seeking behavior. However, gender had the least correlation and predictive value with information seeking. Recommendations based on these findings for undergraduate students’ information seeking behavior are highlighted.     

Factors that Influence Information-Seeking Behavior: The Case of Greek Graduate Students

The purpose of this survey is to determine the information-seeking behavior of graduate students of the Faculties of Philosophy (8 Schools) and Engineering (8 Schools) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Discipline did not seem to affect information-seeking behavior critically. The majority of the sample demonstrated a low to medium level of information-seeking behavior. This survey revealed the need for improving the level of graduate students' information literacy skills.