A Longitudinal Analysis of the Information Needs and Uses Literature

This investigation used content analysis to examine the information needs and uses literature published 1984–1989, and 1995–1998. Comparisons are made with similar analyses previously published for the period 1990–1994. Analyses measured degree of interdisciplinarity evident in references cited and identified subject areas cited, determined whether this literature was concerned with users' cognitive processes and with system design and use, and identified research methods used. Secondary analyses included journal type, author type, article type, whether the literature was grounded in theory, and user groups considered. This study extends results published previously, and demonstrates longitudinal development of research in this subfield of library and information science.