L503 User Needs and Behavior in Theory and Practice

Learning Guide
Prepared by
Jean Umiker-Sebeok and Kim Gregson
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University - Bloomington
Created Fall, 1996; Revised Aug., 1998

The Information Search Process

In our discussions of Information Use Environments, the development of design scenarios, and information in organizations, we mentioned the importance of understanding how users are accustomed to searching for information -- a subset of information behaviors which has received a good deal of attention in Library and Information Science. This week, we focus on the general emotional and cognitive aspects of the search process.

The Subjective and Situational Nature of Searching

Dervin (1992) reminds us that information does not exist apart from human behavioral activity. Books, magazines, and newspapers all contain reams of facts, examples, quotes, graphs, and important ideas. Only when they are read, interpreted and put to use by a person with an information need do they move from raw data to information. Information is "that sense created at a specific moment in time-space by one or more humans" (Dervin 1992, p.66). Sense-making is subjective and situational. The relevance an information object has for an individual is dependent on the individual's definition of their situation, which changes dynamically as time-space change.
Dervin focuses on understanding gap-bridging as a means of better predicting how users will search and use for information. The concept of discontinuity is a central principle of her approach, as it is for Kuhlthau. Effective information is information which helps the individual, in some time and space, to bridge a gap in their life. Dervin's Micro-Moment Timeline interview method is designed to find out how the individual conceptualizes their gap or problem, how s/he moves tactically to bridge the gap, and how s/he uses information to bridge the gap and move on. Understanding how a person perceives their situation will give the information professional a better grasp of what the search process will be like than knowing what socioeconomic or other group the person belongs to.

Six Stages of the Search Process

Kuhlthau (1993) also begins with the notion of discontinuity and the need to study the temporal nature of the search process. She also sees the need to understand the emotions involved in information searching and to see the search as a holistic process.

Users start the search process with an anomalous state of knowledge (ASK), a concept derived from the work of N. Belkin. They may not know enough about their topic to identify interesting bits to focus on or even enough to form intelligent questions. They cannot identify what it is they do not know. As they move through the search process, through the feelings of uncertainty that come from their lack of understanding of the topic, they gain more knowledge and their information needs become much more specific. Personal interest in the topic increases as the user becomes more confident of his or her understanding of the topic and ability to research it in the allotted time.

While reading about the specific stages of the search below, think about the feelings and thoughts you had as you began to work on your class project. Did you go through a similar series of experiences?

Task Initiation - Users think about the project and how it relates to past projects. They try to better comprehend the subject by discussing possible topics with other users and thinking about different approaches to finding information. They feel uncertain; they don't know exactly how to start or how to define their topic.
Selection (of a General Topic) - Users start to identify and select general topics and approaches. They think about how topics fit in with their personal interests, the time that is available before the assignment is due. They do a preliminary search of available information looking for alternate topics. They continue talking with others about topics and approaches. They are much less anxious after choosing a topic.
Exploration - Users begin their research on the basic topic to expand their understanding of the topic. They form a more specific focus on some aspect of the topic. Users become confused and uncertain again during this stage and are inclined to give up the topic. They may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they find on the general topic.
Formulation (of Topical Focus) - Users form their focus topic from the information they have gathered so far. They think about which ideas to select from the information that will fit best with their topic. They read over notes, talk and write about their new focus. The focus emerges slowly as they work with the ideas they have gathered. Emotionally they are much more confident of their ability to succeed.
Collection (of information about the topical focus) - Users works with the information system to find information on the focused topic. They are looking for information that supports and better defines their focus topic. They take detailed notes. They are confident now that they can finish the search process.
Closure - Users complete the search and begin to actually use the information to write their report. They do some rechecking for missed information. They often stop searching even if there is still information available because of time pressures. At this stage, they feel relieved and satisfied with the search process and with the information they have retrieved.

Common Errors Searchers Make

There are several common mistakes that searchers make. Mann (1993) notes, for example, that users come to information systems, specifically libraries, with preconceived ideas of what they will find. Based on these schemas, they often limit their information requests to what they think is available. Often, this results in users not getting exactly what they need even though the library does have it.

Kuhlthau observes that one of the most common errors that searchers make is to jump directly from the early, pre-focus stages to the COLLECTION stage. Perhaps pressed for time, or intimidated by the information system or library, they immediately try to collect materials for their project, not realizing that they first need to explore the general topic and then define a focus before doing any serious collecting. Patrons are often abetted in this by information professionals who see success as getting "stuff" into customers' hands rather than true problem-solving.

Your team may have had the urge to rush out and collect materials to put on your Web page rather than first exploring the needs of users. This is a common problem in Web design. Your user group members may also have fixed early on information objects that can be found on the Web. Hopefully, during your needs analysis, you are refocusing their attention on their needs and behaviors.

One of the expectations people have when they approach libraries is that they should formulate their need in terms which the librarian -- or the information system -- will understand. Ingwersen (1982) notes that this expectation often leads to what he calls labeling effect. The user expresses his/her need in terms of a label or term which they think fits the system's needs. Instead of using their own terms to define their problem, they choose words ? such as subject category terms ? which they believe are the words likely to be used by the system. Unfortunately, this often has the effect of misstating the user's need. During a reference interview, the use of such labels may mislead the librarian into thinking that the patron already has a focused topic, causing him/or her to jump directly to the collection phase of the search rather than carefully exploring the patron's need.

Kuhlthau also notes that many searchers assume that the information search process is a linear one, but that it is not. Because it is situation-dependent, a searcher may pursue what they think is their focus, only to find that it is not of interest to them or there is too little on the subject. They might thus find themselves cycling back to the early stages of the search process, looking for a new focus. Certainly this is likely to happen when a searcher jumps ahead to the collection phase before understanding the focus of their search.

Information Professions and the Search Process

As information professionals, we need to be as supportive as possible during the first stages of the search, when the user is so uncertain and anxious. We must learn to recognize the negative feelings that searchers have at this stage and reassure them that these feelings are a normal part of the process. We also need to remember that users do not know these stages in the search process and may think they are always going to feel overwhelmed and anxious. Perhaps part of our job is to help them recognize where they are in the sequence of stages, and to let them know that the process may involve "going back to the beginning".

We have to realize that users in the early stages may approach us with a fairly specific request not because they have a carefully thought-out focus but because they think that this is what the information professional wants to hear. Rather than accepting this request at face value and steering them toward collecting specific materials, we should encourage them to explore more general sources. It is only in stage 5 that users can make specific requests of the information professional. Before then, before the topic focus is chosen, it is hard for both the user and the information professional to identify what information is relevant. This may keep them from abandoning a topic too early and help them move from the unfocused search to the more productive focused stage so they can begin the next process of writing the report.
Developers of information systems can not assume that users know exactly what they want. These systems can include tools to help searchers focus their search, such as a thesaurus or a controlled vocabulary to help them learn the terms used for a particular topic, or brief tutorials on different kinds of search strategies. We can include general level information. We can let them build search queries a piece at a time as they learn more about a subject.

Many actions are involved in focusing their topic and collecting information. Users explore the topic by reading general reference works. They reflect on their reading to identify areas of interest. They talk and write about their ideas. They browse more specific works on the topic. They take notes. They create outlines. Information systems need to be created that will support all these actions. Libraries are still better at supporting the collection of information than the formulation of a focus formulation, social activities, or working with the information. Mann (1993) points out another drawback to searching in traditional libraries: Materials are scattered around the library based on some classification system. Books are in one place, magazines in another, pamphlets in a vertical file. Each has its own separate indexing tool. In other words, libraries are not set up to make searching easy. Part of this goes back to the "warehouse" metaphor for libraries. It is easier to keep track of resources if they are all stored together. We will talk more about this later in the course, when we discuss the representation and organization of information.

Throughout the search process, people tend to use information that is easy to find and close at hand. This includes talking to their friends and other students about the search process. Information systems need to support this social aspect of the search process too so that users can discuss the topic and search process with others. We can build in communications tools so they can share ideas with others or so they can post questions for other users that know something about the topic. We will talk more about such tools later in the course.

Users come upon redundant information as they search. This helps them verify what they have read in other sources and determine what is relevant. Part of the uncertainty and anxiety during the first stages of the search process come from the absence of redundant information. Users cannot tell what is important because everything is new and different. Information professionals need to help users learn to be more tolerant of the lack of redundancy at the beginning of the search process. At later stages, redundancy leads to boredom. This may be a sign for users to move on to other processes, such as writing the report.

In addition to using our understanding of the search process to improving the reference interview process, Kuhlthau notes that it is also useful for designing bibliographic instruction. Rather than simply demonstrating how to interact with an OPAC or other information system, information professionals should teach users how the various information resources and tools can be used to develop strategies which match their needs at different stages of the search process.
Dervin's sense-making interview can help the information professional discover where in the user's search questions arise or where they get confused. We need to help them define a gap in their knowledge so that we can then help them build meaning from available information to bridge the gap. Dervin identifies several ways we can do this. We help them identify strategies that they prefer to use to find answers and then look at what success they have had with those methods. We can then help them use those preferred strategies in their current search or suggest new strategies that might be more successful.

Bibliography

Dervin, Brenda (1992) From the mind's eye of the user: The sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology, in J.D. Glazier and R.R. Powell (eds.), Qualitative Research in Information Management, pp. 61-84. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Ingwersen, P. (1982). Search procedures in the library - Analysed from the cognitive point of view. Journal of Documentation 38(3): 165-191.

Kuhlthau, Carol C. (1993) The information search process & Uncertainty principle, chs. 3 & 7 in Seeking Meaning. A Process Approach to Library and Information Services, pp. 33-53, 108-127. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Mann, T. (1993). The importance of models in concealing or revealing search options, ch. 1 in Library Research Models: A Guide to Classification, Cataloging, and Computers, pp. 3-7. New York: Oxford University Press.

Taylor, R. (1968). Question negotiation and information seeking in libraries. College and Research Libraries 29: 178-194.