Everyday Life Information Seeking Research Articles

Everyday life information seeking: A systematic review with bibliometric analysis

This study presents the first comprehensive systematic review and bibliometric analysis of the Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) research domain, spanning nearly three decades of academic contributions. Initiated by Savolainen’s groundbreaking study in 1995, ELIS research has significantly progressed; however, to date, no researchers have undertaken a thorough overview of this field. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study combines systematic review techniques with bibliometric analysis, aiming to bridge this gap. The methodology includes rigorous data filtration from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, amassing a total of 345 articles published between 1995 and 2023. Findings indicate a marked increase in ELIS publications and citations, particularly after 2008, underscoring a growing interest in everyday life information seeking. Analysis identified significant contributions from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Australia. Thematic analysis unveiled three main research directions: the influence of digital technology on ELIS, information seeking in health scenarios, and diverse information needs and sources among specific user groups. Furthermore this study also proposes an integrative framework, emphasizing the importance of understanding information-seeking behaviors within the complex and diverse context of everyday life. It recognizes the necessity of incorporating various sociocultural perspectives and adapting to the continuously evolving digital environment. This framework serves as a valuable resource for scholars and practitioners dedicated to improving information services and interventions in daily life. The limitations of this study include language and database restrictions, as well as the exclusion of gray literature. Additionally, given the significant potential of integrating information seeking with technology to improve daily life, future research should focus on the foundational theoretical issue of how artificial intelligence technology is reshaping users’ ELIS behaviors.

Isolated, individualised, and immobilised: information behaviour in the context of academic casualisation

Introduction. Universities rely increasingly on contract academic staff for teaching and research activities; yet, working in precarious conditions, these staff face significant challenges in finding relevant workplace information, in engaging with colleagues, and in building their careers. This study examines contract academic staff perceptions of precarity and workplace marginalisation, focusing on the implications of situational and environmental influences on their information practices. Method. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 34 contract academic staff, working in various disciplines across Canadian universities, were conducted to examine their information practices. Analysis. Interview data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, drawing on everyday life information seeking and information marginalisation theories. Results. Results of the study show that 1) contract academic staff conduct their work within isolated information environments; 2) this isolation leads these staff to develop highly individualised information practices; and 3) the information activities of contract academic staff are often immobilised, due to the precarious contexts that shape their work and personal lives. Conclusion. Precarious employment and information marginalisation are deeply entwined for contract academic staff. This results in frustration, disappointment, and uncertainty with their work and personal circumstances. Institutional challenges can seem intractable, particularly where task-related information provision (when available) cannot address systemic concerns.

Information behavior and HIV/AIDS/STI awareness among Bangladeshi female sex workers: Do informational programs help?

Using de Certeau's concepts of “tactics” and “strategies,” this study explores the everyday information seeking behavior of female sex workers (FSWs) in Bangladesh. This study also examined the effectiveness of informational programs on HIV/AIDS and STI in empowering FSWs to negotiate condom use during sex. A mixed method research design was employed in this study, which included face-to-face surveys with 116 female sex workers (FSWs) and four focus group discussions (FGDs) with 23 street based FSWs. The study finds that Bangladeshi female sex workers use “tactics” in meeting their information needs. They reported rarely using formal information sources such as government agencies and indicated sometimes being harassed by law enforcement agencies because of their professional status, creating a distance between formal information agencies and their everyday life information seeking. Furthermore, FSWs reported having significant unmet information needs. The findings regarding the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and STI informational programs indicated that simply providing ‘information’ may not be sufficient to empower FSWs to negotiate safer sexual practices with their clients.

Space invaders: First-time users feel like intruders in the makerspace

Makerspaces have proven to be mainstays within library ecosystems. However, alongside the continued popularization of library makerspaces, there remains a seemingly immovable issue endemic to these environments; makerspaces continue to attract a narrow demographic of patrons. The threshold of the makerspace serves as a critical site for inquiry, specifically, for insight around students' everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behaviors. This study responds to the research question, “Why do students from underrepresented communities turn away at the threshold of a makerspace?” The research design is methodologically informed by participatory action research (PAR) and grounded theory and uses a virtual reality (VR) makerspace to provide a consistent “threshold” experience to capture students' fleeting first impressions. The research findings offer novel insight into the information seeking behaviors of students by capturing and analyzing critical data that haven't been collected before: the real-time thoughts and feelings of students from underrepresented communities entering a makerspace for the first time.

The Information Behavior of African American Teens

Research on the information-seeking behavior of teens has produced numerous articles over the past decade. Although a good number of research articles list sociocultural factors, such as identity, as playing a critical role in teen’s information-seeking behavior, very few explicitly cover racial identity. The goal of this study is to examine the everyday life information-seeking behavior of African American teens, using previously applied information-seeking models. Though African American teens are not alone in their ethnic experience, they are unique in that decades of systemic racism and inequality impacts their academic standing. The literature review examines research on the everyday life information-seeking (ELIS) behavior of teens, sources of teen information acquisition, modes of information-seeking, and factors that impact teen information-seeking behavior. Additionally, limited existing research on the information behavior of African American communities is reviewed. The findings are that the existing information-seeking behavior research has noticeable contradictory results in regard to African American communities. This mixed-method study will use observations, interviews, and online surveys of African American teens and librarians. The findings will be compared to previous teen information behavior research to see if and how African American teens’ information-seeking behavior is impacted by socio-cultural factors such as cultural beliefs, norms, and institutional barriers. This research would assist in clarifying the information behavior of African American youth and potentially influence information literacy education to be more inclusive and culturally responsive, and thus more impactful in lifelong learning for all youth.

Young Adults' Online Sexual Health Information Seeking and Evaluating Skills: Implications for Everyday Life Information Literacy Instruction

ABSTRACTMany young adults (particularly LGBTQ+ young people) often do not receive relevant sexual health information in school‐based health education classes, leaving them with unmet information needs, which they largely go online in order to fulfill. Meanwhile, information literacy instruction is almost exclusively provided to young adults within an academic context; thus, the knowledge and skills they learn may not be easily adapted to everyday life contexts, including health. In order to learn more about this potential mismatch and to identify potential ways in which we might improve information literacy instruction for this population, I conducted an online survey incorporating LGBTQ+ inclusive language. The results suggest that the most popular online health information evaluation strategies amongst young adults may be unreliable and, while this population may understand more reliable methods, they appear to struggle to apply these “academic” information evaluation skills to their everyday life information seeking, thus suggesting the need for improved and updated information literacy instruction that is more broadly applicable to people's everyday life information needs.

Everyday Life Information for the People with Special Needs: A Technological Approach towards Mass Literacy

Access to everyday life information of a person with special needs seems to experience frequent hindrances in the form of Way of Life and Mastery of Life since a person of such difficulties finds the traditional mode of delivery of information from public libraries in West Bengal insufficient in getting the required information for lifelong learning. Modern day technology comes as a remedy to this. Everyday life information seeking of twenty four people with special needs of the existing six public libraries in Chanditala II and adjunct blocks of Hooghly District in West Bengal have been studied in the present investigation using micro-moment timeline interview and survey method. Recommendations have been made exploring various apps-developing platforms such as Android, Apple, and even search engines like Google etc. to endeavour to reach the zenith of mass literacy. ChromeVox, Google search through Google Voices etc. offered by Google; Text-to Speech apps offered by Android; AccessTech, Proloquo2Go, iConverse, iCommunicate etc. offered by Apple for blind and visually impaired people are some of them that can be used in public libraries in order to smoothen the everyday life information searching experience of persons with special needs like never before. DAISY Digital Talking Book, Audio Books, books procured from the Organizations such as Learning Ally (U.S.) can be made accessible in order to secure the lifelong learning of people with special needs in public libraries.

Everyday life as an evolving context of information behaviour

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to elaborate the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour by examining how researchers have approached this issue. To this end, particular attention is directed to how they have characterized everyday life as a constellation of work-related and non-work constituents.Design/methodology/approachEvolutionary concept analysis was conducted by focussing on 40 studies on the topic. It is examined how the conceptualizations of everyday life and the relationships between work-related and non-work constituents have been evolved since the 1990s. The analysis is based on the comparison of the similarities and differences between the characterizations of the above constituents.FindingsEarly conceptualizations of everyday life as a context of information behaviour were largely based on Savolainen's model for everyday life information seeking. Later studies have proposed a more holistic approach to everyday life in times when the boundaries between work-related and free-time activities have become blurred, due to the growing use of networked information technologies and telecommuting. Since the late 1990s, the understanding about the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour has become more nuanced; thanks to a more detailed identification of the overlaps of work-related and non-work constituents.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study is based on a sample of studies examining the relationships of work-related and non-work constituents, the findings cannot be generalized to concern the contextual nature of everyday life as a whole.Originality/valueThe study pioneers by offering an in-depth analysis of the nature of everyday life as a context of information behaviour.

Everyday life information seeking in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic: daily topics of information needs in social Q&A

PurposeThis study investigated information needs on COVID-19 by identifying topics discussed on social questions and answers (Q&A) about daily routines, problems, and health issues for survival. A layered model of contexts for everyday life information seeking (ELIS) was adapted for interpreting topics to better understand the contexts in which users could relate information needs.Design/methodology/approachQuestions and answers posted on Naver Knowledge-iN were collected and analyzed during the first nine months following the outbreak. Time distribution, topic modeling, and association rule mining were applied to examine the topics on COVID-19 and their temporal variation.FindingsNumerous topics related to the cognitive context (symptoms and masks) and situational contexts (international affairs, financial support, study, and work) were discovered. Topics related to social context were discussed moderately, but the number of questions on this topic increased with time. Strong associations were observed between terms related to symptoms, indicating their importance as a COVID-19 topic in health.Originality/valueThis study investigated topics of information needs using social Q&A data in which not only information inquiry but also information sharing coexist. The findings can help bridge the theory of ELIS to topic modeling in practice. The insights gained from this study can be used by information service providers for developing guidance and programs about how to survive during a pandemic.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0547.

From participation roles to socio‐emotional information roles: Insights from the closure of an online community

AbstractThis study examines what happens when an online community (OC) platform is shut down. In particular, it builds on recent interest from information science on everyday life information seeking, providing insights into the socio‐emotional roles enacted by users following community closure. A qualitative study is undertaken on 12 months of social media comments relating to the closure of an OC platform. We identify and discuss the socio‐emotional information roles that manifest, and present a model of their relationship to different aspects of the closure. We make theoretical connections between the notion of socio‐emotional information roles and both the information behavior and practice literature, as well as research on community and participant roles. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

‘Confused, scared, hopeless, unsure.’ Teens looking for information about COVID-19

Presents findings from an online questionnaire investigating teens’ information-seeking about COVID-19.Methods. Online questionnaire completed by 26 teens, ages 15 to 19 years, living in Brooklyn, New York, in June 2020. Responses include quantitative data (ranking and checklists) and qualitative data (free writing). The questionnaire explored information themes in relation to COVID-19, such as information sources and platforms, credibility and disinformation, teens’ roles in information intermediation, affective aspects of their information behaviour, as well as what would have helped teens find COVID-19 information. Teens experienced anxiety as they looked for reliable information about COVID-19. They served as their family’s language brokers and technology experts, taking on the responsibilities of information intermediator. Teens used social media platforms and legacy media as information sources. Nevertheless, teens indicated a wish for institutional support and guidance from governments (municipal, state, federal) and schools. Libraries were not an information source. The results of this study have implications for research into teen mental health in relation to the COVID-19 global pandemic, as well as reframing the meaning of ‘everyday life information seeking’ during a time of crisis, when everyday life is not normal.

Understanding New Yorkers' Everyday Life Information Seeking Behavior in the Context of Coping with COVID-19.

This poster presents preliminary findings of a study which examines New Yorkers' everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior in the context of coping with COVID‐19. Based on semi‐structured interviews with 10 New Yorkers, this study identified 15 major categories of everyday life information needs, and developed a typology of New Yorkers' preferred ELIS sources. These typologies show New Yorkers' specific ELIS behavior during the pandemic, such as actively seeking information regarding grocery shopping and delivery, health safety guidelines, and current events. Social media became a popular source for immediate, local, and relevant information in New Yorkers' daily lives. These findings could form a knowledge base to inform the development of information services to assist residents of large urban areas in coping with public health crises.

Associations between mastery of life and everyday life information‐seeking behavior among older adults: Analysis of the Pew Research Center's information engaged and information wary survey data

AbstractGiven the aging world, it is important to understand older adults' everyday life information seeking (ELIS), which plays a vital role in healthy aging in later life. The present study analyzed national survey data collected by the Pew Research Center in 2016 based on Savolainen's ELIS model. The model's core concept, mastery of life, was measured in terms of general coping style to find information (cognitive vs. affective) and expectations about the findability of necessary information (optimistic vs. pessimistic). Weighted multiregression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between mastery of life and ELIS behavior of older Americans (65 years or older) in terms of breath and depth of interest in everyday topics, holding other sociocultural and demographic factors constant. The results showed a cognitive, as opposed to affective, coping style was associated with a wider range of ELIS topics and a deeper level of interest in political and cultural topics. However, whether an individual had an optimistic or pessimistic perspective toward information seeking was not associated with the variety or depth of interest in everyday topics. Neither dimension was related to the depth of interest in sports topics. Practical, theoretical, and methodological implications of the findings are provided.

Everyday Life Information Seeking Patterns of Resident Female University Students in Pakistan

Purpose: Everyday life information seeking (ELIS) is essential for the mastery of life and plays a central role in the daily problem-solving activities of all human beings. This study aimed to investigate the everyday life information seeking of female university students residing at hostels in Lahore, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research approach using a survey method was adopted to identify the dimensions of ELIS and to fill the paucity of research on the topic. Two-hundred and forty-eight female students living in various university and private hostels in Lahore, Pakistan, were surveyed, and the collected data was analyzed using Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Findings: Results of the study revealed that hostel living expanded the social circle of students, as it offered exposure to diverse multicultural social groups. Female students living in hostels required information related to their academic needs, safety concerns, social life, and self-help issues. They relied mainly on mobiles phones, the internet, social media, and inter-personal relationships for everyday information. Cultural differences, natural hesitation, language barriers, time concerns, and difficulty in identifying reliable information were the primary obstacles in meeting everyday life information needs. Originality/value: The findings of this study can be used as a premise for developing interventions and information services for female students that allow them to live comfortably in a safe environment in hostels and achieve their educational goals. The study results may also provide useful insights for university administrations to establish libraries in hostels to better cater to their female residents’ information needs.

A Study on Everyday Life Information Seeking and User Experience of Public Library in Contactless Society

A Study on Everyday Life Information Seeking and User Experience of Public Library in Contactless Society

Constructionists’ approaches to information literacy: exploring Savolainen’s everyday life information seeking in information literacy research

This paper explores current issues in information literacy specifically as it relates to Savolainen’s literary work on Everyday Life Information Seeking. It aims to examine how information literacy research has evolved and how Savolainen’s work derived from a social constructionists’ approach contribute to current information literacy thinking and practice. The methodology used is conceptual analysis. Based on the outcome of the literature review and analysis of the research questions of the paper, the importance of the concepts of information literacy and Everyday Life Information Seeking are emphasised in ways that contribute to previous research and aspects relating to under-studied areas of information literacy research.

Understanding everyday life information seeking behavior in the context of coping with daily hassles: A grounded theory study of female students

Studying everyday life information seeking (ELIS) in a variety of contexts contributes to its conceptual development. The primary goal of this study was to understand ELIS in the context of female university students' coping with daily hassles. To identify the dimensions and determinants of ELIS, and to fill this current gap in the literature, a grounded theory study was conducted using Flick's stages of episodic interviewing with 21 Iranian female first-year university students. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed through open, axial and selective coding. The findings showed that ELIS in coping with daily hassles is a multidimensional phenomenon that is affected by individuals' characteristics and sociocultural norms and values. Three main categories emerged as determinants of ELIS, namely normative status of the daily hassles, normative status of the information resources, and the individual's characteristics. Two main categories emerged as dimensions of ELIS which were type and strategy of action. Results of this study can contribute to the conceptual development of ELIS and may indicate how and in what circumstances ELIS dimensions emerge. The findings can also be used as a basis for developing information and intervention services in the context of coping with daily hassles.

Older adults' health information behavior in everyday life settings

Health information seeking is an important part of older adults' everyday lives as they cope with their health conditions. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 21 older adults in the United States were analyzed using Savolainen's everyday life information seeking (ELIS) model, especially its key concepts such as way of life and mastery of life. The interview data revealed that except for health care providers, a spouse or partner was mentioned as a credible interpersonal source of health information among older adults in a marital or romantic relationship. Characteristics of older adults' health information behavior in the ELIS context were identified based on types of way of life and mastery of life. For example, those who had more varied types of hobbies, including cognitive, affective, and social hobbies, were exposed to diverse people as they performed their daily routine, potentially resulting in different sources of useful health information. In couple relationships, those with an optimistic as opposed to pessimistic attitude toward a problem-solving situation played the information provider role rather than information receiver role.

Everyday life information‐seeking behaviors of nomadic pastoralists in their oral culture

ABSTRACTNomadic pastoralists, due to their lifestyle and the dominance of oral culture, have not received much attention from information service providers and little is known about their information behavior. This qualitative ethnographic study entailed twenty semi‐structured interviews with Iranian Bakhtiari nomadic pastoralists using everyday life information seeking (ELIS) framework. Nomadic pastoralists' ELIS is dominated by reliance on human information sources including elders, chiefs (Khans) and family members. Most of their information needs relate to practical issues of daily life (e.g., animal husbandry, handicraft, and parenting) and therefore they prefer information sources that tap into their local and indigenous knowledge (e.g., elders) and value experience and skill over formal education when obtaining information from people. However, they purify their local knowledge through exposure to modern education. Relevance to daily life matters or practicality, previous successful utilization of information, and accessibility are among the factors they consider when choosing information sources.

A study on Chinese people's everyday life information seeking: taking a comparison between web and Weibo

People's everyday life information seeking (ELIS) is essential in the information behaviour research. Prior literatures tend to focus on specific groups of countries and less is known about Chinese people's life information seeking behaviour. In this paper, an online survey was conducted to capture the background and behaviour data from users who regularly use web and Weibo, the most influential Chinese language information acquired channels. The 'friend-of-a-friend' recruitment technique received a total of 136 responses, 129 of which were valid and analysed to generate both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicate that much information can be obtained through the two channels; however the information types were different across gender and education levels on the web and Weibo. Notably, variables including web use history, web frequency, and Weibo use frequency had significant relationships with values on the two channels.