Everyday Life Information Seeking Research Articles

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.

Information seeking behavior of the poor: the study of parents’ school choice decisions

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate information seeking behavior of immigrants in disadvantaged communities in the state of CO, USA, using school choice decisions as a problematic situation. The study investigated the extent to which immigrant families in poor neighborhoods took advantage of school choice policies and the extent to which these decisions were mediated by information seeking activities.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative study using survey questionnaire was used. The study design used everyday life information seeking behavior (Savolainen, 1995) and information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people (Chatman and Pendelton, 1995) as a framework and theoretical lens, respectively. Parents of school-age children who met the criteria of “poor” based on the federal poverty guideline were recruited to participate in the study.FindingsThe study found that only 21 per cent (24 families out of 113) participated in school choice programs. Within the smaller group of parents that took advantage of school choice policy, 72 per cent gathered information before choosing a school, and of this group, about 80 per cent asked friends followed by school visit and a phone call to schools as information sources. Library use as sources of information was also selected by 61 per cent of the respondents. One important finding of this study is that although a majority of the families are aware of school choice policy, their level of participation is low and that is largely due to their economic and life circumstances.Social implicationsAccess to quality education is widely investigated and multiple entities have a stake in it, including parents, policymakers, researchers and school districts. The social implications of this study are significant in that the mere presence and awareness of school choice policy did not translate into increased participation by parents from disadvantaged communities for whom the policy was designed to benefit. Consistent with findings in the extant literature, parents in low socio-economic status also value quality education for their children. To address the issue of low participation in school choice, cities need to work toward strengthening schools and library systems in poor neighborhoods instead of diverting resources away.Originality/valueBased on two theoretical accounts – i.e. the information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people, or the outsiders, (Chatman, 1999, 1996), and theory of everyday life information seeking (Savolainen, 1995) – this study investigated how immigrants and disadvantaged communities seek, acquire and use information to navigate school choice policy in the city of Aurora, CO. The findings of this study are relevant for educators, policymakers, libraries, school districts, cities, counties and parents to determine the necessary policy measures that are required to increase school choice participation by immigrants and disadvantaged communities.

Everyday Life Information Seeking Behaviour of New Muslim I mmigrants in Montreal

The study will examine the everyday life information seeking behavior of new Muslim immigrants in Montreal, as well as their information needs and the challenges they face. While there has been some work that focuses on the information needs and information seeking behavior of new immigrants in the United States, to date there has been little research within the Canadian context. Specifically, there is a failure to account for new Muslim immigrants' information needs in Montreal from the perspective of the library and information science field. Most information behavior research categorizes Muslim immigrants in Canada according to nationality or gender.

Blurred reputations: Managing professional and private information online

Results are reported from a study that investigated patterns of information behaviour and use as related to personal reputation building and management in online environments. An everyday life information seeking (ELIS) perspective was adopted. Data were collected by diary and interview from 45 social media users who hold professional and managerial work roles, and who are users of Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn. These data were first transcribed, then coded with NVivo10 according to themes identified from a preliminary literature review, with further codes added as they emerged from the content of the participant diaries and interviews. The main findings reveal that the portrayal of different personas online contributes to the presentation (but not the creation) of identity, that information-sharing practices for reputation building and management vary according to social media platform, and that the management of online connections and censorship are important to the protection of reputation. The maintenance of professional reputation is more important than private reputation to these users. They are aware of the ‘blur’ between professional and private lives in online contexts, and the influence that it bears on efforts to manage an environment where LinkedIn is most the useful of the three sites considered, and Facebook the most risky. With its novel focus on the ‘whole self’, this work extends understandings of the impact of information on the building and management of reputation from an information science perspective.

Everyday life information seeking: sex-based associations with where men and women receive information about sexual violence

ABSTRACTSexual violence remains a critical health concern, especially on college campuses. Men and women are susceptible to victimization; however, there is little research that explores the places in which each sex acquires information about this topic. In this study, a model for everyday life information seeking is utilized to determine whether sex-based associations exist in the ways college students receive information about sexual violence. Barriers to reporting victimization for each sex are also explored. Undergraduate students (N = 285) completed an online survey about their everyday life information seeking experiences and perceived barriers to reporting victimization. Findings from this study suggest that sex is associated with coming across information serendipitously (non-direct monitoring) and through browsing (active scanning). Many women (47.2%) and men (57.0%) reported never having actively sought sexual assault information. Men who had actively sought information reported web search as a common method. This is alarming as previous research suggests that content is lacking and at times absent from university websites. Resources aimed at men are also uncommon. Notable associations exist between sex and the ways in which information is received about sexual violence. Exploring the contexts in which information is received highlights areas that health communication practitioners and scholars should disseminate information and engage students about sexual assault. In connecting with students where they are, we will increase the likelihood that they encounter content, potentially decreasing stigma and promoting the much needed, ongoing conversation about sexual assault for both sexes.

Toward a unified model of human information behavior: an equilibrium perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to build a unified model of human information behavior (HIB) for integrating classical constructs and reformulating the structure of HIB theory.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs equilibrium perspective from partial equilibrium theory to conceptualization and deduction, starting from four basic assumptions.FindingsThis paper develops two models to incorporate previous HIB research approaches into an equilibrium-analysis-oriented information supply-demand (ISD) framework: first, the immediate-task/problem-based and everyday life information-seeking (ELIS)-sense-making approaches are incorporated into the short-term ISD model; second, the knowledge-construction-oriented and ability-based HIB research approaches are elaborated by the long-term ISD model. Relations among HIB theories are illustrated via the method of graphical reasoning. Moreover, these two models jointly reveal the connection between information seeking in immediate problematic situations and long-term ability improvement.Originality/valueThe equilibrium framework enables future research to explore HIB from three perspectives: stages: group the classical concepts (e.g. anomalous state of knowledge, uncertainty) into different stages (i.e. start state, process, goal state) and see how they interact with each other within and across different stages; forces: explore information behaviors and information-related abilities as information supply and demand forces, and see how different forces influence each other and jointly motivate people to pursue the equilibriums between outside world and mental model; and short term and long term: study the connections between short-term information seeking and long-term ability improvement at both theoretical and empirical levels.

Usage and Usefulness of Social Media in Everyday-Life Information Seeking Among International Students

In recent years, the number of students studying abroad has been increasing rapidly. However, adapting to life in different countries, particularly in Malaysia which is a multi-cultural country, is difficult and students are faced with a variety of challenges. As such, they may need more information for their cultural adaptation or daily life use from diverse channels or sources. By conducting focus group discussions, this study focuses on examining the use of social media and its usefulness in everyday-life information seeking (ELIS) among international students at the University of Malaya. Focus group discussions among graduate students suggested that social media ELIS centre around information about home and families, academic matters and news/current affairs. On the other hand, new/current affairs, self-improvement and information about friends for socialization emerged as key in their ELIS on social media. What is apparent, however, is that international students view the information acquired via social media is useful for the fulfilment of their everyday-life needs.

Motives for sharing illness experiences on Twitter: conversations of parents with children diagnosed with cancer

ABSTRACTA patient- and family-centred approach in paediatric health care is important because parents are involved in making key decisions about their child’s health care and advocating for the best interest of the child. Parents and family members are increasingly turning to the internet to find and actively share information about their child’s health care. Twitter is one of many online platforms used by parents of children diagnosed with cancer to share information related to their child’s cancer experience. Existing research suggests that there is a need to better understand the motives for using Twitter for sharing content about a child’s cancer experience. Furthermore, there is a lack of theoretical frameworks for characterizing those motives. In this paper, we identify key themes of tweets posted by parents of children diagnosed with cancer and align those themes with motives inspired by the well-studied Everyday Life Information Seeking framework. We propose a new motive in addition to those associated with the framework and suggest that information can be shared for endogenous reasons as well as to meet the needs of others. This paper contributes an increased understanding of motives for sharing information about a child’s cancer journey and extends a theoretical framework for building further knowledge in this area.

Research in Information Science Award: Everyday Life Information Seeking

EDITOR'S SUMMARYReijo Savolainen, 2016 recipient of the ASIS&T Research in Information Science Award, observes that research on information behavior tends to be skewed more heavily toward the context of the workplace, but focusing on everyday life information seeking (ELIS) brings information behavior into the sphere of ordinary life. Using Brenda Dervin's sense‐making methodology, research on ELIS can illuminate information seeking behavior for individuals in many different fields and circles. Qualitative study results from environmental activists, home buyers and unemployed individuals reveal how these groups seek information to help solve everyday problems. These studies highlight the use of information source horizons and preferred information seeking paths of individuals, showing patterns in how far people search for information and where they prefer to begin and end their searches. While social media provided useful information in these contexts, the information was often clouded behind affective factors when dealing with sensitive or controversial topics and thus were not always reliable or accessible to all.

Australian motor sport enthusiasts’ leisure information behaviour

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the leisure information behaviour of motor sport enthusiasts, examining: their information needs; their information seeking and sharing; what personal information they had; and their satisfaction with their information seeking and personal information management efforts.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study examined participants’ information behaviour from a postpositivist and inductive research approach. An online survey was completed by 81 motor sport enthusiasts. The quantitative survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, whilst the qualitative data were analysed using thematic coding.FindingsThe research findings highlighted that enthusiasts engaged in mixed serious leisure. They required information before, during and after race events, and sought this primarily from online sources, as well as from other individuals. Totally, 90 participants shared information about their interest in motor sport with family, friends and fellow enthusiasts, primarily via e-mails (69 per cent) and Facebook (49 per cent). They also gathered information about motor sport, including photographs and memorabilia. Participants were satisfied with their information management strategies for their personal collections.Research limitations/implicationsParticipants were limited to motor sport enthusiasts in Australia, hence findings cannot be generalised more broadly.Practical implicationsUnderstandings of enthusiasts’ information behaviour provide information management professionals with insights to work with this user community.Originality/valueThis study fills a gap in the literature about leisure information behaviour of motor sport enthusiasts in Australia. It identifies and provides a typology of the 12 categories of information needed by enthusiasts. Provides a preliminary motor sport information behaviour model guided by the conceptual frameworks of the everyday life information seeking model; general models on information behaviour; and the information problem solving behaviour model.

Watching young children “play” with information technology: Everyday life information seeking in the home

Research on how young children use information to orient themselves in daily life and to solve problems (known as everyday life information seeking or ELIS) has not been conducted, in-depth, in information science. This exploratory observation study examines how 15 Australian preschool children (aged three to five) used information technologies in their homes to orient themselves in daily life and to solve problems. Children engaged in various ways with the digital technologies available to them and with parents and siblings during play activities. The results explore the value of artistic play, sociodramatic play, and early literacy and numeracy activities in shaping young children's ‘way of life’ and ‘mastery of life’ as outlined in Savolainen's (1995) ELIS model. Observed technology engagement provided an opportunity to explore children's social worlds and the ways that they gathered information during technology play that will inform future learning activities and support child development. By using ELIS theory as an analytic lens, the results demonstrate how children's developmental play with technology tools helps them to internalize social and cultural norms. The data also point to the type of capital available to children and how that capital contributes to children's emerging information practices.

시민 정보요구 범주화 연구

ABSTRACT In this study, we develop a categorization of citizens’ informa tion problems in their everyday life based on the characteristics in their information seeking behavior for developing information services which support to solve the problems practically. First of all, we ext racted keywords related to their faced everyday life problems from the scripts of open-ended interviews with citizens who had diverse characteristics. The keywords were categorized into 6 groups, such as hobby/recr eation, legal problems, current affairs, education, health, and economic matters, based on the character istics in related information seeking behaviors. Then the 6-group categorization was tested statistic ally with questionnaire survey data based on their prefered information sources. Through the statistical test, the 6-group categorization has proved being valid. Based on the results, we suggested to reconsider t he current information services in public libraries, and discussed a possibility to shift the services to problem-based information services.키워드: 정보요구, 범주화, 시민, 일상정보추구, 정보문제중심Information Needs, Categorization, Citizen, ELIS (Everyday Life Information Seeking), Information Problem-Centered

Mapping the everyday life information needs of Catholic clergy

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of everyday life information needs of a group of people in an area with limited access to information, and to investigate how the major dimensions of the everyday life information seeking (ELIS) model apply to information needs in the contexts of the Catholic clergy.Design/methodology/approach– The study applied the concurrent triangulation strategy of mixed-methods research. Data from 15 episodic interviews and surveys of 109 Catholic clergy in Northern Nigeria were collected and analyzed.Findings– A map of the everyday life information needs was developed. Three types of everyday life information needs were identified: essential needs; circumstantial needs; and occasional needs. The information needs of these clergy did not fit into the two major dimensions of Savolainen’s ELIS model.Research limitations/implications– The study was conducted only with Catholic clergy serving in the Northern Catholic dioceses of Nigeria.Originality/value– Although the ELIS model has been applied in several studies, not much attention has been given to comparing how the major dimensions of the model apply to information needs of a group of people in a variety of contexts. This study contributes to the ELIS model by pointing to other contextual situations where seeking orienting and practical information may not be sufficient to account for the everyday life information needs of some types of users.

Are social networking sites information sources? Informational purposes of high-school students in using SNSs

Although social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter are widely used by teenagers, to date, research has focused on their social uses. This research sought to investigate the ways in which high school students (15–19 years) use such sites in order to find information. It highlights the importance of considering how young people may use social networking sites for everyday life information as well as for academic and school-oriented information. Findings from a web-based survey of students from the UK, France, Thailand and Denmark show that social networking sites are information sources for most teenagers, especially for information related to social activities. Although academic information seeking was not among the most common reasons for using them, the findings indicate that they are used by many students for such purposes, as well as for everyday life information seeking.

Perceptions of accessibility and usability by blind or visually impaired persons: A pilot study

ABSTRACTThis pilot study utilizes qualitative interviews to explore perceptions of accessibility and usability from the perspective of blind or visually impaired (BVI) persons. Using the frameworks of everyday life information seeking (ELIS) and the sense‐making approach, this research addresses a gap in the literature; most studies with this population are either quantitative, outdated, or task‐based observations. Through five in‐depth interviews, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of the perceptions, experiences, and opinions of BVI persons who use screen readers with a voice synthesizer as a primary modality of interaction with web content. Understanding the information needs and information behavior of BVI persons is important for proper web design, since technical accessibility does not ensure usability. In particular, it is the perception of accessibility and usability that affects information behavior. Design must be informed by empirical research in order for it to be effective in assisting a variety of users to accomplish their information goals.

Everyday life information seeking behaviour in relation to the environment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe one of the preliminary results from interviews conducted as part of a PhD study into examining the role of peer and family influences on information-seeking behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The principal method of data collection was 38 semi-structured critical incident interviews, based on an interview guide and a short questionnaire to collect factual data. Some social network analysis of interviewees’ information sources is considered. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were used to code the interview transcripts. A naturalistic approach to everyday information seeking is taken. Findings – One of the preliminary findings of this research is that the notion of a new type of information has emerged – disposable information. A new type of information-seeking behaviour is also suggested here for disposable information – disposable information seeking. Disposable information is task specific and likely to only be required by an individual on a one-off basis, causing different everyday life information seeking (ELIS) patterns to emerge. Ultimately, people are only prepared to expend effort to get quality information if they perceive a value or further, continued use of that information. Research limitations/implications – Because of the research location and participant population, the results may lack transferability. Further research into this area is advised. Practical implications – The paper has implications about how people may search for and use information in certain situations where information is perceived as relevant to a particular task but unlikely to be needed in the future. Originality/value – This paper introduces the new concept of disposable information and disposable information-seeking behaviour.

Urban Public Libraries Do Not Yet Meet Benchmarks for Web Accessibility by Individuals with Disabilities

A Review of:
 Maatta Smith, S. L. (2014). Web Accessibility Assessment of Urban Public Library Websites. Public Library Quarterly, 33(3), 187-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2014.937207 
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To determine the extent to which urban public libraries in the United States of America provide web sites which are readily accessible to individuals with disabilities with reference to the Urban Library Council’s EDGE initiative (specifically Benchmark 11, “Technology Inclusiveness”).
 
 Design – Web site evaluation.
 
 Setting – Urban public libraries in the United States of America.
 
 Subjects – The 127 library systems, which were both members of the Urban Libraries Council at the time of the study and located in the United States of America.
 
 Methods – Using the “everyday life information seeking” conceptual framework, an assessment of each of the web sites of the purposive sample of public library systems was performed by an online evaluation tool as well as visually and physically to determine web accessibility and, by extension, technology inclusiveness. 
 
 Main Results – The results of the online accessibility evaluation tool revealed that not one of the sites surveyed was free of errors or alerts. Contrast errors (related to color combinations), missing alternative text (providing text alternatives for visual elements), and missing form labels (thereby preventing screen readers from performing searches and navigating to results) were the most common problems. Results of visual and physical scans revealed that many sites lacked specific links and/or resources for persons with disabilities, as well as noting that the resources available used oblique language and required many clicks to access. In addition, the vast majority neglected to feature links to national resources such as the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
 
 Conclusions – The web sites of urban public libraries are not yet completely accessible for persons with disabilities. At the very least they need coding fixes and ongoing maintenance to address the kinds of issues found by the online web evaluation tool used. In addition, resources for disabled persons should be prominently and clearly linked and promoted. Further research is called for, both in non-urban library systems and in testing a wider range of access technologies. Improvement efforts should acknowledge that web design that improves access for persons with disabilities serves the broader community as well.

Social media and problematic everyday life information‐seeking outcomes: Differences across use frequency, gender, and problem‐solving styles

Social media offers both opportunities and challenges in everyday life information seeking (ELIS). Despite their popularity, it is unclear whether the use of social media for ELIS heightens problematic outcomes, such as encountering too much information and finding irrelevant, conflicting, outdated, and noncredible information. In light of this gap, this study tested (a) whether the level of problematic informational outcomes varies with the use of social networking sites, microblogs, and social question and answer sites; (b) whether the problem level varies by gender and problem‐solving styles; and (c) whether the aforementioned factors have significant interaction effects. An online questionnaire was used to survey 791 U.S. undergraduates. Irrelevant information was the top issue. Gender difference was statistically significant for conflicting information, which was more problematic for women. The multiway analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated notable problem‐solving style differences, especially on the Personal Control subscale. This highlights the importance of affective factors. It is noteworthy that although social media use has no significant main effect, there were significant interaction effects between microblog use and the Approach‐Avoidance and Problem Solving Confidence subscales. The impact of microblog use on ELIS outcomes therefore warrants further investigation. Five propositions are posited for further testing.

Demographic Differences in International Students' Information Source Uses and Everyday Information Seeking Challenges

International students are a sizeable user group of academic libraries. However, their everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior is seldom studied. This hinders the planning of information services and information literacy training. In light of this gap, this study surveyed 112 international students in a U.S. public university on: (1) how frequently respondents used 11 information sources; (2) how difficult it was to find information in various domains; and (3) how much their ELIS was affected by various information seeking problems. Differences between gender-study level categories and problem solving styles were tested using ANOVAs. The study found that Web search engines, social networking sites, new friends, printed resources, and traditional mass media were the top sources for ELIS. Six everyday information domains (e.g., legal, financial, and personal development information) ranked more difficult to find than academic information. Non-credible, irrelevant, and outdated information were found to be the top problems. There were more statistically significant problem solving style differences (especially on the Problem Solving Confidence subscale) than gender-study level differences. Notable gender-study level differences were still found. Male undergraduate students, for example, were more affected by their reluctance to ask personal questions. Lastly, the implications to information literacy education were discussed.

Search Engine or Content Website? A Local Information Seeking Classification Model Based on Consumer Characteristics and Website Perceptions

Decisions concerning everyday life activities such as patronizing restaurants require obtaining information about them. Some consumers go directly to content websites when they need such information; others go directly to search engines. How do search engine users differ from content website users for a given type of local information? This local information-seeking classification model posits that they differ in their prior experiences with their “go-to” websites, their perceived search skills, their habit of using search engines, their involvement with the activity for which information is sought, their tendency to conduct extensive information search, and their beliefs about their “go-to” website types. Empirical results support the model. By integrating everyday life information seeking (ELIS), technology acceptance model (TAM), and consumer behavior literatures, the model in this study fills a theoretical gap in the literature and opens new lines of inquiries for both ELIS and TAM research.