Problems in Information Seeking - Literature review Example

TITLE by Name of author Name of class Name of Professor Name of school Location of school Date Introduction At one point in time, we are all faced with an overflow of information in places of work and at home too. The many sources of information such as the internet, magazines, blogs, emails, social sites, digital books, music, and many more has made information seeking a very difficult task. Thus, one of the fundamental problems in Information Seeking has become even more crucial in the present day: how to identify objects gratifying a user's information need. The main objective is to pass to the user only data that is of significance, when and where it is needed. The main culprit hindering this, however, is the gap that exists between the conventional patterns of information provision and the user’s innate process of information use. In light of this, looking for information is considered a step by step process of sense-making whereby an individual does form a personal point of view as noted by Savolainen (2007). Individuals try so much to find sense which fits to what they already are aware of within a personal frame of reference (Ingwersen and Järvelin 2005). A recent survey carried out by Knap (2009) established that definition of needs came from the systems world and not the users’. Human interaction research, however, evidences that more emphasis is now on the study of users in information seeking situations and is moving away from the document and texts (Knap and Hall 2009). This approach mainly revolves around the users’ setback in the sense-making process emphasizing that retrieval of information should consider the incorporation of certain outcomes in the user’s evaluation of the usefulness of information for the resolution of the task at hand (Chelton and Cool 2004). Information providing mechanisms There are at least three and help satisfy user information. First is the search mechanism which takes up a query put in by the user indicating his or her interests. An archive is searched and, successful matches to the query are made available to the user. Second type is the recommendation mechanism will evaluate the contexts put across by the user. This mechanism then pulls descriptions of items that may be of benefit to the user. Last but not least is the advertisement mechanism is the same as recommendation mechanism only that the items presented to the user are commercial in nature. Information Seeking Different studies show that there exists a close relation between Information Seeking and Information Retrieval. Saracevic, et. al’s extensive study of Information Seeking and Information Retrieval provides an excellent stepping stone for thoughts on observation and collection of data that assist in forwarding a sense for categorization of the user queries. The procedures and means of an individual’s effectiveness and searching do provide a rich scaffold for more studies. (Grossman 2004) If looked at in the behavioral point of view, the most basic and simplest difference between the two is searching vs. browsing. The focus, most importantly, in Information Seeking or Information Retrieval is the actions carried out as Danlop and Lalmas (2000) state, “interaction became the most salient feature of information retrieval”, as getting the pass to information retrieval systems has become overly vibrant. This interactivity most importantly provides the ability to sustain more browsing-like approaches for searching for information. In order to make information seeking easier for the user, it is imperative that his or her interactions with the system be understood and, success on it be gauged on analyses performed on such subtler measures. Comparing a user’s contact with a system and recording the same can be used to increase information seeking success. New technologies will encourage the use of Information Seeking resources and even draw new users but this alone cannot aid in finding what users are seeking. Niewiadomski, Kacprzyk and Szczepaniak (2005), argue that we may be made to believe that all that is in electronic information is highly accurate or complete. In a way, users can come up together and cushion themselves from some of the disadvantages posed by the technicalities of such systems. This form of unifying the various point of view and experiences from a group of users can result in the discovery of an even larger source of information. As Sears and Moody (2001) point out, two expert searchers, the rationalists and the conceptualist come together to shape up more comprehensive searches. Such cooperation among users can produce an extremely dominant team to develop each other’s Information Seeking behavior. Stages Information Seeking Process The first stage is the “initiation” stage and, this is where it is revealed to the user to be the insufficiency in information. The principal task is just to know that information is needed to complete the task (Gonzalo 2006). An individual usually discusses probable approaches to the task. The second stage is “selection” whereby an individual has the opportunity to choose a broader topic on which to do research. The user is often exhibits confidence at this point as he or she prepares to start looking for any relevant data to the task at hand. Some individuals, though, may look at an overview of a different topic. Exploration describes the third stage of the information seeking process. The user here is not certain what he or she should look for due to the large amount of information that has to be sifted through. Maasodian, Jones and Rogers (2004) state that, “strategies that promote an analytic atmosphere may stop the process of information seeking.” After exploration is reached, the user starts to feel even more confident as he or she enters the “formulation” stage which represents the point at which uncertainty decreases. A more specific topic is chosen at this stage and, this reduces the awkwardness that existed between the user and the information system. Things become more clear at for the user at this stage and hence an increase in confidence. “Collection” stage is where the user and information system interact freely and smoothly. Interaction is made efficient which promotes the effectiveness of the system. The user makes more comprehensive notes on the topic since general data is no longer needed and the main characteristic is the continuous rise in self-belief. The last stage is “presentation” and users here exhibit satisfaction or dissatisfaction depending on how their work has gone. The main focus is on completing the task in for the purposes of presenting it or using the same. Models of Information Seeking Information Seeking has recently been recognized as a dynamic process that is not linear (Foster 2005; Kuhlthau 2006). Kuhlthau (2006) further explains that people familiarize themselves with information seeking process with the interaction of opinions, actions and positions taken by an individual. Alternative models are needed to describe information seeking accurately due to emerging technologies. These Models of Information Seeking try to depict the course a user takes to fulfill his or her information need. These models concentrate of on Information Seeking activities behaviors. 1. Ellis’ Information Seeking Process Model In this model, it is argued that the stages portray the behaviors of information seeking, however, the relations between the phases are clearly different with each distinctive information seeking experience and will rely mostly on the distinctiveness of the context of the information, its need and the information seeker. These six stages include: Starting- this is undertaken at the commencement of the Information Seeking process. It could also be searching for an overview on the subject matter. In cases of informal preliminary information, one can rely on personal contacts. Chaining refers to making a follow up on leads obtained from starting sources to those from references that add to the new sources of information. Chaining techniques that are common include checking references from one article got by recommendation referred to in the original article. Browsing is essentially going through and looking for information on areas an individual has interests. It is open to unexpected results, which can, in turn be the basis of the need to change information. Differentiating refers to choosing among a given number of sources. This is done by knowing the characteristics of the information. An example would be organizing the sources into topics or levels of detail. Monitoring is staying current on a topic following specific sources which may include personal contacts and publications or returning to a bookmarked webpage to check if it has been updated. Extracting is the organized review of sources and can be achieved by retrieving a saved web page or referring to a printed web page when needed. 2. Kuhlthau's Model of ISP Kuhlthau’s model concentrates on information seeking from the user’s point of view. Her model consists of six stages she came up with from studying library users. In this model, Kuhlthau believes information seeking is set apart from information sought. Search techniques and how much weight judgements exhibit. The starting point is when the user realizes the need of the information to be sought which is referred to as the anomalous state of knowledge. The seeker focuses on the kind of information he or she is seeking and tries to relate it to the information he or she already has. Selection, which is the second phase, is characterized by the user choosing a general topic to research. The stage that follows next is the gathering of relevant information on the area of interest to ensure that enough information is available so as the knowledge gap can be resolved. The early stages of information seeking task the user by making him or her to try to understand what he or she is doing and, this makes it difficult to come up with a query that would be understood by systems of information retrieval. The individual in the long run gathers enough data to create a need for information and will focus on collection of that information. It is here that the source of the information and the seeker should interact more. This will be boosted if there does exist a coherent match between the information system design and the need for the information. 3. Belkin's ISP Model Belkin’s view of Information Seeking process is described Information Seeking Strategies. It is more task oriented compared to both Kuhlthau and Ellis’ model. The set of tasks are browsing, learning, recognition, metainformation (Zaborowski 2008). According to Belkins, “the cognitive and situational aspects were the reason for seeking information and approaching an IR system”, (Lavrenko 2009). He proposes that a problem and the need to solve that problem should form the basis of a search. It is the user who will eventually build a bridge of information that possibly will change the question or preferred solution (Fisher, Erdelez and McKechnie 2005). Simply put, this view of Information Seeking is not a static process and, therefore, has changeable levels of proficiency is growing in knowledge aspects. Taking into account the ideas presented Belkin calls out for a system design that uses an association network to fill the knowledge gap. The knowledge gap is sure bridged if the relations between individual pieces of knowledge are established (Schwartz 2006). Increasing Information Seeking The study of gatekeepers and Environmental Scanning is imperative in widening the users’ ability to seeking information. Gatekeepers according to Nahon (2009), gatekeepers are persons who go through more journals and come up with more ideas and get involved in problem solving compared to other individuals. These users can help design models of information seeking since their actions are exceptionally powerful than typical information seekers. Gatekeepers are also known to be sources of information to other individuals and provide pragmatic advice. Studies in the area of Environmental Scanning show that it may also widen information seeking and according to Choo (2002), information system is compared and contrasted to other resources of information. According to Davis (2008) Aguilar came up with four methods that give direction of the user’s surrounding: Undirected viewing - "viewer does not have a precise rationale in relation to the information he or she has been exposed to." Conditioned viewing - "exposure does not follow a clearly identified mode of information", for example, browsing for information and taking note of their value to a given number of intriguing topics. Informal search-"search is inadequate to get information that is particular to the task it is required to satisfy", such as informing other individuals of your concern and screening relevant sources for appropriate information. Formal search - "this is securing given information using planned or premeditated efforts". This would take into account the use of Information Retrieval system to carry out a complete investigation on a given subject. Information needs are constantly shifting and therefore, various approaches to ensure efficiency must be employed. This is why Aguilar in his work shifted focus to information sources and how users make use of it. He shows that insufficiency of resources is the principal cause of hindrances in pursuing formal searches. According to Sekhar (2009) this view can be approached from a cognitive perspective. She claims memory is structured just about an individual’s own familiarity with his or her surrounding and not around conceptual categories. Memories that are similar are used to design a more universal knowledge although an individual’s episodic memory is different from that of another individual. This promotes collaborative information seeking by recognizing the fact that no group of users, irrespective of their similarity in their behavior or the system they use and how they use it cannot assist but will be advantageous in terms of the wide resources brought forth by the group (Spence 2005). Conclusion Information providing mechanisms is particularly vital in present day information era, particularly to information users. As we focus on improving Information Seeking systems, for example, by personalizing information or making available information that meets an individual’s constraints; Information Retrieval can in turn be improved. Importantly the consolidation of Information systems, and owing to its apparent advantages of this kind of consolidation, is best left to the research community. As case (2007) put it, information seeking is associated with many different interpersonal communication behaviors that surpass the question-asking levels to incorporate the user’s answers and interests. References Owen, D. 2007. Looking for information: a survey of research on information seeking, needs and behavior. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Agada, J. and Grover R. 2010. Assessing information needs: managing transformative library services. New Jersey: ABC-CLIO. Foster, J. 2006. Collaborative Information seeking and retrieval. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 40 (1): 329–356. Kingrey, P. 2002. Concepts of Information Seeking and Their Presence in the Practical Library Literature. Library Philosophy and Practice, 4(2) 10-12. Knapp, L. and Hall, A. 2009. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 7th Ed. Texas: Cengage Learning. Spence, P. 2005. Collaborative information seeking: A Study of a patient care team in the emergency department. Rolla: University of Missouri. Nahon, K. 2009. Gatekeeping: A critical review. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 43: 433-478. Zaborowski, A. 2008. Identifying the information-seeking behaviors of students, the expectations of faculty, and the role of librarians in writing assignments that require students to use information sources in selected Pennsylvania community colleges: A model for instruction. Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh. Hartley, J. 2008. Organizing knowledge: An Introduction to Managing Access to Information. 4th Ed. Chesterfield: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Read More