Information Research in Leisure: Implications from an Empirical Study of Backpackers

In the modern, increasingly flat world, many individuals have seen an increase in the amount of leisure time they have available. This leisure time is used for different purposes, often including travel and tourism. Among the many types of travel and tourism, backpack or budget travelling is becoming more and more popular. This increasingly common leisure activity presumably involves intensive information search activities. This study places the backpackers’ search for travel information in an everyday life information seeking (ELIS) perspective. The search for information by backpackers can be seen as a three-stage information search process. In each stage, depending on the type of task, backpackers use various information resources for different purposes. Such sources may be used for more than one purpose and in more than one information search stage. However, their relative importance varies depending on the characteristics of the source of information and the information search stage in which the source is being used. In this article I suggest that studies of leisure information behaviors and leisure activities show theoretical and practical value for both the information seeking public and the information science community. We also suggest that library and information science scholars and practice communities direct attention and research resources to leisure research in general, and the concept of serious leisure and its structured information acquisition and sharing activities in particular. Information Research in Leisure: Implications from an Empirical Study of Backpackers