“Serendipity” has both a classical origin in literature and a more modern manifestation where it is found in the descriptions of the problem-solving and knowledge acquisition of humanities and science scholars. Studies of information retrieval and information seeking have also discussed the utility of the notion of serendipity. Some have implied that it may be stimulated, or that certain people...

Metadata plays a crucial role in a digital library/museum environment. However, the development of metadata is not an easy task. Its formulation starts with analyzing the attributes of collections as well as understanding the user information needs and information seeking behavior. The issue of interoperability also needs to be considered in terms of both semantics and syntax. This paper discus...

User studies continue to be an important area of library research, as studying the information-seeking behavior of specific user groups has contributed to the development of a variety of library services. On university campuses, research into the information-seeking patterns of humanities undergraduates has influenced the design of information literacy programs and reference services. As well, ...

The Internet and electronic marketplaces have profoundly transformed the travel services industry and challenged the traditional value proposition of travel agencies: What is the reason for their existence if information is abundantly available and transactions can be flexibly conducted in direct buyer-seller interactions on the Internet? Traditional travel agencies are struggling to develop ne...

Collaborative information seeking (CIS) has lately produced interesting empirical studies, describing CIS in real-life settings. While these studies explore how and why CIS manifests itself in different domains, discussions about how to study CIS have been scarce. The research area of CIS may, however, benefit from a discussion of methodological issues. This chapter describes the application of...

Introduction. The aim of the paper is to propose new models of information behaviour that extend the concept beyond simply information seeking to consider other modes of behaviour. The models chiefly explored are those of Wilson and Dervin. Argument A shortcoming of some models of information behaviour is that they present a sequence of stages where it is evident that actual behaviour is not al...

Introduction. Women are active information seekers, particularly in the context of managing health for themselves and their families. Rural living may present particular challenges and opportunities for women in their health information seeking. Method. Forty women living in a rural part of Ontario, Canada were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. They were asked about their hea...

Background. In primary care, a vast majority of patients affected with depression and anxiety present with somatic symptoms. Detection rate of psychiatric symptoms is low, and knowledge of factors influencing care seeking in persons affected by depressive and anxiety disorders on a population level is limited. Objective. This study aims to describe if persons, affected by depression and anxiety...