The pilot study reported here applies content analysis techniques to twenty interviews carried out in preparation for mediated searches as part of the 'Uncertainty in Information Seeking' project. The tools used in the analysis (Atlas.ti and TEXTStat) are described and their contribution assessed. TEXTStat, a free program, was used to produce frequency counts of the words used in the interview ...

Many research-based models of information seeking behaviour are limited in their ability to describe everyday life information seeking. Such models tend to focus on active information seeking, to the neglect of less-directed practices. Models are often based on studies of scholars or professionals, and many have been developed using a cognitive approach to model building. This article reports o...

This paper was commissioned by Professor Gernot Wersig of the Freie Universität, Berlin in 1980, as part of his Project, Methodeninstrumentarium zur Benutzforschung in Information und Dokumentation. It attempted to set out what was, for the time, a novel perspective on appropriate methodologies for the study of human information seeking behaviour, focusing on qualitative methods and action rese...

In understanding a person’s information seeking behavior and choice of information sources, it becomes very important to understand the context surrounding the search. This context gives rise to the information need and leads a person to look for information. Research in information seeking behavior, while concentrating on systemand-person centric research, has, so far, left out studying how in...

In the present study, we sought to examine information seeking among individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD, n 31) and nonanxious controls (n 32) during an impression-formation task. Participants were given an initial description of a protagonist that included polarized information on the social rank dimension (i.e., dominant or submissive) or on the affiliation dimension (i.e., friendly...

People use information systems to seek information. Transformative technologies have increased the number of information sources and amount of time people consume interacting with them. However, life is overloaded with unpredictable and uncontrolled information sources, generating anxiety, stress, and uncertainty. While the Management Information Systems field is concerned with understanding ho...

The Internet has become an important and preferred source of health information. Although the literature has highlighted several key predictors that influence an individual's online health information seeking behavior, insufficient attention has been paid to the changes in the predictors' roles and effects over time. This study explores and compares the effects that specific predictors had on o...