1. Models of information-seeking behavior
Information Seeking Definitions
Traditionally information seeking behavior focused on retrieval of information and it‟s
processing. A variety of library surveys were undertaken and predictions about user information
seeking behavior were made, based on the use of library material, bibliographic databases, and
library OPAC‟s etc. Recent studies have focused more on information seeking behavior of the
users on the World Wide Web. Definitions of human information seeking behavior by leading
LIS professionals and their concerns are discussed here.
Marchionini gives the appropriate definition of information seeking as “a process in which
humans purposefully engage in order to change their state of knowledge (Marchionini 1995).
Information seeking behavior is defined as any activity of an individual that is undertaken to
identify a message that satisfies a perceived need.
Wilson defined Information seeking behavior is the purposive seeking for information as a
consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. In the course of seeking, the individual may interact
with manual information system (such as a newspaper or a library) or with computer-based
systems (such as world wide web).
Introduction
Information seeking behaviour refers to the way people search for and utilize information.In
2000, Wilson described information behaviour as the totality of human behaviour in relation to
sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information-seeking, and
information use. He described information seeking behaviour as purposive seeking of information
as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. Information seeking behaviour is the micro-level
of behaviour employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems of all kinds, be it
between the seeker and the system, or the pure method of creating and following up on a search.
A variety of theories of information behaviour - e.g. Zipf’s Principle of Least Effort, Brenda
Dervin's Sense Making, Elfreda Chatman's Life in the Round - seek to understand the processes
that surround information seeking
Wilson had suggested to the BLRDD that a more comprehensive review of the literature in
fields other than information science could draw attention to useful models; theoretical concepts
and research instruments that might be employed in future work from an information science
perspective.
The information-seeking behaviour process evolved by Wilson (1981) and shows how that
model may be revised in the light of work in other fields.
B. T. Fidzani “reports results of a questionnaire survey to determine the information seeking
behavior and use of information resources by graduate students at Botswana University. The
purpose of the survey was to determine their information requirements and their awareness from
144 students out of a total of 223 part time and full time graduate students. Findings indicated that

2. guidance in the use of library resources and services is necessary and that periodicals and
textbooks are the most popular sources of information for course work and research and that
student need to be taught how to use the library. The study recommends that a further
questionnaire survey be conducted on students‟ ability to use information resources and
administered during registration to all master students”.
T. D. Wilson “ Paper presents an outline of models of information seeking and other aspects of
information behavior, showing the relationship between communication and information behavior
in general with information seeking and information searching in information retrieval systems. It
is suggested that these models address issue of various levels of information behavior and that
they can be related by envisaging a „nesting‟ of models. It is also suggested that, within both
information seeking research and information searching research, alternative models address
similar issues in related ways and that the models are complementary rather than conflicting.
Finally, an alternative, problem-solving model is presented, which, it is suggested, provides a
basis for relating the models in appropriate research strategies”.
When we turn to information-seeking behaviour the models are rather more numerous: five will
be discussed here: Wilson's (1981) model of information-seeking behaviour; Devin‟s (1983)
sense-making theory; Ellis's (1989 and 1993) behavioural model of information seeking
strategies; Kuhlthau's (1991) model of the stages of information-seeking behaviour; and Wilson's
(1996) model, which expands his 1981 model through an analysis of the literature in fields other
than information science.
Wilson, 1981
Wilson's second model of 1981 is based upon two main propositions:
First, that information need is not a primary need, but a secondary need that arises out of needs of
a more basic kind; and
Second, that in the effort to discover information to satisfy a need, the enquirer is likely to meet
with barriers of different kinds.
Drawing upon definitions in psychology, Wilson proposes that the basic needs can be defined as
physiological, cognitive or affective. He goes on to note that the context of any one of these needs
may be the person him- or herself, or the role demands of the person's work or life, or the
environments (political, economic, technological, etc.) within which that life or work takes place.
He then suggests that the barriers that impede the search for information will arise out of the same
set of contexts.
This model is shown in a simplified version. Wilson's model is clearly what may be described as
a macro-model or a model of the gross information-seeking behavior and it suggests how
information needs arise and what may prevent (and, by implication, aid) the actual search for
information. It also embodies, implicitly, a set of hypotheses about information behavior that are
testable: for example, the proposition that information needs in different work roles will be
different, or that personal traits may inhibit or assist information seeking. Thus, the model can be
regarded as a source of hypotheses, which is a general function of models of this kind.

3. The weakness of the model is that all of the hypotheses are only implicit and are not made
explicit. Nor is there any indication of the processes whereby context has its effect upon the
person, nor of the factors that result in the perception of barriers, nor of whether the various
assumed barriers have similar or different effects upon the motivation of individuals to seek
information. However, the very fact that the model is lacking in certain elements stimulates
thinking about the kinds of elements that a more complete model ought to include.
Three sets of "barriers" to information-seeking behaviour are shown, which are related to
the dimensions of the situation in which the person finds himself or herself:
1. Personal, individual Barriers;
2. Social or role-related Barriers; or Interpersonal Barriers and
3. Environmental Barriers.
This formulation has been repeated in one form or another by other writers, some of whom use
what we propose as the preferred term, intervening variables.
There is, however, a certain difficulty in positioning the barriers between the identification of
information-seeking as a suitable coping strategy and the information-seeking behaviour itself. In
fact, the barriers, particularly those at the level of the person, may act to prevent the initial

4. emergence of a coping strategy, or may intervene between the acquisition of information and its
use.
As with other aspects of information-seeking behaviour, the intervening variables have been
quite exhaustively discussed in the study of personality, health communication literature,
consumer research, and innovation studies. The other areas considered in this review (decision-
making and information system requirements) contribute rather less.
1. Personal / Individual Barriers :
a)Emotional variables
b) Educational variables
c)Demographic variables
2.Social/interpersonal Barriers :
3.Environmental Barriers :
a)Economic variables
b)Source characteristics
1. Personal / Individual Barriers :
a) Emotional Variables
In a study of the information-seeking behaviour of cancer out-patients found characteristics of the
patient could act as barriers to seeking information during a consultation with that certain the
doctor. These included physiological characteristics such as hearing problems (experienced by 5%
of the sample), cognitive characteristics such as the lack of medical knowledge (5%) and verbal
limitations (5%), as well as nervousness (20%) perhaps signifying emotional problems. The study
concluded that three factors determined the information-seeking behaviour of patients:
1. The characteristics and perceptions of the patient.
2. Certain characteristics of the patient's companion and the specialist.
3. Characteristics of the organization and situation.
b) Educational Variables
Level of education has been explored as an intervening variable by a number of researchers. For
example, in the study by Kassulke, educational level was associated with risky behaviour in
relation to cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and with risky behaviour by
women in relation to a number of health factors, such as checks for breast cancer and cervical
smear tests. In the field of consumer behavior.
Individuals, the more likely they will view themselves as knowledgeable about the subject. In
conditions of privacy it was found that persons with less perceived knowledge (that is, lower self-
perceptions) searched more. In public settings the relationships were more complex but, overall,
the study concludes that perceived knowledge is a central construct in the analysis of information-
seeking behaviour, perhaps more so that actual knowledge.

5. c) Demographic variables: age, sex & other factors
Connell & Crawford (1988) found that the amount of health information received by urban
residents from all sources declined with age, but that older rural women received a great deal of
information from a variety of sources and that the amount declined only slightly with age. Older
men received far less information than younger men.
Connell & Crawford (1988) found women reported receiving more health information than men
from all sources and attributed this to women's traditional role as a care-giver and 'lay health care
provider'.
Feick et al. (1986) studied women's searching behaviour for nutrition information on food labels.
The study found that participants with children searched for nutrition and ingredient information
on particular products, without showing an overall interest in more general nutrition information,
suggesting that concern for their children was the motivating factor in information search.
2. Social/interpersonal Barriers :
Interpersonal problems are likely to arise whenever the information source is a person, or where
interpersonal interaction is needed to gain access to other kinds of information sources.
Borgers et al. (1993) found cancer patients identified several barriers to successful information
seeking during consultations, these included the attitude of the specialist, and the presence of
other people, such as clinical assistants during the consultation.
In examining the behaviour of scientists in acquiring information relevant to research and
development.
3.Environmental Barriers :
a) Economic Variables
The economic issues related to information-seeking behaviour fall into two categories: direct
economic costs, and the value of time. These may apply either to the process of information-
seeking itself, or to the consequent actions.
Prices change with varying frequency in all markets, and, unless a market is completely
centralized, no one will know all the prices which various sellers (or buyers) quote at any given
time. A buyer (or seller) who wishes to ascertain the most favorable price must canvass various
sellers (or buyers) - a phenomenon I shall term "search."
b) source characteristics
Access
A fundamental requirement for information-seeking is that some source of information should be
accessible. The lack of an easily accessible source may inhibit information-seeking altogether, or
may impose higher costs than the enquirer is prepared to pay.

6. Credibility
If a seeker of information discovers that an information source is unreliable in the quality and
accuracy of the information delivered he or she is likely to regard the source as lacking in
credibility. As may be expected, this is a subject of considerable interest in consumer research,
since advertisers must persuade consumers to believe their claims for products and services.
Channel of communication
Although not strictly a characteristic of the source, the communication channel through which the
information is received is sufficiently closely tied to the source to be considered here. In a study
of bicycle safety helmet use it was found that threatening information (that is, on the dangers of
non-use of safety helmets and the need for use) was more effectively presented through
interpersonal channels, such as through telephone conversations, rather than through the mass
media: 'Threatening messages given over mass media channels may simply be ignored by the
audience, whereas threatening messages given interpersonally may force audience members to
evaluate a given health risk.'
References:
Information seeking behavior (n.d.), retrieved from, 18 september, 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_seeking_behavior
Choukhande, V.G. Information needs and information seeking behavior. Place : Shivneri Publisher &
Distributor. Pg.294