Trends in information behaviour research

Elke Susanne Greifeneder

Trends in information behaviour research

Elke Susanne Greifeneder

Department of Communication

2534 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction. This paper traces current trends in information behaviour research, both in terms of methods and topics. Results are put into relation to the previous trend analysis by Julien et al. (2011) and Vakkari (2008).
Method. Trends derive from a publication analysis taken from information behaviour related publication venues between 2012 and 2014.
Analysis. Publication titles, authors, years, publication venue, methods and topics were collected and quantitatively analysed.
Results. Qualitative methods still dominate information behaviour research. Content analysis and participatory designs are gaining terrain. Information seeking is still the major topic of interest. Important newer topics are studies focusing on users’ context and on special needs.
Conclusion. Information behaviour research has evolved a great deal over the last years and has taken on new methods and new topics. A discussion of the chosen topics, including the need for alternative topics and a meta-discussion on the methods, has not been the focus of information behaviour research since 2008. This paper is an attempt to restart that discussion.

Original language	English
Journal	Information Research
Volume	19
Issue number	4
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1368-1613
Publication status	Published - Dec 2014

Keywords

Faculty of Humanities
information behavior
content analysis
publishing
Scholarly Communication

Access to Document

Trends in information behaviour researchFinal published version, 73.2 KB

http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-4/isic/isic13.html#.VVXt2suJhaQ

Cite this

@article{cdae187739fb4f4aaa6942c990efeec9,

title = "Trends in information behaviour research",

abstract = "Introduction. This paper traces current trends in information behaviour research, both in terms of methods and topics. Results are put into relation to the previous trend analysis by Julien et al. (2011) and Vakkari (2008).Method. Trends derive from a publication analysis taken from information behaviour related publication venues between 2012 and 2014.Analysis. Publication titles, authors, years, publication venue, methods and topics were collected and quantitatively analysed.Results. Qualitative methods still dominate information behaviour research. Content analysis and participatory designs are gaining terrain. Information seeking is still the major topic of interest. Important newer topics are studies focusing on users{\textquoteright} context and on special needs.Conclusion. Information behaviour research has evolved a great deal over the last years and has taken on new methods and new topics. A discussion of the chosen topics, including the need for alternative topics and a meta-discussion on the methods, has not been the focus of information behaviour research since 2008. This paper is an attempt to restart that discussion.",

keywords = "Faculty of Humanities, information behavior, content analysis, publishing, Scholarly Communication",

author = "Greifeneder, {Elke Susanne}",

year = "2014",

month = dec,

language = "English",

volume = "19",

journal = "Information Research",

issn = "1368-1613",

publisher = "University of Sheffield Department of Information Studies",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trends in information behaviour research

AU - Greifeneder, Elke Susanne

PY - 2014/12

Y1 - 2014/12

N2 - Introduction. This paper traces current trends in information behaviour research, both in terms of methods and topics. Results are put into relation to the previous trend analysis by Julien et al. (2011) and Vakkari (2008).Method. Trends derive from a publication analysis taken from information behaviour related publication venues between 2012 and 2014.Analysis. Publication titles, authors, years, publication venue, methods and topics were collected and quantitatively analysed.Results. Qualitative methods still dominate information behaviour research. Content analysis and participatory designs are gaining terrain. Information seeking is still the major topic of interest. Important newer topics are studies focusing on users’ context and on special needs.Conclusion. Information behaviour research has evolved a great deal over the last years and has taken on new methods and new topics. A discussion of the chosen topics, including the need for alternative topics and a meta-discussion on the methods, has not been the focus of information behaviour research since 2008. This paper is an attempt to restart that discussion.

AB - Introduction. This paper traces current trends in information behaviour research, both in terms of methods and topics. Results are put into relation to the previous trend analysis by Julien et al. (2011) and Vakkari (2008).Method. Trends derive from a publication analysis taken from information behaviour related publication venues between 2012 and 2014.Analysis. Publication titles, authors, years, publication venue, methods and topics were collected and quantitatively analysed.Results. Qualitative methods still dominate information behaviour research. Content analysis and participatory designs are gaining terrain. Information seeking is still the major topic of interest. Important newer topics are studies focusing on users’ context and on special needs.Conclusion. Information behaviour research has evolved a great deal over the last years and has taken on new methods and new topics. A discussion of the chosen topics, including the need for alternative topics and a meta-discussion on the methods, has not been the focus of information behaviour research since 2008. This paper is an attempt to restart that discussion.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - information behavior

KW - content analysis

KW - publishing

KW - Scholarly Communication

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1368-1613

VL - 19

JO - Information Research

JF - Information Research

IS - 4

ER -

Trends in information behaviour research

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this