Modes of information seeking

Abstract

Persona is increasingly used to create a model that represents user behaviour. This requires a thorough understanding of users’ information-seeking behaviour, their goals, their expectations, their needs, and their forms of action. The objective of this study is to use personas to gain insight into the information seeking activities of humanities scholars. The humanities scholars at Yarmouk University Jordan, which is situated in an ICT-enriched setting, are selected as a case. Five models of information seeking behaviour are integrated to be the conceptual model of this study. Seven modes of active information seeking emerged from the research findings: a) decision to seek information by the scholars or intermediary, b) exploration, c) monitoring, d) accessing, e) categorization, f) purification, and g) satisfaction. The four personas uncovered in this study had different judgments of information seeking, depending on their computer literacy and the types and formats of information sources needed. Similarly, the personas had different priority lists on exploring, monitoring, accessing, categorizing and purifying information. However, the reaction of satisfaction after the search closure was similar in all personas. Using personas as a precise description of a typical library user and what he or she wishes to accomplish provides a clear picture of humanities scholars’ information seeking behaviour. This may lead to a better understanding of the information seeking activities and strategies they believe can address their information needs. Knowing users’ information seeking behaviour is crucial for librarians in order to provide suitable information sources and desirable library services. The library management can use the personas to focus on the unique goals of a specific person to develop a product and service that satisfies the needs of various library users.