In Library and Information Science (LIS), studying Information Seeking Behaviour (ISB) is crucial for designing effective information retrieval systems and user-centric library services. Information seeking behavior encompasses the activities an individual engages in when identifying an information need, searching for that information, and evaluating or utilizing the gathered results.
The following comprehensive notes compile all the major Information Seeking Behaviour Models featured in foundational LIS literature, arranged in strict chronological order. These notes detail their founders, launch dates, key characteristics, and evolutionary steps.
1. Belkin’s ASK (Anomalous State of Knowledge) Model
Founder: Nicholas J. Belkin
Date of Publish: 1980
Key Concepts & Functions
Belkin’s model revolutionized LIS by focusing on the user's cognitive gap. The core premise is that a user engages in information seeking because their state of knowledge concerning a particular situation or problem is incomplete or "anomalous." The paradox is that users are forced to articulate a request for information they do not yet know.
Steps and Path
- User realizes an Anomalous State of Knowledge (ASK).
- User attempts to articulate the anomaly to an information system.
- The system interprets the request and retrieves texts.
- The user evaluates texts, which alters their state of knowledge, iterating until the anomaly is resolved.
2. Wilson’s Information Behaviour Model
Founder: Prof. Tom D. Wilson
Date of Publish: 1981
Key Concepts & Functions
Wilson’s 1981 model shifted focus from library system usage to holistic human behavior. It posits that information need is not a primary need, but a secondary need rooted in basic biological, cognitive, or affective needs shaped by an individual's work role or environment.
Steps and Path
- An individual recognizes an Information Need stemming from context.
- This activates Information Seeking Behaviour.
- The path splits: successful search leads to Information Use; failure loops back to redefine the search.
- Maps out Information Exchange, where information is shared with others.
3. Dervin’s Sense-Making Theory
Founder: Brenda Dervin
Date of Publish: 1983
Key Concepts & Functions
Sense-Making is both a theoretical approach and a methodology. It views information seeking as an internal, cognitive behavior where humans actively construct meaning to make sense of their world when their movement through time and space is blocked.
The Tripartite Metaphor
- Situation: The user's current context in time and space where sense runs out.
- Gap: The cognitive block or barrier preventing the user from moving forward.
- Help / Use: The bridge constructed (information found and applied) to cross the gap and continue the journey.
4. Krikelas’s General Model of Information-Seeking Behaviour
Founder: James Krikelas
Date of Publish: 1983
Key Concepts & Functions
Krikelas developed a unified flow chart model defining information seeking as any activity undertaken to satisfy a perceived need. A key characteristic is the division of sources into internal (memory) and external (human or physical environments).
Steps and Path
- Perceiving a Need: Triggered by the environment or internal cognitive states.
- Information Gathering vs. Seeking: Distinguishes between long-term background gathering and immediate seeking.
- Source Selection: The user consults memory first, then human contacts, and lastly formal structures (libraries).
5. Bates’ Berrypicking Model
Founder: Marcia J. Bates
Date of Publish: 1989
Key Concepts & Functions
Bates proposed that users do not search by making a single query and retrieving a single perfect set of results. Instead, searching is like picking berries in a forest. The query evolves continually as the user encounters new information.
Core Features
- Evolving Query: The searcher's information need and queries shift as they learn during the search.
- Bit-by-Bit Retrieval: Information is gathered in pieces (berries) along the journey, rather than in one grand set.
- Varied Techniques: Users utilize multiple shifting techniques (footnote chasing, citation searching, browsing).
6. Ellis’s Behavioral Model of Information Seeking
Founder: David Ellis
Date of Publish: 1989 (Expanded 1993)
Key Concepts & Functions
Ellis’s framework is behavioral and non-sequential. It identifies core behavioral features that users jump dynamically between depending on their situation, initially derived from studying academic researchers.
The Behavioral Features
- Starting: Initial activities (e.g., asking a colleague).
- Chaining: Following citation paths backward or forward.
- Browsing: Semi-directed scanning of journals or stacks.
- Differentiating: Filtering sources based on quality or authority.
- Monitoring: Maintaining awareness through journal alerts.
- Extracting: Systematically isolating specific data.
- Verifying: Evaluating the reliability of information.
- Ending: Wrap-up operations concluding the search.
7. Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) Model
Founder: Carol Collier Kuhlthau
Date of Publish: 1991
Key Concepts & Functions
A holistic model mapping the user's journey across three parallel dimensions: the Affective (feelings), Cognitive (thoughts), and Sensorimotor (actions).
The 6 Stages of ISP
- Initiation: Realizing an information gap. (Feelings: Uncertainty).
- Selection: Deciding on a topic. (Feelings: Brief optimism).
- Exploration: Gathering general information. (Feelings: Confusion/Frustration).
- Formulation: Forming a clear focus. (Feelings: Clarity/Direction).
- Collection: Gathering targeted data. (Feelings: Confidence).
- Presentation: Finalizing output. (Feelings: Relief/Satisfaction).
8. Ingwersen’s Cognitive Model
Founder: Peter Ingwersen
Date of Publish: 1992
Key Concepts & Functions
Ingwersen focuses on the cognitive interactions occurring during information retrieval. The model maps the interaction between the user's cognitive space (their knowledge, goals, work tasks) and the information system's space (database structures, indexer's cognitive concepts).
Core Features
- Views the IR process as interacting cognitive structures.
- Highlights Polyrepresentation (using multiple representations of the user's need and the document's content to improve retrieval).
9. Marchionini’s Information Seeking Model
Founder: Gary Marchionini
Date of Publish: 1995
Key Concepts & Functions
Marchionini frames information seeking as a highly structured problem-solving process within electronic and digital environments, emphasizing system feedback loops.
The 8-Step Iterative Process
- Recognizing and Accepting the problem.
- Defining and Understanding the conceptual boundaries.
- Choosing a Search System (web directories, catalogs).
- Formulating a Query (translating concepts to syntax).
- Executing the Search.
- Examining Results (evaluating retrieved lists).
- Extracting Information (mining data).
- Reflecting/Iterating/Stopping based on problem resolution.
10. Savolainen’s Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) Model
Founder: Reijo Savolainen
Date of Publish: 1995
Key Concepts & Functions
Savolainen shifted the focus away from academic and professional settings to everyday, non-work environments. ELIS connects information seeking to a person’s sociological and cultural "way of life."
Core Concepts
- Way of Life: The routine order of daily activities and hobbies.
- Mastery of Life: The strategies used to keep daily life organized, categorized as optimistic-cognitive, pessimistic-cognitive, defensive-affective, and pessimistic-affective.
11. Wilson’s Revised Model of Information Behaviour
Founder: Prof. Tom D. Wilson
Date of Publish: 1996
Key Concepts & Functions
An expanded multidisciplinary macro-model integrating behavioral research to explain why search paths are chosen or abandoned.
New Core Components
- Intervening Variables: Psychological traits, demographic features, socio-emotional factors, and environmental realities that act as barriers or facilitators.
- Activating Mechanisms: Uses Stress/Coping Theory and Risk/Reward Theory to explain shifts to active behavior.
- Modes of Seeking: Passive Attention, Passive Search, Active Search, and Ongoing Search.
12. Model of the Information Seeking of Professionals
Founders: Gloria J. Leckie, Karen E. Pettigrew, and Christian Sylvain
Date of Publish: 1996
Key Concepts & Functions
Developed specifically to address the behavior of professionals (engineers, healthcare professionals, lawyers). It posits that work roles generate specific tasks, which in turn dictate unique information needs.
Core Features
- Work Roles: E.g., service provider, administrator, researcher.
- Tasks: Specific actions assigned to roles.
- Characteristics of Needs: Dictated by urgency, complexity, and age of the problem.
- Sources & Outcomes: Influenced by awareness, trustworthiness, and format.
13. Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS)
Founder: J. David Johnson
Date of Publish: 1997
Key Concepts & Functions
CMIS was heavily developed for and applied in health communication contexts to study how individuals seek cancer-related information. It evaluates the factors determining the use of different information channels.
Three Major Framework Categories
- Antecedents: Demographics, direct personal experience, salience (importance), and beliefs.
- Information Carrier Factors: Characteristics of the source, such as editorial tone and technical utility.
- Information Seeking Actions: The resulting behaviors based on the interaction of antecedents and carriers.
14. Choo’s Integrated Web Seeking Model
Founders: Chun Wei Choo, Brian Detlor, and Don Turnbull
Date of Publish: 1998
Key Concepts & Functions
Synthesizes Ellis’s behavioral features with Aguilar's scanning modes to classify how professionals extract insights from the World Wide Web.
The 4 Seeking Modes
- Undirected Viewing: Broad, passive scanning without specific goals.
- Conditioned Viewing: Directed tracking of specific topics.
- Informal Search: Unstructured search to explore a topic loosely.
- Formal Search: Systematic effort using precise queries and indexes.
15. Niedźwiedzka’s Proposed General Model
Founder: Barbara Niedźwiedzka
Date of Publish: 2003
Key Concepts & Functions
Niedźwiedzka analyzed and modified Wilson’s 1996 model, noting that information seeking is embedded within broader information behavior. She restructured the intervening variables and activating mechanisms to reflect a more dynamic application to everyday and professional users alike.
Core Adjustments
- Replaced Wilson's linear flow with a more interactive sequence showing constant feedback.
- Separated variables into three levels: individual, environmental, and source-related.
16. Foster’s Non-Linear Model of Information Seeking
Founder: Allen Foster
Date of Publish: 2004
Key Concepts & Functions
Foster challenged step-by-step approaches by mapping ISB as a dynamic, non-linear process based on empirical work with interdisciplinary scholars. Users experience activities simultaneously.
Core Behavioral Dimensions
- Opening: Expanding a search (exploring, browsing, serendipity).
- Orientation: Building cognitive context (identifying problem shapes, sorting source types).
- Consolidation: Narrowing and finishing (verifying details, filtering noise).