I think the term is really not defined as of now .However, I would not coin the term ’library’ to anything (digital or not), if it is not organized. A pile of books is not a library. It requires cataloging, classification and other forms of organization for the books to be called a library. Similarly internet or search engines do not find their place into my definition of a digital library. If the internet were to be cataloged some day in future, may be I would accept it as a digital library, but not until then. Another major factor is the browse interface. A search engines is “all search “and “no browse”. This definitely is not how we imagine a library to be. Since a Yahoo directory has more organization to it, it may be considered a digital library of URLs (though it seems better off as an index), but not a Yahoo search engine. To be more specific, I would expect a digital library to contain the full text as documentary units and not simply pointers or URLs as the documentary units. Another major issue while defining would be the technology. If an organization puts up a library accessible only within the organization, it would still fall under my definition of a digital library. This definition has nothing to do with internet. Internet is simply a way to access the digital library. A digital library which is inaccessible via the internet would still qualify to be called as such as long as the contents are in electronic form; the contents are organized and are accessible via some electronic medium.
I think digital libraries have a bright future. Since print mediums often go out of print and become unavailable easily, digital libraries provide an excellent assurance of their availability. In my opinion, digital libraries do save a lot of space and maintenance is easier. They have a flip side too, in terms of digital space and backups, but with the current trends of information technology, this seems do-able.
Currently digital libraries are in their nascent stage and practically the internet is disorganized. If this were to be organized, then we could end up having the biggest digital library ever at our fingertips .Attempts have already begun with taxonomies and tagging etc, but we need to have standard rules like AACR for the internet. Though that kind of ‘strictness’ may wean off the novelty and zeal off from the internet, but with the advent of newer trends everyday, like web2.0 etc we better get the system organized to avoid future chaos.
Digital libraries have also opened up truly interdisciplinary job functions and here I support the concept that researchers from interdisciplinary areas are required to harness the potential of this untamed resource.
September 16, 2008
September 5, 2008
Information Seeking In Context
Information Seeking
The need for information seeking can be attributed not only to human behavior but also values that people attach to their practices and to the means, and technologies available for locating information. Information can be acquired by searching for known objects or by accident or chance. Certain information is often not describable, but can be perceived via other faculties of senses. Kuhlthau(1), regards the information seeking as a sequential set of intellectual stages. According to her, Initiation occurs when one becomes aware of lack of knowledge. Next follows the process of selection in which a general area is identified and there exist initial uncertainties. After this the exploration stage begins when inconsistencies are found and confusion comes into being and doubt increases. Formulation follows as the next stage when the focus of problem is grasped and uncertainty decreases. After this it is the collection phase when pertinent information is gathered and the interest in the subject deepens. A final conclusion is made through presentation when search is completed with new understanding.
Information seeking has been attributed to the macro level trends such as institutional trends and information technology. Sometimes, the very abundance of information makes it crucial for information seekers to decide what information is enough to meet their objectives. The systematic approach to the information seeking process lies in the context based information seeking.
Information Seeking In Context
In practice, one cannot seek information outside reality. There is always a zone of relevance or a context in which it is relevant. The context may be separable scientifically, but not in practice. For example a person calls a bank for information on a loan. The information without any relevance to context could be- “A person with good credit usually gets a loan”. However as we all know, the bank will not give out this answer and will get more information from the caller- about the purpose of the loan, the amount of the loan, his/her credit history and many other things. The information that the bank gives now, will be more specific and context based.
Information seeking is the major means by which an individual is related to the information with the context in which it is often embedded. Context may be better described as the time of information seeking and the place where it occurs.
Time as a variable of information seeking in context.
Savolainen(2) described three major approaches with regards to time. (a) time as a fundamental attribute of situation or context of information seeking, (b) time as qualifier of access to information, and (c) time as an indicator of the information-seeking process.
Savolainen(2) explained that expressions such as “dynamic” and “reiterative” qualify the temporal factor of the context. Time factor also qualifies accessibility when information is accessed in hurry. Temporal issues are also involved when information seeking and judgment changes as time passes. He says that, “Ultimately, temporal factors become real as constitutive elements of contexts only through human practices. Lack of time becomes an important barrier in information seeking. Bates(3) through her berry picking model, indicated that information is picked one bit at a time. Time becomes a limiting factor in information seeking here, as only a bit of information is picked. Temporal factors routinely manifest themselves in the information seeking through media habits. Information-seeking behavior is also affected by future tasks and anticipated needs.
Space as a variable of Information seeking in context.
Savolainen(4) suggested three different approaches for spatial factors (a) physical places such as public libraries where information (sources) are available and accessible,(b) physical distance between information seeker and information sources, and (c)the ways in which information seekers perceive the information sources to be useful in relation to each other. The influence or constraint on information seeking, owing to distance and proximity, has been supported by references to spatial factors of information seeking by referring to the physical environment of information seeking.
The boundary conditions of information seeking.
When spatio-temporal factors are discussed together, it becomes extremely difficult to capture the dynamic nature of information seeking. To understand the process more, the boundary conditions or the end points of the information seeking process need to be understood.
An individual’s “information field” provides the starting point for information seeking. Typically an individual’s local information field consists of an interpersonal communication network and information terminals. Ending an information-seeking episode often involves the act of making sense of the situation or resolving the problem with information gathered for that purpose .Thus; the discussion on context based information seeking may be summarized as follows. The researcher finds himself or herself in a situation, which is a simply a set of circumstances, from which an information need arises. Context based information seeking ends at the crossroads where this researcher and the matching data intersect.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.Kuhlthau, C.C. (1991). Inside the search process:
Information seeking from the user's perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science.42, 361-371.
2.Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berry-
picking techniques for online search interface. Online Review, 13, 407-424.
3.Savolainen, R.(2006). Time as a context of information
seeking. Library & Information Science Research. 28(1).110-127.
4.Savolainen, R.(2006). Spatial factors as contextual
qualifiers of information seeking. Information Research. 11(4).Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://informationr.net/ir/11-4/paper261.html
.
The need for information seeking can be attributed not only to human behavior but also values that people attach to their practices and to the means, and technologies available for locating information. Information can be acquired by searching for known objects or by accident or chance. Certain information is often not describable, but can be perceived via other faculties of senses. Kuhlthau(1), regards the information seeking as a sequential set of intellectual stages. According to her, Initiation occurs when one becomes aware of lack of knowledge. Next follows the process of selection in which a general area is identified and there exist initial uncertainties. After this the exploration stage begins when inconsistencies are found and confusion comes into being and doubt increases. Formulation follows as the next stage when the focus of problem is grasped and uncertainty decreases. After this it is the collection phase when pertinent information is gathered and the interest in the subject deepens. A final conclusion is made through presentation when search is completed with new understanding.
Information seeking has been attributed to the macro level trends such as institutional trends and information technology. Sometimes, the very abundance of information makes it crucial for information seekers to decide what information is enough to meet their objectives. The systematic approach to the information seeking process lies in the context based information seeking.
Information Seeking In Context
In practice, one cannot seek information outside reality. There is always a zone of relevance or a context in which it is relevant. The context may be separable scientifically, but not in practice. For example a person calls a bank for information on a loan. The information without any relevance to context could be- “A person with good credit usually gets a loan”. However as we all know, the bank will not give out this answer and will get more information from the caller- about the purpose of the loan, the amount of the loan, his/her credit history and many other things. The information that the bank gives now, will be more specific and context based.
Information seeking is the major means by which an individual is related to the information with the context in which it is often embedded. Context may be better described as the time of information seeking and the place where it occurs.
Time as a variable of information seeking in context.
Savolainen(2) described three major approaches with regards to time. (a) time as a fundamental attribute of situation or context of information seeking, (b) time as qualifier of access to information, and (c) time as an indicator of the information-seeking process.
Savolainen(2) explained that expressions such as “dynamic” and “reiterative” qualify the temporal factor of the context. Time factor also qualifies accessibility when information is accessed in hurry. Temporal issues are also involved when information seeking and judgment changes as time passes. He says that, “Ultimately, temporal factors become real as constitutive elements of contexts only through human practices. Lack of time becomes an important barrier in information seeking. Bates(3) through her berry picking model, indicated that information is picked one bit at a time. Time becomes a limiting factor in information seeking here, as only a bit of information is picked. Temporal factors routinely manifest themselves in the information seeking through media habits. Information-seeking behavior is also affected by future tasks and anticipated needs.
Space as a variable of Information seeking in context.
Savolainen(4) suggested three different approaches for spatial factors (a) physical places such as public libraries where information (sources) are available and accessible,(b) physical distance between information seeker and information sources, and (c)the ways in which information seekers perceive the information sources to be useful in relation to each other. The influence or constraint on information seeking, owing to distance and proximity, has been supported by references to spatial factors of information seeking by referring to the physical environment of information seeking.
The boundary conditions of information seeking.
When spatio-temporal factors are discussed together, it becomes extremely difficult to capture the dynamic nature of information seeking. To understand the process more, the boundary conditions or the end points of the information seeking process need to be understood.
An individual’s “information field” provides the starting point for information seeking. Typically an individual’s local information field consists of an interpersonal communication network and information terminals. Ending an information-seeking episode often involves the act of making sense of the situation or resolving the problem with information gathered for that purpose .Thus; the discussion on context based information seeking may be summarized as follows. The researcher finds himself or herself in a situation, which is a simply a set of circumstances, from which an information need arises. Context based information seeking ends at the crossroads where this researcher and the matching data intersect.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.Kuhlthau, C.C. (1991). Inside the search process:
Information seeking from the user's perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science.42, 361-371.
2.Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berry-
picking techniques for online search interface. Online Review, 13, 407-424.
3.Savolainen, R.(2006). Time as a context of information
seeking. Library & Information Science Research. 28(1).110-127.
4.Savolainen, R.(2006). Spatial factors as contextual
qualifiers of information seeking. Information Research. 11(4).Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://informationr.net/ir/11-4/paper261.html
.
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