Course Title: LIS607, Information Needs and Uses

Course Description: Information Needs and Uses examines professional knowledge, and the results of research, relating to the information needs, information seeking behavior and the information use patterns of individuals and groups in society.  Consideration is given to how this information supports the development of effective information systems, products and services by the information industry, libraries and other information-related organizations.

Course Objectives: 
 

1. To examine how people use information and information resources in their day-to-day lives. 
2. To understand the different methods that information professionals use to understand the information needs, information-seeking behavior and information use patterns of those they serve. 
3. To review existing research, and professional knowledge, regarding the information needs, information-seeking behavior and information use patterns of individuals and groups in society. 
4. To relate what we know about information needs, uses, and information-seeking behavior to the development and delivery of effective library/information systems, products and services. 

Method of instruction: Lecture and DISCUSSION

Course evaluation:
 
 

Examination 1	40%
Examination 2	40%
Literature Search Project	5%
Diary project	5%
Participation	10%

Examinations: The class includes two major examinations worth 40 percent each--one at mid-term and the other during finals week.  Each of these exams will consist of 10 short-answer, short-essay type questions that will be drawn from the class lectures, class discussions, and the assigned readings. 

Literature Search Project:  Each of you will be asked to identify a client group of some significance that you are interested in or intend to serve during their professional career.  You will then conduct a comprehensive literature search to identify as much information as possible about the information needs, information seeking behavior and information use patters of the members of your selected group.  You will be expected to formally describe, analyze and discuss your search strategies and the results that you achieved.

Diary: You will maintain a 24 hour personal diary on a designated day which documents your personal information needs, information-seeking behavior and information use patterns during that period of time.  We will decide, as a group, what kinds of things you might include in your diary, and we will discuss the collective information-related behavior of the class in order to develop some experience-based observations regarding what kinds of personal situations generate information needs in our lives, and how people go about satisfying personal information needs.  We will compare your experiences with a series of generalizations about information needs, information seeking and information use that have been derived from the published literature (research and non-research).

Important Note: As required by the university, I will assign a failing grade for the course to any student found guilty of cheating or plagiarism. 

Course Outline: 
Jan 13,  Introduction

 Syllabus

Jan 18  Information and Society

Information defined
Role of information in society
Information distribution system
Information access system
Social role of libraries and information organizations

Readings:

Charles T. Meadow and Weijing Yuan. “Measuring the Impact of Information: Defining the Concepts,” Information Processing & Management. 33(6):697-714, 1997.

Lizabeth A. Wilson. “Building the User-Centered Library,” RQ 34(3):297-302, Spring 1995.

Jan 20, 25 User-Centered Information Organizations and User Satisfaction 

User-centered information organizations
User satisfaction

Readings:

Syed Saad Andaleeb and Patience L. Simmonds. “Explaining User Satisfaction with Academic Libraries: Strategic implications,” College and Research Libraries. 59(2):156-167, March 1998.

Rachel Applegate. "Models of User Satisfaction: Understanding False Positives," RQ. 32(4):525-539, Summer 1993.

Jan 27, Feb 1 Structure of Information Needs, Information Seeking & Information Use

Person-in-situation model
Process model
Information needs
Information-seeking
Information use
Reading:

Bryce L. Allen.  "Information Needs," in: Information Tasks: Toward a user-centered approach to infomration systems. Academic Press, New York, 1996, pp. 55-107.

Feb 3, 8, 10, 15 Methods of Understanding Client Information Needs

Ways of knowing
Needs analysis
Research methods and techniques
Samples and sampling
Readings:

Heidi Julien. “A Content Analysis of the Recent Information Needs and Uses Literature,”  Library and Information Science Research 18(1):53-65, Winter 1996.

G. Ford. “Methods and Techniques of Research on User Studies,” in: User Studies: An Introductory Guide and Selected Bibliography, University of Sheffield, Centre for Research on User Studies, 1977, pp.56-69.

M. Carl Drott. ”Random Sampling: A Tool for Library Research,” College and Research Libraries, 30(2):119-125, March 1969.
 

Feb 17, 22  Discussion of Diary Project and Generalizations 

Feb 24  Review for Examination 1

Feb 29  Examination 1

Mar 2-Apr 25 Information Needs, Information-Seeking Behavior and Information Use--A Sampling 

Method:  Classes between March 7 and April 25 will be devoted group discussions of the information needs, information seeking and information use patterns of five selected groups.  We (as a group) will decide which specific groups will provide the focus for our class discussions.  Once we have decided which groups we will examine, I will assign 2-3 articles, book chapters, etc. that will provide the basis for our class discussions.

Focus groups selected from:

Adults
Business
Children
Engineers
English as second language
Graduate students
Handicapped
Humanities scholars
Illiterates
Lawyers
Minorities
Nurses
Physicians
Poor
Prisoners
Rural citizens
Scientists
Senior citizens
Social sciences scholars
Undergraduate students
Young adults
Other groups:??????

Groups examined during Spring 2000

Mar 2   No class

March 7 and 9:   Survey of Information Needs, Seeking and Use—Poor

John Buschman. “History and Theory of Information Poverty,” in: Poor People and Library Services. Edited by Karen Venturella. McFarland, 1998, pp. 16-28.

Sanford Berman. “On My Mind:  Libraries, Class, and the ‘Poor People’s Policy,”  American Libraries. 28(3):38, March 1998.  With attached ALA policy statement on “Library Services for the Poor.”

Elfreda A. Chatman. “Alienation Theory: Application of a Conceptual Framework to a Study of Information among Janitors,”  RQ. 29(3):355-368, Spring 1990.

Mar 14-16  Spring Break

March 21 and 23:  Survey of Information Needs, Seeking and Use—Undergraduates

Leo Clougherty, et. al., “The University of Iowa Libraries’ Undergraduate User Needs Assessment,” College and Research Libraries. 59:572-584, November 1998.

Ellen Meltzer, et. al., “Undergraduate in Focus: Can Student Input Lead to New Directions in Planning Undergraduate Library Services?”  Library Trends. 44:400-422, Fall 1995.

Bryn Geffert and Beth Cristensen. “Things They Carry: Attitudes Toward, Opinions About, and Knowledge of Libraries and Research Among Incoming College Students,” Reference and User Services Quarterly. 37(3):279-289, Spring 1998.

March 28 and April 4:  Survey of Group Information Needs, Seeking and Use—Minorities

Lee Oliver, R. J. Belvin and S. N. Manoogian. “Survey of Services to Multicultural Populations,” Public Libraries 33:197-204, July/August 1994.

Mengxiong Liu. “Ethnicity and Information Seeking,” The Reference Librarian 49/50:123-134, 1995.

Wendy Miller. ALA Student Chapter Hot Topic Lunch—“How to Serve Minorities and Ethnic Groups:  Need Analysis in Providing Library Services,” March 28, 2000, 12:30 pm King Library South, Room 505.  This program replaces our regular March 28 meeting of class and substitutes for one of the assigned readings. You are responsible for the content of this presentation so you either need to attend or acquire the content some other way.

April 11 and 13:  Survey of Group Information Needs, Seeking and Use—Humanities Scholars.

Marcia J. Bates. "The Getty End-User Online Searching Project in the Humanities; Report No. 6: Overview and Conclusions," College & Research Libraries. 57:514-523, November 1996.

Debora Shaw. "Bibliographic Database Searching by Graduate Students in Language and Literature: Search Strategies, System Interfaces, and Relevance Judgments," Library and Information Science Research. 17:327-345, 1995.

Rebecca Watson-Boone. "The Information Needs and Habits of Humanities Scholars," RQ. 34:203-216, Winter 1994.

April 18, April 20, April 25. Survey of Group Information Needs, Seeking and Use—Professionals.

Because of the breadth and length of the reading below, and the shortage of class time, I am assigning only one reading for this section.

1.  Gloria J. Leckie, Karen E. Pettigrew and Christian Sylvain. “Modeling the Information Seeking of Professionals: A General Model Derived from Research on Engineers, Health Care Professionals, and Lawyers.” Library Quarterly 66(2):161-193, 1996.

Apr 27  Review for Examination 2; Last Class
   
May 1   Examination 2