IRLS 587: Information Seeking Behaviors
Outline - Fall 2002 (Coleman)
Required Text: Case, Donald O.
Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking Needs and
Behavior. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002. [AP
Catalog description]
Instructor: Anita S. Coleman
Office: 21, School
of Information Resources & Library Science
Phone: (520) 621-4026
Email: mailto:asc@u.arizona.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 11 am - 1 pm
Course Listserv: IRLS587
Catalog Description
IRLS 587: Information Seeking Behaviors (3 units)
Description: Information-seeking theories, methods, and user behaviors will
be covered in order to gain an understanding of how different groups of people
seek, gather and retrieve information in a variety of information environments.
Information-seeking behavior draws on literature from library and information
science, psychology, and communications.
Course Description
This course examines the individual and social
aspects of human information needs, seeking and use behaviours that are based on
theoretical and empirical research. Elements of information behaviors studied
are:
- Nature of information and knowledge;
- Tyes and characteristics of information use and users;
- Models and theories of information seeking;
- Contexts of information seeking;
- Methods to study information seeking behaviors;
- The representations of inquiry and the role of language;
- The searching strategies and techniques, including emotion,
cognition and learning theory.
Goals and Objectives
The main goal of the course is to become familiar
with the principles and research related to information seeking. More
specifically, by the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Identify the main concepts related to information needs, uses, users, and
seeking;
- Identify and synthesize the main findings, including the important
research programs, questions, theories, and researchers associated with human
information seeking behaviors;
- Describe and identify the weaknesses and strengths of each of the
subfields of research on information seeking;
- Apply the concepts and frameworks from the research literature to specific
examples and cases;
- Observe and analyze information seeking behaviours in a
context/environment; and
- Design studies for investigating information seeking behaviors in
electronic information environments.
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Schedule
Fall 2001 - IRLS 587
First
Created: 05/29/01
Created By: Anita S. Coleman