2007 Awards for Excellence
The following article was selected for this year's Outstanding Paper Award for The Electronic Library
"Learning from web information seeking studies: some suggestions for LIS practitioners''
Ina FourieDepartment of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Purpose - To explore the value of web information-seeking studies for practice, and to bring selected research findings and their potential to the attention of library and information science (LIS) practitioners.Design/methodology/approach - Based on a selective literature review of web information-seeking studies to highlight findings considered most relevant to LIS practitioners. A fairly extensive, but not exhaustive, list of sources was identified. Reasons for the gap between web information-seeking theory in the form of research reports and LIS praxis are briefly considered.Findings -The value of web information-seeking studies is limited to theoretical and methodological growth if they do not also affect practice. Suggestions are offered on a selection of aspects of how LIS practitioners can incorporate findings from web information-seeking studies. These include improved self-knowledge and self-efficacy of practitioners and users, adapted approaches to information literacy and user empowerment programmes, improved access to the full spectrum of the information infrastructure, a stronger emphasis on the link between information-seeking and information use and knowledge generation, and involvement in pragmatic small-scale research.Research limitations/implications - Although the scope of findings discussed is limited to a selection considered most important by the author, this could be supplemented by further reviews to allow for new findings and insights into practical implications.Practical implications-- Should stimulate LIS practitioners' interest in the results of web information-seeking studies and their value for praxis.Originality/value - Although all research papers are concluded with recommendations etc., a similar literature review with specific guidelines for practitioners has not been published in the LIS subject literature.
Keywords: Information research, Information science,Knowledge sharing, Worldwide web
www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/02640470610649227This article originally appeared in Volume 24 Number 1, 2006, pp. 20-37, The Electronic Library
