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(vi) Presentation - the search is completed with the person having
developed a new understanding and ability to explain to others what they
have learnt or directly put the learning to use
Chang (1989: 20) proposes that information seeking behaviour can be
affected by contextual variables such as the user's organisation type,
positional variables such as the type of work performed, and personal
variables such as age and the level of education. Chang also observes that
as the first step in seeking information, most people are in favour of oral
communication. This is an effort to minimise individual and organisational
time and money.
By the same token, Jarvelin and Ingwersen (2004:3-4)) describe information
seeking behaviour as the acquisition of information from knowledge sources.
For instance, one may ask a colleague through (in) formal channels such as
through social interactions or through an information system. The authors go
on to explain that actors (i.e. various professional groups of people or even
lay people) usually operate in a dual context: that of information systems
and that of the socio-organizational context. According to the authors, over
time, the latter context influences and creates the information object and
space and the information technology infrastructure. Notably, the authors
introduce another aspect into the information seeking process, namely,
"retrieval". The authors observe that actors/users performing their work
tasks do not view information seeking and retrieval as separate aspects.
To this end, the authors suggest that there are eight dimensions involved in
information seeking and retrieval. Accordingly, these dimensions are
complex and depending on the goals of the study in question, involve
various variables. They include:
(i) The work task dimension as stipulated by the organisation, collaboration
between users, and the physical and system environment
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