1. LIB 640 Information Sources and Services
Summer 2012
Information
Seeking
Information
Literacy: Finding a
way
WHAT through
IS ALL the word
THIS? maze

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What is information seeking?
 What Is Information Seeking?
• In the simplest terms, information seeking
involves the search, retrieval, recognition,
and application of meaningful content. This
search may be explicit or implicit, the
retrieval may be the result of specific
strategies or serendipity, the resulting
information may be embraced or rejected,
the entire experience may be carried through
to a logical conclusion or aborted in
midstream, and there may be a million other
potential results.
• Kingrey, K. P. (2002, Spring). Concepts of information seeking
and their presence in the practical library literature.
Library Philosophy and Practice, 4, 2

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Why Seek? Theory 1
ASK Hypothesis developed by
Nicholas Belkin (Rutgers)
• ―. . . Anomalous States-of-Knowledge
(abbreviated to ASK). . . . Situations Nicholas Belkin
in which the patrons‘ knowledge are
incomplete or limited in some way, and
they need further information to get on,
the patrons are seen to be in an anomalous state of
knowledge.‖
• Ammentorp, S. and Hummelshøj, M. (2001). Ask a librarian: Web-
based reference question services: a model for development. Paper
presented at 11th NI&D Conference. Spring for information.
Reykjavik, 30 May–1 June 2001. Retrieved 22. September, 2004.
http://www.murraylib640.org/Ammentorp.doc

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Why Seek? Theory 2
The Uncertainty Principle
developed by Carol
Kulthau (Rutgers)
• Uncertainty initiates the
process of information Carol Kuhlthau
seeking
• Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004, May).
ISP Presentation
Retrieved June 14, 2007.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/recent_presentations
/loex/loex_presentation.ppt

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Why Seek? Theory 3
The Gap that does not make sense (“Sense-
making” hypothesis)
• “. . . Dervin presents to us a picture
of a man walking along a road,
when he comes upon an impassable
hole in the ground. In this situation,
he is obviously facing a gap. What Brenda Dervin
is he to do now?‖
• Kari, J. (1998, November). Making sense of sense-making:
From metatheory to substantive theory in the context of
paranormal information seeking. Paper presented at Nordis-
Net workshop (Meta)theoretical stands in studying library and
information institutions: individual, organizational and societal
aspects, November 12–15 1998, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved
September 22, 2004.
See also Dervin‘s Sense-Making Methodology Site

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Who Seeks? Theory 1
Anomalous State of Knowledge
(ASK) hypothesis (Belkin):
• “. . . patrons in problematic situations.‖
• Ammentorp, S. and Hummelshøj, M. Ask a
Librarian: Web-Based Reference Question
Services: A Model for Development.‖
Steen Ammentorp
Marianne Hummelshøj
Both were formerly at the Royal Danish
School of Library and Information Science

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Who Seeks? Theory 2
Kulthau’s Information Search Process:
• People experience the ISP [Information Search
Process] holistically with an interplay of
thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• Kuhlthau, Carol C. ―An Overview of the Information
Search Process.‖ Retrieved June 14, 2007.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/information_search_process.htm
Carol Kuhlthau

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Who Seeks? Theory 3
Sense-Making Hypothesis:
• ―. . . [a] patron [who] is seen as being locked
in a situation unable to move further because
of some kind of gap in his knowledge.‖
• Ammentorp and Hummelshøj, Ask a librarian:
web-based reference question services: A model
for development.
Brenda Dervin

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How Do They Seek? Theory 1
Belkin’s ASK:
• ―. . . users performing some activity feel that
they have a knowledge gap that cannot be
filled directly, and consequently they engage
into an information seeking process. . .”
• Brajnik, G. (1999, June). Information seeking as
explorative learning. Retrieved Sept. 7th, 2003.
http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_mi99_paper2.pdf
Giorgio Brajnik
Assistant Professor in
Computer Science, University
of Udine, Italy

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How Do They Seek? Theory 2
Kuhlthau’s ISP:
• ―The critical component of the
ISP is the person‘s own
formulation of a focus that
involves gaining a personal
perspective of the topic or subject
while using a variety of sources of information.
In other words, users are constructing their
own understandings through inquiry.‖
• Kuhlthau, C. ―Research Interests.‖ Last Updated January
2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
• http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/research_interests.htm

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How Do They Seek? Theory 3
Dervin’s Sense-Making:
• ― . . . the patron is seen as being locked in a
situation unable to move further because
of some kind of gap in his knowledge.
However the patron tries to bridge this gap
by asking questions and using the answers
to closing the gap, making new sense. As
Belkin, Dervin sees the nature of the
information need as something situational
changing as the patrons tries to bridge the
gap.‖
• Ammentorp and Hummelshøj, “Ask a Librarian: Web-
Based Reference Question Services: A Model for
Development.”

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Who, How, Why?
 “person-in-context”
 “active search for information”
 “stress/coping model”
Professor Tom
• Wilson, Tom and Christina Walsh. ―A
revised general model of information Wilson
behaviour‖ ch. 7 of ―Information
Behaviour: An Inter-Disciplinary Biography
Perspective.‖ British Library Research Research
and Innovation Report 10. A report to the Cats
British Library Research & Innovation
Centre on a review of the literature.
Retrieved Sept. 8th, 2003.
http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/infbehav/
Formerly at the Postgraduate School of Librarianship and Information Science (now The
Information School) at the University of Sheffield, England

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Another Why to Consider
Self-Generated or Imposed?
• internally motivated by personal context
OR
• thought up by one person then given to
someone else to resolve
• Gross, M. (2001, January). Imposed
information seeking in public libraries and
school library media centers: a common
behaviour? Information Research, 6, 2.
Retrieved Sept. 8th, 2003.
http://informationr.net/ir/6-2/paper100.html

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Process of Searching
Kulthau’s ISP:
• Carol C. Kuhlthau, Jannica Heinström and Ross J. Todd,
―The ‗information search process‘ revisited: is the model
still useful?‖ Information Research VOL. 13 NO. 4,
DECEMBER, 2008.

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Information Literacy
information literacy (IL)
• Skill in finding the information one
needs, including an understanding of
how libraries are organized,
familiarity with the resources they
provide (including information
formats and automated search tools),
and knowledge of commonly used
research techniques. More
• ODLIS

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What is Information Literacy?

17. QUILT’s definition
17

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Why teach information literacy?
 21st-Century learners may be
tech-savvy, but they still can be
overwhelmed:
• . . . Today‘s learners have grown up
in a ―wired‖ world. They have
constant access to global information
resources through computers and
mobile devices, and they expect to be able to retrieve
information instantly. This bold new generation
questions the concept of cognitive authority as mob
indexing an Wikipedia permeate the web. Learners
are now surrounded by information, whether in
print, online, or in sound bites of information.
• Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media
Programs. Chapter 1: Developing Visions for Learning.
IV. The 21st-Century Learner, p. 11.

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What is information literacy?
Information Literacy
• Information Literacy is a
transformational process in which the learner
needs to find, understand, evaluate, and use
information in various forms to create for personal,
social or global purposes.
• Information Literacy shares a fundamental set of
core thinking- and problem-solving meta-skills
with other disciplines. Authentic cross-disciplinary
problems which include observation and inference,
analysis of symbols and models, comparison of
perspectives, and assessment of the rhetorical
context, engage students in developing mastery
information literacy over time.
Copyright © NoodleTools Inc. (updated by D. Abilock 07/13/2007 )

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Another concept
What is Information Competence?
• information competence is the fusing or
the integration of library literacy,
computer literacy, media literacy,
technological literacy, ethics, critical
thinking, and communication skills
• Information Competence in the CSU. A Report Submitted to
Commission on Learning Resources and Instructional Technology
Work Group on Information Competence
CLRIT Task 6.1. Susan C. Curzon, Chair
December 1995
• http://www.calstate.edu/ls/Archive/info_comp_report.shtml#What Is

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What is Information Competence?

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Or is it Information Competency?
 What is Information Competency?
• ―Information Competency is the ability to find,
evaluate, use, and communicate information in all
its various formats. It combines aspects of library
literacy, research methods and technological
literacy. Information Competency includes
consideration of the ethical and legal implications
of information and requires the application of both
critical thinking and communication skills.‖
• Information competency definition adopted by the
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges at
its 1998 Spring Plenary Session. Available at:
www.AcademicSenate.cc.ca.us
• Note: Information competency is also referred to as
information literacy and information competence.

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Adding to the confusion of terms!
 Several other terms and combinations of
terms have been also used by different
authors:
• ‗infoliteracy‘, ‗informacy‘, ‗information
empowerment‘, ‗information competence‘,
‗information competency‘, ‗information
competencies‘, ‗information literacy skills‘,
‗information literacy and skills‘, ‗skills of
information literacy‘, ‗information literacy
Sirje Virkus
competence‘, ‗information literacy
competencies‘, ‗information competence skills‘,
‗information handling skills‘, ‗information
problem solving‘, ‗information problem solving
skills‘, ‗information fluency‘, ‗information
mediacy‘ and even ‗information mastery‘
• Sirje Virkus: ―Information literacy in Europe: a
literature review‖
Information Research, Vol. 8 No. 4, July 2003

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Now also as Information Literacies
Why the plural?
• The use of the term
―information literacies‖
emphasizes the complexity and
multiplicity of skills and strategies
Dr. Dianne Oberg involved in finding and using
information.
• Dianne Oberg: “Promoting Information
Literacies: A Focus on Inquiry.‖ 70th IFLA
General Conference and Council, 22-27 August
2004, Buenos Aires, Argentina
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla70/papers/088e-Oberg.pdf

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A related term often used outside library media circles
Inquiry-based learning
 What is inquiry-based learning?
• An old adage states: ―Tell me and I forget,
show me and I remember, involve me and I
understand.‖ . . . Inquiry implies involvement
that leads to understanding. Furthermore,
involvement in learning implies possessing
skills and attitudes that permit you to seek
resolutions to questions and issues while you
construct new knowledge.
•

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Project, Problem, and Inquiry-based Learning
Explore the Approaches
• Project-based learning, problem-based
learning, and inquiry-based learning all
three closely relate to the information
processing approach. They all fit well with
technology-rich learning environments
where the focus is not on the hardware
and software, but on the learning
experience.
• Project, Problem, and Inquiry-based Learning
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

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Another Related Term
Resource-Based Learning
• Resource-based learning actively involves
students, teachers and teacher-librarians in
the effective use of a wide range of print, non
print and human resources . . . Students who
use a wide range of resources in various
mediums for learning have the opportunity
to approach a theme, issue or topic of study
in ways which allow for a range of learning
styles and access to the theme or topic via
cognitive or affective appeals. More
• Resource-Based Learning: Approaches

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Yet another related term
Lifelong learning
• Lifelong learning is the process of acquiring
and expanding knowledge, skills, and
dispositions throughout your life to foster
well-being. It isn't about taking an adult
pottery class or reading a nonfiction book
occasionally. It's about the decisions you make
and the problems you solve in everyday life.
From enrolling in an structured, formal
education program to considering whether to
believe an infomercial's gimmick, lifelong
learning takes many forms.

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And another! 21st Century Literacies
21st Century Literacies
• 21st Century Literacies refer to the skills
needed to flourish in today's society and in
the future. Today discrete disciplines have
emerged around information, media,
multicultural, and visual literacies. It is
the combination of literacies that can
better help K-12 students and adult
learners address and solve the issues that
confront them.
• http://www.kn.sbc.com/wired/21stcent/index.html

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Better known as 21st Century Skills

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Used also by

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What about Kentucky?

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How do we put it all together?
Use the school library media center!

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After all, why are we doing this?
 Dr. Ross Todd, Rutgers University:
• The destination is not an information literature
student, but rather, the development of a
knowledgeable and knowing person, one who is
able to engage effectively with a rich and
complex information world, and who is able to
develop new understandings, insights and
ideas.
• School Libraries as Knowledge Spaces: Connections and
Actions; Outcomes and Evidence Powerpoint presentation for
SLAV conference, Victoria, Australia
The School Library Association of Victoria

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Shifting the focus of School Libraries
From: collections, position
and advocacy
Through: connections,
actions and evidence-based
practice centering on a
shared philosophy and
Developing knowledge process of inquiry learning
and understanding To: making a real
A thinking community difference to student
learning outcomes
From Ross Todd‘s PPT School Libraries as
Knowledge Spaces: Connections and
Actions; Outcomes and Evidence

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The Library as
a Knowledge
Space, not an
Information
Place
Ross Todd

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Evidence for the benefits
 Student Learning through Ohio
School Libraries (2004)
• Students appear to indicate that the school library –
not as a passive supply agency, but as an instructional
agency – helps them substantially in their learning.
• What is clearly perceived to be of help is the library’s
part in engaging students in an active process of
building their own understanding and knowledge – the
library as an agency for active learning.
• Review of the Findings Powerpoint
presentation.
• Researchers: Dr. Ross Todd and
Dr. Carol Kuhlthau, Rutgers

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Keith Curry Lance
What Research Tells Us About the
Importance of School Libraries
• At this point . . . there is a clear consensus in
the results now [2002] available for eight
states*: School libraries are a powerful force
in the lives of America's children. The school
library is one of the few factors whose
contribution to academic achievement has
been documented empirically, and it is a
contribution that cannot be explained away
by other powerful influences on student
performance.
• White House Conference on School Libraries
• *Now 19 states and 1 Canadian province—see

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Another summary of impact studies
http://library.mansfield.edu/impact.asp

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Mission of the school library?
 Empowering Learners:
Guidelines for School Library
Media Program
• The mission of the school
library media program is to
ensure that students and staff
are effective users of
information. The school
library media specialist
(SLMP) empowers
students to be critical thinkers,
enthusiastic readers, skillful
researchers, and ethical users
of information . . .
• Empowering Learners, p. 8.

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A European view
 School Library and School Librarianship
• The stream of information from TV channels,
Internet, CD-ROMs, computer programmes
etc. is unending. If the students, when they
become adult citizens, are not to feel lost and
helpless in the face of such rich sources of
information, they must learn [to] devise
personal strategies for information retrieval
while they are still at school. Information
Literacy and ―strategies for independent
learning skill development‖ are key
components of any school library.
• From a White Paper by Gert Larsen, School Library
Advisor, Albertslund, Denmark, p. 7
• Part of Project GrandSlam - General Research and New
Development in School Libraries As Multimedia Learning
Centres
A previous project in the same series

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The Key Concept?
 Competence and comfort with
information and information sources
• Have you ever heard of Data Smog? A term coined
by author David Shenk, it refers to the idea that too
much information can create a barrier in our lives.
• Information literacy is the solution to Data Smog. It
allows us to cope by giving us the skills to know when
we need information and where to locate it effectively
and efficiently. It includes the technological skills
needed to use the modern library as a gateway to
information. It enables us to analyze and evaluate the
information we find, thus giving us confidence in
using that information to make a decision or create a
product.
• Introduction to Information Literacy, Association for College and
Research Libraries (a division of the American Library Association)