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Elaborating the conceptual space of information-seeking phenomena

VOL.21NO.3,SEPTEMBER,2016

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Elaboratingtheconceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomena
ReijoSavolainen.
Abstract
Introduction.Thearticlecontributestoconceptualstudiesofinformationbehaviourresearchbyexaminingtheconceptualisationsof
informationseekingandrelatedtermssuchasinformationsearchandbrowsing.
Method.ThestudybuildsonBates'integratedmodelofinformationseekingandsearching,originallypresentedin2002.Themodelwas
slightlyelaborated,resultingintheidentificationoffourmainmodesofinformationseeking:(i)activeseekingandsearching,(ii)browsing
andscanning,(iii)passivemonitoring,and(iv)incidentalacquisitionofinformation.Thestudydrawsontheconceptualanalysisoffiftytwo
keyarticlesorbookscharacterizingtheconstituentsoftheabovemodes.
Results.Themainactivitiesconstitutingactiveseekingandsearchingaretheidentification,selection,locationandaccessingofinformation.
Themodeofbrowsingandscanningisbasedontheselectionandsamplingofinformationsources.Thecoreactivityofpassivemonitoringis
therecognitionofpotentiallyrelevantsources,whilethemodeofincidentalacquisitionofinformationisbasedonpassivereceptionof
informationincertaineventsorsituations.
Conclusions.Informationseekingisamultifacetedphenomenon,theresearchofwhichhasledtoconceptualmultiplicity.Thepresentstudy
helpstocreateanoverviewofthemultipleviewpointsbyspecifyingtheconceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomena.

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Introduction
Traditionally,informationseekingisunderstoodasaprocessthroughwhichanindividualresolvesaninformationneed.Sincethe1960s,thefeaturesof
informationseekinghavebeencharacterizedinnumerousmodelsofinformationbehaviour(foranoverview,seeCase,2012,pp.139162).Despitethese
efforts,however,thereisnoconsensusamongresearchersaboutthedefinitionofinformationseekingorcloselyrelatedactivitiessuchasinformationsearchand
browsing.Instead,thereisahostofconstructslikeactivesearch,informationencountering,keywordsearching,monitoring,andnondirectedscanning(Davies
andWilliams,2013,p.549).Whileconceptualmultiplicitymaysignifythedynamicnatureofaresearchfield,theexistenceofmultipleconstructshasa
downside.TorephraseDervin,itmanifestsitselfinanincreasingchaosandoverload'whichplagueresearcherswithinandbetweenfields'.Becauseofthis,
researchersare'drowninginconcepts,variables,methods,theoriesandinanavalancheofcontradictoryfindings'(Dervin,2003).
Theaboveproblemisexacerbatedbythescarcityofconceptualanalysisinlibraryandinformationscience.Thisissueisnotnew.Forexample,Vakkari(1997,
p.460)expressedconcernatlibraryandinformationscienceresearchers'waysofusingcentralconceptslikeinformationseekingandinformationuseas
primitiveconceptsapracticethatcreatestheimpressionthatmostresearcherstaketheirmeaningasgiven.Theproblemisrenderedmoredifficultbythefact
thatresearchersoftenuseconceptssuchasinformationseekingandinformationsearchinterchangeably,withoutdueexplanationordemarcation.The
terminologicalissueshavealsobeenblurredbythegrowingpopularityofthenetworkedsources.Case(2006,p.315)pointedoutthatpreviously,investigations
focusingonsearchingelectronicresourceswerenotcalled'informationseeking'studiestheywere,rather,asubtopicwithinotherresearchareas:information
retrieval,onlinesearchingorhumancomputerinteraction.Currently,Websearchinghasoccupiedacentralroleininformationseekingindiversecontextssuch
asstudying(Lee,PaikandJoo,2012)andhealth(Tennantetal.,2015).Withthesedevelopments,informationseekingtendstobeassociatedwithWeb
searchinginparticular,thusblurringtheterminologyofinformationbehaviourresearch.
Thepresentstudymakesanattempttoaddconceptualclaritybyscrutinisinghowresearchershaveapproachedinformationseekingandrelatedconstructsas
formsofhumanactivity.Tothisend,aconceptualanalysiswasmadebydrawingontheintegratedmodelforinformationseekingandsearchingdevelopedby
Bates(2002b).Sheidentifiedfourfundamentalmodesbywhichpeoplecomeintocontactwithinformation:searching,browsing,monitoringandbeingaware.
Thepresentstudyelaboratesthesecategories,withtheintentofspecifyingthepictureofinformationseeking.Themaincontributionofthearticleisthe
elaborationoftheconceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomenabyspecifyingtheconstitutivecategoriesofthisactivity.
Thispaperisstructuredasfollows.Togivebackground,keytermssuchasinformation,seeking,search,informationseekingandinformationsearcharefirst
characterisedonagenerallevel,followedbythespecificationoftheresearchsetting.Thefindingsarethenreportedbyfocusingontheconceptualizationsof
fourkeymodesofinformationseeking:(i)activeseekingandsearching,(ii)browsingandscanning,(iii)passivemonitoringand(iv)incidentalacquisitionof
information.Thefinalsectionsdiscussthefindingsanddrawconclusionsregardingtheirsignificance.

Terminologicalissues
Information

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Informationseekingisacompoundnounwhoseelementsaresubjecttomultiplemeanings.Theformerelement,i.e.,information,isanotoriouslyvague
concept.Schrader(1986,p.179)identifiednolessthan134nuancesinthecharacterisationsofinformationdevelopedininformationsciencealone.More
recently,Bates(2010a)providedanauthoritativeoverviewofthemultiplemeaningsofinformation.First,informationmaybeconceivedofasaprocessof
beinginformed,similartoBuckland's(1991)viewoninformationasaprocess.Second,informationcanbedefinedasaclaimabouttheworld,aproposition.
Informationdenotesanabstract,meaningfulrepresentationofdeterminationswhichhavebeenmadeofobjects.Third,socialdefinitionsemphasisethat
informationisasociallyconstructedhumanartefactwithinsocialsituations.Fourth,structuraldefinitionsproposethatthestructuringandorganizingof
informationcontainsitsowninformation,andisthereforelikewiseinformative.Bates's(2010a,p.2356)owndefinitionofinformationdrawsonthestructural
viewpoint:'informationisthepatternoforganizationofmatterandenergy'.Informationisnotidenticaltothephysicalmaterialthatcomposesitrather
informationisthepatternoforganizationofthatmaterial,notthematerialitself.
Themultiplicityoftheaboveviewpointssuggeststhattheunderstandingofthecoreconceptofinformationremainsahighlycontestedarea.Case(2012,pp.69
70)concludedthatdefininginformationinanabsolutesenseisnotnecessaryforthestudyofinformationbehaviour.Itismoreproductivetotreatinformationas
aprimitiveterm,withoutneedingafullexplication.Fromthisperspective,informationisaphenomenonthatcanberecognisedwhenweseeitinitsvarious
formsormodes,forexample,asamessage,proposition,orasociallyconstructedhumanartefact.Thepresentstudyadoptsthebroadapproachproposedby
Case.Thisviewispreferred,becauseunderstandinginformationasaprimitiveconceptdoesnotunnecessarilyrestricttheanalysisofthewaysinwhichthis
entity,howevervague,issought,searched,acquiredorencountered,forexample.Tothisend,thepresentstudybracketsthediversemeaningsofinformation
whilescrutinisingthenatureofinformationseekingtheanalysiswillbefocusedonthelatterelementofthecompoundnoun.

Seek,searchoracquire?
Theexactcharacterisationofinformationseekingandrelatedactivitiessuchasinformationsearchandinformationacquisitionisdifficultbecausetheyare
subjecttodiverseinterpretations.Accordingtoadictionarydefinition,theverbseekmeans,forexample,'togoinsearchof,tolookfor,totrytodiscover,toask
for,totry,toacquireorgain,ortomakeanattempt'(Seek,2016).Overall,seekandseekingsuggestanactiveandintentionalpursuitofanobject.Searchisa
closelyrelatedverbwithdiversemeaningssuchas,'tolookintothoroughlyinanefforttofindordiscoversomethingtoexamineinseekingsomethingto
check,touncover,find,orcometoknowbyinquiryorscrutiny'(Search,2016).Further,theverbacquirereferstoactivitiessuchastoget(something),tocome
toown(something),andtogain(something),usuallybyone'sowneffort(Acquire,2016).Overall,theabovethreeverbsarecloselyrelated,eventhoughthere
arenuancesbetweenthem.Seekandsearchrefertoone'sattemptstofindorgetsomething.Suchhuntingattemptsmaysucceedorfailwhatissoughtmaybe
foundorremainunfound.Acquirerefersmorestronglytohowsomethingthatissoughtcanalsobecapturedorreceivedintopossession.

Informationseeking
Researchersindiversefieldssuchascommunicationscience(Ramirez,Walther,BurgoonandSunnafrank,2002),consumerresearch(Bettman,LuceandPayne,
1998),healthstudies(JohnsonandCase,2012)andinformationscience(Wilson,2010)haveprovidedahostofcharacterisationsofinformationseeking.The
historyofthisconceptisrelativelyshort.Inthe1940sand1950s,thephenomenaofinformationseekingwereviewedimplicitlyintermsofuseofvariousforms
ofliterature(e.g.,booksandjournals),andofvarioustypesofinstitutionssuchaslibraries(Bates,2010b,p.2386).Atthattime,termslikeinformation
receivingactsandcommunicationreceivingactivitywereusedinsteadoftheterminformationseeking(TaljaandHartel,2007).Earlyexamplesoftheuseofthe
terminformationseekingcanbetracedtothe1970s.Forinstance,Feinmanandassociates(1976,p.3)definedinformationseekingas'specificactions
performedbyanindividualthatarespecificallyaimedatsatisfyinginformationneeds'.However,theabovetermbecamemorewidelyknownthroughWilson's
(1981)pioneeringarticleonuserstudiesandinformationneeds.Hesuggestedthatinformationseekingbehaviourarisesasaconsequenceofaneedperceived
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byaninformationuser,who,inordertosatisfythatneed,makesdemandsuponformalorinformalinformationsourcesorservices,whichresultinsuccessor
failuretofindrelevantinformation.
Sincethe1980s,theterminformationseekinghasreceivedadditionalmeanings.Theconceptualsettinghasbecomemorecomplexduetotheintroductionof
relatedtermssuchasinformationsearch,informationretrievalandinformationactivities,whicharesometimesusedinterchangeablywithinformationseeking.
Forexample,Kuhlthau(1993)preferstheterminformationsearch,eventhoughherstudyfocusesonthephenomenaofinformationseeking.Marchionini
(1995)proposedamodelforinformationseekingfromelectronicsources,butineffecthisframeworkconcentratesoninformationsearchandinformation
retrieval.Hektor(2001)developedasocialmodelofinformationbehaviour.Thisframeworkincorporatesanumberofconstituentslabeledasinformation
activities.Ofthem,searchandretrieve,browsingandmonitoringaremostdirectlylinkedtoinformationseekingbehavior,whileexchangeismorerelevant
fromtheperspectiveofinformationsharing.
TheconceptualsettingcanbeclarifiedbymakinguseofthenestedmodelofinformationbehaviourdevelopedbyWilson(1999,pp.2622632000,pp.4950).
Inthismodel,humaninformationbehaviourispositedasanumbrellacategorycoveringallaspectsofhumaninformationinteractionswithvariousformsof
information.Asubsetisinformationseekingbehaviour,whichencompassestherangeofwaysemployedindiscoveringandaccessinginformationresources
(bothhumansandsystems)inresponsetogoalsandintentions.Informationsearchingbehaviourisasubsetofinformationseeking,amicrolevelbehaviour,
referringtothepurposiveactionsinvolvedininteractingwithaninformationsearchsystem,includinginformationretrievalsystems.Finally,informationuse
behaviourconsistsofthephysicalandmentalactsinvolvedinincorporatingtheinformationfoundintotheperson'sexistingknowledgebase.Fromthis
perspective,informationseekingcanbepositionedasamiddlelevelcategorybetweenmacrolevelconstructssuchashumaninformationbehaviourandmicro
levelcategoriessuchasinformationsearchingorinformationretrieval.

Informationacquisition
Theterminologicalissueshavealsobeenblurredbythefactthatconceptssuchasinformationacquisitionandinformationgatheringareoftenused
interchangeablywithinformationseeking.Forexample,Johnsonandassociates(2006,p.570)suggestthatinformationseekingissimply'thepurposive
acquisitionofinformationfromselectedinformationcarriers'.Williamson(1998)preferredthetermincidentalinformationacquisitionwhileexamining
informationseekingamongelderlypeople.AccordingtoWilson(1997,p.562),certainmodesofinformationseeking(orinformationsearch)maybebetter
termed'acquisition',ratherthan'seeking'.Forexample,inthecaseofpassiveattention,suchaslisteningtotheradio,informationacquisitionmaytakeplace
withoutintentionalseeking.Further,passivesearchsignifiesthoseoccasionswheninformationaboutanissue,forexample,hobbyistcomputerprogramming,
foundcoincidentallyresultsintheacquisitionofinformationthathappenstoberelevantforthesolvingofaworkrelatedproblem.Incontrast,inthecaseof
activesearch,anindividualactivelyseeksoutinformation.Thusunderstood,informationseekingdiffersfrominformationacquisitioninthattheformer
signifiesanintentionalpursuit,whilethelatterplacesmoreemphasisonthereceptionofinformation.Overall,however,theterminformationacquisitionseems
morecommoninfieldssuchasmanagementscience(e.g.,SaundersandMiranda,1998),whilelibraryandinformationscienceresearchersprefertheterm
informationseeking.

Informationsearchandinformationretrieval
Asnotedabove,informationsearchingcanbeconceivedasasubsetofinformationseeking(Wilson,2000,p.49).Thusdefined,informationsearchingis
particularlyconcernedwiththeinteractionsbetweeninformationuser(withorwithoutanintermediary)andcomputerbasedinformationsystems,ofwhich
informationretrievalsystemsmaybeseenasonetype.Theabovedefinitionhelpstodistinguishthedomainsofinformationseekingandinformationretrieval.
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Ontheotherhand,thedefinitionisrestrictive,becauseitexcludesinformationsearchingthatfocusesonsourcesofcertaintypes,forexample,printedbooksand
archivalrecords.
Overall,theconceptualboundariesarenotalwaysclearcut,andthetermsinformationseeking,informationsearchandinformationretrievalaresometimesused
interchangeably.Bates(1979)developedaninfluentialtypologyofinformationsearchtacticsentailingfourmaincategories:monitoring,filestructure,search
formulationandtermtactics,andtwentynineindividualtacticssuchasbibble,exhaust,select,andvary.However,astheabovecategoriessuggest,theterm
informationsearchprimarilyreferstoinformationretrievalfromonlinedatabases.Incontrast,Kuhlthau(19932004)employstheterminformationsearchin
themeaningofinformationseeking,whileinMarchionini's(1995)terminology,informationseekingdescribesphenomenacharacteristicofinformationsearch
andinformationretrieval.IngwersenandJrvelin(2005,p.386)clarifytherelationshipbetweeninformationseekingandinformationretrievalbynotingthe
formerrefersto'humaninformationbehaviourdealingwithsearchingorseekinginformationbymeansofinformationsourcesand(interactive)information
retrievalsystems'.(Interactive)informationretrievalitselffunctionsasaspecialcaseofinformationseeking.However,duetothepopularityofWebsearching,
mostinformationretrievalisincreasinglybasedondirectendusersearchingbytheactorsthemselves.Thus,informationsearchandinformationretrievalcanbe
regardedasoverlappingcategoriesinthecontextofWebsearchinginparticular.

Conceptualframeworkandresearchquestions
Tofurtherclarifytheconceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomena,thepresentstudymakesuseoftheintegratedmodelofinformationseekingand
searchingdevelopedbyBates(2002b).Thisframeworkwaschosenforthestudybecauseitishospitabletodiverseformsofinformationseeking.Batescreated
theabovemodelbycrosstabulatingtwovariables:(i)activeversuspassiveand(ii)directedversusundirectedinformationseekingandsearching.Theformer
variableindicateswhethertheindividualdoesanythingactivelytoseekinformation,orispassivelyavailabletoabsorbinformation,butdoesnotseekitout.The
lattervariablerefers,respectively,towhetheranindividualseeksparticularinformationthatcanbespecifiedtosomedegree,orismoreorlessrandomly
exposingthemselvestoinformation.Bates(2002b,p.4)termedtheactiveanddirectedmodeassearching,whiletheactiveandundirectedmodewasreferredto
asbrowsing.Thepassiveanddirectedmodewaslabeledasmonitoring,whilethepassiveandundirectedmodewasnamedasbeingaware.
Theabovecategorieswereslightlymodifiedfortheneedsofthepresentstudy.First,thecategoryofsearchingwasrenamedmorebroadlyasactiveseekingand
searching.Thisspecificationisreasonable,becausetheactiveanddirectedmodecanentailinformationseekinginthesenseof'discoveringandaccessing
informationresources(bothhumansandsystems),aswellasinformationsearchingasitssubset'(Wilson,2000,p.49).Further,theactiveandundirectedmode
wasrenamedasbrowsingandscanningbecausetheabovemodecanalsoincludeactivitiessuchasenvironmentalscanning.Thepassiveanddirectedmodewas
renamedaspassivemonitoringinordertodistinguishpassiveattentionfromactiveformsofmonitoring,forexample,researchers'systematiceffortstokeep
current(Bronstein,2007).Finally,thepassiveandundirectedmodewasrenamedincidentalacquisitionofinformation.Thisisbecausetheoriginallabelof
beingawarewasregardedasanoverlygeneralcategoryintheparticularcontextofinformationseeking.Beingawarereferstoanallpervasiveaspectofall
informationbehaviour,includingactiveseekingandsearching,browsingandscanning,andpassivemonitoring.Sincetheuseofanoverlygeneralcategory
woulddecreasethedistinctionpoweroftheconceptualframework,amorespecificlabel,incidentalacquisitionofinformation,ispreferred.Themodified
frameworkispresentedinFigure1below.

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Figure1:Modesofinformationseeking(modifiedfromBates2002b,p.4).
TheconceptualframeworkdepictedinFigure1identifiesfouridealtypicalmodesofinformationseeking.RephrasingBates(2002b,p.6),activeseekingand
searching(cellA)andpassivemonitoring(cellB)arewaystofindinformationinordertomeetneedsthatarerecognizedbutunfulfilledsofar.Browsingand
scanning(cellC)andincidentalacquisitionofinformation(cellD)arewaystofindinformationtomeetneedsofwhichpeoplebecomeawarewhentheycome
intocontactwithinformation.Theabovecategoriesarecharacterisedinmoredetailinsectionsreportingtheresearchfindings.
Toinvestigatetheaboveissuesingreaterdetail,thepresentstudyaddressesthefollowingresearchquestions:
WhatkindofconceptshaveresearchersdevelopedtocharacterisethefourmodesofinformationseekingspecifiedinFigure1above?
Howhavetheyconceptualisedactivitiesconstitutiveofdiversemodesofinformationseeking?
Howhaveresearcherscharacterisedtherelationshipsbetweentheconstitutiveactivities?
Tostrengthenthefocusoftheinvestigation,otheraspectsoftheinformationseekingphenomena,suchascontextualfactorsofinformationseekingand
strategiesforinformationsearching,wereintentionallyexcluded.Forthesamereason,noattentionwasdevotedtotheconstituentsofinformationretrieval,a
subsetofinformationsearching.Duetospacerestrictionsalone,thestudyoftheseissueswouldhaverequiredaseparatestudy.Further,asthepresent
investigationfocusesonthesubstantivetheories,modelsorconceptualisationsofinformationseekingbehaviour(Vakkari,1998),metatheoreticalissueswillbe
excludedfromthestudy.Therefore,noparticularmetatheoreticalstance,forexample,constructivism,collectivismorconstructivism,willbetakentoreflect
theontologicalandepistemologicalissuesofinformation,informationbehaviour,informationpracticesormorespecifically,informationseekingbehaviouror
practices(Talja,TuominenandSavolainen,2005Savolainen,2008).Finally,noattentionwillbedevotedtothecontextualissuesofinformationseeking.Thus,
thepresentstudywillnotexaminehowdiversemodesofinformationseekingwoulddifferinparticularcontextssuchasworktaskperformance,learning,health
andleisure.

Procedures
Toanswertheaboveresearchquestions,themainfocusofattentionwasdirectedtostudiesexplicitlyconceptualisinginformationseekingasaformofhuman
activity.Manyofthestudiesrelevantforthepresentinvestigationwereidentifiedthroughtheauthor'slongtimefamiliaritywiththeissuesofinformation
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behaviourresearch.Inaddition,forthesystematicidentificationofpertinentmaterial,databasessuchasLibraryandInformationScienceAbstractsandarticles
publishedinthevolumesoftheAnnualReviewofInformationScienceandTechnologywereused.Moreover,themajorreviewsofinformationbehaviour,for
example,Bates(2010b),Case(2012)andWilson(199719992010)wereused.Thiseffortresultedintheidentificationofeightyfourpotentiallyrelevant
articles,booksandconferencepapers.Thismaterialwasexaminedindetail.Studiesmerelyreviewingthefindingsofpreviousstudieswereeliminated,
resultinginthefinalsampleoffiftytwokeyinvestigationspublishedwithintheperiodof19672015.Thesestudiesareincludedinthelistofreferences.
Theresearchmaterialwasexaminedbymeansofevolutionaryconceptanalysis(Rodgers,2000).Thismethodemphasisesthedynamicnatureofconcept
developmentbyexaminingtheapplicationofconceptswithinagivencontextorgroupofcontextsinordertoidentifyitsattributeswithinthatcontext(Fleming
May,2014,p.205).Theanalysisincludessixmajorsteps:
1.Identifytheconceptofinterestandassociatedexpressions.
2.Identifyandselectanappropriatesettingandsamplefordatacollection.
3.Collectrelevantdatatoidentifytheattributesoftheconceptandthecontextualbasisoftheconcept.
4.Analysedataregardingtheabovecharacteristicsoftheconcept.
5.Identifyanexemplaroftheconcept.
6.Identifyimplicationsforfurtherdevelopmentoftheconcept.
Inthepresentstudy,theconceptofinterestisinformationseekingasaformofhumanactivity(step1).Thedatacollectionisdescribedabove(step2).Asto
step3,theterminologyproposedbyRodgers(2000)wasslightlymodifiedinthatthepresentstudyprefersthetermconstituent,notattribute,whileexamining
thecharacteristicsofinformationseekingactivities.Atthenextphase(step4),theconstituentsofsuchactivitieswereanalysed.Tothisend,theresearch
materialwasexaminedtoidentifyfactorsthatareconceptuallyrelatedtothephenomenaofinformationseeking.Morespecifically,attentionwasdevotedto 2
howresearchershaveapproachedtheconstituentsofinformationseekingmodes,forexample,passiveattention(Wilson,1997),aconstituentofincidental
acquisitionofinformation.Afterhavingidentifiedsuchconstituents,theanalysiswascontinuedbycomparingthecharacterisationsoftheconstituentspresented
byvariousresearchers.Then,exemplarsdepictinginformationseekingwereidentifiedwithregardtofourmodesofinformationseekingcharacterisedabove
(step5).Finally,implicationsforfurtheranalysisoftheconceptofsuchconstructswereidentified(step6).Allinall,thegoaloftheanalysisisnottoidentifya
universaldefinitionoftheconceptofinformationseeking,buttoexploreitsnatureasaformofhumanactivityinordertoaddconceptualclarityininformation
behaviourresearch.

Findings
ThereportontheresearchfindingsisstructuredbydrawingontheframeworkdepictedinFigure1above.First,themodeofactiveseekingandsearchingwill
bediscussed,followedbytheanalysisofactivitiesconstitutiveofbrowsingandscanning,passivemonitoringandincidentalacquisitionofinformation.

Activeseekingandsearching
Activeinformationseekingandsearchingisoftenunderstoodasthemosttypicalmodeofinformationseeking.Nowonderthatsincethe1980smost
characterizationsofinformationseekinghavefocusedonthismode.Ithasbeenconceptualisedfromtwomajorperspectives.First,activeinformationseeking
andsearchingisapproachedasfactorsconstitutiveofastagedprocess(e.g.,Kuhlthau,1993).Analternativeviewsuggeststhatactiveinformationseekingand
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searchingcanbebestdescribedasgenericfeaturesormodesofhumanactivity.However,itisnotassumedthatsuchfeaturesormodesnecessarilyappearina
certainorder(e.g.,Ellis,1989McKenzie,2003).
PerhapsthemostwidelyknownexampleofthestagedapproachisprovidedbytheinformationsearchprocessmodeldevelopedbyKuhlthau(1993).According
tothismodel,activeseekingandsearchingentailsthreemainrealms:(i)physical,actualactionstaken(ii)affective,feelingsexperiencedand(iii)cognitive,
thoughtsconcerningbothprocessandcontent(Kuhlthau,2004,p.6).Theinformationsearchprocessmodeldescribeshowpeople,throughtheiractions,
activelyseekinformationrelevanttothegeneraltopicinthebeginningstagesofthesearchprocessandpertinenttothefocusedtopictowardsearchclosure.At
thestageoftaskinitiation,actionsincludetalkingwithothersandbrowsingthelibrary,whileatthestageoftopicselection,actionsentailconsultinginformal
mediators,usingreferencecollections,andpreliminarysearches.Atthestageofprefocusexploration,actionsincludelocatingrelevantinformationandreading
tobecomeinformedandtakingnotes.Atthefourthstage,i.e.focusformulation,actionsmayincludereadingnotesforthemes,whileatthestageofinformation
collection,individualsmayusethelibrarytocollectpertinentinformationandrequestspecificsources.Finally,atthestageofpresentation(orsearchclosure),
actionsincluderecheckinginformationinitiallyoverlooked,aswellasconfirminginformation,andbibliographiccitations.Allinall,theinformationsearch
processmodelsuggeststhattheroleofactiveseekingandsearchingismostvisibleatstages15,whilethefinalstagemainlydealswithinformationuse.
ShentonandDixon(2003,p.1013)sharesimilarideasaboutactiveseekingandsearchinginastagebasedmodelforinformationseekingamongyoungpeople.
Thefirstphaseistheidentificationofoveralldirectionanditinvolvesconsiderationofthenatureoftheinformationseekingresponsetobemade.Several
approachesmaybeadoptedinconcert,includingtheexploitationofinformationsourcesindifferentformatsordifferentplacessuchasthehome,schoolor
publiclibrary.Thesecondphasedealswithidentificationofsource.Thisstagereferstotheinquirer'sattemptstoisolateaparticularsourcenameortitle,suchas
acertainbook.First,adecisionistakentouseanamedsourceandeffortsarethenmadetolocateit,or,secondly,asuitableitemisselectedfromalarger
collection,withthechoicemadeatthepointwhenthatcollectionisbeinginvestigated.Thethirdstagefocusesontheidentificationofcomponent.Whereoneor
2
morespecificsourceshavebeenselectedforuse,thethirdstageofactionmarksthebeginningoftheinquirer'sdirectinteractionswiththecontentofthe
materialormaterialschosen.Heretheuserisintentonlocatinganappropriatecomponent,orpart,ofthewholesource,forexample,aWebsite.Thisstageis
locatedinthemiddlegroundbetweeninformationseekingandusetodescribehowthecontentoftheinformationfoundorobtainedisexamined.Thenext
phase,accessingofinformation,meanstransitionfromthedomainofinformationseekingtotheareaofinformationuse,becausetheaccessingactivityinvolves
scrutinyofthecomponentforinformationpertainingtotheneed.
Similartotheinformationsearchprocessmodel,ShentonandDixon(2003)conceptualisedactiveseekingandsearchingbyidentifyingfourmainconstituents:
identifyingpotentialsources,selectingafewcandidates,locatingtheselectedsourcesandfinallyaccessingtheminordertoscrutinisetheirinformationcontent.
Asawhole,thepictureofthecoreactivitiesdescribedaboveintheexemplarstudiesisquiteunsurprisingitcorrespondstoourintuitionabouthowactive
(purposeful)informationseekingandsearchingcommonlyproceedsfromonestagetoanother.
Anothermajorapproachtoactiveseekingandsearchingistoidentifygenericfeatures,characteristics,patternsormodesthatconstituteinformationseeking.
Overall,thetermcharacteristiccanbeunderstoodasadistinguishingtrait,qualityorproperty(Characteristic,2016).Closelyrelated,thetermfeaturerefersto
aninterestingorimportantpartorquality,whilepatternstandsforarepeatedformorsomethingthathappensinaregularorrepeatedway(Pattern,2016).The
termmodehasmultiplemeanings.Inthecontextofthepresentstudy,itcanbegenerallyunderstoodasapossible,customaryorpreferredwayofdoing
something(Mode,2016).Inthisregard,itcomesclosetothecategoryofpattern.
PerhapsthemostwidelyknownexampleofthefeaturebasedapproachisprovidedbyEllis(1989).Basedonanempiricalstudyfocusingoninformation
seekingamongacademicresearchers,Ellisidentifiedsixgenericfeaturesorcharacteristicsofinformationseeking.Ofthem,startingandchainingismost
pertinentfortheconceptualisationofactiveseekingandsearching.Ellis(1989,p.241)definedstartingasactivitiescharacteristicoftheinitialsearchfor
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information,forexample,identifyingstarterreferencesthatmayserveasthebasisforchaining.Chainingisdescribedasanactivityoffollowingupreferences
citedinsourcesconsulted(backwardchaining),oridentifyingmaterialthatcitesthosesources(forwardchaining).However,amoredetailedpictureofthe
activitiesconstitutiveofactiveseekingandsearchingisprovidedbyFoster's(2004)modelofnonlinearinformationseeking.SimilartoEllis,Fosteridentified
featuresofinformationseekingamongscholars,suggestingthatthisactivityisconstitutedbythreecoreprocesses:opening,orientationandconsolidation.From
theviewpointofactiveseekingandsearching,theactivitiesconstitutiveofopeningaremostpertinent(Foster,2004,p.233).Breadthexplorationrefersto
consciousexpansionofinformationhorizonstobringwithinrangedifferentinformationtypes,sources,conceptsanddisciplines(Foster,2004,pp.233234).
Eclecticismencompassesaccepting,gatheringandstoringinformationfromadiverserangeofbothpassiveandactivesources.Activityofthistypeinfluences
informationseekingasadeterminationtoobtaininformationfromasmanychannelsaspossibletorevealnewconceptsandideas.Networkingoperatesthrough
manychannels,includingconferences,socialgatherings,colleaguesanddepartmentalresearchgroups.Identifyingkeywordsmeansfindingsuitabletermsfor
subsequentsearching,whilekeywordsearchingisassociatedwiththeuseofdatabases,onlinecatalogues,Internetsearchenginesandonlinejournals.Finally,
theactivityofchaining,alsoidentifiedbyEllis(1989),leadsresearchersfromsingleleadsinknownareastowardsabroaderinformationhorizon.
Arelatedapproachtoinformationseekingisbasedontheidentificationofmodesofthisactivity.AnearlyexampleofthisapproachisprovidedbyWilson
(1997,p.562).Hespecifiedfourmodesofsearchbehaviour.Oneofthem,activesearch,takesplaceswhenauseractivelysearchesforspecificinformation.
ThiscategoryissimilartothemodeofactiveseekingdefinedbyMcKenzie(2003ds).Activeseekingoccursincasesinwhichpeoplespecificallyseekouta
previouslyidentifiedsourceandconductasystematic,knownitemsearch,forexample.Furthermore,Bates(2002b,pp.78)defineddirectedsearchingasa
modeofactionwhichrepresentspurposefulattemptstoanswerquestionsordevelopunderstandingaroundaparticularquestionortopicarea.Shealso
characterisedtheabovemodeinrelationtootherformsofinformationseeking.Mostimportantly,berrypicking,aconstructdepictingevolvingsearch,canbe
understoodasformofactivedirectedsearching(Bates,1989).Thisactivitycanalsobeunderstoodasamanifestationofsamplingandselecting,thusdescribing
thecommonandnaturalwayspeopleactuallyengageindirectedinformationsearching.AccordingtoBates(2002b,p.10),however,berrypickingdiffersfrom2
browsinginthatthelatterisundirected,whileberrypickingismoredirected.
Activeseekingandsearchinghasalsobeenconceptualisedintermsofmonitoringorkeepingcurrent.Ellis(1989,p.241)definedmonitoringasactivitydealing
withmaintainingawarenessofdevelopmentsinafieldofinterest.Similarly,Foster(2004,p.233)identifiedmonitoringasanactivitythatmanifestsitselfin
repeatvisitstoobtainupdates.Bronstein(2007s)dividedmonitoringbythetypeofsourcebeingmonitored.Forexample,monitoringelectronicmaterials
occurswhenresearchersperformaperiodicalliteraturesearchonabstractingandindexingdatabases,librarycataloguesortheInternet.Wilson(1997,p.562)
describedactivityofthistypebyusingthetermongoingsearch.Itoccurswhenrelevantinformationhasalreadybeenfoundorisknownbutuserscontinue
seekinginformationtoupdateorexpandtheirknowledge.
Theabovecharacterisationssuggestthatfeatureormodebasedapproachestoactiveseekingandsearchingprovideadifferentview,becausesuchactivitiesare
notassumedtorepresentstagesofastagedprocess.Instead,featuresormodesaredefinedasgenericfactorsthatmayappearindifferentorder,dependingon
thesituationalrequirementsofinformationseeking.Ultimately,however,thepicturedrawnfromactiveseekingandsearchingdoesnotdifferfromthe
characterisationsprovidedbythestagebasedapproach.Bothapproachesidentifyfourmainconstituentsofactiveseekingandsearching:identifyingpotentially
relevantsources,selectingthemostpromisingcandidates,locatingthemandfinallyaccessingsourcesinordertousetheirinformationcontent.

Browsingandscanning
Browsingandscanningrepresenttheactiveandundirectedmodeofinformationseeking.Astheaboveconceptsarecloselyrelated,researcherstendtousethem
interchangeably(Bates,2007Rice,McCreadieandChang,2001).Overall,theexactdefinitionofbrowsingandscanninghasprovedtobedifficult.According
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toBates(2007),thisismainlyduetothefactthattheconditionsunderwhichbrowsingisusedvarywidely.Moreover,browsingtendstoberatherunpredictable
initsverynature,anditcanbeemployedinmoreandlessdirected,intentionalways.Forexample,Marchionini(1995,p.106)differentiatedbetweenthree
maintypesofbrowsing.Directedbrowsingoccurswhenthisactivityissystematic,focusedanddirectedbyaspecificobjectortarget.Examplesinclude
checkingalistforaknownitem,andverifyinginformationsuchasdates.Semidirectedbrowsingoccurswhenbrowsingispredictiveorgenerallypurposeful:
thetargetislessdefiniteandbrowsingislesssystematic.Anexampleisenteringasingle,generaltermintoadatabaseandcasuallyexaminingtheretrieved
records.Finally,undirectedbrowsingoccurswhenthereisnorealgoalandverylittlefocus.Examplesincludeflippingthroughamagazineandsurfingonthe
Web.
Similarly,scanninghasappearedtobeaphenomenonthatisdifficulttodefineindetail.Basedonanextensiveanalysisofresearchliterature,Riceand
associates(2001,p.178)concludedthatingeneral,theactofscanningisconstitutedbytheactivitiesof'looking,examining,orsamplingwheretheperson's
bodyoreyesmovesmoothlyatwill'.Riceandassociates(2001,p.203)definedbrowsingasarelatedactivitybasedon'casualaccesstosociallinksand
unpredictableexposuretomanypossiblesocialinteractionsandtotheimpliedknowledgeavailablethroughtheseinteractions'.
Bates(2002a2007)questionedtheabovedefinitionsbymaintainingthatscanningisnotbrowsing.Scanninginvolvesasystematic,smoothmovement,while
browsingisacomplexprocess,involvingaseriesofglimpses,usuallyfollowedbyactionsbetweentheglimpses.Theabovedefinitionisstronglybasedon
Kwasnik's(1992)conceptualisationofbrowsingassuccessiveactsofglimpsing,fixingonatargettoexaminevisuallyormanuallymoreclosely,examiningand
thenmovingontostartthecycleagain.Morespecifically,Bates(2007)characterisedbrowsingasanactivitycontainingfourelements:1)glimpsingafieldof
vision,2)selectingorsamplingaphysicalorrepresentationalobjectfromthefield,3)examiningtheobject,and4)physicallyorconceptuallyacquiringthe
examinedobject,orabandoningit.Browsingcannotbecharacterisedasasmoothscanbecausemostbrowsingepisodesincluderepeatedselectingand/or
samplingandrepeatedinstancesofexaminingobjects.Further,browsingepisodesmaycontainoneormoreinstancesofacquiringexaminedobjects,whichmay
2
beconceptual,aswithreading,orphysical,aswithpickingupandkeepingtheitem.Bates(2007)concludedthatscanningcanbeunderstoodassmooth,
sequential,orderlyactivityoccurringwhenonewantstofindsomethingquicklybutwantstobesurenottomissanything.Browsing,bycontrast,ismoreopen
tosurprise,becauseaglimpsemayleadtoaccessingawiderangeofnovelsources.Scanningismorefocusedthanbrowsingbecausethereaderisreviewingas
fastaspossible,butsystematically,inordertocovereverythingwithinachosenareaandnotmissanythingthatmightbethere.
Bates(2007)alsoreflectedthenatureofbrowsinginrelationtoberrypicking,aboundaryconstructrelevanttoactiveseekingandsearching,too.Importantly,
whenbrowsingisdoneinthecourseofanactiveinformationsearch,itmayplayapartinmanydifferenttypesofsearchstrategiesandtechniques.Thesearcher
mayadoptbrowsingandthenceasebrowsingsecondslaterinthecourseofacomplexberrypickingsearch.Therefore,scanning,browsing,andactivesearching
canbeinvolvedintheberrypickingsearch.
Scanningdepictsanothermajoraspectofactiveandundirectedinformationseeking.Eventhoughmostresearchersseemtosharetheaboveideaaboutscanning
asasmooth,sequentialandorderlyactivityoccurringwhenonewantstofindsomethingquickly,individualstudieshavecharacterisedthefeaturesofthis
activitysomewhatdifferently.Aguilar(1967)pioneeredbysuggestingthatorganizationsscantheirenvironmentsinfourdistinctways:undirectedviewing,
conditionedviewing,informalsearchandformalsearch.Ofthese,undirectedandconditionedviewingarethemostrelevantsubtypesofscanningforthe
characterisationoftheactiveandundirectedmodeofinformationseeking.Inundirectedviewing,theindividualisexposedtoinformationwithnospecific
informationalneedinmind.Theoverallpurposeistoscanbroadlyinordertodetectsignalsofchangeearly(Choo,DetlorandTurnbull,2000).Manyand
variedsourcesofinformationareused,andlargeamountsofinformationarescreened.Thegranularityofinformationiscoarse,butlargechunksofinformation
arequicklydroppedfromattention.Thegoalofundirectedscanningimpliestheuseofalargenumberofdifferentsourcesanddifferenttypesofsources.
Conditionedviewingdiffersfromtheaboveactivityinthattheindividualdirectsviewingtoinformationaboutselectedtopicsortocertaintypesofinformation.
Theoverallpurposeistoevaluatethesignificanceoftheinformationencounteredinordertoassessthegeneralnatureoftheimpactontheorganization(Choo,
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etal.,2000).Theindividualhasisolatedanumberofareasofpotentialconcernfromundirectedviewing,andisnowsensitisedtoassessthesignificanceof
developmentsinthoseareas.McKenzie's(2003)categoryofactivescanningcorrespondstoAguilar's(1967)conditionedviewing.Activescanninginvolves
activitiessuchassystematicallylookingoutfornewbooksfocusingonatopicofcurrentinterest,ortheidentificationofopportunitiestopresenthealthrelated
questionstoexpertssuchasdoctors.
Activitiesconstitutiveofbrowsingandscanninghavealsobeenreferredtobyusingotherterms.Oneofthemisforaging(e.g.,PirolliandCard,1995).The
foraginganalogyprovidesanaccountofhowpeople,whilebrowsinginformationresources,choosetocontinuebrowsinginthesameregionorchooseto
identifyanewregioninwhichtolookforinformation.Theideaofforaginghasbeenspecifiedbyusingthemetaphoricalcategoryofinformationscent(Chi,
Pirolli,ChenandPitkow,2001).Itdescribesthequalityoftheinformationpointersthatindicatethelikelysubstanceofanarticle(e.g.,aWebpage)andallow
theusertoassessitsinteresttothem.
Tosumup:browsingandscanningarecloselyrelatedcategoriesthathavebeendefineddifferentlybyvariousresearchers.Often,thesetermsareused
interchangeably.Ultimately,however,browsing,scanningandrelatedtermssuchasconditionedviewingandforagingrefertothesamephenomenonofactive
andundirectedseekingconstitutedbysamplingandselecting.

Passivemonitoring
Bates(2002b,pp.56)definedmonitoringasapassiveanddirectedmodeofinformationseeking.Similartobrowsingandscanning,researchershave
conceptualisedmonitoringdifferently.Asnotedabove,monitoringcanalsobeunderstoodasanactiveandpurposefulwaytokeepcurrent(e.g.,Bronstein,
2007Foster,2004,p.233).Forclarity,wepreferthetermpassivemonitoringwhilecharacterizingthepassiveanddirectedmodeofinformationseeking. 2
AccordingtoBates(2002b,p.5),(passive)monitoringisbasedon'abackofthemindalertnessforthingsthatinterestus'.Differentfromactiveseekingand
searching,thereisnopressingneedtoengageineffortstoidentifyandaccessinformationaboutaparticulartopic.Rather,anindividualiscontenttocatch
informationasitgoesby.Itisalsocharacteristicofpassivemonitoringthattherelevanceofinformationisonlyrecognisedwhenitcomesalong.McKenzie
(2003)providesamoredetaileddefinitionofthepassiveanddirectedmodebynamingitnondirectedmonitoring.Itinvolvesserendipitouslyrecognisinga
source,forexample,whilereadingthedailynewspaper,withnointentotherthantobecomegenerallyinformed.AcloselyrelatedcategoryproposedbyWilson
(1997,p.562)ispassivesearch.Itoccurswheninformationaboutanissuethathappenstoberelevanttotheindividualisfoundcoincidentallywhensearching
forotherinformation.
Passivemonitoringcanalsobeconceptualisedfromtheviewpointofobtaininginformationbyproxy(McKenzie,2003).Itisaboundarycategorybecausethe
activityofthistypeisalsorelevantfromtheangleofincidentalacquisitionofinformation.Obtaininginformationbyproxyreferstooccasionswhenpeople
makecontactwithorinteractwithinformationsourcesthroughtheinitiativeofanotheragent,eithertheinformationsourceorsomeothergatekeeperor
intermediary.Gatekeepersorintermediariesidentifypotentiallyrelevantsourcesofinformation,serendipitouslyoruponrequest,andthendeliverthe
informationtotherecipient,e.g.,byrecommendingavisittoaWebsite.Activitiesofthiskindmayvaryalot,dependingonthetopicofinformationneedand
thecharacteristicsofinformationprovidersandrecipients.However,anecessaryprerequisiteforthisactivityisbeingidentifiedasaninformationseekerbyan
acquaintanceorstranger,beingreferredtoasourcethroughagatekeeperorintermediary,orbeinggiveninformation.Fromtheviewpointoftherecipient,
however,thisactivityappearsasincidentalacquisitionofinformationbecausetheinformationsimplycomestohimorherasagift,withoutanyeffortsof
seeking.

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Summingup:sofar,researchershavenotbeenparticularlyinterestedinthecharacterizationofthepassivemonitoring.Thismaybepartlyduetothedifficulties
inidentifyingactivitiesthatcombineseeminglycontradictoryqualitiesofaction,thatis,passiveanddirected.Asdirectedisstronglyassociatedwithactive,
constructssuchaspassivesearch(Wilson,1997,p.562)mayappearascounterintuitive.Nevertheless,passivemonitoringindicatesarelevantmodeofactivity
basedonabackofthemindalertnessforthingsthatinterestusandthencapturinginformationasitgoesby.

Incidentalacquisitionofinformation
Theconceptualmultiplicityisparticularlyevidentinthecharacterizationsofthepassiveandundirectedmodeofinformationseeking.Researchershavecreated
ahostofrelatedtermssuchas,accidentaldiscoveryofinformation,incidentalinformationseeking,informationencountering,opportunisticdiscoveryof
information,passiveattention,serendipitousacquisitionofinformation,andunintentionaldiscoveryofinformation(Agarwal,2015Erdelez,2005Williamson,
1998).DifferentfromBates(2002b,pp.45),themodeofpassiveandundirectedinformationseekingistermedinthepresentstudyasincidentalacquisitionof
information.Itisassumedthatthistermcapturesmoreadequatelythebasicnatureoftheactivityofthistype.Bates(2002b,p.4)labelleditgenerallyasbeing
aware(orawareness).Shesuggeststhatanenormouspartofallweknowandlearncomestousthroughpassiveundirectedbehaviour.Beingawarerefersto
waysinwhichpeoplefindinformationthattheydonotknowtheyneedtoknow.Bates(2002b,p.4)speculatedthatsimplybeingawaremaygiveusnoless
thaneightypercentofallourknowledge'throughbeingconsciousandsentientinoursocialcontextandphysicalenvironments'.Bates(2002b,p.6)admits
thatitissometimeshardtodrawalinebetween'simpleawareness'and(passive)monitoring.However,themoreexperiencedoneiswithaparticularactionof
process,themorelikelyoneistobemonitoringpotentialsourcesofinformationsothatinformationisnotobtainedmerelybychance.
Incidentalacquisitionofinformationhasalsobeencharacterisedbyusingotherterms.Wilson(1997,p.562)preferstheconceptofpassiveattentiontodepict
activitiesthroughwhichinformationisacquiredwithoutintentionalseeking.Passiveattentionmaytakeplace,forexample,whenanindividualiswatching 2
televisionprogrammesorlisteningtoradio,wheretheremaybenoinformationseekingintended,butwhereinformationacquisitionmaytakeplace
nevertheless.
OneofthemostpertinentcategoriesdescribingthepassiveanddirectedmodeofinformationseekingisinformationencounteringcoinedbyErdelez(1997).
Morespecifically,informationencounteringdepicts'amemorableexperienceofunexpecteddiscoveryofusefulorinterestinginformation'(Erdelez,2005,p.
179).Tospecifyherapproach,Erdelez(2005,p.181182)developedafunctionalmodelofinformationencounteringbyidentifyingfourstepsofthe
informationencounteringexperience.Itoccurswhenanindividual1)seesinformationpotentiallyrelevanttothebackgroundproblem2)interruptstheoriginal
searchprocesstoexaminetheencounteredinformation,3)savestheinformationthatisdeemedtobeworthsavingand4)returnstotheinitialinformation
search.Informationencounteringoccursbychancewhenoneislookingforinformationrelatingtoonetopicandfindsinformationrelatingtoanother.However,
itmayalsooccurupondiscoveringinformationwhilecarryingoutaroutineactivity.Morerecently,Jiang,LiuandChi(2015)sharedsimilarideasinamodel
forinformationencountering.Theyidentifiedthreephaseswhichembodythepre,mid,andpostactivitiesofinformationencounteringinonlineenvironments.
Themodelsuggeststhatpreactivitiessuchasbrowsingandsearchingprovidethecontextforencountering.Second,midactivitiesdepicttheencountering
occurrenceconsistingofthreesteps:noticingthestimuli,examiningthecontent,andacquiringinterestingorusefulcontent.Finally,theinformation
encounteredwillbeexploredfurtherbypostactivitiessuchassaving,usingandsharing.
Theabovemodelssuggestthatinformationencounteringdiffersfrombrowsinginthatthelatterinvolvesprocessorientedinformationseeking,while
informationencounteringisaneventorincidentbasedinformationacquisitionthatoccursataspecificmomentintime(Erdelez,1999).Information
encounteringmayoccurduringactiveseekingandsearchingorduringtheprocessofbrowsing,i.e.,findingBwhenlookingforA(Erdelez,2005).Existenceof
anunderlyinginformationacquisitionprocess,however,isnotaprerequisiteforinformationencountering.Thisisbecauseinformationencounteringmaytake
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placeduringroutineactivitiessuchasshoppinginagrocerystorethatisnotnecessarilyintendedbyuserstobeinformationoriented(Erdelez,2005Jiang,et
a/,2015,p.1137).However,theconstructofincidentalinformationacquisitionisnotselfexplanatory.Ford(2015,p.19)pointsoutthatifapersoncomesinto
contactwithinformationofwhichtheyarecompletelyunawareandwhichtotallybypassesthem,thisdoesnotconstituteinformationbehaviourontheirpart.
Onlywheninformationisperceivedaspotentiallyinterestingorusefulcanitberegardedasinformationencounter,asopposedtoconstanteverydayrealityin
whichalloursensesareconstantlybombardedwithdataandinformation.
Tosumup:researchershavecharacterisedthepassiveandundirectedmodeofinformationseekingbyusinganumberofterms,resultinginconceptual
multiplicity.Ultimately,theseconceptsdepictthewaysinwhichinformationisobtainedbychanceinspecificsituations.Asincidentalacquisitionoccurs
withoutintentionalseekingforinformation,thismodeissometimesdifficulttodistinguishfrompassivemonitoring.Becausebothmodesarepassive,thecrux
issueiswheretodrawtheboundarybetweendirectedandundirectedseeking.

Discussion
BuildingontheintegratedmodelforinformationsearchingandseekingdevelopedbyBates(2002b),thepresentstudyelaboratedtheconceptualspaceof
informationseekingphenomena.Thiswasachievedbyexaminingthewaysinwhichresearchershaveconceptualisedactivitiesconstitutiveoffourmainmodes
ofinformationseeking.Morespecifically,theresearchquestionsaddressedinthepresentstudyfocusedontheconceptscharacterisingthemodesofinformation
seeking,conceptualisationsofactivitiesconstitutiveofsuchmodesandtherelationshipsbetweentheconstitutiveactivities.Themainresearchfindingsare
summarisedinFigure2below.
2

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Figure2:Conceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomena
Figure2suggeststhatatwodimensionalconceptualspaceofinformationseekingphenomenacanbecreatedbyusingthevariablesofactivepassiveand
directedundirectedidentifiedbyBates(2002b).Figure2elaboratesBates'sframeworkbyspecifyingconstitutiveactivitiesoffourinformationseekingmodes
andidentifyingkeyconceptsdescribingsuchactivities.
Traditionally,activeseekingandsearchinghasbeenregardedasthemosttypicalmodeofinformationseekingbehaviour.Regardlessofwhetheractiveseeking
andsearchingisapproachedasastagedprocess(e.g.,Kuhlthau,1993),asetofgenericcharacteristics(e.g.,Ellis,1989),amodeofinformationpractice(e.g.,
McKenzie,2003),thepictureoftheconstitutiveactivitiesofthismodeisquitesimilarandnotparticularlysurprising.Thekeyactivitiesincludethe
identification,selection,locationandaccessingofinformationsourcesandchannels.Researchershavecharacterisedsuchactivitiesbydiverseconceptssuchas
activeseeking,chaining,directedsearchandongoingsearch.Intheconceptualizationsofthismodesofar,therelationshipsbetweenconstitutiveactivitieshave
rarelybeendiscussed.However,Bates(2007)hasreflectedthenatureofberrypickingasaboundarycategoryrelevanttotheconceptualisationofbrowsing,too.

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Browsingandscanningrepresenttheactiveandundirectedmodeofinformationseeking.Theconstitutiveactivitiesofthismodearesamplingandselecting.
Differentfromthemodeofactiveseekingandsearching,researchersarelessunanimousabouthowtodefinetherelationshipsbetweentheconstitutiveactivities
ofbrowsingandscanning.Sofar,Bates(2007)hasconductedthemostsophisticatedanalysisofthisissuebysuggestingthatscanningismorefocusedthan
browsingbecausetheformerrepresentssmooth,sequentialandorderlyactivityoccurringwhenonewantstofindsomethingquickly.Browsingismoreopento
surprise,becauseitisbasedonaseriesofiterativeglimpsesthatmayleadtoaccessingawiderangeofnovelsources.
Figure2alsosummarisesthemainfeaturesofthepassiveanddirectedmodeofinformationseekinglabelledaspassivemonitoring.AsBates(2002b,p.5)has
aptlypointedout,activityofthiskindisbasedona'backofthemindalertnessforthingsthatinterestus'.Sofar,comparedtotheconceptualizationsofother
modesofinformationseeking,thepictureofpassivemonitoringhasremainedunspecific.Thismaybepartlybecausepassivemonitoringrepresentsaboundary
categorywithregardtobrowsingandscanning,aswellasincidentalacquisitionofinformation.Theseissuesarealsorelevantforthecharacterizationofthe
relationshipsbetweentheconstitutiveactivitiesofthesemodes.Mostcharacteristically,passivemonitoringdepictsthewaysinwhichrelevantinformationcan
berecognisedwhenitcomesalong.Inaddition,thismodeiscomposedofactivitiesenablingthereceptionofinformationsoughtbyaproxy.
Sofar,researchershavedevotedmoreattentiontothepassiveandundirectedmodelabelledasincidentalacquisitionofinformation.Theconstitutiveactivities
ofthismodedealwiththewaysinwhichinformationisreceivedbychanceincertainsituations.Researchershavecharacterisedactivitiesofthistypebydiverse
conceptssuchasinformationencountering,serendipitousacquisitionofinformationandpassiveattention.Informationencounteringisaboundarycategory
becauseitisalsorelevantfromtheviewpointofpassivemonitoringincasesinwhichinformationisrecognisedasrelevantwhenitcomesalong.Often,the
distinctionbetweentheseactivitiescanbemadeonlyonasituationalbasis:whatisthedegreeofdirected(purposeful)seekingorsearching.Thereisagrowing
interestinthemodeofincidentalacquisitionofinformation,asdemonstratedbytherecentstudiesofinformationencountering(e.g.,Agarwal,2015)and
serendipity(e.g.,FosterandEllis,2014).ThisinterestisprobablyduetothegrowingroleofWebsearchingwhichisoftenhospitabletoserendipitousdiscovery
2
ofinformation.
TheabovefindingsspecifythepictureofinformationseekingandsearchingpresentedinBates's(2002b)pioneeringarticle.Inparticular,thecharacterisations
ofthepassiveandundirectedmode,i.e.,incidentalacquisitionofinformationweresubstantiated.Ontheotherhand,theconceptualspacedepictedinFigure2is
notallinclusivebecausetheactivitiesconstitutiveofinformationretrieval,asubsetofinformationsearching,wereexcludedfromthestudy.Forexample,
Chowdhuryandassociates(2014)haverecentlyidentifiednolessthanfourteeninformationseekingactivitieswhileexaminingtherelationshipbetween
uncertaintyandinformationseekingandretrieval.Theactivitiesinclude,forexample,formulatingasearchexpressionanddecidinghowmanysearchtermsto
view.ThissuggeststhattheconceptualspacedepictedinFigure2maybespecifiedfurtherinthesubdomainsofactiveseekingandsearching,andbrowsing
andscanningbyfocusingontheboundaryareaofinformationsearchingandinformationretrieval.Inthisdomain,relevantconceptsincludequeryformulation,
queryreformulation,executionofthequery,andexaminationofqueryresults(e.g.,Marchionini,1995,pp.5357Joseph,DebowskiandGoldschmidt,2013).
TheconceptualspacepresentedinFigure2couldalsobeelaboratedbyanalysingthenatureofinformationseekingandsearchingstrategies.Thepresentstudy
focusedoninformationseekingasaformofhumanactivity,withoutanalysinghowindividualsprioritisediversemodessuchasactivesearchandbrowsing
duringtheinformationseekingprocessinordertoachieveagoal.Thisissueisrelevantfortheclarificationofterminologybecauseexpressionssuchas
characteristicsofinformationseekingandinformationseekingstrategiesareoftenusedinasynonymousmanner.Forexample,thecharacteristicschainingand
monitoringidentifiedbyEllis(1989)aresometimesreferredtoasstrategies,too(e.g.,Bronstein,2007).Morerecently,Ford(2015,pp.5657)identifiedtwo
mainstrategiesforinformationseekingandseaching:broadsearchandspecificsearch.Inlightofthefindingsofthepresentstudy,theyalsomightbedefined
asactivitiesconstitutiveofactiveseekingandsearching.Thisbecomesevidentwhenlookingatthecharacterisationsofthesubcategoriesofbroadsearch,for
example.Broadexploratorysearchingisdepictedasastrategyofexploringtheliteraturebroadlybutnottoodeeplytoformaninitial(provisional)overview.In
contrast,thestrategyofbroadexhaustivesearchingdealswithcheckingthatnoimportantinformationhasbeenmissed,ratherthanexploringnewterritory.The
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aboveexamplesgiverisetoquestionsdealingwithfurtherconceptualclarification.Howdofeatures,characteristics,patternsormodesofinformationseeking
differfrominformationseekingstrategies?Further,dosuchstrategiesprimarilydealwiththeactivemodesofinformationseeking?Thesequestionsare
pertinent,becausethetermstrategyseemstobecounterintuitiveinthecontextofpassivemonitoringandincidentalacquisitionofinformation.

Conclusion
Thepresentstudycontributedtotheconceptualclarificationofinformationbehaviourresearch.Studiessuchasthesearevitallyimportantbecausethe
conceptualmultiplicityandvaguenesspresentsachallengingbarrierforanydiscipline,especiallyifthefundamentalconcernsofthatdisciplinearechangingas
rapidlyasarethoseoflibraryandinformationscience.Tofurtherelaboratetheconceptualspaceofinformationbehaviourresearch,theconstituentsof
informationseekingshouldbescrutinisedbyrelatingittokeyconceptssuchasinformationsharing,informationuseandinformationretrieval.Acomparative
approachispreferablebecauseinformationseekingisapartofagreaterwhole.Informationthatissought,searchedorobtainedtendstobeusedandsometimes
sharedwithothers,too.Fromthisperspective,conceptualstudiesexamininghowtheprocessesofinformationseeking,searchingorinformationretrieval
changetoinformationuseandinformationsharingwouldbeparticularlyfruitful.Studiesclarifyingthecontentandscopeofkeyconceptsalsoservetheneeds
ofempiricalresearchbecausetheyprovideafirmerbasisforthemeaningfuloperationalisationofvariables.

Acknowledgements
Iwouldliketothankthetwoanonymousreviewerswhoprovidedconstructivecommentsandsuggestions.

Abouttheauthor
ReijoSavolainen(PhD,1989,UniversityofTampere,Finland)iscurrentlyProfessorattheSchoolofInformationSciences,FI33014,UniversityofTampere,
Finland.
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