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If you want to provide an information service that truly fulfils your users' needs, this book is essential reading. The book supports practitioners in developing an information needs analysis strategy and offers the necessary professional skills and techniques to do so.

PurposeThe United States of America is in the midst of an opioid crisis. However, little has been written within the domain of LIS (Library and Information Science) about the health information needs and behaviors of people who inject drugs. The purpose of this project is to conduct a scoping review of the current knowledge disseminated by LIS scholars and professionals regarding what information people who inject drugs have access to, need, how they interact with information and what dissemination methods may be most beneficial.Design/methodology/approachA scoping review of the literature was conducted with the additional inclusion criteria that the information needs be expressed from the insider perspective of this population instead of from the researcher.FindingsIn searching over a dozen databases, only seven articles were found that reflected the information behaviors of people who use drugs from the perspective of themselves. Only one article was from information science, two were from health informatics and one was from health communication, a closely linked field. These findings describe the information behaviors and needs of this population and speak to the need for more comprehensive research in this area in order to create targeted health information resources for this sensitive population.Originality/valueThere is little research in the domain of information science that has been conducted into the health information-seeking behaviors of people who inject drugs. Most of the work in this area is from the perspective of the researcher, not the person who injects drugs. This exploration into the literature on the information behavior of people that inject drugs from the perspective of themselves is unique.Key messages There is very little research that has been conducted into the health information-seeking behaviors of people who inject drugs.Most of the work in this area is from the perspective of the researcher, not the person who injects drugs.Only four such articles were found in the domain of LIS and seven, in total, between all academic domains.

Purpose Qualitative researchers and information practitioners often investigate questions that probe the underlying mental models, nuanced perspectives, emotions and experiences of their target populations. The in-depth qualitative interview is a dominant method for such investigations and the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how incorporating hybrid card-sorting activities into interviews can enable deeper participant reflections and generate rich data sets to increase understanding. Design/methodology/approach Following a review of relevant literature, the case illustration presented is a grounded theory study into the student-researcher information experience with personal academic information management. This study uses hybrid card sorting within in-depth, semi-structured interviews, a unique adaptation that extends multi-disciplinary awareness of the benefits of card-sort exercises for qualitative research. Findings Emerging from diverse fields, ranging from computer science, engineering, psychology and human–computer interaction, card sorting seeks to illuminate how participants understand and organise concepts. The case illustration draws largely on methods used in interaction design and information architecture. Using either open or fixed designs, or hybrid variations, card-sort activities can make abstract concepts more tangible for participants, offering investigators a new approach to interview questions with the aid of this interactive, object-based technique. Originality/value Opening with a comprehensive review of card-sort studies, the authors present an information experience case illustration that demonstrates the rich data generated by hybrid card sorting within qualitative interviews, or interactive interviews. This is followed by discussion of the types of research questions that may benefit from this original method.

PurposeThe PICCH research project contributes to opening a dialogue between cultural heritage archives and users. Hence, the users are identified and their information needs, the search strategies they apply and the search challenges they experience are uncovered.Design/methodology/approachA combination of questionnaires and interviews is used for collection of data. Questionnaire data were collected from users of three different audiovisual archives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two user groups: (1) scholars searching information for research projects and (2) archivists who perform their own scholarly work and search information on behalf of others.FindingsThe questionnaire results show that the archive users mainly have an academic background. Hence, scholars and archivists constitute the target group for in-depth interviews. The interviews reveal that their information needs are multi-faceted and match the information need typology by Ingwersen. The scholars mainly apply collection-specific search strategies but have in common primarily doing keyword searching, which they typically plan in advance. The archivists do less planning owing to their knowledge of the collections. All interviewees demonstrate domain knowledge, archival intelligence and artefactual literacy in their use and mastering of the archives. The search challenges they experience can be characterised as search system complexity challenges, material challenges and metadata challenges.Originality/valueThe paper provides a rare insight into the complexity of the search situation of cultural heritage archives, and the users’ multi-facetted information needs and hence contributes to the dialogue between the archives and the users.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the motivators for information behaviour by examining the nature of information need as a trigger and driver of information seeking.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual analysis was made by focussing on the ways in which researchers have conceptualised information need in models for human information behaviour (HIB). The study draws on conceptual analysis of 26 key studies focussing on the above topic.FindingsResearchers have employed two main approaches to conceptualise information needs in the HIB models. First, information need is approached as a root factor which motivates people to identify and access information sources. Second, information need is approached as a secondary trigger or driver determined by more fundamental factors, for example, the information requirements of task performance. The former approach conceptualises information need as a trigger providing an initial impetus to information seeking, while the latter approach also depicts information need as a driver that keeps the information-seeking process in motion. The latter approach is particularly characteristic of models depicting information seeking as a cyclic process.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study focusses on information need, no attention is devoted to related constructs such as anomalous state of knowledge and uncertainty.Originality/valueThe study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the nature of information need as a trigger and driver of information seeking. The findings refine the picture of motivators for information behaviour.

Buprenorphine is a Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for opioid use disorder. However, individuals with opioid use disorder often report information needs regarding buprenorphine treatment on social media platforms such as Reddit. The field lacks a systematic approach to organizing these data and characterizing treatment information needs that may be unique and unavailable elsewhere. In this study, we curated and analyzed large-scale data from social media to characterize self-reported buprenorphine treatment information needs using a qualitative analysis. We collected 15,253 Reddit posts from the subreddit r/Suboxone. Following a standard protocol and guidance from clinical experts, we first identified 5 main themes from the data and then manually coded 6000 posts based on these themes. Finally, we determined the most frequently appearing topics within each theme by analyzing samples from each group. Among the 6000 posts, 2417 (40.3%) contained a single theme, 2160 (36%) contained two themes, and 834 (13.9%) contained three themes. The most frequent topics found across these themes included reports of psychological and physical effects during recovery, complexities in accessing buprenorphine, and significant information gaps regarding medication administration, tapering, and substance use at different stages of recovery. Moreover, self-treatment strategies and peer-driven advice revealed potential rumors and misinformation. Our findings can guide the design of interventions to improve patient education and communication. They also help address knowledge gaps and misinformation related to treatment. Additionally, the results can support hypothesis generation for future clinical research on medication for opioid use disorder treatment.

PurposeThis study explored the influence of Dervin’s sensemaking methodology (SMM).Design/methodology/approachCitation context analysis was used to identify the most influential SMM concepts in 948 articles citing 34 SMM-related studies by Dervin that were published between 1983 and 2017. Moreover, the bibliometric method and content analysis were incorporated to examine the disciplines and research topics influenced by the SMM-related studies and the role of cited content in SMM-related studies.FindingsThe influence of SMM is concentrated in information behavior research in the field of library and information science (LIS). The 1992 book chapter From the mind’s eye of the user was most frequently cited, followed by the first SMM study from 1983; 14 of the 18 content categories were relevant to SMM. “Sensemaking,” at the core of SMM, was the most influential cited concept, primarily cited from the 1983 SMM-related study. Although the SMM was developed as a research method, it has not been primarily applied to design research methods in other studies.Originality/valueThis study explored the interdisciplinary influence of Dervin’s SMM from several aspects and demonstrated the complex information dynamics between SMM-related works and citing articles.

PurposeWith ready access to search engines and social media platforms, the way people find image information has evolved and diversified in the past two decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on image information needs and behaviors.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an eight-step procedure for conducting systematic literature reviews, the paper presents an analysis of peer-reviewed work on image information needs and behaviors, with publications ranging from the years 1997 to 2019.FindingsApplication of the inclusion criteria led to 69 peer-reviewed works. These works were synthesized according to the following categories: research methods, users targeted, image types, identified needs, search behaviors and search obstacles. The reviewed studies show that people seek and use images for multiple reasons, including entertainment, illustration, aesthetic appreciation, knowledge construction, engagement, inspiration and social interactions. The reviewed studies also report that common strategies for image searches include keyword searches with short queries, browsing, specialization and reformulation. Observed trends suggest common deployment of query analysis, survey questionnaires and undergraduate participant pools to research image information needs and behavior.Originality/valueAt this point, after more than two decades of image information needs research, a holistic systematic review of the literature was long overdue. The way users find image information has evolved and diversified due to technological developments in image retrieval. By synthesizing this burgeoning field into specific foci, this systematic literature review provides a foundation for future empirical investigation. With this foundation set, the paper then pinpoints key research gaps to investigate, particularly the influence of user expertise, a need for more diverse population samples, a dearth of qualitative data, new search features and information and visual literacies instruction.

PurposeThis qualitative study explores how individuals understand health insurance concepts and make health insurance purchase decisions. The study sought to develop a model of the health insurance decision-making process.Design/methodology/approachThis study used semi-structured interview questions and the micro-moment time-line interview technique with newly hired employees to discuss the steps that individuals follow when making health insurance decisions. The researcher used an open coding approach to analyze the steps listed by each participant, and emergent themes were used to code all interview transcripts in Atlas.ti.FindingsThis study identified information tactics used by individuals when evaluating health insurance documentation. The findings also shed light on the personal reflection individuals undertake when making their health insurance choices.Practical implicationsThe information needs and preferred information sources identified in this study will be of interest to information professionals and human resources officers providing assistance with health insurance enrolment.Originality/valueThe findings demonstrating that participants characterized their health insurance choice as a shared decision is a novel contribution of this study.

PurposeThis study investigated information needs on COVID-19 by identifying topics discussed on social questions and answers (Q&A) about daily routines, problems, and health issues for survival. A layered model of contexts for everyday life information seeking (ELIS) was adapted for interpreting topics to better understand the contexts in which users could relate information needs.Design/methodology/approachQuestions and answers posted on Naver Knowledge-iN were collected and analyzed during the first nine months following the outbreak. Time distribution, topic modeling, and association rule mining were applied to examine the topics on COVID-19 and their temporal variation.FindingsNumerous topics related to the cognitive context (symptoms and masks) and situational contexts (international affairs, financial support, study, and work) were discovered. Topics related to social context were discussed moderately, but the number of questions on this topic increased with time. Strong associations were observed between terms related to symptoms, indicating their importance as a COVID-19 topic in health.Originality/valueThis study investigated topics of information needs using social Q&A data in which not only information inquiry but also information sharing coexist. The findings can help bridge the theory of ELIS to topic modeling in practice. The insights gained from this study can be used by information service providers for developing guidance and programs about how to survive during a pandemic.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0547.