Article #1

Citation:

Duff, W.M. & Johnson, C. A. (2002). Accidentally found on purpose: information-seeking behavior of historians in archives. Library Quarterly 72, 472-496.

Summary: Duff and Johnson report on the findings of a survey of historians' use of archives, examining how they orient themselves to the environment and resources and build their knowledge of material. While the historians did ask for aid from the information professionals, they were able to develop their own searching strategies to use.

Analysis: The various information-seeking behaviors that Duff and Johnson pinpointed all dovetail together. The user orients him or herself in the information center so as to locate material. Once familiarized, they search for known material, which can cement the information that they *do* know about a particular topic. Once the user has a idea of what it is they know, they can begin searching for information that will put their information into context: background information. With this further solidified piece of information in their mind, the user can now begin to search for information to satisfy their information need, and will be able to discern what is relevant to their topic. It's essentially a chain of events that all start with the user's orientation to the archive (or library, etc.)

Everything hinges on the user's ability to acclimate to the archive and learn how to use the resources. As Duff and Johnson point out, the historian incurs various costs (time and money) by using the archive, so efficiency is highly important. The user will utilize resources such as finding aids or the archivists themselves. One point of the study noted that some of the historians went to the archivists first for help, while some only went after looking unsuccessfully with the finding aids. It reminds me quite a bit of the typical pattern of library users, who may seek out the librarian for help right away, or try to utilize the various research tools and only ask a librarian if the first attempt fails.

Discussion question(s): To what degree are information professionals responsible for aiding findability and usability of an information center's resources? How do we best help the user learn to use them properly?

Implications: Utilizing an information center can be overwhelming and challenging, as Duff and Johnson show us. Users find their own way of adapting to the new environment and exploring it to find the information they need. While input from the librarians is helpful, it is also important to note that users will develop their own strategies and search in their own ways. It's important to recognize the autonomy that users want to wield.




Article #2

Citation: Jones, W. (2007). Personal information management. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, v. 41: 453-504.

Summary: Jones presents the concept of PIM, or "personal information management," the study of the activities a person performs when handling information that is needed for various tasks or duties.

Analysis: Reading Jones' discussion made me sit down and think about how I personally store and retrieve information. He points out that the process of finding information relies upon the user remembering to look, recalling pertinent details about the information, and recognizing the information when found. Whenever I acquired data or information to be stored, I would drop it into whatever storage I was using at the time, label it, and leave it. However, I could not always remember where I put it; Jones points out that many users miss opportunities to refind and reuse information because they do not know where to look or because the information is unorganized.

Jones continues by discussing the issue of visibility, and shows how many users attempt to find ways to keep information in sight at all times so as not to forget about it. But desktops clutter up, and constantly keeping up browsers of useful information can detract from work. The key is to successfully manage the information in a system that keeps them organized and visible. (I eventually devised a series of folders in my computer that neatly organized school information by year, class, and project, as well as seperate folders on my desktop for other topics. A similar system was applied to my bookmarks, and as soon as a bookmark was made, I added it into its proper folder. It took about ten seconds, and saved me endless trouble in the future.)

Discussion question(s): How can a user apply PIM to their information-seeking?

Implications: Successful management of information is key to any library or information center. The only difficulty is how to structure it so it appeals to many different users, all of whom may have differing opinions on how things should be organized.