Jim Mtambo

   Information Behaviour and Literacy Education 

 Summary of session 2

Paradigm shift

Session 2 of the information behaviour and literacy education course focused on a number of areas in regards to information behaviour. The Lesson stressed an important aspect in Library and Information Science (LIS), which is concerned with the shift from the system to the user-centred approach. The shift has moved towards understanding the behaviour of the users. This involves understanding the information needs of the users, the preferences, as well as their satisfaction with the available information services. Additionally, the information behaviour seeks to understand how the users search for information and the preferred sources of information among the users.

Additionally, the research studies in LIS, centre on understanding the users, not the systems. This is evident in scenarios where, for the libraries to acquire resources such as books, they conduct a user needs assessment. The user needs assessments are conducted through the use of interviews, surveys and other means of collecting data from the users.

The outcomes inform the library managers and other stakeholders on resources that need to be acquired. This results in acquiring the resources that meet the needs of the users. 

 Click here for a video on information seeking behavioir 

                                    Myths about information behaviour

The lesson further covered myths of information behaviour. Some of the myths include; 

The first myth is that, objective information is valuable. This highlights that people seek to opt for the information that will meet their needs without considering the quality of information. However, others may argue that, they tend to evaluate information to ensure that they only seek and use information which is of high quality.

The second myth is that more information is always better. However, too much information may result in information overload, posing a challenge to identifying and using the right information.

The third myth is that objective information can be transmitted out of context. In some situations, people may not be able to develop an understanding of certain information, such that they may end up overlooking the information.

                                                       Figure 1: Information overload

Myth number four is that, objective information can only be acquired from formal sources. Formal sources such as peer-reviewed journals serve as formal sources for academic information, where reliable information may be acquired. 

The myth number five is that there is relevant information for every need. However, not all needs may be addressed by information. other needs may be addressed by social support, physical support and others. 

Myth number six states that, every need has a solution, while myth number seven states that it is possible to make information always available and accessible. Another myth states that material information would satisfy peoples needs.

These myths suggests the need to have a deeper understanding of the information behaviour and the information needs among the user community.