Human Information Interaction An Ecological Approach to Information Behavior

by Fidel, Raya

• ISBN13: 9780262017008
• ISBN10: 0262017008
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-23
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Human information interaction (HII) is an emerging area of study that investigates how people interact with information; its subfield human information behavior (HIB) is a flourishing, active discipline. Yet despite their obvious relevance to the design of information systems, these research areas have had almost no impact on systems design. One issue may be the contextual complexity of human interaction with information; another may be the difficulty in translating real-life and unstructured HII complexity into formal, linear structures necessary for systems design. In this book, Raya Fidel proposes a research approach that bridges the study of human information interaction and the design of information systems: cognitive work analysis (CWA). Developed by Jens Rasmussen and his colleagues, CWA embraces complexity and provides a conceptual framework and analytical tools that can harness it to create design requirements. CWA offers an ecological approach to design, analyzing the forces in the environment that shape human interaction with information. Fidel reviews research in HIB, focusing on its contribution to systems design, and then presents the CWA framework. She shows that CWA, with its ecological approach, can be used to overcome design challenges and lead to the development of effective systems. Researchers and designers who use CWA can increase the diversity of their analytical tools, providing them with an alternative approach when they plan research and design projects. The CWA framework enables a collaboration between design and HII that can create information systems tailored to fit human lives.

Author Biography

Raya Fidel is Professor Emerita in the University of Washington's Information School.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction to Human Information Interaction	p. 1
Basic Concepts	p. 3
What Is Human Information Interaction?	p. 17
Conceptual Constructs and Themes in Information-Seeking Behavior	p. 45
Theoretical Constructs and Models in Information-Seeking Behavior	p. 49
Information Need and the Decision Ladder	p. 83
Five Search Strategies	p. 97
Conceptual Traditions in Human Information Behavior	p. 119
Two Generations of Research	p. 121
In-Context Research	p. 145
Theoretical Traditions in Human Information Behavior	p. 167
Human Information Behavior and Systems Design	p. 183
Interlude: Models and Their Contribution to Design	p. 185
Human Information Behavior and Information Retrieval: Is Collaboration Possible?	p. 199
Cognitive Work Analysis: Dimensions for Analysis	p. 225
Cognitive Work Analysis: Harnessing Complexity	p. 241
An Ecological Approach to Information Behavior: Conclusions	p. 253
Enhancing the Impact of Research in Human Information Interaction	p. 255
Glossary	p. 273
Abbreviations	p. 277
Notes	p. 279
References	p. 305
Index of Authors	p. 337
Index of Topics	p. 343
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