Exploring social context in mobile information behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the emerging geographic features of current concepts of relevance, and to improve, modify, and extend the framework proposed by Mizzaro (1998). The objective is to define a new framework able to account, more completely and precisely, for the notions of relevance involved in mobile information seeking scenarios. Design/methodology/approach – The authors formalise two new dimensions of relevance. The first dimension emphasises the spatio-temporal nature of the information seeking process. The second dimension allows us to describe how different concepts of relevance rely on different abstractions of reality. Findings – The new framework allows: to conceptualise the point in space and time at which a given notion of relevance refers to; to conceptualise the level of abstraction taken into account by a given notion of relevance; and to include widely adopted facets (e.g. users mobility, preferences, and social context) in the classification of notions of relevance. Originality/value – The conceptual discussion presented in this paper contributes to the future development of relevance in the scope of mobile information seeking scenarios. The authors provide a more comprehensive framework for conceptualization, development, and classification of notions of relevance in the field of information retrieval and location-based services.

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Information Grounds Theory (1999, 2004)

Information Seeking Behavior and Technology Adoption - Advances in Knowledge Acquisition, Transfer, and Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8156-9.ch010 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 149-161

Author(s):

Ali Saif Al-Aufi

Keyword(s):

Social Context ◽

Information Needs ◽

Information Science ◽

Information Behavior ◽

Research Topic ◽

User Studies ◽

Future Research ◽

Library And Information Science ◽

Social Settings ◽

And Behavior

As a study and research topic, information behavior has always remained central to the field of library and information science. Theorization in this area has, likewise, constantly attracted the interest of many researchers and so outbound empirical research has generated an enormous body of literature. Information grounds as a theory is one of the latest evolving phenomena in the area of information behavior. It seeks to interpret peoples' interaction with information in a social context. This chapter attempts to elaborate on the emergence and development of information grounds and its capability to delineate everyday information behavior. The chapter also reviews the literature that has used information grounds as a basis for interpreting information behavior in different social settings and it identifies opportunities for future research in user studies that can build upon information grounds to explore and clarify the information needs and behavior of certain groups in different socio-cultural environments.

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