Message #1: Stay tuned!

Dear SIG-USErs,

Happy summer. 

I have volunteered to contribute on a regular basis to this mailing list in an effort to stimulate discussion and enhance a sense of community. For those who don’t know me, I am an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto and a SIG-USE member.    
 
My postings will hopefully be of general interest to all participants in SIG-USE. However, they will be written specifically for students of information behavior within information studies. It seems a most important project for a SIG to develop its next generation.  Students, please spread the word of this learning opportunity to your peers; ducators please rally your students into the list. 

Given the above objective, and to organize the process, I will focus on themes and write 4-6 postings per theme at a rate of about one message per week. Since mine is not the definitive perspective on information behavior, I will count upon the input of others in our community to round out the view.  All are encouraged to join the conversation.

The first theme is “The Literature” and will help newcomers enter the wonderful, shaggy literature of information behavior. During this first theme there will be individual postings on the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, an information behavior textbook, and an information behavior handbook.  Later themes will be “History and Foundations,” “Metatheory,” “Major Concepts,” and “Methods.”  The thematic approach may change if a better communication format emerges  organically.

There is lively debate in our research area today about basic terminology: “information behavior” versus “information practice” and so on. This issue will be side-stepped for now; I will simply use “information behavior” as a banner for the research area well described on the SIG-USE website. 

Stay tuned!


Jenna Hartel, Assistant Professor
Faculty of Information,
University of Toronto
jenna.hartel@utoronto.ca