Message #8: The Literature – Information Research

Dear SIG-USErs,

This final post on the introductory theme of “The Literature” turns attention to a resource containing a high concentration of articles on information behavior.  

Information Research (IR) is a web-based, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to “making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines.” It is privately published by Professor T.D. Wilson, professor emeritus of the University of Sheffield, with in-kind support from Lund University Libraries and the Swedish School of Library and Information Science.

The subject index of IR lists 65 articles on information behavior, not to mention others within the related topics of information need, information seeking behavior, and information use. 

According to Professor Wilson, with whom I recently spoke at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting in New Orleans, IR is associated with information behavior scholarship because it has published the proceedings of the Information Seeking in Context conference since 2004. (Students, this is a fantastic development; earlier proceedings were only available in an expensive and hard-to-come-by print volume.) 

Here are quick links to the ISIC materials:

·  Fifth ISIC conference, Dublin, 2004, Information Research, Volume 10, Number 1 and Number 2

·  Sixth ISIC conference, Sydney, 2006, Information Research, Volume 11, Number 4 and Volume 12, Number 1

· Seventh ISIC conference, Vilnius, 2008, Information Research, Volume 13, Number 4

·  Eighth ISIC conference, Murcia, 2010, Information Research, Volume 15, Number 4 and Volume 16 Number 1 
  
In addition to the ISIC proceedings, through the years IR has been the site of important developments in our research community. The journal hosted an exchange between Professor Wilson and Reijo Savolainen about “the behaviour/practice debate .”  As well, Marcia Bates’ writings that sparked a public exchange with Birger Hjørland have appeared in IR (see my prior post, Message #4 – Newsflash, for an overview of this issue). Information Research has also significantly expanded the information behavior specialty around the world by its open access, international editorial  board and associates, and decision to publish articles in languages other than English.     

The next theme is “The History” and will be a riveting survey of foundational publications on information behavior that all devotees of the topic should know and love. 

Jenna Hartel