Part 1:
Information seeking
Part 2:
User modeling
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a
subject ourselves, or we know where we
can find information upon it.”
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
© Tefko Saracevic
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But what when we do not know where to find it?
And we still want information?
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Part 1:
Information seeking
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Definitions
Information – many different senses
Information-as-process – the communication act
Information-as-knowledge – an increase or
reduction in uncertainty
Information-as-thing – objects that may impart
information
(Buckland, 1991)
Information is anything that can change
person’s knowledge
(Belkin, 1978)
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Definitions …
Information as we consider it includes
 objects in the world potentially conveying
information
 what is transferred from people or objects to a
person’s cognitive system
 components of internal knowledge in people’s mind
To seek information people seek to change
their state of their knowledge
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Definitions …
Information seeking
Process in which humans purposefully engage in
order to change their state of knowledge
(Marchionini, 1995)
A conscious effort to acquire information in
response to a need or gap in your knowledge
(Case, 2002)
The process of construction within information
seeking involves fitting information in with what
one already knows and extending this knowledge to
create new perspectives
(Kuhlthau, 2004)
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Information seeking as an
area of study
 Long history in a number of fields
 part of the broader area of studies in human
information behavior
 In library & information science also related
to studies on
 users & use, involving variety of fields & populations
 information search process
 studies on roles of mediators & user modeling
 Literature diverse and large
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Central question
 In information seeking studies:
What factors – variables – are involved
when people seek information?
 Translation: What is really going on when we go about
finding information about something?
 In everyday life we really do not care – we just go on
doing it – but as professionals we have to understand the
process in order to deal with it
The question has many sub-questions such as
 in relation to what are people seeking information?
 how is information seeking (as a broader process)
related to information search (as a narrower process)?
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In pursuit of central question
 A number of models have been developed
enumerating factors & relationships involved
 A few theories have been proposed
suggesting explanations
 Number of studies have connected
information seeking to specific aspects –
reviewed here:
 tasks in information seeking
 information seeking and the search process
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Task
 Generally, information seeking is not an end
in itself
 Generally, it serves a work task
 task is a process in relation to which information
is needed
Tasks have been categorized from simple to
complex (and a number in-between)
 complex tasks have a number of sub-tasks
 the more complex a task the complexity of
information needed increases
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Summary of findings
Byström's (1999) formulated 11 statements
from results of information seeking studies:
S1: as soon as information acquisition requires an effort people as
sources are more popular than documentary sources.
S2: the more information types are needed, the greater the share
of people as sources.
S3: the more information types are needed, the greater the share
of general-purpose sources and the smaller the share of taskoriented sources.
S4: the more information types are needed, the more sources are
used.
S5: the internality of different source types is loosely connected
to the information types.
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summary (cont.)
S6: the higher the degree of task complexity, the more probable is
the need for multiple information types: first task information,
then task and domain information, and finally task, domain and
[problem] solving information.
S7: the higher the degree of task complexity, the more information
types are needed, and the greater the share of people as sources
and the smaller the share of documentary sources.
S8: the higher the degree of task complexity, the more information
types are needed and the greater the share of general-purpose
sources and the smaller the share of task-oriented sources.
S9: the higher the degree of task complexity, the more information
types are needed, and the higher the number of sources used.
S10: task complexity is distinctly related to increasing internality of
people as sources and decreasing internality of documentary
sources.
S11: Increasing task complexity fosters the use of people as sources.
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Information seeking &
searching
 Several studies connected information
seeking with the search process
 posit information seeking as a broader context
(process) for a more specific process of searching
 Exemplify factors – variables – involved
 showing that there is more to searching than we
think usually
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Kuhlthau model of the information
search process (ISP)
Originally studying pupils &
undergraduates but subsequently
looking at other user groups as well,
Kuhlthau (1991, 2004) formulated a sixstage information search process (ISP),
each stage representing differing
needs, behaviors, and cognitive and
affective states
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Kuhlthau six stages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Initiation: user “becomes aware of a lack of
knowledge or understanding”
Selection: user needs to “identify and select the
general topic to be investigated”
Exploration: user needs to “investigate information
on the general topic in order to extend personal
understanding”
Formulation: user forms “a focus from the
information encountered”
Collection: user needs “to gather information
related to the focused topic”
Presentation: user completes the search and
presents findings
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Kuhlthau model (cont.)

Each stage – task - in the information
search process incorporates three realms:
1. Affective (feelings)
2. Cognitive (thoughts)
3. Physical (actions)
“The process of information seeking involves construction in which
the user actively pursues understanding and seeks meaning
from the information encountered over a period of time.”
Links the process to reduction of uncertainty
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Kuhlthau model (cont.)
Tasks
Initiation
Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------→
Feelings uncertainly
(affective)
Thoughts
(cognitive)
Actions
(physical)
optimism confusion
frustration
doubt
clarity
sense of
satisfaction or
direction/ disappointment
confidence
vague-------------------------------------→focused
-----------------------------------------------→
increased interest
seeking relevant information----------------------------→seeking pertinent information
exploring
documenting
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Uncertainty Principle
Uncertainty is a cognitive state which commonly causes
affective symptoms of anxiety and lack of confidence.
Uncertainty and anxiety can be expected in the early stages
of the information search process.
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Uncertainty Principle
The affective symptoms of uncertainty, confusion, and
frustration are associated with vague, unclear thoughts about
a topic or question. As knowledge states shift to more clearly
focused thoughts, a parallel shift occurs in feelings of
increased confidence. Uncertainty due to a lack of
understanding, a gap in meaning, or a limited construction
initiates the process of information seeking.
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Uncertainty Principle
Uncertainty initiates the process of information seeking
Corollary
Process
Formulation
Redundancy
Mood
Prediction
Interest
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Definition
Constructing meaning
Forming a focused perspective
Encountering the expected and
unexpected
Assuming a posture or attitude
Making choices based on expectations
Increasing intellectual engagement
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Model for information system
design and use (Allen, 1996)
Steps needed to get to the last step:
1. Needs analysis: determining user goals, purposes,
and objectives;
2. Task analysis: determining the tasks and activities
that users accomplish in meeting their needs;
3. Resource analysis: investigating the resources (both
cognitive and social) that are used in completing the
tasks;
4. User modeling: synthesizing needs, tasks, and
resources; and
5. Designing for usability: assessing how users’ needs,
tasks, and resources interact with system
characteristics to create usable systems –
 also can be considered for use of resources
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The iterative search process
( copy from Hembrook et al. 2005)
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Part 2:
User modeling
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Definition
User modeling is a process of
identifying, understanding,
and defining user
information needs, context,
requirements, and
preferences, together with
factors or attributes in the
profile of the user that
affect subsequent search
for information
© Tefko Saracevic
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Definition …
in addition
But user modeling should
also deal with
identifying user’s
conceptions about how
the information system
or resource works,
together with related
expectations, with
possible explanations on
how it really works and
what could be really
expected
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in other words
In user modeling you identify
 not only everything about the information need
and question at hand
 but also a number of other factors inherent with
the user that may be a guide or even be decisive in
selection of resources, search strategy and
tactics, evaluation and provision of results
 and use the occasion to verify user conceptions
and expectations and possibly provide reality
explanations – there could be a mismatch
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User modeling is user+
 Identifying elements about a user that
impact interaction, selection of resources
searching, types of retrieval …
 Three general categories:
 information requirements (need, context …)
 user profile: general user characteristics &
attributes
 user mental model of system/resource &
expectations
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Information requirements
 Informational questions
 what is the problem, task at hand that generated
a need for information?
 what is the context, environment of that?
 what information is needed for that
problem/task? what is the question?
 what will the information be used for?
 what are any requirements, restrictions on the
type of information needed?
 what information resources were already utilized?
 any history of previous efforts? results?
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Information requirements
(cont.)
 Cognitive, affective state of user:
 how much does the user know about the topic of
the question at hand?
 how uncertain is the user?
 how much wanted, how fast?
 tolerance for amount, variety of information?
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User profile
 Demographic data about the user that may
be relevant for search
 education subject, level
 relation to problem/task at hand
 job, profession, position
 age group, if relevant
 gender if relevant
 language skills, if relevant
 other factors, as specific to a given information
need & question
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User profile - stereotypes
 At times user stereotypes are applied in
user modeling
 common characteristics of a group of users and
their needs
 e.g. third graders, PhD dissertation students, patent
attorneys
 a question on black holes by an astronomer requires
search of different resources than a black hole
question by a tenth grader
 these exhibit similar needs and information
behavior
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stereotypes (cont.)
 Study and application of user stereotypes is
used in computer science & other fields to
 design & adapt components of an information
system to user requirements e.g. interface
 design recommender systems
 apply in machine learning
 Looking for characteristics that may be
applied in personalization of automated
processes
p.s. term "stereotype” is a bit loaded, thus other
related terms are being used as well
© Tefko Saracevic
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User mental model of
system, resource
 Conceptions that user has about the system,
resource, mediator … at hand for the
submitted need
 what does the user think the system can
accomplish?
 what are the expectations?
Used to compare, match with reality of
system possibilities and expectations
 may affect user changing other aspects
© Tefko Saracevic
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Conclusions
 Searching is always done in a context of
information seeking by a user (or a group of
users) – the user certainly treats it that way
 understanding user’s information seeking is
necessary to place the role & define the conduct
of a given search
 Information seeking has many dimensions
 User modeling is your effort to understand
and effectively apply relevant dimensions in a
search
© Tefko Saracevic
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these are not graphic models of user
modeling, (unless???) but they are fun …
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can you figure out
people walking up
& down the steps?
thank you
M. C. Escher
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you can find more on
the site of M.C.
Escher Foundation &
in many lectures on
geometry,
psychology, illusions.
As far as I know,
this is the first time
they are used in a
lecture on user
modeling.
Why not?
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