DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00860.x
Learning from research on the information behaviour
of healthcare professionals: a review of the literature
2004–2008 with a focus on emotion
Ina Fourie, Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Objective: A review, focusing on emotion, was conducted of reported studies
on the information behaviour of healthcare professionals (2004–2008). Findings
were intended to offer guidelines on information services and information literacy training, to note gaps in research and to raise research interest.
Method: Databases were searched for literature published from January 2004 to
December 2008 and indexed on ERIC, Library and Information Science
Abstracts, MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological
Abstracts, Health Source: Nursing ⁄ Academic Edition; Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection;
Social Work Abstracts; SOCINDEX with Full Text; SPORTDISCUS; CINHAL; and
the ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Key journals were manually scanned and
citations followed. Literature was included if reporting on issues concerning
emotion.
Results: Emotion in information behaviour in healthcare contexts is scantily
addressed. This review, however, offers some insight into the difficulty in identifying and expressing information needs; sense making and the need to fill
knowledge gaps; uncertainty; personality and coping skills; motivation to seeking information; emotional experiences during information seeking; selfconfidence and attitude; emotional factors in the selection of information
channels; and seeking information for psychological or emotional reasons.
Conclusion: Suggestions following findings, address information literacy programs, information services and research gaps.
Key Messages
Implications for Practice
Address difficulty in identifying information needs.
• Address issues of uncertainty and anxiety.
• Consider impact of personality and coping style on information seeking.
• Consider impact of motivation and promoting motivation to seek information.
• Explore the seeking of information for psychosocial and emotional issues.
•
Correspondence: Ina Fourie, Department of Information Science,
University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
E-mail: ina.fourie@up.ac.za
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
171
172
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Implications for Policy
•
•
•
Explore opportunities for research on emotion in the information behaviour of healthcare professionals.
Explore opportunities for collaboration between LIS professionals and healthcare professionals to
encourage the overflow of information between different tasks and especially concerning emotional
reasons for seeking information.
Consider methods to deepen understanding of emotion in the information behaviour of healthcare professionals (e.g. new research methods or target groups.
Introduction
Healthcare society faces increasing emphasis on
quality healthcare and patient involvement in decision making, as well as calls for evidence-based
medicine, staying abreast of developments in the
field, and for continuing professional development
(CPD).1–3 In addition to the challenge of maintaining up-to-date knowledge and skills,4 there have
been a marked increase in information requests
associated with the rising numbers of patients diagnosed with life-threatening diseases5 and patient
preference to die at home when diagnosed as terminal.6 Bryant reports on remarks by family doctors that ‘Well-informed patients generate
information needs’.7 Johnson reports that healthcare professionals ‘are not only responsible for
themselves, but they also must nurture and enhance
the information capabilities of their clients’.8 Noting this changing and challenging work environment and evolving role of healthcare professionals,
it seems timely to consider its impact on the information behaviour of healthcare professionals.
Information behaviour, sometimes also referred to
as human information behaviour (HIB), concerns
the information needs and information behaviour
that can follow physiological needs, cognitive
needs and affective needs (e.g. anxiety).9 Information behaviour can be considered from different
perspectives such as the impact of the work environment, tasks and care models,10–14 cognitive
issues, types of information needs, external influences such as culture and the impact of barriers.
Within a library and information service (LIS) setting these barriers might include a number of
things such as lack of access to computers and the
Web, lack of opportunity at work to search for
information, lack of skills and expertise in using
computers and the Web, lack of motivation, per-
ceptions that information seeking is not allowed
while at work, information overload, cost of journal subscription and information resources, and
ineffective search strategies.15–20
An increase in the use of the Web by healthcare
professionals, as well as patients and their families
has been noted, in addition to a wealth of useful
websites available for healthcare professionals.1,21
However, Bennett et al. highlights specific Webrelated information behaviour barriers including
difficulties in navigating and searching, and specific information may not be available or there
may be too much information to scan.22
Problems with specific information or answers
not being available is also noted by McDiarmid
et al.,23 while Denekamp24 stresses that clinicians
routinely practice in a state of incomplete information about medical knowledge pertaining to
patients’ care. Elsewhere, it has been noted that
clinicians can move from a correct answer before
searching to an incorrect answer after searching
for information,25 whilst McKnight notes, ‘No one
can retrieve reliable literature and systematically
review it while watching monitors, checking on
patients, administering and verifying therapies, and
answering telephone calls’.26
In an editorial to Patient Education and Counselling, Wissow reported, ‘There is now much
more detailed evidence about how emotional states
bias perceptions of the outside world, introduce
selectivity into what we recall from past experience, and change the threshold at which we act on
conditioned responses, be they based to fearful or
pleasurable stimuli’ (p. 1).27 Considering the
strong link of healthcare to emotions and emotional support, this article focuses on emotion (also
referred to as the affective or affective paradigm)
in information behaviour. It builds on a paper
delivered at the European Association for Health
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Information and Libraries (EAHIL) conference in
Cracow, where Fourie considers practical implications for Library and Information (LIS) professionals, expanding knowledge and understanding of
information behaviour in healthcare contexts, in
order to improve access to information, to promote
information use, to design better information retrieval systems, to improve training in information literacy skills and to design suitable interventions.28
In particular, within the context of emotion in
human behaviour, this review intends to:
d sensitize LIS professionals to findings concerning emotion in the information behaviour of
healthcare professionals that should be considered for praxis;
d identify gaps in research reports and focus of
studies;
d pave the way for further research.
Methods
Searches were conducted in October ⁄ November
2008 with additional searches in January 2009.
Searches focused on terms appearing in the title of
articles or reports published between January 2004
and December 2008 representing information behaviour. The search terms included ‘information seeking’, ‘information searching’, ‘information needs’,
‘information behaviour’ and ‘information behavior’
(more details are provided in Appendix A).
The following databases and journal providers
were searched: ERIC, Library and Information Science Abstracts, MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Health
Source: Nursing ⁄ Academic Edition; Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; Social
Work Abstracts; SOCINDEX with Full Text;
SPORTDISCUS; CINHAL; and the ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Key journals were manually
scanned and citations followed.
The following key journals were also manually
scanned for the same period (January 2004 to
December 2008): British Journal of Nursing,
Health Information & Libraries Journal, Journal
of the Medical Library Association, Library &
Information Science Research, Journal of
Advanced Nursing, Journal of Documentation,
Journal of the American Society for Information
Science and Technology, Journal of the Canadian
Health Library Association, Journal of the Medical Informatics Association, Journal of Continuing
Education for Healthcare Professionals, Journal
of Medical Internet Research, Journal of the
American Medical Informatics Association, Information Processing & Management, Information
Research and Journal of the American Society of
Information Science and Technology. In addition,
citations from all publications studied were
scanned.
Publications were identified as meeting the
review inclusion criteria if they focused on ‘emotion in information behaviour’. Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus explains emotion as ‘a strong
feeling of any kind’ (p. 125).29 In the LIS literature, it has been contextualized as a drive state that
leads to motivations that either activate or inhibit
searching, e.g. anxiety.30 In selecting publications
for this review, terms related to emotion were used
as indicators. These terms are explained in more
detail in Appendix A. Wilson explains information
behaviour as ‘the totality of human behaviour in
relation to sources and channels of information,
including both active and passive informationseeking and information use’.9 Fisher et al. define
information behaviour as ‘how people need, seek,
give and use information in different contexts’.31
Spink and Cole’s explanation of human information behaviour is also noted: ‘…some sort of
human state (preattentional), which acts as an
energy input moving the human state along a
‘data–information–knowledge’ continuum. High
uncertainty is linked to a preattentional state of
information foraging for adaptation and survival,
while low uncertainty is linked to information
behaviours whose purpose is knowledge (e.g. the
common sense precepts by which most of us live
in everyday life, or make sense of life)’.32
For the purposes of this article information
behaviour is interpreted as including:
d healthcare professionals’ awareness and expression of their information needs and how they
deal with these (i.e. their ability to recognize an
information need);
d interest or lack of interest in information and
willingness to react on information needs;
d the information sources and channels that are
preferred;
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
173
USA
McKnight12,26
Canada, USA
Canada, USA
Not stated
Canada
MacIntoshMurray
& Choo15
McKibbon &
Fridsma25
McKibbon
et al.50
Healthcare provider
units
(NHS Trust)
Large tertiary hospital
UK
French45
Critical (intensive)
care
Not stated
Several practices
within the area
used the services
of independent
libraries
UK Aylesbury,
Vale,
Buckinghamshire
Bryant7
Setting
Country
Reference
Primary care physicians
(family physicians,
general internists)
Primary care physicians
(family physicians,
general internists)
Nurses
Front-line staff
Nurses
Family doctors, General
Practitioners
Target group
Observation and
participant
observation
Protocols
Interviews, think-aloud
protocols
Ethnographic case study
Participant observation
of meetings
Case study based on
in-depth interviews
& group discussions
Research method
Table 1. Summary of key publications on emotion in the information behaviour of healthcare professionals
How attitudes toward taking risks and
uncertainty affects use of electronic information
resources.
Emotional reasons for seeking information.
Questionnaires that measure attitude toward
risks, multiple-choice questions, think-aloud.
Uncertainty and anxiety in information seeking;
coping style.
Difficulty in recognizing information needs;
sense making and recognizing gaps in
knowledge.
Difficulty in recognizing information needs.
Bryant is one of very few researchers who
touch on feelings in the choice of methods:
‘Therefore this research sought to allow GPs
[general practitioners] to voice their reasons for
seeking information, their feelings and
thoughts about the process, without
constraining their responses by the use of a
pre-structured research instrument’. Difficulty
in recognizing information needs; uncertainty
and anxiety in information seeking; personality
characteristics; motivation; need to express
feelings during data collection; attitude &
self-confidence.
Difficulty in recognizing information needs;
uncertainty and anxiety in information seeking.
Emotional issue(s)
174
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
the factors that influence behaviour to search for
information and in using it;
d all reactions and responses concerning information (including ignoring the information need
and ignorance or unawareness of the information
need) (adapted from Fourie28).
Additionally, studies needed to relate to practising healthcare professionals, clinical researchers,
students in internships and scientists in medicine
and public health. Although publications in other
languages were noted (there were very few), only
English-language publications are included in the
review. Publications on information needs concerning patient history, prognosis, sharing information
with patients, information overload and information use were not included. Ninety-two articles
were initially selected as dealing with information
behaviour in healthcare contexts. From these five
articles in foreign languages were excluded and
eight publications could not be obtained in time
for consideration of inclusion in this review.
Eighty-seven articles were studied to identify coverage or mention of emotional issues. Seven articles were selected as giving major coverage for
purposes of this article and 21 articles as briefly
referring to issues of emotion.
The seven articles with major coverage are summarized in Table 1. Articles that only touch on
aspects of emotion in information behaviour include
Devi and George33 mentioning the difficulty in recognizing information needs; McDiarmid et al.23
mentioning that their study is aimed at uncovering
the feelings and thoughts of chief executive officers
(CEOs) (they do, however, not expand on this in
discussing the findings); Bennett et al.22 on the need
to fill gaps, including affective needs as well as the
importance of attitude and self-confidence and emotional reasons for seeking information; Bertulis and
Cheeseborough34 on motivation and attitude, Craig
and Corrall35 mentioning self-confidence; Davies36
referring to the difficulty in recognizing information
needs; Fikar and Keith37 touching on preferences
for information sources as well as emotional reasons
for seeking information; Fourie and Claasen-Veldsman38 mentioning emotional reasons for seeking
information; Gannon-Leary2 referring to preferences
for information sources; Kim et al.39 mentioning the
use of vingettes to deal with the difficulty in
recognizing information needs; Komolafe and
d
Onatola40 briefly mentioning self-confidence and
attitude; Lu et al.41 mentioning preferences for
information sources; McCaughan et al.16 mentioning uncertainty and anxiety in information seeking
as well as preferences; McKenna et al.17 referring to
sense making and recognition of a gap in knowledge
as well as motivation; Revere et al.19 mentioning
psychological barriers to the use of information; Tan
et al.20 on preferences for information sources
including trust, and the reputation and credibility of
information sources; Tannery et al.42 mentioning
personality characteristics; Thain and Wales43 mentioning motivation and attitude; and Ward et al. 44
mentioning self-confidence.
Results
The nine themes concerning emotion in information behaviour that will be discussed in this section
were identified from the literature reviewed as well
as the general literature on information behaviour.
The themes include difficulty in identifying and
expressing information needs and information
behaviour; sense making and filling gaps in knowledge; uncertainty and anxiety; personality and coping skills; motivation to seeking information;
emotional experiences during phases of information seeking; self-confidence and attitude; emotional factors in the selection of information
channels and information; and seeking information
for psychological or emotional reasons. It is not
always easy to draw a clean-cut distinction
between these; neither was this the intention.
Difficulty in identifying and expressing
information needs and information behaviour
Studies on information needs and information
behaviour mostly work from the assumption that
healthcare professionals are aware of their information needs and gaps in their understanding, and that
they can adequately express these. The fact that this
is not always the case is seldom explicitly
recognized (as can be seen in the few studies
discussed in this review). Studies recognizing problems in expressing information needs include Kim
et al.39 mentioning the use of vignettes to collect
information on unrecognized information needs,
e.g. concerning rare conditions or new morbidities.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
175
176
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
According to McKibbon and Fridsma, ‘Clinicians, like all of us, may not always or readily
know when they need to seek information. The
findings of this study suggest that any integration
of information systems into electronic medical
records systems must allow clinicians to easily
and effectively seek the information they know
they need as well as alert the clinician to potential opportunities to seek information and improve
care’.25 Following a study with nurses French
remarks: ‘Rather than being conceptualized as a
single articulated question and externally directed,
information needs were embedded in the subjectively experienced activities of practice’.45 The
argument is continued: ‘This uncertainty was not
necessarily expressed as prospective information
need or translated into answerable questions’. Difficulties in expressing information needs are also
noted by Davies36 and Bryant: ‘It was recognized
that perceived information needs, more properly
termed information ‘wants’ are, necessarily, limited to those things that an individual knows to
be available, or has the capacity to imagine’.7
Many reasons are offered why healthcare professionals may not recognize information needs—that
is, reasons for dormant or latent information needs.
This can include emotional reasons such as anxiety
and stress, and more practical reasons such as
working long shifts,15,38 lack of competency in
critical thinking and drawing links to information
skills,15 and the nature of the task. MacIntoshMurray and Choo report that ‘front-line staff are
task driven, coping with heavy workloads that
limit their attention to and recognition of potential
information needs and knowledge gaps’.15 According to them ‘Coping from shift to shift and being
caught up by the daily routines and tasks are
obstacles to the recognition of information needs.
Information seeking is not triggered, because the
needs are not identified’.15 The nurses are not acting on their knowledge gaps because they do not
recognize what they do not know, and do not seek
information resources.15 In addition, Devi and
George33 in their study on the drug information
needs of physicians treating diabetic nephropathy,
note that rural and non-rural clinicians may underestimate their information seeking and that they
may misperceive their information seeking and use
of resources.
Difficulty in recognizing information needs can
be closely linked to the ability to recognize gaps
in knowledge and understanding that need to be
filled.
Sense making and filling gaps in knowledge
It has often been argued that people seek information because they want to bridge a gap they experience between their knowledge and what they
need to know.46,47 Such efforts to seek information
to make sense of a situation are often marked by
feelings of anxiety and stress.48
In studies on healthcare professionals, sense
making and the need to fill gaps in knowledge are
addressed by MacIntosh-Murray and Choo who
explain, ‘This notion, that if you are not alerted to
possibilities you may not notice them, links directly
to sense making and is an important precondition
for problem defection and for information seeking
and use’… ‘This situation suggests that a focus on
critical thinking is a vital step in situated learning
and improvement of practice’.15
Information seeking and sense making can, however, only follow if it is realized that there is a gap.
McKenna et al.,17 for example found with regard to
the use of a free online evidence-based practice
database (OTseeker) by Australian occupational
therapists that lack of time and no reason to use it
was important reasons for not realizing such a gap.
Although not expanding on it too much, Bennett
et al.22 also mention the need to fill gaps when seeking information: ‘Although it may be easiest to
describe cognitive gaps, the affective needs, such as
motivation to address a problem are critical’. The
point of departure for the study reported by Braun
et al. is the fact that physicians often are not aware
of the gaps in their knowledge and the corresponding information needs: ‘First, the physician was not
aware of the fact that he needed information on the
side effects of Clarithromycin. So, he had no incentive to search for information on the topic. Hence,
we may conclude that in this case there was an
implicit information need’.49
Uncertainty and anxiety
Awareness of information needs is often linked to
uncertainty and the need to react to the uncertainty
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
by seeking information.7,16,45,50 With regard to
healthcare professionals French45 offers an extensive report on uncertainty and information needs
in nursing. The different types of uncertainty noted
by French45 makes a very useful contribution to
the subject literature. They include known ⁄ accepted uncertainty, hidden uncertainty, unrecognized uncertainty and pragmatic uncertainty.
d Known ⁄ accepted uncertainty concerns genuine
uncertainty, where a clear question can be articulated, but the answer is not known.
d Hidden uncertainty refers to people being unaware of their uncertainty. Such uncertainty cannot be expressed because it is not experienced.
Hidden uncertainty occurs most often in areas of
low variation, where practice is relatively stable
and unchanging. Pragmatic reasons for hidden
uncertainty include the lack of time for questioning in a culture where efficiency and throughput
are valued.45
d Unrecognized uncertainty occurs when information from research is ignored when it does not
match people’s perceptions, e.g. when they cannot accommodate it in their current conceptualization of a practice problem.45
d Pragmatic uncertainty occurs when the information needs are created by the presence of a visible problem in practice and the potential for a
workable solution.
From research reports it seems as if healthcare
professionals should be most likely to react to
known ⁄ accepted uncertainty and pragmatic uncertainty. French adds, ‘Not all areas of uncertainty
became articulated as specific information need.
Some were ignored, and some were preferences
over others’.45 In their research with nurse practitioners and practice nurses, McCaughan et al. found
that faced with clinical uncertainty, the majority of
the nurses in the study relied on personal experience, or obtained advice and information from general practitioners or other colleagues, especially
when they experience anxiety.16 Working with primary care physicians from Canada and the USA,
McKibbon et al.50 found that attitudes toward risk
and uncertainty affect their use of electronic information resources: Physicians who were risk avoiding and those who reported stress when faced with
uncertainty each showed differences in the searching processes (e.g. actively analysing retrieval,
using searching heuristics or rules). Physicians who
were risk avoiding tended to use resources that provide answers and summaries, such as Cochrane or
UpToDate, less than risk seekers did.
In their study physicians who reported stress
when faced with uncertainty showed a trend
toward less frequent use of MEDLINE when compared with physicians who were not stressed by
uncertainty. McKibbon et al. also found that information seeking might be used to stimulate the use
of information retrieval systems, as well as the
design of such systems, e.g. by including features
that allowed for control of searching and choice of
resources that provide direction as well as evidence backing up that suggested action rather, than
a MEDLINE or MEDLINE-like resource.50 According to
French, ‘Attempts to influence the information
behaviour of health professionals need also to consider how the task or problem space of the user is
firstly transformed into a state of uncertainty, and
then what triggers the expression of uncertainty as
information need’.45 A point of departure for such
a focus would be to review what has been reported
on tasks in the specific healthcare context and their
influence on information behaviour.
Personality and coping skills
When experiencing uncertainty and faced with the
need for sense making, people may react in different ways, which can often be traced to their personality, learning style or coping style. Although
not explored, Tannery et al.42 refer very briefly to
the impact of personal characteristics on the acceptance of new technology: ‘The personal characteristics and attitudes of individuals in adopting this
new technology can also influence the rate of dissemination. Innovators or early adopters of an
innovation are described as venturesome, tolerant
of risk, and having a fascination with novelty’
(they developed their discussion from Roger’s diffusion model). Another brief reference to personal
characteristics can be found in the work by Bryant:
‘Family doctors are prompted to seek information
by needs arising from a combination of professional responsibilities and personal characteristics’.7 In the preceding section McKibbon et al.’s
work on coping styles and skills and willingness
to take risks were mentioned.50
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
177
178
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Motivation to seek information
As people can avoid information in order to cope
with stressful situations, there are also many factors that can motivate them which need to be
understood in enhancing the use of information
retrieval systems. One of these would be the need
to know, or recognizing such a need. Healthcare
professionals may operate on different levels, and
may not always perceive it as their duty or responsibility to seek information. In a study conducted
in South Africa, Fourie and Claasen-Veldsman
noted a very strong reliance by the nurses on the
doctors to keep up with information regarding
treatment.38 In a preliminary study reporting on
the information needs of specialists healthcare professionals in the West of Scotland Colorectal Cancer Managed Clinical Network, Thain and Wales
found that motivation for information seeking can
include research and professional development,
patient care, e.g. dealing with unusual cases such
as a deaf patient, locating information for patients
and the identification of guidelines that may help
with patient care. It seems as if the perception of
‘patient care’ is very important in this regard:
‘Linked to the concept of networked provision of
patients care is the ‘patient journey’, which does
not regard patient care as isolated acute episodes
but as a continuum encompassing health promotion, preventative care and follow-up support from
community health and social services’.43
The family doctors participating in the study by
Bryant seemed to be motivated to seek information
by needs arising from a combination of professional responsibilities (e.g. problem-orientated
information related to the care of individual
patients, information for patients, pharmacological
information) and personal characteristics such as
curiosity and uncertainty.7
Following a study with nurses, Bertulis and
Cheeseborough explain, ‘We found a strong link
between the level of encouragement respondents
are given by their organizations for this type of
information seeking and employees’ perceptions
of whether or not they have time for information
seeking activities, such as reading journal articles
or reports, or visiting the local health library’…
‘There was also evidence of relationship between
employer attitudes to evidence-based practice and
respondents’ ability to access electronic resources
at work’.34 The other side of the coin (implying
lack of motivation) is the observation by McKenna et al. that even if databases or other information sources are freely available, healthcare
professionals may not use them because they
have no reason to use it.17 Considering the discussion above, it may also be that they do not
recognize reasons to seek information.
Emotional experiences during phases of
information seeking
Wilson9 has noted that apart from cognitive and
physical information needs, information seeking
can also be instigated by affective needs. Information needs are then secondary needs. Healthcare
professionals may, e.g. be driven by affective issues
to seek information such as deeply caring for
patients, trying to bring comfort to patients or to
sooth their anxiety.28 In the more general context
of information behaviour Kuhlthau raised awareness for the affective component of information
seeking behaviour.51 People go through different
phases in information seeking (e.g. beginning,
exploring, retrieving, evaluating and using) and
may experience different emotions and feelings
such as frustration, confusion, despair, excitement
and satisfaction during these steps or phases. These
can be strongly linked to anxiety. Thoughts during
the phases of information seeking are also very
important, and when attempting to support information behaviour such feelings and thoughts need
to be noted. According to Nahl and Bilal it is also
important to recognize supporting theories, e.g.
constructivist theories that recognize the significant
roles that thoughts, feelings, and actions play in the
processes of learning and seeking understanding. In
the literature on the information behaviour of
healthcare professionals there is, however, scant
reports on emotional experiences in information
seeking.52 Two exceptions are the studies by Blake
and Pratt53 and Bryant.7
Blake and Pratt note the different phases in information behaviour and focus on synthesis activities,
specifically in the contexts of collaboration between
scientists in Medicine and Public Health.53
Although they acknowledge the possibility of feelings such as confusion, doubt or threat, the qualita-
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
tive data they offer do not support any of these. Bryant recognizes the importance of using research
methods that will allow participants the opportunity
to express feelings and thoughts: ‘Therefore this
research sought to allow [general practitioners] GPs
to voice their reasons for seeking information, their
feelings and thoughts about the process, without
constraining their responses by the use of a prestructured research instrument’.7
d
d
Attitude to evidence-based medicine. Bertulis
and Cheeseborough found a relationship between
employer attitudes to evidence-based practice
and respondents’ ability to use electronic
resources at work.34
Self-confidence. Craig and Corrall note increased
self-confidence when studying information literacy skills of nurses in the UK.35
Self-confidence and attitude
Emotional factors in the selection of
information channels and information
Literature on the information behaviour of healthcare professionals seems to pay more attention to
emotional issues such as self-confidence, attitude,
self-efficacy. Ward et al., e.g. report a strong link
between these and the use of information technology (often linked to information seeking).44 Tannery et al., for example, remarks, ‘Or were the
barriers more personal in nature, such as poor
computer skills, distrust of technology, or lack of
professional curiosity? Did they perceive cues in
the environment that discouraged the use of these
resources, such as disparagement from supervisors
or a perception that consulting the professional literature during work hours is wasting time’.42
Although mostly a descriptive study on the
information needs and information seeking habits
of nurses at a teaching hospital in Nigeria, Komolafe and Onatola briefly refers to attitude towards
information technology when considering computer literacy with regard to the use of information
sources—giving some recognition to the importance of the affective.40
Attitude has been considered in different contexts:
d
Family doctors’ attitudes towards libraries.7
d Perceptions on the value of the Web. Following
their study with general practitioners Boisson
and Docsi note, ‘They don’t really know what
they can find on the Web, but paradoxically they
have a bad opinion of it’.54 Bennett et al. again
note physicians’ beliefs that the Web is a useful
source of information.22
d Attitude to information seeking. According to
Thain and Wales ‘It was interesting to note that,
in general, time spent looking for information
was considered justified’.43
22
d Physicians’ confidence in their search skills.
Research reports on the selection of information
channels is mostly descriptive in highlighting the
sources used, frequency of use and preferences,
but without explaining the rational for preferences
and use or linking these to emotion and emotional
experiences.
Very few studies explore the rationale for
choices and preferences. Exceptions are Revere
et al.,19 McCaughan et al.16 and Lu et al.41 In
their study concerning public health professionals,
Revere et al.19 mention psychological barriers to
the use of information sources such as trust, and
perceptions that information may not be found.
They also identified a very interesting barrier:
‘Global disease surveillance, particularly in countries which do not have adequate disease-monitoring infrastructures, can be hampered by fear of
sanctions, inaccurate reports and rumors, concern
over social disruption on a national level and
unwarranted international panic that can lead to
economic losses’.19
In a study on nurse practitioners and practice
nurses, McCaughan et al. note, ‘Faced with clinical uncertainty, the majority of the nurses in the
study relied on personal experiences, or obtained
advice and information from [general practitioner]
GP or other colleagues’.16 In a study affecting
online research by nurses in Taiwan, Lu et al.
again explain, ‘Understanding expectancy value in
this context allows one to determine if there are
opportunities to increase expectancy value among
nurses seeking information via the web’.41 Tan
et al.20 report on some issues such as trust, reputation and credibility of information sources, and
Gannon-Leary2 on practitioners’ preferences for
information identified during the Framework for
Multi-Agency Environments (FAME) project.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
179
180
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Fikar and Keith also briefly touch on issues of
trust and privacy in their study on the information
needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
healthcare professionals. As a result of a Web survey they report: ‘The delivery of services needs to
be done with privacy and respect for the feelings
of the patron’.37
Seeking information to address
psychosocial ⁄ emotional issues
Although very scant there are some further references to emotional reasons for healthcare professionals to seek information. With regard to critical care
nurses, McKnight notes, ‘The nurse knows she is not
only caring for the patient, but the patient’s family as
well. She must communicate openly with the family,
encourage effective coping behaviors and often provide emotional support’.26 Although not expanding
on it much, Bennett et al. mention emotions when
explaining the need to fill a gap as instigator for
information seeking: ‘Although it may be easiest to
describe cognitive gaps, the affective needs, such as
motivation to address a problem are critical’.22 They
also found that 59% of their research participants
sought patient education materials.
A study by Fikar and Keith on the information
needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
healthcare professionals deal with affective issues in
more detail. They note, ‘[Gay, lesbian bisexual and
transgender] GLBT individuals, besides having the
same basic health needs as the general population,
have additional healthcare and access requirements
because of their special sexualities and the discrimination they may face by an unknowing and sometimes hostile society’… ‘Not only does GLBT
healthcare workers need information about taking
care of their patients, they also require the knowledgebase necessary to help them in dealing with the
persistent societal misconceptions and stigmatization that all GLBT persons routinely encounter’.37
Discussion
From the preceding section it seems as if scant
attention has been given to emotion in research on
information behaviour of healthcare professionals.
This is in contrast to the sense of urgency noted
for research focusing on emotion and the affective
paradigm in information behaviour in general.
Nahl and Bilal: ‘A focus on affect in information
behaviour can breathe new life into research by
expanding research environments to include every
setting where people use and exchange information, including the mental and social information
environment, and promote a cumulative and holistic approach to understanding human engagement
with information’.52
Although emotion (affect) is well covered in
research on patient information behaviour, Julien,
McKechnie and Hart found that affective issues do
not feature strongly in library and information science systems work, and that even indexing terms
do not support the finding of research reporting on
affect.55
In addition to the issues addressed with regard
to healthcare professionals, the following can be
noted from the information behaviour literature in
general, and will be incorporated when offering
suggestions for LIS practitioners and addressing
research gaps. These are not intended to be an
exhaustive overview; merely an attempt to indicate
the importance of moving from a specific literature
review such as this to consideration of research
reported in the wider context.
Difficulty in identifying ⁄ expressing information
need
The fact that few studies on the information
behaviour of healthcare professionals addressed the
difficulty in identifying and expressing information
needs is in contrast to the wide recognition in the
LIS literature of the difficulty in expressing information needs, e.g. as explained in acknowledging
the importance to consider emotion in information
behaviour.51,52
Taylor56 distinguishes the following:
d Visceral need (the actual, but unexpressed need
for information; a person may be conscious or
unconscious of this need for information. It may
only be a vague sort of dissatisfaction, and
might even be inexpressible in linguistic terms).
d Conscious
need (the conscious, within-brain
description of the need. The need may still be an
ill-defined area of indecision, with probably an
ambiguous and rambling statement of the information need).
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
d
d
Formalized need (the formal statement of the
need can be qualified and offered as a rational
statement, without thinking of the constraints of
the ‘system’).
Compromised need (the question is presented to
the information system, often recast in terms of
expectations of what the system may be able to
offer). Awareness of the difficulty in identifying
and expressing information needs as well as the
fact that information needs are not always recognized or expressed therefore need to be promoted.
agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to
experience. In this review, very scant reference to
personality in particular as influencing factor of
information behaviour was noted. A greater understanding of the impact of personality and especially
coping style on information seeking therefore needs
to be promoted in the context of information behaviour in healthcare contexts. This might also help
healthcare professionals to gain a better understanding of the issues of personality and coping style in
the information behaviour of patients.
Sense making
Psychological ⁄ emotional issues
Although there are some reference to the need for
sense making as driver of information seeking, it
seems as if healthcare professionals often do not recognize gaps in their knowledge, or do not recognize
it as information needs. In a publication falling outside the date scope of this review, Cogdill comments
on nurse practitioners not sensing a gap in their
knowledge: ‘Problems with recognizing, articulating
and validating their information need also occurred
when there was a perceived mismatch between how
participants viewed an issue, and how the issue was
presented in research’.57 In addition, Cogdill notes
that nurse practitioners might also not always be
aware of the extent to which they seek information.57
Currently, the need for sense making as pointed
out in this review, is not strongly recognized in the
context of healthcare professionals, and therefore
need to be addressed in more depth. The need for
healthcare professionals to be aware of the need for
and importance of sense making in completion of
their daily tasks therefore need to be stressed more
explicitly. This would require a sensitivity for the
importance of being aware of gaps in knowledge.
A study comparing sense making reported in other
professions, as well as the literature on task-based
information seeking would be useful in this regard.
This may be supplemented with regard to a review
of possible earlier surveys reporting on the recognition of gaps and sense making in the information
behaviour of healthcare professionals.
Wilson has noted that apart from cognitive and
physical information needs, information seeking
can also be instigated by affective needs.9 Information needs are then secondary needs. Healthcare professionals may, e.g. be driven by
affective issues to seek information such as deeply caring for patients, trying to bring comfort to
patients or to sooth their anxiety.28 In an older
study with nursing practitioners which falls outside the scope of this review, Cogdill found that
‘Psychosocial issues were generally an infrequent
topic of consultations among [nurse practitioners]
NPs but were found to be more frequently
addressed in consultations with other NPs than in
consultations with physicians’.57 In the publications covered by this review very scant reference
was noted of psychological or emotional issues
instigating information seeking, leaving this as an
area that need to be explored in the offering of
information services and information literacy
training—especially current awareness services.
As healthcare professionals belong to the service
or caring oriented professions, a stronger awareness of the need for information concerning psychological and emotional issues may help to
promote appropriate information seeking and
information use with regard to offering information on emotional issues (an area which also
seems under-researched) to patients, as well as
regarding their personal well-being, e.g. dealing
with emotional stress and burn-out. These issues
were especially strongly raised in a study
reported by Fourie and Claasen-Veldsman.38 A
closer look at reports in the field of emotion in
information behaviour52 might be useful.
Personality and coping
Information behaviour literature58 noted the following personality types: extraversion, neuroticism,
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
181
182
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Table 2. Suggestions for LIS practitioners on dealing with issues of emotion in information behaviour
Difficulty in identifying and expressing information needs
Realize that studies reporting on information needs and information seeking, although important, present only a partial
picture. Not all information needs are realized or expressed, and queries by healthcare professionals do not reflect all
information needs.
Alert healthcare professionals to the difficulty in expressing information needs.
Address the difficulty in recognizing and expressing information needs in library orientation and information literacy programs
as well as surveys to improve services.
Provide information resources as orientation that can help to identify and express information needs, e.g. textbooks, review
articles.
Discuss options to identify unrecognized information needs, e.g. monitoring the daily task completion of healthcare
professionals, sitting in on meetings, using vignettes in surveys on information needs.
Do a task analysis and plot against information resources that may offer relevant information.
Explore options for current awareness services and information monitoring to raise awareness of unrecognized information
needs, and means to express information needs (e.g. considering article titles).
Explore methods to stimulate awareness of dormant information needs, e.g. journal clubs. Sense making and filling gaps in
knowledge.
Identify daily tasks, search for publications reporting on these tasks and consider their sources cited as an indication of
information required to fill ‘gaps’ in the knowledge of the author. This may be a crude way of driving the point that
information is sought to make sense and to fill gaps in knowledge, but it might be used while looking for something more
streamlined.
Explain as part of information literacy programmes, and emphasize that healthcare professionals should work on using critical
thinking skills to explore new horizons for ‘gaps’ of knowledge that need to be filled.
Do a task analysis and audits of the subject literature aimed at specific groups of healthcare professionals, e.g. scanning
Oncology Nursing Forum to identify tasks that may be more information intensive than recognized by the healthcare
professionals (e.g. for oncology nurses). It can also be used to identify potential unrecognized gaps in their knowledge.
Sensitize healthcare professionals to the need for sense making in their daily task and especially the fact that there may be a
growing need to make sense of the information behaviour and information needs of patients.
Uncertainty and anxiety
Explain how uncertainty and anxiety can act as driving forces for information seeking, as well as the impact it may have on
the success of information searches.
Consider the role LIS professionals and services can play in dealing with uncertainty and anxiety.
Demonstrate how systematically working through the most appropriate information resources can help to lessen anxiety
experienced with information seeking.
Explain the value of starting with a good, comprehensive information source, e.g. a textbook, review chapter or recent article
that gives a good coverage of the topic. This can deepen understanding of a topic and lessen some anxiety.
Explain different types of anxiety noted in healthcare context and how to deal with these.
Use case studies to illustrate the value of recognizing uncertainty and the use of the right information sources to deal with
this (i.e. moving beyond own experience and the advice of colleagues).
Demonstrate the value of using resources for evidence-based medicine (EBM) (e.g. Cochrane Library) to lessen anxiety.
Explain the value of information literacy programmes in addressing some anxiety, and ensure that programmes are designed
to do this.
Offer support on identifying information resources to start with.
Explore how task or problem spaces can evolve into states of uncertainty and research problems.
Personality and coping
Explain the impact personality and coping style (as well as learning style) may have on information seeking (one can look
wider than just the literature on healthcare).
Explain differences in coping style between colleagues.
Identify role models for specific contexts and explore their information seeking behaviour and habits as exemplar taking their
personality and copying style as point of departure.
Motivation
Explain the importance of motivation in information seeking.
Explore opportunities available for extrinsic motivation and try to link to the marketing of library services (e.g. conference
attendance, grant research, lecturing, community involvement, promotion and increasing personal visibility).
Explore opportunities to promote intrinsic motivation and link to the services the LIS service can offer.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
Table 2. Continued
Specifically explore the value of information seeking for patient care, patient education and support and patient information
as a motivational factor.
Emotional experiences during the phases of information seeking
Explain the different phases, thoughts and feelings that may be experienced (e.g. based on the work of Kuhlthau).51
Find ways to address emotional experiences during information seeking, e.g. by developing information literacy programmes
in line with the work on guided inquiry by Kuhlthau.59
Stress that patients experience similar emotions during their information seeking.
Self-confidence and attitude
Explain the link between self-confidence and skills regarding information technology, the Web, database searching, etc. and
the success of information searches, and that a lack of self-confidence and skills can be addressed by appropriate training.
Stress the importance of attitude regarding EBM, and consider training in the appropriate use of EBM information resources
and the use of information.
Explore attitude toward the Web as a resource that if used appropriately may provide access to authoritative, quality
information. This also applies to patient information.
Offer guidance and direction in the use of authoritative Web resources, especially regarding current awareness services.
Emotion in the selection of information resources
Explain the importance of emotion in the selection and use of information resources and preference for human resources and
own experience and how this can have a negative impact on the building of new knowledge (perhaps work from a case
study or examples concerning information failure in healthcare).
Explore issues of trust in the selection of information and information resources and developing confidence in this regard.
Illustrate the value of using the most appropriate information resources to identify the best information sources and
information. Illustrate the value of working with good sources.
Encourage healthcare professionals to publish research findings in an accessible form, style and format that might encourage
busy practitioners to note such publications, and avoid emotions such as frustration.
Seeking information to address psychosocial and emotional issues
Explore the importance of seeking information for patient education and support and patient information resources, as well
as means and methods in this regard.
Explore the use of information seeking to deal with personal feelings of lost and burnout.
Considering the discussion in the two previous
sections, it seems as if a comparative review of
issues reported with regard to emotion in information behaviour in healthcare and the wider context
for emotion in information behaviour may shed
even more light and suggestions than offered in
the following section on suggestions for LIS
practitioners.
How LIS practitioners can react to
understanding emotion in the information
behaviour of healthcare professionals
From the preceding discussion there seems to be a
need to work from the limited research findings
concerning emotion in information behaviour in
healthcare contexts, as well as research in the wider
context. Even though this offers limited insight into
understanding emotion in the information behaviour of healthcare professionals, there are quite a
number of issues LIS practitioners can follow up.
These are addressed in Table 2.
Research GAPS
From the scant coverage of emotion in studies on the
information behaviour of healthcare professionals
gaps requiring further research can be noted. In addition to research gaps that might be implied in the list
of suggestions to LIS practitioners, the following
can be noted. These are not intended as an exhaustive list, they are merely for stimulation in the field:
d How can LIS professionals target healthcare professionals who are able to address issues of emotion in information behaviour (e.g. inability to
recognize gaps in knowledge, emotional motivation to seek information) and who can fulfil an
intervening role in the sharing and communication of information?
This flows from a remark by MacIntosh-Murray
and Choo, ‘…front-line staff are task driven,
coping with heavy workloads that limit their
attention to and recognition of potential information needs and knowledge gaps. However, a surrogate in an information-related role—an
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
183
184
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
d
d
d
d
d
d
‘‘information ⁄ change agent’’—may intervene
successfully with staff and engage in preventive
maintenance and repair routines’.15
How can collaboration between LIS and healthcare professionals be promoted to encourage the
overflow of information seeking for one task to
inform another task, especially with regard to
emotional reasons for information seeking, e.g.
emotional support to patients that can be incorporated in patient education, patient information
and patient communication? Blake and Pratt
refers to this as ‘collaborative information synthesis’.60
How can work cultures and a work environment
be developed that supports motivation for information seeking and evidence-based healthcare
practices—taking emotional issues as the point
of departure?
How can LIS practitioners deepen their understanding of emotion in information behaviour by
learning from other disciplines such as cognitive
sciences, psychology, business, education, ethnomethodology, communication, neuroscience and
computer science?
What role is emotion and personality playing in
judging the relevance of information in preparing
patient information and educating patients?
What is the impact of self-efficacy on information sharing in the health sciences?
Which methods can be used to explore emotion
in information behaviour in healthcare contexts?
Conclusion
Noting research on emotion in the information
behaviour of healthcare professionals can offer
new opportunities for LIS practitioners in marketing their services and enhancing programmes in
information literacy. The scant coverage of emotion in reported research, however, points to a
need for an extension of research efforts from theoretical points, but more importantly from the
point of view of practitioners—with a sound theoretical bases. This should include older publications reporting on information behaviour in
healthcare contexts as well as consideration of
reports in the wider context of information and
especially emotion in healthcare information
behaviour.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges Maria J Grant, Editor of
Health Information and Libraries Journal, and the
two peer-reviewers for their assistance with this
article.
References
1 Fourie, I. & Claasen-Veldsman, R. An exploration of the
potential of WWW current awareness services for oncology
nurses. The Electronic Library 2007, 25, 36–53.
2 Gannon-Leary, P. Glut of information, dearth of knowledge?
A consideration of the information needs of practitioners
identified during the FAME project. Library Review 2006,
55, 120–131.
3 Shapiro, J. S., Kannry, J., Kushniruk, A. W. & Kuperman,
G. Emergency physicians’ perceptions of health information
exchange. Journal of the American Medical Informatics
Association 2007, 14, 701–705.
4 Swinglehurst, D. A. Information needs of United Kingdom
primary care clinicians. Health Information and Libraries
Journal 2005, 22, 196–204.
5 Jimbo, M., Nease, D. E., Jr, Ruffin, M. T. & Rana, G. K.
Information technology and cancer prevention. CA: A
Cancer Journal for Clinicians 2006, 56, 26–35. Available
at: http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/56/1/26
(accessed 8 May 2008).
6 Docherty, A., Owens, A., Asadi-Lari, M., Petchey, R.,
Williams, J. & Carter, Y. H. Knowledge and information
needs of informal caregivers in palliative care: a
qualitative systematic review. Palliative Medicine 2008, 22,
153–171.
7 Bryant, S. L. The information needs and information
seeking behaviour of family doctors. Health Information
and Libraries Journal 2004, 21, 84–93.
8 Johnson, J. D. Cancer-Related Information Seeking.
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1997.
9 Wilson, T. D. Models in information behaviour research.
Journal of Documentation 1999, 55, 249–270.
10 Byström, K. Information and information sources in tasks of
varying complexity. Journal of the American Society for
Information Science and Technology 2002, 53, 581–591.
11 Leckie, G. J., Pettigrew, K. E. & Sylvain, C. Modelling
the information seeking of professionals: a general model
derived from research on engineers, health care
professionals and lawyers. Library Quarterly 1996, 66,
161–193.
12 McKnight, M. The information seeking of on-duty critical
care nurses: evidence from participant observation and incontext interviews. Journal of the Medical Library
Association 2006, 94, 145–151.
13 Sintchenko, V., Usherwood, T. & Coiera, E. Are clinicians’
information needs and decision support affected by different
models of care? Experimental Study. Studies in Health
Technology and Informatics 2007, 129(Pt 2), 895–899.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
14 Vakkari, P. Task-based information searching. Annual
Review of Information Science and Technology 2003, 37,
413–464.
15 MacIntosh-Murray, A. & Choo, C. W. Information
behaviour in the context of improving patient safety.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science
and Technology 2005, 56, 1332–1345.
16 McCaughan, D., Thompson, C., Cullum, N., Sheldon, T. &
Raynor, P. Nurse practitioner and practice nurses’ use of
research information in clinical decision making: findings
from an exploratory study. Family Practice 2005, 22, 490–
497.
17 McKenna, K., Bennett, S., Dierselhuis, Z., Hoffmann, T.,
Tooth, L. & McCluskey, A. Australian occupational
therapists’ use of an online evidence-based practice database
(OTseeker). Health Information and Libraries Journal 2005,
22, 205–214.
18 Nicholas, D., Williams, P., Smith, A. & Longbottom, P. The
information needs of perioperative staff: a preparatory study
for a proposed specialist library for theatres (NeLH). Health
Information and Libraries Journal 2005, 22, 35–43.
19 Revere, D., Turner, A. M., Madhavan, A., Rambo, N.,
Bugni, P. F., Kimball, A. & Fuller, S. S. Understanding the
information needs of public health practitioners: a literature
review to inform design of an interactive digital knowledge
management system. Journal of Biomedical Informatics
2007, 40, 410–421.
20 Tan, E. L., Stark, H., Lowinger, J. S., Ringland, C., Ward, R.
& Pearson, S.-A. Information sources used by New South
Wales cancer clinicians: a qualitative study. Internal Medicine
Journal 2006, 36, 711–717.
21 Murphy, J. Meeting the information needs of risk managers
and clinical governance leads. Health Information on the
Internet 2005, 43, 8–10.
22 Bennett, N. L., Casebeer, L. L., Kristofco, R. E. & Strasser,
S. M. Physicians’ Internet information-seeking behaviors.
Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions
2005, 24, 31–38.
23 McDiarmid, M., Kendall, S. & Binns, M. Evidence-based
administrative decision making and the Ontario hospital
CEO: information needs, seeking behaviour, and access to
sources. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries
Association 2007, 28, 63–72.
24 Denekamp, Y. Clinical decision support systems for
addressing information needs of physicians. The Israel
Medical Association Journal 2007, 9, 771–776.
25 McKibbon, K. A. & Fridsma, D. B. Effectiveness of
clinician-selected electronic information resources for
answering primary care physicians’ information needs.
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
2006, 13, 653–659.
26 McKnight, M. A grounded theory model of on-duty critical
care nurses’ information behaviour: the patient-chart cycle
of informative interactions. Journal of Documentation 2007,
63, 57–73.
27 Wissow, E. Emotional states and information seeking.
Patient Education & Counselling 2007, 69, 1.
28 Fourie, I. Information Literacy for Healthcare Professionals
– Learning from Studies in Human Information Behaviour
(HIB). Paper presented at EAHIL workshop, Kracow
(Poland), 12–15 September 2007. Available at: http://www.
eahil.net/conferences/krakow_2007/www.bm.cm-uj.krakow.
pl/eahil/proceedings/oral/Fourie.pdf (accessed 4 November
2008).
29 Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus. New Lanark: Geddes
& Grosset, 2006.
30 Dervin, B. & Reinhard, C. L. D. How emotional dimensions
of situated information seeking related to user evaluations of
help from sources: an exemplar study informed by sensemaking methodology. In: Nahl, D. & Bilal, D. (eds).
Information and Emotion: The Emergent Affective Paradigm
in Information Behaviour Research and Theory. Medford,
NJ: Information Today Inc., 2007: 51–84.
31 Fisher, K., Erdelez, S. & McKechnie, L. ed. Theories of
Information Behavior. Medford, NJ: Information Today
(ASIST monograph series), 2005.
32 Spink, A. & Cole, C. A human information behavior
approach to a philosophy of information. Library Trends
2004, 52, 617–628.
33 Devi, P. & George, J. Drug information needs of physicians
treating diabetic nephropathy in a tertiary care hospital.
Kathmandu University Medical Journal 2008, 6, 23–27.
34 Bertulis, R. & Cheeseborough, J. The Royal College of
Nursing’s information needs survey of nurses and health
professionals. Health Information and Libraries Journal
2008, 25, 186–197.
35 Craig, A. & Corrall, S. Making a difference? Measuring the
impact of an information literacy programme for preregistration nursing students in the UK. Health Information
and Libraries Journal 2007, 24, 118–127.
36 Davies, K. The information-seeking behaviour of doctors: a
review of the evidence. Health Information and Libraries
Journal 2007, 24, 78–94.
37 Fikar, C. R. & Keith, L. Information needs of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered health care professionals: results
of an Internet survey. Journal of the Medical Library
Association 2004, 92, 56–65.
38 Fourie, I. & Claasen-Veldsman, R. South African
perspective on oncology nurses’ need for current
awareness services (CAS) via the WWW. Mousaion
2007, 25, 44–65.
39 Kim, G. R., Bartlett, E. L., Jr & Lehmann, H. P. Information
resource preferences by general pediatricians in office settings:
a qualitative study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision
Making 2005, 5, 34 (8 pages). Available at: http://www.bio
medcentral.com/1472-6947/5/34 (accessed 20 April 2009).
40 Komolafe, H. O. & Onatola, A. Information seeking habits
of clinical information by nurses at Nigeria’s premier
university teaching hospital: a survey. Journal of Hospital
Librarianship 2008, 8, 175–192.
41 Lu, H.-Y., Andrews, J. E., Hou, H.-Y., Chen, S.-Y.,
Ti, Y.-H. & Yo, Y.-C. Factors affecting online research by
nurses in Taiwan. Online Information Review 2008, 32,
574–584.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186
185
186
Information behaviour of healthcare professionals, Ina Fourie
42 Tannery, N. H., Wessel, C. B., Epstein, B. A. & Gadd, C. S.
Hospital nurses’ use of knowledge-based information
resources. Nursing Outlook 2007, 55, 15–19.
43 Thain, A. & Wales, A. Information needs of specialists
healthcare professionals: a preliminary study based on the
West of Scotland Colorectal Cancer Managed Clinical
Network. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2005,
22, 133–142.
44 Ward, R., Stevens, C., Brentnall, P. & Briddon, J. The
attitudes of health care staff to technology: a comprehensive
review of the research literature. Health Information and
Libraries Journal 2008, 25, 81–97.
45 French, B. Uncertainty and information need in nursing.
Nurse Education Today 2006, 26, 245–252.
46 Dervin, B. On studying information seeking
methodologically: the implications of connecting metatheory
to method. Information Processing and Management 1999,
34, 727–750.
47 Dervin, B. & Nilan, M. Information needs and uses.
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
1986, 21, 3–33.
48 Wilson, T. D. Exploring models of information behaviour:
the ‘‘uncertainty’’ project. Information Processing and
Management 1999, 35, 839–849.
49 Braun, L., Wiesman, F., Van den Herik, J., Hasman, A. &
Korsten, E. Towards Automatic Formulation of a
Physician’s Information Needs. Journal of Digital
Information Management 2005, 3, 40–46, 7.
50 McKibbon, K. A., Fridsma, D. B. & Crowley, R. S. How
primary care physicians’ attitudes toward risk and
uncertainty affect their use of electronic information
resources. Journal of the Medical Library Association 2007,
95, 138–146.
51 Kuhlthau, C. C. Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to
Library and Information Services, 2nd edn. Westport, CT:
Libraries Unlimited, 2004.
52 Nahl, D. & Bilal, D. Information and Emotion: The Emergent
Affective Paradigm in Information Behavior Research and
Theory. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2007.
53 Blake, C. & Pratt, W. Collaborative information synthesis II:
Recommendations for information systems to support
synthesis activities. Journal of the American Society for
Information Science and Technology 2006, 57, 1888–1895.
54 Boisson, F. G. & Docsi, U. Information-seeking behaviour
and use of the Internet by French general practitioners: a
qualitative study. Health Information and Libraries Journal
2005, 22, 173–181.
55 Julien, H., McKechnie, L. E. F. & Hart, S. Affective issues
in library and information science systems work: a content
analysis. Library & Information Science Research 2005, 27,
453–466.
56 Taylor, R. S. Question-negotiation and information seeking
in libraries. College and Research Libraries 1968, 29, 178–
189.
57 Cogdill, K. W. Information needs and information seeking
in primary care: a study of nurse practitioners. Journal of
the Medical Library Association 2003, 91, 203–215.
58 Heinström, J. The impact of personality and approaches to
learning on information behaviour. Information Research
2000, 5. Available at: http://informationr.net/ir/5-3/
paper78.html (accessed 26 March 2009).
59 Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K. & Caspari, A. K. Guided
Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Westport, CT:
Libraries Unlimited, 2007.
60 Blake, C. & Pratt, W. Collaborative information synthesis
1: a model of information behaviour of scientists in
medicine and public health. Journal of the American
Society for Information Science and Technology 2006, 57,
1740–1749.
Received 12 June 2009; Accepted 23 June 2009
Appendix A: Search terms and terms to secure inclusion in the review
Information behaviour
Emotion in information behaviour
The following search terms had to appear in the title of publications: ‘information
seeking’, ‘information searching’, ‘information needs’, ‘information behaviour’ and
‘information behavior’. To keep the results manageable, related terms such as
‘Internet searching’, ‘Internet information seeking’, ‘Web searching’, ‘Web
information seeking’ (and variants of the Web, namely WWW or World Wide Web),
‘information retrieval’, ‘information demands’, ‘literature searching’, ‘literature seeking’
and ‘information use’ were not included as search terms.
As indicators of ‘emotion in information behaviour’ publications identified were
scrutinized for the following words before inclusion in the review: motivation, emotional
experiences, feelings, values, preferences for information sources and decision making
linked to emotional issues, anxiety, uncertainty, coping, sense making, frustrations, selfefficacy, confidence, attitude, mood, thoughts, personality, anger, apathy, annoyance,
boredom, compassion, curiosity, disappointment, empathy, embarrassment, fear,
gratitude, grief, hope, pride, sadness, shame, surprise, wonder, worry.
ª 2009 The author
Journal compilation ª 2009 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26, pp.171–186