Editorial: Information seeking in context (ISIC)

The theme of this issue is Information Seeking In Context. Context, as an essential component for understanding information seeking behavior, is receiving increased attention by researchers in information seeking and use. Heightened interest in context may be a reaction to the limitation of the objectivist view of meeting information needs by query matching within a system perspective. Research into context highlights a user-centered approach to the study of information seeking and use that emphasizes real users with actual information needs prompted by situations arising in daily living. Information Seeking in Context (ISIC) has been the theme of a series of international research conferences, one held in Finland at the University of Tampere in August of 1996 and another in the England at the University of Sheeld in August of 1998, with a third planned for August 2000 at the University of Gothenberg in Sweden. This theme issue draws on the work of leading scholars in the area, as well as from some promising new researchers, to address the conceptual underpinnings of the study of context in information seeking and use. The papers present various conceptual frameworks that are forming the basis of this work. Although the authors come from di€erent perspectives and persuasions, common conceptual threads are apparent in the various papers. The pervasive underlying theoretical framework is based on constructivism, both individual and social. Information seeking and use is viewed beyond query topicality and focuses on a holistic view of information needs in the course of people's lives. Several papers call for better articulation between the research in information seeking and the research in information retrieval to foster improved design of information systems that respond more fully to users' information needs. Study of context in information seeking calls for methodology that leads to new approaches to research methods that address broader aspects of users' lives than formerly recognized in information science research. Not surprisingly, qualitative methods predominate. However, there is evidence of a move toward multiple methods and more innovative approaches. Methodology is a primary concern for these researchers who devote major portions of their papers to issues related to research methods. A number of innovative methods are described that hold potential for gaining fresh insight into the users' perspective of information seeking and use. An important contribution of this theme issue is the presentation of issues which are not commonly found in more traditional approaches to information science research. This collection of papers, commonly thought to be outside of the scope of information science, highlights the potential of this research for informing the knowledge base of the ®eld. Information Processing and Management 35 (1999) 723±725