Learning from web information seeking studies: some suggestions for LIS practitioners

Purpose – To explore the value of web information‐seeking studies for practice, and to bring selected research findings and their potential to the attention of library and information science (LIS) practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a selective literature review of web information‐seeking studies to highlight findings considered most relevant to LIS practitioners. A fairly extensive, but not exhaustive, list of sources was identified. Reasons for the gap between web information‐seeking theory in the form of research reports and LIS praxis are briefly considered.Findings – The value of web information‐seeking studies is limited to theoretical and methodological growth if they do not also affect practice. Suggestions are offered on a selection of aspects of how LIS practitioners can incorporate findings from web information‐seeking studies. These include improved self‐knowledge and self‐efficacy of practitioners and users, adapted approaches to information literacy and user empowerment pro...