J_Evidence_1

Melissa Townsend-Crow

Article Review

J_Evidence_1

11/14/14

Connaway, L. S., Dickey, T. J., & Radford, M. L. (2011). “If it is too inconvenient I'm not going after it:” Convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking behaviors. Library & Information Science Research, 33(3), 179-190.

In the article entitled, “If It is Too Inconvenient I'm Not Going After It:” Convenience As a Critical Factor in Information-Seeking Behaviors,” Conway, Dickey, and Radford discuss in depth a form of Zipf’s Law or the “principle of least effort.”  In this article, they seek to answer the question why do those seeking information choose one source over another, whether or not that source is more reliable or accurate than another, less accessible or convenient source.

George Zipf was a linguist  at Harvard University. He used patterns of language to develop the theory that people will always exercise the least effort possible to complete any task.  This Principle of Least Effort, or PLE, applies to information seeking behavior in the study of the lack of library and library material use. According to Haycock and Sheldon (2008), “some library resources are judged to require too much effort, especially when compared to a simple (but suboptimal) use of an internet search engine” (38). In other words, information seeking is no longer concerned with finding the best information, but with following the path of least resistance. The notion of convenience to users entails the following criteria:

·         choice of an information source

·         satisfaction with the source

·         ease of use

·         time horizon in information seeking

The authors present the theories of Reijo Savolainen who postulates time as a “context in information seeking, and gratification theory, informing the emphasis on the seekers' time horizons” (180). There is also a discussion of Savolainen’s “everday life information seeking” or ELIS in the context of time, as in how much time one has to look for information. The gist of the results of the studies presented in this article is that ease of access and fast results are factors in information seeking behavior. People will choose a source based on these factors even if the results are not as accurate or thorough as a more in-depth or time consuming search may produce.

This article is germane to library practice because, as the authors write,

Librarians are finding that they must compete with other, often more convenient, familiar, and easy-to-use information sources. The user once built workflows around the library systems and services, but now, increasingly, the library must build its services around user workflows (179).

The question arises from the research presented in this article, what can librarians and other information professionals to enable students and other information seekers to find the most reliable, accurate, and relevant resources instead of just the most convenient? The article addresses the question thus:

In order to entice people to use libraries and to change their perceptions of libraries, the library experience needs to become more like that available on the Web (e.g., Google, Amazon.com, and iTunes) and to be embedded in individual workflows. The Web environment is familiar to users, therefore, they are comfortable and confident in making the choice to search for information there. One recommendation that can be seen to follow from these results is that

librarians need to adapt or seek to purchase services and systems that are designed to replicate the Web environment so that the systems are perceived as convenient and easy to use (Connaway, et. al., 2011, 187).

I would conclude with the notion that the added expense of new equipment and software may not be feasible for every library. In the library where I work, we have patrons who are eager to learn how to research and to use our catalog and database systems for themselves, but we also have patrons who embrace the PLE scenario. We have found that those from the latter group will continue to use our library services if we, the librarians do more to assist them rather than merely try to scaffold their own attempts at information seeking. I would offer as an alternative to more costly upgrades to information retrieval technology marketing service and more attentive staff to assist in patrons’ information seeking.

Additional References

Case, D. (2008). Information Seeking. In K. Haycock & B. Sheldon (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.