Assessing information needs in the age of the digital consumer /
David Nicholas and Eti Herman.
- 3rd ed.
- London : Routledge, c2009
- vii, 179 p. ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographic references (p. [158]-171) and index.
Why undertake information needs assessments? The whys and wherefores of the ongoing neglect of information needs ; So why indeed undertake information needs assessments? -- What are information needs? Information needs : a working definition ; Unrecognised and recognised (but unexpressed) information needs ; Information wants ; Information demands ; Information use ; The digital consumer (yesteryear's user, reader, customer, client, patron...) -- A framework for evaluating information needs. Subject ; Function (use to which the information is put) ; Nature ; Intellectual level ; Viewpoint ; Quantity ; Quality/authority ; Date/currency ; Speed of delivery ; Place of publication/origin ; Processing and packaging -- The determinants of information needs and practices. Work-roles and tasks ; Personality traits ; Gender ; Age ; Country of origin and cultural background ; Information availability and accessibility ; Information appetite and threshold ; Time availability ; Resources availability and costs -- Collecting the data. Interviews ; Observation ; Diaries ; Questionnaires ; Citation analyses ; Web log analysis -- Information needs analysis : ensuring the effective information enfranchisement of the digital consumer.
This title provides a systematic method of identifying, evaluating and comparing information needs, as well as a framework to enable information services to gather information from users to aid information system design, and monitor the effectiveness of an information service.
1857434870 9781857434873
Information services--Evaluation. Information resources management. Library users--Effect of technological innovations on.