User Studyからの情報探索行動のモデル化

抄録

　A large number of researchers have studied user need for almost four decades. S. Crowford estimates that over 1,000 user behavior and information system use studies have appeared in print.
　Clearly, the subject of use and user is as diverse as one cares to make it. Perhaps the waning interest in the user studies is implicit recognition of difficulty.
　The purpose of this paper is to identify the limitations and problems of the user studies and to present them as concepts within a model of information-seeking behavior.
　In order to provide direction to empirical studies, it is quite useful to develop model of human behavior. But few models of human information-seeking behavior are available.
　Information-seeking behavior is defined as any activity of dividual that is undertaken to identify a massege that satisfies user own need, and information is simply defined as any stimulus that reduces uncertainy, and need is defined as a recognition of the existance of this uncertainty.
　Information-seeking begins when one perceives that he posses less knowledge than that needed to deal with some issue.
　Information-seeking behavior is activities associated with satisfying immediate need and those associated with differed need is defined as information-gathering behavior.
　In this paper, the preference of information sources is discussed too. The validity of this paper is subject to empirical verification.
　The information seeking model described in this paper is based on the model by James Krikelas.
　The ultimate value of this model lies in its utility in the designs and analysis of future empirical studies.