Iranian Journal of Information Processing & Management (Jul 2009)
Informal Information Sources and Information Seeking Behavior: Investigating the Causes and Factors Affecting Users’ Inclination towards Informal Information Sources
Abstract
Research within Library and Information Sciences bespeaks of the significant tendency of (expert and non-expert) users towards informal information sources. Nevertheless, it seems that the literature have not dealt adequately with causes and factors affecting such tendency. The present paper provides a retrospect on some of the researches conducted with respect to the typology of information resources used by searchers. It further attempts to enunciate the most important reasons for users preference toward informal information sources. The author maintains that the very social nature of man, the principle of least effort, human sense of credulity, economic considerations as well as information overloads are among the most important reasons for using informal resources. Author maintains that the increasing tendency of users towards informal sources would in not too distant future result in user apathy towards such traditional information sources as book and library.
