A behavioral model of information seeking on the Web - Preliminary results of a study of how managers and IT specialists use the Web

The paper develops a new behavioral model of information seeking on the Web by combining theoretical elements from information science and organization science. The model was tested, in a preliminary way, during the first phase of a study of how managers and IT specialists use the Web to seek external information as part of their daily work. Participants answered a questionnaire and were interviewed individually in order to understand their information needs and information seeking preferences. A custom-developed tracker application was installed on their workplace computers, or their browsers were redirected through a proxy server set up by the research team. Participants' Web-use activities were then monitored continuously for two work weeks. The tracker application recorded participants' Web browser actions, while the proxy recorded HTTP requests and transfers. In a follow-up round of personal interviews, participants recalled critical incidents of using information from the Web. Data from the questionnaire, interviews, and the tracker and server log files supplied a rich database for study. Thirty significant episodes of information seeking were isolated and analyzed in terms of their modes of viewing or searching, and their associated Web information moves. Results were found to be compatible with the behavioral model proposed. Overall, the study suggests that a behavioral framework which relates motivations (the strategies and modes of viewing and searching) and moves (the tactics used to find and use information) may be helpful in analysing Web-based information seeking. The study also suggests that multiple, complementary methods of collecting qualitative and quantitative data may be used within a single study to compose a richer portrayal of how individuals seek and use Web-based information in their natural work settings.