Information seeking and communication model (ISCM): application and extension
| Date | 07 June 2024 |
| Pages | 1333-1346 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2024-0053 |
| Published date | 07 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Emily Baggs,Kaitlyn O'Neal,Andrew Robson,Lyn Robinson |
Information seeking and
communication model (ISCM):
application and extension
Emily Baggs, Kaitlyn O’Neal, Andrew Robson and Lyn Robinson
Centre for Information Science, City, University of London, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The paper reports on developments in the Information Seeking and Communication Model (ISCM)
since it was first presented in 2013, focussing on how the model, derived by explicitly drawing on previous
models, frameworks, and concepts, has been applied, adapted and extended. This paper summarises the
reception of the ISCM, and describes two new applications in different contexts.
Design/methodology/approach –A literature review details applications of, comments onand critiques of,
the ISCM since its introduction. Two exploratory studies of health information seeking behaviour show the
application of the ISCM in novel contexts.
Findings –The literature cited here, and the two studies outlined show the applicability and extendibility of
the ISCM, as well as its value in helping to capture the holistic context of information seeking, the interplay
between providers and seekers of information, including fluidity of provider/seeker roles, and emotional
dimensions of information seeking and use.
Originality/value –The paper responds to the call by Case and Given (2016) for further empirical testing of
the ISCM and similar conceptual models. It shows the range of applicability of this model, and models drawn
from it, and makes recommendations for further development.
Keywords Emotions, Information behaviour, Information seeking models
Paper type Article
Introduction
The Information Seeking and Communication Model (ISCM) was derived by Robson and
Robinson in 2013. In this paper, we examine developments over the following ten years, with
a focus on how a model which was derived by explicitly drawing on previous models,
frameworks, and concepts has been applied, adapted and extended.
The 2013 paper appears to have had wide reach, being the third most downloaded article
from Journal of Documentation since 2005, with over 20,000 downloads as of March 2024. By
this date the ISCM had been cited in 112 academic articles, in subject areas including
primarily library and information science and healthcare, but also business, finance and
marketing, tourism and hospitality, education, information systems and security; an example
of the diffusion of information behaviour research across disciplines noted by Wilson (2018).
Most of these citations are passing mentions; below, we discuss those which make
substantive comment on the ISCM, or which apply it. Like most other information behaviour
models, it has been relatively little used since its introduction, since “overall, information
researchers seem to be inclined to add diversity by developing their own models rather than
integrating existing ideas”(Savolainen, 2016, p. 648). This paper summarises the reception of
the ISCM, a model which unusually was created by explicit combination of existing models,
and describes two new applications in different contexts; a response to the call by Case and
Given (2016, p. 170) for further empirical testing of the ISCM and similar conceptual models.
It investigates the range of applicability of the ISCM, and of models drawn from it, and allows
recommendations for further development of such models to be made.
Journal of
Documentation
1333
We thank an anonymous reviewer for drawing our attention to additional examples of use of the ISCM.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 8 March 2024
Revised 12 April 2024
Accepted 20 April 2024
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 80 No. 6, 2024
pp. 1333-1346
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-03-2024-0053
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