Pioneering models for information interaction in the context of information seeking and retrieval
| Pages | 966-986 |
| Date | 10 September 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2017-0154 |
| Published date | 10 September 2018 |
| Author | Reijo Savolainen |
| 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 |
Pioneering models for information
interaction in the context of
information seeking and retrieval
Reijo Savolainen
Faculty of Communication Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to clarify the conceptual issues of information behaviour researchby
reviewing the approaches to information interaction in the context of information seeking and retrieval
(IS&R).
Design/methodology/approach –The study uses the conceptual analysis focussing on four pioneering
models for interactive IS&R proposed by Belkin, Ingwersen and Ingwersen and Järvelin.
Findings –A main characteristic of models for information interaction is the tripartite setting identifying
information resources accessible through information systems, intermediary/interface and user. Dialogue is a
fundamental constituent of information interaction. Early models proposed by Belkin and Ingwersen
focussed on the dialogue occurring in user-intermediary interaction, while more recent frameworks developed
by Ingwersen and Järvelin devote more attention to dialogue constitutive of user-information system
interaction.
Research limitations/implications –As the study focusses on four models developed within the period of
1984-2005, the findings cannot be generalised to depict the phenomena of information interaction as a whole.
Further research is needed to model the specific features of information interaction occurring in the
networked information environments in particular.
Originality/value –The study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the ways in which pioneering
researchers have conceptualised the phenomena of interaction in the context of IS&R. The findings contribute
to the elaboration of the conceptual space of information behaviour research.
Keywords Information retrieval, Interaction, Modelling, Models, Information seeking,
Information interaction, Interactive information retrieval, Interactive information seeking
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Since the 1990s, interaction has become a cross-cutting construct embedded in information-
seeking and retrieval research ( Jansen and Rieh, 2010, p. 1527). In this context, the issues of
interaction have been approached by diverse terms such as information retrieval (IR)
interaction (Ingwersen, 1992), interaction in IR (Saracevic, 1996), interaction in information
searching and retrieval (Beaulieu, 2000), interactive information seeking (Xu, 2007),
interactive IR (Ruthven, 2008), information interaction (Toms, 2002) and human-information
interaction (HII) (Marchionini, 2008). In addition, there are related expressions such as
human-computer interaction (HCI) (Lin, 2010), interacting with information (Blandford and
Attfield, 2010) and interacting with information systems (White, 2016).
The above examples suggest the existence of a rich, though overlapping and somewhat
chaotic terminology characterising the interactive qualifiers of IR in particular.
Unfortunately, so far, researchers have seldom reflected the nature of these qualifiers in
greater detail. This may be due to that concepts such as interaction and interactive are
found self-explanatory and thus intelligible without further definition. This approach can
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 5, 2018
pp. 966-986
Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-11-2017-0154
Received 1 November 2017
Revised 31 January 2018
Accepted 18 February 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
© Reijo Savolainen. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and
create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at
http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
966
JD
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indicate the basic difficulty faced in trying to capture the meaning of generic constructs
such as interaction.
The main goal of the present study is to clarify the conceptual issues of information
behaviour research by examining how researchers have characterised the construct of
interaction as a component of information seeking and IR. To this end, an in-depth
conceptual analysis was made by concentrating on four key models characterising the
elements of information interaction and its nature as a mode of human action. These models
were developed by the pioneers of the study of interactive information seeking and retrieval
(IS&R): Nicholas Belkin and his associates, Peter Ingwersen and Kalervo Järvelin. Even
though the earliest model dates back to the pre-internet era, the frameworks reviewed in the
present study are continually relevant because they crystallise the perennial issues of IS&R,
that is, the relationships between information seekers, human intermediaries, information
resources and information systems. The above models are also relevant for information
behaviour research because they demonstrate how researchers have conceptualised the
basic issues of interactive IS&R since the 1980s until the mid-2000s, thus gradually building
the theoretical foundation for the study of these phenomena. Even though empirical
research on interactive information searching and retrieval has remarkably expanded
during the past ten years, the pioneering models are still relevant. This is because in the
recent years, the modelling of information interaction has progressed slowly, thus implying
the difficulty of developing radically new ideas to conceptualise these phenomena. For
example, the examination of the proceedings of major conferences such as Information,
Interactions and Impact (i³), Information Interaction in Context (IIiX) and the ACM SIGIR
Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR) revealed no major
attempts to develop theoretical or generic models for information interaction. For instance,
the Tetris model (Wilson, 2017) discussed in CHIIR 2017 focusses on resolving information
needs within the information-seeking process; however, no new ideas about the nature of
information interaction are introduced.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. The next section provides background for
the conceptual analysis by characterising the key concepts of interaction, interactive IS&R
and information interaction. Thereafter, the research framework will be specified, followed
by the explication of the research questions and methodology. The research findings will be
reported by concentrating on the analysis of the four models referred to above. The final
section discusses the research findings and draws conclusions of their significance.
Background and terminological issues
Interaction
Generally defined, interaction can be understood as a “reciprocal event that requires at least
two objects and two actions. Interaction occurs when these two objects and events mutually
influence each other”(Wagner, 1994, p. 8). Thus, the idea of a two-way effect is essential in
the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect.
The term interaction has different meanings in diverse fields of inquiry. Sociologists and
social psychologists approach the field of study in terms of social interaction. It can
generally be understood as a dynamic sequence of actions (exchange) between individuals
or groups who modify their actions and reactions due to actions by their partner(s)
(e.g. Argyle, 2009). Communication researchers primarily approach the issues of interaction
in terms of communication, sometimes, the above concepts are used interchangeably
(Chandler and Munday, 2016). However, interaction and communication are not
synonymous constructs because it is possible to have one-way communication without
interaction (e.g. watching TV) but not interaction without communication. The issue
becomes more complicated if we consider how an individual reading a printed book
“interacts”with the text. It is obvious that this is not interaction in the sociological sense
967
Information
interaction in
the context of
IS&R
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