Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community

ABSTRACT Purpose: The research attempts to provide an insight into the information world of the Slovenian countryside. It presents the first results of an exploratory study of information needs, information seeking habits and types of information sources. Methodology/approach: Brenda Dervin's S...

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Main Author: Gorazd Vodeb
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Slovenian Library Association & University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2013-06-01
Series:Knjižnica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/knjiznica/article/view/13953
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author Gorazd Vodeb
author_facet Gorazd Vodeb
author_sort Gorazd Vodeb
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Purpose: The research attempts to provide an insight into the information world of the Slovenian countryside. It presents the first results of an exploratory study of information needs, information seeking habits and types of information sources. Methodology/approach: Brenda Dervin's Sense-Making Methodology was used as the theoretical basis for this research. 25 open structured interviews with inhabitants of a local community were conducted based on purposive sampling. Interview recordings were transcribed, summarised and analysed using the qualitative content analysis approach. Results: The analysis results in recognizing the types of gaps in the context of an individual, economic activities and in the context of a local community. Gap categories are described with regard to questions or problems and the ways of solving them. There are 20 categories describing gaps in the context of an individual, 17 categories which present economic activities – and 6 categories which pertain to a local community. Findings about information needs and the ways of seeking information stress the key role of information sources in farming and prevalence of interpersonal exchange of information and experts' opinion in the context of individual problem solving. Research limitation: The generalisation of results is not possible due to the sample size. Originality/practical implications: The findings contribute to understanding of information needs and ways of information seeking in the Slovenian countryside.
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spelling doaj-art-2908b2414d024f4aa8f99a201a5842c62025-08-20T01:58:08ZengSlovenian Library Association & University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Knjižnica0023-24241581-79032013-06-01572-310.55741/knj.57.2-3.13953Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local CommunityGorazd Vodeb0Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Leskoškova 12, 1000 LjubljanaABSTRACT Purpose: The research attempts to provide an insight into the information world of the Slovenian countryside. It presents the first results of an exploratory study of information needs, information seeking habits and types of information sources. Methodology/approach: Brenda Dervin's Sense-Making Methodology was used as the theoretical basis for this research. 25 open structured interviews with inhabitants of a local community were conducted based on purposive sampling. Interview recordings were transcribed, summarised and analysed using the qualitative content analysis approach. Results: The analysis results in recognizing the types of gaps in the context of an individual, economic activities and in the context of a local community. Gap categories are described with regard to questions or problems and the ways of solving them. There are 20 categories describing gaps in the context of an individual, 17 categories which present economic activities – and 6 categories which pertain to a local community. Findings about information needs and the ways of seeking information stress the key role of information sources in farming and prevalence of interpersonal exchange of information and experts' opinion in the context of individual problem solving. Research limitation: The generalisation of results is not possible due to the sample size. Originality/practical implications: The findings contribute to understanding of information needs and ways of information seeking in the Slovenian countryside. https://journals.uni-lj.si/knjiznica/article/view/13953everyday information seeking habitsinformation needscountrysideinformation sourcesBrenda Dervin Sens
spellingShingle Gorazd Vodeb
Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
Knjižnica
everyday information seeking habits
information needs
countryside
information sources
Brenda Dervin Sens
title Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
title_full Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
title_fullStr Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
title_full_unstemmed Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
title_short Everyday Information Needs and Information Seeking Habits in the Countryside: a Study of a Local Community
title_sort everyday information needs and information seeking habits in the countryside a study of a local community
topic everyday information seeking habits
information needs
countryside
information sources
Brenda Dervin Sens
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/knjiznica/article/view/13953
work_keys_str_mv AT gorazdvodeb everydayinformationneedsandinformationseekinghabitsinthecountrysideastudyofalocalcommunity