1. What is the significance of the revised subtitle?
The revised subtitle reflects the broadening of focus in information behavior studies, moving beyond information seeking and needs to embrace concepts such as use, creation, and embodiment. This change signifies the evolution of research in the field and the increasing interdisciplinary approach to addressing complex societal issues. The new subtitle also aims to attract readers from outside of information science, highlighting the relevance of information behavior research in various domains such as climate change, geopolitics, and public health interventions.
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2. What disciplines are included in the book's scope?
The book's scope includes disciplines such as media and communication, sociology, psychology, digital humanities, education, business, management, medicine, nursing, and public health. It also focuses on research conducted in the disciplinary home of information behavior, which is information science. The book incorporates relevant citations from these related fields to provide a comprehensive understanding of information behavior research. Additionally, the book covers a wide variety of research problems using quantitative, qualitative, and textual approaches. It also highlights the adoption of arts-based and mixed methods studies, as well as interdisciplinary projects, which have expanded globally since the previous edition. Overall, the book aims to provide a detailed overview of the current state of information behavior research, including new trends and innovations in the field.
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3. What design features were introduced in the fifth edition?
The fifth edition introduced new design features such as sidebars and tables to retain content within a smaller textual footprint. The use of appendices, tables, figures, and bulleted lists was carefully reviewed to balance quick access to summaries and highlights, alongside long-form narratives. Each chapter was constructed to serve as a stand-alone piece of writing, making it easier to include select chapters on course syllabi and facilitate downloading of chapters on e-readers. The full reference list, Our Top 3 Must Read Recommendations, detailed author and subject indices, and DOIs to citations were retained to enhance findability of key concepts and cited authors.
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4. How does the selection process for studies differ in this edition?
In this edition, the selection process for studies involves retaining the previous framework, which gathers studies by roles and occupations. The framework is then extended to examine holistic approaches to research, considering situations and contexts. Judgment is exercised in choosing unique, well-done, or illustrative studies. Innovative methodological or theoretical approaches and interdisciplinary studies are highlighted. Investigations focused exclusively on information retrieval and searching practices are omitted. The focus is primarily on recent publications, with some older items included to showcase shifts in assumptions, methods, and findings. Landmark discussions and definitions of core concepts are also cited for historical perspective.
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