Title: Information seeking - Wikipedia
Headings: Information seeking
Information seeking
Contents
Information retrieval
In different contexts
Theories of information-seeking behavior
Wilson's nested model of conceptual areas
See also
References
General

Content: Information seeking - Wikipedia
Information seeking
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Information science
General aspects
Information access
Information architecture
Information behavior
Information management
Information retrieval
Information seeking
Information society
Knowledge organization
Ontology
Philosophy of information
Science and technology studies
Taxonomy
Related fields and sub-fields
Bibliometrics
Categorization
Censorship
Classification
Computer data storage
Cultural studies
Data modeling
Informatics
Information technology
Intellectual freedom
Intellectual property
Library and information science
Memory
Preservation
Privacy
Quantum information science
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Information seeking is the process or activity of attempting to obtain information in both human and technological contexts. Information seeking is related to, but different from, information retrieval (IR). Contents
1 Information retrieval
2 In different contexts
3 Theories of information-seeking behavior
4 Wilson's nested model of conceptual areas
5 See also
6 References
6.1 General
Information retrieval
Traditionally, IR tools have been designed for IR professionals to enable them to effectively and efficiently retrieve information from a source. It is assumed that the information exists in the source and that a well-formed query will retrieve it (and nothing else). It has been argued that laypersons' information seeking on the internet is very different from information retrieval as performed within the IR discourse. Yet, internet search engines are built on IR principles. Since the late 1990s a body of research on how casual users interact with internet search engines has been forming, but the topic is far from fully understood. IR can be said to be technology-oriented, focusing on algorithms and issues such as precision and recall. Information seeking may be understood as a more human-oriented and open-ended process than information retrieval. In information seeking, one does not know whether there exists an answer to one's query, so the process of seeking may provide the learning required to satisfy one's information need .