Exploring the context of visual information seeking

Exploring the context of visual information seeking Shahram Sedghi Department of Library and Medical Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Zeinab Shormeij Department of Library and Medical Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Iman Tahamtan School of Information Sciences, College of Communication and Information, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Abstract Purpose – Information seeking is an interactive behaviour of the end users with information systems, which occurs in a real environment known as context. Context affects information- seeking behaviour in many different ways. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that potentially constitute the context of visual information seeking. Design/methodology/approach: We used a Straussian version of grounded theory, a qualitative approach, to conduct the study. Using a purposive sampling method, 28 subjects participated in the study. The data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding in MAXQDA software. Findings: The contextual factors influencing visual information seeking were classified into seven categories, including: “user characteristics”, “general search features”, “visual search features”, “display of results”, “accessibility of results”, “task type” and “environmental factors”. Practical/implications: This study contributes to a better understanding of how people conduct searches in and interact with visual search interfaces. Results have important implications for the designers of information retrieval systems. Originality/value: This paper is among the pioneer studies investigating contextual factors influencing information seeking in visual information retrieval systems. Accepted in Electronic Library, Vol 36, Issue 3 Keywords: Information retrieval, Context, User studies, Human–computer interaction, Information-seeking behaviours, Visual information systems

Introduction Understanding context is important for obtaining better knowledge of individual information activities (Starasts, 2015). Thus, it is important to know what elements create the context, how context is understood (Courtright, 2007) and how the information process relates to its context (Kari and Savolainen, 2007). Nevertheless, there is not a strong consensus on what constitutes a context, and what relationships exist between individuals’ information seeking and its context (Chang and Lee, 2001). The importance of context in information-seeking behaviour and the information retrieval (IR) (Kelly, 2006) as well as the importance of understanding information seeking and retrieval within different contexts has been emphasised in a large number of previous studies as Albertson (2015) reported. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of knowledge regarding how users interact with visual search interfaces. Visual search interfaces are emerging as a new way to help users respond to their information needs effectively. For this reason several library vendors such as EBSCOhost have added visual search interfaces or functions to their products (Fagan, 2006). Current study aims to find the factors that potentially constitute the context of visual information seeking. Literature review Information seeking and context Information seeking is a dynamic and interactional process, which occurs in a real environment referred to as the context (Mai et al., 2016). The context involves the information seeking of individuals formed in interaction with other people, social networks and various situations, tools and so on (Wilson, 1997). Dervin (2003, p. 112) noted that “there is no term that is more often used, less often defined, and when defined so variously as context”. In information-seeking research, “context” describes the situation surrounding a person’s information-seeking behaviour (Dervin, 2003), and a setting where information activities take place. In addition, context is defined as, “any factors or variables that are seen to affect individuals’ information-seeking behaviour: socio-economic conditions, work roles, tasks, problem situations, communities and organisations with their structures and cultures, etc” (Talja et al., 1999, p. 752). Context consists of several elements, each of which is defined by several contextual factors. In this regard, Kari and Savolainen (2007) listed three relationships between context and information behaviour: association relationship, interaction relationship and one-directional relationship. Association relationship is defined as the concurrence of certain information behaviour(s) in a situation. Interaction implies that the context first influences the individual’s information behaviour, and then this behaviour influences contextual factors. The one-directional relationship refers to the contextual factors that encourage, affect, determine or prevent some information

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