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The Instrumentality of Information Needs and Relevance

  • Conference paper
Context: Nature, Impact, and Role (CoLIS 2005)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 3507))

Abstract

An important question in Library and Information Science (LIS) is for what purpose information is sought; information seeking is not carried out for its own sake but to achieve an objective that lies beyond the practice of information seeking itself. Therefore, instrumentality could be seen as an overarching principle in the LIS field. Three different epistemological approaches to information needs and relevance, and the views on instrumentality that goes with them, are presented: the structure approach, the individual approach and the communication approach. The aim of the paper is to show how a communication oriented, neo-pragmatist epistemology enables research that in a dialogic manner highlights both the social contexts that information users are part of, and positions users as active contributors to the shaping of these contexts. The power relations that permeate these processes of negotiation between users and contexts are highlighted by introducing a Foucauldian perspective on power.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swedish School of Library and Information Science, Göteborg University & University College of Borås, SE-50190, Borås, Sweden

    Olof Sundin & Jenny Johannisson

Authors
  1. Olof Sundin
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  2. Jenny Johannisson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

    Fabio Crestani

  2. Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, G1 1XH, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    Ian Ruthven

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sundin, O., Johannisson, J. (2005). The Instrumentality of Information Needs and Relevance. In: Crestani, F., Ruthven, I. (eds) Context: Nature, Impact, and Role. CoLIS 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3507. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11495222_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11495222_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-26178-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-32101-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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