Lesson 1.5: Information needs, sources and searching

In this lesson you will gain an initial understanding of how to choose the most appropriate sources and formats of information to meet a particular information need. These points will only be introduced here, and will be revisited in other lessons of this course.

The lesson has 6 units. Some of the units have a short exercise which asks you to think about your use of information formats There are no right answers to these questions; they are intended to help you reflect on how you deal with your information needs, which will be helpful later in this course.

Learning objectives

At the end of this lesson, learners should have a basic understanding of:

  • the nature of information needs, and how they relate to the choice of information sources and formats

  • the fact that there is no "best" information source for all circumstances

  • the influence of the need for speed, comprehensiveness, collaboration, and other factors on how information is found and used

1.5.1 Information needs

Information is never needed without a context. There is always some definite 'information need'. This will determine what kind of information you need, and how you will go about getting it.

Examples of information needs would be:

  • I need some background material in order to write my essay.

  • I want to find out something about these topics, about which I know nothing, so as to choose my courses for next year.

  • I want to find the source of this quotation.

  • I need some pictures illustrating this topic for my assignment.

  • I need to know how to get to this place where I have a meeting in 30 minutes.

  • I want something interesting to read on a long train journey.

  • I want some ideas of new books for a birthday present.

We can see that information needs may be very different in nature: specific or general; selective or comprehensive; urgent or not; and so on. It is worth thinking about the nature of your information need, as this will put important constraints on the kinds of sources and formats you will need, and how you go about finding them.

Exercise - look at a slideshare presentation on 'Searching and information sources for English literature research' at https://www.slideshare.net/nuslibrarieshumrt/lit-hons08. Don't worry about the details of database searching - these will be covered in other lessons of this course - but the way the sources are chosen in a systematic fashion is of interest here.

1.5.2 Nothing is ever 'the best'

It is important to realise that there is no such thing as the "best" information source; only that which is most appropriate for a particular need and context.

For example, if you need some information urgently, and are away from home and university, then you are restricted to what you can find quickly using whatever mobile devices you have with you. These sources will be the best for your needs in that context, even if you could find "better" information if you were in a library or computer room.

This means that [as we said in 1.3.1] we should never rely on familiar sources; even if we know they are very good for some purposes, they will not suit all information needs and all circumstances.

1.5.3 Do I need to be comprehensive?

One important aspect of the information need is whether we need to be comprehensive, to get as much information on a topic as we can. Sometimes we may need to do this; if we are doing some kind of research project, or writing a review of a subject. But usually we do not. We are more likely, in most circumstances, to want to be selective, and get just a few items of information.

If we are being comprehensive, we will want to do a thorough process of information collection. That will mean starting with tertiary sources, and using them to identify secondary, and if necessary primary, sources [as set out in 1.2.6].

If we are being selective, then we should not just choose the first items we find on the topic, perhaps from a search engine. We should think whether we want recent materials. or materials of a particular nature or format, and look for them accordingly.

Exercise - think of an occasion when you have had to do a comprehensive search for information; are you satisfied that it really was comprehensive? If you have never had to do a comprehensive search, think of an occasion when you might need to, and how you would go about it.

1.5.4 How much time do I have?

If you need the information urgently, you will have no time to do a detailed or systematic search. However, you should not just put your topic into a search engine and take whether comes out. This is where knowledge of a few readily accessible and good quality sources comes in very useful. Secondary sources [presented in 1.2.4] will probably be most useful here; for example, a textbook chapter or encyclopaedia article is usually a good place to find what you need quickly.

If you have a longer time, for example working on a university project over a whole year, you should carry out a thorough search at the start, as your initial preparation. It is a good idea to keep this updated through the period of your interest in the topic: by repeating your search at intervals, or by setting up alerts for the topic on relevant sources [presented in 1.2.5].

Exercise - watch a short (3 minute) video on setting up alerts for academic material via Google Scholar at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQXABU73hI

1.5.5 Am I working alone or collaborating?

If you are working alone, then you can deal with your information needs as you see fit. If you are collaborating with others, perhaps on a group project, you will need to think further. Obviously you will need to agree with your colleagues as to how you will divide up the work of finding and recording the information you need. Then you will need to use kind of process or system to share the information you find, and to use it it creating your own information products. These points will be covered in detail in other lessons of this course.

Exercise - think about how you have worked with others in the past in collaborating on using information. Do you enjoy it, or do you prefer to work alone? This is part of your personal 'information style', and reflecting on this throughout this course will help you decide how best to collaborate when it is necessary to do so.

1.5.6 What do I really need?

We never really just want "information on" some topic. An information need is always in a context, and means that we want information of a particular kind and level, even when the topic is specified. For example, if we need information as background for an assignment for an introductory university course, we will want it at the appropriate level: a basic textbook rather than the latest research literature. Conversely, a professor preparing a plan for research project would want it the other way round. We get the level of material that we want by choosing appropriate sources.

There are also some constraints on the type of information depending on the circumstances, for example:

  • do I want text, images, audio, video, etc.

  • language in which it is presented - can I read it

  • age of the material - how up-to-date must it be

  • availability - can I get the full-text, or can I only see a summary or excerpt

Here we must consider the format of the information needed, and choose appropriate sources and search tools.

Finally we must consider ethical aspects of how we will re-use materials that we find. If, for example, we want to re-use an image when we create our own information product, we need to make sure that we are allowed to do so. We can, in that circumstance, look in collections of images specifically chosen to be re-usable, or we can use the facilities of image retrieval in search engines to restrict what we find to those images which we can re-use. These issues will be considered in detail in other lessons of this course.