Studying information needs as question-negotiations in an educational context: a methodological comment

The concept of information needs has been used in several models within library and information science, and especially in the field of information needs, seeking and use, to describe triggering factors for information seeking processes (e.g., Wilson 1981; Krikelas 1983; Leckie et al. 1996; Byström & Hansen 2005). However, it has been acknowledged that information needs as such are difficult to study empirically and that most user studies focus on information seeking activities, rather than on actual information needs (Wilson 1981: 7; Krikelas 1983: 7f; Case 2007: 78).