Conceptualizing information need in context

Introduction. This paper examines the contextual features of information need. An attempt is made to demonstrate that information need can be conceptualized differently, depending on the context in which it appears. Method. Concept analysis of about fifty articles and books thematizing information need in diverse contexts. First, the main contexts and their constituents were identified. Second, it was examined how the nature of such constituents is reflected in the conceptualization of information need. Results. The study identified three major contexts affecting the formation and satisfaction of information need. First, studies conceptualizing information need in situations of action draw the main attention to the temporal and spatial factors. However, information need is approached as a black-boxed entity. Second, in the context of task performance, information need is perceived as a derivative and summary category indicating the information requirements of task or problem at hand. Third, in the context of dialogue, information need is conceptualized as jointly constructed understanding about the extent to which additional information is required to make sense of the issue at hand. Conclusion. Contextualist analysis of information need enriches the picture of this construct. The contextualist approaches can be elaborated further by conducting comparative studies focusing on related concepts such as uncertainty.