Information Seeking Process

Maruja De Villa Lorica
Paper written Spring 2009

Article reviewed:

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier. 1993. The information search process. In Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. [ch. 3: 33-53]

Dr. Carol Collier Kuhlthau is presently Professor II Emerita at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University.

In the article written in 1993, Kuhlthau described in detail the Model of Information Search process (ISP) which evolved out of an exploratory study which she earlier reported in 1985 and 1988. The study involved 25 senior high school students who were given assignments to write two research papers. The students’ journals, search logs, pieces of writing and answers to a questionnaire provided details on the information search process used. Case studies of six of the participants through interviews, timelines, and flowcharts provided additional information.

Based from this exploratory study, Kuhlthau identified six stages in the information seeking process, namely task initiation, topic selection, prefocus exploration, focus formulation, information collection, and search closure. She described information seeking as complex process that occurs in a series of sequential stages, each stage represents the task most appropriate to moving the process to the subsequent stage.

Kuhlthau characterized the first stage, initiation as the stage when a person becomes aware that information will be needed to “complete an assignment”. The person feels uncertain and apprehensive. The next stage, selection is when a person has chosen an idea, topic, or problem. At this point, the person is now less uncertain, and feels a sense of optimism and a readiness to start the information search process.

The third stage, the exploration process, which Kuhlthau considers the most difficult stage, is when students (or information seekers) become confused when they encounter “inconsistent or incompatible” information. It is at this point that information seekers may become discouraged, express feelings of doubt and plan of abandoning their search process. The fourth stage, focus formulation, which is considered as the turning point, is when a focused perspective is formed, uncertainty decreases and confidence grows in the search process.

The fifth stage, collection is when information relevant to the topic is gathered. At this point, the information seeker feels a sense of direction; his/her uncertainty diminishes and becomes interested and deeply involved in the search process. The last stage, search closure is when the search is completed and information seekers prepare to present or use their findings. They experience relief and a sense of satisfaction if the search process is successful or disappointed if they feel that the search was a failure.

Kuhlthau states that these six stages of the ISP encompass “the affective (feelings), the cognitive (thoughts), and the physical (actions).

Reading through the ISP made me realize my own experience during an information search, like uncertainty, apprehension, optimism, confidence, and just plain relief when the task is completed. In simple routine tasks, where the goal is to answer a simple question, people may not go through the six stages in their information seeking, but in complex tasks, people may experience the stages described in the ISP model.