Using the information seeking and retrieval framework to analyse non-professional information use

The outcomes of three digital library projects are discussed within Ingwersen and Järvelin's Information Seeking and Retrieval framework [1]. The common theme of these projects is that they addressed information use by users who were neither academics or information professionals. This generates a picture of information use not often seen in the LIS literature, and shows some interesting differences between professional and non-professional information use, particularly in the areas of organisational and social context. The value of Ingwersen and Järvelin's framework is shown in that it promotes the identification of commonalities between the different projects, promotes explanations of some of the observations made in the three projects, and suggests an agenda for future work.