Taxonomy of context in human information behavior

What is it about?

Context greatly influences how people seek and use information, but there isn’t a clear understanding of what it means across research. This paper aims to fill that gap by creating a detailed classification of different types of context in human information behaviour (HIB). It organizes contextual factors into seven categories: Personal, Social, Environmental, Temporal, Task, Technological, and Situational. The authors draw on key theories from various fields like library science, psychology, sociology, and technology studies, using important works as references. They discuss how different context elements interact, for example, how technology can influence social norms or how time pressures can increase mental strain. By organizing the concept of context, this work aims to improve research in human information behaviour and provide helpful resources for addressing changing information needs.

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