Lu, L., & Yuan, Y. (2011). Shall I Google it or ask the competent villain down the hall? The moderating role of information need in information source selection. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 62(1), 133-145.
Abstract:
Previous studies have found that both (a) the characteristics (e.g., quality and accessibility) (e.g., Fidel & Green, 2004) and (b) the types of sources (e.g., relational and nonrelational sources) (e.g., Zimmer, Henry, & Butler, 2007) influence information source selection. Different from earlier studies that have prioritized one source attribute over the other, this research uses information need as a contingency factor to examine information seekers’ simultaneous consideration of different attributes. An empirical test from 149 employees’ evaluations of eight information sources revealed that (a) low-and high-information-need individuals favored information source quality over accessibility while medium-information-need individuals favored accessibility over quality; and (b) individuals are more likely to choose relational over nonrelational sources as information need increases.
OK, I confess. I started reading this article because of the title. I don’t have a “competent villain down the hall” so I was interested in the experience of others.
That’s my story and I am sticking to it. 😉
Seriously, in addition to being a good study of search behavior, I think the break point of being above medium need maybe useful for further investigation for topic maps.
After all, topic maps do require more effort than simply pounding out an ASCII text, even more than setting yourself up as a semantic authority and ignoring the efforts of others.
So the very real question becomes: When do topic maps pay a return for the effort of their creation?
I would suspect the verdict would be yes for medical research where finding all the references can be critical, but only a maybe if the question concerned the location of a particular brand of canned beans at the local grocery. Substitute your own important/unimportant examples there.
Suggestions on what areas look fruitful for testing need in the perception of users for topic maps?