Vertical and horizontal relationships amongst task-based information needs

Abstract

In this article, we present a conceptual framework of information needs for task-based information studies. The framework accounts for both vertical and horizontal relationships between information needs as fluid activities in work-task performance. As part of task performance, pieces of information are gathered from various, heterogeneous sources, not primarily to fulfil any expressed formulation of information needs, but in order to make progress in the task. The vertical relationships pinpoint connections between general and specific, from the workplace context to the interaction with an information source, and the horizontal relationships between parallel information needs. These relationships enrich the conceptual understanding of information needs in information studies, which previously has focussed on sequential relationships. The sequential, vertical and horizontal relationships form an analytical network that allows a departure from the black-box depiction of information needs.