Information Technology Reference
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acteristics of a specific client population. This goal of customizing information ser-
vice requires knowledge of human behavior associated with the acquisition and
use of information. Information psychology is the field of information science con-
cerned with the development of this theory of human behavior. Information psy-
chology applies behavioral theory to the library and information professions in the
same way that educational psychology is an application of psychology to the teach-
ing profession.
The authors provided an overview of information psychology in an earlier work
(Greer, Grover, and Fowler 2013), and we highlight the essential ideas here. The
purpose of information psychology is to address the following questions:
1. How does a person decide that there is need for information?
2. What processes are involved in decisions to satisfy or ignore the need?
3. What are strategies employed in searching for information, and how does
this differ among individuals?
4. What are the variations in behaviors associated with the search for inform-
ation?
5. How does the medium of the information (book, electronic publication,
video, etc.) influence the individual's selection and use of the information?
6. What methods and criteria are employed in evaluating the relevance of in-
formation acquired?
7. How does information become knowledge? How does format and system
design affect this aspect of behavior?
8. What cognitive styles are employed in information processing? How does
learning style influence information searching, information retrieval, and in-
formation use?
9. How
do
individuals
organize,
store,
and
retrieve
information
from
memory?
10. What are the varieties of forms and patterns of information utilization?
Contributing to an understanding of these questions are the research and the-
ory from the following fields: psychology, psycholinguistics, physiology, religion,
educational psychology, social psychology, sociology of information, information
engineering, and information organization management.
Information psychology provides the background knowledge that enables a lib-
rary and information professional to conduct an effective diagnosis or information
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