Abstract-Public Safety (PS) organizations bring value to society by creating a stable and secure environment. The services they provide include protection of people, environment and property and they address a large number of threats both natural and man-made, acts of terrorism, technological, radiological or environmental accidents. The capability to exchange information (e.g., voice or data) is essential to improve the coordination of PS officers during an emergency crisis and improve response efforts. Wireless communications are particularly important in field operations to support the mobility of first responders. Recent disasters have increased the focus and emphasized the importance of the need to enhance interoperability, capacity and broadband connectivity of the wireless networks used by PS organizations. This paper surveys the outstanding challenges in this area, the status of wireless communication technologies in this particular domain and the current regulatory, standardization and research activities to address the identified challenges, with a particular focus on the USA and Europe.

Over the last 7 years, the AIMTech Research Group in the University of Leeds has used cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to inform a range of research activities in the fields of information behavior and information systems. In this article, we identify certain openings and theoretical challenges in the field of information behavior, which sparked our initial interest in CHAT: context, technology, and the link between practice and policy. We demonstrate the relevance of CHAT in studying information behavior and addressing the identified openings and argue that by providing a framework and hierarchy of activity-action-operation and semantic tools, CHAT is able to overcome many of the uncertainties concerning information behavior research. In particular, CHAT provides researchers a theoretical lens to account for context and activity mediation and, by doing so, can increase the significance of information behavior research to practice. In undertaking this endeavour, we have relied on literature from the fields of information science and others where CHAT is employed. We provide a detailed description of how CHAT may be applied to information behavior and account for the concepts we see as relevant to its study. Information BehaviorIn 2002, the AIMTech research group in University of Leeds was formed with the broad aims of focusing on the interaction among information behavior, technology, organizational adaptation, and change. Although projects were undertaken in a variety of contexts and environments (from offshore oil rigs to women's refuges), a common strand, which unified research and practice within the group, was the use of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) as a theoretical lens. In this article, we outline our motivation for using activity theory and the potential utility of the theory for understanding information behavior.The term "information behavior" was coined by Wilson to cover all aspects of information-related activity, which was originally referred to in the ARIST literature (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980) as "user needs" or "information needs" research, until Wilson (1981) suggested the term "information-seeking behavior." Later, Wilson argued that "information behavior" would be more appropriate as a broader term. Wilson's (2000) widely accepted definition describes information behavior as "the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information seeking, and information use" (p. 46). Pettigrew, Fidel, and Bruce's (2001, p. 44) definition, "the study of how people need, seek, give and use information in different contexts, including the workplace and everyday living" is approximately consistent with this. These generalized definitions encompass the active seeking and purposeful retrieval of information, as well as the passive exposure or chance encountering of information. They include an array of interactions with formal sources of information su...

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This article reviews results from a research project designed to understand the mediating influence of information technology on information behavior. During the analysis of the data, five modes of information behavior were uncovered. These provide us with a reconceptualization of core information-seeking and search activities, as well as a fruitful opening to redevelop, augment, or complement existing models of information behavior. The findings resonate with emerging theories of decision making and judgement and illustrate the need for information behavior researchers to undertake research in differing contexts.The work illuminates an issue of current concern for public policy: police use of information in decision making. 1. Problem or task at hand 2. Experiencing information needs 3. Considering and identifying potentially relevant information sources and channels 4. Selecting and accessing information sources 5. Judging the relevance of information 6. Interpreting (using) information a. The information need is met (stopping information seeking) b. The information need is not met or is partially met 7. (new or modified information need) 8. The information seeking process continues