No abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that scholars in the information behavior (IB) field should embrace the theoretical framework of the everyday to explore a more holistic view of IB. Design/methodology/approach The paper describes the theory of the everyday and delineates four opportunities offered by scholars of the everyday. The paper concludes with three examples that highlight what a more everyday-focused everyday information behavior might look like. Findings The theory of the everyday provides a useful theoretical framework to ground research addressing the everyday world as well as useful concepts for analysis and research methodology. Originality/value The theoretical framework of the everyday contributes to IB research by providing a theoretical justification for work addressing everyday life as well as useful concepts for analysis. The paper also outlines the benefits of integrating methods influenced by institutional ethnography, a methodology previously used to address the nuances of the everyday world.

Grocery shopping is an everyday activity ideal for exploring how the body impacts information behaviors in the form of sensory-based information sources. Previous information behavior research has largely ignored the body and its relationship to information behaviors. The present work expands two areas of information behavior research, the importance of the body in information behavior, and our understanding of nontextual and verbal information sources. Both expansions work toward creating a more accurate and holistic understanding of information behaviors and the contexts they exist within. Through two empirical studies using qualitative methods, the sensory experience of the grocery store is explored. Findings demonstrate that grocery shoppers rely on their sight, taste, touch, and smell in the act of information seeking, encountering, sharing, and browsing throughout the process of grocery shopping.

The field of everyday information behavior addresses how individuals interact with information in their daily lives. Previous research in the field has largely ignored the banal and quotidian portions of everyday life, such as grocery shopping, which represents a gap the current project fills. Through two empirical studies using qualitative methods, the present work presents the prevalence and variety of information sources used by grocery shoppers. Findings indicate that grocery shoppers rely on close human sources, domain-specific sources, and on surprisingly few online sources throughout the process of their grocery shopping. The findings demonstrate the information-richness of grocery shopping and suggest that other everyday spaces may be fruitful areas for information behavior research.

No abstract