Information Seeking, Article Review Example

The study to be reviewed is a research of five studies of library users which were used to gain important data and information in order to complete extensive projects. The main objective of the studies under consideration was observe the behaviors of people involved in seeking their required information and to provoke and comprehend their perception, thinking and their behavioral patterns. The first stage in achieving this goal was the task initiation, when the students are given their assignments and they are left free to choose their topics. Most certainly, the students at first showed signs of uncertainty and apprehension. The second stage was the topic selection, and student showed anxiety and felt uncomfortable until they did not choose any topic. The third stage was the information gaining, which involved the exploration of information related to the topic chosen in order to gain an insight of the topic. Being focused is the main goal of research study, and so was the fourth step of study, that is, focus formulation, which turned out to be a turning point for a number of students in their research.

It was observed that after successful administration of the previously mentioned steps, the students felt confident in their approach, and collected information while in focus, which was the fifth step in the study. The last step was the conclusion of the study and information gained by the students which initiated the writing phase of the students. Many different point of views were shown to have existed by students as a cause of them, closing the research, which included encountering fading connection. However, the overall task was to establish a point of view of the topic chosen under the light of the information acquired after thorough research.

After all the necessary steps were completed, it was time for decision deduction. There were two primary decisions during the search process, which were found to be topic selection and focus formulation. Thus, these two points are of most importance when people get involved in research and acquiring their required information from any source, or library as in this case. No doubt other strategies such as discussion, writing and thinking are also of great importance during the research studies, but the main two points mentioned earlier are the ones around which all such factors revolve around. The students who used the strategies such as discussion and talking about their topic were observed to assist them in making right decisions in their research study. Moreover it was observed that the expectations of the students usually were not matched with the process of research they were undergoing through. For instance, many the students under study, did not expect to face any kind of vagueness and ambiguity while in the initial stages of their research topic and were not aware of the sequence of tasks within the research process.

So, the series of five studies conducted at the library brought forward quite some important information about the students’ approach towards research studies and the way they move towards their final conclusion along with all the difficulties they face in doing so, with topic selection and focus formulation being the most significant ones.