Beyond information quality: fitness for purpose and electronic information resource use

Abstract

The accuracy, currency, relevance and ease of use of elec tronic information resources can be measured to provide an indication of the resource's 'product quality'. The link between product quality and electronic information resource use is, however, relatively weak. This is because product quality is only one of several influences on use. Use is better explained as a function of 'fitness for purpose': the extent to which the information resource is of appropriate quality for the situation in which it is to be used. Potential users' perceptions of fitness for purpose are formed by con venience and, most significantly, the extent to which poten tial users believe using the resource will benefit them. Several potential explanatory models of internet use, includ ing the Technology Assessment Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, are compared in this paper.