Do models help information literacy specialists understand information behaviour?

Abstract

Links between information behaviour and information literacy are well documented. When preparing an information literacy teaching programme, it may be tempting to pay particular attention to information behaviour models, as each draws together many pertinent issues within a single framework. Such an inclination can be unwise, however. This article explores 10 problematic matters relating to information behaviour models. Specifically, the ideas of writers and readers as to what constitutes a model are often at variance. Models are generally assumed to be diagrammatic and process-oriented. Neither is always the case. The manner in which models have been constructed and how they have emerged from real information situations may not be made explicit. Models are frequently subjective, restricted and associated with limited evidence. There is much talk of the importance of ‘testing’ models. This is simplistic. Finally, although models provide benefits that go beyond those traditionally attributed to them, these are rarely exploited.