Berrypicking in the real world: A wayfinding perspective on information behavior research

Abstract

In 1989 Bates introduced berrypicking as a powerful metaphor highlighting that searching is not a linear process but is more accurately described as an activity that is distributed in time and space. From an information seeking perspective there are interesting similarities between berrypicking and real world wayfinding. Wayfinding is also distributed in time and space but its success involves to a large extent embodied interaction with the environment. Trying to frame these interactions from an information seeking point of view revealed there is a lack of research on the relevance of embodiment to information behavior research.