Information use, user, user needs and seeking behaviour: A review

Abstract

The studies on the user, user information behaviour, and seeking have been continuing since last 50 years or more. Ranganathan’s five laws brought the phrase ‘use’ reordering from preservation. The studies on user and user behaviour with varying characteristics has not changed and still going on to study the impact of ICT and use of electronic resources. Several hidden revelations on users’ approach to information identified by Voigt, types of readers identified by Ranganathan and the ASK model by Belkin have been expounded to visualise the user categories and attributes of the user, user information behaviour and so on. The aim of this paper is only a perspective review of the literature on information user, with an intrinsic scope for some new research possibilities in this area.