TY - JOUR

T1 - Collaborative Information Seeking and Expertise Seeking: Different Discourses about Similar Issues

AU - Hertzum, Morten

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Purpose – This study compares and contrasts research on collaborative information seeking (CIS) and expertise seeking (EXS) to identify focal themes, blind spots, and possibilities for cross-fertilization.Design/methodology/approach – Existing research was reviewed. The review consisted of a content analysis of 70 (CIS) and 72 (EXS) studies with respect to the context, scope, process, and setting of CIS and EXS, supplemented with a bibliometric analysis of the references in the reviewed studies.Findings - In CIS the context is a group of actors collaborating on a shared task. In EXS the information need is held by an individual but resolved by consulting other people. While the typical scope of EXS studies is source selection, CIS studies mostly concern the consultation of the sources and the use of the obtained information. CIS and EXS studies also attend differentially to the information-seeking process. Only 4% of the references in the reviewed studies are cited in both CIS and EXS research. We conclude that, at present, CIS and EXS are different discourses about similar issues.Research limitations/implications – Increased interaction between CIS and EXS will advance research in both areas and prevent duplication of effort. Topics for future research are identified. It should be noted that the findings are limited to the 142 studies reviewed. Originality/value – By analyzing CIS in the context of EXS, and vice versa, this study provides a fresh look at the information-seeking research that attends to collaboration.

AB - Purpose – This study compares and contrasts research on collaborative information seeking (CIS) and expertise seeking (EXS) to identify focal themes, blind spots, and possibilities for cross-fertilization.Design/methodology/approach – Existing research was reviewed. The review consisted of a content analysis of 70 (CIS) and 72 (EXS) studies with respect to the context, scope, process, and setting of CIS and EXS, supplemented with a bibliometric analysis of the references in the reviewed studies.Findings - In CIS the context is a group of actors collaborating on a shared task. In EXS the information need is held by an individual but resolved by consulting other people. While the typical scope of EXS studies is source selection, CIS studies mostly concern the consultation of the sources and the use of the obtained information. CIS and EXS studies also attend differentially to the information-seeking process. Only 4% of the references in the reviewed studies are cited in both CIS and EXS research. We conclude that, at present, CIS and EXS are different discourses about similar issues.Research limitations/implications – Increased interaction between CIS and EXS will advance research in both areas and prevent duplication of effort. Topics for future research are identified. It should be noted that the findings are limited to the 142 studies reviewed. Originality/value – By analyzing CIS in the context of EXS, and vice versa, this study provides a fresh look at the information-seeking research that attends to collaboration.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - collaborative information seeking

KW - collaborative search

KW - expertise seeking

KW - people finding

KW - Information behavior

U2 - 10.1108/JD-04-2016-0053

DO - 10.1108/JD-04-2016-0053

M3 - Journal article

VL - 73

SP - 858

EP - 976

JO - Journal of Documentation

JF - Journal of Documentation

SN - 0022-0418

IS - 5

ER -