The book is an outstanding example of the application of many basic and advanced concepts and practices in searching in generalIt is well organized covering theory, applications, evaluation, and research directions (Tefko Saracevic, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University, USA, Recipient of ASIST Award of Merit 1995)The book is significant not only for the field of information behaviour, but also for information systems design (if such design is to be grounded in an understanding of how users information needs emerge and can be identified) and for information retrievalthe book is highly readable and illuminated by many original diagrams that aid in the interpretation of the ideas. It is well organized, leading from theoretical ideas to potentially practical means for satisfying needs. (T.D. Wilson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Sheffield, UK, Senior Professor, University of Bors, Sweden, Recipient of ASIST Award of Merit, 2018)
...The book explains the exceptionalism of human consciousness that calls for a deeper level of information searching than is provided by the computational approach to search engines. This thought-provoking book is pertinent for scholars and lay readers alike. (Carol Collier Kuhlthau, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rutgers University, USA, Recipient of ASIST Award of Merit 2013)
Coles book exemplifies an ambitious and highly innovative contribution to the perennial issues dealing with information needs. He pioneers by advocating a consciousness approach to information need and belief-based search. Despite the difficult topic, the book is easy to read, thanks to enlightening examples and visualized examples. (Reijo Savolainen, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Tampere University, Finland, Recipient of ASIST Research in Information Science Award 2016)
--This text refers to the paperback
edition. From the Back Cover
What is the uniquely human factor in finding and using information to produce new knowledge? Is there an underlying aspect of our thinking that cannot be imitated by the AI-equipped machines that will increasingly dominate our lives? This book answers these questions, and tells us about our consciousness its drive or intention in seeking information in the world around us, and how we are able to construct new knowledge from this information.
The book is divided into three parts, each with an introduction and a conclusion that relate the theories and models presented to the real-world experience of someone using a search engine. First, Part I defines the exceptionality of human consciousness and its need for new information and how, uniquely among all other species, we frame our interactions with the world. Part II then investigates the problem of finding our real information need during information searches, and how our exceptional ability to frame our interactions with the world blocks us from finding the information we really need. Lastly, Part III details the solution to this framing problem and its operational implications for search engine design for everyone whose objective is the production of new knowledge.
In this book, Charles Cole deliberately writes in a conversational style for a broader readership, keeping references to research material to the bare minimum. Replicating the structure of a detective novel, he builds his arguments towards a climax at the end of the book. For our video-game, video-on-demand times, he has visualized the ideas that form the books thesis in over 90 original diagrams. And above all, he establishes a link between information need and knowledge production in evolutionary psychology, and thus bases his arguments in our origins as a species: how we humans naturally think, and how we naturally search for new information because our consciousness drives us to need it. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Charles Cole has been an information science researcher-writer-editor on information retrieval topics for over 25 years. This is his 3rd book for Springer (plus a fourth published by ASIST). Since receiving his Ph. D. in 1994 (University of Sheffield), Cole has published 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including in the Journal of the Association of Information Science & Technology (19), Information Processing & Management (12), as well as Library Quarterly, and Research Quarterly (RQ). He is currently a Researcher, Affiliate Member, at McGill Universitys School of Information Science. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
