Running head: INTERVIEW WITH AN INFORMATION SEEKER

Interview with an Information Seeker Christina Magnifico Emporia State University LI802XS

INTERVIEW WITH Table of Contents

Contents Table of Contents......................................................................................................... 2 Abstract....................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction................................................................................................................. 4 Process Analysis........................................................................................................... 4 Information Need............................................................................................. 5 Search Process.................................................................................................. 6 Learning Style and Process Evaluation.............................................................8 Conclusion......8 References .....................................................................................................................10 Figures...........................................................................................................................11

INTERVIEW WITH Abstract This report examines the information seeking process of a Nurse Practitioner working at The University of Kansas Medical Center who was in the process of obtaining her Ph.D. I predicted that this particular individual would have an excellent grasp on the search process and would be able to utilize databases beyond that of the average user. Throughout the information seeking process, I observed the individual and asked questions regarding their level of comfort and frustration. As the process continued, I became aware of how uncomfortable the individual was with the use of online databases and that they were unfamiliar with more modern search techniques. Further inquiry resulted in my finding out that this particular individual normally enlisted the help of the medical librarians on campus for all of their literature searches. This, compounded by the fact that they had been out of school for seventeen years, resulted in a diminished search capability and increased frustration level at the technology they encountered.

INTERVIEW WITH Interview with an Information Seeker

Introduction The information seeker I chose to interview was Teresa, a Nurse Practitioner at The University of Kansas Medical Center, who has taught several nursing courses over the last several years. I chose Teresa because I was interested to see how a highly-educated, research oriented healthcare professional who had been out of school for over a decade, conducted research with the help of new technologies. As Teresa is also a teacher, I was curious how she had been educating her students in regards to database research. To aid in the interview process, I used neutral questioning outlined by Dervin (1986) and chose to conduct the interview in one of the library study rooms. At the time of the interview, Teresa was in the beginning stages of obtaining her Ph.D. and was researching c-reactive protein (CRP) in neonates. Teresa had chosen this particular topic because of her extensive work with the neonatal unit at The University of Kansas Medical Center. According to Teresa, her most recent assignment required her to use several of the databases available through the health sciences library at The University of Kansas Medical Center. Process Analysis When Teresa first came to the library for the interview, she seemed slightly reticent to discuss the entire search process. After talking to her about her topic, she began to feel more comfortable opening up to me about how she does her research. As I was breaking down her search process she told me, I have been out of school for seventeen years and all of this stuff is so new to me. I feel like everyone assumes I know how to do this and I feel overwhelmed with trying to even figure out how to search these databases (personal communication, 2013). Unfamiliarity with new technology was the first barrier that Teresa hit, but I assured her that

INTERVIEW WITH many people feel overwhelmed when they first begin their research and even explained Kulthaus Information Search Process to her in detail. Once she understood that she was not the only researcher facing the frustrating problem of beginning a search, she started to explain her process to me without hesitation.

Information Need The particular search Teresa needed to conduct in this instance was, as Krikelas explains, a need for some specific piece of information (Krikelas, 1983). Though she was able to choose the topic of research, c-reactive protein (CRP) in neonates, the assignment was to utilize the specific set of databases the professor had established. Normally, when Teresa is presented with a topic she immediately does a Google search online, this time she was explicitly told not to do so which changed her search process. She explained to me that, [Doing a Google search] always helps me figure out what kinds of resources are available to me (personal communication, 2013). In this instance, the professor had given Teresa the precise order in which she was to search the databases. Teresa described the professors request, He wants me to search The Cochrane Library first, CINAHL second and if I cannot find what I am looking for I need to search PubMed and Web of Knowledge (personal communication, 2013). Later in the conversation, she told me that she often searches for information in order to stay current in her chosen field of study, neonatal and pediatric nursing. Using the resources available to her through The University of Kansas Medical Center, she often reads journal articles from CINAHL and PubMed. I explained to her that searching for that literature was very similar to searching for the information she had been assigned, but she let it slip that a librarian had setup a search string for her in PubMed a year ago and that was how she found the articles she normally read (personal communication, 2013). She also told me that, as a nurse practitioner, she

INTERVIEW WITH normally collaborates with other members of the medical community and rarely does solitary research. I found this to be quite interesting and noted that, due to her training; she may be more

of an interpersonal or social learner now than before she began nursing school (Gardner, 2002).

Search Process After we had identified Teresas information need, I showed her how to access The Cochrane Library through KUMCs database list. Teresas first instinct was to type exactly what she was searching for CRP levels in infants. When the first search only yielded twenty-two results, she immediately became frustrated and asked me, Shouldnt there be more in this database than that (personal communication, 2013)? This was the second barrier Teresa encountered in her search, formulating a search or creating a search string. I explained to her that the words she was typing into the search bar mattered, as did the word order. She then tried searching for CRP newborn, which only returned thirty-seven results. I could tell that she was again frustrated by the lack of good results. I asked Teresa to look at what she was searching and come up with a different search string that did not use abbreviations. After thinking for a second, she decided to try c-reactive protein, infant, neonate which returned 214 results. This appeared to rejuvenate her and she began to search through the results fervently. I asked her how she was feeling now that she had more results and she told me that she felt less frustrated and overwhelmed (personal communication, 2013). This was interesting to me, as Everett Rogers theory of information overload (Case, 2007, p.103) seemed to point to the opposite. I had assumed that the more results Teresa returned, the greater her frustration level would be when she realized she had to sift through more articles. When we had exhausted The Cochrane Library, Teresa moved on to CINAHL. Due to CINAHLs user interface design being less flashy than The Cochrane Library design, Teresa

INTERVIEW WITH asked me if it was just as good as Cochrane. I told her that there were positives and negatives to both Cochrane and CINAHL. Since The Cochrane Library was more selective in searching literature, she would be getting results closer to those she would find when searching for metaanalyses in PubMed. CINAHL, however, would be more likely to return a variety of results for

her to cull through. With that in mind, Teresa tried the same search in CINAHL that she had tried in The Cochrane Library, c-reactive protein, infant, neonate. CINAHL defaulted to SmartText Searching and returned 2,155 results. The amount of results returned flustered Teresa and she tried doing another search, TX c-reactive protein AND TX infant OR TX neonate. This resulted in over 6,000 results and Teresa asked me what she had done wrong. I could tell that she was about to, or had just, hit information overload (Case, 2007, p.103) and directed her to the filters along the left hand side of the screen. I showed her how to adjust each filter so that she could narrow down the results. After she changed the filters to find more relevant information, she ended up finding thirty-two results (Figure 1) that matched what she was searching for.

Figure 1: Filtered CINAHL Search Results

Teresa appeared to be very pleased with the thirty-two results returned by CINAHL and told me that she did not need to search PubMed or Wed of Knowledge. After the research culminated, I asked her if I could sit down with her and rehash the search process she had just gone through and have her explain her rationale for performing the search the way that she did.

Learning Style and Process Analysis

INTERVIEW WITH

Throughout the entire process I observed that Teresa, needed feedback from me each time she performed a search. She would constantly ask me questions and wanted to know if I thought the search was performing was OK. She was very talkative, social and wanted to discuss the results of each search. I could definitely tell that her experience as a teacher helped her communicate with me and she never had a problem formulating questions to ask me in order to get the feedback she wanted. Teresa also wanted control of the mouse while we performed the search. I attributed this to the possibility of her also being a kinesthetic learner (Gardner, 2002) and wanting to utilize muscle memory to aid her in future searches. Though Teresas process proved frustrating for her on multiple occasions, and she ran into several barriers along the way, her tenacity helped her through the search process. Teresa is not your standard information seeker; due to her level of education, years of research experience and her time spend in front of a classroom filled with nursing students. Though she experienced high levels of anxiety throughout the entire process, I could tell that Teresa was use to maintaining a level-head.

Conclusion The University of Kansas Medical Center fosters a feeling of unity and encourages collaboration throughout the community. This comes across in almost every medical professional I meet on campus and Teresa was no different. Her strong interpersonal skills and effective use of the communication tools she has honed over the years, really showed throughout the entire search process. Even though she was not comfortable with the technology she was required to use, Teresa knew what was expected of her and pushed herself outside of her comfort zone in order to learn the necessary search techniques that would ultimately help her accomplish her goals. Like many information seekers, Teresa set out to fulfill her information need and gained valuable

INTERVIEW WITH information seeking skills along the way; skills that she will hopefully pass along to her students and fellow practitioners of medicine in order to improve their research, which will ultimately benefit us all.

INTERVIEW WITH References

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Case, D.O. (2007). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking needs, and behavior. 2nd ed. Wagon Lane, Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Dervin, B. (1986). Neutral questioning: A neutral approach to the reference interview. Reference Quarterly. 25(4). Gardner, H. (2002). Interpersonal communication amongst multiple subjects: a study in redundancy. Experimental Psychology. Krikelas, J. (1983). Information-seeking behavior: patterns and concepts. Drexel Library Quarterly, 19(2)., pp. 5-20.

INTERVIEW WITH Figure Captions Figure 1. Filtered CINAHL Search Results

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