Exploring the Effects of Social Contexts on Task-Based Information Seeking Behavior

The aim of this study is to identify social effects on task-based information seeking behavior. Task has been studied for understanding information seeking behavior in relation to task properties and task performers» characteristics. However, there has been little attention to social contexts of task. This work focuses on social aspects of task performance and information seeking behavior by analyzing effects of a social context in which task is generated and conducted on cognition of individual performers. A novel theoretical framework has been designed based on literature on information science and sociology. In the future, data will be collected using self-recorded diaries and subsequent in-depth interviews.