A framework for understanding user requirements for an information service: defining the needs of informal carers

  • Authors:

  • Mark Hepworth

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom

  • Venue:
  • Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology - Part I: Information seeking research
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop a conceptual framework that would help to collect and understand the information needs of a target community. Even though many information behavior frameworks already exist, they tend to focus on different aspects of the person and their interaction with information. It was proposed that a synthesis of the existing frameworks could lead to one comprehensive framework. Previous research was analyzed and an initial framework defined. It was piloted, adapted, and then applied to data on informal carers, who are people caring for another person, generally a relative, for more than 14 hours per week, and who are not paid for it. The data stemmed from 60 interviews that were transcribed and coded. This paper presents the data on informal carers and their information experience using the final framework. It serves to demonstrate how the framework sensitizes the researcher to certain types of significant data, enables the organization of the data, indicates the relationships between different types of data, and, overall, helps to provide a rich picture of the target community's information needs. In conclusion, the paper discusses the differences and advantages of the framework in relation to previous work, the limitations of the study, and possible further research.