The acquisition of health and science information in the 21st century. Issue 2 (28th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Miller, Jon D.; Ackerman, Mark S.; Laspra, Belén; Huffaker, Jordan
• Is Part Of: Information society. Volume 37:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 82
• Page End: 98
• Publication Date: 2020-12-28
• Subjects: Information acquisition -- navigation skills -- salience -- scientific literacy -- structural equation model; Technology -- Social aspects; Information storage and retrieval systems -- Social aspects; Information science -- Periodicals; Sciences de l'information -- Périodiques; 303.483
• DOI: 10.1080/01972243.2020.1870022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-2243

Abstract

Abstract: The ways that humans acquire information is undergoing a fundamental change comparable to the introduction of Gutenberg's printing press and broadcast systems. Using the literature and a growing body of empirical evidence, we describe a model of information acquisition that specifies the roles of education, salience, subject-matter literacy, and navigation skills in the decision to seek information. We refer to this model as a just-in-time information acquisition system . We focus on the acquisition of health information and science information separately and discuss the similarities and differences. We utilize a national U.S. survey to describe adult information acquisition behaviors empirically.