The Concept of a Zone of Intervention for Identifying the Role of Intermediaries in the Information Search Process

Carol C. Kuhlthau
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ

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Abstract

What is the role of the information professional as intermediary in an environment where information systems provide direct access to the end user? To address this question the concept of a zone of intervention has been introduced based on Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development. The zone of intervention is that area in which an information user can do with advice and assistance what he or she could not do alone. Intervention within this zone enables the user to move along in the information search process. Intervention outside this zone is inefficient and unnecessary; experienced by users as intrusive, on the one side and overwhelming, on the other. The complexity of the task, level of uncertainty, and stage in the information search process influence the zone of intervention. Examples are drawn from longitudinal case studies of early career professionals. The user's perspective of complexity, uncertainty, and process indicate the zone of intervention in which the intermediary may play an important role. Implications are discussed for applying the zone of intervention as an underlying concept for user-centered library and information services.

Introduction

Technology has brought about major changes that profoundly affect library and information services. Many of the roles associated with information provision which traditionally have been within the domain of the librarian are now accomplished by the computer. Librarians and other information professionals are in the midst of redefining their roles to meet new demands of users who are addressing the challenge of seeking meaning in dynamic, information-rich environments. Technology produces vast amounts of information in a rapidly changing environment directly accessible to the end user. Technology also professionalizes the workplace by increasing the tasks of decision making and problem solving that require a considerable amount of interpreted or value-added information (Taylor,1986). This paper investigates the role of work-related information services and explores the question of the role of the information professional as an intermediary in technological environments where information systems provide direct access to end users.

The concept of a zone of intervention has been developed to address this question based on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). The zone of intervention is that area in which an information user can do with advice and assistance what he or she can not do alone or can do only with great difficulty (Kuhlthau, 1993). Intervention within this zone enables the user to move along in the information search process. Intervention outside this zone is inefficient and unnecessary; experienced by users as intrusive, on the one side and overwhelming, on the other.

The underlying thesis of this concept assumes a constuctivist view (Dewey, 1933; Kelly, 1963; Bruner, 1973; 1986; 1990). Information seeking is seen as a process of construction in which users are actively engaged in learning from information encountered during various stages of the information search process. The user's primary task is to seek meaning in an information-rich environment which in the workplace translates into adding value to information to address a problem. Individuals are seen as sensemaking beings (Dervin, 1983), each holding a system of personal constructs or schemes built from past experience within an interactive social context.

This paper investigates the premise that a zone of intervention may be indicated in the user's perception of the complexity of the task, level of uncertainty, and stage in the information search process. Taken together these three describe the user's experience in information seeking tasks that involve a process of construction with stages of increasing and decreasing uncertainty. There is considerable evidence of the relationship of task complexity and increased uncertainty (Pinelli et al., 1993; Bystrom and Jarvelin, 1995; Kuhlthau, 1993b). Complex tasks are defined as those for which a person has limited mental models requiring considerable construction before sufficient interpretation is possible to provide value-added information. In this respect, complex tasks are experienced quite differently from routine tasks.

In complex tasks people are more likely to experience a sequence of stages in the process of information seeking, as described in the model of the information search process (ISP) (Kuhlthau, 1991). Full description of this model has been made in prior publications. In brief, the ISP may be thought of as occurring in six stages: Initiation, Selection, Exploration, Formulation, Collection, and Presentation. The names of the stages represent the primary task at each point in the process. Studies of the user's perspective of the information search process reveal that uncertainty is more likely to increase in the stage of exploration and decrease after formulation (Kuhlthau, 1993a). The user's experience of uncertainty in the search process may indicate a zone of intervention for information professionals.

Uncertainty has been an underlying concern in information retrieval(Bates, 1986; Belkin, 1980; Yovits and Foulk, 1985). This paper draws examples from a qualitative exploration of uncertainty from the user's perspective within two different work environments, a large rehabilitation hospital and an established brokerage firm, each in major urban centers.

Taylor (1991) has emphasized the importance of studying users within specific information use environments. Previous studies of the information use of physicians in hospital environments have found evidence of use of resources for routine tasks such as monitoring new developments and diagnosing patients (King, 1987; Marshall, 1992). Previous study of stock brokers have found very little systematic information use for decision making tasks (Power-Ross,1984). However, information seeking behavior in the workplace in the 1990s and beyond may be quite different from that of previous decades where accessibility was a primary determinant of information use. In information-rich environments the primary task of information seeking may shift to that of the process of making meaning.

Methodology

This study examines patterns of uncertainty, complexity, and process in the perceptions of information users from very different work environments. The participants were two early career professionals, one a securities analyst for an established brokerage firm on Wall Street identified as "C" and the other an attending physician at a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago identified as "G". These participants were chosen for longitudinal case study from twenty five high school students who participated in an initial study conducted in 1982. These two participants have been interviewed at 4/5 year intervals since their first set of interviews. Case studies developed from data gathered from the 1982 and 1986 interviews (Kuhlthau, 1988) lay the groundwork for this study but will not be discussed in this paper. The following analysis is taken from interviews conducted in 1991 and 1995 reflecting the participants' perceptions of information seeking and use in the early stages of their careers.

Interviews were approximately 90 minutes in length during which time each participant responded to eight questions which served as prompts for discussion about their information seeking and use in work-related tasks. The interviews were conducted by this researcher, taped and transcribed for content analysis. Detailed longitudinal case studies of each of these two early career professionals are being developed to provide indepth qualitative view of information seeking and use in the workplace from their perspectives. However, for the purposes of this paper examples were drawn from the data to illustrate perceptions of uncertainty, complexity, and process as elements influencing the zone of intervention. In addition, evidence was sought for indication of the kind of interventions that might be helpful for accomplishing work-related information tasks.

Findings

Elements Influencing the Zone of Intervention

1. Complexity.

Both participants identify different levels of tasks that prompt different approaches to information seeking and use. G, an attending physician in an urban hospital, identifies three types of tasks with different levels of complexity. The first level is keeping up with the field that might be thought of as routine monitoring. The second level is identifying treatment for a patient that might be categorized more generally as answering a specific question. The third level is conducting an extensive research project for publication that involves addressing a new problem. The first level, monitoring, is accomplished by surveying and reading journals on an ongoing basis. Some she subscribes to, some she gets from a library and some she identifies from "rehab in review" a computer summary that she subscribes to of recently published articles in the field. The second level, answering a specific question, is accomplished by using "past" journals, textbooks and recent literature that she "happens to have noticed." At the third level, developing a new project, G identifies a more complex task that is accomplished in stages with extensive use of searching and reviewing related literature. Information searching in the early stages is aimed at trying "to get a sense of what is going on." Whereas toward the end, searching serves to ensure that she hasn't missed anything and to verify citations. She describes this task as "the main project of my residency" and explains that she worked in a research team with two attending physicians and another resident. The research project took several months to complete and was given with the title, "The Prevalence of Sleep Apnea in the Post Stroke Population."

The three levels of complexity of tasks identified by G may be summarized as follows:

C, a securities analyst,identifies similar levels of complexity in his tasks. However, his work centers around information more directly than that of the physician. He describes his work as "going from information gathering to information providing" and that he needs to be "on the leading edge of the information flow" in a very fast paced industry. C summarizes the primary task of his work in this way, "My focus is on actually finding the new fresh information that is out there and turning it into transaction-oriented information for other people to use."

He perceives his tasks as evolving from level to level, but with the most complex level coming first and the other two levels following. "Ramping up on a new industry" the most complex level needs to be accomplished before routine monitoring and answering specific questions can be undertaken. Routine monitoring and answering specific questions take the form of daily and monthly reports on the 12 or so stocks he follows. He explains that, "The beginning is really ramping up on the industry and feeling comfortable that you understand the industry that you are working with and that takes a couple of years. Once you have that under your belt it is just one big ongoing project to keep people updated and abreast of what is happening."

For C there seem to be two aspects contributing to the complexity of his tasks. One is the need to become familiar with a new industry, what C calls "ramping up". The other is the need to add value to the information he gathers. He explains that adding value drives his work in this way, "When I have something to add in the marketplace that other people aren't saying, when I look at a company in a way that other people aren't looking at it, or when I know that I have a piece of information that is critical to understanding this company and this stock and it is not reflected in the stock price yet, that is a trigger for getting a report out."

He describes a constructive process where interpretation is an important part of his information seeking task. Interpretation goes beyond simply collecting and reporting on facts to the formulation of new insights that add value to the information he presents. He explains his task in this way, "The best thing I can do for him (the client) is to provide him with intelligent, insightful information to add value to his knowledgebase... My job isn't to tell him to buy and sell. My job is to add value to him and help him to make that decision."

He also acknowledges the constructive process of the client. He expects the client to use the information he provides in order to seek meaning for himself. He explains that," My job isn't to be right all of the time. My job is to help people to reach intelligent decisions on a consistent basis and regularly enough that they will make money."

C sees a relationship between the research papers he was assigned in college and his more complex tasks of the workplace. He explains the similarity in this way,"Clients read a lot of research and I have to give them a reason to read mine. I have to look for an angle that adds value to what they are saying which is not very different from this. (Quote taken from transcript of interview describing his college experience.) 'He (the professor) had 80 papers to read. Maybe if mine is interesting he might just read it. I got an A on my paper.' That's what I do for a living. I try to keep on getting an A by getting people to read and transact on my information. It is the same exercise."

2. Uncertainty.

C, as a securities analyst, experiences an increase of uncertainty in more complex tasks and describes feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious at encountering tasks that require extensive construction and learning. He says, "I don't want to be overwhelmed anymore. If I am overwhelmed it means that I have to write a very major industry piece and I hate to do that."

At another point in the interview he explains in detail what complex tasks involve and why he would rather avoid them whenever possible. "I hate complex tasks. I don't have time for complex tasks. It's when you have to go tread into new territory. Let me give you an example, I have focused a lot on Latin American soft drink bottlers. I could cover that industry for another ten years with relative ease from this point forth. If you tell me that I have to go out, as I do in a month or so, and write a report on the Brazilian beer industry, it can be scary. Because you see now I am working out of my element a little bit. It is not something I have focused on a lot. I have already done the Mexican Beer industry and at least I know what kind of information I need. But now I have to go and deal with Brazilians and I have to go deal with these people who speak Portuguese. It is very unsettling to have to move out of your element and ramp up on an industry and ramp up on something entirely new again, and go through the whole process of having to add value to clients on a new industry."

C explains that he needs different sources and a different approach for complex tasks. "I still go to companies, I still talk to CFO's and I still talk to people in the industry. But you are ramping up from the ground up, from almost zero. I have a head start but it is a lot of work. You have to learn what are the dynamics in this industry. You have to gain a historical perspective on that country, on that market, and on that economy."

Although the physician does not express experiencing uncertainty as explicitly as the securities analyst, she indicates the hardest part of the extensive projects in which she has been involved is the considerable construction and interpretation required to "make sense" out of the data. G explains her experience in this way, "The data collection is tedious but that is not stressful at all. It is just tedious. The hardest part is writing the paper, trying to make sense out of the data that you have gotten."

3. Process.

Both participants describe a sequence of stages in the process of information seeking in more complex projects. G, the physician, describes her work on an extensive research project in three phases or stages in this way:

First phase: "In the first part where you are doing the initial literature search you are thinking is this going to be worthwhile to do or has it been done already...And if it has already been done can you put a new angle on it."

Middle phase: "Then in the middle you can't wait until it is over because it is so tedious...then when you start inputing numbers it is kind of exciting to see what is going to show up....We really couldn't tell as we were collecting the data what was going to show up...We were really excited initially that the initial data showed an association with dysphagia. We thought that is great because it really ties everything all together."

Final phase: "But then when it didn't pan out when we updated our data it was really disappointing. After we did the numbers and we were putting the paper together we had to explain why it wasn't associated with dysphagia, why smoking was associated and why it was more evident in Caucasians. We were able to make some hypotheses based on previous data and sort of base it on a knowledge of stroke recovery. So I guess that was my thought process."

Within the process of information seeking both participants describe actively interpreting the information they gather. The physician explains how she fits new knowledge into what she already knows in this way, "You just draw on all that and try to make it make sense. For example, we found association between sleep apnea and smoking. Based on this other paper that was just published in the Annals, I was able to use some of their ideas and also incorporate some of my ideas and general knowledge about stroke patients."

The securities analyst explains that,"As my understanding of the industry that I am supposed to be covering evolves it is much easier to deal with writing the individual company reports within that industry."

Perception of Role of Intermediary

The physician, G, identifies four different types of library services that she has encountered in the past few years. The first is "just a room with some journals." The second she describes as, "just a person who has the job of sitting behind the desk and filing things." The third she explains is a "real library with a librarian who does searches for you." The fourth library service she describes as quite apart from the others. She calls the librarian by name and says that, "If I wanted to do a search now I would have 'S' do it for me."

G explains the difference between the third and fourth type of library service. About the third service she says, "When the librarians at ...did a literature search for me, I just gave them a piece of paper (with the description of the topic) and they called when it was done for me to pick it up." In describing the fourth service she explains a different approach in this way, "But when I ask 'S' to do it, I will give her some key words and she will say 'well what about this and what about that and let me see what I come up with.' And she will play around with it and then she will get back to me. And that is a lot more helpful and interactive. That is something that is different about the service I have now and what I had before. I don't know if 'S' is technically a librarian; I don't know what her degree is in. But it is helpful to have her right there and be able to interact."

The securities analyst, C, also describes a need for a more interactive role for information providers. He explains that although locating information is no longer the biggest problem for him that he and other workers like him are not completely self-sufficient. They could use help with the interpretive aspects of information seeking that he sees as essential for accomplishing the more important tasks of the workplace.

C describes the problem in this way, "How many courses get taught on writing for business and this issue doesn't get addressed. The issue is the thought process and the emotional process that one goes through in getting out a research paper or getting out written material, or getting out a report and how to deal with it."

He goes on to explain that,"we get paid to be ahead of the information sources, ahead of the newspapers and the journals. If we are not ahead of those people chances are that what we have to say is already worked into stock prices. If it is worked into stock prices then it is not value-added or transaction-oriented and so it serves no purpose. The best way to help us, I think, is to help us to get it on paper because a lot of good analysts understand the industry and have great insights into the industry, but it just doesn't go on paper. Or by the time it goes out on paper it is not transaction-oriented material. It is a day late and a dollar short. And that's where I think people on my side of the business need the most help."

Conclusion

This study of patterns in users' perception of complexity, uncertainty, and process of tasks in different work environments suggests that information use in the 90's and beyond may call for library information services that enable the process of meaning making of information users. Although these participants were from two vastly different professions and work environments there were marked similarities in their perceptions of levels of complexity in tasks requiring information seeking and use. Both participants distinguished more complex information seeking tasks from routine and moderately complex tasks. Both participants described a degree of uncertainty in more complex tasks and both identified a sense of process in the information seeking related to tasks identified as complex. These participants described complex tasks as those needing substantial construction through the process of information seeking in order to provide value-added information, what they each referred to as "a new angle." They both call for assistance in the process of making meaning in information seeking.

This study suggests that there is a need for redefining the roles associated with information provision in the workplace. These participants call for a more interactive, collaborative role for the library information professional. The collaborative role may require the librarian to enter into a partnership with the user to accomplish the information seeking task. In this partnership the librarian may advise on resources and process whereas the user brings knowledge of content and context. The aspects of information seeking and use that these users seems to need help with were in the ongoing thinking process related to interpreting and connecting the disparate pieces of information gathered in order to provide value-added information. This is new territory for the librarian whose traditional role of providing access to references and sources relevant to a general topic has stopped short of the process of making meaning. A collaborator, however, is called upon to work on the same task as the user but in a different capacity and with different talents. Traditional library and information services address more simple or direct problems. There is a need to develop ways to diagnose a zone of intervention to respond to uncertainty, complexity and process within complex work-related tasks.

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