Bates' Berry-picking Model (click)
The search process most closely resembles the (Bates, 1989) Berry-picking model . The interviewee expressed that her search occurs in bits at a time, in line with Bates’ claim that retrieval of information does not occur in batches. The searcher would investigate for a while and then step away from it and then come back to it with a different approach. This is evident both of Bates’ assertion that information seeking is a dynamic activity and that users engage in evolving seraches. Bates' model also suggests that the query or topic might change. While the topic of this particular search was never subject to change, the way she searched for information (the query) did change. She might search websites at one time, then she might ask a person directly for information based on that web search. This speaks to the evolution of her search process.
Big-6 (click)
The “beginning-middle-end” of Eisenberg & Berkowitz's Big-6 model (as cited by Thomas 2004), applies to the information seeking process of the interviewee in the broadest sense. Because of its simplicity and straightforward approach it is widely used for completing research topics, homework, and other projects. But as Thomas (2004) observes, it is this same straightforward quality that allows it to be as easily applied toward real-world decision making, such as understanding FMLA guidelines.
Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) (click)
The most evident way in which Kuhlthau’s ISP (1999) applies to this search experience is in the “affective level” or the feelings experienced by the searcher. This information seeking event did not include the task initiation or topic selection stages of the ISP, but similar feelings were expressed at the beginning stages of the search, and as the search moved through the levels of ambiguity to specificity, the invitational to indicative moods were also present.
The interviewee reported at the beginning, feeling anxious about having to possibly use all her sick and vacation time and determined (optimism) to find an answer. When she began the exploration stage she reported feeling frustrated and defeated and thought that she possibly wouldn't find the answer she wanted. At the end of the search, she reported mixed feelings. She was satisfied that she had found an answer that met her needs, but disappointed that others may have to suffer the same frustrations she experienced with the search for answers.
The search did not clearly fit Kuhlthau’s model as it pertains to level of intervention. Kuhlthau (1999) asserts that the ISP can and has been applied to information seeking outside of the academic context in which it is widely used. This was true in this case for the search portion. But when evaluating the level of intervention portion of this search process, Kuhlthau's model is no longer applicable. At no point would the searcher have benefited from the service provider “pacing” information to allow discovery of it on her own. At the point the service provider was brought in to intervene, the expectation was that the answer itself would be provided or made clear. In this way it resembles more the customer service model of Gutek and Welsh(2000). See more in Helps and Role of the Professional
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