Conference Agenda (All times are shown in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) unless otherwise noted)

True crime podcasts have become a cultural phenomenon and consistently draw more listeners than any other podcast genre. The interplay between true crime podcast creators and their fans is distinctive and is having ripple effects throughout society, demonstrating patterns of information behavior distinct from other media. To date, podcasts generally, and true crime podcasts in particular, have been understudied in the LIS field. The author argues the need for this research, asserting that LIS researchers are uniquely qualified as information professionals to study this new development in information behavior. This paper presents five theories, models, and constructs widely accepted in LIS research, explaining how each is well-suited for use in studying this topic. The author concludes by discussing implications of this research that go beyond creators and fans, extending into the realms of law enforcement, victims’ rights, and criminal prosecution. True crime podcasts represent a rare opportunity to study a truly new development in information behavior, and LIS scholars are called to be at the forefront of this new area of research.

Complex search scenarios and exploratory search processes are understudied within the context of public digital library systems. While the literature indicates that exploratory search is effective when undertaking complex search scenarios, the primary focus has been on searching conducted by students, academics, or professionals. In this paper, our focus is on whether public library patrons use such approaches and whether they have developed other ways to pursue complex search scenarios. Using retrospective think-aloud protocols, nine participants first pursued a complex search scenario of their choosing without intervention, and then narrated what they were thinking and doing while watching a recording of their search. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns within the data. Three themes were identified and examined in detail: exploratory search, planning, and pragmatism. The key finding is that while the exploratory search model matches some of the cognitive processes described by the participants, other processes were also employed. In particular, we identified both the metacognitive aspect of planning and the strategic decision-making aspect of pragmatism. This work provides evidence of the need to expand the exploratory search model to include metacognitive and strategic decision-making aspects.

Information practices comprise both seeking and avoidance. Although information practices scholars use qualitative and visual methods to understand seeking practices, they rarely do so to understand avoidance. This paper proposes a new visual method that supports revealing and explaining the complex interplay of seeking and avoidance in rich qualitative data. We introduce seven dimensions of information seeking and avoidance practice (intensity, granularity, engagement, control, relevance, quality, and timeliness). We conceptualize these visually as axes radiating outward from a central origin. We use Excel radar charts to depict these dimensions, allowing us to identify and characterize the shapes of information seeking and avoidance in everyday information practices. We apply our approach to two cases from published literature to show how mapping reveals the interplay between seeking and avoidance at one point in time and over time. We propose potential data collection and analysis applications of this method for information practices research.

Creating international collaborative teams is common to address complex research problems in low-income countries. Teams involve experts from low- and high-income countries who must share information and communicate across interpersonal, organizational, and national contingencies and geographic and temporal borders. Effective information sharing between people and across institutions requires nuanced understandings of various information ecosystems, including the relationships between attitudes, values, and behaviors of individuals and organizations. This paper reports on an evidence-based model developed from a qualitative study of research teams operating in two countries (Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Australia), using constructivist grounded theory methodology. The resulting Geo-Socio-Personal (GSP) Model for Complex Information Ecosystems reflects multicultural relationships at four levels: geo-structural, geo-social, organizational, and inter-/intra-personal. The model examines contingencies affecting information behaviors across all four levels, including interpersonal, organizational, and international relations, and the economic, political, and structural levels that posit these relations.