MULTITASKING INFORMATION BEHAVIOR BY PUBLIC LIBRARY USERS

Project Director: Dr. Amanda Spink

Research Assistants: Jean Brumfield, Minsoo Park, Frances Alvarado-Albertorio & Bhuva Narayan

Funded by the 2004 ALA Carroll Preston Barber Research Grant.

Multitasking is the human ability to handle the demands of multiple tasks concurrently. Preliminary studies by Dr. Amanda Spink show that people:

· Often engage in multitasking behavior related to seeking information on two or more information tasks

· Batch their information tasks

· Begin one information task and develop further information tasks during their library or IR/Web systems use

This study is investigating the information behaviors of 89 public library users seeking information at the Brentwood and Wilkinsburg Public Libraries in Pittsburgh through diaries and interviews.

Forthcoming Paper:

Spink, A., Brumfield, J., Park, M., Alvarado-Albertorio, F., Narayan, B. Multitasking information behavior: An exploratory study and evolutionary perspective.