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How is she? Information and the surgical waiting lounge
Author(s) -
Ascher Diana L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
proceedings of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2373-9231
DOI - 10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010047
Subject(s) - anxiety , context (archaeology) , situational ethics , psychology , meaning (existential) , psychological intervention , information seeking , exploratory research , information behavior , social psychology , sociology , computer science , psychotherapist , human–computer interaction , psychiatry , paleontology , anthropology , biology , library science
This paper describes an exploratory ethnographic study of the information‐seeking behavior of visitors in the Surgical Waiting Lounge at the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion in December 2013. A model of information practice is examined in relation to existing information‐seeking behavior theories, frameworks, and approaches. The finding that visitors’ information poverty and inhibited information‐seeking behavior manifested in a process of information gleaning—notable for its hypervigilance and meaning inference—is discussed. Similarities are drawn between this behavior, crisis situations, and situational anxiety disorder. Finally, recommendations are described in the context of anxiety‐reducing interventions and established post‐operative information practices.