Open AccessAha! Librarians’ predisposition for information encountering and serendipity in the workplace
Author(s) -
Naresh Kumar Agarwal,
Yuan Ho Huang,
Sanda Erdelez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the annual conference of cais
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2562-7589
DOI - 10.29173/cais1203
Subject(s) - serendipity , work (physics) , information behavior , psychology , information transfer , information seeking , group information management , information needs , knowledge management , social psychology , public relations , information system , personal information management , computer science , management information systems , world wide web , political science , engineering , human–computer interaction , epistemology , library science , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , philosophy , law
It is not clear if people’s high propensity for information encountering translates to organizational work settings. We investigate the relationship between individual predisposition for information encountering with the frequency of individual information encountering at work. Through a survey of 274 medical librarians of the top 100 medical schools, we found that individual information encountering was a significant predictor of information encountering at work. This finding helps information behavior researchers discover the transfer of behaviors from everyday-life to organizational environments. It brings attention to the need for greater support for information encounters at work, which may enhance their contribution to the organizational objectives.