Contact
information

Research interests:

• in Swedish
• in English

Publications:

• in English
• in Finnish and in Swedish
• Academic theses

Ongoing research projects

time: task-based information interaction and use
Pia Borlund & Katriina Byström

The research programme time frames a series of activities undertaken by Pia Borlund and Katriina Byström. The programme places information related activities in real and simulated work tasks (with special emphasis on task complexity), as well as information systems evaluation at its core, hereby bridging the research areas of information seeking and retrieval.

Better Web
Katriina Byström, David Gunnarsson, Johan Eklund, Anders Hjalmarsson, Mikael Lind & Jan Nolin

The research project focus on development of digital information and communication milieus in a work place from the perspective of different stakeholders' (users, developers and management) aims and work tasks. Three studies are included and they focus, respectively, utilizing a socio-technical approach:
     1) visions, expectations, attitudes and uses of different stakeholders (longitudinal study; financed)
     2) possibilities to optimize the search engine, the navigation structure and e-services for internal users (design and evaluation study; financed); and
     3) possibilities to optimize the search engine, the navigation structure and e-services for external users (lacks financing).
 

Research interests

Utilisation of information in a work context is the focus of my research activities. The following areas are included

• Work-related needs for information: identification of such needs in terms of different types of information, communication of such needs, reasons for them, and the relevance of information anticipated
   

• Work-related information seeking and searching: various kinds of consulted information channels and sources, their identification, reasons for selection, ways of consulting the different kinds of channels/sources, integrated use of several channels/sources, and similarities and differences in consulting strategies for different kinds of sources 
   

• Work-related information intensive tasks: information actions as integrated in a task performance processes and complexity of work tasks (i.e., how work tasks are classifiable according to a priori determinability of information requirements, performance and result)
   

Work task performance as a process is studied in a real-life work context with actual performers in actual work situations. The above phenomena are seen as integrated parts, i.e., as sub-processes, in these processes. The theoretical framework thus involves a person in a work role, a work context and work tasks. 

I approach these phenomena from a holistic perspective and use work task as a unit of analysis. By shifting the level of examination from general (individuals' jobs) to a more specific one (their single tasks), a more profound understanding of relationships between work tasks (mainly in terms of task complexity) and information activities are gained. Methodologically, the phenomena have been scrutinised both qualitatively and quantitatively. 

The overall aim of my research is to provide results that both strengthens the theoretical body of library and information science as well as offers fruitful insights of designing and organising information resources in the context of work. 

Key words: information behaviour, work tasks, task complexity, work related information seeking, work related information retrieval, work related information use, information management, information sharing.