As became clear from the previous sections (4.1-‐4.3, 4.6), there are different motivations for choice of action. In section 4.2 only the kinds of information the professionals need have been addressed, but as already has been indicated in the previous sections, it also emerged from the interviews that there are other aspects of information needs that are of importance. Like interviewee 9 (CRP) stated, the
urgency of the information need results in preferring using the telephone above using other channels:
‘Als ik haast heb zou ik wel eerder gaan bellen naar iemand, als ik die informatie heel snel wil hebben.’
‘When I’m in a hurry I would be more inclined to call someone, when I want the information as soon as possible.’
Other interviewees have also mentioned urgency as an important factor. Interviewee 29 (OP) also stated that he is inclined to use the telephone when the urgency of the information needed is high:
‘Net moest ik bijvoorbeeld nog snel iemand bereiken. En als ik iemand snel moet bereiken is het eerste dat ik ga doen bellen, daarna de email.’
‘Just now I had to contact someone quickly. And when I need to reach someone quickly the first thing I’ll do is call him, followed by email.’
In addition to this, the importance of information, or for example confidentiality, also seems to result in the choice for certain channels. Like interviewee 17 (OP) stated in section 4.3, he uses email instead of the telephone when the information is important and needs to be put on paper. The previous indicates that depending on the information need, different channel characteristics are important and thus different channels will be used.
While thus far only the influences of the motivations for information seeking behaviour on the choice of action have been described, they also influence the information seeking process in other ways. For example, it also resulted from the interviews that the motivations for information seeking behaviour also are of influence on the extensiveness of the information seeking process. One of the interviewees said that the available time influences how extensive her information seeking process will be. She stated that when she has little time, she would only use articles from a few authors she is familiar with, while it can be assumed from her statement that she will use more authors and conduct a more extensive information search when she has more time:
‘Ik denk dat je je als je weinig tijd hebt meer gaat toespitsen op basiswerken en basis auteurs, en dat je dan niet de ambitie of de intentie gaat hebben om dan alles, alles, alles of toch heel veel gaat lezen over een bepaald onderwerp. Maar dat je dan meer de focus gaat leggen op een aantal basis auteurs of pioniers en dat je vanaf dan wel verder zult werken. Ik denk dat de kanalen dus wel hetzelfde blijven’ (interviewee 2, CRP).
‘I think that when you’re in a hurry you will be using base authors and works, and you won’t have the ambition to read everything about a subject. You will focus more on a few main authors and work from there. So I think the channels will remain the same.’
Also it turns out that the extensiveness of the information search influences which channels a professional uses. As interviewee 23 (OP) stated, when you use books then you are already searching more extensive by delving deeper into a subject:
‘Boeken dan ben je al heel gericht op zoek, dan ben je wel heel diep naar iets op zoek.’
‘With books you already search for specific information.’
According to the interviewees next to influencing the choice of action, the motivations for information seeking behaviour also turn out to influence how the professionals conduct searches. Amongst others, interviewee 3 (CRP) indicated that after a few months of working at the organization she used keywords that she did not think of previously:
‘Zoals ik al zei, bepaalde trefwoorden bijvoorbeeld, waar dat je bijvoorbeeld de eerste 2 maand niet bij stilstond, die je nu wel vaak gaat gebruiken omdat je weet dat die ook wel nieuwe pistes opentrekken.’
‘Like I said before, for example you will use certain keywords, that you haven’t thought of the first two months, because you now know they lead to new insights.’
Finally, there are a few more interesting things that emerged from the interviews. First, there appears to be a difference between professionals who directly know where to look for information, opposed to professionals who need intermediairs. Second, two interviewees indicated that situational factors, in this case time, not only influence which channels/sources someone consults but also with which device. For example interviewee 19 (OP) said that when he quickly needs a tiny bit of information he uses his iPhone:
‘Als je iets heel snel nodig hebt dan tik, tik, tik. Dan heb je je informatie direct op je iPhone staan.’
‘When you need something really fast then tick, tick, tick. Then you have your information on your iPhone immediately.