From Someone Who Has Been There: Information Seeking in Mentoring

Follman, Rebecca

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/47385 Copy

Description

Title

From Someone Who Has Been There: Information Seeking in Mentoring

Author(s)

Follman, Rebecca

Issue Date

2014-03-01

Keyword(s)

• mentoring
• barriers
• information-seeking
• browsing
• motivation

Abstract

For tenure-track faculty, mentoring can be an important source of information needed for success in their new career and institution. Although information behavior is central to the mentoring relationship, mentoring has not yet been examined through an information behavior lens. This study sought to fill this gap by investigating mentees' perceptions regarding how they and their mentors share information, what motivates them to seek information, what barriers exist to their information seeking, and what they believe contributes to a successful mentoring relationship. Data were collected using a Web survey and follow-up interviews, both of which explored the mentoring experiences of tenure-track faculty at a major mid-Atlantic research university. Study findings suggest that the information seeking of mentees is akin to browsing in a document collection, that mentees' information needs are fluid and highly contextualized, and that there are affective barriers to information seeking within the context of the mentoring relationship.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2014 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

english

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47385

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9776/14322

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 is held by the authors of individual items in the proceedings. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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