Absence of Information-Giving in Information Behavior Models

In addition to being utilized in areas such as Information Storage and Retrieval and Knowledge Management, investigating human information behavior as an independent field of knowledge has its issues. The concept of info-behavior somehow involves a reciprocal process: the info-giver and the info-receiver/seeker. On the other hand, in a logical analysis of information behavior, the elements required in this process are information and the source of information (i.e., the info-giver). Nevertheless, most of the discussions and the papers found in the literature on human information behavior (perhaps because of being interested in the applications mentioned above) are focused on info-seeking. And for any reason, little attention is paid to the role of the info-giver as the primary side in information behavior. However, the author's main idea in this paper is that the info-giver is central to realizing this process. The present article, having a glance at some of the most popular models on information behavior and the place of the info-seeker in the process, points to the absence of the info-giver in the mentioned models. Then, by providing some exemplary cases of information behavior initiated by the info-seeker/receiver in the absence, the paper emphasizes the information giver's central role in realizing the information behavior process.