What Is an Information Agent? Looking for a New Approach to the Subject of Information Processes

Abstract

Purpose/Thesis: The article opens new research opportunities by going beyond the concept of the information user and contributing to the development of a research paradigm based on the idea of information agency. It proposes a theoretical framework for a new way of thinking about the subject of information processes.Approach/Methods: This conceptual article is based on theoretical considerations and synthetic, critical analyses of the concept of the information user alongside other ideas underlying the approach proposed here.Results and conclusions: The article establishes a theoretical framework for thinking about the information agent. The information agent is seen as a dynamic, heterogeneous, multifaced and inseparable system gaining agency in specific situations and losing it in others.Originality/Value: The article presents the original concept of an information agent together with initial suggestions regarding how to apply it to, and make it operable in, empirical research.