{"title":"An ageist perspective on age and older adults in information behaviour research","authors":"Vera Hillebrand","doi":"10.47989/irisic2214","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to answer the question what kind of research exists on aging and older adults in information behaviour and information seeking. A systematic literature review was conducted in two databases, LISA and Scopus. The results were refined and tagged thematically and clustered into main research topics. (Online) health information behaviour is the largest research topic in relation to aging and older adults. Underrepresented topics are information needs and behaviour outside of the health care sector. An ageist perspective is strongly present in information behaviour studies. Existing research on (online) health information behaviour primarily addresses a negative aspect of old age, frailty and illness, which may amplify the stereotypical image of older people and aging. This paper suggests that the research field should turn to topics that are more diverse and use the demographic variable of age more carefully in order to mitigate ageism.","PeriodicalId":47431,"journal":{"name":"Information Research-An International Electronic Journal","volume":"44 10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Information Research-An International Electronic Journal","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.47989/irisic2214","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This study aims to answer the question what kind of research exists on aging and older adults in information behaviour and information seeking. A systematic literature review was conducted in two databases, LISA and Scopus. The results were refined and tagged thematically and clustered into main research topics. (Online) health information behaviour is the largest research topic in relation to aging and older adults. Underrepresented topics are information needs and behaviour outside of the health care sector. An ageist perspective is strongly present in information behaviour studies. Existing research on (online) health information behaviour primarily addresses a negative aspect of old age, frailty and illness, which may amplify the stereotypical image of older people and aging. This paper suggests that the research field should turn to topics that are more diverse and use the demographic variable of age more carefully in order to mitigate ageism.
期刊介绍:
Information Research, is an open access, international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines. It is published by the University of Borås, Sweden, with the financial support of an NOP-HS Scientific Journal Grant. It is edited by Professor T.D. Wilson, and is hosted, and given technical support, by Lund University Libraries, Sweden.