Confronting the “I Don’t Know”: A Philosophical Consideration of Applying Abductive Reasoning to Library Practice

Parsing through paradigms: uncertainty and decision-making in human information behavior

“…Their focus, therefore, simultaneously centers on systems and users, which is a well-rounded but not easily classifiable approach. Labaree and Scimeca (2021) follow a similar path, initially writing that “the patron-centered condition of not knowing is the focus of this study,” thus situating themselves as user-oriented cognitivists, while simultaneously maintaining “that in science and in librarianship, truth will eventually prevail from acts of further observation and obtaining more facts,” a position far more compatible with strict positivism (Labaree and Scimeca, 2021, p. 81-98). This conflation between cognitivism and positivism, between systems-centered and user-centered approaches, dates back to early development of uncertainty as an object of discourse in HIB:In the 1980s, discussions of uncertainty became more deeply engaged with the user-centered perspective arising in information behavior research.…”

“…Such research can slip into “an oversimplified linear model […] in which uncertainty represents a lack of information, which leads to information seeking and searching, which leads to uncertainty reduction” (Brashers and Hogan, 2013, p. 1241). Within this linear framework, uncertainty is that “noxious condition” of the individual which inhibits rational decision-making (Kamal and Burkell, 2011, p. 388; Labaree and Scimeca, 2021, p. 82).…”

“…Information seeking ideally results in information retrieval which then reduces uncertainty in a way that makes the decision easier (Anderson, 2010, p. 5290). However, the process of decision-making is often not this simple; “The presence of potential choices means that uncertain knowing rarely rests in isolation from other external references, most notably individual, organizational, or socially constructed forms of risk, change, complexity, and decision making” (Labaree and Scimeca, 2021, pp. 82–83).…”

The Query Search Method

“…We say "presents a query" instead of "ask a question" because we recognize that when members of the reading public walk into the library, they bring a multi-layered identity construct from which the question is an outcome and a representation of their humanity. Thus, the patron is the expert on the question, seeking to share their expertise of what they know and do not know with an information professional to arrive at an analyzed, authoritative resolution (Labaree & Scimeca, 2021). Because people walk with their understandings and literacies (i.e., ways of reading and knowing), questions are more than questions in a library context -they are queries.…”