An examination of Wilson’s Concept of Information Need: implications

Abstract

Introduction. This article is an examination of an important article in information science, as well as in my professional career, Wilson’s (1981) ‘On user studies and information needs’. In it, Wilson asked: is information need qualitatively similar to and as vitally important to humankind as the generally accepted basic human needs like our need for water and food? Or is information need merely a secondary need, one in the service of satisfying the primary human needs?

Method. To assess this question, this article starts with Maslow’s (1943) classic hierarchy of primary human needs, which range from the most primary physiological needs (for air, water, food) to the least primary of human needs (for self-actualization). It then carefully analyses Wilson (1981) section by section.

Results. Part 1 of this article analyses Wilson’s (1981) treatment of the primary versus secondary need question. Wilson clearly decides that he is on the secondary need side of the issue: i.e., that information need is not a primary need, but is a secondary need in support of the primary human needs. Part 2 of this article examines the implication, in three hypotheses, of information being considered a primary human need.

Conclusion. I argue that by Wilson posing the question, he elevated information science to one of the important research areas in social science. I concluded that information need is a primary need that makes us human.