Information Horizons Mapping
Information Horizons Mapping is a research method developed by Diane Sonnenwald and colleagues, formalized in their 2001 paper in The New Review of Information Behaviour Research, for studying how people seek information within a specific context. Grounded in Sonnenwald's theory of information horizons — the idea that, in any given situation, an individual perceives a 'horizon' of information resources (people, documents, tools, systems) that they may consult — the method asks participants to draw a map of those sources for a particular information need and to explain it. By analyzing which sources appear, how close or central they are placed, how they relate to one another, and why some are included or excluded, researchers gain a situated, participant-centered picture of information-seeking behaviour that goes beyond simple source-use surveys.
Source record
Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.
- Sonnenwald, D. H., Wildemuth, B. M., & Harmon, G. L. (2001). A research method to investigate information seeking using the concept of information horizons: An example from a study of lower socio-economic students' information seeking behavior. The New Review of Information Behaviour Research, 2, 65-86. · URL
- Savolainen, R. (1995). Everyday life information seeking: Approaching information seeking in the context of 'way of life'. Library & Information Science Research, 17(3), 259-294. · DOI 10.1016/0740-8188(95)90048-9
Curated claims
Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.
This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.
Related methods
Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.