Ellis Information-Seeking Behavior Model
Also known as: Ellis Model, Ellis Behavioural Features Model, Information-Seeking Features Framework, Starting-Chaining-Browsing Model
David Ellis's model, set out in his 1989 article 'A behavioural approach to information retrieval system design,' characterizes information seeking through a set of generic behavioural features rather than a fixed sequence of stages. From grounded-theory studies of how academic researchers actually look for information, Ellis identified features such as starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring and extracting. The crucial claim is that these are recurring activities whose detailed pattern and interrelation vary from person to person and task to task, so information seeking is better described as a flexible repertoire of behaviours than as a single ordered process. Because each feature maps onto a concrete capability, the model was explicitly framed to inform the design of information retrieval systems that support real seeking behaviour.
Key highlights
- Grounded empirically in how researchers actually seek information, giving the features strong descriptive validity.
- Avoids forcing seeking into a rigid stage sequence, capturing the flexible, non-linear character of real search.
- Each behavioural feature maps cleanly onto concrete system capabilities, making the model directly useful for IR design.
- The feature vocabulary (starting, chaining, browsing, etc.) is portable and has been adapted across many disciplines and contexts.
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
Use Ellis's model when you want a behaviourally grounded description of how people seek information in order to understand practice or to design retrieval systems and services that support real search activities. It is well suited to studying scholarly and professional information seeking, to specifying features a search interface or discovery system should support, and to comparing seeking behaviour across disciplines and roles. It is less appropriate when you need an account of the emotional or cognitive experience of searching (where stage models like the ISP fit better), when you require a strict temporal sequence, or when the population and task differ sharply from the academic researchers from whom the features were derived. Because the features come from qualitative, grounded study, applying the model well usually means observing or interviewing seekers rather than relying solely on system logs.
Strengths & limitations
- Grounded empirically in how researchers actually seek information, giving the features strong descriptive validity.
- Avoids forcing seeking into a rigid stage sequence, capturing the flexible, non-linear character of real search.
- Each behavioural feature maps cleanly onto concrete system capabilities, making the model directly useful for IR design.
- The feature vocabulary (starting, chaining, browsing, etc.) is portable and has been adapted across many disciplines and contexts.
- Derived from academic researchers, so the specific feature set may need extension or adaptation for other populations and tasks.
- It describes activities but says little about the affective or motivational dimensions of seeking.
- Because order is left open, the model offers limited predictive power about how a search will unfold.
- The features can overlap and shade into one another, making consistent coding across studies difficult.
Common pitfalls
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Applications
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Frequently asked
What are the behavioural features in Ellis's model?
The core features are Starting (beginning a search by identifying initial sources or contacts), Chaining (following citation links among documents, backward to references and forward to citing works), Browsing (semi-directed searching in areas of potential interest), Differentiating (using known differences among sources to filter and prioritize them), Monitoring (keeping current by following selected sources), and Extracting (systematically working through a source to pull out relevant material). Later studies added features such as verifying and ending. Together they form a repertoire of recurring activities rather than an ordered set of stages.
How is Ellis's model different from Kuhlthau's ISP?
Kuhlthau's Information Search Process is a staged model that follows a single search over time and emphasizes the affective experience — the rise and fall of uncertainty across initiation, exploration, formulation and so on. Ellis's model instead identifies generic behavioural features whose order is not fixed; it describes what activities seekers perform rather than the emotional arc of one extended task. The two are complementary: ISP captures the temporal and affective shape of a search, while Ellis captures the behavioural repertoire deployed within it, and Ellis's design orientation makes it especially useful for building retrieval systems.
Why does the model leave the order of features unspecified?
Because Ellis's empirical studies showed that seekers combine the features in different orders and proportions depending on the person, the discipline and the specifics of the task. Imposing a fixed sequence would misrepresent this observed variability. By describing a flexible, non-linear interaction of features instead of a pipeline, the model stays faithful to how real searching unfolds — iterative, overlapping and context-dependent — while still giving a precise vocabulary for the component activities and the system facilities that support them.
Sources
- 1.Ellis, D. (1989). A behavioural approach to information retrieval system design. Journal of Documentation, 45(3), 171-212.
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Cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 23). Ellis Information-Seeking Behavior Model. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/library-information-science/ellis-information-seeking-model