Information search process of lawyers: A call for 'just for me' information services

The study reported in this paper is part of a programme of ongoing research based on the model of the Information Search Process (ISP) developed in a series of prior studies by Kuhlthau. This study sought to gain a better und erstanding of the variety of tasks that involve lawyers as a particular gro up of information workers, how they use information to accomplish their wor k, and the role mediators play in their process of information seeking and use. Findings revealed that these lawyers frequently were involved in compl ex tasks that required a constructive process of interpreting, learning and creating. To accomplish these complex tasks, they preferred printed texts over computer databases primarily because computer databases required well- specified requests and did not offer an option for examining a wide range o f information at one time. These lawyers called for an active potential rol e for mediators in 'just for me' services. 'Just for me' services would enc ompass designing systems to provide a wider range of access more compatible with the process of construction, applying and developing principles of cl assification that would offer a more uniform system for organising and acce ssing files, and providing direction in filtering the overwhelming amount o f information available on electronic resources.