Distributed information behavior: A study of dynamic practice in a safety critical environment

The purpose of this study was to develop concepts from information science to understand information behavior between multiple actors in high reliability operations. Based on previous research and framework development in human information behavior, the Distributed Information Behavior System was designed to assess the social practice of information identification, gathering, and use. In this study, flight crews were used as the test bed. The goal of this research was to assess if different information behaviors are practiced by accident-involved crews and crews not involved in an accident. The results indicate that differences indeed exist in the way crews identify, gather, and use information based on their performance level. This study discerns that high performing crews practice substantially different information behaviors than low performing and accident-involved crews. This work serves as a way to understand the social practice of information structuring within high reliability operations. Subsequently, this may aid researchers to identify the role sequencing plays in critical information negotiation. This work also serves as a tool to inform training and is applicable to other domains where work is supported through distributed collective practice.