Resumen de Information behaviour research and information systems development: the SHAMAN project, an example of collaboration

Elena Maceviciute, Thomas Daniel Wilson

• Goal. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the role that information behaviour research may play in information system design.

  Theory. The paper explores the value of use cases in defining information requirements and considers their wider application in information behaviour research.

  Method. An analysis of the literature on long-term digital preservation systems (and, to a degree, digital libraries) is used as well as analysis of interviews undertaken in the course of the SHAMAN project. These interviews fall into the category of contextual inquiry as an explicit step for understanding who the customers really are and how they work on a day-to-day basis.

  Results. Four broad categories of needs in long term preservation are identified in literature: society at large, which has requirements for long-term preservation; organizational requirements; organizational staff who must operate the preservation system, undertaking the functions of ingest, access and delivery to end-users; end-users who need to draw upon the digital resource to help them with their work, study or research. The Universal Modelling Language with stereotypical actors and use cases offers information behaviour researchers a way to engage with system developers in a creative synergy.