ABSTRACT
It is high time that researchers and practitioners gave thought to the terminology that they employ to study information use and information seeking in the digital environment. Existing (largely print) terminology is proving an impediment to understanding what happens when people go online to communicate and/or retrieve information (as they are doing in droves if the media are to be believed) and is probably also producing false readings. This chapter, based upon research into the behaviour of the digital information ‘user’, undertaken by City University’s Internet Studies Research Group, evaluates the term and some related ones-information seeking, intermediary and end user, in the light of our knowledge of the new information order. A replacement term-the information ‘player’—is presented for consideration and the significance of its adoption explained. It will be argued that the new term will enhance our understanding of what goes on in the digital information environment and will bring us closer to the information mainstream.
