Understanding Crisis Information Needs in Context: The Case of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

Abstract

The pervasive, personal crisis of intimate partner violence (IPV) demands community information resources in workforce, health care, mental health, public housing, criminal justice, and social service arenas. Although generally underutilized, public libraries have a pivotal role to play as the only public institution specifically structured to support community information access. In order to provide effective service, however, librarians must understand the information complexities of the IPV context. This study triangulates two populations and two data‐gathering techniques in an effort to provide a deeper understanding of survivors’ information needs. The first segment analyzes the information issues of IPV survivors in an active bulletin board (BB) community; the second segment utilizes in‐depth interviews with fifty‐seven individuals (safe‐house staff, survivors, and police officers) in ten Texas cities. The information experiences were analyzed in the context of public library service and in light of everyday life information seeking (ELIS) theory.

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