This is a short think piece with six pages of text and 84 references. Because it is short and covers several topics, none of the topics are well developed. Rather, there is a set of statements identifying ideas and referencing research on the topic. The paper is an overview of three topics: the nature of information seeking, human information seeking, and dsign of information systems. There is an attempt to integrate literature across several fields; there is perhaps some bias toward library science issues and literature.

The focus of the paper is on information seeking (rather than information processing or information use). Information seeking is described as a process in which information needs and information vary in time. The central theoretical issue discussed is the need for defining and measuring the value of information, and the difficulties in doing so.