Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society (한국도서관정보학회지)

Korean Library and Information Science Society (한국도서관정보학회)
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Information-Seeking Pathways by Mothers in the Context of Their Children's Health

어린이 건강과 관련한 어머니들의 정보탐색 경로

  • 이한슬 (명지대학교 문헌정보학과)
  • Received : 2021.08.24
  • Accepted : 2021.09.13
  • Published : 2021.09.30
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Abstract

Today, with countless health information being accessible through online and offline, the public has been able to explore health-related information in various ways. The current study focuses on the information-seeking behavior of the mothers who actively explore information related to the health of their healthy infants (aged between 0 and 3 years). The researcher had conducted in-depth interviews of 24 American, Korean, and Korean immigrant mothers living in the United States, and then analyzed the sequential order of the information sources that they have used to search for the health-related information about their children. The current research highlights that the mothers' information-seeking pathways and searched topics tended to differ in accordance with their child(ren)'s health conditions (e.g., ill vs. healthy). For instance, regarding the information sources used, more diverse health information sources (e.g., public libraries, government health agencies, daycare teachers) were used when their child(ren) was not ill. In addition, when a child was ill, mothers were likely to focus on information about specific diseases or symptoms first, whereas when the child was healthy, they used to explore information on various health topics such as growth and development, nutrition and diets, parenting, and so on. Based on the results, implications for the information professionals are discussed when designing and providing health-related information services to mothers of healthy infants and toddlers.

오늘날, 온라인 및 오프라인 상에서 무수히 많은 건강정보가 시시각각 쏟아지면서 대중들은 다양한 방법으로 건강에 대한 정보탐색이 가능해졌다. 본 연구에서는 만 0-3세 건강한 영유아들의 건강정보를 적극적으로 탐색하는 어머니들의 건강정보 탐색행동에 초점을 맞추었다. 24명의 미국인, 한국인, 미국에 거주하는 한인 이민자 어머니들과의 심층인터뷰를 통해, 그들이 아이에 대한 건강정보를 탐색할 때 어떠한 정보원들을 순차적으로 활용하는지 탐색경로를 시각적으로 분석하였다. 연구 결과, 어머니들의 건강정보탐색 경로는 아이의 건강상태에 따라 사용하는 정보원과 탐색주제의 측면에서 눈에 띄는 차이가 나타났다. 예를 들어, 아이가 아플 때는 특정 질병이나 증상에 대한 정보를 중점적으로 먼저 탐색하지만, 아이가 아프지 않을 때는 성장, 발육, 식단, 육아 등 다양한 주제의 정보를 탐색하는 것으로 나타났다. 나아가, 활용되는 정보원과 관련하여, 아이가 아플 때보다 아프지 않을 때 더욱 다양한 건강정보원들(예컨대, 공공도서관, 정부기관, 어린이집 교사 등)이 활용되는 것으로 나타났다. 뿐만 아니라, 각 어머니들 그룹에 따라 활용되는 정보원의 차이가 나타났다. 이를 활용하여, 국내외 정보 전문가들은 어떠한 정보서비스를 기획하고 제공할 수 있을지 논의해본다.

Keywords

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