For a quarter century we have been inundated by prognostications about the information society and changes in the world's economies and cultures. With apologies to Samuel Clemens, I believe that reports of the demise of society and culture have been greatly exaggerated. I do believe, however, that information technologies
(computers and communication networks) are bringing about qualitative changes in how we learn and work. In particular, our abilities and capabilities to seek and use information are strongly influenced by these environments. This book aims to explicate some of these changes so that information workers can better prepare for the ongoing changes ahead and system designers can better understand the needs and perspectives of information seekers.