Searching for creativity : how people search to generate new ideas

Chavula, Catherine and Choi, Yujin and Rieh, Soo Young (2023) Searching for creativity : how people search to generate new ideas. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 75 (4). pp. 438-453. ISSN 2330-1635 (https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24857)

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Abstract

Creativity is one of the critical skills for people in a variety of academic, work, and everyday life contexts. Searching for information is essential to the creative process. Despite the recent increased attention in research on information searching for creative tasks, there is still little understanding of how people search for information to generate novel and useful ideas. This study aims to address three key research questions: (1) What search processes do people engage in while completing creative tasks, (2) what creative thinking strategies are employed when searching to generate ideas, and (3) what challenges do people encounter while searching for creative tasks. The data were collected at a university in the United States using multiple methods, combining pre-task interviews, search sessions that involved the generation of new ideas, and post-task interviews. Drawing from the data analysis from 31 interviews and search sessions, we present a conceptual framework for information searching for creative tasks across academic and everyday search contexts. Our findings highlight exploration as a critical search activity when searching to generate ideas. The results of this study enhance our understanding of the relationship between search activities and creative thinking strategies.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:87863
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    1 December 2023
    Published
    1 December 2023
    Published Online
    7 November 2023
    Accepted
    Notes:Copyright © 2023 Owner. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Chavula, C, Choi, Y & Rieh, SY 2023, 'Searching for creativity: how people search to generate new ideas', Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24857. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
    Subjects:Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Library Science. Information Science
    Social Sciences > Social Sciences (General)
    Department:Faculty of Science > Computer and Information Sciences
    University of Strathclyde > University of Strathclyde
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:22 Jan 2024 16:38
    Last modified:18 Apr 2024 11:41
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/87863
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