Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to respond to Bawden's review of Wilson's 1981 paper, “On user studies and information needs”. Design/methodology/approach The paper reflects on the context of the original paper, and on subsequent developments. Findings The paper comments on a variety of issues relating to information science as a discipline, and its research programme and methods, with specific emphasis on the understanding of human information behaviour. Originality/value The paper provides a unique perspective on the development of this aspect of the discipline.
T. D. Wilson (Wed,) studied this question.