The Information User: Past, Present and Future
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0165551508091309
  access restricted (by the publisher) to members/subscribers/customers only
  peer-reviewed

Wilson, Tom
Journal of Information Science
2008

Abstract:

The emergence of research on various aspects of `information behaviour' is explored and its growth as a subject of academic research is documented. The origin of the field as a potential aid to the development of library and information services is noted, as is the transition from this status to that of a subject for research at PhD level and beyond. The development of the field has thus led to a division between the needs of academia for theoretically grounded work, and the needs of the field of practice for guidance for service development. There is, today, a disconnection between research and practice, to a significant extent: early research was undertaken by practitioners but today academic research dominates the scene. Suggestions are made as to how this disconnection can be repaired.