They’re like cool librarians’: investigating the information behaviour of pop music fans

This dissertation aims to examine and characterize the information behaviour of popular music fans. The literature studied demonstrated that fans, both individually and as a group, have been the focus of an increasing amount of study in recent years, and that they exhibit a range of common behaviours and practices that place a high value on information. The topic of music in information science, and information behaviour in a LIS context were also examined to contextualise the research and provided a rationale for studying music fans information behaviour as a unique topic rarely observed before. In order to achieve its aims, this research was primarily based around Hektor’s information activities model (2001), with eight information behaviour aspects. Out of this model, an online survey was structured and published, with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data gathered. The results of this survey were processed and analysed in a number of ways, primarily through thematic coding and quotation analysis. The results supported the Hektor model as an appropriate model to characterize the information behaviour of the pop music fans surveyed, with sufficient evidence to demonstrate the presence of each of the eight information activities. The research suggests that an ‘evaluate’ aspect may be added, encompassing the entire model, due to the prevalence of this behaviour throughout the data covering all eight activities. The results of this research may have an impact on how information behaviour is observed in a leisure context, and how music information may be treated by music artists and related occupations in order to maximise engagement with fans. Further research is suggested on a more granular level, to observe specific information activities by fans such as communication via social media, and to gain a larger and more varied sample group, and to bring out peripheral themes that will strengthen the conclusions drawn here