Mental Health in Library and Information Science Research: Preliminary Results of a Literature Review Focusing on Information Behavior

摘要

Worldwide, mental illnesses are extremely prevalent andcostly. Help-seeking and recovery may be facilitated byinformation and online resources. The aim of this literaturereview is to examine interest in mental health withinLibrary and Information Science empirical research,published from 2000 onward, with a focus on informationbehavior. In this preliminary phase, we performed aqualitative content analysis on 51 relevant articles. Resultsshow that mental health is not only examined as a topic, butalso as a personal state (illness or state to maintain) and as aprofessionally-related activity. Studies investigatinginformation behavior mainly focus on the use of theInternet or online resources, with very few exploring thepurposes for which these resources are used. Researchopportunities for this field of inquiry are further discussed.