Professor Spink interviewed by FreedomLab

Professor Amanda Spink, Chair of the Department of Information Science, was involved in a video interview conducted by FreedomLab, a European leading think tank, on 16th February 2011. Professor Spink is the first information scientist to be interviewed by Freedomlab, whom expressed an interest in her most recent book, “Information Behaviour: An Evolutionary Instinct” (Published by Springer), and her research in the Information Behaviour field.

Based in Amsterdam, FreedomLab is a research lab and European think tank, which conducts continuous research on social change based on future studies. Results from their research are then used to help government and commercial organisations such as Microsoft and IBM by developing alternative visions and creative strategies. The inspiration for these alternative visions is based on the knowledge of a group of nearly 200 experts, visionaries and scientists. Professor Spink joins this prestigious list, along with some of the world’s top experts in their respective fields such as: Shoshanna Zuboff – one of the top thinkers from Harvard University; former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and Don Tapscott – a business executive specialising in the role of technology in business and society.

Professor Spink’s latest book had caught the attention of Jörgen van der Sloot – Director of research at FreedomLab, who then contacted her to arrange a video interview. The interview focused on the models and theories of her book and her research in the Information Behaviour field. “I enjoyed the interview because it made me aware that they understood what I was talking about in my book. They were asking very interesting questions, which gave me more ideas for my next book.”
Speaking about the video interview with FreedomLab, Professor Spink explained reasons for their interest in her work: “My book is about information behaviour, which is something that everybody engages in all the time but we don’t know a lot about it. Information behaviour underpins a lot of our day-to-day work, from seeking to using information. It also underpins a lot of technology such as web search engines. They thought that my theories and models were very visionary, and felt that their clients needed to know about my work.”

Professor Spink expressed her gratitude for the recognition of her work and the future exposure of her work outside the information behaviour field: “I feel very lucky and grateful that they have managed to not only pick out my work but to identify it as something which will be very useful to their clients.” A short version of the video interview will be available on their website (Date yet to be confirmed).

For more information on FreedomLab please visit: http://www.freedomlab.org/