Journalists and librarians share a common goal of providing information to the public, yet very little is known about how journalists’ information seeking behavior intersects with libraries. This case study seeks to understand the information seeking behavior of environmental journalists by investigating how their information needs intersect with the library and how their information seeking behavior changed over the course of their 9-month fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven environmental journalists at the beginning and end of their fellowship, while an open coding approach was used to identify themes. Generally, study participants conducted research by (1) identifying a story idea and conducting a preliminary search, (2) expanding their knowledge on the topic through scientific articles and interviews with experts, (3) conducting field research, and (4) completing research when information is redundant and they are confident with their knowledge. This process, and their growing feelings of confidence as they conducted research, were similar to, but not exactly, Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process model. Their interactions with the library were mostly limited to accessing books and articles. Overall, there was little change in the participants’ information seeking behavior, possibly due to limited time to learn new resources, reliance on preexisting research habits, professional competence, and lack of awareness of library services (e.g. librarians, workshops, and public academic library access). An understanding of journalists’ information seeking behavior can help librarians conduct instruction and outreach efforts that address journalists’ information needs.

记者和图书馆员有一个共同的目标，即向公众提供信息，但对于记者的信息搜索行为如何与图书馆相交却知之甚少。本案例研究旨在通过调查他们的信息需求如何与图书馆相交，以及他们在科罗拉多大学博尔德分校 9 个月的奖学金期间的信息搜索行为如何变化，来了解环境记者的信息搜索行为。在奖学金开始和结束时对七名环境记者进行​​了半结构化采访，同时使用开放编码方法来确定主题。通常，研究参与者通过 (1) 确定故事想法并进行初步搜索来进行研究，(2) 通过科学文章和专家访谈扩展他们对该主题的知识，(3) 进行实地研究，以及 (4) 在信息冗余且他们对自己的知识充满信心时完成研究。这个过程，以及他们在进行研究时越来越自信的感觉，类似于 Kuhlthau 的信息搜索过程模型，但并不完全相同。他们与图书馆的互动主要限于访问书籍和文章。总体而言，参与者的信息搜索行为几乎没有变化，这可能是由于学习新资源的时间有限、依赖先前存在的研究习惯、专业能力以及缺乏图书馆服务意识（例如图书馆员、研讨会和公共学术图书馆使用权）。