It is with this whole cycle [between generation and use of information] that information science is now concerned. - Brian Campbell Vickery

The crux of the retrieval problem is that selecting documents to read grows ever more difficult, and new techniques are continually needed.

Mass communications analysts concentrate on “who sends what information, for what purposes, through what channels, to which people, with what effect”. The information profession is more interested in “who seeks what information, for what purposes, through what channels, from which people and sources, with what success”.

User needs determine what functions should be provided, and different functions require different structures.