Preface

Information Retrieval at its traditional core is about precision and relevance. People look for information and digital information tools to give them exactly what they need. Search tools continue to excel at this—becoming better and better at helping people find the information they are looking for. Introducing “accidental” results into the mix seems at best an oxymoron, and at worst, a waste of time. But it is often useful, energizing, and delightful to stumble upon information that we were not looking for. Accidental information discovery can propel us in exciting new directions, surprising us along the way. This is the potential of serendipity—“happy accidents”—in the context of information discovery.

Serendipity is an inherently positive experience, creating opportunities for creative thinking and innovation. The paradox is, we can’t schedule serendipity; it finds us—just like the information we discover when we make an accidental information discovery. While we cannot summon serendipity at will, we can open our minds to it and seize potentially serendipitous opportunities when they present themselves—making room for the phenomenon in our lives. And while we cannot “design serendipity” into physical information environments (eg, libraries) or digital ones (such as “search” engines or library catalogs), we can design these environments to enable people to make their own accidental discoveries of information. This book discusses how this can be achieved from a multidisciplinary perspective.

This book itself is a manifestation of accidental discoveries, a tribute to the possibilities of serendipitous connections now available to us. For Tammera, the seed of accidental information discovery was planted at an environmental writing workshop, before she had become a librarian. For Stephann, his interest in serendipity came from accidentally discovering it as an important theme in several of his early studies on information-seeking, shaping his future research.

Our authors come from diverse geographic locations, academic backgrounds, and fields of expertise. But they share a deep interest in serendipity in the context of information discovery. We have come together in one space, Accidental Information Discovery, to discuss why serendipity in the context of information discovery is important, where it occurs, how we can encourage it, and what we should do when it strikes.

Chapter “Introducing Serendipity” reviews the history of serendipity as a broad concept, and discusses research on the topic in information science. Chapter “Making Room for Serendipity” considers the internal and external characteristics and factors that can help us to “make room” for serendipity. Chapter “Teaching Serendipity” examines teaching serendipity in the context of writing and information literacy. Chapter “Serendipity in Current Digital Information Environments” discusses the role of digital tools and the possibilities for cultivating accidental information discovery in digital environments. Chapter “Serendipity in Future Digital Information Environments” closes with essays that explore the future of serendipity, in different information environments.

Research into serendipity is expanding in many fields—for example, information science, human–computer interaction, business, creativity studies, education, computer science. This book is intended as an introduction to thinking about why we should and how we can cultivate accidental discovery as we interact with information, especially in digital environments. We hope that, while reading it, you become “serendipitized”—through it encouraging you to reflect on the importance of serendipity for your interactions with information, and for your life in general. We also hope it contributes (albeit perhaps indirectly) to you having many useful “happy accidents” of your own.

2016