Information Behavior Underground: New York City, Paris

People who live in large metropolitan areas spend a vast amount of time on public transportation, including the subway. Yet there are very few studies that examine commuters’ information behavior. We conducted a study of information behavior of commuters in two large metropolitan areas: New York City, USA and Paris, France. We found similarities and differences in the patterns of information consumption of French and American subway travellers. For example, one of the similarities between French and American riders is heavy readership of print media, especially books; one of the differences between the two groups is related to the much lower usage of electronic media by French riders. The article discusses the ways to integrate study methodology and findings into future work.