Place, community and information behavior: Spatially oriented information seeking zones and information source preferences

•Place influences access to and interaction with information.•Place encompasses location, locale, and experience.•Information access is shaped by and shapes places and place-based communities.•Individuals participate in community in order to meet shared needs or capitalize on shared identity, goals, or experiences.•Information source preferences and access can be represented spatially.

Even in a digitally advanced society, much of our daily lives is based in place, but information behavior research has largely ignored place as theoretically relevant to information behavior. This study explores the implications of a place-based approach to studying information practices, and examines factors that influence information seeking and sharing in place-based communities among parents of individuals with disabilities. Based on qualitative data gathered from 35 parents of individuals with disabilities, it proposes a spatial model of information source preferences based on the theory of information horizons, and discusses implications of the model for future research related to information seeking and places. It also presents substantive place-related findings about local information needs, including discussion of the local parent network as an information seeking system.