Category: Information Retrieval Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. 3962 The Role of Serendipity in Digital Environments INTRODUCTION Serendipity is usually defined in opposition to informa- tion seeking. Information seeking is thought of as a goal-oriented search for information to solve a problem or fill an information need (Wilson, 1999). A number of models of information seeking stress the relevance of browsing and exploration in the initial stages of information search (Brand-Gruwel et al., 2009). These models, however, do not elaborate on how browsing and exploration occur, nor do they discuss how these less directed forms of finding information are integrated into all information seeking stages. By contrast, models of serendipity have as their central focus an examination of how information is encountered accidentally with- out purposeful search. No single definition or model of serendipity exists in the literature and there is no doubt that the concept is elusive and difficult to define. Despite the difficulty in defining the concept, its significance cannot be overlooked. A recent study demonstrates the relevance of information encounter- ing in how people locate information. Pálsdóttir (2010) examined how Icelanders encounter health information in their everyday lives. In the study, it was surprising that the information people found was not discovered through purposeful search but, rather, stumbled upon in the context of other activities. The results of the study also demonstrated that those who seek information are more likely to also encounter information, suggesting that perhaps both reflect a general orientation toward information gathering. Foster and Ford (2003) have stressed the relevance of serendipity for all disciplinary areas given its role in connection building, discovery, and creativity. The authors suggest that in the sciences serendipity has been thought of as a product of both mental preparation and an open and questioning mind. They argue that in the humanities serendipity has a role in revealing hidden connections or analogies, and enabling new insights to develop. Martin and Quan- Haase (2013) found that serendipity was central to the work of historians, who reported that the one key resource that they might encounter as a serendipitous find on library shelves or archives could significantly change the outcome of their research. This article provides a brief overview of the histori- cal roots of the concept of serendipity and it highlights the key elements of what serendipity entails. To provide background on the concept, the article draws from lit- erature in sociology, psychology, information science, and the hard sciences. We then review and contrast the three central models of serendipity in the literature 1 : • Erdelez (1997, 1999, 2000, 2004): A concep- tual framework of information encountering, as a type of opportunistic acquisition of informa- tion (OAI); • Rubin, Burkell, and Quan-Haase (2010, 2011): A conceptual model of serendipity fac- ets in everyday chance encounters; and • Makri and Blandford (2012): A model of ser- endipitous information encountering. This overview of models is followed by a discus- sion of how technology design affects serendipity and the design requirements and alternative information systems that are needed to further support innovation, Anabel Quan-Haase University of Western Ontario, Canada Jacquelyn A. Burkell University of Western Ontario, Canada Victoria L. Rubin University of Western Ontario, Canada DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch390