nuclear agreement that would throw the world into chaos. It is only at this point that the significance of a com- ment made previously to Craig by the archivist regarding Trennick’s interest in uranium becomes apparent; he had thought it inconsequential at the time. Now furnished with all the relevant information and having assembled it into a coherent whole, Craig and Richard are at last able to solve the mystery of what has really been happening in Cornwall. The resolution pertinently illustrates Westbrook’s observation that, although an information search may be discontinued for several reasons, one scenario is that of the required information being found.7


5. Closing – The agents’ involvement in the affair ends when Trennick and his group are apprehended and their scheme is thwarted. Final closure is achieved when Craig, Sharron and Richard report to their boss, Tremayne, in his Geneva office at the end of the case. The events in the episode are not raised in any future instalment of the series.


The Night People illustrates highly effectively the value of information and the actions that might be taken to acquire it, especially through face-to- face and telephone contact with others. Without a briefing of the usual type delivered by Tremayne, and finding limited scope for applying the super- human powers that have served them well in past assignments, the agents have little choice but to adopt the kinds of information-seeking strategies that would be routinely employed by many viewers. The techniques they practise bring to mind the widespread use of informal sources centred on personal communication noted by Savolainen in his study of everyday life informa- tion-seeking.10


Value of the drama to the


information specialist The events in The Night People afford a fictitious narrative context for under- standing phenomena shown in particular IB models, here those of Westbrook, Taylor and Kuhlthau. Models, by their very nature, are generic and abstract,11 but when they are united with an appro- priate story, such as the Champions episode, the individual can see how the processes featured may manifest them- selves in practice.


Where the information professional is also an educator, there are implications for their teaching, too. Lofland observes that, when aiming to instil under- standing, a balance should be struck between “disciplined abstractions” and “qualitative episodes”.12


We may say that to improve students’ insight into June 2024


The Champions starred William Gaunt, Alexandra Bastedo and Stuart Damon as secret agents with supernatural powers.


IB, we must move between the concepts within our chosen model(s) and practical instances, such as those evident in the drama. If we accept Gerjuoy’s assertion that the ability to shift from the concrete to the abstract and back again is a key skill associated with “learning to learn”,13 then one of the priorities of the education we administer should lie in promoting such flexible thinking among our charges. With the events of the plot set in July 1967, The Night People helps us to appre- ciate how information-seeking action took place in another era – one long before the days of the Internet, home computers and even teletext. It may be most enlightening for younger viewers who will not be able to recall a time before these technologies. Despite significant work by Usherwood, Wilson and Bryson, who have highlighted the information-providing contribution of museums and record offices and how they fit into broader patterns of infor- mation-seeking behaviour,14


they are


organisations which we may all too easily ignore in our rush to consult the first Web sites with which we connect via Google. The Night People reminds us of their potential.


Final Thoughts


The use of a carefully chosen media product can demonstrate the importance of information in a wide range of life situations. It can serve, too, as an effective teaching tool for illuminating abstract IB concepts. Of course, other options are available to the educator. Students may, for example, be invited to reflect on their own experiences, and perhaps review a critical incident in depth. These will, how- ever, necessarily vary from individual to individual and it will be impossible for the educator to offer overall comment that is equally relevant to everybody as the expe-


riences of each person will be unique. In this sense, there may be greater value in ensuring that all students read the same story or watch the same film and televi- sion production in a group situation. The Night People is available to watch via YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=C- QYD5P8i3Ig) and on the DVD package, The Champions: The Complete Series. IP


References


1. Gooding, D. Libraries and librarians in fiction. 8 parts. Information Professional, November 2017-October 2018.


2. Tveit, A.K. Making sense of Matilda: interpreting litera- ture through information behavior theory. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 26 (1-2), 2020, pp. 141-52.


3. Westfahl, G. (ed) Science Fiction Quotations: From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits. Yale University Press, 2005.


4. Wehmeyer, L.B. Images in a Crystal Ball: World Futures in Novels for Young People. Libraries Unlimited, 1981.


5. Di Fate, V. and Summers, I. Di Fate’s Catalog of Science Fiction Hardware. Sidgwick and Jackson, 1980.


6. Hartel, J. The serious leisure frontier in library and infor- mation science: hobby domains. Knowledge Organization, 30 (3/4), 2003, pp. 228-38.


7. Westbrook, L. User needs: a synthesis and analysis of current theories for the practitioner. Reference Quarterly, 32 (4), 1993, pp. 541-49.


8. Taylor, R.S. Question-negotiation and information seeking in libraries. College and Research Libraries, 29 (3), 1968, pp. 178-94.


9. Kuhlthau, C.C. Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services, 2nd ed. Libraries Unlimited, 2004.


10. Savolainen, R. Everyday life information seeking. In: Fisher, K., Erdelez, S. and McKechnie, E.F. (eds) Theories of Information Behavior. Information Today Inc., 2006, pp. 143-48.


11. Shenton, A.K. Models of information behaviour: what are they and how can we construct them from qualitative data? Information Research Watch International, February 2006, pp. 2-3.


12. Lofland, J. Doing Social Life: The Qualitative Study of Human Interaction in Natural Settings. John Wiley, 1976.


13. Quoted in: Toffler, A. Future Shock. The Bodley Head, 1970.


14. Usherwood, B., Wilson, K. and Bryson, J. Relevant Repositories of Public Knowledge? Perceptions of Archives, Libraries and Museums in Modern Britain. Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society, Department of Infor- mation Studies, University of Sheffield, 2005.


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