What Do We Mean When We Talk about Context?

Context has been an important concept for many years now - in fields ranging from information science to information search and retrieval to information interaction and human-computer interaction and now to big data and analytics. However, even as we talk about context, it is not always clear what does context really mean. How can we define context? In this position paper, I seek to disambiguate context and to define the notion of context as it applies to any behaviour or activity. I will summarize some of my key findings from my book 'Exploring Context in Information Behavior: Seeker, situation, surroundings, and shared identities'. A clearer understanding of context will help us apply it appropriately to the area or activity that we are either studying, or designing or influencing with our processes and systems.