From our analysis of the conditions which lead to the IR situation, we conclude that IR is most properly considered as a form of information-seeking behavior, in which the user's interaction with text is the central phenomenon, to which the IR system must respond, and which the IR system must support. The explict consequences of this view are that: the goal of the IR system is to support the user in her/his entire range of information-seeking behaviors; the user must be considered the central component of the IR system; and, interaction (both user's interaction with texts, and other interactions which support it) is the central process of IR. From this follows, that the role of the representation and comparison processes in IR are in support of interaction, and, that control of the IR interaction must be mixed between the participants.