Search

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present preliminary findings from an exploratory mixed-methods study of foreign-language searchers' credibility assessment of web documents when searching in English. Findings highlight a set of criteria used by these searchers to assess the credibility and accuracy of English web sources, the most frequent of which relates to source reputation. Foreign language searchers are more likely to trust an English language source if it is familiar or if it is the official source of information. Design aesthetics and functionality also have an impact on credibility. Findings have implications for the design of online sources that better support credibility assessments of foreign-language searchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Drawing upon research and current development work at Europeana, this paper discusses search functionality in the Cultural Heritage sector, focusing in particular on the question of 'inspiration-oriented' search, in which users seek out previously-unknown items to serve as creative stimulus. Inspiration-oriented search is identified as a variant of the more widely-studied problem of serendipitous retrieval, and defined as an information-seeking behavior in which users consciously search for items that are related to known items in ways that are recognizable once seen, but that are nevertheless unpredictable at search-time. Various strategies for the maximization of both the recognisability and unpredictability of related items are then described, including user-interface and user-experience changes and the reconceptualization of datastores as knowledge graphs. Directions for further research are then outlined - including, most importantly, possible metrics for inspiration-oriented search and their potential for use in machine-learning ranking frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The popularity of games has motivated their adoption for pursuits beyond entertainment. One of the emerging strategies is the Human Computation Game (HCG) which channels players' time spent on games toward problem solving. Unlike entertainment-oriented games, players of HCGs contribute output as a byproduct of gameplay. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between personality traits and motivations, and the differences in perceived information quality across HCGs with collaborative and competitive gameplay styles. Using a within-subjects experimental design, 125 participants were recruited from two local universities. The findings demonstrate that the interaction between personality traits and gameplay styles influenced players' satisfaction of the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness,. Further, perceived information quality was found to differ across HCG types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Although researchers have grappled with conceptualizations of time in relation to information behavior, the effect of time on information practices has been a challenge to study and theorize. Longitudinal naturalistic methods provide an opportunity to observe information practices in context over time, but have infrequently been used in information research. This paper presents a qualitative ethnographic exploration of the changes over time in the information practices of a group of young parents in Canada, a population experiencing substantial life changes as young adults and new parents both. Using grounded theory, this analysis explores time-related processes in the lives of young parents and they ways these processes affect information practices such as seeking, sharing, and use of information. Three case examples illustrate the interplay over time of individual characteristics, setting, and events, and the impact on an individual's information practices. Based on these findings, a theoretical model to inform future investigations of information practice evolution over time is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of research into young people's experiences of political information. We used a phenomenographic approach to identify variations in experiences of political information. The research explores how young people use information and technology to mediate political information to develop knowledge to become informed citizens. It focuses on how processes of discovery, production, retrieval, manipulation, dissemination, use, and evaluation of information are utilised in different ways by young people through a range of information behaviour techniques. 23 interviews and 3 focus groups were conducted with pupils aged 14-15 at a secondary school in England. The interviews and focus groups were recorded and transcripts and notes taken during the data collection sessions formed the data for analysis. Phenomenographic analysis was carried out, utilising manual coding and NVivo software. A phenomenographic outcome space represents the six qualitatively different ways in which the participants experienced political information, and identifies a range of political information sources, including social media and online news sources, which inform young people's political knowledge and attitudes. The outcome space illustrates the differences in ways young people experience political information and suggests potential for development to more complex ways of understanding the information they encounter. This represents a contribution to understanding the variation in information experiences and is of theoretical and practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The study of information science and technology has expanded over the years to include more kinds of people, more kinds of behavior, more methods, and a broader inclusion of fields. There is at least one area, however, where very few information studies scholars have tread: entertainment, particularly fiction. Yet many fields indicate that information studies should consider fiction. In this paper, we discuss how fiction is an informative genre and reasons why information studies scholars have mostly ignored fiction. We also identify potential research directions for studying fiction. We provide a summary of works about fiction and information, discuss motivations for expanding (and not expanding) information studies beyond what it is and has been, and we use an exploratory study of one example of a fiction-interaction - reading Young Adult novels - to illustrate how fiction is important to information behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper describes the results of a qualitative study involving interviews with twelve public librarians about their experiences interacting with library users experiencing homelessness. The study examines the kinds of health information seeking experiences public librarians have, how public librarians respond to the health information needs of homeless library users, and the challenges public librarians undergo as they work to provide health and other information services to homeless individuals. The interviews show that public librarians have mixed experiences providing health information to homeless library users. Some viewed health information needs as a top-level concern, while others viewed health information as a lower priority need when compared to housing and food. Public librarians described several challenges when providing information services to homeless individuals related to professional roles, crisis management, the stigma of homelessness, privacy/confidentiality, and the library acting as a day shelter. Identifying the experiences and challenges of public librarians as they assist homeless library users is an initial step in creating more effective modes of providing services to this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper describes a case study investigation of a city-wide digital storytelling initiative led by two libraries and one municipal cultural department in Hamilton, Canada. Data collection involved one-on-one interviews, document review, and participant observations with governance stakeholders from the two libraries and municipal cultural department involved in the case study. Using activity theory as a conceptual framework, data were analyzed using grounded theory techniques. A variety of factors - motivations, goals, actions, tools, rules, divisions of labour, tensions and contradictions - were found to influence the implementation of the digital storytelling initiative under investigation. Importantly, activity theory provided a robust, holistic framework for understanding and describing the phenomenon of digital storytelling initiatives led by memory institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Visual literacy is a critical skill that enables individuals to navigate the world of visual media. While research shows multiple benefits of introducing visual literacy early in life, there is a scarcity of visual literacy programs for young children. In an effort to advance development of visual literacy programs for children, we explored techniques for engaging young children in visual literacy instruction using artworks. Our paper reports preliminary study findings and recommendations and outlines directions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of academic librarians as advocates for research transparency and open research. We describe the design and piloting of a qualitative card-sorting research protocol that investigates academic librarians' attitudes, awareness and practices related to research transparency. We report on preliminary results from interviews with librarians, presenting their conceptualizations of research transparency and open research, existing library services that support and advocate for both concepts, and potential services that would augment this support and advocacy. Library activities they feel are most important to the advancement of transparency and openness are identified and perceptions of disciplinary differences are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Controlled topical vocabularies (CVs) are built into information systems to aid browsing and retrieval of items that may be unfamiliar, but it is unclear how this feature should be integrated with standard keyword searching. Few systems or scholarly prototypes have attempted this, and none have used the most widely used CV, the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which organizes monograph collections in academic libraries throughout the world. This paper describes a working prototype of a Web application that concurrently allows topic exploration using an outline tree view of the LCSH hierarchy and natural language keyword searching of a real-world Science and Engineering bibliographic collection. Pilot testing shows the system is functional, and work to fit the complex LCSH structure into a usable hierarchy is ongoing. This study contributes to knowledge of the practical design decisions required when developing linked interactions between topical hierarchy browsing and natural language searching, which promise to facilitate information discovery and exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this paper, we describe a quantitative study of personality aspects and their relationship with web search information behavior. We start with introducing personality and give an overview of information behavior research concerning personality aspects. In our study of 30 participants, their personality traits were operationalized by using a version of the Big 5, the B5T, a psychometric questionnaire that maps personality on different dimensions. The participants performed search tasks in a web context and data concerning their information behavior was collected via search logs as well as questionnaires. We show that there are selective correlations of slight and intermediate strength between the variables of information behavior and the personality dimensions. Finally, we discuss possible explanations and implications as well as new impulses for information behavior and retrieval research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper aims to survey five perspectives of research data in chemistry research process, which including data generation and collection, data recording and processing, data preservation and backup, data management and sharing, needs for data sharing services. By means of questionnaires survey, 119 researchers and graduate students of Chinese Academy of Science in chemistry disciplines provided us with insights in research data management and sharing. The outputs of statistical analytical results help us have a better understanding on their currency attitudes and needs of researchers about their data management and sharing in chemistry disciplines. Although the survey in chemistry discipline, it could be provide us some insights for designing a range of library service, particularly in promotion, consulting and training of research data management and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twitter popularity, which measures the total frequency of mentions on Twitter, is proposed as an altmetrics indicator to assess the social impact of a given journal. Based on the 2013 Journal Citation Report, 30 journals with high impact factors in the library and information science (LIS) field were identified as top-tier journals. Through the investigation, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), College & Research Libraries (CRL), and Scientometrics are the most prevalent LIS journals with 2668, 1730, and 625 mentions, separately, on Twitter. To explore the association between the proposed altmetrics indicator and citation-based measures, Spearman's rho nonparametric correlation analysis was conducted to test the correlations between Twitter mentions and 8 citation-based measures (total cites, impact factor, 5-year impact factor, immediacy index, articles, cited half-life, Eigenfactor score, and article influence score). There is a significant and moderate correlation observed between the Twitter mentions and Eigenfactor score for the investigated journals. In conclusion, although the proposed altmetrics indicator, journal Twitter popularity, may not measure the scientific impact as the citation-based measurements do, this study puts forward the possibility of using journal Twitter popularity as a complementary indicator of journal impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citation analyses are used to investigate the influence of architect Christopher Alexander over the period of 1964- 2014. Alexander's work has been so influential that he has been cited by nearly 2000 source items in the Web of Science Core Collection, by Thomson Reuters. Alexander's work has had a profound interdisciplinary reach. Citation analyses reveal that scholars in computing disciplines have cited Alexander's work more than scholars in any other discipline including architecture. Alexander's most cited work, A Pattern Language, is one of two volumes that Alexander refers to as an indivisible whole. These analyses reveal very different citation patterns for the two volumes of this indivisible whole. Although the difference is measurable, in terms of number of citations, we cannot say why this is so. However, the results of these analyses raise several questions including why we, as a community, have for the most part cited only a piece of this indivisible whole. The citation patterns support that this series has been largely reduced to one of its parts, when possibly the whole is greater than the sum of its parts or one of its parts. In this paper I propose that we might begin to see the potential benefits of pattern languages in computing disciplines when we take holistic approach, considering and applying the theory as described in all of the volumes in the series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non‐native English speakers (NNESs) often search in English due to the limited availability of information in their native language on the Web. Information seeking in a non‐native language can present special challenges for users. Current research literature on non‐native language search behavior is insufficient and even less is known about how online systems and tools may accommodate NNESs’ needs and assist their behaviors. To gain a better understanding of user behavior and the search process of NNESs, this paper presents a study of online searching in English as a foreign language (EFL) or second‐language (L2). Particular attention is paid to language selection, search challenges, query formulation and reformulation, as well as user interaction with online systems and tools. Results from eight focus groups (36 participants) and 36 questionnaires indicate NNESs face a unique set of challenges that may not be present for native speakers when searching for information in English. A user interaction model is abstracted to address the iterative and spiral search process of NNESs. Implications for design of systems and tools to assist this particular user group are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many reports showed that the mobile Internet market has great potential to appeal to a broader range of users, there are few studies on mobile Internet behavior. In this paper, we mainly researched the effects of mobile Internet user's motivation orientation on behavior, drawing on regulatory focus theory and combining with individual innovation, perceived risk, perceived value and connection quality. Then we used the Structural Equation Model to verify the hypothesis. The results showed that mobile Internet user's motivation orientation directly influences individual innovation and usage intention. Compared with the prevention focus users, promotion focus users' innovation is higher and their intention to use mobile Internet is more intense. These results could provide further guidance for mobile Internet providers' operation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled vocabularies have great applicability for organizing and providing access to scientific data. This paper presents research examining the controlled vocabulary use and desired application features specific to scientific data. A survey was conducted, gathering data from U.S. DataNet participants and other data stakeholder communities. Results indicate that participants see controlled vocabularies as valued tools. Participants also reported an interest in repository technology that provides access to multiple vocabularies for scientific data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess our collective understanding of how consumers use patient portals, we conducted a systematic literature review focusing on understanding patients and caregivers' perceptions, needs, requirements, and use of patient portals with the goal of informing the design of effective patient portals. Through multiple rounds of screening, we identified 56 relevant publications for analysis. The preliminary analysis suggested that patient portals are implemented in a wide range of health care settings, ranging from large medical centers to small primary care facilities. Patient portals primarily target patients with chronic conditions. Many aspects of the use of patient portals were covered in the literature, including users' use of specific portal functions (such as managing medications and accessing imaging results), their attitudes toward patient portals, and barriers to patient portal use. Our findings call for more attention from information science researchers to contribute to this important area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the value of dates in the life cycle of the digital resource, capturing and storing dates metadata in a structured way can have a significant impact on information retrieval. There are a number of format conventions in common use for encoding the date and time values; the Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) is one of the most expressive. This paper presents results of an exploratory analysis of representation of dates in over 8 million metadata records from one of the largest digital aggregators, Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), and compares it to EDTF specifications. This benchmark study provides empirical data - at both the individual provider level and the group level (content hubs or service hubs) - about the overall level and patterns of application of date metadata in DPLA metadata records in relation to EDTF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports preliminary results of a comparative study of metadata change over time in two different environments - digital repository and bibliographic utility used for cooperative cataloging -- and with two different metadata schemes - a local version of Dublin Core and Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC). The findings with regards to metadata change types and subtypes observed, as well as the most frequently occurring change categories and metadata fields in which the change occurs most frequently are presented, and the implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the motivating factors for personal health information management (PHIM) activities can inform the design of interventions to help people engage in healthful PHIM activities. This paper examines the attributes of health information that can motivate people's PHIM activities. We explored this topic through a qualitative study using semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 47 American and Chinese patients living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. We found 10 information attribute motivators, including the availability, abundance, credibility, accuracy, consistency, timeliness, usefulness, process level, and presentation style of, as well as the emotions elicited by, health information objects. Those motivators tell rich and complex stories of how health information is appreciated and handled on a daily basis by patients living with different health conditions or from different social contexts. Many of the motivators have not been examined in detail in the literature, pointing to the importance and necessity of involving them when designing interventions to improve health care outcomes through motivating PHIM activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal mentoring is an increasingly popular tool for professional development and socialization, particularly in higher education, where expertise is contextual and dynamic. As it is currently enacted, however, mentoring suffers from a lack of clarity, as each participant - protégé or mentor - seems to have a different understanding of what mentoring is or should be. If mentor and protégé don't have the same understanding, necessary mentoring may not take place. The challenge for researchers is that the action of mentoring usually takes place in dyadic privacy. Studies of mentoring therefore focus on outcomes and participant satisfaction, without being able to separate the links between mentoring functions and those outcomes. In this paper I propose a model of the mentoring relationship that describes the information practices of mentoring. This model is derived from a study of faculty mentors at a large mid-Atlantic university. The model will extend our understanding of mentoring by applying the concept of information practices to the mentoring process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the use of mobile technology- specifically, smartphones and tablet computers-in outdoor public markets in Australia and the United States, based on a survey and interview (n=44) conducted with attendees in public markets. After noting that past research in a variety of disciplines is deficient in regards to its assessment of technology use in such public spaces, we explore the different reasons and situations in which mobile technology is used in them, identifying the most prevalent problems and deficiencies encountered. We provide a foundation on which future work that examines communal public spaces and the use of technology can be based, and promote a broader view of how technology is used for information seeking and communication in such spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User Experience (UX) is gaining momentum as a critical success factor across all industries and sectors, including libraries. While usability studies of library websites and related digital interfaces are commonplace, UX is becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion in the community and is emerging as a new specialization for library professionals. To better understand this phenomenon, this paper reports the results of a qualitative study involving interviews with 16 librarians who have "User Experience" in their official job titles. The results show that UX Librarians share a user-centered mindset and many common responsibilities, including user research, usability testing, and space/service assessments, but each individual UX Librarian is also somewhat unique in how they approach and describe their work. As a whole, the research sheds light on an emerging library specialization and provides a valuable snapshot of the current state of UX Librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have noted mothers' roles as active health information seekers, health managers, and caregivers for their family members. However, little is known about health information needs and seeking behaviors among Korean mothers of young children living in the United States. Using paper-based surveys, this study found that vaccination, child dental health, parenting, nutrition and diets, and physical exercise were ranked as the five most important topics by the Korean mothers of young children aged 0 to 10 years old in this sample. Furthermore, this study revealed that mothers of boys evaluated the importance of the following two topics significantly higher than those of girls: circumcision (t=3.16, p < .01) and breastfeeding (t=2.47, p < .05). Also, age of child was an important factor influencing mothers' information needs in three health topics: child dental health (F=5.292, p < .01), physical exercise (F=7.107, p < .01), and child skin care (F=5.640, p < .01). Implications for developing health information services are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the flow of information and potential privacy infringements in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) genetic testing services available online. We adopted Nissenbaum's framework of Contextual Integrity (CI) to examine six DTC companies' privacy policies, terms of use, and consent processes. Our analyses indicate that the flow of information within certain contexts of DTC services presents alarming privacy vulnerabilities. In this paper, we provide a new perspective that can be used when evaluating privacy vulnerabilities for a given DTC online genetic testing service. The sensitive and unique features of genetic information make privacy even more of an important consideration for this type of information than for other types of medical/health information. In addition, we have limited knowledge about the harmful consequences that can arise from privacy invasions, such as genetic information breaches, genome database hacking, and so forth. Therefore, we believe that further research and in-depth investigations from the information community are desperately needed to address the privacy of genetic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the information seeking behaviour of Māori secondary school students between 16-18 years of age when they searching for information about their whakapapa (genealogy). Rather than considering this form of information behaviour in the context of leisure time activity, the study positions itself as an important cultural expression of personal and collective identity. Like other studies involving youth, the research demonstrates the importance of inter-personal information seeking, particularly in Māori cultural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with information in a new land is considered challenging for immigrants. Their adaptation process, including how to seek and share information, usually requires supports from several sources, including various social and community associations. This paper discusses immigrants' information sharing practices within community groups during their settlement processes. Data for analysis includes 197 questionnaires, 35 interviews, and 258 photos. The preliminary results show that Asian immigrants are involved in community associations and online links with both general and particular groupings. The main sharing activities relate to daily activities, culture and religion and knowledge/experience. The findings will provide insights of how sharing activities within community associations support immigrants' settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes elements of user experience of a collaborative 3D immersive virtual information management environment. We detail those elements that are seen to both improve and deteriorate user experience, and provide design guidance for researchers and designers. We designed the 3D virtual environment in the Virtual Collaboration Arena (VirCA) collaborative space specifically to study the collaborative information retrieval and management behaviors of users. We conducted 117 interviews and then analyzed the data using a qualitative content analysis to identify the main elements of user experience. While participants generally reacted positively to the environment, they also mentioned a few distracting usability problems. Applying the results in the further development of VirCA can create a higher level of user experience and more effective collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-native English speakers (NNESs) often search in English due to the limited availability of information in their native language on the Web. Information seeking in a non-native language can present special challenges for users. Current research literature on non-native language search behavior is insufficient and even less is known about how online systems and tools may accommodate NNESs' needs and assist their behaviors. To gain a better understanding of user behavior and the search process of NNESs, this paper presents a study of online searching in English as a foreign language (EFL) or second-language (L2). Particular attention is paid to language selection, search challenges, query formulation and reformulation, as well as user interaction with online systems and tools. Results from eight focus groups (36 participants) and 36 questionnaires indicate NNESs face a unique set of challenges that may not be present for native speakers when searching for information in English. A user interaction model is abstracted to address the iterative and spiral search process of NNESs. Implications for design of systems and tools to assist this particular user group are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose and test a methodology for evaluation of statements of a multi-viewpoint ontology by crowdsourcing. The task for the workers was to assess each of the given statement as true statements, controversial viewpoint statement or error. Typically, in crowdsourcing experiments the workers are asked for their personal opinions on the given subject. However, in our case their ability to objectively assess others' opinions is examined as well. We conducted two large-scale crowdsourcing experiments with about 750 ontological statements originating from diverse single-viewpoint ontologies. Our results show substantially higher accuracy in evaluation for the objective assessment approach compared to the experiment based on personal opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research surveys the current state-of-the-art technologies that are instrumental in the adoption and development of fake news detection. "Fake news detection" is defined as the task of categorizing news along a continuum of veracity, with an associated measure of certainty. Veracity is compromised by the occurrence of intentional deceptions. The nature of online news publication has changed, such that traditional fact checking and vetting from potential deception is impossible against the flood arising from content generators, as well as various formats and genres. The paper provides a typology of several varieties of veracity assessment methods emerging from two major categories - linguistic cue approaches (with machine learning), and network analysis approaches. We see promise in an innovative hybrid approach that combines linguistic cue and machine learning, with network-based behavioral data. Although designing a fake news detector is not a straightforward problem, we propose operational guidelines for a feasible fake news detecting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a longitudinal analysis of online social networks designed for patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Observational analysis of 20 indicators in three domains - practices for auditing and moderating the quality of content provided by users, accessibility of privacy policies, and data sharing policies and member control over data sharing - was conducted on 10 sites in 2013 and again on 12 sites in 2015, with 7 of the same sites included in both samples. The sites were identified using Google. Indicators for each domain were scored dichotomously. These scores were compared among sites in order to analyze their general practices and policies. Total composite scores were also analyzed to determine whether individual sites had significantly different practices and policies in comparison with the group. Finally, scores for each domain were compared across years in order to assess whether practices and policies had changed over time. Differences in site practices and policies between 2013 and 2015 were not significant, although there is much room for improvement in all domains. Quality was variable across all sites, with gaps in medical disclaimers, a lack of external review of privacy policies and data safety audits, and missing information about internal quality control in the form of moderators. Although most sites employ moderators, their credentials are not often reported. Privacy policies are inaccessible across the board, with none readable at below a twelfth-grade level. Data safety practices are also problematic, with most sites sharing user data with third parties. The quality and safety of social networks for CKD is variable, and improvement is feasible. Suggested improvements include auditing privacy policies and data safety practices, making information about moderators easily available, and third-party audits of information posted by users to ensure the removal of misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present data findings from the pilot study focusing on utilizing content moderators from Brainly, a social learning Q&A platform, to assess the quality of answers. Because it can be argued that Brainly users who actively moderate contents may have better contextual understandings of how users interact with each other through question-answering activities, and which answers are more likely relevant and appropriate to a question in a context of Brainly. The findings indicate that helpfulness, informativeness, and relevance are the most critical factors that have impacts on the quality of answers. Further content analysis also identified two new criteria : 1) descriptiveness - evaluating how well answers provide descriptive summaries through detailed and additional information, and 2) explicitness - clearly constructing answers to reduce vagueness of what information answerers intend to provide to satisfy an asker's need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging technologies have offered libraries and librarians new ways and methods to collect and analyze data in the era of accountability to justify their value and contributions. For example, Gallagher, Bauer and Dollar (2005) analyzed the paper and online journal usage from all possible data sources and discovered that users at the Yale Medical Library preferred the electronic format of articles to the print version. After this discovery, they were able to take necessary steps to adjust their journal subscriptions. Many library professionals advocate such data-driven library management to strengthen and specify library budget proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the decline in youth participation in traditional politics over time, engagement in alternative forms of civic engagement is increasing. Existing research focuses on disenfranchised youth; in this paper, we describe an initial exploration of the role of information in initial and ongoing civic engagement. In this pilot study, we conducted a focus group with six teenagers (15-17 years old) recognized by their teachers and peers for being highly engaged in their schools and/or communities, in order to understand the selfdescribed motivations, influences, and information behaviors of an important demographic which has not been widely studied in existing literature: youth who are highly engaged, but not yet eligible to vote in democratic elections. The participants were from six different provinces in Canada, and included a mix of rural, suburban, and urban youth. Participant responses suggested that their information environment, including the availability of information about civic affairs and opportunities to become directly involved, played a role in their socialization as engaged citizens. Moreover, they indicated that the effect of their information environment on their own civic engagement was cumulative over time: the more an issue appeared, the more likely they were to engage with it. Based on this focus group discussion, we suggest a set of interpretations that describe the role of information environments, the cumulative impact of civic information, and the levels of information consumption used by youth. While these theories will require additional data to confirm or reject, we expect that our observations will help inform efforts to engage youth in civic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional data collection practices inevitably evolve over time, especially in a distributed clinical setting. Clinical and administrative data can improve health and healthcare, but only if researchers ensure that the data is well-aligned to their reuse goals and that they have adequately accounted for changes in data collection practices over time. Our goal is to understand information behaviors of health services data users as they bridge the gap between the historical data and their intended data reuse goals. This project leverages more than a decade of listserv posts related to the use of clinical and administrative data by US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees, providing longitudinal insight into data reuse practices in both research and operational settings. In this paper we report the results of a pilot study that highlighted questions raised in the use of data and the knowledge engaged to answer them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an exploratory ethnographic study of the information-seeking behavior of visitors in the Surgical Waiting Lounge at the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion in December 2013. A model of information practice is examined in relation to existing information-seeking behavior theories, frameworks, and approaches. The finding that visitors' information poverty and inhibited informationseeking behavior manifested in a process of information gleaning--notable for its hypervigilance and meaning inference--is discussed. Similarities are drawn between this behavior, crisis situations, and situational anxiety disorder. Finally, recommendations are described in the context of anxiety-reducing interventions and established post-operative information practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the significance, method and findings of expanding an oil spill semantic relations taxonomy with the CAMEO foreign policy semantic relations taxonomy for supporting knowledge discovery. The oil spill relations taxonomy is enriched by integrating the CAMEO relations taxonomy. Context scope notes may need to be added to CAMEO relation terms (especially the polysemous terms) when they are merged into the oil spill relations taxonomy. A term may be classified into different categories due to different context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the emergence of e-learning trends, the author cocitation analysis (ACA) method has not yet been used to analyze e-learning extensively. This study applies ACA to analyze the collected literature on e-learning from 1981- 2015, with the goal of identifying the top intellectual areas in three time periods - 1981-1991, 1992-2002, and 2003-2014 - to provide a reference framework for future researchers. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to construct an intellectual framework in the field of e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding software for reuse is a problem that programmers face. To reuse code that has been proven to work can increase any programmer's productivity, benefit corporate productivity, and also increase the stability of software programs. This paper shows that fuzzy retrieval has an improved retrieval performance over typical Boolean retrieval. Various methods of fuzzy information retrieval implementation and their use for software reuse will be examined. A deeper explanation of the fundamentals of designing a fuzzy information retrieval system for software reuse will be examined. Future research options and necessary data storage systems are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This interactive panel session will introduce and debate the notion of Open Peer Review (OPR), an emerging approach to peer review that stems from the Open Science Movement. In essence, OPR makes all aspects of the peer review process transparent and open to authors, reviewers and readers. Audience members will be polled on their knowledge of and attitudes towards OPR at the beginning of the session and will have an opportunity to join the debate after the panelists have provided their perspectives on the issues related to peer review and the potential for OPR. We welcome remote attendees to join the panel at (audio & video or audio only; computer or mobile) [Please contact peilingw@utk.edu or dwolfram@uwm.edu to sign up] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Serendipitous discovery has been a research topic for more than one hundred years, but only recently has it been the focus of attention in library and information science (LIS). In 1960, Bernier published the first article on serendipity in a LIS journal. The number of publications gradually grew until 1990s, after which the field experienced a significant interest by the LIS researchers. Currently, LIS researchers are studying serendipity and information encountering from different perspectives, ranging from analyzing various conceptual frameworks to conducting bibliometric studies and investigating factors that trigger and affect the phenomenon. The panel of experts will discuss the issues and challenges of conducting research in this new field of study in LIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This panel features junior and senior scholars from the United States, Denmark, and Brazil, who will come together to discuss some of the central tensions between local and global knowledge organization systems. They will be in conversation around three key questions: 1) What are the contexts in which local and global knowledge organization systems matter? 2) What can we learn about the stakes of global/local knowledge organization from those contexts? 3) How can we conceptualize the relationship between the universal and the particular? The panelists will provide brief overviews of their perspectives, and the majority of the time will be reserved for an interactive discussion of the epistemological, practical, and ethical dimensions of global and local knowledge organization. The contexts addressed will include libraries, archives, and digital, social, and popular media. Within those settings, the panelists are concerned with such issues as access, hegemony, intended and unintended consequences, and meaning construction in particular domains, spaces, and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This panel brings together experts in bibliometrics and information retrieval to discuss how each of these two important areas of information science can help to inform the research of the other. There is a growing body of literature that capitalizes on the synergies created by combining methodological approaches of each to solve research problems and practical issues related to how information is created, stored, organized, retrieved and used. The session will begin with an overview of the common threads that exist between IR and metrics, followed by a summary of findings from the BIR workshops and examples of research projects that combine aspects of each area to benefit IR or metrics research areas, including search results ranking, semantic indexing and visualization. The panel will conclude with an engaging discussion with the audience to identify future areas of research and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Research synthesis methods, like collaboration and interdisciplinary research, comprise practices through which scholarly and scientific knowledge is integrated. The methods, which include meta-analysis and integrative or systematic review, are also arguably one of the most important contemporary methodological innovations in many social, medical, health, and perhaps other sciences. As an innovative research practice, research synthesis, like many innovations, may be associated with complex or unexpected consequences as it diffuses through the research system. This study examines the extent to which the diffusion of research synthesis methods has affected levels of collaboration and research use through comparison with literature reviews in five fields. In Social Work and Information and Library Science, more authors contributed to research syntheses than reviews. There was no difference in number of authors in the biological sciences examined: two to four authors typically contributed to both reviews and syntheses. Research syntheses were used more than reviews in Conservation Biology and Women's Studies. In Social Work, research syntheses and reviews were cited at similar levels, but production of reviews decreased as syntheses increased, suggesting that research synthesis was becoming the predominant approach to review, while traditional reviews remained valuable to researchers though in an increasingly narrow range of contexts. In Information and Library Science, research reviews were used more than research syntheses, and trends suggest that research reviews are a relatively rare but highly prized - or at least frequently used - resource. No difference was found between use of research syntheses and reviews in Evolutionary Biology. Future research should investigate relationships between different approaches to knowledge integration in the context of science fields, which would lead to a better understanding of integration, or synthesis, in science overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Infrastructures are not inherently durable or fragile, yet all are fragile over the long term. Durability requires care and maintenance of individual components and the links between them. Astronomy is an ideal domain in which to study knowledge infrastructures, due to its long history, transparency, and accumulation of observational data over a period of centuries. Research reported here draws upon a long-term study of scientific data practices to ask questions about the durability and fragility of infrastructures for data in astronomy. Methods include interviews, ethnography, and document analysis. As astronomy has become a digital science, the community has invested in shared instruments, data standards, digital archives, metadata and discovery services, and other relatively durable infrastructure components. Several features of data practices in astronomy contribute to the fragility of that infrastructure. These include different archiving practices between ground- and space-based missions, between sky surveys and investigator-led projects, and between observational and simulated data. Infrastructure components are tightly coupled, based on international agreements. However, the durability of these infrastructures relies on much invisible work - cataloging, metadata, and other labor conducted by information professionals. Continual investments in care and maintenance of the human and technical components of these infrastructures are necessary for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore the effects of objective task difficulty and domain knowledge on users' query formulation behaviors. The dataset from a user experiment was used in this research, which focused on the medical domain. The objective difficulty was measured by the precision level of search topics (as queries) in the search system, and searchers' domain knowledge was assessed by a self-reported rating on the familiarity with MeSH terms that were related to the search topics in the study. We compared expert searchers' and novice searchers' query similarity and query features between easy and difficult tasks. The results showed that there was no significant difference between domain experts and novices in query similarity, but there existed an opposite pattern of task difficulty effects on query similarity for searchers with different domain knowledge levels. Domain expert searchers had more diverse vocabulary in difficult tasks than in easy tasks, whereas novice searchers had to rely heavily on task descriptions to formulate their queries. Task difficulty had also influenced searchers' performance, especially the precision measure. Novice searchers' recall was relatively low in both easy and difficult tasks. The findings in this study help us further understand users' query formulation process, and have implication for the design of query suggestion functions in search systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Globalization places people in a multilingual environment. There is a growing number of users to access and share information in several languages for public or private purpose. In order to deliver relevant information in different languages, efficient multilingual documents management is worthy of study. Generally, classification and clustering are two typical methods for documents management. However, lack of training data and high efforts for corpus annotation will increase the cost for classifying multilingual documents which needs to bridge language gaps as well. Clustering is more suitable to implement in such practical applications. There are two main factors involved in documents clustering, document representation method and clustering algorithm. In this paper, we focus on document representation method and demonstrate that the choice of representation methods has impacts on quality of clustering results. In our experiment, we use parallel corpora (English-Chinese documents on topic of technology information) and comparable corpora (English and Chinese documents on topics of mobile technology and wind energy) as dataset. We compare four different types of document representation methods: Vector Space Model, Latent Semantic Indexing, Latent Dirichlet Allocation and Doc2Vec. Experimental results show that, accuracy of Vector Space Model were not competitive with other methods in all clustering tasks. Latent Semantic Indexing is overly sensitive to corpora itself, for it behaved differently when clustering two different topics of comparable corpora. Latent Dirichlet Allocation behaves best when clustering documents in small size of comparable corpora while Doc2Vec behaves best for large documents set of parallel corpora. Accordingly, characteristics of corpora should be under considerations for rational utilization of document representation methods to have better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]