Search

To discover children's knowledge about computer operation and programing characteristics and its effect on children's perceptions of computer expertise, pre- and posttests were administered to 292 children from 5th, 7th and 9th grades. Children were randomly assigned to see a factual film on computers or to a film on another subject. It was hypothesized that increased knowledge about computers would lower student perception of its expertise. Pretests indicated all children, regardless of age level or previous computer-assisted instruction (CAI) experience, held a high regard for computer expertise; posttest indicated that those who viewed the film changed in a direction supporting the hypothesis of the study. Older students perceived the computer as somewhat more expert than did younger ones, and CAI-experienced students more than non-CAI experienced students. It was concluded that social lessons as well as cognitive outcomes were taught by CAI programs. (SK)

The metacognitive sense of confidence can play a critical role in regulating decision making. In particular, a lack of confidence can justify the explicit, potentially costly, instrumental acquisition of extra information that might resolve uncertainty. Human confidence is highly complex, and recent computational work has suggested a statistically sophisticated tapestry behind the information that governs both the making and monitoring of choices. However, the consequences of the form of such confidence computations for search have yet to be understood. Here, we reveal extra richness in the use of confidence for information seeking by formulating joint models of action, confidence, and information search within a Bayesian and reinforcement learning framework. Through detailed theoretical analysis of these models, we show the intricate normative downstream consequences for search arising from more complex forms of metacognition. For example, our results highlight how the ability to monitor errors or general metacognitive sensitivity impact seeking decisions and can generate diverse relationships between action, confidence, and the optimal search for information. We also explore whether empirical search behavior enjoys any of the characteristics of normatively derived prescriptions. More broadly, our work demonstrates that it is crucial to treat metacognitive monitoring and control as closely linked processes.

This article presents a re-classification of information seeking (IS) tasks, concepts, and algorithms. The proposed taxonomy provides new dimensions to look into information seeking tasks and methods. The new dimensions include the number of search iterations, search goal types, and procedures to reach these goals. Differences along these dimensions for the information seeking tasks call for suitable computational solutions. The article then reviews machine learning solutions that match each new category. The paper ends with a review of evaluation campaigns for IS systems., Comment: Accepted to ACM TOIS in Nov 2021

This study offers a critical review of selected studies. A point of departure is the focus on the methodology used and the related issue of whether the inferences drawn are justified by the methodologies used. This is thus meant to be potentially useful for researchers in the broad area of information –seeking behaviour of the users in a digital environment. Eleven studies were selected for a deeper understanding of their users’ information needs and information-seeking behaviour and to make suggestions on how to enhance the effectiveness of library services and their efficient utilisation. The libraries selected for the present study are diverse–college libraries, university libraries, public libraries and a Government Department library. Our review is based on the results obtained through critical study and examination of the literature with the main focus on the Information Seeking Behaviour of the users. There is a diverse range of libraries and users covered by these studies, and several interesting hypotheses could be statistically validated. Without statistical validation of hypotheses, the inferences lack robustness. This is a striking weakness of the extant literature-including the sample examined here. However, some constructive suggestions are made. These include a focus on special libraries, methodological extensions and refinements, and a broadening of the hypotheses and validation of inferences. We believe our review fulfils an important gap as scant attention is given to analytical rigour.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether preprint servers are a disruptive technology for science, librarians or information seeking among the general population. Design/methodology/approach This column explores what preprint servers are, how they are used in the world of science, how their usage changed in response to the deluge of COVID-19 related research papers and how they might impact the work of librarians and society in general. Findings Preprint servers are not a highly disruptive technology, but they do challenge both scientists and librarians to understand them better, use the information they find on them with care and educate society in general on topics such as peer review and the importance of using well-vetted, good quality science in making important decisions. Originality/value Up until the past year and a half, only a small segment of the librarian profession needed to be concerned with preprint servers. With the increasing presence of references to non-peer-reviewed articles from preprint servers in popular media reports, most librarians now need to know something about this technology. It is also useful to consider how the technology might benefit and create challenges for their work.

Applying the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this study investigates the sociopsychological factors associated with systematic processing. Results reveal interesting moderating effects for relevant channel beliefs and perceived information gathering capacity. These findings suggest that science communication surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic needs to attend to the target audience’s beliefs about specific information channels, as well as their ability to process relevant information. However, the unsupported hypotheses also call for scholarly attention on the applicability of the RISP model to non-Western cultural contexts.

Cel/Teza: Celem artykułu jest próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy architektura informacji jest dyscypliną naukową. Jeżeli tak, to co odróżnia ją od nauki o informacji (informatologii)? Koncepcja/Metody badań: Wykorzystano analizę i krytykę piśmiennictwa oraz metodę porównawczą. Analizę architektury informacji pod względem posiadania cech dyscypliny naukowej przeprowadzono na podstawie trzech kryteriów: pola badawczego, teorii, metodologii. Wyniki i wnioski: Nauka o architekturze informacji (NAI) wykorzystuje paradygmaty i teorie innych dyscyplin, np. architektury, informatologii, nauki o komunikacji społecznej i mediach. Zadaniem NAI powinno być badanie zjawisk wpływających na odnajdywanie informacji przez człowieka, ale także na efektywność w zarządzaniu informacją, w tym również poszukiwanie nowych narzędzi, metod, inspiracji do wspierania tych działań. Badacze architektury informacji mogą szukać odpowiedzi na pytanie: czy forma informacji wyraża jej przeznaczenie? Trudno wskazać oryginalną metodę badawczą charakterystyczną dla tej dyscypliny. Oryginalność/Wartość poznawcza: Różnica między NAI a informatologią dotyczy obszarów działań. Nauka o informacji zajmuje się naturą informacji, bada jej cechy i właściwości, koncentruje się na procesie informacyjnym w sensie całościowym. Zadaniem NAI będzie badanie zjawisk wpływających na odnajdywanie informacji przez człowieka, na efektywność w zarządzaniu informacją oraz poszukiwanie odpowiedzi na pytanie o to, czy forma informacji wyraża jej przeznaczenie.

The exchange of meta-information has always formed part of information behavior. In this article, we show that this rule also extends to conversational search. Information about the user’s information need, their preferences, and the quality of search results are only some of the most salient examples of meta-information that are exchanged as a matter of course in a search conversation. To understand the importance of meta-information for conversational search, we revisit its definition and survey how meta-information has been taken into account in the past in information retrieval. Meta-information has gone by many names, about which a concise overview is provided. An in-depth analysis of the role of meta-information in search and conversation theories reveals that they provide significant support for the importance of meta-information in conversational search. We further identify conversational search datasets are suitable for a deeper inspection with regard to meta-information, namely, Spoken Conversational Search and Microsoft Information-Seeking Conversations. A quantitative data analysis demonstrates the practical significance of meta-information in information-seeking conversations, whereas a qualitative analysis shows the effects of exchanging different types. Finally, we discuss practical applications and challenges of meta-information in conversational search, including a case study of VERSE, an existing search system for the visually impaired.

Version Control Systems (VCS) are an important source of information for developers. This calls for a principled understanding of developers’ information seeking in VCS—both for improving existing tools and for understanding requirements for new tools. Our prior work investigated empirically how and why developers seek information in VCS: in this paper, we complement and enrich our prior findings by reanalyzing the data via a theory's lens. Using the lens of Information Foraging Theory (IFT), we present new insights not revealed by the prior empirical work. First, while looking for specific information, participants' foraging behaviors were consistent with other foraging situations in SE; therefore, prior research on IFT-based SE tool design can be leveraged for VCS. Second, in change awareness foraging, participants consumed similar diets, but in subtly different ways than in other situations; this calls for further investigations into change awareness foraging. Third, while committing changes, participants attempted to enable future foragers, but the competing needs of different foraging situations led to tensions that participants failed to balance: this opens up a new avenue for research at the intersection of IFT and SE, namely, creating forageable information. Finally, the results of using an IFT lens on these data provides some evidence as to IFT's scoping and utility for the version control domain.

PurposeSerendipitous information discovery has become a unique and important approach to discovering and obtaining information, which has aroused a growing interest for serendipity in human information behavior. Despite numerous publications, few have systematically provided an overview of current state of serendipity research. Consequently, researchers and practitioners are less able to make effective use of existing achievements, which limits them from making advancements in this domain. Against this backdrop, we performed a systematic literature review to explore the world of serendipity and to recapitulate the current states of different research topics.Design/methodology/approachGuided by a prior designed review protocol, this paper conducted both automatic and manual search for available studies published from January 1990 to December 2020 on seven databases. A total of 207 serendipity studies closely related to human information behavior form the literature pool.FindingsWe provide an overview of distinct aspects of serendipity, that is research topics, potential benefits, related concepts, theoretical models, contextual factors and data collection methods. Based on these findings, this review reveals limitations and gaps in the current serendipity research and proposes an agenda for future research directions.Originality/valueBy analyzing current serendipity research, developing a knowledge framework and providing a research agenda, this review is of significance for researchers who want to find new research questions or re-align current work, for beginners who need to quickly understand serendipity, and for practitioners who seek to cultivate serendipity in information environments.

Humans seem to be inherently driven to engage in wordplay. An example is the creation of palindromes – sentences that read the same backward and forward. This activity can be framed as a curiosity-driven behaviour, in which individuals seek for information that serves no direct purpose and in the absence of external rewards. In this fMRI case study, an experienced palindrome creator was scanned while he generated palindromes with different levels of difficulty. Palindrome creation was alternated with resting periods and with a working memory task, both serving as control conditions. Relative to resting, palindrome creation recruited frontal domain-specific language networks and fronto-parietal domain-general networks. The comparison with the working memory task evidenced partial overlap with the multiple-demand cortex, which participates in solving a variety of cognitively challenging tasks. Intriguingly, greater difficulty during palindrome creation differentially activated the right frontopolar cortex (BA 10), a region that was also linked to palindrome resolution. The latter is consistent with exploratory behaviour – in this case, with seeking new but interdependent linguistic segments within a complex internal model (i.e., a palindromic structure)– and bears resemblance with brain substrates sustaining hard logical reasoning, altogether pointing to a commonplace for curiosity in discovering new and complex relations "This work was supported by the grant “Generación del Conocimiento” awarded to ARF (reference: PGC 2018-099859-B-I00), co-funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), which is part of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) of Spain, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). PLC was funded with a pre-doctoral grant (FPU "Ayudas para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario") (reference: FPU15/05554) of Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (MECD). We also acknowledge support from MINECO and “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” grants PGC 2018-098676-B-100 (AG), RTI 2018-098322-B-100 (AG) and AGAUR project 2017SGR1049 (AG)"

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to identify design guidelines for online resources based on the subjective assessment criteria used by individuals to assess and process information resources. This method of creating design guidelines targeted at precise user groups has the potential to aid designers and developers to create more user-centred information resources.Design/methodology/approachThe authors gathered data using a prospective longitudinal study investigating the information behaviour of expectant and new mothers. Women were asked to report on their information-seeking activities in a series of semi-structured interviews covering pregnancy and early motherhood.FindingsThis research identified 15 assessment criteria that were utilised by women to assess and process information resources. The most popular resource criteria amongst participants were credibility and convenience, while completeness and relevance were the most popular information content criteria. The authors found that assessment criteria were not considered in isolation, with criteria such as formatting and search engine ranking impacting on participants' perception of other criteria.Practical implicationsThis research demonstrates the potential of linking a user groups subjective assessment criterion to design guidelines. The authors propose that these guidelines could be used to help design an online information resource. They could also be used to assess if an existing online resource met the needs of a user group. The methodology used in this study could be leveraged to create design guidelines for user groups.Originality/valueThis research uses subjective assessment criteria as a means of understanding how expectant new mothers process information resources. People use subjective judgements when processing information resources, and this should be incorporated into the design of information resources. Analysing longitudinal data allowed the authors to build a rich picture of how participants evaluated and compared different information resources.

PurposeThis study explores the effects of cognitive load on the propensity to reformulate queries during information seeking on the web.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs an experimental design to analyze the effect of manipulations of cognitive load on the propensity for query reformulation between experimental and control groups. In total, three affective components that contribute to cognitive load were manipulated: mental demand, temporal demand and frustration.FindingsA significant difference in the propensity of query reformulation behavior was found between searchers exposed to cognitive load manipulations and searchers who were not exposed. Those exposed to cognitive load manipulations made half as many search query reformulations as searchers not exposed. Furthermore, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) cognitive load scores of searchers who were exposed to the three cognitive load manipulations were higher than those of searchers who were not exposed indicating that the manipulation was effective. Query reformulation behavior did not differ across task types.Originality/valueThe findings suggest that a dual-task method and NASA-TLX assessment serve as good indicators of cognitive load. Because the findings show that cognitive load hinders a searcher's interaction with information search tools, this study provides empirical support for reducing cognitive load when designing information systems or user interfaces.

This study surveyed 126 school librarians in eighteen countries, representing 131 schools serving more than 113,260 students. The survey instrument requested respondents to describe techniques they used to facilitate information literacy, their perceptions of their functions in the development of independent learners, and the training they received that enabled them to mediate information seeking and use skills. Survey data revealed that the respondents relate information skills instruction to students' interests, work with other teachers to place information seeking skills within the context of students' course work, and encourage students to share ideas and skills with each other as they build their own search strategies. Results indicate that the creation of independent, self-directed, lifelong learners is the goal of school librarians over the world But data also reveal that most of the respondents spend less than a quarter of their time working with teachers to plan connected programs and that many school libraries are understaffed.

The digital learning environment comprises various resources - didactically transformed and untransformed information, and mediated communication. Students’ information behaviour combines both actions characteristic of the traditional educational process and specific for the digital environment, based on digital tools and user interactions. Students’ information behaviour in the digital environment is considered as an indicator of their engagement in various educational activities that contribute to the personalisation of learning. The results of a survey on students’ preferences of information resources in the digital environment show that learners use a variety of information sources, but they mainly apply the methods of work in the “traditional” learning paradigm. They insufficiently use the digital environment potential of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and knowledge extraction from authentic sources. Obtained data indicates problems in students’ information culture and shortcomings in the methodological support of students’ autonomous work. Based on the results, recommendations on creating conditions for developing students’ prospective strategies of interaction with digital resources are proposed. These recommendations include a gradual increase of the authentic digital learning resources, an account of students’ information preferences, and a particular attention to the management issues in the digital learning environment.

Few could have anticipated the sudden and dramatic impact of COVID-19 on all aspects of life, including online academic help-seeking of institutional education. Academic help-seeking is a quite prevalent phenomenon that supports students to learn knowledge and improve academic performance. This study is aiming to understand learners and associate their performances via exploiting academic help-seeking moods with online learning of institutional education setting. Adopting the relevant theories, we propose a novel research model and identify three different online help-seeking moods, which are namely goal-directed seeker, exploratory seeker and avoidant seeker. Goal-directed seekers are described with preference for more challenging assignments and more posting on the platform discussion board frequently. Exploratory seekers hold the highest achievements during all help-seeking moods. Avoidant seekers are well-distinguished by holding the lowest frequency of posting among all moods and the most average time spent on the platform. Students have collective preferences for assignment submission in each help-seeking mood, and deviation from those preferences increases their probability of dropping academic grade significantly. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first work that characterizes the help-seeking moods and associates moods with the enrollment performance for online education of institutional student.

Creativity is a crucial factor in finding novel and useful visualization and interaction techniques, but its emergence is contingent on the right conditions. The focus of visualization research has traditionally been on techniques, and to a lesser degree on the process of creating them with domain experts and end users. This paper focuses on the collaborative design of visualizations for information seeking and knowledge management. The difficult, yet common challenge in any visualization project is to find meaningful visual representations and useful interaction techniques to carry out complex analysis tasks. The unique difficulty for preparing co-design activities for visualization lies in the gap between the abstract nature of data and the concrete form of visual representations. To bridge this gap, our co-design framework for visualization places particular emphasis on actors, activities, and artifacts as categories that expand the focus of visualization design beyond the traditional triad of users, tasks, and data. Drawing from general co-design principles, the framework is developed and validated during the course of two case studies in the context of information management systems and library collection databases. Based on observed patterns during the case studies, practical tactics provide advice on carrying out co-design in information visualization.

Confidently making progress on multilingual modeling requires challenging, trustworthy evaluations. We present TyDi QA—a question answering dataset covering 11 typologically diverse languages with 204K question-answer pairs. The languages of TyDi QA are diverse with regard to their typology—the set of linguistic features each language expresses—such that we expect models performing well on this set to generalize across a large number of the world’s languages. We present a quantitative analysis of the data quality and example-level qualitative linguistic analyses of observed language phenomena that would not be found in English-only corpora. To provide a realistic information-seeking task and avoid priming effects, questions are written by people who want to know the answer, but don’t know the answer yet, and the data is collected directly in each language without the use of translation.

The open-ended and internally driven nature of curiosity makes characterizing the information seeking that accompanies it a daunting endeavour. We use a historico-philosophical taxonomy of information seeking coupled with a knowledge network building framework to capture styles of information-seeking in 149 participants as they explore Wikipedia for over 5 hours spanning 21 days. We create knowledge networks in which nodes represent distinct concepts and edges represent the similarity between concepts. We quantify the tightness of knowledge networks using graph theoretical indices and use a generative model of network growth to explore mechanisms underlying information-seeking. Deprivation curiosity (the tendency to seek information that eliminates knowledge gaps) is associated with the creation of relatively tight networks and a relatively greater tendency to return to previously visited concepts. With this framework in hand, future research can readily quantify the information seeking associated with curiosity.

Searching and interacting with information is one of the most fundamental behaviours of human beings – something that takes place in both online and physical environments. Yet, most studies of information interaction have focused on only one of these sides. This work aims to connect them by investigating one’s information interaction behaviours in different physical and online contexts as well as different types of tasks. During Web search (online searching) and Escape Room (physical searching), 31 participants’ behavioural data during web search (online searching) and escape room (physical searching) were collected through eye-tracker, web browser logs, and wearable video recorder. Analysis of the behavioural data suggests that individuals have a preferred search strategy that they adopt across different tasks and environments. The behavioural pattern, however, was found to be affected by the task type (e.g. problem searching vs exploratory search) and the way information is structured within the environments.

PurposeA substantial number of models have been developed over the years, with the purpose of describing the information seeking and searching of people in various user groups and contexts. Several models have been frequently applied in user studies, but are rarely included in research on participants with impairments. Models are purposeful when developing theories. Consequently, it might be valuable to apply models when studying this user group, as well. The purpose of this study was to explore whether existing models are applicable in describing the online information seeking and searching of users with impairments, with an overall aim to increase the use of models in studies involving impairments.Design/methodology/approachSix models were selected according to the following criteria: the model should address information seeking or searching, include the interaction between users and systems whilst incorporating assistive technology. Two user groups were selected from each of the categories: cognitive, sensory and motor impairments, namely dyslexia, autism, blindness, deafness, paralysation and Parkinson's. The models were then analysed based on known barriers reported for these cohorts.FindingsAll the selected models had potential to be applied in user studies involving impairments. While three of the models had the highest potential to be used in the current form, the other three models were applicable either through minor revisions or by combining models.Originality/valueThis study contributes with a new perspective on the use of models in information seeking and searching research on users with impairments.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the information needs and information-seeking behaviours of the new generation of engineering designers. A survey study is used to approach what their information needs are, how these needs change during an engineering design project and how their information-seeking behaviours have been influenced by the newly developed information technologies (ITs). Through an in-depth analysis of the survey results, the key functions have been identified for the next-generation management systems.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first proposed four hypotheses on the information needs and information-seeking behaviours of young engineers. Then, a survey study was undertaken to understand their information usage in terms of the information needs and information-seeking behaviours during a complete engineering design process. Through analysing the survey results, several findings were obtained and on this basis, further comparisons were made to discuss and evaluate the hypotheses.FindingsThe paper has revealed that the engineering designers' information needs will evolve throughout the engineering design project; thus, they should be assisted at several different levels. Although they intend to search information and knowledge on know-what and know-how, what they really require is the know-why knowledge in order to help them complete design tasks. Also, the paper has shown how the newly developed ITs and web-based applications have influenced the engineers' information-seeking practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe research subjects chosen in this study are engineering students in universities who, although not as experienced as engineers in companies, do go through a complete design process with the tasks similar to industrial scenarios. In addition, the focus of this study is to understand the information-seeking behaviours of a new generation of design engineers, so that the development of next-generation information and knowledge management systems can be well informed. In this sense, the results obtained do reveal some new knowledge about the information-seeking behaviours during a general design process.Practical implicationsThis paper first identifies the information needs and information-seeking behaviours of the new generation of engineering designers. On this basis, the varied ways to meet these needs and behaviours are discussed and elaborated. This intends to provide the key characteristics for the development of the next-generation knowledge management system for engineering design projects.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a novel means of exploring the future engineers' information needs and information-seeking behaviours in a collaborative working environment. It also characterises the key features and functions for the next generation of knowledge management systems for engineering design.

Humans and animals navigate uncertain environments by seeking information about the future. Remarkably, we often seek information even when it has no instrumental value for aiding our decisions – as if the information is a source of value in its own right. In recent years, there has been a flourishing of research into these non-instrumental information preferences and their implementation in the brain. Individuals value information about uncertain future rewards, and do so for multiple reasons, including valuing resolution of uncertainty and overweighting desirable information. The brain motivates this information seeking by tapping into some of the same circuitry as primary rewards like food and water. However, it also employs cortex and basal ganglia circuitry that predicts and values information as distinct from primary reward. Uncovering how these circuits cooperate will be fundamental to understanding information seeking and motivated behavior as a whole, in our increasingly complex and information-rich world.

When searching for information in response to a query, their own library’s online public access catalog (OPAC) and databases remain the most preferred resource for most aquatic science librarians. ...

People need information to cope with the demands of life, yet, questions remain about the way social structures facilitate the spread of new information. This study applies agent-based modeling (AB...

PurposeThis study aims to explore the mechanisms of extended information seeking, which is the combination of extended information technologies (IT) use behavior and information-seeking behavior. The purpose is to identify the factors that shape extended information seeking from the perspectives of psychological empowerment and attachment.Design/methodology/approachA research model was developed based on prior theory and literature. Survey data were collected, and the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling was used to verify the research model.FindingsPsychological empowerment is a well-constructed second-order construct, having a larger positive effect on extended information seeking. Digital libraries attachment has a positive effect on extended information seeking.Practical implicationsAccessing digital libraries does not mean using digital libraries effectively. Managers of digital libraries should design various specific information activities to help users enhance psychological empowerment. They should provide more available and responsive services for users to enhance digital libraries attachment.Originality/valueDrawing on the adaptive structuration theory, this study examines extended information seeking by combining extended use of digital libraries and information seeking, presenting a new lens for digital library and information seeking research.

Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity, and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behavior and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems., Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 7 tables

The study investigates Universities’ students use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for leaning and a comparison between book and ICT in obtaining knowledge. The study highlights public and private universities students banking on ICT for seeking knowledge and information. Besides, the study focuses on the facilitation and acquiring gratification from ICT in terms of entertainment, socialization, and scholastic achievement. The results show that student seek greater knowledge from ICT than the book. Similarly, they get quick information from ICT than the noticeboard. The use of ICT also gratifies them for entertainment, socialization, and scholastic achievement. Moreover, the study does not find significant difference among the students of public and private universities for seeking knowledge from ICT.

Information seeking research has provided models of users in the search for information across many different contexts and situations. Digital content curation has emerged as a means for managing information and facilitating user learning by adding ‘value’ to digital content in different ways, enhancing the user experience. Using digital video and K–12 education as the context, this study examined factors representing video information seeking, user learning and use of curated video collections both individually and together as user-centred constructs. Two hundred and fifty-two K–12 teachers provided perceptions of their own information seeking processes and for different qualities of curated content and collections within the context of searching digital video for applied purposes. Results extracted underlying factors of these concepts and demonstrated significant relationships between them. Findings enabled the expansion of a model to incorporate both users’ perceptions of information seeking together with user-centred constructs of learning through added value content and use of curated digital collections. Practical implications of the study help establish baselines for future studies for formulating, incorporating and emphasising added value and video curation qualities based on users’ information seeking within the process.

As social media become a staple for knowledge discovery and sharing, questions arise about how self-organizing communities manage learning outside the domain of organized, authority-led institutions. Yet examination of such communities is challenged by the quantity of posts and variety of media now used for learning. This paper addresses the challenges of identifying (1) what information, communication, and discursive practices support successful online communities, (2) whether such practices are similar on Twitter and Reddit, and (3) whether machine learning classifiers can be successfully used to analyze larger datasets of learning exchanges. This paper builds on earlier work that used manual coding of learning and exchange in Reddit ‘Ask’ communities to derive a coding schema we refer to as ‘learning in the wild’. This schema of eight categories: explanation with disagreement, agreement, or neutral presentation; socializing with negative, or positive intent; information seeking; providing resources; and comments about forum rules and norms. To compare across media, results from coding Reddit’s AskHistorians are compared to results from coding a sample of #Twitterstorians tweets (n = 594). High agreement between coders affirmed the applicability of the coding schema to this different medium. LIWC lexicon-based text analysis was used to build machine learning classifiers and apply these to code a larger dataset of tweets (n = 69,101). This research shows that the ‘learning in the wild’ coding schema holds across at least two different platforms, and is partially scalable to study larger online learning communities.

The risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model posits that information insufficiency could lead to information seeking, and the effect could be moderated by relevant channel beliefs and perceived information gathering capacity. The RISP model is tested in the context of Koreans’ risk information seeking and processing related to toxic chemicals in consumer products. The present study showed that the impact of information insufficiency was moderated by relevant channel beliefs. On the other hand, the impact of information insufficiency was not moderated by perceived information gathering capacity; instead, perceived information gathering capacity had an independent effect on information seeking.

Despite the widespread adoption of streaming video by academic libraries, there has been little discussion about how video content is discovered and accessed through the library catalog as compared...

In "smart speaker'' digital assistant systems such as Google Home, there is no visual user interface, so people must learn about the system's capabilities and limitations by experimenting with different questions and commands. However, many new users give up quickly and limit their use to a few simple tasks. This is a problem for both the user and the system. Users who stop trying out new things cannot learn about new features and functionality, and the system receives less data upon which to base future improvements. Symbiosis---a mutually beneficial relationship---between AI systems like digital assistants and people is an important aspect of developing systems that are partners to humans and not just tools. In order to better understand requirements for symbiosis, we investigated the relationship between the types of digital assistant responses and users' subsequent questions, focusing on identifying interactions that were discouraging to users when speaking with a digital assistant. We conducted a user study with 20 participants who completed a series of information seeking tasks using the Google Home, and analyzed transcripts using a method based on applied conversation analysis. We found that the most common response from the Google Home, a version of "Sorry, I'm not sure how to help'', provided no feedback for participants to build on when forming their next question. However, responses that provided somewhat strange but tangentially related answers were actually more helpful for conversational grounding, which extended the interaction. We discuss the connection between grounding and symbiosis, and present recommendations for requirements for forming partnerships with digital assistants.

Purpose This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that involved students of an interdisciplinary PhD program. The study objective was to gather requirements to create a knowledge graph information system. The purpose of this study was to determine information-seeking practices and information needs of this community, to inform the functionalities of a proposed system, intended to help students with relevant resource discovery and decision-making. Design/methodology/approach The study design included semi-structured interviews with eight members of the community, followed by a website usability study with the same student participants. Findings Two main information-seeking styles are recognized and reported through user personas of international and domestic (USA) students. The findings show that the useful information resides within the community and not so much on the program website. Students rely on peer communication, although they report lack of opportunities to connect. Students’ information needs and information seeking are dependent on their progress through the program, as well as their motivation and the projected timeline. Practical implications Considering the current information needs and practices, a knowledge graph hosting both information on social networks and the knowledge produced by the activities of the community members would be useful. By recording data on their activities (for example, collaboration with professors and coursework), students would reveal further useful system functionalities and facilitate transfer of tacit knowledge. Originality/value Aside from the practical value of this research that is directly influencing the design of a system, it contributes to the body of knowledge on interdisciplinary PhD programs.