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ALISE 2008 WIP Poster Submissions
Daniel Gelaw Alemneh Doctoral Candidate and Metadata Specialist University of North Texas 940-891-6746
Research Area: 59. Metadata and Semantic Web
Metadata Enhancements and Quality Assurance Mechanisms
Digital life cycle management starts from the point an item is created or selected for digitization (if not born-digital) and continues through image cleanup, metadata capture,derivative creation, and ensuring long-term access. Maintaining usableand sustainable digital collections requires a complex set of actions. Quality metadata is crucial to implementing reliable, usable, and sustainable digital libraries. Considering the role of standardized metadata in digital resource life cycle management, the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries actively promote metadata-based digital resource management. The increase in the number and heterogeneity of digital resources has lead UNT to develop tools, workflow, and quality control mechanisms that allow for quick and effective metadata analysis and quality assurance. The metadata quality characteristics depend on various factors, including: local and collaborators’ requirements, user perspectives, needs, and priorities, which vary across groups of users. The UNT Libraries metadata team approaches metadata quality issues at various levels of the digital resources life cycle. The goal is to achieve metadata that is error free, without omissions, and non-ambiguous in order to enhance accuracy, relevance, accessibility, consistency, and coherence, while ensuring long-term preservation of digital resources. This poster will demonstrate some of the tools and quality assurance mechanisms used at the UNT Libraries.
Simon Aristeguieta-Trillos PhD student School of information Sciences, College of Communication and Information, University of Tennessee 865-974-8200
Research Area: 74. Digital/Virtual Libraries
The Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) in Venezuela
Economic, political and cultural considerations drove the scientific community in Venezuela to adopt the SciELO (Scientific electronic library on line) model as the methodology to establish an open access full text digital library of scientific and academic content. Scientists, librarians, editors, publishers and public officials were actors who met several times during the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 to discuss and reflect on Web publishing alternatives for scientific and academic journals being published in the country. Opinions ranged from journal specific websites to developing a national digital library. Finally agreement was reached to adopt SciELO which had been proved successfully in Brazil and other Latin American countries and had the support of BIREME, the health science regional library. The poster reports on the actors’ participation and stated interests as well as the current status of SciELO in Venezuela.
Dr. Jennifer Weil Arns Assistant Professor School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-2319
Patrick Roughen, JD Doctoral Student School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-3858
Kip Sewell MLS Student School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-2319
Research Area: 75. Public Libraries Special Districts and Other Single Purpose Government Units: Their Value and Place in the Delivery of Public Library Services
While the governance structure of U. S. public libraries has by and large retained its first and traditional form for well over a century, it has not been immune to the rapid increase in special purpose governance units that has characterized local government activities for many decades. Yet there is little information available concerning the relative merits of these different public library governance models or the gains or benefits they bring to the communities they serve. This exploratory research approaches this problem with two research questions: the power of these models in shaping collections and administrative arrangements and their influence on the cost of providing public services. The data used for the project are being drawn from multiple sources, including the National Center for Educational Statistics Public Library Survey, the U.S. Census, and the International City/County Management Association. The scope of the study is national with a detailed focus on public libraries located in states in which at least 15% of public library services are provided by public libraries organized as special purpose governance units. Multiple regression analysis is used to explore variations in services, income, and expenditures.
Waseem Afzal Phd Student Emporia State University 620-481-0767
Research Area: LIS Education
Doctoral Programs at LIS Schools: A Web-Content Analysis
Doctoral programs of any discipline determine the future theoretical and operational directions. The nature as well as the type of PhD programs depicts the existing interplay of various philosophical, political, technological and market forces. LIS being an interdisciplinary academic plane provides enormous opportunities for experimentation with the varied epistemological stances. A web-content analysis of doctoral programs at LIS schools in USA & Canada reveals the ongoing domain-specific clustering within the discipline. At one spectrum the strategic alliance with the technology is leading to Phd programs that are bridging information technology with LIS, and on the other spectrum increasingly complex information interactions are leading to Phd programs that are redefining the organizational boundaries of libraries by giving due consideration to changing socio-cultural and technological realities. An ever increasing amount as well as dimensions of information is enlarging the scope of LIS as a discipline. The clustering of Phd Programs at the technology, information, and library concentrations is representing the perceived match between internal strengths (of LIS schools) and the external challenges/opportunities. It can therefore be suggested that in the near future, Phd programs at LIS schools will develop domain-specific identities. Emerging specializations and increasing interdisciplinarity may lead to the consolidation of LIS as a specialized discipline, i.e. a discipline with its unique epistemological and theoretical stance.
Stephen Bales Doctoral candidate University of Tennessee, School of Information Sciences 865-544-4473
Research Area: 1. History of Libraries and Library Science
Aristotle’s Contribution to the Development of Scholarly Communication
Aristotle was the first thinker to posit that knowledge grows incrementally. The philosopher used the works of previous thinkers extensively in his treatises on science, art, rhetoric, and practical philosophy. Aristotle also used his books pedagogically as learning tools in his Peripatetic School (the Peripatos). This ongoing historical study examines how Peripatetic thought, i.e. the system of inquiry founded by the philosopher Aristotle, contributed to the mode and purpose of research engaged in at the Library and Museum of Alexandria. This research also examines how the Library and Museum varied from preceding information institutions—representing a fundamental shift in the nature of scholarly communication from systems aimed at cultural preservation to those aimed at scientific inquiry. Sources contemporary to the time period being studied (ca. 585 B.C.E.—ca. 144 B.C.E.) include the works of the pre-Aristotelian philosophers, Aristotle, his students, contemporaries, and those individuals connected with the Library and Museum. Other contemporary sources include commentaries and derivative historical works. This research fills a gap in the LIS literature, providing valuable links between the modern institution of the academic research library, the modern profession of librarianship, and their ancient antecedents. Institution and profession would benefit greatly from a deepened historical awareness and better understanding of the ancient philosophical thought that has so long served as library and information science’s theoretical substratum.
Joan E. Beaudoin PhD Student, IMLS Research Fellow College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University 215-886-1489
Research Area: 50. Information Needs and Behaviors An Exploration of Image Needs across Disciplines: A User-Centered Approach to Inform System Design This study investigates the image seeking behaviors of several user groups in order to develop a broadly useful theoretical framework. In addition, the research has been undertaken to inform the development of systems useful for the discovery of and access to images within the cultural heritage sector. By examining the image seeking behaviors of several groups of users (artists, art historians, architects and archaeologists), who are comparable in their heavy reliance on images of cultural materials to perform their work, the research will clarify the groups’ similarities and differences. The information gleaned from this investigation will in turn help explain how extensive the influence of discipline and task are on a user’s method of searching for and use of images. Beyond adding to the limited body of knowledge about image seeking behaviors, this information will expand our understanding of the specific requirements for image systems to support user’s needs. System design often occurs without a full understanding of users’ needs, the tasks they perform or their frames of knowledge. While text-based systems have received a great deal of research interest, system development for images has not received a similar level of support. This state of affairs, coupled with the limited research into image seeking behaviors and the complexity of the problem, has led to a situation where image-oriented systems remain in a developmentally immature state. Thus, this investigation will provide a thorough account of image seeking behaviors and a list of systems requirements considered necessary to support their needs.
Nora J. Bird Assistant Professor School of Education, Department of Library and Information Science, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 336-256-0162
Research Area: 74. Digital/Virtual Libraries
Librarians Evaluating Health and Science Web Resources
The proposed research seeks to understand how information professionals evaluate, select, organize, and recommend free science and health Web resources. In the past, the peer review system, editors, and publishers of information sources such as books and periodicals were established gatekeepers. The situation has changed with the advent of the Web where everyone and anyone with the proper resources can see their work in print. Using interviews with practicing librarians, one goal of the project is to understand how librarians explain the techniques and tools that they employ when judging the quality of Web sources in the course of their work as both collection developers and as reference providers. Using a combination of interviews and a content analysis of the library Websites, the second goal is to understand what tools librarians are using to organize and share their chosen Websites with their users. The resulting picture will inform library practice in building digital library collections and using Web resources for reference interactions. This study is designed to answer the following research questions:
RQ1. What processes do practicing librarians use to choose free quality Web resources?
RQ2. What are the dimensions of these processes when a reference transaction is considered?
RQ3. What are the dimensions of these processes when a collection development situation is considered?
RQ4. What tools do information professionals use to aid in the selection process?
RQ5. What are librarians in all types of settings doing to organize free Websites for their patrons to use?
Bradley Wade Bishop Doctoral Student 850-645-5683 Rochelle Logan
Use of Geographic Information Systems in Marketing and Facility Site Location: A Case Study of Douglas County Libraries, Colorado
Geographic information systems offer public libraries a research tool to spatially analyze the location of their current and potential users and locations. Douglas County Libraries is utilizing geographic information systems to determine public libraries’ target marketing and facility site location. Douglas County collected data for users, registered voters, and current and future library locations and with assistance from their county geographic information professionals, geocoded the data. While displaying the data alone provides some insight into planning, interpolation techniques from GIScience research will allow Douglas County Libraries to fully utilize their spatial data for their fall activities. These fall activities include creating marketing materials with maps for registered voters that display the benefit of new library locations and in-house planning to reach target markets of registered voters and library users with promotional materials. The registered voters and library users’ points will be interpolated and the results will display the concentration of registered voters and users. The higher density areas of registered voters and users will become a focus of marketing for the public libraries. Maps of the proposed library locations and registered voter and user concentrations will support the librarians with their marketing in activities. Research from marketing and facility site location will assist Douglas County Libraries planning to both better serve their users and assist in their campaigning for increased funding in the 2007 fall elections.
Yen Bui Ph.D student Drexel University, College of Information Science and Technology 215-895-2474
Research Area: Knowledge/IR Management
A Knowledge Management System for Library Reference Service
Reference librarians are the connection between the library’s knowledge repository and the public. Hummelshoj (p. 13) argues that the “development of community information services with maximum human support is crucial for users’ access to and use of information”. However, the tremendous growth in information resources presents challenges to the reference librarians who need to find ways to provide searching assistance to the public. We propose the development of a knowledge management system that provides assistance to reference librarians. This project would employ the use of expert knowledge and the retrieval of existing question/answer (QA) pairs, in a parallel manner, to enhance the process of knowledge transfer. Knowledge from expert reference librarians such as search strategies and reliable resources would be acquired using interview and observation methodologies. In addition, Case-based Reasoning (CBR) is used to store, organize and represent existing QAs in a repository in such a way that would enable librarians retrieve similar types of questions. The previously worked-out answers could then be reused and adapted. The parallel and coordinated presentation of the results of the expert knowledge and QA retrieval would make for an effective KM system. The intended users of this system are new reference librarians and those who work in small libraries where a one-person reference desk is the norm. The system also has the potential to be applied for internal corporate knowledge management.
References
Hummelshoj, M. (2003). Web-based reference services and community information -the role of public libraries. In proceedings of the 11th NI&D Conference, Spring for information, Reykjavik.
Jennifer Campbell-Meier Coordinator of Information Literacy and Distance Education Stewart Library North Georgia College & State University
Lisa K Hussey, Ph.D. Director of Library Services DeVry University – Phoenix
Research Area: 4. LIS as a Profession
I am a…? Professional Identity and LIS Students
How we identify ourselves influences how others view us. This applies to individuals and to groups such as professions and trades. In fact, identification within a profession is an essential right of passage, which often follows the completion of an educational degree or an intensive training program. Either process helps to shape the individual’s professional identity.
In LIS there are a variety of identifications and titles. Depending on the professional’s focus, he or she may be called an information professional, a reference librarian, a researcher, a technology specialist, a library administrator, or a teacher-librarian. At what point do individual select a particular title associated with their professional identity?
Our research focuses on how future LIS professionals identify themselves and how this identification influences their career aspirations and their views of LIS. Given the diversity of ALA accredited and non-accredited programs, students have the option of pursuing a general library science program or specialties in information science, administration, school, library or academic libraries, knowledge management, and archives, to name a few. This begs the question, how do LIS students identify themselves while in a master’s program? How is this influenced by their LIS program? Does either affect their views on the information professions?
Pok W. Chin Ph. D. Student University of North Texas at Denton 940-595-1919
Research Area: 70. Users and Uses of Information Systems
The Relationship between Searching Subject Domain Knowledge, Information Retrieval User Interface, and Self-Efficacy for Online Information Retrieval among Library and Information Science Students
This inquiry is a survey-based study on information retrieval (IR) self-efficacy formation among Master’s level library and information science (LIS) students. LIS students’ IR self-efficacy will be measured using the Online Searching Skills Inventory (OSSI) under these four scenarios: 1) high searching subject domain knowledge and 2) low searching subject domain knowledge; and 3) confidence in IR user interface manipulation and 4) lack of confidence in IR user interface manipulation. This inquiry investigates IR behavior of LIS students because their educational, future professional and personal use of information and their information seeking patterns in various subject areas requires them to use a wide variety of user interfaces. The need to understand why some searchers are more successful than others has become more critical and of interest to LIS educators and as a subject of research. Self-efficacy is the self-perception of an individual about his/her capability to reach a certain level of achievement for specific kind of task or activity. Self-efficacy measurement is domain specific and has been proven to be a strong performance predictor in many other fields. People with higher self-efficacy in a certain tasks perform better in that task than people having lower self-efficacy. Multiple cues can affect users’ self-appraisal of self-efficacy. This study focuses on two cues that affect IR self-efficacy formation: 1) searching subject domain knowledge and 2) IR user interface. The findings of this inquiry have the potential to improve curriculum for LIS students and in understanding their self-perceived patterns of information behavior and use.
1 Monoi, S., O’Hanlon, N., & Diaz, K. R. (2005). Online searching skills: Development of an inventory to assess self-efficacy. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(2), 98-105.
Kathryn Clodfelter Ph.D. Student Indiana University Bloomington 812-786-0075
Research Area: 9. Social/Community Informatics Examining a Statewide Community Networking Initiative from an Evolutionary Perspective
This poster describes research examining a statewide community networking initiative from an evolutionary perspective. In the state under study, thirty community networks were originally funded in the mid-1990s as part of a broader statewide telecommunications initiative. Each of the funded community networks was then required to pay dues to join a newly-created statewide community network association. By 2005, only fourteen of the original thirty community networks remained active. I propose that the individual community networks formed an organizational community within the state, as described by Aldrich and Ruef (2006). As an organizational community, the statewide initiative was subject to the evolutionary processes of variation, selection, retention, and struggle. Data to support this examination include results of two website content analyses on the participating community networks: one conducted in 1997 and a follow-up in 2005; a 3000 page email corpus consisting of emails posted to various discussion lists and privately (back channel) during 1997; participatory action research (PAR) data from work with an individual community network; results of a critical discourse analysis (CDA) conducted on meeting minutes from the broader statewide telecommunications initiative; and comparative data from regional telecommunications initiatives in other states.
References
Aldrich, H. E., & Ruef, M. (2006). Organizations Evolving (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
Bradley Wendell Compton Doctoral Student College of Information, Florida State University 850-284-9718
Research Area: 5. Philosophy, Values, and Ethics of LIS
Phenomenological Exploration and Analysis of Digital Ontology
The objective of this research is to identify commonalities between endeavors called “ontology” and how this may help further development of digital ontology. This research explores digital ontology and the philosophical traditions influencing it and from which it claims its name. The investigation outlines the etymology of “ontology” and distinguishes analytic and continental philosophers’ approaches to ontology. The methodological goal is to isolate the essence of ontology, identifying necessary and irreducible facets shared by analytic, continental, and digital ontology. Such a goal is characteristic of phenomenological research.
Despite the always already practical nature of digital ontology application, this research begins with and explores the assumption that digital ontology development and application must always employ phenomenological, hermeneutical, and philosophical analysis.
Within the domain of information storage and retrieval, digital ontology is a classificatory method establishing relationships between and categories of beings. One’s immediate impression is that this use of the term seems marginally related to some philosophical branches of ontology. In philosophical ontology we see not only formal logic and classificatory methods, but also a primordial questioning of Being. By acknowledging the importance of these distinct components one finds that each implies the other. In other words, a system of classificatory relationships entails some justification for how one establishes an understanding of Being and how things exist in relation to one another. Likewise, an understanding of Being requires details about the world and how things relate to one another.
Sharon L. Comstock M.A., M.L.S., Ph.D. student Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 217-333-3280
Research Area: School Media Centers/Libraries
A Case Study of "Legitimate Literacies": Understandings of "Information Literacy" by High
What does "information literacy" mean to high school students in the context of their own information behaviors when accomplishing school projects and to the school librarians responsible for teaching it? My case study examines how high school students and school librarians at one high school describe “information literacy” behaviors in the context of the school library media center, using discourse analysis to make explicit the tacit knowledge domains (Talja, 1999; Budd, 2006) of the two communities. My research thus far offers a lens by which to better understand the relationship between information behavior and information literacy in the context of schooling (Osberg and Biesta, 2003). Tentative conclusions include: (1) High school students and librarians use different "information literacy discourses": from definitions of information tasks to what resources, processes, and technologies to use to accomplish those tasks; (2) High school students' and librarians' descriptions of "informal" information seeking mirror each others' and are consistent with information behavior research on everyday life information seeking (ELIS, Savolainen, 2005); (3) However, in “formal” information tasks such as those for a school assignment (described as "imposed queries" by Gross, 2004), school librarians' understandings of what makes students information “literate” are restrictive, focusing on issues of legitimacy. This poster presents ongoing research in answer to dual calls in LIS: to bring more closely together theories of information behavior and information literacy to bear on examination of users in context (Dervin, 2003; Limberg and Sundin, 2006); and to conduct more studies that examine the how and why of information literacy of high school youth (Neely, 2002; Neuman, 2003; Tuominen et al., 2005; Lance, 2005; Chelton and Cool, 2007).
Acknowledgements
Students, Librarians, and Administrators at the research school site. Drs. Cushla Kaptizke, University of Queensland, AU; and Bertram (Chip) Bruce, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
References
Budd, J. (2006). Discourse analysis and the study of communication in LIS. Library Trends, Vol. 55, 1, (pp. 65-82).
Lance, K. Rodney, M. & Hamilton-Pennell, C. (2005) How powerful libraries make powerful learners: The Illinois study. Illinois School Library Media Assoc. Limberg, L. & Sundin, O. (2006). Teaching information seeking: relating information literacy education to theories of information behavior. Information Research, 12(1). Neeley, T. (2002). Sociological and psychological aspects of information literacy in higher education. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Pr. Neuman, D. (2003). Research in school library media for the next decade: polishing the diamond. Library Trends 51, 503-524. Osberg, D. & Biesta, G. (2003). "Complexity, representation and the epistemology of schooling," Proc. of the 2003 Complexity Science and Educational Research Conference, Edmonton, Canada, October 16-18, 2003. (http://www.complexityandeducation.ualberta.ca/conferences/2003/Documents/CSER_Osberg_Biesta.pdf). Savolainen, R. (2005). Everyday life information seeking in K.E. Fisher, S. Erdelez & E.G. McKechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (143-148). Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc. Talja, S. (1999). Analyzing qualitative interview data: The discourse analytic method. Library and Information Science Research 21, (pp. 459-477). Tuominen, K., Talja, S., & Savolainen, R. (2005). Information literacy as sociotechnical practice. Library Quarterly, 75,3, (pp. 329-345).
David Dubin Research Associate Professor University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science 217-244-3275
Research Area: Classification and Subject Analysis
Challenges for Board Game Classification
Board and card games present particular challenges in reference, cataloging, and collection development, but also unique opportunities for librarians to provide valuable consultation to patrons. Compared to computer-mediated games, board games vary much more widely in their levels of complexity, time required to learn, and degree of thematic integration. A wide range of prices, ease of acquisition, and space requirements makes it impractical for most people to own the many games that can enhance their learning, social and family lives.
Game packages provide some useful data for consumers (such as suggested age range), and the world wide board game hobby community has compiled impressive online databases of descriptions, recommendations, and reviews. But librarians need a richer classification system if they are to provide the best service to teachers, counselors, researchers, and families. We have begun a project aimed at developing such a classification, addressing dimensions such as the kinds of skills a game helps to develop, the ways in which historical or literary themes are integrated with game mechanics, and the types of social interaction promoted by different games.
Annette Y. Goldsmith Doctoral Candidate College of Information, Florida State University [email protected] or [email protected] 850-894-1479
Research Area: 46. Children’s/YA Literatures
Found in Translation: A Mixed Methods Study of the Decision-Making Process U.S. Children’s Editors Use to Select Foreign Books to Translate into English
U.S. children’s acquisitions editors select foreign-language fiction and nonfiction books with substantial text to translate into English for their readers, but how and why they do it is currently undocumented. My dissertation research investigates how such decisions are made. With a few notable exceptions, publishing translations with text longer than a picture book is generally considered a money-losing proposition. Very few translations are published in the U.S.; between one and two percent of all children’s books, including picture books, are translations (Tomlinson, 1998). However, the voices of foreign authors offer culturally specific perspectives to readers in the U.S. , tempering the insular U.S. worldview (Roxburgh, 2004). The mixed methods sequential explanatory design combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The primary strand is a predominantly quantitative, brief web-based survey, with questions informed by Brenda Dervin’s sense-making theory. The study’s secondary qualitative strand builds on the survey results, and will consist of interviews with the positive and negative outliers. This research responds to Klingberg’s (1978) largely unanswered call for systematic research about how children’s books are selected for translation, and thus could constitute a substantial contribution.
References
Klingberg, G. (1978). The different aspects of research into the translation of children’s books and its practical application. In G. Klingberg, M. rvig, & S. Amor (Eds.), Children’s Books in Translation: The Situation and the Problems. (pp. 84-89). Stockholm: Almqvist &Wiksell International. Roxburgh, S. (2004). The myopic American. School Library Journal, 50, 48-50. Tomlinson, C. M. (1998). Children’s books from other countries. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
Timothy A. Goodale Doctoral Student Old Dominion University, Darden College of Education 757-333-2881
Dr. Gail K. Dickinson Old Dominion University
Dr. Shana Pribesh Old Dominion University
Research Area: Research Methods
An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between National Board Certification (NBC) in Library Media and Information Science (LMS)
The Educational Curriculum and Instruction Department at Old Dominion University was awarded a two-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as part of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program to conduct an exploratory study of the relationship between National Board Certification (NBC) in Library Media and Information Science (LMSnation's) and student academic achievement. The $291,244 project will provide a scientifically rigorous research framework to empirically test the notion that national board certification affects student performance. The study will be conducted with subset of the nation’s LMS professionals. The researchers will also discuss this framework and study findings with experts on an advisory council and researchers in the field at conferences and a research symposium.
Dr. Martin Halbert Librarian Emory University 404-727-2204
Research Area: Distance Education in LIS
IMLS Project Librarians for the Digital Age: A New Model for Blended Distance Learning Programs Using Library/LIS Partnerships
The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at the University of North Texas (UNT) has partnered with the research libraries of Emory University and the Atlanta University Center (AUC) to form a new partnership in "Blended Distance Learning", whereby the benefits of residential programs can be combined with the strengths of distance education mechanisms. This project was funded by a $773K grant award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Laura Bush 21st Century Librarians Program. Through this partnership UNT SLIS will offer a previously unavailable accredited MLIS offering to the Greater Atlanta / North Georgia region. This "blended" program will not require any travel by students to Texas, and will enable all distance education students in the Georgia UNT cohort to work with and get to know each other in person.
Carolyn Hank Doctoral student School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 919-259-3191
Dr. Helen R. Tibbo Professor School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Christopher A. Lee Assistant Professor School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Research Area: 15. LIS Education and Programs
DigCCurr Progress Report: Development of a Graduate-level Digital Curation Curriculum The Digital Curation Curriculum (DigCCurr) project at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is developing a graduate-level curricular framework, course modules, and experiential components to prepare students for digital curation professions in a variety of information environments, with plans to share the eventual results with the LIS educational community at-large for incorporation in their own LIS programs. This poster reports on the progress of the DigCCurr project team in developing these curricular components, providing a description of completed and on-going research activities, including surveys, interviews, and analysis of syllabi and job postings. We will also present a six-dimensional matrix of digital curation curricular components and a high-level categorization of digital curation functions.
Xiaoli Huang Ph.D. Candidate College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park 240-423-8981
Research Area: 63. Information Retrieval Theory and Practice
A Conceptual Analysis of Topical Relevance Relationships and Implications for Information Organization and Retrieval
The thesis aims to advance thinking on the conceptual nature of topical relevance and, through a multidisciplinary inquiry, to discover a broad range of topical relevance relationships beyond topic matching. The unspoken assumption about topical relevance as a single relationship type, matching between user topic and document topic, is challenged. The study provides an “information use” perspective into analyzing and explicating topical relevance relationships, specifically, to find out how a piece of information contributes to understanding the overall user topic and what conceptual (functional) role it plays in users’ reasoning and problem-solving process. The study consists of three parts:
1. Develop a typology of topical relevance relationships, based on an analytical review of literature in multiple disciplines (philosophy, communication, rhetoric, information science, history, law, medicine). 2. Analyze empirical relevance data to further refine the typology. 3. Conduct user studies and interviews to investigate users’ reactions and interactions with the typology. Findings suggest multiple ways for a piece of information to become topically relevant beyond matching: l by showing circumstantial evidence (inferential) l by supplementing context (physical, social, cultural) l by providing comparative cases (similar, analytical, contrasting) By organizing search results into various relevance categories, e.g., having expandable titles indicating “Social context”, “Contrasting examples” on the interface, users can quickly narrow down to aspect(s) of interest. Also, by representing various relevant aspects of a topic, systems deliver a fuller view of the matter, encourage discoveries of relationships, forge new linkages between discrete information items, and cultivate and structure users’ thinking.
Andrea Japzon PhD Student, IMLS Fellow Drexel University, College of Information Science & Technology 646-831-8448
Research Area: 49. Information Literacy and Instruction
UsingCommunity-Based Library Digital Collections for Community Building and Information Literacy Instruction
Traditionally, libraries and other cultural institutions have served to shape the collective cultural memory by selecting, preserving, and providing access to physical artifacts. Digital collections are now shaping the cultural memory in the same way (Dalbello, 2004). Further, libraries and archives have a long history of instructing individuals on how to care for their personal artifacts and thereby shaping family memory (Tuttle, 1995). Today many individuals are amassing large amounts of digital content, because, like libraries, they have access to inexpensive and seemingly endless storage capability and to the high-powered computing needed to facilitate the creation and the downloading of digital content (Beagrie, 2005). However, the personal computing environment offers limited support for content organization and preservation, so the likelihood that individuals will lose valuable representations of personal memories is very real (Jones, 2007). Through community-based digital collection building, there is great potential for libraries and other memory organizations, such as museums and local historical societies, to extend their technical knowledge to their constituents and build community at the same time (Lutz, 2000).
A survey was administered to digital collections practitioners to gather data about digital collection creation that included community building and/or information literacy instruction. The survey questions focus on the circumstances surrounding these projects, such as who initiated the projects, what role community members played, whether there was inter-agency collaboration, whether the projects included information literacy components, details about the selection policies, and details about the collection and organization of metadata. Analysis of the survey will be presented.
Beagrie, N. (2005, June). Plenty of room at the bottom? Personal digital libraries and Collections. D-Lib Magazine 11(6). Retrieved from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june05/beagrie/06beagrie.html on February 3, 2007. Dalbello, M. (2004). Institutional shaping of cultural memory: Digital library as Environment for textual transmission. Library Quarterly 74(3): 265-298. Jones, W. (2007). Personal information management. ARIST 41: 453-504. Lutz, P. C. (2000, Winter). Colorado Digitization Project: Balancing technology and community connections. Colorado Libraries 26(4): 13-14. Tuttle, C. A. (1995). An Ounce of Preservation: A Guide to the Care of Papers and Photographs. Highland City, FL: Rainbow Books Inc.
1. See also http://www.loc.gov/preserv/careothr.html
Gashaw Kebede Associate Professor Faculty of Informatics, Addis Ababa University +251-111-111081
Abebe Rorissa Assistant Professor Department of Information Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York [email protected] 518-442-5123
Research Area: 50. Information Needs and Behaviors/Practices
A Model of Information Needs of End-Users (MINE) in the Electronic Information Environment: Model Specification and Construction of an Instrument
Library and Information Science researchers have long recognized knowledge of information needs of end-users as one of the key considerations in the effective design and operation of information systems and services, and have given due attention to the study of and modeling of information needs (e.g. Allen, 1996; Belkin et al, 1982; Dervin, 1992; Ingwersen, 2000; Leckie, Pettigrew, & Sylvain, 1996; Mick, Lindsey, & Callahan, 1980; Rasmussen, Pejtersen, & Goodstein, 1994; Saracevic, 1996; Sonnenwald & Iivonen, 1999; Taylor, 1968; Westbrook, 1997; Wilson, 1981, 1999, 2006). However, there is a need for a model that captures the essence of information needs of end-users as a combination of both content and non-content (e.g. those related to information resources and end-users’ skills) and the fact that information needs vary according to the information environment. Toward this end, we proposed a model of information needs of end-users (MINE) in the electronic information environment where the nature of “user tasks”, the state of the “electronic information resources”, and the level of "user experience" with the existing electronic information resources give rise to users’ “information needs” (Kebede, 1992). The model builds on earlier information behavior models, particularly that of Taylor (1962), Belkin et al. (1982), and Wilson (1999, 2006). In the work being presented here, we specify the model; generate hypotheses; and report results from a study involving 36 content and lay experts conducted to generate items for an instrument to measure the constructs in the model, including results of a content validity assessment of the items.
References
Allen, B. (1996). Information tasks: toward a user-centered approach to information systems. San Diego: Academic Press Belkin, N. J., Oddy, R. N., & Brooks, H.M. (1982). ASK for information retrieval: Part I: Background and theory. Journal of Documentation, 38 (2): 61-71. Dervin, B. (1992). From the mind’s eye of the user: the sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology. In: J. D. Glazier and R. R. Powell (eds) Qualitative research in information management. pp. 61-84. Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. Kebede, G. (2002). Modelling the information needs of users in the electronic information environment. Unpublished dissertation, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Ingwersen, P. (2000). The cognitive information structures in information retrieval. In: I. Wormell (ed.) Progress in library and information science, Proceedings of the first biannual DISSAnet Conference: Southern Africa LIS research in progress. pp. 205-219. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. Leckie, G. J.; Pettigrew, E.; and Sylvain, C. (1996). Modeling the information seeking of professionals: A general model derived from research on engineers, health care professionals, and lawyers. The Library Quarterly, 66(2), 161-193. Mick, C. K; Lindsey, G.N.; and Callahan, D. (1980). Toward useable user studies. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 31(5), 347-356. Rasmussen, J., Pejtersen, A., and Goodstein, L. P. (1994). Cognitive systems engineering. New York: John Wiley. Saracevic, T. (1996). Relevance reconsidered ‘96. In P. Ingwersen and N. O. Pors (eds.) Proceedings CoLIS 2, Second International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science: Integration in Perspective, Oct. 13 -16, Royal School of Librarianship, Denmark, pp. 201-218. Copenhagen: Royal School of Librarianship. Sonnenwald, D. H. and Iivenon, M. (1999). An integrated human information behaviour research framework for information studies. Library and Information Science Research, 21(4), 429-457. Taylor, R.S. (1968). Question negotiation and information seeking in libraries. College and Research Libraries, 29(3), 178-194. Westbrook, L. (1997). User needs. In: A. Kent (ed.) Encyclopaedia of library and information science. Vol. 52. Supplement 16, pp. 316-347. New York: Marcel Dekker. Wilson, T. D. (1981). On user studies and information needs. Journal of Documentation, 37(1), 3-15. Wilson, T.D. (1999). Models in information behaviour research. Journal of Documentation, 55(3), 249-270. Wilson, T. D. (2006). A re-examination of information seeking behaviour in the context of activity theory. Information Research, 11(4). Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://informationr.net/ir/11-4/paper260.html.
Jeonghyun (Annie) Kim Assistant Professor School of Library and Information Management Emporia State University 620-341-6369
Research Area: 18. Research Methods
Task Scenario Approach: A Methodological Discussion Task scenarios are simulations of real-life events, depicting hypothetical situations and providing context-specific situation descriptions. They facilitate the exploration of subjects’ responses to those hypothetical situations and have been employed in social science research with the assumption that subjects will give the same answers as if the situations actually applied to them. Likewise, the task scenario approach offers LIS researchers a proven popular tool for understanding people’s cognitive, emotive, and behavioral aspects as well as for evaluating the usability of information systems. It has proved especially useful as the trigger of simulated information needs in information behavior studies and as the platform for the assessment of situation relevance in information retrieval studies. The goal of this study is to discuss the methodological issues associated with the task scenario approach. It summarizes the nature of the task scenario approach and its historical development and also analyzes its application in various LIS studies through literature review. The study then identifies practical methodological issues, including the advantages of, the potentials for, and the limitations of the task scenario approach. Finally, the study demonstrates how the task scenario approach can be useful as a research tool by suggesting rigorous guidelines for research practices that address those methodological issues.
Elizabeth Klinnert Master’s Student Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 847-877-4226
Ann P. Bishop Associate Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 217-244-3299
Research Area: 9. Social and Community Informatics
Professional Research in Action: Integrating Service-Learning with Action Research in Community Informatics
Community informatics and action research are growing areas of interest in Library and Information Science. Here at the University of Illinois, we are developing both a stronger curriculum and research program in community informatics, with support from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Community informatics explores how communities use information and technology to meet their goals. Action research helps to identify needs in a community and brings together the expertise of both academic researchers and community members to tackle those needs. Much like in service-learning, reflection plays a large role in evaluating the outcomes of action research, learning from the experience, and planning future projects. Reflection also aids the two-way learning process that happens between researchers and community members. All three of these components are present in the course Professional Research in Action, presently being taught as part of the Master’s program in community informatics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Community Informatics Initiative (http://www.cii.uiuc.edu) at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science has partnered with Paseo Boricua, a Puerto Rican community in Chicago, in order to collaboratively learn about what a community of learners is, and how a community works. Our Professional Research in Action class takes place in this community and has worked with community members to undertake two projects during the Fall 2007 semester. First, we are completing a cataloguing project in the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's Library to make their materials more available and useful to the community. Second, we performed a needs assessment with the PRCC's various programs to determine future avenues of collaboration between community informatics students and the Paseo Boricua community. The poster will detail the journey our class takes in our action research projects.
Acknowledgements
Other students collaborating on this project are: Emily Barney, Nick Curotto, Syed Karim, Anita Mechler, and John Vincler.
Ellen M. Knutson PhD Candidate Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 217-766-1346
Research Area: Libraries and Society/Culture
Creating Public Space: Deliberation and Civic Engagement at the Library
Libraries are important civic institutions in any society. One well tested civic engagement practice is deliberation where community members come together to work toward a solution to pressing problems. Unlike a debate, deliberative practices are not concerned with convincing others to one side or another, but rather take into consideration the full complexity of social problems with the full understanding that moving to any given solution may end up creating another problem. But, this kind of work needs spaces for it to take place. Libraries are well positioned in communities to take an active role in creating the public space, both physically and intellectually, necessary for successful civic engagement. Moreover, deliberation connects to current library service in numerous ways, from outreach to adult programming, from literacy projects to community information and referral services. Drawing examples from a case study of the use of deliberative public forums in a Russian public library setting, I will discuss the connection of deliberation to the library services mentioned above. Additionally, I will raise questions about the centrality of civic engagement to libraries and where and how these ideas could be included in LIS curriculum.
Joung Hwa Koo Doctoral Student College of Information, Florida State University 850-491-9496
Research Area: 52. Information Needs/ Behaviors of Specific Groups
Information Behavior and Emotion: Refugees’ Everyday Life Information Behavior in the Information Poverty Context
This study explores the phenomena of “information poverty” with regard to refugees’ need for everyday life information. Specifically, this research focuses on the phenomenon of the refugees’ unwillingness to seek out information as a way to avoid negative feelings (e.g., fear, anxiety, etc.). It assumes that refugees are typically vulnerable people who are categorized as having Post-Trauma Stress Disorders (PTSD). These severe affective traumas make people depressive and anxious about facing reality (information). Finally, refugees’ unwillingness to seek information will cause a bad cycle which exacerbates the condition of information poverty. Under these assumptions, this research explores the co-relationship between refugees’ severe emotional condition and their information-avoiding, and information sources and services to overcome their information poverty. Fundamentally, this study may be the first step to solve this research question: How can information professionals serve the helpless and depressed who do not seek information because of psychological trauma, even though they urgently need information to solve their problems? A purposive sampling method is used to recruit 10 refugees’ interviewers with both high degrees of PSD (Post-trauma Stress Diagnosis) and ‘Information Blunting (Avoiding)’ in the exam MBSS (Miller Behavior Style Scale) within refugee camps in Miami and Tampa, Florida. This study makes two surveys of 100 refugees randomly selected within refugee camps in Tampa and Miami. By using the outcomes of the surveys, it is possible to compile a roster of the refugees with high degree of ‘trauma’ and the style of ‘blunting’. Among 100 refugees, 10 refugees –5 each in two places, are selected to be interviewed.
Michelle Kowalsky Instructor, College of Education, Library Media Program Reference & Curriculum Materials Librarian, Cheng Library William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 973-720-2116
Research Area: LIS Pedagogy
CHAT Modeling as a Way to Explore Systems Thinking with New Librarians
Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), as developed by Vygotsky, shares with the systems modeling traditions of librarianship several very important features. The issues, stakeholders, roles, resources and tensions of systems modeling coincide with the tools, practices, rules, community and outcomes of Vygotsky's activity theory and its accompanying triangle diagram. Use of CHAT as the organizing principle appears to help learners in developing and internalizing an understanding of library work as situated within a larger system of teaching, program, and service activity. In their illustrations, students attempt to discuss complex issues in a more holistic manner that allows them to integrate multiple levels of analysis and revise their analyses as they see intersections and connections more clearly. The Vygotskian "activity theory triangle" diagram also appears to assist learners in holding multiple issues and tensions in mind when reviewing situations, suggesting solutions or evaluating outcomes. The result is continued practice of the recursive, iterative dialogue of work with systems, which reduce students' ability to articulate concepts in a purely linear or parallel fashion. Use of CHAT theory may facilitate the efforts of modern library school students gain a deeper understanding of their existing practices, crisis communication and organizational change.
Robin Fogle Kurz Doctoral Student School of Library & Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-682-4846
Jamie Campbell Naidoo, Ph. D. Assistant Professor School of Library & Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-0090
Research Area: 46. Children’s/YA Literatures
An Intricate Tapestry of Cultures: Examining the Representation of the Diverse Guatemalan Subcultures in Children’s Fiction
Based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics published July 1, 2006, Latinos are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority in America, accounting for fifteen percent of the total population and twenty-three percent of the population under the age of five. Thirty-three percent of the 44 million Latinos in America are under the age of eighteen. Guatemalan Americans represent the sixth largest Latino subculture, with a significant number of Guatemalan children attending daycares and schools and visiting libraries. In addition to those Guatemalan children living with their birth families, over four thousand Guatemalan children became U.S. citizens in 2006 through international adoption. Guatemalan culture is a rich and intricate mixture of Mestizo, Mayan, and European customs and languages. Recent research shows a positive correlation between accurate and affirmative representations of the Latino culture in children’s literature and the ethnic identity development of Latino children. Affirmative and authentic portrayal of Latinos can also aid non-Latino children, educators, and librarians in understanding and appreciating the diverseness of the Latino subcultures. While there has been relatively little research on Latino children’s literature, fewer researchers have examined the depiction of Guatemalan subcultures. The purpose of this study is to discover how the Guatemalan subcultures are portrayed in children’s literature available in the United States. Using a methodology of textual and visual content analysis, we highlight the positive and negative representations of the Guatemalan subcultures in children’s fiction to discern the social messages they communicate.
Note: This research is the collaborative effort between a faculty member and a doctoral student. Robin Fogle Kurz is currently enrolled under the name of Robin Fogle Stalvey; however, her surname will be changed to Kurz prior to the conference.
David Lesniaski Faculty Library and Information Science Graduate Program, College of St. Catherine (MLIS program affiliated with Dominican University; CSC currently is in ALA pre-accreditation as an independent program.) 651-690-8723
Research Area: 15. LIS Education and Programs
The Braided Curriculum: Weaving Professional Competencies into MLIS Coursework
The foundations for a professional life of discovery and exploration are created, reinforced, and nurtured in our professional education. At the College of St. Catherine we are rethinking our understanding of what our curriculum ought to do in order to enable our graduates to be confident and competent professionals. We will present our model—at this point, it is a model in progress—for reworking our program and curriculum toward one intended to “thread” ethics, technological fluency, leadership/communication, education/research fluency, and diversity through a core curriculum and areas of emphasis. This work is being supported in part through an IMLS grant awarded summer 2007. We are seeking commentary and feedback on all aspects of our proposal, from our conceptual model to the very practical curricular aspects of assignments and assessment
Elise C. Lewis Doctoral Student University of North Texas 940-368-1064
Research Area: 71. Human-Computer Interaction
An Intersection of Interactivity: Exploring User Preferences, Use and Image File Formats
Information centers providing online access to their collections have a variety of image file formats available to meet the needs of their users. Advancements in imaging technologies provide users with more detailed and interactive representations of artifacts. User preferences and expectations for online image collections also advance and continue to grow. The implementation of interactive images spans from educational reference tools to ecommerce to museums. A more efficient utilization of resources may be developed, given an understanding of what users prefer from their online image collections. This research hopes to explore user preferences and image file formats, with varying levels of interactivity, given particular information tasks. In this study, the researcher will provide participants information tasks and observe image selection. The participants will have access to several different file formats to complete the information task. Interviews will be done to gain a deeper understanding of user preferences and image selection for each information task. Interviews will also explore how the varying levels of interactivity affect the type of image users prefer. Results from this study may provide a better understanding of users and their preferences for online image collections. Exploring how the levels of interactivity impact the use of an image may also improve access to information centers, implementing newer imaging technologies. Indication of special needs: N/A
Sook Lim Assistant Professor College of St. Catherine, Master of Library and Information Science Program 651-699-6888
Research Area: 52. Information Needs/Behaviors of Specific Groups
Motivations of College Students Using Wikipedia
The popularity of Wikipedia in the academic community has been growing. At the same time, due to its anonymous authorships, there have been concerns regarding its information quality in academia. Responding to the concerns, some library and information researchers have begun to examine its information quality and provide some evidence that the information quality or reliability is reasonably good. Currently, however, few empirical studies exist with respect to user’s information behavior regarding Wikipedia. In particular, little is known how college students use Wikipedia and how confident they are in evaluating its information quality. Furthermore, it is not known why they use Wikipedia. The purposes of the study are to explore these unknown phenomena and examine students’ motivations using Wikipedia. The study employs both Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) approach. The study’s significance lies both in the new knowledge about Wikipedia user behavior and in how librarians and system designers can use this new knowledge. A pilot study using a web survey regarding students’ information behavior using Wikipedia was conducted in the summer of 2007. The population consisted of undergraduate students at a large public university in the mid-western United States. The study sample consisted of students who took any of eight summer courses whose instructors agreed with the use of their students for a study sample. A total of 103 students participated in the study. This poster session will present the theoretical frameworks and some preliminary findings of the study.
Irene Lopatovska Doctoral student School of Communication, Information and Library Studies. Rutgers. 214-566-6562
Research Area: 70. Users and Uses of Information Systems
Online search: Uncovering Affective Characteristics of Information Retrieval Experience
Library and Information Science (LIS) research has recognized affective variable as being an integral component of the information seeking behavior. Affect has been shown to influence search strategies, performance and satisfaction. Yet, research on affect is peripheral, lacks consistent definitions and findings. This poster proposes a study designed to systematically investigate emotional states experienced during the use of an online information retrieval system. The study suggests several methods that have been successfully used in psychology, LIS and human computer interaction research to study emotions. The methods include Facial Action Coding System (FACS) that allows recognition of 6 universal emotions from video recorded facial expressions; a variation of the Day Reconstruction Method that involves soliciting vivid recollections and evaluations of emotional experiences; and remembered utility measure that collects global self-reported evaluations of a search episode. The poster will report the findings of a pilot study that applied FACS for understanding emotional states of online information seekers. The findings suggest a link between emotions and search stages, such as waiting for results, analyzing retrieved results, and refining search terms. The findings also highlight the scarcity of positive and abundance of negative emotions experienced during the search. Implications of the early findings related to the range of emotional experiences and directions of future research are discussed.
Hongyan Ma Assistant Professor College of Information, Florida State University 850-644-8106
Research Area: 70. Users and Uses of Information Systems
Is Seeing Believing? User Perception and System Performance in Interactive Retrieval
With the explosive growth of Web information and increasing use of search engines, interactive retrieval has become animportant approach for users to seek information actively in everyday life. Accordingly, user satisfaction has become one of the major goals to achieve in interactive retrieval. Recent studies show that the use of semantic differentials is an effective and accurate method for acquiring, validating, and analyzing subjective data such as user satisfaction. This study aims to examine the relationships among user overall preference, perceptual evidence measured by semantic differentials, and system performance in interactive retrieval. A user-centered experiment was conducted to investigate user perception and system performance in a baseline system and a Web search engine UPIR. Twenty-four users were asked to complete six simulated tasks in a Latin-square experimental design. Statistical analysis such as Wilcoxon signed rank test, Mann-Whitney test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and factor analysis as well as verbal protocol analysis were performed to analyze quantitative data and verbal data collected in the experiment respectively. Results show that there is no statistically significant correlation between user overall preference and system performance, while some perceptual differentials on search results and searching processes correlates positively with retrieval performance.
Sheri Anita Massey Doctoral student College of Information Studies, University of Maryland 301-405-2051
Research Area: 77. School Media Centers/Libraries
Digital Libraries in Schools: The Best Practices of Nationally Certified School Library Media Specialists
Despite extensive literature on classroom teachers’ technology use, few researchers have explored how school library media specialists (SLMSs) use technology. Fewer have examined how SLMSs use digital information resources to support teaching and learning. Guided by previous research on teachers’ technology use and by theories of knowledge management, this qualitative interview study investigates the technology integration behaviors of SLMSs who have voluntarily obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in addition to local certification. The goal of the study is to identify skills and techniques that NBPTS-certified SLMSs have in common when using digital libraries and other networked information resources to support the school curriculum. Data were gathered from three sources: (1) two individual interviews with each NBPTS-certified SLMS, (2) one focus group interview with a subset of participants chosen based on the richness of their responses during the individual interviews, and (3) artifacts related to teaching with digital libraries. The resulting data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. The preliminary coding scheme is derived from the NBPTS Library Media technology innovation standard, which requires candidates to demonstrate expertise in providing access to technology systems, teaching effective use of technology, engaging learners with technology, and using technology to enhance the curriculum. Findings from this research will inform two products: (1) a description of SLMSs’ digital library integration behaviors, and (2) guidelines for a system to capture and reuse SLMS expertise. This research has implications for SLMS education programs and knowledge management systems development.
Eileen McElrath Assistant Professor School of Library and Information Studies, Texas Woman’s University 940-898-2626 Research Area: Information Literacy and Instruction Instruction Exercises for Different Learning Styles
This is beginning work whose purpose is a review of the literature on learning styles as well as to identify specific exercises that librarians who are teaching information literacy skills can use to support different learning styles in the online environment. There is much written in Library and Information Studies/Science literature about different learning styles so we know a great deal about different learning styles. (There is even more literature about the topic from the education field). A gap in knowledge, however, exists when identifying specific exercises that librarians can use to support a specific learning style. This becomes especially important in the online environment—an environment quite different from face-to-face library instruction. Lori Mestre, in her article, “Accommodating Diverse Learning Styles in an Online Environment.” stresses:
Currently, most online situations best serve students who function well in a logical, text-based, passive environment. If equivalent services are to be provided to all students, it is essential that special attention be paid to developing resources that support students who require a more personalized, interactive learning environment. When a diversity of learning approaches is offered, all students are enabled to choose from among different environments to make learning most efficient.
Comments and suggestions from conference attendees will be much appreciated.
References
Mestre, Lori. “Accommodating Diverse Learning Styles in an Online Environment.” Reference & User Services Quarterly. 46 (2) 2006: 27-32.
Theodore Patrick Milas PhD Candidate (ABD) College of Information, Florida State University 850-728-7712
Research Area: 8
Where Virtual Reference Becomes Web 2.0
Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective and a cultural hermeneutics methodology to explore how the texts created through social computing reflect and influence the nature of religious authority in a virtual community, this study analyzes texts on a site called AskMoses.com. This virtual reference site operates under Chabad, a Hasidic (“ultra-Orthodox”) Jewish movement known for outreach. To analyze its articles, including transcripts of reference transactions and blogs, we appropriate a model following the cultural hermeneutics of Geertz (1983) and Boland (1991). This research expands the evolved form of the model modified by Dickey, Chudoba, and Thatcher (2002), Burnett, Besant and Chatman (2003), and reported in Burnett, Dickey, Kazmer, and Chudoba’s (2003) “Inscription and Interpretation of Text: a Cultural Hermeneutic Examination of Virtual Community.” Its four principal elements include coherence, reference, invention, and intention. These elements provide mechanisms to examine this community’s texts as they engage in social interaction. While information exchange and socializing are intertwined, this model allows a robust understanding of the relationship between the two. Articles are not merely vehicles for announcements of Chabad’s opinion about matters of Jewish practice. While they transfer information, texts also provide information within a social context, and create an expanding archive of socially-contextualized interpretations well beyond the capabilities of any individual “rabbi or layperson.” Such applications now allow Askmoses.com to better support Chabad’s practitioners and AskMoses.com’s users, by providing means for anyone to contribute to its content in dynamic ways, as their virtual community negotiates meaning and redefines the limits of religious knowledge.
Rebecca Miller Banner Assistant Professor School of Library & Information Science, University of Kentucky 1-859-257-3771
Older Sisters: An Investigation into the Outcome of the Sister Libraries Project
In 1999, the U.S. National Commission on Library and Information Science (NCLIS) partnered with Sister Cities International on a major initiative called "Sister Libraries: A White House Millennium Council Project." This project aimed to partner American libraries with libraries from around the world with the purpose of connecting young people to learn about life in other countries. In 2001, the American Library Association took over the project. Since then, the project has stifled, although several librarians in the International Relations Round Table are currently trying to reinvigorate it. A few libraries are still partnered, most notably between Colorado and Bulgaria. However, the fate of the other participating libraries - nearly 170 - is unknown. What has happened to them? How many have continued? How many have failed? Why? What can we learn about international partnership projects from their successes or failures? These important questions are the driving force of this research study. The final report released by the NCLIS on the project lists the library name, city and state of the participating American library. The study will investigate the experiences of these libraries through a detailed survey and follow-up interviews.
Stasa Milojevic Ph.D. Student UCLA, Graduate School of Education and Information and Information Studies, Department of Information Studies 310-254-5819
Research Area: 72. Bibliometrics/Informetrics/Webometrics
Big Science, Nano science? Mixed Method Approach to Mapping the Evolution and Structure of Nanotechnology
The way in which science grows represents a research problem that has been often visited by the sociologists, philosophers and historians of science. Since science is organizationally divided into disciplines, one approach is to the study the nature, structure and growth of disciplines. Nanotechnology represents a good case study to understand how science develops. Nanotechnology is recent and it is still forming. On the other hand, it is sufficiently established to have its own journals, organizations and institutions. The nature of problems in nanotechnology attracts scientists from a range of disciplines. While nanotechnology has a prominent applied component, I am exclusively interested in its research aspect. My study will attempt to answer three major questions. What is the structure and evolution of nanotechnology as a collective scientific endeavor? Does nanotechnology correspond in any sense to what various researchers in the past have modeled as a discipline or a specialty? Does the combination of a) bibliometrics, b) social network analysis, and c) qualitative methods (interviews and document analysis) offer a fruitful approach to studying a set of scientific practices such as nanotechnology? The major empirical contribution of the proposed study will be a “story” of nanotechnology: its development, and its current structure. The major theoretical contribution will be to add to the discussion on the nature of disciplines and the models of growth of science. The major methodological contribution will be in finding ways to combine quantitative analysis of large datasets with qualitative methods.
Rae-Anne Montague Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 217.244.0577
Research Area: 15. LIS Education and Programs
LIS Access Midwest Program (LAMP): A Collaborative Model to Extend and Enhance LIS Education
LAMP (www.lisaccess.org) is a regional alliance involving ten schools and academic libraries. LAMP employs several approaches to raise awareness of the field and attract promising students into studies in LIS with an emphasis on reaching historically and statistically underrepresented populations. Proactive recruitment and retention strategies involving mentoring, internships, and financial support build on Camila Alire’s assertion that “it takes a family to graduate a minority library professional.” Inquiry based on this project involves questions such as: * What influences students to pursue studies/careers in LIS? This poster provides details and insights based on ‘lessons learned’ in establishing and launching LAMP. Ideas shared will benefit others interested in developing models to extend and enhance LIS education and ultimately increase professional diversity.
References
Alire, C. A. (1997, Nov). Mentoring on my mind: It takes a family to graduate a minority library professional. American Libraries, 28: 41.
Linda R. Most Doctoral Candidate Florida State University College of Information
Research Area : 7. Libraries and Society/Culture
The Public Spaces of the Public Library System in an African American Community: A Case Study of the Role of Library as Place in a Rural Majority Minority County in Florida
Questions informing this study:
Who are the patrons of small county libraries? What do library users think of the design elements of their local and main libraries? How do patrons view the local library’s services and amenities? What use do they make of these libraries? What insights can patrons and library staff provide about the ongoing role of the public library in their communities?
Unnamed County, Florida, is a small, rural county with a majority African American population. The county library system includes three library buildings and a bookmobile. The headquarters library and one of the branches are housed in new buildings opened respectively in spring 2006 and spring 2007. This study will replicate work first done in Toronto and Vancouver by Leckie and Hopkins (2002) and applied by May (2007) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I plan to collect data using surveys and interviews of adult library patrons, interviews of library public service staff and seating sweeps of all library locations (Given & Leckie 2003). My theoretical framework for analysis of the findings will be built on Habermas’s Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and several key theoretical works on the nature of space and place from Human Geography and Sociology.
References
Given, L., and G. J. Leckie. (2003). “Sweeping” the library: Mapping the social activity space of the public library. Library & Information Science Research (25): 365-385. Leckie, G. J. and J. Hopkins (2002). “The Public Place of Central Libraries: Findings from Toronto and Vancouver.” Library Quarterly, (72) 3: 326-372. May, F. (2007). Libraries as Public Space: Patterns of Use in Nova Scotia Public Libraries. Unpublished master’s thesis. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Jinfang Niu Ph.D. candidate School of Information, University of Michigan 734-330-7264
Research Area: Information Needs/ Behaviors of Specific Groups
Toward a Theory of Secondary Data Use
Every year billions of dollars are spent in producing social science data. In many cases, those data are used by secondary users, who are not involved in the data production process. However, how the data are used by secondary users is still not clear. There is no systematic empirical study on the secondary use of social science data. This study aims to fill the blank. To approach this goal, I have identified some preliminary factors affecting secondary data use from related literature. Now I am doing interviews to refine those factors. My next steps are to find out appropriate measures to quantify some of the factors, develop a survey instrument and do a quantitative survey on a fairly large number of secondary data users. Expected findings from this study are: 1. a big picture of secondary data use, qualitatively describing how each factor affects use. For example, how does the sufficiency of documentations affect use? 2. Quantitatively testing the effects of each factor on the difficulties of use. For example, controlling for other factors, users who are more familiar with the data tend to feel the data are easier to use. 3. finding correlations between the factors. For example, do data sets obtained from data archives tend to have better documentations? Do graduate students trust data more than professors? Findings from this study would inform policy decisions for government agencies and help improve services to secondary data users.
Mehmet Odabasi PhD student Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas
Erhan Erdonmez PhD student Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas
Research Area: Information Systems and Retrieval
User Acceptance Theories: Application on San Francisco Police Department
As we are experiencing a paradigm shift from data-centered systems to user-centered systems, understanding user behavior has become more critical. A new system or a new technology which is shaped with considering the needs of the users would play an important role in bringing advancements to any organization, such as a police department. These needs can be best assessed with applying user acceptance theories and models. Therefore, this study employs the Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology (UTATUT) in order to understand the user perceptions of the San Francisco Police Department (DPD), regarding their use of laptop computers in police patrol vehicles.
Patricia Montiel Overall Assistant Professor The University of Arizona 520-626-3565
Research Area: 49. Information Literacy and Instruction
Information Literacy: The Development of an Evaluative Instrument for Elementary Students. The development of information literacy (IL) has become a critical responsibility of 21st century school librarians1 as the need for students to become proficient users of information has increased. Information literacy is defined as the ability to efficiently and effectively find and ethically use information for a specific purpose. Nine IL standards proposed in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning along with indicators of success for each standard at the basic, proficient, and exemplary level are also proposed in Information Power, with recommendations for implementing instruction in collaboration with teachers. The nine standards, organized within three categories are IL, independent learning, and social responsibility. Although IL is considered essential for students to achieve in society, a literature review in library and information science (LIS) indicates that many students, including students entering the university, are lacking in basic IL skills. At the same time, there is a paucity of information on how to assess the standards with the exception of several studies that developed instruments to assess IL for college students. The purpose of this research is to develop an assessment of IL at the basic level for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. This presentation will discuss phases of the research and initial findings. The phases include item identification through an extensive review of the literature and discussions with elementary school librarians, three successive reviews of the instrument by separate panels of expert school librarians, pre-testing with small groups of elementary students, and widespread distribution to 450 elementary school students. [1] Other terms preferred by school librarians are teacher-librarian, school library media specialist, and information specialist. The term school librarian is used to avoid confusion with discussions about teachers working with teacher-librarians in collaboration (i.e. teacher-librarian collaboration).
Ok nam Park Ph.D. Candidate Information School, University of Washington 206-234-4403
Research Area: 57. Classification and Subject Analysis
Current Practice in Classification System Design - An Empirical Investigation of Classification System Design Team Practice
Classification system design is creative work, and each step in design encompasses related problems to be handled. Design decisions have great impact on the quality and productivity of classification systems. Good design decisions are supported by methods and systematic and comprehensive understanding of issues. A useful supplement to the research would be the provision of methodological and practical strategies for designers to follow. A classification system is constructed by classification system designers. It is designers who make decisions in classification system design. They are the mediators who connect users, system, and information. However, their work practice - how they actually design a classification - is still not well understood. In addition, how users are actually employed in designers' practice is relatively unclear. A good understanding of designers' practice is vital for classification system design research, which has been missing in classification system design research. For this purpose, this research will present an empirical study of classification system designers with a multi-dimensional approach. The study will investigate in-depth a classification system design team in an organizational setting. It will construct a model of their design practice, mapping the essence of what is going on in practice. Cognitive work analysis, social process model, and discourse analysis will be utilized as methodological frameworks for the study. Data will be collected using interviews on site with designers and managers, observations of design team meetings and meetings with other departments, and document reviews of design policy & guidelines and email communications within team members. In-depth study of classification system design practice aims to enhance design knowledge along with practical implications for classification system designers to improve their work practice to serve users' needs better.
Amy Pattee Assistant Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College 617-521-2853
Research Area: 41. Children’s Services
Children’s Librarians as (Domestic) Artists: The Legacy of the Profession
The creation of bulletin boards, the decoration of dedicated rooms or corners for young people, and—more recently—the construction of puppets and felt board pieces to aid storytelling and the development of arts and crafts projects to accompany storytimes have become part of the children’s librarian’s work, have been guided by and documented in the professional literature and, as greater opportunity has arisen for librarians to share their artistic ideas with others, have become part of the vocabulary of the profession. Children’s librarianship and art and decoration are historically associated with “women’s work,” and, as the two concepts continue to be linked, a shadow of domesticity still colors the profession of youth librarianship. Children’s librarians, demonstrating both artistry and agency, continue to produce both useful and beautiful art and craft objects in the context of their professional service. The proposed poster describes research in progress and is an attempt to document the axiom relating library youth services and arts and crafts to an historical concept of domesticity and to trace the legacy of this assumption and the subsequent development of this unique professional and artistic community through words, images and artifacts.
Lilia Pavlovsky, PhD Assistant Professor Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey School of Communication, Information and Library Studies 732-742-8817
Sung Un Kim Doctoral Student Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey School of Communication, Information and Library Studies 908-420-3510
Research Area: 19. Distance Education in LIS
Reflective Learning through Journal Writing in VirtualLearning Environments
The importance of collaboration and active learning has been emphasized in various educational settings (Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1991). However, learning does not only occur through collaborative activities, but in places of solitary reflection on the process and experience of learning. Wenger (1998) considers social participation as the primary element of learning, but stresses the role of identity as “…a way of talking about how learning changes who we are and creates personal histories of becoming in the context of our communities” (p. 5). Robbins (2000) also underscores the importance of cultivating reflective thinking and learning within the context of a community of practice. In virtual learning environments, web-based journals such as wikis and blogs have obtained attention as a way to facilitate reflective thinking and deepen learning by enabling students to record their learning process (Thorpe, 2004; Williams & Jacob, 2004). This study seeks to understand how LIS students experience online learning by examining their personal accounts and reflections in journals shared with a course instructor. Journal entries written by online students will be collected from a Rutgers online MLIS course which requires students to keep journals throughout the semester. The content of those journals will be coded and analyzed with the goal of understanding how online students construct meaningful interpretations of their learning experiences and social encounters as they make sense of interactions and activities in a virtual classroom environment. References Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K. (1991). Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company. Robbin, A. (2001). Creating social spaces to facilitate reflective learning online. CSI Working Paper No. WP-01-01. Retrieved September 29, 2007 from http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/archive/CSI/WP/wp01-01B.html. Thorpe, K. (2004). Reflective learning journals: From concept to practice. Reflective Practice, 5, 328-343. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press. Williams, J. B., & Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20, 232-247. Retrieved September 29, 2007 from defaulthttp://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/ williams.html.
Serhiy Polyakov Doctoral student School of Library and Information Science, University of North Texas 940-565-2186
Hong Xu Doctoral student School of Library and Information Science, University of North Texas 940-565-2186
Research Area: 62. Information Systems and Technologies Adding a User Developed Vocabulary in DSpace DSpace is a widely adopted open source platform for digital repositories. It provides a self-deposit environment for users, and it allows users to submit relating metadata by themselves. The current released version Dspace 1.4.2 suports controlled vocabularies. There are two default vocabularies: The Norwegian Science Index (NSI), and Swedish Research Subject Categories (SRSC). The DSpace adopters can also create their own vocabularies by customizing the vocabulary xml files. But these kind of controlled vocabularies are hierarchical and pre-controlled. These vocabularies do not support user developing and enriching during the process of metadata creation. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Learning Object Repository (THECB LOR) is a proof-of-concept project carried out by the Texas Center for Digital Knowledge at the University of North Texas. During the process of repository building, based on the user’s need, the team of THECB LOR decides to develop a facet post-controlled vocabulary which can be developed and enriched when users self-deposit their learning objects. And this vocabulary is stand alone application that links to DSpace metadata entry interface. This poster displays the method to develop the user self-developed vocabulary, to connect it to DSpace, and the application test result.
Pedro Reynoso Doctoral Student UT Austin, School of Information 512-203-6471
Research Area: 49. Information Literacy and Instruction
Crossing Borders in Literacy: Toward a Transnational Framework for Everyday Literacy Practices of Immigrant Students in a Community College Setting
Increased diversity, hybridity, and heterogeneity of culture, language, and literacy in educational institutions, particularly community colleges, continue to present unique challenges to educators and librarians alike in responding to students’ needs. Today’s learners, especially immigrant students, navigate evolving life pathways as they engage in multiple, local contexts—in and outside of school—and participate in larger transnational networks (Portes, 1999; Smith, 2001; Vertovec, 2004). Along this trajectory, characterized by the radical compression of space and time through digitized technologies (Harvey, 1989), immigrant students may (re)construct, enact, and bridge everyday literacy practices to help shape and negotiate the reconfiguration of local-global knowledge, culture, and identity (Luke and Kapitzke, 1999). The proposed theoretical framework locates lines of inquiry grounded in relevant bodies of work—within and outside of Library and Information Science (LIS)—to discuss immigrant students’ emergent ways of knowing included in their narrative accounts of everyday life information seeking (ELIS) in a community college setting. Grounded in the New Literacy Studies framework (Barton and Hamilton, 1998; Brandt, 2003; Purcell-Gates, 2007), that literacy is a social practice embedded in local contexts and informed by global ideologies, I problematize LIS’ conception of information literacy as currently conceived by LIS researchers and professional library organizations (ALA/ACRL), as well as inform and broaden existing models and pedagogies of literacy. The eventual goal of this inquiry is to unpack, contextualize, and operationalize the concept of information literacy amid a changing sociocultural landscape—in and outside of school.
Sei-Ching Joanna Sin Doctoral student University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Library and Information Studies 608-271-2009
Research Area: 75. Public Libraries
Disparities in Public Libraries’ Funding and Service Levels in the United States Based on Neighborhood Income and Urbanization Levels
Information inequity is a central concern in this information age, and the public library is recognized as a key player in bridging such inequity. Many public libraries in the U.S., however, face various levels of funding problems. As a majority of the public libraries rely on local government funding, those in disadvantaged areas might lack the necessary resources to combat information inequities. While several studies revealed funding and service disparities in specific locations, there is a dearth of research on the pattern and prevalence of disparities across the U.S. Using data of over 9,000 public library systems from the Public Library Statistics 2004 and Census data at the census tract level, this study aims to answer two research questions: (1) Are there significant variations in funding and service levels across library systems in the U.S? (2) If so, are the varying levels of funding and services related to neighborhoods’ income or urbanization levels? For the first question, preliminary findings from descriptive statistics and Gini coefficients show significant variations in funding, and in services such as the number of full- time employees, library materials, and Internet terminals. Multiple regressions were used to answer the second research question, and preliminary analysis suggests that library systems in lower-income or rural neighborhoods are less-funded and offer a lower level of service compared to their counterparts. The initial findings suggest that there exist structural inequalities in the public library funding and services, and that fundamental changes to the current library funding mechanisms are needed.
Donghee Sinn Ph D student Department of Library and Information Science, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh 412-512-0883
Sue Yeon Syn Ph D student Department of Information Science and Telecommunication, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh 412-624-7666
Sung-min Kim Ph D student Department of Library and Information Science, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh [email protected], 412-624-7666
Research Areas: 61. Records Management
A Study on the User Perception of Archiving Personal Historical Data from Web-based Emails and Blogs
Traditional methods of communicating, such as writing letters and keeping journals, have greatly diminished due to the prolific use of electronic media. Instead, web-based emails and blogs have become more prevalent. Today’s personal records become tomorrow’s precious historical materials, allowing future generations to observe how individuals in our era lived. Such materials have played a major role for historical research as a rich source for understanding both personal and, collectively, social history. However, the digital format of records could be vulnerable and ephemeral due to the characteristics of digital formats and the policies of email and blog providers. This situation jeopardizes the survivability of important future historical materials. Ultimately, personal historical data and publications in web emails and blogs will be the information that information professionals handle and make available to users in the future, just like personal records deposited in archives. However, little is known about how general users preserve their web- based data stored in emails and blogs through which they communicate and manage personal records. In this sense, this study intends to assess the perceptions of general users on archiving email and blog messages, and what roles information professionals need to play in assisting them in this process. It also will address the degree to which email/blog users want to have systems in terms of functions for the preservation of their data. This attempt will be beneficial to information professionals and web-based email/blog system developers, helping them better understand the demands and current status of web users' archiving behavior.
Betsy Van der Veer Martens Assistant Professor University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies 918-660-3376
Research Area: 17. Pedagogy in LIS
The Game of Competitive Intelligence
Competitive Intelligence is not about getting a single answer, but about locating significant clues and putting them together into “actionable intelligence” for the end-users in a specific organizational environment. “Actionable intelligence” is distinguished from “environmental scanning” by being able to identify those critical information events that may affect that organizational environment. Business knowledge is essential to CI training. Business fundamentals include the ability to understand the organization’s environment, including industry structure, competitive landscape, competitive strategies, organizational competencies, and opportunity costs, in order to identify those changes in long-term and short-term factors that may impact these. Business knowledge in CI requires the application of both quantitative and qualitative research and analytic techniques. Information literacy is essential to CI training. Information acquisition skills include the ability to identify and procure timely and cost-effective data from published and unpublished documents, online databases, and human sources. Information gathering skills also include the use of Boolean logic, field searching, source evaluation, etc. Information acquisition and use in CI requires special examination of ethical issues in a cross-cultural context. The competitive intelligence cycle stages of discerning CI needs and disseminating CI results effectively to a variety of decision-makers necessitates a high level of communicative competency, which requires rethinking the reference interview and “reinventing relevance” on a regular basis. This poster describes the work being done to develop a “Competitive Intelligence” game at the University of Oklahoma School of Library of Information Studies to teach all of the above skills in an online, immersive environment.
Elena Vassilieva Doctoral Student 940-368-5584 University of North Texas, School of Library and Information Sciences
Research Area: Services to User Populations
User Education for Efficient Use of the Electronic Collections on the Academic Libraries Websites
Rapid changes in information technologies and the resulting development and use of the information resources bring multiple changes into the library services. A new role of the librarians, as information experts, is in providing training in development of the users’ information literacy. The academic libraries become innovative organizations serving as communicators creating messages to encourage the users to acquire new skills and experiences and adopt the innovations presented in the electronic collections and services. As early adopters and sophisticated users of the electronic information resources, the academic libraries act as change agents communicating knowledge about use of the innovations to the patrons. The purpose of the research is to study the academic libraries websites as the channels of communication of the innovations in the form of tutorials and other educational materials to facilitate the use of the electronic resources by the patrons. Academic library websites provide instructions, help sheets, tutorials, etc. to assist the adoption and increase efficiency of the use of the electronic resources. Study population consists of websites of the academic libraries of the universities identified as peer institutions of UNT. The poster will include the results of the analysis of the websites identifying the types of the instructions the libraries are providing for the users of the electronic collections as well as the outcomes of the study determining the main trends and patterns in tutorials for electronic resources on academic library websites and identifying the best practices for the instruction aids for electronic resources.
Danny P. Wallace Professor School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma 405-325-3921
Connie Van Fleet Professor School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma
Lacey Downs Graduate Research Assistant School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma
Research Area: 18. Research Methods
This study examines articles from twenty journals central to the knowledge management literature to answer the core question “What methodologies are used in the research literature of knowledge management?” One of the characteristics of a profession is a body of specialized knowledge encoded in a body of research-based literature. The nature of a profession can be understood through examination of the profession’s research literature. The library and information science literature has been extensively examined from many different points of view by Wallace; Julien; Koufogiannakis, Slater, and Crumley; Budd, and others. The literature of knowledge management has grown rapidly, but the nature and status of the knowledge management literature remains unknown. According to Jashapara, “the emerging literature of knowledge management is relatively fragmented with no unifying theory of the discipline.” Scarbrough and Swan lamented the “mechanistic” nature the literature. Spender commented on the lack of even an emergent theory base. One of the most widely consulted knowledge management books has been characterized as “a series of anecdotes, moral proclamations, and mystical noodlings.” Wilson dismissed the entire notion of knowledge management as “nonsense.” A study by van Rooi and Snyman examined selected characteristics of the knowledge management journal literature; although their content analysis provided very detailed results, only twenty-eight articles were actually examined. This study will reveal the extent to which the journal literature is represented by research as opposed to other approaches, analyze the use of standard research methodologies, and explore the emergence of new methodologies unique to knowledge management.
References
Danny P. Wallace, "The Use of Statistical Methods in Library and Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 36, no. 6 (1985): 402-10; Heidi Julien, "A Content Analysis of the Recent Information Needs and Uses Literature," Library and Information Science Research 18 (Spring 1996): 53-65; Denise Koufogiannakis, Linda Slater, and Crumley, "A Content Analysis of Librarianship Research," Journal of Information Science 30, no. 3 (2004): 227-39; John M. Budd, "What We Say About Research: Rhetoric and Argument in Library and Information Science," Library Quarterly 76, no. 2 (2006): 220-40. Ashok Jashapara, "The Emerging Discourse of Knowledge Management: A New Dawn for Information Science Research?" Journal of Information Science 31, no. 2 (2005): 136-48. Harry Scarbrough and Jacky Swan, "Explaining the Diffusion of Knowledge Management: The Role of Fashion," British Journal of Management 12 (March 2001): 3-21. J. C. Spender, "Organizational Knowledge, Learning and Memory: Three Concepts in Search of a Theory," Journal of Organizational Change Management 9, no. 1 (1996): 63-78. "Management Theory -- or Theology?" Harvard Business Review 79 (September 2001): 25-26. T. D. Wilson, "The Nonsense of 'Knowledge Management,'" Information Research 8, no. 1 (2002). Hazel van Rooi and Retha Snyman, "A Content Analysis of Literature Regarding Knowledge Management Opportunities for Librarians," Aslib Proceedings 58, no. 3 (2006): 261-71.
Dr. Robert V. Williams Distinguished Professor Emeritus School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-2324
Dr. Jennifer Weil Arns Assistant Professor School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-2319
Christine Angel Doctoral Student School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-3858
Jeffrey Naidoo Doctoral Student School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina 803-777-3858
Research Area: 11. Political Economy of Information
Public Libraries as Unstructured Learning Environments: A Broader Perspective on Economic Value
Many of the public library valuation studies that have recently emerged focus on urban and suburban libraries and interventions that may have limited relevance to public libraries in low-income and rural settings. This research focuses on two questions related to this dilemma: what direct and indirect economic measurements are most appropriate for characterizing the contributions that public libraries make to rural and low-income communities and what benchmarks might be used to identify libraries and communities that may be foregoing the these benefits. The initial phase of this project involves re-analysis of the data collected for The South Carolina Economic Impact Study to examine the return on investment variability that characterizes individual public libraries serving rural and low-income communities. The second phase will extend the survey population to at least three other states. The third phase will employ a broader economic focus that captures community-specific economic externalities using a taxonomy developed for this project.
Hong Xu Doctoral student School of Library and Information Science, University of North Texas 940-565-2186
Research Area: 53. Scholarly and Scientific Communication
The Theory Analysis of Faculty Participation in Institutional Repositories
The Institutional Repository (IR) is an innovative mode of scholarly communication, and IRs’ diffusions will likely follow the general rule of innovation diffusion while maintaining their own characteristics. In order to provide a credible guide and theory basis for IRs’ practical applications this paper uses Rogers’ Innovation Diffusion Theory to analyze IRs’ adoption by faculty in the following areas: 1. IRs are an innovation in scholarly communication; 2. the current situation of faculty participation in IRs; 3. during the innovation-decision process, which factors affect faculty’s attitude and participation in IRs; 4. strategies to increasing faculty participation in IRs. The author studied 40 DSpace implementations supporting IRs in American that were listed in DSpace Federation website as of October 2006. The result shows the average faculty participation rate is about 4.6% per archive with a median of 1.9%. Based on Rogers’ innovation adoption curve, the current faculty participation in IRs is in the early adoption stage, and most faculty members do not participate in IRs. The author studied the reason for the difference of faculty participation rates in these DSpace implementations, and then gives some suggestions for encouraging faculty participation.
Changwoo Yang Doctoral Candidate College of Information, Florida State University 850-339-3940
Kyoungsik Na Doctoral Student College of Information, Florida State University 850-345-1631
Research Area: 51. Information Needs/Behaviors of the Public The Perception and Credibility of User Generated Contents (UCC) of Health Information Due to the technological development of the Web applications people are more active and involved in sharing their knowledge, experiences, or interests in various online spaces such as Web forums, Wikis, and Blogs, referred to as User Generated Contents (UGC). Large amounts of UGC about health information have also been created over the past few years with various health and medical related topics from different degrees of expertise. However, misinformation about specific diseases and disorder embedded in UGC may cause serious problems. The purpose of this study is to examine people’s perception and usage of UGC as resources of health information, and to find factors that affect assessing credibility of health information in UGC. Survey and focus group interviews will be used. This study will also discuss the implication of results for health information providers as well as the UGC service providers to prevent generate misinformation.
Hong Zhang Ph.D. candidate GSLIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 217-355-3827
Research Area: 70
Structure of Personal Information Space and its Influence on Information Re-access on Personal Computers
As the use of computers and Internet becomes prevalent, and the amount of information on our computers has grown dramatically, it has become increasingly difficult for many people to find documents on their own machines. This information re-access problem has received much research attention in recent years, including many empirical studies and proposed alternative prototypes in the pursuit of deeper understanding and better solutions. However, the understanding on people’s information re-access activities is still limited. Especially, the platform of information re-access – personal information space (PIS), has not been investigated thoroughly in current research. Existing research and the preliminary studies suggest looking for the solutions by discovering the nature of the mismatch between users’ mental PIS structures and the available file systems on their computers. The proposed study will investigate two groups – Ph.D. students and administrative staff – in terms of the characteristics of their computer file systems and file re-access activities, the characteristics of the files that they have difficulty in re-accessing, and their personal views of their files on computers. A mix of techniques will be used to provide complementary data: emails of example cases submitted by subjects during two months to describe the detailed situation when they have difficulties in finding files; two rounds of semi-structured interviews; and information re-access experiments conducted during each interview. By examining information re-access difficulties in the context of available PIS structure and the mental view of PIS structure, the study aims to obtain deeper understanding on information re-access in PIS and further provide implication for system design.
Nan Zhou Doctoral Student College of Information Science & Technology at Drexel University 215.895.1814 Research Area: 50. Information Needs and Behaviors/Practices
Social Information Behaviors of Collaborative Online Small Groups
This poster reports on an exploratory study that investigates the social information behaviors of small groups engaged in collaborative math problem solving in an online environment. Though most information behavior research has focused on individual behaviors, this study takes the group as the unit of analysis and analyzes small groups’ information behaviors from an interactional perspective. More specifically, we are interested in examining what the social information behaviors of online small groups are like and how they are interactionally organized and achieved. The data for analysis are collected from online sessions of the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project, where middle school students are invited to work in the online chat environment of VMT and collaboratively solve math problems. We have looked at how small groups in such context negotiate information needs together and how they construct information-seeking inquiries collaboratively. Taking a conversation analysis approach informed by ethnomethodology, we have conducted micro analysis of episodes of our research interest and demonstrated how information needs and information inquires are socially constructed, and how groups collaboratively make sense of the math information and apply it to their problem situation. This study shows that information behaviors in an online social context like VMT are different from information behaviors that information studies have traditionally focused on. It also proposes that some constructs of information behavior research need to be reconsidered and possibly re-conceptualized in this collaborative, online, small-group context.
This poster reports on an exploratory study that investigates the social information behaviors of small groups engaged in collaborative math problem solving in an online environment. Though most information behavior research has focused on individual behaviors, this study takes the group as the unit of analysis and analyzes small groups’ information behaviors from an interactional perspective. More specifically, we are interested in examining what the social information behaviors of online small groups are like and how they are interactionally organized and achieved. The data for analysis are collected from online sessions of the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project, where middle school students are invited to work in the online chat environment of VMT and collaboratively solve math problems. We have looked at how small groups in such context negotiate information needs together and how they construct information-seeking inquiries collaboratively. Taking a conversation analysis approach informed by ethnomethodology, we have conducted micro analysis of episodes of our research interest and demonstrated how information needs and information inquires are socially constructed, and how groups collaboratively make sense of the math information and apply it to their problem situation. This study shows that information behaviors in an online social context like VMT are different from information behaviors that information studies have traditionally focused on. It also proposes that some constructs of information behavior research need to be reconsidered and possibly re-conceptualized in this collaborative, online, small-group context. |