Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Re-Conceiving Time In Reference And Information Services Work: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis, Jenny Bossaller, C. Sean Burns, Amy Vanscoy

Information Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use the sociology of time to understand how time is perceived by academic librarians who provide reference and information service (RIS).

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) of two phenomenological studies about the experience of RIS in academic libraries. The authors used QSA to re-analyze the interview transcripts to develop themes related to the perception of time.

Findings

Three themes about the experience of time in RIS work were identified. Participants experience time as discrete, bounded moments but sometimes experience threads through these moments that provide continuity, time is …

Communicative Action And Citizen Journalism: A Case Study Of Ohmynews In South Korea, Seungahn Nah, Deborah S. Chung

Information Science Faculty Publications

Drawing on Habermas’s theory of communicative action, this case study of OhmyNews in South Korea examines how citizen journalism operates in a broad organizational and social context. Through in-depth interviews with professional and citizen journalists, the study reveals that citizen journalism can be well understood at the intersection between the lifeworld and systems. Specifically, the study finds a coexistence mechanism by which citizen journalism competes, collaborates, coordinates, and compromises with professional journalism through communicative action, such as mutual understanding, reason-based discussion, and consensus building.

Exploring The Structure Of Library And Information Science Web Space Based On Multivariate Analysis Of Social Tags, Soohyung Joo, Margaret E. I. Kipp

Information Science Faculty Publications

Introduction. This study examines the structure of Web space in the field of library and information science using multivariate analysis of social tags from the Website, Delicious.com. A few studies have examined mathematical modelling of tags, mainly examining tagging in terms of tri-partite graphs, pattern tracing and descriptive statistics. This study is one of the few studies to employ multivariate analysis in investigating dimensions of Web spaces based on social tagging data.

Method. This study examines the post data collected from a set of library and information science related Websites bookmarked on Delicious.com using a Web crawler. Post data consist …

Characteristics Of A Megajournal: A Bibliometric Case Study, C. Sean Burns

Information Science Faculty Publications

The term megajournal is used to describe publication platforms, like PLOS ONE, that claim to incorporate peer review processes and web technologies that allow fast review and publishing. These platforms also publish without the constraints of periodic issues and instead publish daily. We conducted a yearlong bibliometric profile of a sample of articles published in the first several months after the launch of PeerJ, a peer reviewed, open access publishing platform in the medical and biological sciences. The profile included a study of author characteristics, peer review characteristics, usage and social metrics, and a citation analysis. We found …

Using Digital Libraries Non-Visually: Understanding The Help-Seeking Situations Of Blind Users, Iris Xie, Rakesh Babu, Soohyung Joo, Paige Fuller

Information Science Faculty Publications

Introduction. This study explores blind users' unique help-seeking situations in interacting with digital libraries. In particular, help-seeking situations were investigated at both the physical and cognitive levels.
Method. Fifteen blind participants performed three search tasks, including known-item search, specific information search, and exploratory search, using the selected digital library. Pre-questionnaire, pre- and post-interviews, transaction logs and think-aloud protocols were used to collect data.
Analysis. Open coding analysis was used to identify help-seeking situations the physical and cognitive levels.
Results. The study identified seventeen help-seeking situations that blind users encountered while using digital libraries, including nine at …

Variables Related To School Media Center Lgbt Collections, Shannon M. Oltmann

Information Science Faculty Publications

The inclusion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) literature in school media centers can be controversial, but such material can be beneficial in helping LGBT students come to terms with their sexuality and with helping to foster understanding in non-LGBT students. To examine the extent of such collections in school media centers, this research conducted a checklist exercise to examine the holdings of school libraries in two very different states, one in the northeastern United States and one in the southern United States. The study examined variables that may correlate with the number of LGBT books available in the …

Enabling Cyber Physical Systems With Wireless Sensor Networking Technologies, Multiagent System Paradigm, And Natural Ecosystems, Nafaâ Jabeur, Nabil Sahli, Sherali Zeadally

Information Science Faculty Publications

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are key components in the emergent cyber physical systems (CPSs). They may include hundreds of spatially distributed sensors which interact to solve complex tasks going beyond their individual capabilities. Due to the limited capabilities of sensors, sensor actions cannot meet CPS requirements while controlling and coordinating the operations of physical and engineered systems. To overcome these constraints, we explore the ecosystem metaphor for WSNs with the aim of taking advantage of the efficient adaptation behavior and communication mechanisms of living organisms. By mapping these organisms onto sensors and ecosystems onto WSNs, we highlight shortcomings that prevent …

An Analysis Of Tools For Online Anonymity, Stephanie Winkler, Sherali Zeadally

Information Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible explanations for the slow adoption and development of online anonymity technology. The ability to remain anonymous while engaging in different activities, online is increasingly sought after by consumers with privacy concerns. Currently, the only way to maintain online anonymity is through the use of technology. This paper reviews and analyzes the tools currently available to consumers to maintain online anonymity. There are only four tools available to consumers to ensure online anonymity: anonymous remailers, rewebbers, The Onion Router (Tor) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P). These tools provide the …

Encryption And Incrimination: The Evolving States Of Encrypted Drives, Shannon M. Oltmann

Information Science Faculty Publications

Individuals use encryption to safeguard many valid and legal applications but also to hide illegal activity. Several legal cases have drawn the limits of self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment regarding providing passwords to access illegal information content,such as child pornography. The cases illustrate that certain knowledge of evidence amounts to a compelling need for access and that a subpoena for hard drive contents is more likely to succeed than requiring a witness to provide a password. Since known documents are not legally protected and biometric data can be compelled as evidence, there is no reason that known digital documents, biometric …

Web 2.0 Use And Knowledge Transfer: How Social Media Technologies Can Lead To Organizational Innovation, Namjoo Choi, Kuang-Yuan Huang, Aaron Palmer, Lenore Horowitz

Information Science Faculty Publications

The concept of Web 2.0 has gained widespread prominence in recent years. The use of Web 2.0 applications on an individual level is currently extensive, and such applications have begun to be implemented by organizations in hopes of boosting collaboration and driving innovation. Despite this growing trend, only a small number of theoretical perspectives are available in the literature that discuss how such applications could be utilized to assist in innovation. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model explicating this phenomenon. We argue that organizational Web 2.0 use fosters the emergence and enhancement of informal networks, weak ties, boundary …

Online Deception In Social Media, Michail Tsikerdekis, Sherali Zeadally

Information Science Faculty Publications

The unknown and the invisible exploit the unwary and the uninformed for illicit financial gain and reputation damage.

Multiple Account Identity Deception Detection In Social Media Using Nonverbal Behavior, Michail Tsikerdekis, Sherali Zeadally

Information Science Faculty Publications

Identity deception has become an increasingly important issue in the social media environment. The case of

blocked users initiating new accounts, often called sockpuppetry, is widely known and past efforts, which have attempted to detect such users, have been primarily based on verbal behavior (e.g., using profile data or lexic al features in text). Although these methods yield a high detection accuracy rate, they are computationally inefficient for the social media environment, which often involves databases with large volumes of data. To date, little attention has been paid to detecting online decep- tion using nonverbal behavior. We present a detection …

Academic Libraries And Open Access Strategies, C. Sean Burns

Information Science Faculty Publications

With the rise of alternate discovery services, such as Google Scholar, in conjunction with the increase in open access content, researchers have the option to bypass academic libraries when they search for and retrieve scholarly information. This state of affairs implies that academic libraries exist in competition with these alternate services and with the patrons who use them, and as a result, may be disintermediated from the scholarly information seeking and retrieval process. Drawing from decision and game theory, bounded rationality, information seeking theory, citation theory, and social computing theory, this study investigates how academic librarians are responding as competitors …

Academic Libraries And Automation: A Historical Reflection On Ralph Halsted Parker, C. Sean Burns

Information Science Faculty Publications

This paper provides a historical account of Ralph Halsted Parker and his work to automate libraries in the early to middle parts of the twentieth century. One of Parker’s motivations to automate stemmed from a desire to professionalize academic librarianship, and this is evident in his administration as library director at the University of Missouri. Importantly, the motivation implies a simple means of judging the critical use of technology: that any substantive technology should be evaluated by how well it benefits librarians. Parker’s additional contributions included consulting and coauthoring, with Frederick G. Kilgour, the report that led to the Online …

Enhancing The Care Navigation Model: Potential Roles For Health Sciences Librarians, Jeffrey T. Huber, Robert M. Shapiro Ii, Heather J. Burke, Aaron Palmer

Information Science Faculty Publications

This study analyzed the overlap between roles and activities that health care navigators perform and competencies identified by the Medical Library Association's (MLA's) educational policy statement. Roles and activities that health care navigators perform were gleaned from published literature. Once common roles and activities that health care navigators perform were identified, MLA competencies were mapped against those roles and activities to identify areas of overlap. The greatest extent of correspondence occurred in patient empowerment and support. Further research is warranted to determine the extent to which health sciences librarians might assume responsibility for roles and activities that health care navigators …

Arizona Public Libraries Serving The Spanish-Speaking: Context For Changes, Denice Adkins, C. Sean Burns

Information Science Faculty Publications

Arizona is at the forefront of Latino population growth and political and racial politics. Three different factors could potentially influence the provision of library service to Latinos in the State of Arizona. These are (1) the growth of the Latino community and the consequent growth of its library needs, (2) the growth of state legislation that is hostile to immigrants and Latinos, and (3) the promotion of a pro-immigrant position by the library profession. This paper compares services to the Spanish-speaking in the State of Arizona from 1999 to 2009 in light of conflicting pro- and anti-immigrant sentiments operating in …

Where Do We Go From Here?: Informing Academic Library Staffing Through Reference Transaction Analysis, Bradley Wade Bishop, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Information Science Faculty Publications

This study conducted a systematic sample of every 70th reference transaction from over a three-year period and analyzed 1,852 reference transactions asked at an academic library system's fifteen f2f service points as well as via telephone, e-mail, and chat. Findings indicate two-thirds of the total questions asked were location-based questions about the library. Also, 80.2 percent of location-based questions and 77.2 percent of subject-based questions were asked f2f. Analysis of location-based reference questions informs effective deployment of librarians and staff at library service points as well as the development of mobile library apps.

Can Consortial Reference Partners Answer Your Local Users’ Library Questions?, Bradley Wade Bishop

Information Science Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to explore location-based questions as a weakness of virtual reference consortia and discuss how to mitigate related issues. Content analysis of how both local and non-local academic librarians responded to location-based questions provides insight into considerations academic libraries must make when participating in a virtual reference consortia. Unobtrusive testing analyzed the local knowledge assumption that non-local librarians have difficulty answering questions about libraries beyond their own. The results from these two methods indicate academic librarians have some difficulties providing responses to library location-based questions and a discussion on overcoming this weakness is included.

Revitalization Of The School Library Media Specialist Certification Program At The University Of Kentucky: Preparing 21st Century School Library Technology Leaders, Melissa P. Johnston, Jeffrey Huber, Jennifer Dupuis, Dan O'Hair, Mary John O'Hair, Rosetta Sandidge

Information Science Faculty Publications

In 2010 due to decreased enrollment and university-wide budget cuts, the University of Kentucky School of Library and Information Science made the decision to suspend admission to the School Library Media Certification program. The Kentucky librarian community responded with a campaign to request that this program be reinstated since the University of Kentucky is the only university in Kentucky offering a school library media preparation program within an American Library Association-accredited master's program. As a result, a committee of experts was formed to examine the status of the school library media profession in the state of Kentucky, collect and analyze …

Geographic Information Systems (Gis) In Public Library Assessment, Bradley Wade Bishop, Lauren H. Mandel, Charles R. Mcclure

Information Science Faculty Publications

This paper details three projects utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) in the assessment of public libraries. The benefits of GIS include the abilities to generate maps to convey more information than through other means and to allow for spatial analysis of library services. This paper includes specific examples of uses implemented by the authors. GIS allowed the authors to display data related to library service and identify various disparities across service areas. In addition, this paper discusses practical issues of GIS for library researchers and practitioners based upon the knowledge gained through the development of the three GIS projects discussed …

The Potential And Possibilities For Utilizing Geographic Information Systems To Inform School Library As Place, Melissa P. Johnston, Bradley Wade Bishop

Information Science Faculty Publications

Teacher librarians often consider their students and the internal school environment in planning programs and services but ignore the larger community from which learners originate. The purpose of this study was to provide a review of the ongoing discussions related to the school library in the community context and provide implications for utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) to inform the idea of the “school library as place.” This preliminary exploration, a thematic literature review, indicated multiple possibilities for implementing GIS in school libraries that may enable teacher librarians to better facilitate students’ development of a sense of place, support their …

A Model Of The Information Seeking And Decision Making Of Online Coin Buyers, Donald O. Case

Information Science Faculty Publications

Introduction. The Everyday Life Information Seeking approach suggests that much information behaviour takes place in non-work settings, for example in the pursuit of leisure activities such as hobbies. This study focuses on a community of collectors to examine how they gather information to decide whether to purchase an item for their collection when the target item has an ambiguous or deficient description.

Method. Manual scanning of eBay and other online discussion board for coin buyers led to 187 postings indicating an attempt to reach a purchase decision, or to authenticate a purchased coin, through solicitation or posting of advice.

Analysis. …

A Conceptual Framework Of Information Requirements For Scientists Using Human Biological Samples, Sujin Kim

Information Science Faculty Publications

Introduction. This study was undertaken to develop an information requirement framework for scientists who use biological samples and related data in their research.

Method. A self-reporting questionnaire completed by 137 respondents was used to collect data regarding demographics, bio-sample management, bio-sample use and requirements, data requirements, and work and research-related roles and activities.

Analysis. Descriptive and TwoStep Cluster analyses were used to analyse the survey data necessary for developing a framework of information requirements.

Results. Two groups of biomedical scientists (clinical group and basic scientist group) were formed by their distinct characteristics. A conceptual framework of information requirements for bio-sample …

The Internet Has Changed, Like, Everything, Joseph B. Miller

Information Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Avoiding Versus Seeking: The Relationship Of Information Seeking To Avoidance, Blunting, Coping, Dissonance, And Related Concepts, Donald O. Case, James E. Andrews, J. David Johnson, Suzanne L. Allard

Information Science Faculty Publications

QUESTION: How have theorists and empirical researchers treated the human tendency to avoid discomforting information?

DATA SOURCES: A historical review (1890-2004) of theory literature in communication and information studies, coupled with searches of recent studies on uptake of genetic testing and on coping strategies of cancer patients, was performed.

STUDY SELECTION: The authors' review of the recent literature included searches of the MEDLINE, PsychInfo, and CINAHL databases between 1992 and summer of 2004 and selective, manual searches of earlier literature. Search strategies included the following subject headings and key words: MeSH headings: Genetic Screening/psychology, Decision Making, Neoplasms/diagnosis/genetics/psychology; CINAHL headings: Genetic …

Pc Security In A Networked World, Joseph B. Miller

Information Science Faculty Publications

Over the last decade, the personal computer has been transformed from an isolated word processor and number cruncher into a communications device. The emergence of the Web, the expansion of broadband connectivity, and new versions of the Windows operating system have made it possible to share information and files around the world with the click of a mouse. So, the good news is that it is now easier than ever to connect to any other host on the Internet to share information or to set up your own Internet based information services. However, this is also the bad news because …