Are pictures worth a thousand words? The effect of information presentation type on citizen perceptions of government websites

With the increasing disclosure of public information and government data through information and communication technologies, along with the considerable privately generated data now available online, individuals have access to a huge volume of information. This “disintermediation” of (i.e., greater direct access to) public information may improve transparency and facilitate citizen engagement, but it may also overwhelm citizens not only with too much information but also by requiring them to take responsibility for gathering, assembling, and processing information. Despite the importance of effective information processing to successful use of available information, existing studies have not yet fully integrated this consideration into research on citizen use of e-government and open government data. Based on information processing theory—according to which individuals have a finite information processing capacity, which is affected not only by the quantity and quality of information but also by one's preferences for how information is presented—this study examined the effects of information presentation type (infographic versus text) on perceived information overload, along with the consequent effect of information overload on perceived website usefulness. We also investigated whether individual information processing propensity (visual or verbal) moderated the effect of information presentation type on perceived information overload. Our results showed that textual information tended to cause greater information overload, especially for those with a propensity for visual information processing, and that higher information overload was associated with a lower perception of website usefulness. Moreover, individual information propensity moderated the effect of information type on perceived information overload; people with visual information processing propensity were more strongly affected by the presentation of textual information. We discuss the implications of our findings for improving the communication of policy information through government websites.     

Open government data portals: Predictors of site engagement among early users of Health Data NY

A key premise of open government data (OGD) policies is enhanced engagement between government and the public. However, it is not well understood who the users of OGD are, how to tailor OGD content, and which communities to target for outreach. We examined users' engagement with Health Data NY, New York's health oriented OGD portal, to understand user characteristics associated with increased site engagement. We used Google Analytics data to classify four site engagement metrics into high versus low engagement and used logistic regression to test associations between higher site engagement and gender, age group, device type, and consumer interest. We found that being in a younger age bracket, male, a desktop user, and a Technophile are associated with higher engagement. The findings contribute to further understanding OGD initiatives and consumer health information behavior. More broadly, we demonstrate how OGD managers can leverage their web analytics data to understand which users are most engaged, thereby enabling them to better target their content.     

An Open Government Maturity Model for social media-based public engagement

Social media has opened up unprecedented new possibilities of engaging the public in government work. In response to the Open Government Directive, U.S. federal agencies developed their open government plan and launched numerous social media-based public engagement initiatives. However, we find that many of these initiatives do not deliver the intended outcomes due to various organizational, technological, and financial challenges. We propose an Open Government Maturity Model based on our field studies with U.S. federal healthcare administration agencies. This model is specifically developed to assess and guide open government initiatives which focus on transparent, interactive, participatory, collaborative public engagement that are largely enabled by emerging technologies such as social media. The model consists of five maturity levels: initial conditions (Level 1), data transparency (Level 2), open participation (Level 3), open collaboration (Level 4), and ubiquitous engagement (Level 5). We argue that there is a logical sequence for increasing social media-based public engagement and agencies should focus on achieving one maturity level at a time. The Open Government Maturity Model helps government agencies implement their open government initiatives effectively by building organizational and technological capabilities in an orderly manner. We discuss challenges and best practices for each maturity level and conclude by presenting recommendations.     

Introducing Open Government Data

This article provides an overview of open government data. It outlines what it is, provides examples, and summarizes library engagement with these data. The professional and academic literature and other web sources were examined along with government policies and portals. Open government data is a fairly recent and evolving phenomenon that promotes government transparency and invites citizen participation and innovative reuses of public data. Libraries have been responding to this release of data in a number of ways including offering data literacy instruction and special services and programs.     

公共图书馆政府信息服务模式初探

公共图书馆的性质决定了其在政府信息公开中的责任;<政府信息公开条例>实施给公共图书馆带来挑战和机遇;立足中国现实,参考国际经验,积极探索公共图书馆政府信息服务模式.     

Social media effects on fostering online civic engagement and building citizen trust and trust in institutions

This paper tests the extent to which social media is shaping civic engagement initiatives to build trust among people and increase trust in their institutions, particularly the government, police and justice systems. A survey of 502 citizens showed that using social media for civic engagement has a significant positive impact on trust propensity and that this trust had led to an increase in trust towards institutions. Interestingly, while group incentives encouraged citizens to engage online for civic matters, it is civic publications through postings on social media that intensify the urge of citizens for civic action to address social issues. Post-hoc analysis via ten interviews with social activists was conducted to further examine their perceptions on trust towards institutions. The overall findings suggest that institutions, in their effort to promote a meaningful and trusting citizen engagement, need to enhance trust among the public by fostering social capital via online civic engagement and closing the public–police disengagement gap.     

公共图书馆与政府信息公开

《政府信息公开条例》实施给公共图书馆带来了挑战和机遇。国外公共图书馆政府信息服务有多样化的形式和良好的效果。目前我国公共图书馆政府信息服务的主要内容,应是对政府信息进行科学组织、加工整合、深度揭示,以方便利用;创新服务方式方法;积极介入当地政府信息公开目录、指南、索引、摘要的编制工作。急需建立政府信息及时、完整进入公共图书馆的制度保障;落实各级政府为公共图书馆开展政府信息服务提供必要保障的规定。参考文献24。     

Social media engagement forms in government: A structure-content framework

This article presents a structure-content framework to characterize social media engagement between government and the public because related scholarship fails to adequately link the concepts. The term structure refers to the flow of information—or the direction of messages from one type of account to another (e.g., a government agency to the public or vice versa) and the extent to which they interact. The term content represents the messages' intended goals and meaning. This framework integrates both concepts, notably the communication modes model (an example of structure) with content categories such as transparency, symbolic presentation, customer service, coproduction, and citizen participation. Because it is more comprehensive than typologies focused on either concept alone, the article more thoroughly conveys the complexity of available engagement opportunities. Facebook data from Hurricane Florence exemplify the model and account for both routine and critical operating conditions.     

政府信息公开满意度研究（Ⅲ）——基于结构方程的满意度模型校验

基于结构方程模型理论,分析调查问卷人口学变量的特点、特征结构、信度和各个维度的关系,得出政府信息公开满意度结构方程模型中各个维度之间的相关系数。并对已构建的政府信息公开满意度模型进行校验,给出基于结构方程的政府信息公开满意度修订模型。     

政府信息公开公众满意度测评研究

以经典顾客满意度指数模型为基础,结合我国政府信息公开的特点,阐述政府信息公开公众满意度的内涵,讨论政府信息公开公众满意度的影响因素,然后构建我国政府信息公开公众满意度指数模型,最后通过实证研究检验模型的合理性。
     

省级公共图书馆政府信息公开服务调查研究

论文采取网络调查方法,研究公共图书馆政府信息公开服务能力,对象为31个省级公共图书馆政府信息公开服务栏目。研究结果表明:公共图书馆需要从提高重视程度、法律法规保障、培训与推广、拓展服务以及加强合作方面等完善公共图书馆政府信息公开服务机制。     

The Changing Role of the Local News Media in Enabling Citizens to Engage in Local Democracies

Using Leeds City Council in the United Kingdom as a case study, we analyse comparatively the changing role of local journalism in the public communications and engagement strategies of local government. Drawing on over 20 semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the mainstream news media's role versus new modes of communication in engaging and communicating with citizens. We evaluate the Council's perceptions of its online and offline practices of engagement with different publics, and focus in particular on their interactions with journalists, the news media, and citizen journalists. The article considers how moves towards digital modes of engagement are changing perceptions of the professional role orientations of journalists in mediating between the Council and the general public.     

政府应急信息发布中政府、媒体与公众关系研究综述

学术界关于政府应急信息发布中政府、媒体与公众关系的研究主要包括以下方面:信息技术对政府、媒体与公众关系的影响研究,政府、媒体与公众关系应然状态的研究,政府、媒体与公众关系失衡表现与原因的研究,以及政府、垛体与公众关系重构策略的研究等.在分析已有研究的基础上,文章提出了研究展望:一是对政府应急信息发布中公众参与的研究将越...     

Engendering inclusive e-government use through citizen IT training programs

Around the world, governments turn to information technology (IT) training programs to enhance equitable delivery of online public services to citizens. However, the effectiveness of these citizen training programs has gone unexplored. This study is motivated by two objectives: 1) To evaluate whether citizen participation in government training programs is associated with greater e-government use among participants, and 2) To assess whether the strength of this relationship varies according to whether a citizen is elderly, disabled, or not – those who are elderly or disabled tend to use e-government the least. We use data from South Korean to examine these objectives. Findings indicate citizen participation in government IT training programs is positively associated with e-government use and that this relationship is stronger for citizens who are elderly or disabled. These findings highlight the potential of government IT training programs to mitigate the digital divide. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

政府信息公开满意度研究（Ⅳ）——基于结构方程的公众满意度应用研究

以深圳市政府信息公开的公众满意度作为测评对象,收集公众满意信息,得出深圳市政府与其职能部门信息公开公众满意度模型中各个结构变量之间的相关系数以及深圳市公众对政府信息公开的总体满意度,进而分析深圳市政府信息公开存在的问题,并提出相应的对策。     

Exploring the extent of openness of open government data – A critique of open government datasets in the UK

The claim of the open government data (OGD) movement is that it would add considerable value to the political, economic and social development of nations. Thus, during the past few years, governments around the world have been under increasing pressure to release data to encourage citizen participation in government. In the UK, the government publishes its data on the data.gov.uk website for the public to find, view, download and interrogate.¹ In this paper, we evaluate the extent of openness of OGD in the UK – a recognised global leader in the OGD movement – by examining a sample of 400 datasets listed on this website. The examination uses an ‘ordinary citizen’ test, which is developed based on the original eight Sebastopol principles of open data. Our examination discovers that existing prevalent measures of openness of data are inadequate. Our findings demonstrate that the majority of the published government resources on the website are informational rather than granular data. In fact, only a small minority of these advertised as open data are actually open, which severely limits their open government utilities.     

Open government research over a decade: A systematic review

Academic studies of open government have flourished in the last decade. Nevertheless, comprehensive reviews of open government have been limited. This research gap not only impedes our understanding of the overall body of knowledge on open government but also hinders the advancement of existing practices. To address this gap, this article systematically reviews 189 studies published from 2008 to 2019. Guiding this review are the central research questions: (1) How has the concept of open government been defined and conceptualized in the literature? (2) How is open government being used and implemented? (3) What outcomes or impacts are attributed to open government initiatives? This research found that open government is generally conceptualized as a new governing structure emphasizing both transparency (vision) and public participation (voice). However, it also identifies a “transparency-driven focus” for both the case selection of academic studies and practical implementation, which represents a gap between open government theory and practice. This research also reveals the lack of empirical evidence regarding the effects of open government and highlights methodological concerns of prior studies. The article concludes with a discussion on future research.     

数字图书馆建设的政府职能诠释

政府是数字图书馆建设的投资者和宏观指导者,在数字图书馆建设过程中应理性定位,统筹规划,合理布局;加强监督,着力于信息披露;平衡数字图书馆建设中的政府参与和市场运作之间的关系,确保数字图书馆建设的公益性;在税收、法律规范、版权等方面为数字图书馆建设创造良好的外部环境。     

Examining the role of Web site information in facilitating different citizen–government relationships: A case study of state Chronic Wasting Disease Web sites

This paper develops a framework to assess the text-based public information provided on program level government agency Web sites. The framework informs the larger e-government question of how, or whether, state administrative agencies are using Web sites in a transformative capacity—to change relationships between citizens and government. It focuses on assessing the degree to which text information provided on government Web sites could facilitate various relationships between government agencies and citizens. The framework incorporates four views of government information obligations stemming from different assumptions about citizen–government relationships in a democracy: the private citizen view, the attentive citizen view, the deliberative citizen view, and the citizen–publisher view. Each view suggests inclusion of different types of information on government agency web sites. The framework is employed to assess state Web sites containing information about chronic wasting disease, a disease effecting deer and elk in numerous U.S. states and Canada.