Political trust in the internet context: A comparative study in 36 countries

The decline of political trust is often linked to the rise of the Internet. This paper took the perspective of media ecology to explore the Internet's impacts on political trust. The data of the World Values Survey were used for multilevel analyses with 51, 960 respondents in 36 countries. It reported several paradoxical and counter-intuitive results. Instead of being weakened, political trust is strengthened in the new informational context that is created by the Internet infrastructure. For the Internet censorship, political trust is strengthened by the Internet blockage but weakened by the violation of user rights. For the Internet participation, political trust is strengthened by e-information and e-consultation but weakened by e-decision-making.     

Evaluating IT innovations in a business-to-government context: A framework and its applications

This paper highlights the challenges of assessing the value of business-to-government IT innovations for both private and public stakeholders. Due to the different backgrounds of inhomogeneous stakeholders, potential adopters of business-to-government systems have varying requirements; in particular, they address understandings of value attributed to the implementation and the usage of such systems. Incorporating specific perspectives of each stakeholder in its own domain for evaluation is vital for supporting diffusion of IT innovations. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a value assessment framework that combines the value understanding from both public and private stakeholders. Applying this framework not only allows the value assessment of business-to-government IT innovations incorporating different needs and requirements of various current stakeholders, but it also provides common and objective evaluation criteria on similar business-to-government IT innovations for potential adopters from both domains. We discuss the application of the proposed value framework in the case of e-customs systems redesign based on an example of the introduction of e-customs IT solutions in a Finnish multinational company.     

A social relations analysis of participation in small groups

Two approaches to explaining the relation between interaction and participator judgments in small groups are examined. The first, expectations states theory, suggests that participator judgments are consistent across raters for a given target, and that such ratings are a function of the heuristic processing of social information. The second approach, the local management model, assumes more thoughtful processing of members' behaviors, leading to uniqueness in how perceivers evaluate targets as participators. A social relations analysis of participator assessments in same- and mixed-sex groups revealed consensus in participator judgments; uniqueness also played a role in how members perceived each other as useful participators. In addition, consensus was correlated with participation, but not with sex. The discussion addresses the necessity and sufficiency of each model as well as the conditions under which each model would better fit the data.     

媒介语境:为受众设置的界面

媒介传播存在一定程度的多义甚至歧义现象。媒介语境运用媒介本身所造成的信息环境 ,帮助受众进行正确解码 ,促进信息的流通。因此 ,媒介语境的功能指向是传播效果。媒介语境的构成可以从语义层面、语法层面、语用层面来进行分析。媒介语境的运用要注意同调规则、阈限规则、完形规则。     

Performance in a social context: Date rape versus date right

This investigation examined performance of texts as a method of modifying sexual attitudes and assertiveness in a dating context in order to prevent date rape or unwanted sexual aggression. The study focused on the impact of three training modalities (live performance, performance plus discussion, and discussion) and aggressive sexual experience on sexual attitudes and assertive behavior. Results suggest that live performance alone and live performance plus discussion have the capacity to modify sexual attitudes and increase awareness of the issues.     

A Virtual Notebook for biomedical work groups

During the past several years, Baylor College of Medicine has made a substantial commitment to the use of information technology in support of its corporate and academic programs. The concept of an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) has proved central in our planning, and the IAIMS activities that we have undertaken with funding from the National Library of Medicine have proved to be important extensions of our technology development. Here we describe our Virtual Notebook system, a conceptual and technologic framework for task coordination and information management in biomedical work groups. When fully developed and deployed, the Virtual Notebook will improve the functioning of basic and clinical research groups in the college, and it currently serves as a model for the longer-term development of our entire information management environment.     

浅谈现代图书馆工作人员非正式群体及其管理

文章论述了现代图书馆工作人员非正式群体形成的原因特征和作用,并提出了相应的策略.     

About informing the leadership in an organization: Problems in the context of information security

The phenomenon of whistleblowing in modern business is considered; its information function is defined; systemic problems with this function in an organization are revealed on the basis of the nature of the information activity on the subject of whistleblowing: the negative ethical status of whistleblowing, the adequacy of information, and the escalation of mistrust. The conditions and ways of solving these problems are substantiated.     

新技术环境中的传播陷阱分析

本文探讨了新媒介技术可能造就的一些传播陷阱.这些传播陷阱有些会影响人对自我的认识,有些会影响人与人的交往相处,也有些会影响人对社会整体的理解与把握.文章具体讨论了人--信息瓦动之间的思维与认知陷阱、人--人互动之间的沟通与关系陷阱、人--机互动之间的控制与使用陷阱,并粗略地提出了一些对抗传播陷阱的建议和对策.     

Understanding everyday life information seeking behavior in the context of coping with daily hassles: A grounded theory study of female students

Studying everyday life information seeking (ELIS) in a variety of contexts contributes to its conceptual development. The primary goal of this study was to understand ELIS in the context of female university students' coping with daily hassles. To identify the dimensions and determinants of ELIS, and to fill this current gap in the literature, a grounded theory study was conducted using Flick's stages of episodic interviewing with 21 Iranian female first-year university students. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed through open, axial and selective coding. The findings showed that ELIS in coping with daily hassles is a multidimensional phenomenon that is affected by individuals' characteristics and sociocultural norms and values. Three main categories emerged as determinants of ELIS, namely normative status of the daily hassles, normative status of the information resources, and the individual's characteristics. Two main categories emerged as dimensions of ELIS which were type and strategy of action. Results of this study can contribute to the conceptual development of ELIS and may indicate how and in what circumstances ELIS dimensions emerge. The findings can also be used as a basis for developing information and intervention services in the context of coping with daily hassles.     

Social influence in groups: A comparative application of relational framing theory and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion

Normative influence, as opposed to informational influence, in groups often diminishes decision-making outcomes. Despite the important effect of social influence on group performance, prior research on social influence in groups has largely focused on variable analytic conditions that affect influence, instead of on theoretical explanations of the use of social influence. This paper addressed that limitation by applying Relational Framing Theory (Dillard, Solomon, & Samp, 1996) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) to social influence in groups. A 3 (group interaction goal: task, group, control)×2 (involvement: high or control) factorial design experiment was conducted to test the applicability of these two theories. Results demonstrated that neither theory predicted the occurrence of normative and informational statements in discussion. Additional tests, however, showed greater general support for Relational Framing Theory.     

Urban exploration: Secrecy and information creation and sharing in a hobby context

Urban exploration is a hobby that involves visiting and capturing visual images of urban infrastructure often no longer used, including sewers, towers, factories, and military instalments. Hobbyists then frequently share their visual content via social media sites. The urban explorer's multi-layered construction of content offers an important opportunity to understand how people create information and share experiences and content in a hobby context. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews with 17 urban explorers from Ireland and the United Kingdom and an analysis of urban explorers' digital presence. Results suggest that urban explorers believe their hobby serves both personal and civic purposes. Urban explorers' creative hobby behaviors further lead them to secretive information behaviors.     

媒介融合背景下英国广电业"公共服务"理念之嬗变

1922年成立的英国广播公司(BBC)是世界上第一家公共广播机构,但"公共服务"(Public Service)的理念在英国并非仅仅与BBC关联.一直以来,"公共服务"始终面对政治与市场力量变动所带来的挑战,而近年来将原有媒介格局更加复杂化的"媒介融合"使得这个传统成为今天英国相关业界以及学界重新讨论的焦点.到底什么是"公共服务"?它在"媒介融合"的今天究竟如何实现?抑或,"媒介融合"的今天到底还需不需要"公共服务"?本文试图结合具体的历史文本做一分析.     

The economic context of book publishing

A healthy publishing industry flourishes in a healthy economy. This article (written June 1990) provides a brief forecast for the U.S. economy and overall consumer spending. The authors combine economic and demographic forecasts to predict trends in book sales. Jim Haughey is Vice President, Research and Economics, at Cahners Publishing Company, which publishesPublishers Weekly, Library Journal, and seventy other business and consumer magazines and newspapers. Deborah Selsky is the economist for the printing and publishing group at Cahners Economics. She regularly writes on economics forLibrary Journal and is the editor ofPublishing Markets, a newsletter.