The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon

The purpose of this article is to propose a fruitful analytical framework for data supposedly related to the concept of the so-called "digital divide." The extent and the nature of this divide depend on the kind of access defined. Considering the possession of hardware, growing divides among different categories of income, employment, education, age, and ethnicity can be proved to have existed in the 1980s and 1990s according to official American and Dutch statistics. If only by effects of saturation, these gaps will more or less close. However, it is shown that differential access of skills and usage is likely to increase. The growth of a usage gap is projected. Multivariate analyses of Dutch official statistics reveal the striking effect of age and gender as compared to education. The usage gap is related to the evolution of the information and network society. Finally, policy perspectives are discussed.     

The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon

The purpose of this article is to propose a fruitful analytical framework for data supposedly related to the concept of the so-called "digital divide." The extent and the nature of this divide depend on the kind of access defined. Considering the possession of hardware, growing divides among different categories of income, employment, education, age, and ethnicity can be proved to have existed in the 1980s and 1990s according to official American and Dutch statistics. If only by effects of saturation, these gaps will more or less close. However, it is shown that differential access of skills and usage is likely to increase. The growth of a usage gap is projected. Multivariate analyses of Dutch official statistics reveal the striking effect of age and gender as compared to education. The usage gap is related to the evolution of the information and network society. Finally, policy perspectives are discussed.     

Information,knowledge and collaboration management in the internationalisation of SMEs: A systematic literature review

Information and knowledge can be seen as key resources for improving the internationalisation processes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Collaboration has also been considered as an important facilitator of these processes, particularly by nurturing information and knowledge sharing. However, the current literature is unclear about the way SMEs can access information and assimilate knowledge in a collaborative network context, to support decision-making. This paper systematically reviews the literature, examining the role of information, knowledge and collaboration in internationalisation decisions of SMEs. To this end, 38 relevant journal articles were analysed, with the identification of some important issues, as well as gaps in the existing empirical knowledge. This analysis provided valuable input for the development of research suggestions and directions for future work in this area.     

A Multidimensional Analysis of the Disability Digital Divide: Some Evidence for Internet Use

Over the last few years, information and communication technologies have become an essential part of daily life, affecting education, employment, and leisure, among other activities. Nonetheless, many individuals still reap few or no benefits from these technologies, and there are resilient gaps in their use. Within this larger context, the authors examine the Internet digital divide between people with and without disabilities from a multidimensional approach. Rather than analyzing the gap in terms of “haves” and “have-nots,” a range of Internet-related dimensions—affordability, motivation and attitudes, skills, usage, and others—is taken into account.     

谈网络环境下高校图书馆的教育职能

internet的发展为网络下高校图书馆直接参与教学、科研提供了基础和条件,就图书馆通过开设文献检索与利用课、大学生就业信息指导课及举办科技成果展等一系列活动,来体现网络环境下高校图书馆教育职能的进一步增强。     

Facing and bridging gaps in Web searching

Drawing on the ideas of the Sense-Making approach, the ways in which people face and bridge gaps in Web searching are analyzed. The empirical study is based on videotaped Web searches conducted by seven participants. Altogether 11 gaps and 13 search tactics of various types were identified. The gaps faced by the searchers originated from three major factors: problematic content of information, insufficient search competence and problems caused by the search environment. Of individual gaps, no relevant material available, inaccessible content and confusion were most frequent. Of the search tactics used in gap-bridging, following links and activating the Back button were most popular. Gaps related to the problematic content of information led the informants to redirect the search to find Web pages that focus better on the search topic. If the movement was stopped by insufficient search competence, the searchers tended to return to material that was familiar from earlier use contexts in order to regain control of the search process. Alternatively, they tried to specify the search terms. In cases where the search was interrupted by technical problems or other factors originating from the search system, gap-bridging aimed at returning to familiar and technically reliable links. The Sense-Making theory provides relevant conceptual tools to approach the dynamic and discontinuous nature of Web searching in terms of gap-facing and gap-bridging. The concept of gap-facing enables a context-sensitive analysis of the ways in which Web search processes may be stopped. Gap-bridging indicates a general level motive to find alternative ways to continue searching.     

Examination of how social aspects moderate the relationship between task characteristics and usage of social communication technologies (SCTs) in organizations

Because of the increasing significance of social communication technologies within an organization, they have become a new form of information processing, resulting in business process transitions and increased benefits. By applying media richness theory and social theories, this study investigated how social communication technologies (SCTs) can be used by an employee to fit his/her task characteristics. Additionally, it also examined how the employee's social relationships moderated media usage in the current job environment and how this usage influenced the task performance. Five media were selected in this study (telephone, video conferencing, email, instant messaging, and blog). Using a hierarchical regression approach, we found that task characteristics were related to media usage, whereas social factors (social influence and social affinity) moderated the degree of the relationships. A few particular media and technologies seemed to perform well, however these are influenced by the social aspects. Moreover, the usage of social technologies results in positive task performance. The performance of a few specific technologies demonstrated binding effects (email performance was associated with instant messenger performance). In summary, we found that the usage of SCTs is instrumentally determined by the interaction between the task and social relationships.     

Assessing the Need and Potential of Community Networking for Development in Rural India

This article reports the results and conclusions of a mixed-methods research strategy designed to assess the potential of community networking in rural Tamil Nadu, India. The data reported and analyzed in this article include socioeconomic and household spending, agricultural marketing and price search, availability and use of information on agricultural problems, and communication media use. We use these data to define a framework of existing sources of information for various community agents, with a special emphasis on farmers. We analyze the methods and costs at which these agents obtain information, and identify information and communication gaps that information and communication technologies (ICTs) may help alleviate. This study allows us to demonstrate opportunities for socioeconomic development through ICT-enabled information access. The article concludes by stating the importance of basic communication technologies and contextually relevant information services, and suggesting recommendations for future research in this area.     

Assessing the Need and Potential of Community Networking for Development in Rural India Special Issue: ICTs and Community Networking

This article reports the results and conclusions of a mixed-methods research strategy designed to assess the potential of community networking in rural Tamil Nadu, India. The data reported and analyzed in this article include socioeconomic and household spending, agricultural marketing and price search, availability and use of information on agricultural problems, and communication media use. We use these data to define a framework of existing sources of information for various community agents, with a special emphasis on farmers. We analyze the methods and costs at which these agents obtain information, and identify information and communication gaps that information and communication technologies (ICTs) may help alleviate. This study allows us to demonstrate opportunities for socioeconomic development through ICT-enabled information access. The article concludes by stating the importance of basic communication technologies and contextually relevant information services, and suggesting recommendations for future research in this area.     

基于UTAUT的百度产品用户使用行为影响因素研究

百度依托其搜索引擎推出了各类社会服务类产品,如百度知道、百度贴吧等,使得百度在用户眼里不再是一个单一的搜索引擎,而是能够提供各类信息和知识服务的门户社区。本文以技术接受和使用统一理论(UTAUT)为背景构建百度产品使用的影响因素模型,通过问卷调查搜集数据,并利用结构化方程建模(SEM)方法对298个百度产品用户的数据进行分析,发现努力期望是影响百度产品使用意愿的关键因子。百度产品使用意愿又进一步是百度产品使用行为的关键因子,最后结合百度环境提出了针对性的对策和建议。     

Intermittent social media usage: An empirical examination on the temporary discontinuance of blogging and its impact on subsequent user behavior

Social media usage is largely intermittent since users often temporarily pause the usage and resume after a while. However, the pattern of such Temporary Discontinuances (TD) has not been empirically quantified, and its impact on users’ subsequent behavior is still unclear. Tracing all blogs of more than 11 K users over an extended period of twelve years, the study adopts computational approaches to analyze the intermittent pattern of blogging activities. According to large time gaps between consecutive blogs, each user's lifecycle is divided into sessions of continued produsage and gap periods of TD. Results reveal that 57.37% of users experienced at least one TD, while 10.47% experienced more than five times of TD. Such TDs induce significant modifications in subsequent behavioral patterns. After the first TD, the readopted session lasts 46.46% shorter and contains 58.68% fewer blogs. TD also leads to modifications in the timing and content topics of blog posts. The longer the TD lasts, the more significant changes would be made in the readopted session. The empirical evidence provided in the study has the potential to enrich the theoretical understanding of post-adoption and discontinuance behavior, thereby offering novel insights into the practice of social media management.     

Identifying Temporary and Permanent Gaps in Universal Service

This article examines the nature of the gap in household telephone penetration among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. By analyzing historic and current penetration levels of the radio, television, and telephone, it suggests that most information technology gaps are amalgamations of smaller socioeconomic trends and can be discerned and reduced only with careful historical analysis of both technology choices and living patterns. It proposes localized universal service strategies, since the penetration gaps are affected by a complex array of factors more particular to localities than to the country as a whole and as such must be investigated with rigor and caution if progress toward the elimination of penetration gaps is to occur.     

MIS领域应用媒介丰富度理论研究的文献述评

[目的/意义]为了帮助信息系统学者厘清媒介丰富度理论的发展脉络及其应用现状,填补国内在媒介丰富度理论相关文献综述上的缺失。[方法/过程]本文对国内外基于媒介丰富度理论的实证研究文献进行检索和梳理,归纳了当前MIS领域应用媒介丰富度理论的主要研究问题,并总结了研究取得的成果、存在的问题以及未来值得关注的研究方向。[结果/结论]研究发现：MIS领域应用媒介丰富度理论研究的文献主要集中在媒介丰富度对于表现绩效的影响、媒介丰富度对于用户信任感及诚信行为的影响、媒介丰富度理论在系统设计中的应用和媒介丰富度理论在信息/沟通技术使用研究中的应用4个方面;研究中存在"媒介丰富度理论对于社会因素、个人/技术因素的考量未完善"、"相关实证研究多使用媒介丰富度理论作为分类依据,往往忽略理论的核心观点"等问题;媒介丰富度对表现绩效影响的时序分析、多媒介嵌套的混合效应等是未来值得关注的研究问题。     

How Institutional Incentives and Constraints Affect the Progress of Science 1

Much electronic commerce literature addresses the potential existence of digital divides between different classes of users. While many studies document users reported perceptions of disadvantage or cite infrastructure availability benchmarks, few studies quantify the extent of such divides in actual uptake and usage of electronic communications tools. This study seeks to quantify the extent of perceived rural-urban digital divides among businesses in New Zealand. Yellow Pages business register data are analysed to determine business uptake of e-mail and websites by location. The results challenge conventional perceptions of disadvantage on the basis of geography alone. Indeed, some provincial areas demonstrate higher uptake of business e-mail than their urban counterparts. Smaller and more remote provincial centre businesses are more likely to be using e-mail than their counterparts closer to the metropolitan centres. Those centres most remote from New Zealand's traditional commercial centre demonstrate higher uptake than those closer. Explanations based upon disadvantages such as poor telephony infrastructure appear inadequate in accounting for these observations. Rather, we contend that while infrastructure may play some part in the explanation for low rural hinterland uptake, the results of this study are consistent with economic determinations of the optimal time to invest in new technologies. Specifically, higher provincial and rural communication costs are a significant factor in encouraging higher and earlier levels of provincial and rural e-mail adoption, and the optimal time to invest in website adoption depends more upon firm size, local economic conditions and product than infrastructure quality and business location.     

The construct of information systems use benefits: Theoretical explication of its underlying dimensions and the development of a measurement scale

As a key construct for the IS success model (DeLone & McLean (1992, 2003), information systems benefits for individuals (ISBI) has received considerable attention from researchers over the years. However, much remains to be explored to develop and validate the underlying theoretical dimensions for this crucial construct. Further, a major weakness of the extant research in this area is that most reported studies have been conducted in the context of individual IS application instead of the overall IS in the organization. To fill these gaps in research, we will first present a theoretical conceptualization of the ISBI construct, and then develop and validate a measurement scale for the construct. Drawing from the ERG theory (Alderfer, 1972), Job Characteristic Theory (Hackman & Oldham, 1975, 1976) and other theoretical perspectives, we developed a theory-based TJW framework which consists of three levels: Task performance, Job interaction, and Work enrichment. The nomological validity of the scale was then successfully demonstrated by a partial test of the IS success model using the ISBI measure and a measure of the overall IS use. Finally, we demonstrated the diagnostic power of the construct through an exploratory research model which showed that, while task performance benefits have insignificant effect on satisfaction, both job interaction benefits and work enrichment effects have substantial effects on satisfaction. These study results have thus deepened our understanding on the underpinnings of IS usage behaviors and contributed to the cumulated research on IS success.     

A social status perspective of network utility over electronic channels in academic communities

Early research on the social implications of e-mail has promoted the role of electronic communication channels in fostering social equality and reducing gaps between the social classes. Follow-up studies, however, suggest that people continue to rely on social cues in electronic communication as a way of dealing with uncertainties and reducing feelings of discomfort associated with unfamiliar contexts. Based on a review of the Social Cognitive Theory, social status and electronic communication literatures, along with the results of a previous qualitative study, we propose a formal model that indicates how self-perceptions of social status are related to the use of e-mail and the acquisition of social resources over electronic channels. The model is tested using data collected from 206 faculty members in a major U.S. university. The empirical results support the proposed model implying that self-perceptions of social status influence social assertiveness, which in turn reinforces the use of e-mail to seek help and acquire social resources from others. The use of e-mail for the acquisition of social resources is associated with a socially diverse network whose contacts are perceived to acquire valuable information and to extend instrumental support for career development. Implications are drawn for both theory and practice.     

老年群体微信使用对心理健康的影响：社会参与的中介作用

【目的/意义】破除老年数字鸿沟需要引导老年群体使用智能手机等信息技术。尽管已有研究探索了老年 群体接受和使用信息技术的影响因素,但少有研究关注信息技术使用对老年群体身心健康的影响。本研究以社会 参与的视角探讨我国老年群体微信使用行为与其抑郁程度的关联机制,进而为理解信息技术使用对老年群体的影 响提供实证证据。【方法/过程】使用2018年中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）数据,采用多元线性回归分析微信 使用与抑郁程度之间的关系,以及社会参与在其中的中介效应。【结果/结论】在8122名60岁及以上的老年人中,微 信使用者为524人（6.5%）,且这些使用者存在明显的异质性的社会结构。回归分析发现,老年群体微信使用与其较 低水平的抑郁显著相关,同时,其社会参与在其中起到了中介作用。【创新/局限】研究结果启示我们应在帮助老年 群体学习和使用信息技术、缩小数字鸿沟的同时,利用好信息技术的优势,促进老年群体的社会参与,进而增进其 心理健康。     

我国农村居民信息消费需求的区域比较

基于我国各省(区、市)农村居民家庭平均每人纯收入和生活消费支出统计数据,通过聚类分析工具,对"十一五"前后各省(区、市)农村居民信息消费相关指标:信息消费支出、信息消费倾向和信息消费系数进行比较分析,剖析地区间信息消费水平、信息消费意愿不平衡的原因,并就提高我国农村居民的信息消费水平,缩小地区间信息消费需求差距提出对策建议。     

The Reality beyond the Hype: Mobile Internet is Primarily an Extension of PC-Based Internet

The mobile Internet (MI) has been hyped as the next big thing by telecom operators, handset manufacturers, and content providers. However, recent studies indicate that the usage of Internet via mobile phones has remained quite flat. The authors inquire into this discrepancy by focusing on actual usage of the MI and the motivating factors behind its use. Based on focus-group interviews in Norway and Hungary, they argue that MI usage is interrelated with and is an extension of the personal computer (PC)–based Internet. The key motivation behind MI use is to attain information in situations in which the PC is out of reach. In effect, MI has not led to the development of new usages. The expectation that the development of new killer applications will lead to an explosion of new usage is therefore misguided. MI usage is and will perhaps continue to be a mere extension of PC-based Internet usage—and such use activities are the very nature of MI.