Evaluating Chinese government WeChat official accounts in public service delivery: A user-centered approach

WeChat official accounts have been increasingly adopted by Chinese government agencies to deliver public services, in response to the “Internet + Public Service” reformation. While previous studies depended heavily on the expert-oriented approach to evaluate the accounts, this paper presents a user-centered study based on a mixed methods research design in which an unobtrusive clickstream data analysis was complemented by a card sorting study, stakeholder interviews, and a focus group. A 2-month server log file containing 42,188,760 clickstream records was obtained from an active government WeChat official account and analyzed at the movement level, which found that the account was mainly used as a lookup tool with most services underutilized and its home portals failed to support effective wayfinding to needed services. Deficiencies in information architecture, operation strategy, and interaction design of the account were identified in the complementary studies. This study not only enriches the knowledge about social media use in the Chinese government for public service delivery, but also introduces innovative methods to generate new research insights. The findings can inform government WeChat official accounts of how to improve service quality and user experience.     

Looking for datasets to open: An exploration of government officials' information behaviors in open data policy implementation

In recent years, more and more government administrations around the world are participating in open data policy implementation. Government officials who are charged with implementing this new policy usually need to look for related information for deciding what datasets to open to the public. Accordingly, a research gap exists in understanding government officials' information behaviors in implementing open data policy. By using a qualitative approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with government officials who have extensive experience in implementing open data policy, this study explores government officials' information behaviors in searching and selecting datasets for open data publication. Specifically, this research investigates government officials' information needs, the employed information sources, and the intervening variables that influence their information behaviors. While open data is an ongoing policy implementation, government officials' information behaviors form an iterative cycle where information needs continually occur, information seeking activities are conducted by using a variety of information sources, and the obtained information is used to satisfy information needs. The findings and discussions of this study are expected to provide insights of government officials' data search and selection to practitioners and to enrich the current literature of open government data.     

Toward a scalable and sustainable approach to open access publishing and archiving for humanities and social sciences societies: a proposal

The proposal we offer here (and in the more extensive ‘white paper’ proposal on which this article is based) tackles head‐on the open access (OA) business models that have proven particularly problematic for implementation of OA in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). Our proposal suggests all tertiary institutions contribute to systemic support of the research process itself, including its entire scholarly output. A bold rethinking of the economics of OA by way of partnerships among scholarly societies and academic libraries funded by an institutional fee structure based on a student‐and‐faculty per‐capita sliding scale, our plan is nevertheless intentionally incremental. Our proposal focuses first on HSS and primarily in the United States, but just as research and scholarship are increasingly global and collaborative, our plan is not bound by discipline or national borders, but can be adopted by all those looking for a more equitable and sustainable OA model.     

The influence of the PSI directive on open government data: An overview of recent developments

This paper looks at the role of the European Directive on re-use of public sector information in the current trend towards opening up government data. After discussing the PSI directive, it gives an overview of current policies and practices with regard to open government data in the Member States. It is argued that the success of the open government data movement in some Member States can be related to the confusion or ignorance about the relationship between traditional freedom of information legislation and the re-use of public sector data. If future information policies decide to follow this trend, they should always ensure that existing rights on freedom of information are not harmed.     

The digital divide and the quality of electronic service delivery in local government in the United Kingdom

This study examines the relationship between the quality of electronic service delivery (ESD) and the levels of Internet access across the 12 official regions of the United Kingdom. A random sample of 236 local government websites was assessed for the quality of ESD. The results indicate that in contrast to regions of high household Internet access, the quality of local government websites in regions of low household Internet access was significantly poorer in terms of information content and relatively limited in terms of the range of e-enabled services. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Joining the open government partnership initiative: An empirical analysis of diffusion effects

Prior empirical studies of the Open Government Partnership have failed to take into account possible diffusion mechanisms contributing to the expansion in the number of countries joining the partnership since its beginning in 2010. Notwithstanding the increase in the study of open government policies over the past decade across multiple levels of government, the factors influencing the decision to join multilateral initiatives like the Open Government Partnership are still under-researched. Using data from 175 countries and covering a period that goes from the year prior to the establishment of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) until the year when the latest current members have joined the partnership (2010–2018), this article examines the diffusion mechanisms affecting a country's decision to participate in the OGP. Based on binary response logit regression models, this study analyses the effects of key diffusion variables while controlling for the countries' internal determinants of participation. The findings indicate that diffusion of the OGP takes place through regional proximity, common cultural and system of government traits, and membership in international organization. While democratic countries are more likely to join, autocracies also join conditional on other countries in the same group joining. This suggests further research is needed to uncover the way countries with different regime traits design and implement transparency and open government policies under the banner of this multilateral initiative.     

The road to service standards in a government documents collection: The methodology of surveying

According to U.S. Vice President Albert Gore’s From Red Tape to Results: Creating A Government That Works Better & Costs Less, the way to cut expenses in the United States government is to establish service standards for federal agencies that deal with customers. Surveying customers was one of the steps to reach this goal. With this in mind, MetroDocs, an organization of the metropolitan Oklahoma City depository libraries, formed a committee to establish service standards for the Oklahoma depository libraries. The libraries conducted a survey, the results of which revealed that customers were generally happy with the libraries’ services, but that there was still room for improvement. This survey inaugurated MetroDocs’ quest for service standards.     

Cultivating open government data platform ecosystems through governance: Lessons from Buenos Aires,Mexico City and Montevideo

Open government data (OGD) initiatives are an emergent platform research topic. There is little understanding how these platforms are governed for the innovation of services using open data, where the cultivation of an installed base of heterogeneous service innovators can lead to increased usage of OGD. In this paper, we draw on established literature from digital platforms research to investigate how service innovation is cultivated in open government data contexts. We employ a comparative case study of open government data platforms in three leading Latin American cities and draw upon the concept of boundary resources taken from platform theory. Our research generates two key contributions. First, we propose a theoretical model, which explains how an OGD platform owner is able to govern the demand and the supply side of its platform to facilitate the cultivation of a platform ecosystem. Second, we develop contributions to practice in terms of a set of recommendations for governments in emerging countries concerning how to establish and manage a vibrant OGD platform ecosystem.     

A survey of government document front-line employees: the road to service standards continues

In From Red Tape to Results, U.S. Vice President Albert Gore established a three-step process for creating service standards for federal agencies. This article presents the second step of this methodology, known as the front-line employee survey. The author administered this survey to staff of Oklahoma government document collections. The employee survey found that the Oklahoma government document employees are essentially satisfied with their positions; yet, improvement may be needed in services offered and in workplace facilities.     

Choosing the right approach: Three models for teaching government information sources

Government information librarians value instruction as a way to promote their collections and meet their users’ information needs. Government information librarians must choose the most appropriate model for their audience and for the relevant learning outcomes in each instruction session they teach. This article discusses three models for teaching government information (traditional, information cycle, and critical thinking models) and identifies learning outcomes described in the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education that are associated with each model.     

Linking service development methods to interoperability governance: The case of Egypt

While administrations, and especially e-government “followers,” have been recommended adopting service-oriented architecture (SOA) for the purpose of implementing G2G interoperability, the challenges of reaching this objective remain significant. General guidelines for service development and SOA governance are published, but in view of many self-contained units and IT departments on all administrative levels as well as widespread outsourcing of software development there is a lack of sharing “best practices” how to implement SOA step by step in the area of e-government. In particular, it is unknown to what extent administrations are able to follow existing service development approaches, and there is no research addressing the contribution of service development methods towards governance, i.e. developing and managing government interoperability. In this research the case of Egypt, where SOA was chosen as the main interoperability approach, has been explored in terms of to what extent the current approach to service development supports the interoperability governance, and what kind of changes in the development methods and their application would yield improvements in interoperability governance. The case analysis on practical and strategic level leads to proposing success factors related to linking the methodology of developing G2G services to the overall effort of interoperability governance. These factors, divided into interoperability problem perception, method scoping and deliverables, measurement of goal achievement, and methodological commitment, can be used as hypotheses in future research and as guidelines for improving the interoperability governance in administrative practice.     

Providing census tabulations to government security agencies in the United States: The case of Arab Americans

In the summer of 2004, it was revealed that the U.S. Census Bureau had provided tabulations in 2002 and 2003 on Arab Americans to the Department of Homeland Security that included detailed information on the number of people of Arab backgrounds living in selected ZIP codes. Although not a violation of law, the Census Bureau realized that this perceived breach of confidentiality would have a negative impact on public trust, and within a few months following the news of the Arab American tabulations it announced that it would no longer assist law enforcement and intelligence agencies with tabulations on ethnic groups and other sensitive populations. In spite of this damage control, we believe that the Bureau's tabulation of Arab Americans provides momentum to a process that adversely affects data quality by increasing both non-response and the cost of obtaining survey and census data. We argue that there are no “methodological fixes” that can repair the damage, and further that public relations campaigns and internal administrative changes are not optimal solutions because of the governing structure within which the Bureau currently operates. Ultimately, the best way to limit the damage already done is to effect a political solution. Toward this end we describe short- and long-term actions. In the long run, we recommend removing the Census Bureau from the Executive branch of government and re-structuring it under a permanent and non-political oversight panel similar to either the Federal Reserve Board or the Congressional Budget Office. Such a move would make a strong statement that the Bureau is non-partisan federal statistical agency.     

Key factors and generation mechanisms of open government data performance: A mixed methods study in the case of China

Open government data (OGD) has attracted widespread attention and has been widely carried out on a global scale. With further promotion, OGD performance becomes a hot topic and meaningful enough for in-depth exploration. This research focuses on the influential factors and generation mechanisms of OGD performance. Based on the resource-based theory and institutional theory, this paper constructs a model from multiple dimensions of internal resources and external pressures. Subsequently, from the 122 cities in China that have constructed OGD platforms, this study adopts a mixed research methods approach, which combines the regression analysis method and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The regression analysis results show that the organization arrangement, legal and policy, and horizontal pressure have direct positive effects on OGD performance. On this basis, this paper use QCA method to explore the configuration paths for the generation of OGD performance of cities in different geographic regions and at different administrative ranks levels. The QCA results provide different configuration paths to achieve better OGD performance, which verified the conclusions drawn by the regression analysis, also provides alternative paths for governments with different characteristics. This paper enriches the studies on OGD performance and provides more targeted paths together with references for the implementation of OGD.     

The role of policy entrepreneurs in open government data policy innovation diffusion: An analysis of Australian Federal and State Governments

Open government data (OGD) policy differs substantially from the existing Freedom of Information policies. Consequently OGD can be viewed as a policy innovation. Drawing on both innovation diffusion theory and its application to public policy innovation research, we examine Australia's OGD policy diffusion patterns at both the federal and state government levels based on the policy adoption timing and CKAN portal “Organization” and “Category” statistics. We found that state governments that had adopted OGD policies earlier had active policy entrepreneurs (or lead departments/agencies) responsible for the policy innovation diffusion across the different government departments. We also found that their efficacy ranking was relatively high in terms of OGD portal openness when openness is measured by the greater number of datasets proactively and systematically published through their OGD portals. These findings have important implications for the role played by OGD policy entrepreneurs in openly sharing the government-owned datasets with the public.     

高校图书馆学科知识服务系统构建探析

计算机网络技术的飞速发展、知识社会的到来、高校图书馆提升服务水平的迫切需求以及作为高校图书馆学科化、个性化服务重要生力军的学科馆员在嵌入到实际教科研过程中所遇到的瓶颈状态,这些都迫切要求高校图书馆依托新技术,构建基于领域知识逻辑关系的平台——学科知识服务平台。文章分析了建设重点学科知识服务平台的必要性与可行性,并对学科知识服务平台的框架与功能提出思考。     

The use of government publications: The case of social scientists at the university of botswana

The authors surveyed 101 social scientists at the University of Botswana to determine their use of government publications. Citation studies were also employed as a complement to the survey. The findings reveal that most of the respondents (97.3 percent) used government documents in some fashion. Moreover, most users attached a high importance to the use of government publications for research (89 percent) and teaching (86 percent). The study also suggests that social scientists prefer to borrow government publications from their colleagues and obtain personal copies rather than depend on the University of Botswana Library. It is recommended that government documents be more accessible to the establishment of government publications distribution centers as the inaccessibility of these documents is a national problem. Another recommendation is that the University Library should provide current awareness services on government publications to its users.     

Multivariate approach to classify research institutes according to their outputs: The case of the CSIC's institutes

This paper attempts to build a classification model according to the research products created by those institutes and hence to design specific evaluation processes. Several scientific input/output indicators belonging to 109 research institutes from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) were selected. A multidimensional approach was proposed to resume these indicators in various components. A clustering analysis was used to classify the institutes according to their scores with those components (principal component analysis). Moreover, the validity of the a priori classification was tested and the most discriminant variables were detected (linear discriminant analysis). Results show that there are three types of institutes according to their research outputs: Humanistic, Scientific and Technological. It is argue that these differences oblige to design more precise assessment exercises which focus on the particular results of each type of institute. We conclude that this method permits to build more precise research assessment exercises which consider the varied nature of the scientific activity.