Meta-Circuit machine: Inferencing human collaborative relationships in heterogeneous information networks

Human collaborative relationship inference is a meaningful task for online social networks and is called link prediction in network science. Real-world networks contain multiple types of interacting components and can be modeled naturally as heterogeneous information networks (HINs). The current link prediction algorithms in HINs fail to effectively extract training samples from snapshots of HINs; moreover, they underutilise the differences between nodes and between meta-paths. Therefore, we propose a meta-circuit machine (MCM) that can learn and fuse node and meta-path features efficiently, and we use these features to inference the collaborative relationships in question-and-answer and bibliographic networks. We first utilise meta-circuit random walks to obtain training samples in which the basic idea is to perform biased meta-path random walks on the input and target network successively and then connect them. Then, a meta-circuit recurrent neural network (mcRNN) is designed for link prediction, which represents each node and meta-path by a dense vector and leverages an RNN to fuse the features of node sequences. Experiments on two real-world networks demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework. This study promotes the investigation of potential evolutionary mechanisms for collaborative relationships and offers practical guidance for designing more effective recommendation systems for online social networks.     

Information retrieval in the workplace: A comparison of professional search practices

Legal researchers, recruitment professionals, healthcare information professionals, and patent analysts all undertake work tasks where search forms a core part of their duties. In these instances, the search task is often complex and time-consuming and requires specialist expertise to identify relevant documents and insights within large domain-specific repositories and collections. Several studies have been made investigating the search practices of professionals such as these, but few have attempted to directly compare their professional practices and so it remains unclear to what extent insights and approaches from one domain can be applied to another. In this paper we describe the results of a survey of a purposive sample of 108 legal researchers, 64 recruitment professionals and 107 healthcare information professionals. Their responses are compared with results from a previous survey of 81 patent analysts. The survey investigated their search practices and preferences, the types of functionality they value, and their requirements for future information retrieval systems. The results reveal that these professions share many fundamental needs and face similar challenges. In particular a continuing preference to formulate queries as Boolean expressions, the need to manage, organise and re-use search strategies and results and an ambivalence toward the use of relevance ranking. The results stress the importance of recall and coverage for the healthcare and patent professionals, while precision and recency were more important to the legal and recruitment professionals. The results also highlight the need to ensure that search systems give confidence to the professional searcher and so trust, explainability and accountability remains a significant challenge when developing such systems. The findings suggest that translational research between the different areas could benefit professionals across domains.     

HClaimE: A tool for identifying health claims in health news headlines

This study tackles the problem of extracting health claims from health research news headlines, in order to carry out veracity check. A health claim can be formally defined as a triplet consisting of an independent variable (IV – namely, what is being manipulated), a dependent variable (DV – namely, what is being measured), and the relation between the two. In this study, we develop HClaimE, an information extraction tool for identifying health claims in news headlines. Unlike the existing open information extraction (OpenIE) systems that rely on verbs as relation indicators, HClaimE focuses on finding relations between nouns, and draws on the linguistic characteristics of news headlines. HClaimE uses a Naïve Bayes classifier that combines syntactic and lexical features for identifying IV and DV nouns, and recognizes relations between IV and DV through a rule-based method. We conducted an evaluation on a set of health news headlines from ScienceDaily.com, and the results show that HClaimE outperforms current OpenIE systems: the F-measures for identifying headlines without health claims is 0.60 and that for extracting IV-relation-DV is 0.69. Our study shows that nouns can provide more clues than verbs for identifying health claims in news headlines. Furthermore, it also shows that dependency relations and bag-of-words can distinguish IV-DV noun pairs from other noun pairs. In practice, HClaimE can be used as a helpful tool to identifying health claims in news headlines, which can then be further compared against authoritative health claims for veracity. Given the linguistic similarity between health claims and other causal claims, e.g., impacts of pollution on the environment, HClaimE may also be applicable for extracting claims in other domains.     

An investigation of the search behaviour associated with Ingwersen’s three types of information needs

We report a naturalistic interactive information retrieval (IIR) study of 18 ordinary users in the age of 20–25 who carry out everyday-life information seeking (ELIS) on the Internet with respect to the three types of information needs identified by Ingwersen (1986): the verificative information need (VIN), the conscious topical information need (CIN), and the muddled topical information need (MIN). The searches took place in the private homes of the users in order to ensure as realistic searching as possible. Ingwersen (1996) associates a given search behaviour to each of the three types of information needs, which are analytically deduced, but not yet empirically tested. Thus the objective of the study is to investigate whether empirical data does, or does not, conform to the predictions derived from the three types of information needs. The main conclusion is that the analytically deduced information search behaviour characteristics by Ingwersen are positively corroborated for this group of test participants who search the Internet as part of ELIS.     

Reliable automatic word spacing using a space insertion and correction model based on neural networks in Korean

Automatic word spacing in Korean remains a significant task in natural language processing owing to the extremely complex word spacing rules involved. Most previous models remove all spaces in input sentences and insert new spaces in the modified input sentences. If input sentences include only a small number of spacing errors, the previous models often return sentences with even more spacing errors than the input sentences because they remove the correct spaces that were typed intentionally by the users. To reduce this problem, we propose an automatic word spacing model based on a neural network that effectively uses word spacing information from input sentences. The proposed model comprises a space insertion layer and a spacing-error correction layer. Using an approach similar to previous models, the space insertion layer inserts word spaces into input sentences from which all spaces have been removed. The spacing error correction layer post-corrects the spacing errors of the space insertion model using word spacing typed by users. Because the two layers are tightly connected in the proposed model, the backpropagation flows are not blocked. As a result, the space insertion and error correction are performed simultaneously. In experiments, the proposed model outperformed all compared models on all measures on the same test data. In addition, it exhibited reliable performance (word-unit F1-measures of 94.17%～97.87%) regardless of how many word spacing errors were present in the input sentences.     

The role of information in strategic decision-making

Aspects of the role of information in strategic decision-making by executives in industry are hardly ever mentioned in management research publications. We therefore investigate in this paper the way information is obtained, analysed, judged and applied by executives in industry that have to take strategic decisions. We interviewed executives from thirteen companies in The Netherlands and in Germany about the stages in the decision process that they followed in thirty two recent decisions they had to make.We found that executives that follow a rational approach collect and use ample information in a structured decision-making process passing through a number of distinct phases in time. In this process, information plays a crucial role in reducing uncertainty. Over all discussions held, the aspect of the quality of the information used by the board was stressed. We could only obtain circumstantial evidence of changes in the decision making process caused by developments in new information acquisition and analysis methods such as use of the Internet becoming common practice. But we can affirm that with more relevant information available, discussions in the boardroom on issues affecting the choices and alternatives can now be better controlled and rational decision-making is thus facilitated.     

E-government information search by English-as-a Second Language speakers: The effects of language proficiency and document reading level

A rapid increase in the use of web-based technologies – and corresponding changes in government and local council policies – in recent years, means that many vital services are now provided solely online. While this has many potential benefits, it can place additional burdens on certain demographic groups, some of whom may become considerably disadvantaged or even disenfranchised. This is particularly problematic for English-as-a Second Language (ESL) speakers, who are often immigrants or refugees and thus have a greater need to access these e-government services, and who may struggle to understand and assess the relevance of complex documents. In this work we investigate the search behaviours and performance of native English speakers and two different groups of ESL speakers when completing e-government tasks, and the effect of document readability/complexity. In contrast with previous work, our results show significant differences between groups of varying language proficiency in terms of objective search performance, time on task, and self-perceived performance and confidence. We also demonstrate that document reading level moderates the effect of language proficiency on objective search performance. The findings contribute to our existing understanding of how English language proficiency affects search for e-government topics, and have important implications for the future development of e-government services to ensure more equitable access and use.     

民营企业高学历员工需要特征与激励研究

本文通过实证研究方法，对民营企业高、低学历员工需要比较，以及民营企业与国有企业高学历员工需要比较，从不同角度揭示出民营企业高学历员工需要特征。并以此为基础，提出激励民营企业高学历员工的对策。     

Neolithic informatics: The nature of information

The term informatics is used as an umbrella term to stand for the overlapping disciplinary areas of information systems, information management and information technology. The current paper is part of a series which documents an overarching attempt to develop a clearer and more sophisticated systematics for the area. It examines one of the foundation concepts of informatics – that of information – and aims to provide a definition for this concept based upon ideas from semiotics and communication theory. For this purpose we introduce the concept of a sign-system and consider the role such a system plays in human communication. We also highlight the fundamental difference between a communication system and an information system. To help ground our discussion and provide a necessary distance from the present-day concern with digital computing and communication networks we engage with the historiography of information. We consider the use of information in Neolithic times and describe the case of clay tokens in Ancient Sumeria as one of the earliest examples of information representation and manipulation. Examination of this case allows us to propose a number of universal features of information and ‘information technology’.     

Sticky information and heterogeneous needs as determining factors of R&D cooperation with customers

The aim of this work is to investigate the factors determining cooperation in developing innovations between firms and a specific group of agents, customers and users. The central point of the analysis is two variables recognised in previous studies as important factors in the study of cooperation with these agents, but which basically have been dealt with from a purely theoretical viewpoint. These variables are: (1) the existence of sticky information (information which is costly to obtain, transfer and use) and (2) the presence of heterogeneous needs in the market. Regarding the first variable, we have also taken into account two kinds of information which can be sticky: information on needs and information of technological nature. The findings obtained, using a Spanish sample of firms, show clearly that all these three factors exert a positive influence on cooperative relationships with these agents.     

The role of digital information use on student performance and collaboration in marginal universities

Using technology to facilitate learning in universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) has become common practice due to its ability to reduce barriers related to time and space in traditional learning environments. However, current literature mostly focuses on the use of the technology and not on the use of the information it conveys. Also, very few studies focus on technology adoption in universities and HEIs in developing countries, especially those in Africa. Thus, we propose a model that explains the changing information behaviors of students in this digital age and the effect this has on their learning outcomes. We collected questionnaire data from 303 students and analyzed the data using structural equation modelling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). We found that our proposed model explains 60.2 % of student satisfaction, 24.2 % of academic performance, 24.1 % of information sharing, and 19.8 % of their information exchange behavior. This study confirms that the use of digital information and its antecedent factors have significant effects on the college experience of students. This has several implications for information systems research and practice, especially in the design and assessment of technology use in learning environments.     

The influence of Taylor’s paper, Question-Negotiation and Information-Seeking in Libraries

This study uses bibliometric analysis and citation context analysis to identify the influence of the main concepts embedded in Taylor’s 1968 classic article entitled Question-Negotiation and Information-Seeking in Libraries. This study analyses articles published between 1969 and 2010 which cite Taylor’s article. The results show that Taylor’s article on a question-negotiation model is increasingly visible and its influence is not limited to the discipline of library and information science. Of the 14 cited concepts identified, the concept of “four levels of information needs” was cited most (31.7%), followed by “question negotiation” (20.5%) and “other concepts relating to information needs” (17.9%). The results indicate an increasing trend in the citations of “four levels of information needs” and this concept also received the most attention from information retrieval research. A decreasing trend was evident for the concept of “question negotiation” and this concept was frequently cited by reference service researchers. In addition, among the 10 citation functions, “related literature” was dominant (30.8%). Both “evidence” and “views” were in second place with the same percentage (18.7%), followed by “terms” (9.2%) and “background information” (7.2%). A decreasing trend was identified in the top three citation functions, whereas an increasing trend was observed in the “term” and “background information” functions.     

Formated technology and informated action: The nature of information technology

This paper is part of a series examining the fundamental nature of informatics: a term used as a convenient umbrella term to stand for the overlapping disciplinary areas of information systems, information management and information technology. The aim of the current paper is to consider some of the universal features of information technology. This is accomplished in terms of a conceptual framework established in previous work. We ground the discussion in a significant historical case: that of Hollerith's electric tabulating system which constituted one of the earliest examples of automatic data processing. Through examination of this case and the technologies used we establish an interpretation of the essence of information technology in terms of formative acts of data representation and processing.     

网络环境下信息资源的组织与检索

本文分析了网络环境下信息资源的状况，介绍了其组织方式和检索语言，并对搜索引擎进行进一步分析，提出了搜索引擎的发展方向。     

Fields and pathways: Contrasting or complementary views of information seeking

This research contrasts two different conceptions, fields and pathways, of individual information behavior in context. These different approaches imply different relationships between actors and their information environments and, thus, encapsulate different views of the relationship between individual actions and contexts. We discuss these different theoretical views, then empirically compare and contrast them. The operationalization of these conceptions is based on different analytic treatments of the same raw data: a battery of three questions based on respondent’s unaided recall of the sources they would consult for information on inherited cancers, a particularly rich information seeking problem. These operationalizations are then analyzed in a nomological network of related concepts drawn from an omnibus survey of 882 adults. The results indicated four clusters for fields and 16 different pathways, indicating increased fragmentation of information environments, with different underlying logics and active ingredients, although the use of the Internet appears to be an emerging common theme. The analysis of the nomological network suggests that both approaches may have applications for particular problems. In the implications, we compare and contrast these approaches, discussing their significance for future methodological, analytical, and theoretical developments.     

The ‘language’ of informatics: The nature of information systems

This is the second paper in a series examining the fundamental nature of informatics. The aim of the current paper is to provide a more detailed account of the concept of an information system based upon an earlier paper entitled Informatics and the Inca. The paper also builds upon the content of the first paper in this series entitled Neolithic Informatics: The Nature of Information. We ground the discussion in a significant case from the Second World War: that of the Warning Network. The Warning Network was a system that contributed to victory of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. Through examination of this case we establish the idea of an information system as a semi-formal ‘language’ necessary for the coordination and control of activity in various forms of human organization.     

The relationship between perceived value and information source use during KM strategic decision-making: A study of 17 Chinese business managers

The study explores the relationship between value attribution and information source use of 17 Chinese business managers during their knowledge management (KM) strategic decision-making. During semi-structured interviews, the Chinese business managers, half in the telecommunications sector and half in the manufacturing sector, were asked to rate 16 information sources on five-point Likert Scales. The 16 information sources were grouped into internal–external and personal–impersonal types. The participants rated the information sources according to five value criteria: relevancy, comprehensiveness, reliability, time/effort, and accessibility. Open-ended questions were also asked to get at how and why value attribution affected the participants’ use of one information source over another during decision-making. Findings show that the participants preferred internal–personal type of information sources over external–impersonal information sources. The differences in value ratings per information source were striking: Telecommunications managers rated customers, newspapers/magazines, and conferences/trips much lower than the manufacturing managers but they rated corporate library/intranet and databases much higher than manufacturing managers. The type of industrial sector therefore highly influenced information source use for decision-making by the study’s Chinese business managers. Based on this conclusion, we added organizational and environmental categories to revise the De Alwis, Majid, and Chaudhry’s (2006) typology of factors affecting Chinese managers’ information source preferences during decision-making.     

A study of the information needs of the users of a folk music library and the implications for the design of a digital library system

A qualitative study of user information needs is reported, based on a purposive sample of users and potential users of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, a small specialist folk music library in North London. The study set out to establish what the users’ (both existing and potential) information needs are, so that the library’s online service may take them into account with its design. The information needs framework proposed by Nicholas [Nicholas, D. (2000) Assessing information needs: tools, techniques and concepts for the internet age. London: ASLIB] is used as an analytical tool to achieve this end. The demographics of the users were examined in order to establish four user groups: Performer, Academic, Professional and Enthusiast. Important information needs were found to be based on social interaction, and key resources of the library were its staff, the concentration of the collection and the library’s social nature. A collection of broad design requirements are proposed based on the analysis and this study also provides some insights into the issue of musical relevance, which are discussed.