The effects of social media use on control of corruption and moderating role of cultural tightness-looseness

There is increasing scholarly interest in how social media impacts our society. This paper examines the effect of social media usage in reducing corruption at the country level. By analyzing a five-year (2011–2015) panel dataset of 62 countries, our results suggest that the level of social media usage of a country affects the level of perceived control of corruption after controlling for several variables that have been reported to correlate with a country's corruption including GDP per capita, urban population, female population, press freedom and political stability. Furthermore, we find that cultural tightness-looseness, which is defined as the strength of social norms and degree of sanctioning within the society, negatively moderates the relationship between the nation's social media usage and control of corruption. The relationship is stronger for the set of countries with loose culture, and vice versa. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future research directions are also discussed.     

A public value perspective for ICT enabled public sector reforms: A theoretical reflection

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical discussion of information system adoption in the public sector (often referred to as e-government) and to contribute to the debate by offering a public value perspective. The paper points to the public value paradigm as an alternative approach to studying ICT-enabled public sector reforms. This paradigm, we argue, proposes an alternative way of framing the nature of the problems faced when ICT enabled public sector reforms are initiated and studied. The public value perspective proposes a new and richer context in which to study and research these phenomena. It also calls for the redefinition of the ways we assess e-government in the context of public sector reforms. It is therefore seen as vital to evaluate the socio-political impact of ICT adoption in the public sector.     

Performative face theory: A critical perspective on interpersonal identity work

Power operates not only through ideological and institutional control, but also through everyday interpersonal communication practices that sediment what is and ought to be. However, critical theorizing about power remains scarce within the sub-fields of interpersonal and family communication. To answer questions about operations of power in interpersonal identity work, performative face theory is set forth, which places Erving Goffman’s theorization of face in conversation with Judith Butler’s theory of performativity. Performative face theory suggests that discursive acts cited or repeated in negotiations of face constitute and sometimes subvert naturalized identity categories. Four theoretical principles are provided and an empirical example of childbearing identity is presented. Finally, implications of this novel critical interpersonal and family communication theory are discussed.     

The effects of loneliness on relational maintenance behaviors: An attributional perspective

This study links the experience of loneliness to the use of relational maintenance behaviors. More precisely, an attributional perspective on loneliness is adopted, wherein chronic loneliness leads to attributions for the cause of loneliness to stable, internal, and uncontrollable factors; situational loneliness is more likely to be attributed to unstable, external, and controllable factors. Over 400 participants completed measures of chronic and situational loneliness, and relational maintenance strategies. Residts indicated that both forms of loneliness are negatively associated with maintenance strategies. As anticipated, chronically lonely people reported the least use of relational maintenance behaviors across relationship types.     

The use of symbolic convergence theory in corporate strategic planning: A case study

This case study reports on the employment of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) to intervene in a corporate environment in a strategic planning situation. The study concerns the use of SCT to guide corporate positioning, market segmentation, and advertising and sales message testing. The report sets out SCT's assumptions and technical terms, summarizes the relevant research undergirding the SCT theory‐method‐message complex, describes the strategic planning intervention, illustrates the research findings, and draws out both the applied and theoretical implications of the case.     

The use of electronic books in midwifery education: the student perspective

The objectives of this paper are: (i) to illustrate the use of e-books by health studies students at a college of higher education; (ii) to provide a demonstration of how e-books may be facilitated by library and information services staff working across the health and academic sectors; (iii) to comment upon the experiences of health studies students, in using e-books. A focus group of 10 student midwives was used to gain insight into how e-books may be used in an academic context for health professionals. The findings of the student midwives' focus group are reported and discussed. In this instance, the student midwives were encouraged to use e-books as part of a structured information skills programme. The paper concentrates on how the e-books were used within this context and addresses the potential benefits and disadvantages from a student perspective. The results provide evidence of a largely positive experience of using e-books as an electronic information resource. The focus group reveals many benefits and advantages in the facilitation and use of e-books, as well as addressing areas for development. It is concluded that e-books have a place in health library and information resources, but further development of e-books and e-book collections is required and subsequent investigation into their most effective use.     

Predicting and explaining corruption across countries: A machine learning approach

In the era of Big Data, Analytics, and Data Science, corruption is still ubiquitous and is perceived as one of the major challenges of modern societies. A large body of academic studies has attempted to identify and explain the potential causes and consequences of corruption, at varying levels of granularity, mostly through theoretical lenses by using correlations and regression-based statistical analyses. The present study approaches the phenomenon from the predictive analytics perspective by employing contemporary machine learning techniques to discover the most important corruption perception predictors based on enriched/enhanced nonlinear models with a high level of predictive accuracy. Specifically, within the multiclass classification modeling setting that is employed herein, the Random Forest (an ensemble-type machine learning algorithm) is found to be the most accurate prediction/classification model, followed by Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks. From the practical standpoint, the enhanced predictive power of machine learning algorithms coupled with a multi-source database revealed the most relevant corruption-related information, contributing to the related body of knowledge, generating actionable insights for administrator, scholars, citizens, and politicians. The variable importance results indicated that government integrity, property rights, judicial effectiveness, and education index are the most influential factors in defining the corruption level of significance.     

图书馆学五定律与《图书馆服务宣言》内涵比较研究

通过对阮冈纳赞图书馆学五定律和《图书馆服务宣言》的解读,以及二者的对比研究,揭示图书馆学五定律对图书馆学理论创立的贡献以及对后来研究者的指导意义;同时就《图书馆服务宣言》的特点进行了简要的分析与探讨。参考文献14。     

Digital object identifier and its use in core Chinese academic journals: A Chinese perspective

Digital object identifiers (DOIs) are widely used across the world but not very much within China. This paper investigates the current usage of DOIs in China. Using an isometric method, we sampled 238 core Chinese academic journals from the Chinese Science and Technical Journal Citation Reports (2015 version, Core Edition), which includes 2,383 journals in total. According to our investigation, we found that: (1) although 80.25% of journals assign DOIs, 42.41% have only assigned DOIs to articles published after 2010; (2) most journals (89.01%) register DOIs through Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China; and (3) only 84.82% of journals that register DOIs include them in the articles. This paper looks at the reasons for the limited implementation of DOIs and makes suggestions as to how usage can be expanded in China.     

The small group subtlety of using ICT for participatory governance: A South African experience

The greater number of government efforts to stimulate participative governance in communities using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) often fall short of expectations. In South Africa extending e-government to communities has been in the form of more and/or better equipped ICT-enabled community centres, called Thusong Service Centres. In this paper, based on action research experiences, we report outcomes of interpretive research into ICT-enabled approaches to participative governance in communities. Using the Diffusion of Innovations theory as an analytic lens, the findings reveal a subtlety that is not often mentioned in the call for participative e-governance; people from communities prefer to work in groups rather than individually. The collectiveness inclination is a common denominator of many developing countries where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources. Individuals become apprehensive when made to work on their own using the ICT. The research reveals the necessity to re-design ICT to suit small groups as part of participative e-governance rather than the normative ICT design that suits individual work styles. Additionally, the research reveals that by working in groups, communities are more willing to accept the government initiatives that are being energised with the use of ICT. Methodologically, the research revealed the ethical issue that arises from action research in its raising of unrealistic expectations in a community.     

The source study concept of general document theory: Theoretical and organizational aspects (a review)

This paper analyzes the source study concept of the general document theory developed by Dr. Sci. (Hist.) professor V. P. Kozlov. The means of its subsequent development are determined, the problem’s methodological and organizational aspects are noted, and methods of their solution are suggested.     

互联网使用对传统媒体的冲击:从使用与评价切入

本文分析2009年对上海市城市居民所展开的问卷调查数据(n=2,910),比较网民和非网民之间的(1)人口和社会地位特征,(2)媒介使用频率和时间,以及(3)对媒体表现的评价.这项研究涉及"数码沟"、媒体间的竞争或补充关系、媒体评价等理论问题,并从网络媒体对传统媒体的影响这个角度探讨这些问题.结果显示,网民比非网民拥有更多的经济和教育资源,也更年轻;网民与非网民收看电视时间相当,但网民比非网民使用其它传统媒体的频率和时间都高于非网民;网民与非网民对媒体的评价都倾向正面,但网民对网络的评价比非网民更高;网民对网络论坛或博客在体现民众利益和表达民众心声这两方面的评价高于他们对传统媒体在相同方面的评价.这些结果说明,一方面,网络媒体资源的分布体现了社会经济不平等的结构性特征:另一方面,网络媒体的普及也丰富了人们的媒介储备(media repertoire),并通过人们的使用经验而影响他们在评价媒体时所考虑的要素.     

Collaborative accountability for sustainable public health: A Korean perspective on the effective use of ICT-based health risk communication

The sustainability of public health practices requires collaboration between the government and its citizens. On the government's side, social media can provide a conduit for communicating health risk information in an effective and timely fashion, while also engaging citizens in informed decision-making. On the citizen's side, information communication technology (ICT)-based practices cannot function unless citizens recognize and act on their responsibility to actively engage with government social media platforms. Despite an increasing interest in understanding the adoption of ICT practices and e-government services for health risk communication, there remains a crucial need for a comprehensive framework to explain which factors determine citizen use of digital government resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to increase government accountability for motivating citizens to engage in ICT-based health risk communication, thereby attaining sustainable public health practices through collaborative governance.By integrating trust and health risk information into the e-government adoption model (GAM), this research examines factors that influence citizens' likelihood of using government social media resources. Survey data from 700 Korean citizens were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that individuals with higher social media competency are more likely to (a) seek risk information through social media and (b) perceive the government's social media sites as easy to use. Consistent with the GAM, intentions to use the government's social media sites for information and interactions appear to increase as citizens perceive more value in using them regarding information quality, ease of use, functional benefit, and security. Furthermore, perceived trust in the government's social media resources appears to function as a mediator of this process. Initial trust in the government is an important determinant of perceptions of its digital resources. Citizens who trust the government tend to evaluate new initiatives positively and are more likely to accept and make use of them.The results of this study can inform policy design and implementation by elucidating the mechanisms that determine citizens' adoption and usage of digital government services. Theoretically, this work expands the GAM to include health risk communication and adds empirical evidence to the small yet growing body of knowledge of e-government initiatives. These findings also highlight the importance of public trust in the government, as this encourages citizens to seek health risk information and assistance from the government. Overall, the data and model generated in this investigation represent an important step toward the successful and sustainable modernization of public services.     

新媒介环境下议程设置理论研究新进路的分析

议程设置理论是传播学和新闻学的关键理论之一。当下媒介环境发生变化,传统的传播模式正在被颠覆,延续传统媒介环境下议程设置思路,研究遇到困境。根据新媒介环境下议程设置形成的新模式,我们提出新的研究假设和新的议题显要性转移图,并做一分析,在新媒介环境下,由多元个体组成的社群通过互联网等新媒介对于人们想什么或者怎么想具有重要作用,个体和社群议程是大众媒介议程的重要补充源,不局限于以媒体议程设置为中心的单一研究方向,把使用新媒介的个体和社群对媒体议程的作用纳入研究的重点范畴,重视新媒介的平台作用,最后提出了新的议程设置的效果地图,归纳出了研究的新重点。     

Use patterns for ebooks: The effects of subject,age and availability on rate of use

This article shares the results of a study of subject use of nearly 100,000 ebooks over 10 years in the OhioLINK academic library consortium. The study reveals information about how quickly ebooks in different subjects are found and used, how long they remain in use, and how consortial use by subject compares to use at individual institutions. Taken in the context of the literature about print obsolescence, the data reveals that the use of ebooks follows patterns established for print monographs, including that prior use predicts future use, use declines as titles age, and ebooks have their greatest chance of being used when they are new. Even so, this study shows that ebooks do not drop in use dramatically as they grow older; rather, the majority are used for many years. Rate of use of ebook content is, in general, highest for subjects in the sciences and lowest for humanities subjects, but these patterns may differ greatly for individual user groups.     

俄罗斯传媒法评述

20世纪80年代末90年代初,苏联-俄罗斯传媒领域开始发生变革。一年之内(1990-1991),俄国连续出现了两部新闻传媒法。随后的转型中,传媒立法方兴未艾,原本一片空白的俄罗斯传媒法领域很快初具规模,形成了系统而有序的传媒法律基础。本文描述俄罗斯传媒法形成的历史背景,介绍俄罗斯传媒法系统的基本结构,分析法律基础对俄罗斯传媒变革的作用,指出传媒法的不足以及在运用中出现的问题。