Using everyday life information seeking to explain organizational behavior

Everyday life information-seeking (ELIS) studies have previously addressed nonwork or citizens' information needs and seeking. This article contributes to the theoretical growth of the field by applying Chatman's small-world theory—a conception of ELIS—and social network theory to explain organizational behavior. The applicability of these two theories to analyze human information behavior in strategic value creation is discussed and shown through the results of an earlier pilot study in higher education. The concepts of social types, described as insiders and outsiders, worldview, social norms, information behavior, and trust are invoked. Combined with the concepts of homogeneity, density, and content from social network theory, Chatman's small-world theory yields a promising social dimension for a new theory of strategic information management. However, the conceptual base of the proposed new theory requires validation by testing in strategic partnerships.     

Determinants of diachronic information seeking among communication intermediaries

While the study of the ethical use of new technologies in journalistic work is imperative given the widespread use of such technology, such studies are few and far between, particularly for the developing world. This paper provides results of an exploratory, qualitative study of Indian journalists’ views about the ethical use of new computer and Internet-based technologies for news gathering and reporting in India. New digital technology was widely accessible to the respondents, but not all journalists were given the tools by their employers. Opinions about ethical news practices using new technology were mixed and revealed a few grey areas. English language national newspapers tended to indicate that their standards were strict and that ethical violations, exacerbated by new technology, occurred mostly in vernacular newspapers. On the whole, respondents had not heard often of other organizations or individuals committing unethical practices such as plagiarism and lack of attribution using new technology. Still, some beliefs indicated uncertainty about ethical practice or breach of ethical principles. The findings of this study have implications for journalism education and on-the-job training of Indian journalists, as well as for formulating ethical codes of journalism, particularly with regard to new media. Indian codes focus more on the roles journalists should play in society and do not provide very specific tactical guidance for everyday news gathering. Coupled with lack of training, this creates a situation where perceptions about journalistic ethics are sometimes vague and variant.     

Information seeking patterns of psychiatrists during clinical practice

This study is based on Gerardo Ruiz’s doctoral thesis on the information seeking patterns of psychiatrists in Mexico City, which he completed in January 2018 from the Autonomous National University of Mexico. The paper presents the key findings from a survey and interview involving 92 psychiatrists to identify the differing roles and information behaviours of three types of mental health practitioners. Similarities and divergences were found in their behavioural patterns in obtaining information to make clinical decisions, depending on purpose for the sought information which aligned to the role of the psychiatrist and on the information contexts of institutions in which they work. The implications for practice highlighted in this study focus on the influencing factors of time and availability of sources in enabling the mental health specialist to search, disseminate and evaluate information to be used in clinical practice, as well as to have in place broader communication with colleagues in order to enrich clinical care for better diagnosis and treatment.F.J.     

Information seeking in a multimedia environment by primary school students

Three multimedia CD-ROMs were placed in two grade-six classrooms for the duration of a class project. The 53 students, working in small groups, were free to search them during designated class periods. Sample sessions at the workstations were captured along with a recording of the searchers' voices. The retrieved information was incorporated by each group into a written assignment, an oral class presentation, and a three-dimensional model. The search strategies were analyzed using a case study methodology. The content of the CD-ROMs and the students' work were analyzed to identify from which sources the students had drawn their information. The students were able to cope effectively with the physical manipulation of the three different CD-ROM interfaces, although they found certain features easier than others. Constructing effective search strategies was more difficult, and relatively little use was made of the searching in contrast to the browsing facilities. Students demonstrated an ability to extract selectively information and to evaluate sources in terms of usefulness as well as enjoyment and ease of use. Class assignments may have to be redesigned if the full capabilities offered by multimedia instructional products are to be fully exploited.     

Information seeking in pre-trial investigation with particular reference to records management

Information seeking is part of information science, and its aim is to study how people seek and use information in their work, for what purpose the information is sought, how this information influences the effectiveness of the work and what barriers people perceive in their search for, and use of, necessary information. This study examines information seeking in pre-trial police investigation. There has been no previous attempt to examine information seeking in pre-trial police investigation, of the earlier studies in information seeking only those concerning lawyers represent a somewhat similar field. In both fields the work is subject to confidentiality, which is strictly regulated by law. This study was carried out partly in cooperation with another study, which examines documentation in pre-trial investigation. During the research project it became obvious that information seeking with its different components is something also to be taken into account in documentation and records management.     

Information adequacy, job satisfaction and organizational culture in a dispersed-network organization

This investigation examined the relationship of information adequacy to job satisfaction and organizational culture in a healthcare organization with both office and field personnel. Information adequacy was assessed in four areas: personal performance, organizational policies, organizational performance, and organizational objectives. Comparisons of field and office personnel indicated that they did not differ on information adequacy or job satisfaction; they did, however, differ on several dimensions of organizational culture. Also, the relationship of information inadequacy to job satisfaction and organizational culture differed for employees depending on whether they worked primarily in the field or primarily in the office. Implications of the findings are drawn for organizations with a dispersed-network structure.     

The relationship between work conditions and perceptions of organizational justice among library employees

Library employees hold perceptions about the fairness of the outcomes, processes, and interpersonal treatment in their workplaces. When employees feel the workplace is fair they are more likely to feel commitment to the organization, perform in-role and extra-role tasks, and experience job satisfaction. When employees perceive injustice in the workplace, research points to negative outcomes such as withholding work or even sabotage. To understand the antecedents of organizational justice, researchers carried out a national survey of librarians to compare the predictive power of perceived organizational support, job autonomy, job feedback, and job stress. Results indicate that increasing librarians' perceptions of organizational support and their autonomy, and providing meaningful and timely job feedback can increase overall perceptions of justice. Managers can enhance a climate of justice in their workplaces by developing strategies that target organization support, autonomy, and feedback to reduce a sense of injustice between and among employees.     

Personalized Information Seeking Assistant (PiSA): from programming information seeking to learning

Online programming discussion forums have grown increasingly and formed sizable repositories of problem-solving solutions. In this paper, we investigate programming learners’ information seeking behaviors in online discussion forums, and provide visual navigational support to facilitate information seeking. We design engines to collect students’ information seeking behaviors, and model these behaviors with sequence pattern mining techniques. The results show that programming learners indeed seek for information from discussion forums by actively search and read progressively according to course schedule topics. Advanced students consistently perform query refinements, examine search results and commit to read, however, novices do not. Finally, according to the lessons learned, we propose, design and evaluate Personalized Information Seeking Assistant system to help query refinement by summarizing the search results and to provide social-based browsing history. Findings suggest that paying attention to the query history may lead to further reading events, which subsequently resulting in potential learning activities.     

英国高等学校的信息资源共享

介绍了英国高等学校在招生数量猛增造成资源短缺的情况下实行信息资源共享的对策和措施,分析了所考察的几个项目的特点,针对我国存在的问题提出了建议     

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, students have trouble coping with the available health information regarding the coronavirus in their daily lives because of misinformation.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students at Taibah University during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsTo investigate the primary goal, this study used a simultaneous exploratory mixed methods design. Seventeen students participated in phone interviews, and 306 were invited to complete an online survey.AnalysisThe collected data was analyzed using both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo 10) methods.ResultsSearch engines, social media, and YouTube were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for COVID-19-related information. COVID-19 symptoms, restrictions, and the current spread of COVID-19 were the most searched topics by the respondents. Significant and relevant differences emerged for the digital health literacy subscales “information search” and “adding self-generated content”. However, there were no significant differences in the digital health literacy subscale “determining relevance”.ConclusionUsing the internet to provide health information tailored to the needs and interests of students to seek health information online and thereby improve their health literacy.     

Characterizing organizational spirituality: An organizational communication culture approach

This study focuses and extends the academic literature on spirituality in organizations. Although spirituality has gained attention in organizational scholarship during the past decade, there has been little systematic development. Current literature on spirituality in organizations is characterized by divergent approaches to spirituality and a number of organizational foci. The present study, based on qualitative field research in a nursing home, advances understanding of spirituality in organizations by identifying three central characteristics of organizational spirituality: value alignment, personal spirituality, and relationship‐based organizing. These central characteristics, supported by the field research and current literature on spirituality in organizations, lead to issues for further research. The study concludes with an invitation for dialogue on the emergent topic of organizational spirituality.     

图书馆信息资源共享思考

信息资源共享是当前国内外图书馆的一个业务重点,在实施资源共享计划之前,必须明确“拥有”与“获取”的关系,并在实施中充分利用便捷的现代信息技术,同时对信息技术的负面影响保持适度敏感。本文就我国《公共图书馆评估标准》与信息资源共享的关系,我国图书馆馆际互借的现状及成因进行了分析,并在最后对我国图书馆资源共建共享的未来发展提出了一些建议。     

Equitable access: Information seeking behavior,information needs,and necessary library accommodations for transgender patrons

This study highlights the unique accommodations integral to welcoming transgender library patrons. Research shows transgender people have unique needs which differ from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) individuals, and experience substantial barriers to obtaining quality library service. Most studies in the past exploring the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender library users focused exclusively on LGBQ users. This study surveyed adult transgender individuals (n = 102) with an online questionnaire. The majority of participants were white, designated female at birth, and under 40 years old. Survey respondents needed libraries to make accommodations for them to feel safe (p < 0.001). The top 5 accommodations needed were recent transgender literature, gender identity or expression as part of library nondiscrimination policy, gender neutral, single-stall bathrooms where a key did not need to be requested, recent LGBQ literature), and an established remote process for name change.     

信息生态环境因子的相互作用机制

探讨信息生态环境因子相互作用的范围、实现途径、形式、效果和作用程度,论述信息生态环境因子的相互作用范围包括同类因子的相互作用和异类因子的相互作用,其相互作用是通过信息人间接实现的,有一对一交互作用、一对多同时作用、多对一同时作用、多因子链式作用、多因子环式作用等多种形式,作用效果包括相互限制、相互促进、相互补充、相互替代,在相互作用力度、影响程度、作用效果方面都存在非均衡性。     

科技信息资源虚拟联盟间信息质量约束机制的构建

在众多科技信息资源共享模式中,虚拟联盟是实现科技信息资源共建共享的有效组织形式之一,在我国 科技信息资源共享建设中发挥重要作用。但由于不同共享建设单位的资源状况各异、技术条件不同、信息资源质量不 同、数据管理能力水平不齐,使得虚拟联盟间共享信息资源的信息质量问题成为最重要和迫切需要解决的问题之一。 为此,本文提出以构建信息质量约束机制为切入点为科技信息资源共享建设中虚拟联盟间的信息质量管理提供一个基 本分析框架,有助于采取新的质量管理思路、方法和措施进行信息质量的改进,更接近于实践中IQ问题的解决。它包