Trends in analyzing access to information. Part I: cross-disciplinary conceptualizations of access

Part I of two articles reviews six research literatures that consider access from different vantage points to identify common aspects of the concept `access to information'. The resulting multi-dimensional framework includes (1) conceptualizations of information itself (resource/commodity, data in the environment, representation of knowledge and part of the communication process), (2) conceptualizations of the notion of access (knowledge, technology, communication, control, goods/commodities and rights), (3) a set of general information seeking facets (context, situation, strategies and outcomes) and (4) a variety of influences and constraints (physical, cognitive, affective, economic, social and political). Only a comprehensive consideration of these factors will allow us to understand the concept of access to information, as well as develop and study systems, institutions and policies that foster improved access.     

The bright and dark sides of institutional intermediaries: Industry associations and small-firm innovation

Institutional intermediaries are often seen by governments as avenues for increasing firm level innovativeness. This is because they can provide both information and legitimacy, which enable access to government support. Yet, close engagement with intermediaries may also encourage political intervention, especially in the context of emerging markets. Using a unique dataset which consists of the Chinese Micro- and Small- Enterprise Survey (CMES) and the National Economic Research Institute (NERI), we explore the roles of government support and political intervention in the relationship between institutional linkages and firm innovativeness. We find that government support, in the form of tax benefits, and political intervention mediate the relationship between institutional linkages and firm innovativeness. We also find that this relationship is contingent upon the degree of institutional development within which firms operate. Our findings therefore contribute to the burgeoning literature that examines the effects of institutional intermediaries on innovation by exploring both their bright and dark sides. We discuss the implications of these findings for institutional intermediary research, institutional theory and innovation literature and offer advice to policymakers and managers looking at improving innovativeness.     

Hierarchical web resources retrieval by exploiting Fuzzy Formal Concept Analysis

In recent years, knowledge structuring is assuming important roles in several real world applications such as decision support, cooperative problem solving, e-commerce, Semantic Web and, even in planning systems. Ontologies play an important role in supporting automated processes to access information and are at the core of new strategies for the development of knowledge-based systems. Yet, developing an ontology is a time-consuming task which often needs an accurate domain expertise to tackle structural and logical difficulties in the definition of concepts as well as conceivable relationships. This work presents an ontology-based retrieval approach, that supports data organization and visualization and provides a friendly navigation model. It exploits the fuzzy extension of the Formal Concept Analysis theory to elicit conceptualizations from datasets and generate a hierarchy-based representation of extracted knowledge. An intuitive graphical interface provides a multi-facets view of the built ontology. Through a transparent query-based retrieval, final users navigate across concepts, relations and population.     

Balancing the Local and the Global in Infrastructural Information Systems

A considerable body of literature has demonstrated-- empirically as well as analytically--that information systems need to be situated to the local context of use. Yet for infrastructural information systems that span numerous contexts spread out globally, this is literally prohibitive. For these systems to work, it is necessary to strike a balance between sensitiveness to local contexts and a need to standardize across contexts. We analyze a key element in this, namely, spelling out the (largely invisible) "costs" that the different actors pay to achieve working solutions. Empirically, we draw from an ongoing case study. We analyze the attempts of a maritime classification company with 5500 employees located in 300 sites in 100 countries to develop an infrastructural information system to support the surveying of ships globally. We elaborate design implications and concepts relevant to developing information infrastructures that also apply to the context of developing countries.     

Querytogether: Enabling entity-centric exploration in multi-device collaborative search

Collaborative and co-located information access is becoming increasingly common. However, fairly little attention has been devoted to the design of ubiquitous computing approaches for spontaneous exploration of large information spaces enabling co-located collaboration. We investigate whether an entity-based user interface provides a solution to support co-located search on heterogeneous devices. We present the design and implementation of QueryTogether, a multi-device collaborative search tool through which entities such as people, documents, and keywords can be used to compose queries that can be shared to a public screen or specific users with easy touch enabled interaction. We conducted mixed-methods user experiments with twenty seven participants (nine groups of three people), to compare the collaborative search with QueryTogether to a baseline adopting established search and collaboration interfaces. Results show that QueryTogether led to more balanced contribution and search engagement. While the overall s-recall in search was similar, in the QueryTogether condition participants found most of the relevant results earlier in the tasks, and for more than half of the queries avoided text entry by manipulating recommended entities. The video analysis demonstrated a more consistent common ground through increased attention to the common screen, and more transitions between collaboration styles. Therefore, this provided a better fit for the spontaneity of ubiquitous scenarios. QueryTogether and the corresponding study demonstrate the importance of entity based interfaces to improve collaboration by facilitating balanced participation, flexibility of collaboration styles and social processing of search entities across conversation and devices. The findings promote a vision of collaborative search support in spontaneous and ubiquitous multi-device settings, and better linking of conversation objects to searchable entities.     

Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information

We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that planning based on information deterministic assumptions tends to overlook the sociomaterial circumstances of information production and circulation, including how social structures and materiality shape information in practice. Further, they imbue what we call “information” with the agency to bring about change. While we do not deny that “information” can be useful, we argue that policy needs to move away from information deterministic thinking and its singular focus on information access to address the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.     

Microcollaborations in a social Q&A community

Most social Q&A sites are designed to support solo searchers who access the aggregated opinions of other users, and ask and answer questions of their own. The purpose of this paper is to show how users in one social Q&A community defy system constraints to engage in brief, informal episodes of collaborative information seeking called microcollaborations. A brief literature review is presented, suggesting a view of information seeking as a combination of problem-centered information seeking, technological affordances and constraints, and social and affective factors. The results of content and transaction log analyses of user interactions suggest that topics of collaboration share a common threshold of complexity and invite responses containing both fact and opinion. Analysis also revealed that key elements in predicting a collaborative instance involve social capital and affective factors unrelated to the topic of the collaboration. Suggestions for supporting future lightweight microcollaborations, and implications for future research, are discussed.     

The Politics of Search: A Decade Retrospective

In “Shaping the Web: Why the Politics of Search Engines Matters,” Introna and Nissenbaum (2000) introduced scholars to the political, as well as technical, issues central to the development of online search engines. Since that time, scholars have critically evaluated the role that search engines play in structuring the scope of online information access for the rest of society, with an emphasis on the implications for a democratic and diverse Web. This article describes the thought behind search engine regulation, online diversity, and information bias, and it places these issues within the context of the technical and societal changes that have occurred in the online search industry. The author assesses which of the initial concerns expressed about online search engines remain relevant today and discusses how technical changes demand a new approach to measuring online diversity and democracy. The author concludes with a proposal to direct the research and thought in online search going forward.     

Semantic annotation based exploratory search for information analysts

The system presented in this article aims to improve information access through the use of semantic annotation utilizing a non-traditional approach. Instead of applying semantic annotations to enhance the internal information access mechanisms, we use them to empower the user of an information access system through an innovative named entity-based user interface – NameSieve. NameSieve was built to support an intelligence analyst during the process of exploratory search, an advanced type of search requiring multiple iterations of retrieval interleaved with browsing and analyzing the retrieved information. The proposed approach was implemented in the NameSieve system so that the system can transparently present a summary of search results in the form of entity “clouds.” Therefore, these clouds allow the analyst to further explore the results in a novel manner, acting together as a faceted browsing interface. We ran a user study (with ten subjects) to examine the effect of NameSieve, and the study results reported in the paper demonstrate that this new way of applying semantic annotation information was actively used and was evaluated positively by the subjects. It enabled the subjects to work more productively and bring back most relevant documents.     

Public sector information management in east and southern Africa: Implications for FOI, democracy and integrity in government

Sound management of information contained in records and other information systems in the public sector is the sine qua non of democratic governance. For effective access to government held information, Freedom of Information (FOI) legislations impose significant duties and responsibilities on public authorities to give access to information. FOI legislation is premised on the principle that effective records management enables authorities to enforce wider government agenda to increase openness, transparency, trust and accountability in the public sector. Effective access, management and exploitation of official information are the means by which governments can demonstrate accountability and transparency in the use of public resources, expose corruption and fraud, protect citizens’ rights, as well as improve overall service delivery to citizens.This paper reviews management of public sector information contained in records and implications for enhancing freedom of access to information, democracy and integrity in governments within east and southern Africa. The authors point out that as democracy and good governance gain momentum especially in developing world, governments in east and southern Africa have one critical factor that is yet to receive adequate attention, namely the role played by information management in enhancing democracy, transparency, accountability and integrity in government. Besides, though constitutions of most east and southern African countries provide for the right and freedom of access to information as a tool to enhance democracy and good governance, state interference from time to time hampers such rights and freedoms to be exercised. The authors proffer the way forward for east and southern Africa.     

Librarianship and information work: Job characteristics and staffing needs : . The British Library Research & Development Reports No. 5321HC, The British Library, London, 1977, 62 pp. £2.50

This paper deals with the broad concept of management of organizational information. More specifically, it examines the notion of information richness—that phenomenon by which certain individuals are better able to acquire, process and utilize information than are other individuals in the organization. Based on an analysis of relevant research findings some tentative hypotheses relating management and organizational information richness are suggested. In conclusion, a number of managerial implications of the notion of organizational information richness are discussed.     

An analysis of Web searching by European AlltheWeb.com users

The Web has become a worldwide source of information and a mainstream business tool. It is changing the way people conduct the daily business of their lives. As these changes are occurring, we need to understand what Web searching trends are emerging within the various global regions. What are the regional differences and trends in Web searching, if any? What is the effectiveness of Web search engines as providers of information? As part of a body of research studying these questions, we have analyzed two data sets collected from queries by mainly European users submitted to AlltheWeb.com on 6 February 2001 and 28 May 2002. AlltheWeb.com is a major and highly rated European search engine. Each data set contains approximately a million queries submitted by over 200,000 users and spans a 24-h period. This longitudinal benchmark study shows that European Web searching is evolving in certain directions. There was some decline in query length, with extremely simple queries. European search topics are broadening, with a notable percentage decline in sexual and pornographic searching. The majority of Web searchers view fewer than five Web documents, spending only seconds on a Web document. Approximately 50% of the Web documents viewed by these European users were topically relevant. We discuss the implications for Web information systems and information content providers.     

Contextualizing entrepreneurial innovation: A narrative perspective

We review literatures that inform entrepreneurial innovation, paying particular attention to different conceptualizations of contexts. Early research explored micro and macro approaches with some scholars taking an actor-centric perspective and others a context-centric perspective. Bridging these perspectives, different scholars proposed multilevel approaches, arguing that opportunities are “found” or “made” by entrepreneurs whose efforts are moderated by contexts. More recent constitutive approaches, such as those informed by structuration, complexity and disequilibrium theories, have viewed entrepreneurial innovation as a process wherein actors and contexts are co-created. We add to constitutive approaches by examining how entrepreneurs contextualize innovation through narratives. A narrative perspective considers entrepreneurial innovation as an ongoing process involving embedded actors who contextualize innovation through performative efforts. We discuss the implications of this perspective for policy, entrepreneurs, and research.     

Exploring the usability of web portals: A Croatian case study

Web portals act as a single point of access to information and services relevant to person's work or personal interests. Market research findings related to Croatian web context report that nowadays horizontal information portals are the most visited sites. Whether they reach their aim of facilitating users’ access to diverse resources and to which extent, remains an open question. In this paper, this issue is addressed by two case studies conducted for summative assessment of Croatian horizontal information portals. Approach assembled expert inspection and user assessment that integrated a number of empirical methods into laboratory-based testing. We report that the results of inspection method were not in agreement with the ones obtained from user test methods. Although differences of this kind have been reported elsewhere, these were not as evident as in these studies. What is very interesting and represents a main contribution of the research is that in both rounds of evaluations this outcome is very sharp and clear. This suggests that we should conduct both kinds of assessments as they seem to be complementary. Evaluation provided some general findings and know-how from the experience and we believe that many readers, both practitioners and researchers, can learn from it.     

On the integration of model-based feature information in Product Lifecycle Management systems

As CAD models continue to become more critical information sources in the product’s lifecycle, it is necessary to develop efficient mechanisms to store, retrieve, and manage larger volumes of increasingly complex data. Because of their unique characteristics, 3D annotations can be used to embed design and manufacturing information directly into a CAD model, which makes models effective vehicles to describe aspects of the geometry or provide additional information that can be connected to a particular geometric element. However, access to this information is often limited, difficult, and even unavailable to external applications. As model complexity and volume of information continue to increase, new and more powerful methods to interrogate these annotations are needed.In this paper, we demonstrate how 3D annotations can be effectively structured and integrated into a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system to provide a cohesive view of product-related information in a design environment. We present a strategy to organize and manage annotation information which is stored internally in a CAD model, and make it fully available through the PLM. Our method involves a dual representation of 3D annotations with enhanced data structures that provides shared and easy access to the information. We describe the architecture of a system which includes a software component for the CAD environment and a module that integrates with the PLM server. We validate our approach through a software prototype that uses a parametric modeling application and two commercial PLM packages with distinct data models.     

Immigrating after 60: Information experiences of older Chinese migrants to Australia and Canada

While there is much research on migrant information behavior, the older population tends to be underrepresented in the literature. This article reports on a qualitative study with 16 Chinese older adults (aged 60 and over) who were recent immigrants to Australia and Canada. Migrating late in life presents some unique characteristics and challenges. In both countries, the discourse of “family reunification” frames the experiences of the participants, including their information activities as they learn to navigate the new environment. We used a parallel approach across the two countries to examine these older adults’ information practices as well as the transnational dimension of their settlement process. Findings point to a shared social imaginary as well as daily rituals and coping mechanisms of these late-life immigrants, along with associated information activities. We draw implications for our understanding of this under-studied migrant population, as well as for the design of information support for older migrants as part of their social inclusion in the host country.     

Uncertainty in information seeking and retrieval: A study in an academic environment

This research focuses specifically on uncertainty and information seeking in a digital environment. In this research we argue that different types of uncertainty are associated with the information seeking process and that, with the proliferation of new and different search tools, sources and channels, uncertainty, positive/desirable or negative/undesirable, continues to be a significant factor in the search process. Users may feel uncertain at any stage of the information search and retrieval process and uncertainty may remain even after completion of the process resulting in what may be called persistent uncertainty. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from users in the higher education sector. There were three parts to the questionnaire focusing on: information seeking activities, information seeking problems, and access to specific information channels or sources. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data collected through the online questionnaire. A total of 668 responses were returned from the chosen user categories of academic staff, research staff and research students. This research has shown that there are some information seeking activities and information seeking problems that are the most common causes of uncertainty among significant number of users from different disciplines, age, gender, ICT skills, etc. This is also the case with respect to access to and use of specific information sources/channels, although the degrees of uncertainty in relation are relatively small. Possible implications of this study and further research issues are indicated.     

The information practices and politics of migrant-aid work in the US-Mexico borderlands

Abstract

Numerous organizations work to provide humanitarian aid to undocumented migrants along the US-Mexico border—from running shelters in Mexico to placing water on migratory trails. Resistance to information-sharing between organizations (and to the public), especially through technologically mediated means, is common. However, some organizers and volunteers work across organizational boundaries and share information informally. Information secrecy is often justified by concerns that law enforcement authorities or anti-immigration activists might gain access to information, allowing them to harm, detain or remove migrants, or interfere with humanitarian work. The choices made about the collection and (non)disclosure of information are manifestations of what we call “liminal” information practices: such behaviors are unique to humanitarian volunteers working in the gray, ethical area between law enforcement and humanitarian values and action, and they are guided by the information politics at play within this context.     

Specifics of information retrieval for young users: A survey

In this paper, we present the state of the art in the field of information retrieval that is relevant for understanding how to design information retrieval systems for children. We describe basic theories of human development to explain the specifics of young users, i.e., their cognitive skills, fine motor skills, knowledge, memory and emotional states in so far as they differ from those of adults. We derive the implications these differences have on the design of information retrieval systems for children. Furthermore, we summarize the main findings about children’s search behavior from multiple user studies. These findings are important to understand children’s information needs, their search strategies and usage of information retrieval systems. We also identify several weaknesses of previous user studies about children’s information-seeking behavior. Guided by the findings of these user studies, we describe challenges for the design of information retrieval systems for young users. We give an overview of algorithms and user interface concepts. We also describe existing information retrieval systems for children, in specific web search engines and digital libraries. We conclude with a discussion of open issues and directions for further research. The survey provided in this paper is important both for designers of information retrieval systems for young users as well as for researchers who start working in this field.     

Back to our beginnings: information utilization, Bertram Brookes and the fundamental equation of information science

This analytical paper is in three parts. Firstly, it provides a brief review of the terrain of information utilization, a fundamental concept in the discourse of information seeking and use behavior. This review identifies dominant conceptualizations of information utilization, and identifies a research gap in relation to the cognitive dimensions of information utilization. Secondly, against this backdrop, it posits and examines Bertram Brookes' fundamental equation of information science as a theoretical framework for furthering our understanding of, and research into, the cognitive aspects of information utilization. Thirdly, it discusses some methodological aspects for investigating Brookes' equation in order to build a cumulative knowledge of the cognitive dimension of information utilization.