A scoping review of individual differences in information seeking behavior and retrieval research between 2000 and 2015

Individual differences have long been of interest in information science as they bear on the design of information systems and services for specific populations. Yet little is known as to which individual differences make a difference to search outcomes, both across applications and for diverse user groups. A scoping study of information seeking and retrieval research from 2000 to 2015 was conducted. Over 2100 articles retrieved from eight scholarly databases were screened based on title, abstract, and full-text (using specified inclusion criteria), resulting in 223 papers for analysis. Data were extracted to provide an overview of the literature, including types of individual differences studied, publication volume over time, measures, samples, and study outcomes. Findings are inconclusiveness regarding how individual differences affect search outcomes, and raise issues around measurement and generalizability. This study represents an essential first step to developing a more systematic investigation of individual differences research and connecting individual research studies to anchor and guide future work.     

Re-framing information literacy: Problem-based learning as informed learning

This study explores an online information literacy module that uses problem-based learning (PBL). The goal was to enable students to experience information literacy in a richer way, by moving away from a focus on locating information sources to one of information use in the construction of knowledge. A content analysis of the research journals and reflection papers of students (N = 15) in a distance education school library media administration endorsement program suggests that PBL was an effective approach for some students, but not others. Some students were motivated by working on authentic problems, and at least half the students engaged deeply with information and discovered new questions and angles for research during the process. These students applied more sophisticated evaluation strategies and were more metacognitive in their thinking, assessing their progress and shifting strategies as they progressed through the module.     

“If there are no records,there is no narrative”: the social justice impact of records of Scottish care-leavers

In 2004, the Scottish Parliament commissioned an independent review of abuse in children’s residential establishments between 1950 and 1995. In 2007, the review’s findings were published in a report entitled Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950 to 1995, also known as the Shaw Report. In this article, the Shaw Report provides the jumping off point for a case study of the social justice impact of records. Drawing on secondary literature, interviews, and care-related records, the study identifies narratives that speak to the social justice impact of care records on care-leavers seeking access to them; it also assesses the potential of the surviving administrative records to serve as a foundation on which to construct historical narratives that speak more generally to the experience of children in residential care.     

When is Fiction as Good as Fact? Comparing the Influence of Documentary and Historical Reenactment Films on Engagement,Affect, Issue Interest,and Learning

This study advances documentary film effects research by comparing the influence of a political documentary with a historical reenactment film on narrative engagement, affect, learning, and interest. Using the Rwandan genocide as a context of study, a documentary film, The Triumph of Evil, and the historical reenactment fictional film, Hotel Rwanda, were examined. Results revealed significant differences between documentary and historical reenactment film exposure for affective responses and issue knowledge gain. However, increased issue interest and narrative engagement were not significantly different for the two stimulus groups, suggesting that dramatic fictional reenactments of socio-political events lead to increased issue interest as much or more than the live footage and factual account of events offered in a documentary. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their importance for key democratic outcome variables (e.g., knowledge and participation), along with suggestions for future documentary film research.