scholarly journals User-driven efforts in creating knowledge graph information system

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-111
Author(s):  
Stanislava Gardasevic
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Resource Discovery ◽  
The Body ◽  
Knowledge Graph ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that involved students of an interdisciplinary PhD program. The study objective was to gather requirements to create a knowledge graph information system. The purpose of this study was to determine information-seeking practices and information needs of this community, to inform the functionalities of a proposed system, intended to help students with relevant resource discovery and decision-making. Design/methodology/approach The study design included semi-structured interviews with eight members of the community, followed by a website usability study with the same student participants. Findings Two main information-seeking styles are recognized and reported through user personas of international and domestic (USA) students. The findings show that the useful information resides within the community and not so much on the program website. Students rely on peer communication, although they report lack of opportunities to connect. Students’ information needs and information seeking are dependent on their progress through the program, as well as their motivation and the projected timeline. Practical implications Considering the current information needs and practices, a knowledge graph hosting both information on social networks and the knowledge produced by the activities of the community members would be useful. By recording data on their activities (for example, collaboration with professors and coursework), students would reveal further useful system functionalities and facilitate transfer of tacit knowledge. Originality/value Aside from the practical value of this research that is directly influencing the design of a system, it contributes to the body of knowledge on interdisciplinary PhD programs.

Thai immigrants’ information seeking behaviour and perception of the public library’s role during the settlement process

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 535-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornpimol Sirikul ◽  
Dan Dorner
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Thai immigrants who relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, looked for and found the information they needed during their settlement process. Design/methodology/approach The study used a qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions that were conducted with nine Thai immigrants living in the greater Auckland region. Mwarigha’s three stages of settlement and Dervin’s Sense-Making Methodology were used as theoretical frameworks for understanding the information-seeking behaviour of the Thai immigrants and their information needs and associated barriers to accessing information at different stages of the settlement process. Findings The information needs of Thai immigrants in Auckland were diverse based on the stage of each participant’s settlement process. The main information needs of the participants were for employment, English language-learning, housing, health and making connections. Their main information sources during settlement were family, friends and the internet. The participants saw Auckland Libraries as a useful source but did not take full benefit of the library’s services. The main barriers in accessing services were English language incompetence, lack of resources available in the Thai language, lack of time and library staff behaviour. Research limitations/implications The results of this study will provide library and information professionals with new insights into Thai immigrants’ information-seeking behaviour and their information needs, which may contribute to providing immigrants with the information tools they need to improve the quality of their lives in New Zealand. As this study is limited to Thai immigrants in Auckland only, there is a need to conduct a study on the information needs and seeking behaviour of Thai immigrants in other locales. It may be of interest to researchers to conduct a quantitative study of a larger sample to further generalise the findings. Originality/value There is minimal research that specifically investigates the information needs, sources and barriers to information experienced by immigrants throughout the settlement process. This study is unique in that it focuses on a specific ethnic community of Thais. The findings of this study can be a stepping stone towards further research to gain a deeper understanding of Thai and other immigrants’ information needs, sources, barriers and their perceptions towards public libraries.

scholarly journals The information trust formation process for informal caregivers of people with dementia: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Sbaffi ◽  
Sarah Hargreaves
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Trust Formation ◽  
Information Trust

PurposeThis paper provides new insights on trust formation during information-seeking processes of informal caregivers of people with dementia and identifies the sources of information deemed as trustworthy by caregivers.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a phenomenological qualitative approach in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 20 informal caregivers.FindingsCaregivers trust sources that are perceived as authoritative and particularly value the information and advice provided by other caregivers. Trust in information can be divided into subjective and objective, but both are important precursors to the actual use of the information. The information available to caregivers is sufficient in quantity but inadequate in terms of ease of use, clarity and usefulness. Often, some key information needs remain unsatisfied due to the lack of timeliness, relevance and personalisation of the information.Practical implicationsThis paper provides recommendations for information and healthcare providers on how to improve communication and information relevance for informal caregivers of people with dementia.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to a more comprehensive perspective on caregivers’ information trust formation processes, which takes into account both the characteristics of the information and caregivers’ individual factors.

Investigating failures in information seeking episodes

2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Chirag Shah
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Purpose People face barriers and failures in various kinds of information seeking experiences. These are often attributed to either the information seeker or the system/service they use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why individuals fail to fulfill their information needs in all contexts and situations. It addresses the limitations of existing studies in examining the context of the task and information seeker’s strategy and seeks to gain a holistic understanding of information seeking barriers and failures. Design/methodology/approach The primary method used for this investigation is a qualitative survey, in which 63 participants provided 208 real life examples of failures in information seeking. After analyzing the survey data, ten semi-structured interviews with another group of participants were conducted to further examine the survey findings. Data were analyzed using various theoretical frameworks of tasks, strategies, and barriers. Findings A careful examination of aspects of tasks, barriers, and strategies identified from the examples revealed that a wide range of external and internal factors caused people’s failures. These factors were also caused or affected by multiple aspects of information seekers’ tasks and strategies. People’s information needs were often too contextual and specific to be fulfilled by the information retrieved. Other barriers, such as time constraint and institutional restrictions, also intensified the problem. Originality/value This paper highlights the importance of considering the information seeking episodes in which individuals fail to fulfill their needs in a holistic approach by analyzing their tasks, information needs, strategies, and obstacles. The modified theoretical frameworks and the coding methods used could also be instrumental for future research.

scholarly journals The information behaviours of maximum security prisoners

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Canning ◽  
Steven Buchanan
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Maximum Security ◽  
Interpersonal Information ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the information behaviours of prisoners, providing insight into their information needs and information-seeking preferences, and the factors influencing their behaviours; to inform education and rehabilitation programmes. Design/methodology/approach The paper is an in-depth qualitative study. The theoretical framework was provided via Chatman’s (1996) concepts of information poverty. Participants were adult male prisoners in a Scottish maximum security prison, and prison staff. Data collection method was semi-structured interviews. Findings Prisoners have a broad range of information needs, many sensitive and many unmet. Interpersonal information sources are predominantly used due to a combination of natural preference and restricted access to other information sources. Issues of stigma and trust influence information behaviours. Further issues include restrictive social norms, and disinformation to incite violence. A significant degree of risk is therefore inherent within interpersonal information interactions, fostering self-protective acts of secrecy and deception amongst prisoners. Unmet emotional needs appear particularly problematic. Research limitations/implications The paper highlights the need for further research exploring issues of unmet emotional needs in prisoners; in particular, assistive methods of need recognition and support in the problematic context. Practical implications The paper identifies significant unmet information needs in prisoners that impact upon their ability to cope with incarceration, and prepare for successful release and reintegration. Originality/value The paper addresses an understudied group of significant societal concern and advances the understanding of information need in context, providing insight into unmet needs and issues of affect in the incarcerated small world context.

Orchestrating value co-creation in online communities as fluid organisations: firm roles and value creation mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diah Priharsari ◽  
Babak Abedin
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
The Body ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
Service Ecosystem

PurposeThe lack of authority of the sponsoring firm in online communities raises questions about how to orchestrate members of an online community in value co-creation. Hence, this study aims to examine how online communities co-create value with community members. The authors draw upon service-dominant logic (SDL) to study two comparable, and yet different, Indonesian firm-sponsored online communities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors build on an earlier systematic literature review and triangulate it with semi-structured interviews of 28 community members and content analysis of over 35,000 online comments. The data collection was conducted from February to October 2018.FindingsThe findings revealed that (1) value co-creation in online communities is orchestrated through the fluidity of the online community, which is represented by three mechanisms: consensus-making, consensus settlement and changing boundaries, and (2) the mechanisms can be conditioned by switching firm roles (as a co-creator and facilitator).Research limitations/implicationsThe study has enriched the body of knowledge in fluid organisations by explicating three mechanisms, consensus-making, consensus settlement and changing boundaries, that explain the coordination efforts between individuals who have options to participate or not and changing boundaries, that reveals actors' responses in online communities. The mechanisms demonstrate the dynamics of a service ecosystem.Originality/valueThis study offers valuable insights into how sponsoring firms orchestrate value creation in online communities where they do not have full control of participants' reactions. The authors hereby contribute to enriching the understanding of co-creating value with customers in a fluid organisation, such as online communities.

scholarly journals “I actually got my first job through my ex-colleague”: Employment-related information seeking behavior of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062199280
Author(s):  
Nafiz Zaman Shuva
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Immigrant Professionals ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
First Job

This study explores the employment-related information seeking behaviour of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 60 Bangladeshi immigrants in Ontario, Canada, and obtained 205 survey responses. The study highlights the centrality of employment-related settlement among Bangladeshi immigrants in Ontario and reports many immigrants not being able to utilize their education and skills after arrival in Canada. The results show that Bangladeshi immigrants utilize various information sources for their employment in Canada, including friends and professional colleagues, online searchers, and settlement agencies. Although Bangladeshi immigrants utilized a large array of information sources for meeting their employment-related information needs, many interview participants emphasized that the employment-related benefits they received was because of their access to friends and professional colleagues in Canada. The survey results echoed the interview findings. The cross-tabulation results on post-arrival information sources and occupation status as well as first job information sources and occupational status in Canada show a significant association among the use of the information source “friends and professional colleagues in Canada” and immigrants’ occupational status. The study highlights the benefits of professional colleagues among immigrants in employment-related settlement contexts. It also reports the challenges faced by many immigrant professionals related to employment-related settlement because of the lack of access to their professional friends and colleagues in Canada. The author urges the Federal Government of Canada, provincial governments, and settlement agencies working with newcomers to offer services that would connect highly skilled immigrants with their professional networks in Canada, in order to get proper guidance related to obtaining a professional job or alternative career. The author calls for further studies on employment-related information seeking by immigrants to better understand the role information plays in their settlement in a new country.

Mixed embeddedness of Brazilian entrepreneurs in Toronto

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Pessoa de Queiroz Falcão ◽  
Michel Mott Machado ◽  
Eduardo Picanço Cruz ◽  
Caroline Shenaz Hossein
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
The Body ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Immigrant Entrepreneurship ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brazilian Government ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
High Level ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate how social integration, immigrant networks and barriers to ventureing affect the entrepreneurial activities of Brazilians in Canada, indicating how mixed embeddedness takes place in that context.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in Toronto, through the application of a survey with 74 Brazilian entrepreneur respondents and 42 semi-structured interviews with selected subjects, thus representing a multi-method approach. The analysis included descriptive statistics from the survey data and a qualitative analysis of the trajectories and life stories of Brazilian immigrants.FindingsOur sample comprises respondents with a high level of education and proficiency in English, coming predominantly from the southeast of Brazil, white, aged from 30 to 49. The majority of businesses are small and related to the service sector. The article contributes to the literature by discussing the elements related to mixed embeddedness, including the need for cultural adaptation and for the creation of networks as a crucial element for business venturing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on entrepreneurs regardless of their businesses sector or formality/informality status. It could be used as an instrument to support Canadian public policies for welcoming Brazilians and for the Brazilian government to prevent the evasion of potential entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the body of knowledge of immigrant entrepreneurship in Canada and of Brazilian entrepreneurship overseas. The results suggest factors that may be relevant to the expansion of their business, such as social networking, cultural embeddedness and adaptation of the products/services to a wider range of target customers.

Exploring the effects of studentification on neighbourhoods in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluseyi Adebowale ◽  
Fredrick Simpeh
Keyword(s):  
Research Area ◽  
Student Housing ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Analysis Technique

Purpose The increase in enrolment into higher education and the inadequate student housing in educational institutions has led to the growth of off-campus private student housing in Nigeria. Studentification as a research area has received attention in most countries in the global North, whereas there is dearth of studies on studentification in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the effects of studentification on the residents of selected Nigerian communities. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an exploratory research strategy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather qualitative data from respondents, who were landlords and indigenous tenants of the host communities of two tertiary institutions. The data collected were analysed by means of the thematic analysis technique. Findings It became evident that studentification has some effects on the communities. Significant positive effects are business patronage and liveliness, while socio-economic-related factors, which include indecent clothing and theft, were noted as the most significant negative factors. Practical implications Implementing the outcomes of this study will contribute to promoting societal ethical values and economic prosperity of the communities. Originality/value The paper contributes to building the body of knowledge on the effect of studentification in the Nigerian context.

Studying gendered embodied consumption with poststructuralist feminist hermeneutics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly Drake ◽  
Scott K. Radford
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Textual Data ◽  
Recreational Runners ◽  
Feminist Hermeneutics

Purpose This study aims to consider how research methodologies and methods can afford holistic inquiry into gendered embodied consumption. Noting the salience of gender in past and present discourse surrounding the body and building on poststructuralist feminist hermeneutic philosophy and practice, the authors introduce a novel methodological framework situated within three considerations borne of the current socio-cultural landscape: the politics of embodiment, embodied identity and intersectionality. Design/methodology/approach To assist scholars and practitioners in interpreting themes of gendered embodiment in textual data surrounding consumption topics, the authors orient the framework around three principles of listening, questioning and hospitality. This framework fosters embodied empathy by linking the researcher’s body to those of research participants. To illustrate the method, the authors interpret consumption narratives extracted from semi-structured interviews with 26 women-identified recreational runners on the topics of embodiment, sport and media. Findings The interpretations of gendered consumption narratives show that using the principles of listening, questioning and hospitality invites an understanding of consumers as multifaceted, contradictory and agentic. The authors argue that consumers’ everyday experiences are often simple and quiet but embedded in history wherein bodies are both biological and inescapably social. Originality/value The methodological framework allows both the researcher’s and research participants’ embodiment to play a role in the research process. It also illuminates the entanglement of embodiment and consumption in a fraught, politicized context. The authors show that by listening to consumers, questioning their narratives and traditional interpretations thereof and inviting consumers to feel comfortable and heard, researchers can see what other approaches may overlook.

Categorising on-site problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micael Thunberg ◽  
Martin Rudberg ◽  
Tina Karrbom Gustavsson
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Internal Communication ◽  
The Body ◽  
Construction Project Management ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Body Of Knowledge

Purpose This study aims to identify and categorise common on-site problems from a supply chain management (SCM) perspective and to trace the origin of these problems in the construction project process, the supply chain or in the intersection between these processes. This allows for identification of how on-site problems affect SCM in construction projects and how they can be mitigated. Design/methodology/approach A literature review in combination with semi-structured interviews was used to identify on-site problems. This enabled triangulation and strengthened both construct validity and internal validity. Findings On-site problems can be categorised in one of the four following categories: material flows, internal communication, external communication or complexity. The first category has its origin in the supply chain, the second in the construction project process, the third in the supply chain-construction process intersection on site and the fourth in the construction project as a whole. The findings conclude that on-site problems often originate from construction companies’ lack of supply chain orientation. Research limitations/implications It is suggested that supply chain planning (SCP) can facilitate on-site problem mitigation in construction project management. This extends the body of knowledge of SCP in construction project management and supports the development of effective on-site construction project management. Practical implications The results show that SCP can aid construction project management in handling on-site problems earlier in the project process. Originality/value The main value lies in extending the body of knowledge in construction project management research by applying an SCM perspective and by introducing SCP to support more effective construction project management.

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