Monitoring, browsing and being aware – Keeping abreast and staying updated with professional information in Swedish regional libraries

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110429
Author(s):  
Ola Pilerot
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Specific Kind ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Normative Dimension ◽  
Professional Information ◽  
Study Participants

A substantial part of the work conducted by librarians at Swedish regional libraries concerns staying alert and informed in ways that allow for continuous development of the kind of knowledge and abilities that are required for doing a qualified job, but this part of the work is elusive and hard to identify. This paper presents an empirical study that elucidates this specific kind of work of keeping abreast and updated with professional information. Empirical data were produced through interviews and logbooks with 10 members of staff at 4 regional libraries in Sweden. The data were analysed by employing Marcia Bates’ model of different information-seeking modes. The results of the study show that the activity in focus is seamlessly intertwined with other work activities and enacted in a variety of ways that are adapted after other work tasks (than the information seeking in itself) and dependent on individual preferences and routines. Since there is a certain conception of this activity as something that should be carried out in a certain systematic way and since it is something that one as a librarian ought to be good at, it is furthermore often associated with a normative dimension that provokes a sense of guilt among the study participants.

The embeddedness of collaborative information seeking in information culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preben Hansen ◽  
Gunilla Widén
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Information Culture ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Collaborative Information Seeking ◽  
Individual Information

Professionally, people often conduct their work in settings containing a range of different collaborative situations and work practices in which people handle information and work activities. Still, work tasks are usually considered and perceived as individual activities although the technology and the characteristics of the tasks require collaborative and cooperative handling processes. This viewpoint still produces technologies that, in general, assume individual information management and decision-making. Based on previous research on information culture (IC) and collaborative information seeking (CIS), this paper proposes an integrated framework where both environmental (cultural) as well as collaborative aspects of organisational information behaviour are present. This kind of framework would be useful in studies looking into how information is retrieved, how information is organised and managed, and how information is used as a resource in collaborative settings. It gives a more holistic perspective to information use and practices in organisations where culture, collaboration and awareness are especially brought to common attention for effective information management in organisations.

scholarly journals Bullying at work: A comprehensive definition and consequences based on an empirical study

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambreen Anjum ◽  
Kausar Yasmeen ◽  
Kashifa Yasmeen
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Workplace Bullying ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper determines a comprehensive definition of workplace bullying and explores its job-related consequences. In the present study multi- methods approach was used which consist of questionnaire and in depth interviews. Interview was used in order to investigate perception and experience of workplace bullying and questionnaire to explore the consequences of workplace bullying. Results show bullying  involves negative behaviors e.g. harassing, socially excluding someone and/or negatively effecting someone’s work tasks ,which occurs frequently and continues for period of time and victim is not only unable to control these acts but also suffer in severe health and job related consequences.

Information-seeking behavior and information providers in a K’iche’ Maya community

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hunt ◽  
Robin Shoaps
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Recent Graduates ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Developed World ◽  
Information Providers ◽  
Retired Teachers

The study investigated the information-seeking behavior and information provision practices among bilingual (Spanish and K’iche’) students and adults in a Maya town in highland Guatemala. The research combined participant observation ethnography (spanning a total of fifteen months from 2008-17) and interviews with current and retired teachers, Internet café founders and employees, the municipal librarian, students aged 10 and up as well as recent graduates and professionals. Ethnographic insights guided the identification of ‘information,’ the selection of study participants and the nature of questions they were asked. Although a rudimentary library in one form or another has been present since the early 1980s, employees of the library are not, and have never been the primary information providers in Nahualá. Rather, in the past teachers have played that role and many locally important and respected men continue to do so, while currently the employees of one Internet café in particular serve many of the functions characteristically served by librarians in the developed world.

scholarly journals Defining Inspection Techniques for Detecting Privacy Problems in Online Social Networks

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Andrey  Rodrigues ◽  
Natasha  M. C. Valentim ◽  
Eduardo  Feitosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
Effective Alternative ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Inspection Techniques

In the last few years, Online Social Networks (OSN) have experienced growth in the number of users, becoming an increasingly embedded part of people’s daily lives. Privacy expectations of OSNs are higher as more members start realizing potential privacy problems they face by interacting with these systems. Inspection methods can be an effective alternative for addressing privacy problems because they detect possible defects that could be causing the system to behave in an undesirable way. Therefore, we proposed a set of privacy inspection techniques called PIT-OSN (Privacy Inspection Techniques for Online Social Network). This paper presents the description and evolution of PIT-OSN through the results of a preliminary empirical study. We discuss the quantitative and qualitative results and their impact on improving the techniques. Results indicate that our techniques assist non-expert inspectors uncover privacy problems effectively, and are considered easy to use and useful by the study participants. Finally, the qualitative analysis helped us improve some technique steps that might be unclear.

scholarly journals Learning to Be Employable Through Volunteering: A Qualitative Study on the Development of Employability Capital of Young People

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Luisa Giancaspro ◽  
Amelia Manuti
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Voluntary Work ◽  
Specific Kind ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
First Contact ◽  
The Relationship

Over the last decades, consistent research showed that voluntary work could be considered as a tool for professional development and concrete employment: volunteering could be either experienced as a desire to improve career opportunities or to acquire new skills. The study aimed to investigate voluntary work as a context of informal and non-formal workplace learning and vocational guidance, useful to develop skills and abilities, namely the capital of personal and social resources, that could promote future employability. Participants were 38 young volunteers who experienced the Universal Civil Service, a national Italian program addressed to young people aged up to 28 years, giving them both the opportunity to engage in social activities useful for the community and have the first contact with a working context. In line with the objectives of the study, participants were invited to describe their volunteering experience in a diary, highlighting if and to what extent this context contributed to enhancing their employability capital, namely the asset of skills, knowledge, and networks acquired, that they could transfer to a future professional domain. The narrative data collected were examined through diatextual analysis, a specific address of discourse analysis designed to catch the relationship between enunciators, text, and context of the talk. This qualitative analysis allowed us to investigate the meanings young people attributed to these activities. In light of these results, the paper contributed to investigate volunteers’ perceptions about the conditions that could best foster this specific kind of workplace informal and non-formal learning and at proposing a qualitative perspective on the analysis of the employability capital they developed.

Sedentary Work by Females in Hot Environments

1975 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Ramsey ◽  
S.B. Pai
Keyword(s):  
Work Place ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Hot Environments ◽  
Male Subjects

Performance by females on sedentary work tasks did not show meaningful decrement as a function of work place temperatures. In general, females showed less effect on performance in hot environments than did male subjects engaged in the same work activities.

scholarly journals The patient experience of hemodialysis vascular access decision-making

2020 ◽  
pp. 112972982096840
Author(s):  
Karen Woo ◽  
Huibrie Pieters
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Vascular Access ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Physician Characteristics ◽  
End Stage ◽  
Study Participants

Background: To describe vascular access (VA)-related decision-making from the patient perspective, in patients who have already chosen hemodialysis as their renal replacement modality, and identify areas where physicians can improve this experience. Methods: In-person, semi-structured interviews with 15 patients with end-stage kidney disease were systematically analyzed by two independent researchers using thematic analysis. Interviews were conducted until systematic analysis revealed no new themes. Results: Patients had mean age 57 (range 22–85), with seven males and diverse racial/ethnic/marital status. All (15/15) patients viewed VA as “intertwined and interrelated” with dialysis, prioritized the dialysis, described the VA merely as the “hookup” to life-preserving dialysis and gave it minimal consideration. Three themes were identified: consolidation of dialysis and VA, reliance on supportive advisors and communication with physicians. Although 14/15 patients described processes common to medical decision-making, including information seeking, learning from the experiences of others, and weighing risks and benefits, they did not apply these processes specifically to VA. While all participants took ownership of the VA decision, they lacked clear understanding about the different types of VA and their consequences. Most patients (14/15) depended on family and friends for reinforcement, motivation and advice. Patients all described physician characteristics they associated with trustworthiness, the most common being listening and explaining, demonstrating empathy and making an effort to meet the patient’s individual needs. Perceived arrogance, unavailability and lack of expertise represented untrustworthiness. The majority (14/15) accepted VA recommendations from physicians they found trustworthy and authoritative. Conclusions: The study participants were minimally engaged in VA decision-making. Educational aids and shared decision-making tools are needed to empower patients to make better-informed, self-efficacious VA decisions.

Pronominal address in German

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 17.1-17.18
Author(s):  
Heinz L. Kretzenbacher ◽  
Michael Clyne ◽  
Doris Schüpbach
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Emotional Closeness ◽  
Relative Age ◽  
The Third ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Address Forms ◽  
Crucial Feature ◽  
German Speaking

Choice of address forms, a socially crucial feature in German communication, is context-dependent on situations (a) where the unmarked form of address isdu(T), (b) where it isSie(V), and (c) where the two systems (a and b) coexist. The first two situations are, apart from their fuzzy edges, rather clearcut. The third situation, however, appears anarchic and has a high embarrassment potential. In an empirical study based on 72 interviews conducted in three regions of the German speaking area, the three prototypical situations are explored. A number of potentially conflicting rules and preferences for ambiguity are isolated. These include individual preferences, network preferences and perceptions of social distance, based on factors such as relative age, emotional closeness of interlocutors, and perceived commonalities between them. In spite of the complex interplay of competing rules and preferences and the consequent embarrassment potential, German speakers appear to reject any imposition from outside of a particular address form. This study is part of a larger, Australian-based project comparing the address systems of French, German and Swedish.

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