An exploration of search-as-learning in digital archives of an online museum
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 12 September 2023
Issue publication date: 22 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Recent studies on search-as-learning (SAL) have recognized the significance of identifying users' learning needs as they evolve for acquiring knowledge during the search process. In this study, the authors clarify the extent to which search behaviors reflect the learning outcome and foster the users' knowledge of Chinese art.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an exploratory-sequential mixed-methods approach using simulated work task situations to collect empirical data. The authors used two types of simulated learning tasks for topics related to painting and antique knowledge. A lot of 25 users participated in this evaluation of digital archives (DAs) at the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taiwan. For each set of topics, a close-ended task related to lower-level learning goals and an open-ended task related to higher-level learning goals.
Findings
The learning criteria reflect changes in the users' knowledge structure, revealing the SAL process. Furthermore, users achieved better task performance on the higher-level creative-learning task, which suggests that they met more learning criteria, exhibited a greater variety of search patterns when exploring the topics via interaction with various sources. Finally, there is a close relationship between creative-learning tasks, prior knowledge, keyword search actions and learning outcomes.
Originality/value
The authors discuss implications with respect to the design of DAs in practice and contributions to the body of SAL knowledge in DAs of online museums. For future reference, the authors provide implications for the development of learning measures from the perspective of user search behavior with associated learning outcomes in the context of DAs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under Grant No. 108-2410-H-003-132-MY2 and the “Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences” of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
All authors have made a significant contribution to this paper.
Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved and monitored by the research ethics committee (REC) board of National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan (REC: 201908HS014). To protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants, all participants' unique identification information was stripped.
Citation
Wu, I.-C., Vakkari, P. and Huang, B.-X. (2024), "An exploration of search-as-learning in digital archives of an online museum", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 80 No. 2, pp. 298-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2023-0056
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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