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Article
Publication date: 21 July 2023

Andrew Asher, Kristin Briney and Abigail Goben

This article describes the development processes, sampling and analysis practices and the assessment of reliability and validity of a new 0survey that sought to evaluate…

250

Abstract

Purpose

This article describes the development processes, sampling and analysis practices and the assessment of reliability and validity of a new 0survey that sought to evaluate undergraduate students' perceptions and expectations related to privacy and library participation in learning analytics studies. This article provides other researchers with information required to independently evaluate the survey's efficacy, as well as guidance for designing other surveys.

Design/methodology/approach

Following question development, pre-survey validity assessments were made using subject matter expert panel review and cognitive interviews. Post-hoc analysis of survey construct reliability was evaluated using the Omega coefficient, while exploratory factor analysis was utilized to assess construct validity. Survey design limitations and potential bias effects are also examined.

Findings

The survey exhibited a high level of reliability among research constructs, while the exploratory factor analysis results suggested that survey constructs contained multiple conceptual elements that should be measured separately for more nuanced analysis.

Practical implications

This article provides a model for other researchers wishing to re-use the survey described or develop similar surveys.

Social implications

As learning analytics interest continues to expand, engaging with the subjects, in this case students, of analysis is critical. Researchers need to ensure that captured measurements are appropriately valid in order to accurately represent the findings.

Originality/value

This survey is one of very few addressing library learning analytics that has undergone extensive validity analysis of the conceptual constructs.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 9 January 2017

Alison Sharman

Phase two of the JISC funded Library Impact Data Project (LIDP) identified low library usage amongst Chinese students in comparison to their UK peers. Further research was needed…

1196

Abstract

Purpose

Phase two of the JISC funded Library Impact Data Project (LIDP) identified low library usage amongst Chinese students in comparison to their UK peers. Further research was needed to help the authors delve deeper and find out the story behind the data. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was distributed to all international students in the Business School to learn about their information retrieval behaviours. The response was high but the survey was deliberately designed to only produce quantitative data, and the paper highlights the limitations of this data. More research using qualitative ethnography research techniques was needed to gather qualitative data to create a broader picture of student practice. Methods utilised included the retrospective process interview and cognitive mapping (both used by Andrew Asher in the ERIAL project). Questions from the survey were sometimes used as prompts in the qualitative process.

Findings

The data are still to be coded and analysed but one of the main findings is that students are unaware of the research help that they can get from their academic library. Ethnographic research methods gave more inroads into finding the story behind the LIDP than quantitative research methods.

Originality/value

Ethnographic research in libraries is still in its early days in the UK. It could help those library professionals who are hoping to practice similar research methods.

Details

Library Management, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 15 August 2017

Robert Hallis

In the future, librarians need to prepare users to navigate a profoundly different informational landscape. Addressing issues of information overload and informed selection of…

1005

Abstract

Purpose

In the future, librarians need to prepare users to navigate a profoundly different informational landscape. Addressing issues of information overload and informed selection of both search tools and results, the purpose of this paper is to cast the collaborative relationship between librarian and student in the mode of an outfitter: a guide preparing a client for a journey. Within this context, the authors emerging role involves guiding students through the task at hand using critical thinking skills to access a wider range of publications to meet a broader range of needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Metaphors created by Raymond and Friedman reflect the current state of information, the relationship users have with these sources, and the role librarians play in a disintermediated environment. In The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond portrays a decentralized environment as a bazaar. In The World is Flat 3.0, Friedman describes how technology flattens organizations through empowering end users. The informational landscape in the twenty-first century is decentralized, and more powerful search tools provide unparalleled access to these sources. Users, however, continue to experience problems finding their information. A librarian/outfitter can prepare users to effectively track information in the new environment.

Findings

In the twenty-first century, a broader range of sources are available, and search engines are turning to dashboards to prioritize the growing list of results. Users need to adapt to the new environment through viewing the search as an activity rather than a destination. Librarians can help this process through sharing their expertise in uncovering likely places relevant information may be found, in evaluating sources, and locating information in a larger context. Through developing the meta-skill of information management, librarians guide users through the process of finding information for personal, professional, and academic needs.

Practical implications

The author’s goal is what it has always been: empowering end users to successfully access needed information in a disintermediated environment. Today librarians need to emphasize a fundamentally different set of skills in the interactions they have with students and faculty. People can use dashboards and satisficing to find sources they need, but librarian/outfitters can introduce a broader range of sources and tools suitable for completing specific tasks. This paper illustrates the different skills needed to effectively find information for personal, professional, and academic tasks.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new context for the process used for locating and validating information in an increasingly broad and diffuse informational landscape. Librarians become advisors in navigating a more complex informational landscape that is used to meet a broader range of informational needs. While focusing on navigating the broader range of resources through decoding dashboards and satisficing techniques, the author can assist users in overcoming information overload and advocate a broader sense of satisficing through using more sophisticated critical thinking skills.

Details

Library Management, vol. 38 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Heidi Hanson and Elizabeth (Zoe) Stewart-Marshall

272

Abstract

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Heidi Hanson and Zoe Stewart-Marshall

202

Abstract

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

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Article
Publication date: 9 June 2021

Jaci Wilkinson, Alyssa Denneler, Leanne Nay and Anna Marie Johnson

Using chat transcripts from Indiana University Libraries, the authors examined a subset of transcripts involving citations. From this analysis, they propose improvements for…

518

Abstract

Purpose

Using chat transcripts from Indiana University Libraries, the authors examined a subset of transcripts involving citations. From this analysis, they propose improvements for citation assistance as a holistic service.

Design/methodology/approach

Two years of chat transcripts were examined and questions containing citation-related keywords were segregated for further examination. The authors used a test data set to create a coding scheme for the questions and responses. This scheme was then applied to all the citation-related transcripts.

Findings

390 of 11,553 transcripts included interactions about citations. In 42% of the transcripts, no specific citation style was mentioned. American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association were the most frequently mentioned citation styles by chat users. Business reports (company data and market research), periodicals (journal, newspaper or magazine articles), websites and government documents were the most often asked about formats, but there was a wide variety of other unusual formats. Questions about EndNote were more common than other types of citation management software. Chat staff utilized a variety of responses including guiding the student by example, directing to an online resource for more information (85% of the responses) or referring to a citation management expert. An unexpected amount of hedging words in the responses indicates the presence of anxiety on the part of chat staff in responding to these types of questions.

Originality/value

This paper goes beyond most existing studies of chat transcripts by using chat transcripts as data to guide service improvements for a commonly asked but not typically discussed set of questions.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 49 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 27 July 2022

Free Access. Free Access

Abstract

Details

The Affective Researcher
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-336-9

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 19 July 2011

1099

Abstract

Details

Accounting Research Journal, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1030-9616

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 4 June 2021

Pam Hrick

As the means and harms of technology-facilitated violence have become more evident, some governments have taken steps to create or empower centralized bodies with statutory…

Abstract

As the means and harms of technology-facilitated violence have become more evident, some governments have taken steps to create or empower centralized bodies with statutory mandates as part of an effort to combat it. This chapter argues that these bodies have the potential to meaningfully further a survivor-centered approach to combatting technology-facilitated violence against women – one that places their experiences, rights, wishes, and needs at its core. It further argues that governments should consider integrating them into a broader holistic response to this conduct.

An overview is provided of the operations of New Zealand's Netsafe, the eSafety Commissioner in Australia, Nova Scotia's Cyberscan Unit, and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Manitoba. These types of centralized bodies have demonstrated an ability to advance survivor-centered approaches to technology-facilitated violence against women through direct involvement in resolving instances of violence, education, and research. However, these bodies are not a panacea. This chapter outlines critiques of their operations and the challenges they face in maximizing their effectiveness.

Notwithstanding these challenges and critiques, governments should consider creating such bodies or empowering existing bodies with a statutory mandate as one aspect of a broader response to combatting technology-facilitated violence against women. Some proposed best practices to maximize their effectiveness are identified.

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 16 August 2023

Abstract

Details

Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-866-8

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