Hong (Iris) Xie and Colleen Cool
This paper reports on an investigation comparing searcher experiences with Web and non‐Web interfaces to online databases. The study was designed to address the following…
Abstract
This paper reports on an investigation comparing searcher experiences with Web and non‐Web interfaces to online databases. The study was designed to address the following questions: what is the nature of searcher preferences for Web versus non‐Web interfaces to online databases and, more specifically, what are the characteristics of Web and non‐Web based interfaces that help or hinder effective searching? Two samples of students enrolled in a graduate level Advanced Databases Searching course were used as participants in the research. In this class, the students used several Web and non‐Web based online databases. The data collected from self‐administered open‐ended questionnaires were employed in the analysis to address the research questions posed above. Results of the study indicate that some of the functions of Web interfaces outperform non‐Web interfaces; but at the same time they are not universally preferred. An important dynamic that surfaced in this study which helped to explain searcher preference for one type of interface over another was that of user control versus ease of use in the search process. This study concludes with an argument for greater attention to the tension between user control and ease of use in the design of effective and useful interactive online retrieval systems.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Help features in digital libraries and identify problems related to their design.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Help features in digital libraries and identify problems related to their design.
Design/methodology/approach
This study selects six digital libraries to represent a variety of digital libraries developed or sponsored by different types of organisations. The Help features of these selected digital libraries are examined by their types (explicit versus implicit), formats (texts, images, screenshots, multimedia materials, and interactive formats), and presentation styles (descriptive, guided, procedural, and exemplary).
Findings
This study presents the types of Help features available in the selected digital libraries, and further characterises the formats and presentation styles of these Help features. In the process of analysis, the author also identifies six types of problems: lack of standards; tradeoff between using explicit Help and implicit help; tradeoff between using general Help versus specific Help; lack of interactive Help features; lack of dynamic presentation styles; and lack of Help features for advanced users and users who do not understand English.
Research limitations/implications
In order to design Help features that facilitate users to effectively use digital libraries, further research needs to extend studies to what types of help‐seeking situations users generally encounter and the corresponding support they need.
Originality/value
This study provides insightful information regarding the current status and problems of the Help features in existing digital libraries.
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This study evaluated two different types of online information retrieval (IR) systems: online databases and Web search engines, in terms of user generated criteria. It also…
Abstract
This study evaluated two different types of online information retrieval (IR) systems: online databases and Web search engines, in terms of user generated criteria. It also compares four types of Web search engines: directories, search engines, meta‐search engines, and specialized search engines. The results show that three elements are essential to users in the evaluation of online IR systems: interface design, system performance and collection coverage. While participants preferred the ease of use and intuitive interfaces of Web search engines, they also liked the credible and useful information offered by online databases. Based on the discussion of advantages and problems of online databases and Web search engines, implications of for the design of IR systems are further suggested.
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The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed plan of research on the information architecture of digital library websites.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed plan of research on the information architecture of digital library websites.
Design/methodology/approach
The research plan was prepared on the basis of a critical analysis of the scientific literature concerning the areas and criteria for the analysis and evaluation of the information architecture of digital resources. The evaluation criteria selected in individual areas of information architecture and the entire evaluation model were tested on the example of Europeana. The study proposes criteria for all areas of information architecture: service identity, organizational system, labeling system and navigation system.
Findings
The proposed research model containing areas and criteria for assessing usefulness from the point of view of information architecture may complement the methodology for assessing digital libraries. In a structured manner, it presents areas important for building good digital resources together with criteria for heuristic evaluation. This thesis is confirmed by a study conducted on the example of Europeana.
Research limitations/implications
For a more precise assessment of quality, you can add to the proposed criteria related to the information architecture the criteria proposed by Nielsen or other authors. These include, e.g. help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors, result relevance, consistency of terminology and specific action conventions and an appropriate visual presentation.
Practical implications
The model can be used to assess the quality of websites of various digital libraries.
Originality/value
The methodology of assessing the quality of digital libraries is in the stage of formation and development. Such studies can apply evaluation criteria prepared to analyze all kinds of information systems and most of all web pages. At the beginning of the 21st century, concepts of using information architecture principles to design and evaluate digital libraries’ usability began to take shape. However, no detailed criteria for evaluating digital libraries based on the principles of information architecture have been presented.
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A previous paper by the present author described the pros and cons of using the three largest cited reference enhanced multidisciplinary databases and discussed and illustrated in…
Abstract
Purpose
A previous paper by the present author described the pros and cons of using the three largest cited reference enhanced multidisciplinary databases and discussed and illustrated in general how the theoretically sound idea of the h‐index may become distorted depending on the software and the content of the database(s) used, and the searchers' skill and knowledge of the database features. The aim of this paper is to focus on Google Scholar (GS), from the perspective of calculating the h‐index for individuals and journals.
Design/methodology/approach
A desk‐based approach to data collection is used and critical commentary is added.
Findings
The paper shows that effective corroboration of the h‐index and its two component indicators can be done only on persons and journals with which a researcher is intimately familiar. Corroborative tests must be done in every database for important research.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the very time‐consuming process of corroborating data, tracing and counting valid citations and points out GS's unscholarly and irresponsible handling of data.
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Jagathiswary Ravichandran, Choi-Meng Leong, Tze-Yin Lim, Eva Lim and Lee-Yen Chaw
The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the model of the predictors of consumer willingness to purchase green products. This study used the underpinning theories related to…
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the model of the predictors of consumer willingness to purchase green products. This study used the underpinning theories related to consumer willingness by integrating the green concept in deriving the consumer willingness to purchase green products. Based on the underpinning theories of marketing strategies, it was found that marketing mix was still fundamental in business. Therefore, green marketing mix was proposed to describe the consumer's green purchase willingness. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an important role as the key to organizational strategy. Thus, CSR is also included in the proposed framework. As this is a conceptual paper, further empirical study needs to carry out to verify the proposed hypotheses. This study contributes to the market practitioners or entrepreneurs in terms of re-considering marketing mix and CSR in deriving customer willingness to purchase green products. This study extends the literature of behavioural intention by integrating green marketing strategies with CSR in determining consumer willingness to purchase.
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Jelena Stankevičienė and Dovilė Valtoraitė
Purpose: This chapter identifies performance factors that have the strongest impact on companies’ sustainable outcomes and compares the obtained results across different sectors…
Abstract
Purpose: This chapter identifies performance factors that have the strongest impact on companies’ sustainable outcomes and compares the obtained results across different sectors.
Methodology: About 3,384 observations were gathered from 2015 to 2022 from companies in communication services, energy, financials, real estate, and utilities sectors that comprise the ‘STOXX Global ESG Leaders Select 50’ index. The multiple regression model is constructed with companies’ ESG scores as dependent variables and independent variables representing operational, financial, and market performance.
Findings: Companies that tend to have higher operational and financial performance in the financial sector are more likely to have higher ESG performance. The financial performance results of companies showed the strongest statistically significant relationship with environmental and the weakest with governance scores.
Implications: Results benefit private and institutional investors aiming to create more sustainable portfolios. The obtained results indicate that these investors should focus on companies operating in the financial and energy sectors with higher performance results. Better ROE, ROA, and Tobin’s Q may have a negative impact on sustainable outcomes for companies operating in the real estate and utility sectors.
Limitations: Firstly, not all ESG index providers disclose information about their index constituents. Secondly, within the chosen ‘STOXX Global ESG Leaders Select 50’ index, not all constituents had complete ESG data available on the Bloomberg platform. When selecting the analysis period, it was observed that the accessible ESG data on Bloomberg covers a relatively short time span, only from 2015 onwards.
Future research: A larger number of companies by choosing a more comprehensive available ESG index.
Zehui Zhan, Jun Wu, Hu Mei, Qianyi Wu and Patrick S.W. Fong
This paper aims to investigate the individual difference on digital reading, by examining the eye-tracking records of male and female readers with different reading ability…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the individual difference on digital reading, by examining the eye-tracking records of male and female readers with different reading ability (including their pupil size, blink rate, fixation rate, fixation duration, saccade rate, saccade duration, saccade amplitude and regression rate).
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 74 participants were selected according to 6,520 undergraduate students’ university entrance exam scores and the follow-up reading assessments. Half of them are men and half are women, with the top 3% good readers and the bottom 3% poor readers, from different disciplines.
Findings
Results indicated that the major gender differences on reading abilities were indicated by saccade duration, regression rate and blink rate. The major effects on reading ability have a larger effect size than the major effect on gender. Among all the indicators that have been examined, blink rate and regression rates are the most sensitive to the gender attribute, while the fixation rate and saccade amplitude showed the least sensitiveness.
Originality/value
This finding could be helpful for user modeling with eye-tracking data in intelligent tutoring systems, where necessary adjustments might be needed according to users’ individual differences. In this way, instructors could be able to provide purposeful guidance according to what the learners had seen and personalized the experience of digital reading.
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Ever since Mark Weiser coined the term “ubiquitous computing” (ubicomp) in 1988, there has been a general interest in proposing various solutions that would support his vision…
Abstract
Purpose
Ever since Mark Weiser coined the term “ubiquitous computing” (ubicomp) in 1988, there has been a general interest in proposing various solutions that would support his vision. However, attacks targeting devices and services of a ubicomp environment have demonstrated not only different privacy issues, but also a risk of endangering user’s life (e.g. by modifying medical sensor readings). Thus, the aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of security challenges of ubicomp environments and the corresponding countermeasures proposed over the past decade.
Design/methodology/approach
The results of this paper are based on a literature review method originally used in evidence-based medicine called systematic literature review (SLR), which identifies, filters, classifies and summarizes the findings.
Findings
Starting from the bibliometric results that clearly show an increasing interest in the topic of ubicomp security worldwide, the findings reveal specific types of attacks and vulnerabilities that have motivated the research over the past decade. This review describes most commonly proposed countermeasures – context-aware access control and authentication mechanisms, cryptographic protocols that account for device’s resource constraints, privacy-preserving mechanisms, and trust mechanisms for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first SLR on security challenges in ubicomp. The findings should serve as a reference to an extensive list of scientific contributions, as well as a guiding point for the researchers’ novel to the security research in ubicomp.
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Mohamad Noorman Masrek and James Eric Gaskin
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of user satisfaction in the context of academic web digital library (DL). A model based on the re-specified information…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of user satisfaction in the context of academic web digital library (DL). A model based on the re-specified information system success model was developed and tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed survey research methodology with self-administered questionnaire as the research instrument. The questionnaire was developed based on the instruments used by previous researchers. The population of the study was students enrolled for the bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. These students were chosen because of researcher’s easy access to the sampling frame. Descriptive analysis and inferential analysis which include SEM were executed using IBM SPSS and AMOS statistical software.
Findings
The findings indicate that information quality, systems quality, service quality, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and cognitive absorption are significant predictor of users’ satisfaction with the web DL.
Research limitations/implications
Instead of collecting data from students from various faculties, this study only covered students enrolled in one faculty. In the same light, as the respondents were from one faculty, they only report their experience of using one DL. Given these limitations, the results obtained are narrowed in terms of generalizability. The second limitation of the study is related to the predictor variables which only focussed on six variables only.
Practical implications
From the practical viewpoint, the instrument that has been developed can be used as a diagnostic tool for continuous improvements of the DL.
Originality/value
From the theoretical viewpoint, the study has developed an empirical based framework that depicts critical factors influencing DL satisfaction. Researchers specializing on the assessment of DL effectiveness can consider adopting the framework for future studies. Alternatively, the framework can be further extended by integrating other variables such as users’ characteristics or organizational characteristics.