Lilach Alon, Alona Forkosh Baruch and Rafi Nachmias
Differences in personal information management (PIM) behavior are well established in the literature, but are defined from the narrow perspective of practical use (e.g…
Abstract
Purpose
Differences in personal information management (PIM) behavior are well established in the literature, but are defined from the narrow perspective of practical use (e.g. filing/piling, emailing). This paper aims to identify the types of PIM behavior that would help us understand how people manage personal information in the digital era.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors relied on the theoretical framework, published in a recent article (Alon and Nachmias, 2020a), examining actual PIM behavior (e.g. actual practice), ideal behavior (e.g. perceptions of best practice) and the gaps between them. Our framework drew on data collected via a questionnaire on the use of 25 PIM practices (N = 465).
Findings
The findings indicated four types of PIM behavior that differed by activity level (actual PIM) and satisfaction level (ideal PIM and gaps): passive and satisfied, active and satisfied, fairly active and unsatisfied and active and fairly satisfied. This allows the classification of users according to their dominant tendency to use specific practices.
Originality/value
Previous studies focused mainly on specific PIM practices or contexts. Our research creates a classification of types, based on ideal as well as actual PIM behavior, and also examines a broader perspective.
Details
Keywords
Personal information management (PIM) is an activity in which an individual stores personal information items in order to retrieve them later on. As PIM research moves from an…
Abstract
Purpose
Personal information management (PIM) is an activity in which an individual stores personal information items in order to retrieve them later on. As PIM research moves from an infant stage of exploratory studies to more rigorous quantitative ones, there is a need to identify and map variables that characterize and account for the variety of PIM behaviour. This is the aim of the current research.
Design/methodology/approach
In an exploratory study, 20 semi-structured 90-minute interviews were recorded and transcribed. Variables were found by comparing the behaviors of participants who represent the two extreme poles of each variable's axis (i.e. when two participants showed a high and low degree of document redundancy, the redundancy variable was identified). In a later analysis, the variables were grouped into categories.
Findings
The paper identifies 15 variables grouped in five categories: organization related variables (order, redundancy and name meaning), structure variables (collection size, folder depth, folder breadth and folder size), work process variables (attendance time and modality), memory related variables (memory reliance, dominant memory) and retrieval variables (retrieval type, retrieval success, retrieval time and ubiquity).
Research limitations/implications
Future research could make use of these variables in order to: measure their distribution, find relations between them, test how they are affected by variables external to PIM (e.g. systems design) and find how they affect other dependent variables (e.g. productivity).
Originality/value
This is the first research that systematically explores PIM variables.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to explore, for the first time over a long period of time, the autobiographical memory of Israeli veterans of the 1948 War, pertaining to the 1948 Palestinian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore, for the first time over a long period of time, the autobiographical memory of Israeli veterans of the 1948 War, pertaining to the 1948 Palestinian exodus that led to the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. Does this memory include the Zionist narrative (i.e. willing flight of the Palestinian refugees) or a critical narrative (i.e. willing flight and expulsion)? One of the primary sources to influence the collective memory of conflicts is the autobiographical memory. This memory is also one of the primary sources for research of the past. Thus, autobiographical memory is of importance.
Design/methodology/approach
Methodologically, this is done through an analysis of all 1948 veterans’ memoirs published between 1949 and 2004. Interviews were also conducted with various veterans, to understand the dynamics of their memoir publication.
Findings
Empirical findings suggest that during the first period (1949-1968), this memory was exclusively Zionist; during the second (1969-1978), it became slightly critical; and during the third (1979-2004), the critical tendency became more prevalent. Onward, the nine empirical causes for the presentation of exodus the way it was presented are discussed. Theoretical findings relate, inter alia, to the importance of micro factors in shaping the autobiographical memory, assembles seven such theoretical factors, suggests that these factors can influence in two ways (promoting collective memory change or inhibiting it), and that their impact can change over time.
Originality/value
Taken together, the paper contributes empirical and theoretical findings that are based on a solid and wide scope research.