Sarah Faye Cohen and Andy Burkhardt
The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of a Skype‐based, study abroad reference service.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of a Skype‐based, study abroad reference service.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses the criteria used for technology and situates the project in the literature on study abroad reference services.
Findings
Using Skype, a free video‐conferencing software, allows librarians to offer reference services to study abroad students effectively, easily, and without new technologies or significant cost.
Originality/value
The paper offers other librarians strategies for developing and launching similar programs and shares challenges encountered to prepare librarians for success in their own projects.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Web 2.0 provides an exciting set of tools for librarians to help their students become more information‐literate.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Web 2.0 provides an exciting set of tools for librarians to help their students become more information‐literate.
Design/methodology/approach
Recently, information overload and Web 2.0 have led librarians to adopt practices labelled as Library 2.0. Information literacy can be the key to affecting the learning attitudes and characteristics adopted by the users, caricatured as the “Web generation”. Web 2.0 tools provide new, interactive ways to engage them. The literature is reviewed to provide examples of librarians using Web 2.0 tools to improve the information literacy of their users.
Findings
Librarians are embracing Web 2.0 as it becomes more mainstream and experimenting with the tools to supplement their information literacy interventions. Many of these are being well received but their quantity and measures of their impact on learning have yet to be assessed.
Originality/value
The link between information literacy and Web 2.0 is novel, encourages constructive learning and enables respected educational methods (e.g. reflection) to be used in different ways.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a flavour of the content of the LILAC Conference held in Cardiff, UK, in March 2009.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a flavour of the content of the LILAC Conference held in Cardiff, UK, in March 2009.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an outline of the issues, content, keynote speakers and delegates of the LILAC Conference.
Findings
This conference held a series of themed parallel sessions and covered the themes of inquiry based learning, emerging technologies, information literacy for life and supporting research. There was evidence of strong demand for pre‐conference events.
Originality/value
A conference report of value to library and information professionals regarding various information literacy themes.
Details
Keywords
Jade Danielle Hope and Faye Kathryn Horsley
Most individuals regularly encounter fire, but certain uses are legally disallowed. Horsley (2020, 2021; in press) proposed the continuum of fire use theory (CoFUT), which posits…
Abstract
Purpose
Most individuals regularly encounter fire, but certain uses are legally disallowed. Horsley (2020, 2021; in press) proposed the continuum of fire use theory (CoFUT), which posits that the legitimacy of fire use exists on a spectrum. This study aims to investigate the CoFUT and to elucidate the process of conceptualising legitimacy in a sample of legitimate fire users.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 16 legitimate fire users underwent semi-structured interviews regarding their own experiences with fire, the factors considered when determining the legitimacy of fire use and the relationships between those factors. The data extracted was subjected to conceptual analysis.
Findings
Analysis indicated that the legitimacy of fire use is best conceptualised along a continuum. Placement on the continuum required consideration of seven defining attributes: function; location; scale; materials used; characteristics of the actor(s); potential and actual consequences, and social acceptance. These attributes were shown to have interactive semantic relationships with one another.
Practical implications
A continuum approach to understanding fire use is a novel conceptualisation. Exposing the nuances that exist along the continuum could inform early intervention strategies aimed at fostering healthy relationships between young people and fire. Furthermore, practitioners working with arsonists would benefit from adopting a continuum perspective that allows for consideration of offenders’ individualised trajectory “up and down” the continuum of fire use.
Originality/value
Findings offer support for the CoFUT (2020; 2021; in press) and provide insight into how the legitimacy of fire use is conceptualised in legitimate fire users.
Details
Keywords
Sarah Jane Flaherty, Mary McCarthy, Alan M. Collins, Claire McCafferty and Fionnuala M. McAuliffe
Health apps offer a potential approach to support healthier food behaviours but a lack of sufficient engagement may limit effectiveness. This study aims to use a user engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
Health apps offer a potential approach to support healthier food behaviours but a lack of sufficient engagement may limit effectiveness. This study aims to use a user engagement theoretical lens to examine the factors that influence app engagement over time and may prompt disengagement.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience was used. Women from a lower socioeconomic background (based on the occupation and employment status of the household’s primary income earner) were randomly assigned to use one of two apps for a minimum of eight weeks. Multiple data collection methods, including accompanied shops, researcher observations, interviews, participant reflective accounts and questionnaires, were used at different time-points to examine engagement. Theoretical thematic analysis was conducted to explore the engagement experience and relevant social, personal and environmental influences.
Findings
Healthy food involvement appears to drive app engagement. Changes in situational involvement may contribute to fluctuation in engagement intensity over time as the saliency of personal goals change. Negatively valenced engagement dimensions may contribute to the overall expression of engagement. A lack of congruency with personal goals or an imbalance between perceived personal investment and value was expressed as the primary reasons for disengagement.
Research limitations/implications
Situational involvement may act as a trigger of different engagement phases. There is a need to better distinguish between enduring and situational involvement in engagement research.
Practical implications
Individual characteristics may shape engagement and propensity for disengagement, which highlights the practical importance of incorporating tailored features into app design.
Originality/value
Findings broaden the current conceptualisation of engagement within the digital space and prompt a reconsideration of the role of situational involvement and negatively valenced dimensions throughout the engagement process.