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Collaborative information seeking: An investigation of community members' behavior | |
WU Dan; XIANG Xue; Dan Wu(Email:woodan@whu.edu.cn) | |
2015-03-25 | |
Source Publication | Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science
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Volume | 8Issue:1Pages:21-36 |
Abstract | Purpose: This article reports on an experiment that tested community members' collaborative information seeking (CIS) behavior, with an emphasis on how community type and task difficulty can affect user behavior and user awareness in collaboration. Design/methodology/approach: We carried out a laboratory study with 18 participants in 9 pairs using an experimental CIS system. Data were collected from questionnaires, Web logs and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Findings: Compared with non-community members, community participants had a better understanding of search tasks and were aware of the ways of completing tasks successfully. They did not depend on the information retrieval system when constructing search queries and would adopt diversified cooperation strategies. They were more likely to recommend information to their partners. However, no significant difference was found between subjectbased community and interest-based community in CIS practices and user awareness in collaboration. In addition, task difficulty only influenced user preference of issuing queries and confidence of completing search tasks. Research limitations: Our work was limited by the community type we chose and the small group size, which could affect the generalizability of our findings and should be addressed in future studies. Practical implications: The study results will help inform information system designers as they design collaborative systems to facilitate social communication in the information seeking process.
Originality/value: Few studies have investigated community participants' information seeking practices. This study provides insights into community-based CIS behavior. The findings will help us understand social interactions among community members during their information seeking process. ; Purpose: This article reports on an experiment that tested community members' collaborative information seeking (CIS) behavior, with an emphasis on how community type and task difficulty can affect user behavior and user awareness in collaboration.Design/methodology/approach: We carried out a laboratory study with 18 participants in 9 pairs using an experimental CIS system. Data were collected from questionnaires, Web logs and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Findings: Compared with non-community members, community participants had a better understanding of search tasks and were aware of the ways of completing tasks successfully. They did not depend on the information retrieval system when constructing search queries and would adopt diversified cooperation strategies. They were more likely to recommend information to their partners. However, no significant difference was found between subjectbased community and interest-based community in CIS practices and user awareness in collaboration. In addition, task difficulty only influenced user preference of issuing queries and confidence of completing search tasks. Research limitations: Our work was limited by the community type we chose and the small group size, which could affect the generalizability of our findings and should be addressed in future studies. Practical implications: The study results will help inform information system designers as they design collaborative systems to facilitate social communication in the information seeking process.
Originality/value: Few studies have investigated community participants' information seeking practices. This study provides insights into community-based CIS behavior. The findings will help us understand social interactions among community members during their information seeking process. |
Subtype | Research Papers |
Keyword | Collaborative Information Seeking (Cis) Information Seeking Behavior Community Task Difficulty Community Type |
Subject Area | 新闻学与传播学 ; 图书馆、情报与文献学 |
URL | 查看原文 |
Indexed By | 其他 |
Language | 英语 |
Funding Organization | This work is supported by the National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals. |
Document Type | 期刊论文 |
Identifier | http://ir.las.ac.cn/handle/12502/7663 |
Collection | Journal of Data and Information Science_Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science-2015 |
Corresponding Author | Dan Wu(Email:woodan@whu.edu.cn) |
Affiliation | School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China |
Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | WU Dan,XIANG Xue,Dan Wu. Collaborative information seeking: An investigation of community members' behavior[J]. Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science,2015,8(1):21-36. |
APA | WU Dan,XIANG Xue,&Dan Wu.(2015).Collaborative information seeking: An investigation of community members' behavior.Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science,8(1),21-36. |
MLA | WU Dan,et al."Collaborative information seeking: An investigation of community members' behavior".Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science 8.1(2015):21-36. |
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20150102.pdf(4978KB) | 期刊论文 | 出版稿 | 开放获取 | CC BY-NC-ND | View Download |
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