Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Theorization and translation in information technology institutionalization: evidence from Danish home care

Although institutional theory has become a more dominant perspective in information systems research, studies have only paid scant attention to how field dynamics and organizational processes coevolve during information technology institutionalization. Against this backdrop, we present a new conceptualization based on the “traveling of ideas” metaphor that distinguishes between theorization of ideas about IT usage across an organizational field and translation of such ideas into practical use of IT within particular organizations. Drawing on these distinct analytical views, we posit that IT institutionalization is constituted through recursive intertwining of theorization and translation involving both linguistic and material objects. To illustrate the detailed workings of this conceptualization, we apply it to a longitudinal study of mobile IT institutionalization within Danish home care. We demonstrate how heterogeneous actors within the Danish home care field theorized ideas about mobile IT usage and how these ideas translated into different local arrangements. Further, our account reveals a complex institutionalization process in which mobile IT was first seen as a fashionable recipe for improvement but subsequently became the subject of controversy. The paper adds to the emerging process and discourse literature on IT institutionalization by shedding new light on how IT ideas travel across a field and within individual organizations, how they transform and become legitimized over time, and how they take on different linguistic and material forms across organizational settings

Library usage by university accounting students : a comparison of contact and open distance learning institution in South Africa

This study examines the current level of library patronage among accounting students both in the distance and a contact learning institution in South Africa. There is a relative absence of studies of academic library usage by accounting students. The low level of library usage, that is, low level of library visits and poor research skills of undergraduate accounting students has been attributed to the difficulty in integrating accounting curriculum with information literacy. However, the challenge facing academic librarians is persuading both academic faculty and accounting students to integrate information literacy into their curriculum and to convince individual students to make time in their schedules for library usage. In South Africa, this problem is compounded when it is a requirement of the accreditation body, The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), which requires academic departments to integrate library usage into the accounting curriculum for their programme to be accredited. The study examines the current level of library patronage among accounting students both in a distance and a contact learning institution in South Africa. The sub-objectives of the study were to investigate the reasons for low level of library patronage among accounting students in South African Universities; to determine what features would make the use of a library for locating information that is relevant and attractive to university accounting students in a contact and a distance learning institution in South Africa; and to investigate what, if any, improvements to library service can be made to make the use of the library of significant importance. Using a survey research method that utilises a structured questionnaire, this study gathered data from a sample of 500 accounting students from a distance and a contact learning institution in South Africa, out of which 379 returned completed questionnaire, representing 76%. The finding indicates that as with most accounting students across the world, South African students are no exception because of the peculiarity and design of their programme curriculum that provides recommended texts for students’ usage. The findings further show that the apathy of library services patronage among university accounting students in South Africa is exacerbated by lecturers who seldom give assignments or tasks that require the students to search for information beyond the recommended textbooks. Findings indicate that the most significant factor that influences accounting students of universities to patronise library resources are the expertise and interaction of the library staff. This is supported by the Expectation-Confirmation Theory framework which posits that patrons will continue to use library services only if their perceived perception of the usefulness of the services are satisfied. In this case, accounting students from both institutions examined in this study confirm the Expectation-Confirmation Theory framework of satisfaction being based on the perception of the library services they receive. The study recommends that in motivating accounting students to patronise library services, library management needs to understand the discipline-specific teaching and learning practices and collaborate with curriculum developers in the accounting discipline to incorporate the use of library services in their programme. Further study is encouraged to include all universities that offer accounting programmes in South Africa for a more robust finding.Information ScienceM. Inf. (Information Science

Answering a calling: medical professionals' digital careers in crowdsourcing

One of the most striking trends in individuals’ careers over the last decade has been the dramatic increase in the proportion of the labor force working beyond their employers’ physical boundaries because of the digital revolution in the gig economy. This trend has drawn much attention in the changing nature of work, workplace and careers. However, little empirical research has explored how and why individuals behave in the interface between online platforms and traditional organizations. In my dissertation, I explore these questions by studying medical professionals’ digital careers in the Chinese healthcare crowdsourcing industry, also known as “mobile doctors.” First, by analyzing approximately 240-hour observations and 43 interviews with Chinese physicians, I identify a key issue in this new career – time conflict between crowdsourcing and traditional work. The findings show that physicians respond to time conflict in a variety of ways, including time theft, an essential yet under-researched construct in the crowdsourcing literature which reflects the tension between traditional work and crowdsourcing. Second, by analyzing archival data of 4,034 doctors’ 3.1 million time records on a Chinese healthcare platform across half a year, I show that time theft for crowdsourcing is related to the traditional work context, including hospitals’ boundary control and offline crowd worker social groups. Finally, I further explore, via interview data, why such seemingly costly and deviant time theft is adopted by mobile doctors. The findings reveal that medical professionals assume the extra burden of working for crowdsourcing with the hope of answering unfulfilled occupational callings in traditional work and adding meaning to their work. Overall, these findings contribute to a better understanding of the shifting nature of work and careers in the digital economy by documenting and explaining mobile doctors’ participation in this new world of work