Highway Guide: Teaching lnternet Skills

No doubt about it, library users are feeling the weight and stress of information overload. In addition to the sheer enormity of the amount of information "out there," the tools used to archive, categorize, and access . information are becoming increasingly complex. No group understands this overload better than those of us who work in libraries. Like our users, we struggle daily to keep up with our reading, wade through all our e-mail, and identify and learn to use new sources of information, and new access tools. Unlike our users, however, we are obligated by dejinition, to provide what I call "information guidance" - the best access to quality information. Library staff members must proactively rise to the challenge and must provide guidance through the infomation glut. I watch the users in our library. What do they state that they need? What do they need that they do not know they need? How can we use new technologies to improve their access to information? How can we best point them toward the most accurate, timely, and useful information? As the complexity of the tools increases, the need for training in the use of the tools increases. If we are to guide, we must educate. In the case of the library where I work, the Clarian Health Partners Medical Library, we are part of the Educational Services Department, and so, specifically charged with educating users

Privacy and Social Media: Do Users Really Care?

Over the last decade, social media networks have experienced explosive growth. Social media has become a common form of communication for most people, and the average person spends more and more time in front of the computer. We are exposing ourselves online, and consequently leaving more personal information on the Internet than ever before. Resulting in personalization and individualism being the drivers of the networks, and this has been made possible by huge amounts of data. The thesis studies to what degree users care about privacy on social media platforms. To investigate to what extent users share information and are aware of information being shared with third-party companies, we constructed the following research questions; 1. Do social media networks protect the personal information of their users in the same fashion or are there any differences? 2. Other than the social media network itself, who else collects information about its users and how is the information spread between parties? 3. What do social media users know in the terms of how and how much information is being spread? Do they care? Through a documentation analysis, the thesis has examined the documentations provided by different social media networks. The thesis has analysed different third-party companies present on various websites. A mapping of these finding was done to illustrate the large web they conclude. Through conducting a user survey, the thesis gained insight into Norwegian social media users habits and their knowledge concerning the discussed topics. An evaluation of our findings ultimately leads to the conclusion of the privacy paradox holding true for the users involved in our study. We found that users claim to care about privacy online and that many have knowledge concerning the aspects analysed. However, they do not read the documentation and still utilise the services provided without having a clear understanding of how the technologies work on the Internet

Privacy and Social Media: Do Users Really Care?

Over the last decade, social media networks have experienced explosive growth. Social media has become a common form of communication for most people, and the average person spends more and more time in front of the computer. We are exposing ourselves online, and consequently leaving more personal information on the Internet than ever before. Resulting in personalization and individualism being the drivers of the networks, and this has been made possible by huge amounts of data. The thesis studies to what degree users care about privacy on social media platforms. To investigate to what extent users share information and are aware of information being shared with third-party companies, we constructed the following research questions; 1. Do social media networks protect the personal information of their users in the same fashion or are there any differences? 2. Other than the social media network itself, who else collects information about its users and how is the information spread between parties? 3. What do social media users know in the terms of how and how much information is being spread? Do they care? Through a documentation analysis, the thesis has examined the documentations provided by different social media networks. The thesis has analysed different third-party companies present on various websites. A mapping of these finding was done to illustrate the large web they conclude. Through conducting a user survey, the thesis gained insight into Norwegian social media users habits and their knowledge concerning the discussed topics. An evaluation of our findings ultimately leads to the conclusion of the privacy paradox holding true for the users involved in our study. We found that users claim to care about privacy online and that many have knowledge concerning the aspects analysed. However, they do not read the documentation and still utilise the services provided without having a clear understanding of how the technologies work on the Internet

Driving Discovery: Do You Have the Keys to Fair Linking? (It’s About Knowledge and Library Control)

Do concerns about “fair” linking make you wonder about discovery services? It’s time to understand HOW linking works. In the end, the power is in your hands. But do you know it? And maximize it? If search engines are optimized to provide the best results, regardless of the source of the content, or the resource from which a record originated, the focus is on the full-text linking. How and why did the link appear? What is the user experience? Do users want to see multiple links to full text or do they just want to see the article ? How effective (accurate, simple) is the link resolver experience for your users? How can it be optimized? How can usage via the link resolver be tracked back to the source? What are the emerging standards? This session explores fears of bias, the approaches to take control of your discovery service through customization, and ways to maximize the user experience. It covers all views from the discovery vendor perspective, participating content partner perspective, an over-arching look from the standards perspective, as well as from a university perspective associated consortium having needs to allow for customization at multiple universities with differing needs/opinions

Beyond Dark Patterns: A Concept-Based Framework for Ethical Software Design

Current dark pattern research tells designers what not to do, but how do they know what to do? In contrast to prior approaches that focus on patterns to avoid and their underlying principles, we present a framework grounded in positive expected behavior against which deviations can be judged. To articulate this expected behavior, we use concepts -- abstract units of functionality that compose applications. We define a design as dark when its concepts violate users' expectations, and benefit the application provider at the user's expense. Though user expectations can differ, users tend to develop common expectations as they encounter the same concepts across multiple applications, which we can record in a concept catalog as standard concepts. We evaluate our framework and concept catalog through three studies, illustrating their ability to describe existing dark patterns, evaluate nuanced designs, and document common application functionality.Comment: ACM CHI 202

Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality

Building upon a process-and context-oriented information quality framework, this paper seeks to map and explore what we know about the ways in which young users of age 18 and under search for information online, how they evaluate information, and how their related practices of content creation, levels of new literacies, general digital media usage, and social patterns affect these activities. A review of selected literature at the intersection of digital media, youth, and information quality -- primarily works from library and information science, sociology, education, and selected ethnographic studies -- reveals patterns in youth's information-seeking behavior, but also highlights the importance of contextual and demographic factors both for search and evaluation. Looking at the phenomenon from an information-learning and educational perspective, the literature shows that youth develop competencies for personal goals that sometimes do not transfer to school, and are sometimes not appropriate for school. Thus far, educational initiatives to educate youth about search, evaluation, or creation have depended greatly on the local circumstances for their success or failure

Sustainable responsible outdoor clothing : what every designer should know

Climate change and environmental problems also affect the outdoor clothing industry and sustainable, responsible design is becoming more important. The purpose of this thesis was to draw conclusions on what the outdoor clothing industry can do for sustainability and what aspects should be taken into consideration in the design and manufacture of environmentally friendly outdoor clothing. The aim of my study was to ascertain what designers should know about environmentally friendly design to be able to make sustainable responsible apparel. The study is qualitative in nature. There are several stakeholders on different levels, which affect sustainable development in the outdoor clothing industry. It is very important for designers to know these stakeholders and their actions to understand the challenges of green production. The information was collected using triangulation technique. I have used methods of ethnographic target group observation and group interviewing. The data was collected from textile manufacturers’ and outdoor companies’ commercial material such as brochures and internet pages. The study investigated what outdoor companies have done for sustainable responsible design and environmentally friendly manufacturing and how it shows in their public advertisements between 2007 and 2009. The atmosphere changed and actions increased enormously in these two years. According to my study the amount of materials advertised to be environmentally sound has increased, but it is very difficult for end-users and even designers to evaluate their environmental impact. Good design, quality materials and the possibility to repair outdoor clothing will increase the life cycle of outdoor apparel. End-users in the mountaineering and kite snowboarding target groups are becoming more environmentally aware, but the clothing features they appreciate most are functionality and safety. The outcome of this research was that lifestyle outdoor brands cannot survive in the business without acknowledging environmentally friendly practices, and end-users’ environmental awareness is increasing. It can be concluded that outdoor industry has awakened to take responsibility and started to work for sustainable development

The Effects of Introspection on Computer Security Policies

What does it mean to be an expert? And what makes an expert more capable than a non-expert when it comes to evaluating and articulating their impressions about something as commonly practiced as food tasting? How do we explain those behaviors that humans perform very well, but don\u27t quite know why? Studies have shown that there exists a class of activities that we as humans execute well intuitively, but that we perform much worse upon introspection. Evidence supports the claim that the act of introspection actually causes us to do more poorly at these tasks. My goal is to apply this idea to computer security. At present, designs for most security policy interfaces leave much to be desired. This lack of usability leaves these systems in need of improvement, possibly causing users to become more vulnerable than they otherwise would have. My research includes a user study on the privacy policies of the interface for a social networking website similar to Facebook. Evidence from the study supports the claim that the act of introspecting upon one\u27s personal security policy actually makes one worse at making policy decisions

Integrating Key Elements In An E-learning Curriculum For An Optimum Educational And Interactive User Experience

This study determines the particular components that are considered the best practices to use when implementing an e-Learning curriculum. Technical communicators and instructional designers have numerous development options to choose from. However, practices that work in academe do not always integrate well in a corporate setting, and what works for one corporation may not work for another. There is no singular methodology for developers to apply that enables e-Learning to fit every organization\u27s needs. Research shows that to ensure a successful online learning implementation, a sound project management team must be in place at the beginning of the project planning. This team must be prepared to collaborate with managers and users across an organization and carefully incorporate their suggestions into the curriculum design. Additionally, this team must be experienced not only in making sure that the project is launched on time and within the defined budget, but also in asking pertinent questions about the users, content structure, and design. Implementing an e-Learning site involves more than putting a Web page online for users to view. Developers must know about adult learning styles, must know how to incorporate interactive activities (like games and simulations), and must know how to write content so that it is engaging yet understandable