Coming to America: Iranians' use of Telegram for immigration information seeking

Purpose This study examines Iran-US migrants' use of the most popular messaging application in Iran—Telegram—and shows how they use it to manage their migration information practices. Design/methodology/approach This study took a qualitative observation approach. Over the course of six months, over 80 h of observations were conducted on Iran-US migration-related settings within Telegram. Findings This work identifies the information practices that emerge as users seek and share information related to Iran-US migration. Telegram plays a vital role across the immigration stages, predominantly in the pre-migration stage. This work also shows how the constraints and features of Telegram influence users' information sharing and seeking practices. Practical implications The findings support the implication that a social media platform that provides multiple ways to interact is likely to better support niche or unanticipated uses. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to explore Iranian Immigrants information practices in the US. The immigration information practices observed during this study represent a valuable example of end-user appropriation within extraordinary constraints, which may be of use in other information-seeking contexts where dedicated or bespoke tools are impractical or ill-advised

SocioEconomicMag Meets a Platform for SES-Diverse College Students: A Case Study

Emerging research shows that individual differences in how people use technology sometimes cluster by socioeconomic status (SES) and that when technology is not socioeconomically inclusive, low-SES individuals may abandon it. To understand how to improve technology's SES-inclusivity, we present a multi-phase case study on SocioEconomicMag (SESMag), an emerging inspection method for socio+economic inclusivity. In our 16-month case study, a software team developing a learning management platform used SESMag to evaluate and then to improve their platform's SES-inclusivity. The results showed that (1) the practitioners identified SES-inclusivity bugs in 76% of the features they evaluated; (2) these inclusivity bugs actually arise among low-SES college students; and (3) the SESMag process pointed ways towards fixing these bugs. Finally, (4) a user study with SES-diverse college students showed that the platform's SES-inclusivity eradicated 45-54% of the bugs; for some types of bugs, the bug instance eradication rate was 80% or higher.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

SocioEconomicMag Meets a Platform for SES-Diverse College Students: A Case Study

Emerging research shows that individual differences in how people use technology sometimes cluster by socioeconomic status (SES) and that when technology is not socioeconomically inclusive, low-SES individuals may abandon it. To understand how to improve technology’s SES-inclusivity, we present a multi-phase case study on SocioEconomicMag (SESMag), an emerging inspection method for socio+economic inclusivity. In our 16-month case study, a software team developing a learning management platform used SESMag to evaluate and then to improve their platform’s SES-inclusivity. The results showed that (1) the practitioners identified SES-inclusivity bugs in 76% of the features they evaluated; (2) these inclusivity bugs actually arise among low-SES college students; and (3) the SESMag process suggested ways of fixing these bugs. Finally, (4) a user study with SES-diverse college students showed that the platform’s SES-inclusivity eliminated 45-54% of the bugs; for some types of bugs, the bug instance eradication rate was 80% or higher

The InclusiveMag Method: A Start Towards More Inclusive Software for Diverse Populations

How can software practitioners assess whether their software supports diverse users? Although there are empirical processes that can be used to find “inclusivity bugs” piecemeal, what is often needed is a systematic inspection method to assess software’s support for diverse populations. To help fill this gap, this thesis introduces InclusiveMag, a generalization of GenderMag that can be used to generate systematic inclusiveness methods for a particular dimension of diversity. We then present 1) a multicase study covering eight diversity dimensions, of eight teams’ experiences applying InclusiveMag to eight under-served populations and their “mainstream” counterparts and 2) the start of the application of InclusiveMag to making software more inclusive to individuals of low socioeconomic status, through means of a systematic mapping study

Exploring the Information Experience of the Immigrant Toward Public Libraries in New York City

This qualitative exploratory study investigated the experiences, or the lack, of underemployed immigrants with limited job skills, limited income, and limited English speaking skills with public library services as they face many stages of cultural and informational adaptation in the United States. Their information needs are at first primarily for housing, employment, education and social services. In general, they came to the US looking for opportunities, and to be successful. Those achievement means finding good jobs, educations, skills, and greater financial security. Having greater options starts by getting access to information that leads to those objectives. Public libraries have provided many opportunities to millions of people in the US and, by tapping into individual need for information, library services have benefited communities across the country. US public libraries emphasized services to immigrants as an essential segment of their activities. This was accomplished by offering and providing immigrants with relevant need-based assistance, such as improving their job searching skills and learning opportunities. Services to newcomers are crucial aspects of most public libraries with significant immigrant populations. While the literature on immigrants in libraries was useful in guiding this research, the focus of those bodies of work did not necessarily address the information needs of under-employed, limited English speaking immigrants who may have or may not have used public libraries. Following two separate pilot studies, I was able to collect survey data for 30 immigrant participants. I then reached out to public librarians who serve immigrants and found they were very accessible online during the pandemic. I recruited 30 public librarians in the New York City area who were asked to take part in questionnaire, interview, and focus group data collection to provide librarian perspectives on meeting the needs of recent immigrants. The data from the immigrant surveys, the librarians’ surveys, interviews, and the focus group was analyzed and examined using principles of open coding. I identified 3 categories of desired types of library services, 3 categories of roles that public librarians play in engaging immigrants in their daily lives to meet their information needs, and 3 categories of challenging barriers public librarians face in providing services to underemployed immigrants. The research ends with recommendations for information professionals for improving the service provision models between immigrants and librarians

Capturing social movements: Web archiving needs of activist collections in 'The North'

This thesis explores activist-archivists’ experiences of and attitudes towards web archiving in the context of digitally enabled social movements focusing on archives in post-industrial cities in northern Britain. Activist-archives were created to confront the ‘archival silences’ in official records (Caswell, 2014); the increased use of digital media throughout the life cycle of campaigns (Treré, 2018) creates a need for activist-archivists to engage with web archiving to ensure these silences do not resurface in web archives. My research questions addressed: How the use of digital media by social movements affects the way activist archives are documenting them; how activist archivists anticipate their archive collections being accessed and used by their communities; the ways in which activist archivists currently engage with web archiving; whether activist archivists see a need for activist web content to be archived; the kinds of barriers these archives experience with regards to archiving the web; and concerns activist archivists have about where activist web content is currently being archived. Working within an interpretivist postmodern feminist research paradigm, I conducted qualitative ethnographic research via semi-structured interviews and elicited diaries. Between March 2021 and January 2022, I conducted twenty interviews with sixteen activists-archivists from feminist, anarchist, race equality, queer rights, and working-class collections. I also interviewed four archives sector professionals involved in supporting community archives. Seven participants wrote themed diaries which were combined with interview data and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis (2022). None of the activist-archivists were archiving the web due to a lack of resources including time, skills, and funds. They did, however, recognise the internet’s embeddedness in contemporary protest culture and the value in capturing activist web-content to support their missions in reclaiming absent or misrepresented narratives, informing present and future activism, democratising access to information, and archives as evidence for holding authorities to account. They felt a need for more visible and tailored mechanisms of support in amateur web archiving, either in terms of peer-to-peer networks or strengthening existing infrastructures of support. Participants from anarchist-archives also raised concerns around the safety of their communities and archives: they felt that the increased visibility of hosting a web archive could put them at risk of negative attention from law enforcement or alt-right groups. By focusing on the experiences of amateur archivists, this research offers novel insights regarding the barriers of top-down participatory web archiving efforts, which are typically examined on a macro level. Existing literature in critical archive studies on the archival turn in activism largely deals with the phenomenon in relation to feminist and queer archives in the US, my research deepens our understanding through include under-researched communities, namely black and working-class movements. Finally, this project contributes to the burgeoning field of political memory work emphasising the potential for archivists to have an active role in the shaping and sustainability of social movements

Modern Socio-Technical Perspectives on Privacy

This open access book provides researchers and professionals with a foundational understanding of online privacy as well as insight into the socio-technical privacy issues that are most pertinent to modern information systems, covering several modern topics (e.g., privacy in social media, IoT) and underexplored areas (e.g., privacy accessibility, privacy for vulnerable populations, cross-cultural privacy). The book is structured in four parts, which follow after an introduction to privacy on both a technical and social level: Privacy Theory and Methods covers a range of theoretical lenses through which one can view the concept of privacy. The chapters in this part relate to modern privacy phenomena, thus emphasizing its relevance to our digital, networked lives. Next, Domains covers a number of areas in which privacy concerns and implications are particularly salient, including among others social media, healthcare, smart cities, wearable IT, and trackers. The Audiences section then highlights audiences that have traditionally been ignored when creating privacy-preserving experiences: people from other (non-Western) cultures, people with accessibility needs, adolescents, and people who are underrepresented in terms of their race, class, gender or sexual identity, religion or some combination. Finally, the chapters in Moving Forward outline approaches to privacy that move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions, explore ethical considerations, and describe the regulatory landscape that governs privacy through laws and policies. Perhaps even more so than the other chapters in this book, these chapters are forward-looking by using current personalized, ethical and legal approaches as a starting point for re-conceptualizations of privacy to serve the modern technological landscape. The book’s primary goal is to inform IT students, researchers, and professionals about both the fundamentals of online privacy and the issues that are most pertinent to modern information systems. Lecturers or teacherscan assign (parts of) the book for a “professional issues” course. IT professionals may select chapters covering domains and audiences relevant to their field of work, as well as the Moving Forward chapters that cover ethical and legal aspects. Academicswho are interested in studying privacy or privacy-related topics will find a broad introduction in both technical and social aspects

Modern Socio-Technical Perspectives on Privacy

This open access book provides researchers and professionals with a foundational understanding of online privacy as well as insight into the socio-technical privacy issues that are most pertinent to modern information systems, covering several modern topics (e.g., privacy in social media, IoT) and underexplored areas (e.g., privacy accessibility, privacy for vulnerable populations, cross-cultural privacy). The book is structured in four parts, which follow after an introduction to privacy on both a technical and social level: Privacy Theory and Methods covers a range of theoretical lenses through which one can view the concept of privacy. The chapters in this part relate to modern privacy phenomena, thus emphasizing its relevance to our digital, networked lives. Next, Domains covers a number of areas in which privacy concerns and implications are particularly salient, including among others social media, healthcare, smart cities, wearable IT, and trackers. The Audiences section then highlights audiences that have traditionally been ignored when creating privacy-preserving experiences: people from other (non-Western) cultures, people with accessibility needs, adolescents, and people who are underrepresented in terms of their race, class, gender or sexual identity, religion or some combination. Finally, the chapters in Moving Forward outline approaches to privacy that move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions, explore ethical considerations, and describe the regulatory landscape that governs privacy through laws and policies. Perhaps even more so than the other chapters in this book, these chapters are forward-looking by using current personalized, ethical and legal approaches as a starting point for re-conceptualizations of privacy to serve the modern technological landscape. The book’s primary goal is to inform IT students, researchers, and professionals about both the fundamentals of online privacy and the issues that are most pertinent to modern information systems. Lecturers or teacherscan assign (parts of) the book for a “professional issues” course. IT professionals may select chapters covering domains and audiences relevant to their field of work, as well as the Moving Forward chapters that cover ethical and legal aspects. Academicswho are interested in studying privacy or privacy-related topics will find a broad introduction in both technical and social aspects