The onus on us? Stage one in developing an i-Trust model for our users.

This article describes a Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded project, conducted by a cross-disciplinary team, examining trust in information resources in the web environment employing a literature review and online Delphi study with follow-up community consultation. The project aimed to try to explain how users assess or assert trust in their use of resources in the web environment; to examine how perceptions of trust influence the behavior of information users; and to consider whether ways of asserting trust in information resources could assist the development of information literacy. A trust model was developed from the analysis of the literature and discussed in the consultation. Elements comprising the i-Trust model include external factors, internal factors and user's cognitive state. This article gives a brief overview of the JISC funded project which has now produced the i-Trust model (Pickard et. al. 2010) and focuses on issues of particular relevance for information providers and practitioners

College Students' Credibility Judgments in the Information-Seeking Process

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and CredibilityThis chapter presents an in-depth exploration of how college students identify credible information in everyday information-seeking tasks. The authors find that credibility assessment is an over-time process rather than a discrete evaluative event. Moreover, the context in which credibility assessment occurs is crucial to understand because it affects both the level of effort as well as the strategies that people use to evaluate credibility. College students indicate that although credibility was an important consideration during information seeking, they often compromised information credibility for speed and convenience, especially when the information sought was less consequential

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

Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhance the process of learning?

Can social media be used to enhance the process of learning by students in higher education? Social media have become widely adopted by students in their personal lives. However, the application of social media to teaching and learning remains to be fully explored. In this study, the use of the social media tool Twitter for teaching was considered. Undergraduate students in Business and Management (n = 252) were encouraged to use Twitter for communicating with their tutor and each other during a 12-week course. Their involvement was evaluated using a survey considering amount of Twitter usage and students' attitudes and experiences. The data were analysed using factor analyses, which revealed a single usage construct and three attitudinal factors. Three findings emerged. Firstly, a positive correlation was found between amount of Twitter usage and student engagement in university-associated activities including organising their social lives and sharing information. Secondly, course-related tweeting was not related to interpersonal relationships between students and their tutor. Thirdly, Twitter usage did not impact class attendance. The results are salient for educational practitioners wishing to introduce social media into their teaching

Digital Media and Youth: Unparalleled Opportunity and Unprecedented Responsibility

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility This chapter argues that understanding credibility is particularly complex -- and consequential -- in the digital media environment, especially for youth audiences, who have both advantages and disadvantages due to their relationship with contemporary technologies and their life experience. The chapter explains what is, and what is not, new about credibility in the context of digital media, and discusses the major thrusts of current credibility concerns for scholars, educators, and youth

Guide to open access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers

This guide has been produced to assist arts, humanities and social sciences researchers in understanding the state of play with regards to open access in the UK and what it means to them as current and future authors of scholarly monographs

Think Before You Click: An Analysis of Facebook as a Source of News

The purpose of this study is to analyze how millennial college students perceive and interpret the news-related content that is posted on the social networking website Facebook. The news that this study is focused on is related to major events in American politics, especially this past Presidential election. One research question was developed to compete this study: what influence are news stories being shared on Facebook having on millennials? In order to determine the answer to this question, focus groups with college students at Bryant University were held in which the students were asked to evaluate a news article and give their thoughts and opinions on current American events and how they are portrayed on social media

What Do Freshmen Really Know about Research? Assess before You Teach

The article describes an effort to assess the information literacy skills of entering first-year college students. An instrument was developed and information was gathered on students\u27 experience and comfort in conducting library research as well as their perceived competence with specific information literacy skills. In addition, students completed a skills test to assess specific knowledge and skills relating to information literacy. Entering first-year students generally self-reported their skills to be less than excellent. This finding was supported by the results of the skills test. Strengths and weaknesses in information literacy skills are reported, as well as implications for librarians who assess and teach these skills to students