Enhancing Cultural Heritage Collections by Supporting and Analyzing Participation in Flickr

Cultural heritage institutions can enhance their collections by sharing content through popular web services. Drawing on current analyses from the Flickr Feasibility Study, we report on the pronounced increase in use of the IMLS DCC Flickr Photostream in the past year, trends in how users are engaging with the content, and data provider perspectives on participation in Flickr through the DCC. In addition to users providing comments and tags for images, they are increasingly integrating historical images from libraries and museums into new digital objects and special collections. Intermediary services can fill a key role in lowering the burden for institutions to engage in Web 2.0 initiatives and broadening public access to cultural heritage content. To extend the scope of the current DCC services, we propose a feedback framework for transferring user-generated information to institutional data providers.IMLS LG-06-07-0020published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Like a Box of Chocolates: A Case Study of User-Contributed Content at Footnote

User-contributed content has been suggested as a means of narrowing the gap between the level of description that resource-constrained repositories are able to provide and the level that users need or have come to expect. An examination of the experience of entities with large-scale online collections of cultural heritage materials that allow users to contribute content can provide valuable insight to other institutions that are considering doing so. This case study examines 183 users and 1,495 instances of user-contributed content at Footnote. The study identifies individuals with family connections as the largest group of contributors while annotations are the most common type of contribution. The data suggests that users' are predominately interested in information about individuals. Additionally, the study reveals the existence of users who contribute a disproportionate number of annotations. The findings of the study also indicate issues of consistency, authenticity, and context with regard to user-contributed content

#MPLP: a Comparison of Domain Novice and Expert User-generated Tags in a Minimally Processed Digital Archive

The high costs of creating and maintaining digital archives precluded many archives from providing users with digital content or increasing the amount of digitized materials. Studies have shown users increasingly demand immediate online access to archival materials with detailed descriptions (access points). The adoption of minimal processing to digital archives limits the access points at the folder or series level rather than the item-level description users\u27 desire. User-generated content such as tags, could supplement the minimally processed metadata, though users are reluctant to trust or use unmediated tags. This dissertation project explores the potential for controlling/mediating the supplemental metadata from user-generated tags through inclusion of only expert domain user-generated tags. The study was designed to answer three research questions with two parts each: 1(a) What are the similarities and differences between tags generated by expert and novice users in a minimally processed digital archive?, 1(b) Are there differences between expert and novice users\u27 opinions of the tagging experience and tag creation considerations?, 2(a) In what ways do tags generated by expert and/or novice users in a minimally processed collection correspond with metadata in a traditionally processed digital archive?, 2(b) Does user knowledge affect the proportion of tags matching unselected metadata in a minimally processed digital archive?, 3(a) In what ways do tags generated by expert and/or novice users in a minimally processed collection correspond with existing users\u27 search terms in a digital archive?, and 3(b) Does user knowledge affect the proportion of tags matching query terms in a minimally processed digital archive? The dissertation project was a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design focused on tag generation within a sample minimally processed digital archive. The study used a sample collection of fifteen documents and fifteen photographs. Sixty participants divided into two groups (novices and experts) based on assessed prior knowledge of the sample collection\u27s domain generated tags for fifteen documents and fifteen photographs (a minimum of one tag per object). Participants completed a pre-questionnaire identifying prior knowledge, and use of social tagging and archives. Additionally, participants provided their opinions regarding factors associated with tagging including the tagging experience and considerations while creating tags through structured and open-ended questions in a post-questionnaire. An open-coding analysis of the created tags developed a coding scheme of six major categories and six subcategories. Application of the coding scheme categorized all generated tags. Additional descriptive statistics summarized the number of tags created by each domain group (expert, novice) for all objects and divided by format (photograph, document). T-tests and Chi-square tests explored the associations (and associative strengths) between domain knowledge and the number of tags created or types of tags created for all objects and divided by format. The subsequent analysis compared the tags with the metadata from the existing collection not displayed within the sample collection participants used. Descriptive statistics summarized the proportion of tags matching unselected metadata and Chi-square tests analyzed the findings for associations with domain knowledge. Finally, the author extracted existing users\u27 query terms from one month of server-log data and compared the generated-tags and unselected metadata. Descriptive statistics summarized the proportion of tags and unselected metadata matching query terms, and Chi-square tests analyzed the findings for associations with domain knowledge. Based on the findings, the author discussed the theoretical and practical implications of including social tags within a minimally processed digital archive

A conceptual model of online information behavior in the chronic disease trajectory

Online resources have become an important source of health information for many people managing a chronic disease over a long period of time. The rapid growth of the Web makes readily available information from health organizations and peer-produced content from other patients. The primary objective of this study is to investigate and model changing online information behaviors, as the patient searches and learns over time, in the chronic disease trajectory. Thirty participants with Type I or Type II diabetes were recruited for the study. Data was collected in semi-structured interview sessions where participants reported events or incidents in the past that led them to look online for diabetes related information. A model of online information behavior in the chronic disease trajectory, as the patient gains ability over time, was developed inductively from the data. Emerging information behaviors have a considerable influence on our participants' self-management practices. Our model characterizes online health information behaviors in three stages. First, a Diagnosis with the Disease, stage where participants use online health resources to help understand the disease and adjust to its impact. Second, a Forming of Ability stage, where participants start to feel empowered and begin developing information behaviors that support their unique experiences. In the final stage, Established Ability, participants primarily seek to access personally relevant information and stay up to date with news related to their condition. The theme of emerging abilities arose from our analysis and led to the development of our model. Long-term online information behaviors are described in three successive stages, where the searcher attempts to achieve a measure of ability and expertise in an unfamiliar yet critically important domain. The emergence of advanced online information behaviors, from a state of low ability near the time of diagnosis, towards one of high ability after substantial experience using online resources, are explored.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 201