How do libraries use social networking sites to interact with users?

Conference Theme: Information, Interaction, Innovation: Celebrating the Past, Constructing the Present and Creating the FutureASIST 2012 Proceedings' web site is located at http://www.asis.org/asist2012/proceedings/frontmatter/titlepage12.htmlSocial networking sites (SNS) are helpful for stirring up interactions among users. The number of libraries which adopt SNSs is increasing. However, user engagement is low on many libraries’ SNSs. Existing research mainly focuses on the ways SNSs used in libraries and the librarians or users’ attitudes towards libraries using SNSs. Little research has been done on how to use SNSs to interact with library users effectively. This study focuses on the interactions between libraries and users on libraries’ Facebook, Twitter and Weibo. Four types of interactions are examined, including knowledge sharing, information dissemination, communication and knowledge gathering. A mixed method is applied in this study: quantitative results, generated from the analysis on around 1700 posts sampled from 40 libraries’ SNSs, are incorporated with qualitative results concluded from the interviews with 10 librarians. The study finds that among the four types of interactions, knowledge sharing attracts the largest volume of user responses on libraries’ SNSs. The study’s investigation on the differences of Facebook-like and Twitter-like SNSs and those between academic and public libraries on using SNSs suggests that in order to improve the efficiency of interacting with users on SNSs, there are necessities for libraries to coordinate different types of SNSs and take the properties of their communities under consideration.postprin

The National Dialogue on the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review

Six years after its creation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) undertook the first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) to inform the design and implementation of actions to ensure the safety of the United States and its citizens. This review, mandated by the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, represents the first comprehensive examination of the homeland security strategy of the nation. The QHSR includes recommendations addressing the long-term strategy and priorities of the nation for homeland security and guidance on the programs, assets, capabilities, budget, policies, and authorities of the department.Rather than set policy internally and implement it in a top-down fashion, DHS undertook the QHSR in a new and innovative way by engaging tens of thousands of stakeholders and soliciting their ideas and comments at the outset of the process. Through a series of three-week-long, web-based discussions, stakeholders reviewed materials developed by DHS study groups, submitted and discussed their own ideas and priorities, and rated or "tagged" others' feedback to surface the most relevant ideas and important themes deserving further consideration.Key FindingsThe recommendations included: (1) DHS should enhance its capacity for coordinating stakeholder engagement and consultation efforts across its component agencies, (2) DHS and other agencies should create special procurement and contracting guidance for acquisitions that involve creating or hosting such web-based engagement platforms as the National Dialogue, and (3) DHS should begin future stakeholder engagements by crafting quantitative metrics or indicators to measure such outcomes as transparency, community-building, and capacity

Deriving query suggestions for site search

Modern search engines have been moving away from simplistic interfaces that aimed at satisfying a user's need with a single-shot query. Interactive features are now integral parts of web search engines. However, generating good query modification suggestions remains a challenging issue. Query log analysis is one of the major strands of work in this direction. Although much research has been performed on query logs collected on the web as a whole, query log analysis to enhance search on smaller and more focused collections has attracted less attention, despite its increasing practical importance. In this article, we report on a systematic study of different query modification methods applied to a substantial query log collected on a local website that already uses an interactive search engine. We conducted experiments in which we asked users to assess the relevance of potential query modification suggestions that have been constructed using a range of log analysis methods and different baseline approaches. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of log analysis to extract query modification suggestions. Furthermore, our experiments demonstrate that a more fine-grained approach than grouping search requests into sessions allows for extraction of better refinement terms from query log files. © 2013 ASIS&T

The Paradox of Public Diplomacy on the Web: An Empirical Analysis on Interactivity and Narratives of Nation-States\u27 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web Sites

Against the backdrop of Habermas’ theory of communicative action, we empirically analyzed the level of interactivity and narratives offered in nation-states’ ministry of foreign affairs Web sites. A multiple regression analysis was performed in an attempt to identify factors affecting the level of interactivity in such Web sites. Findings revealed that the level of economic development is the sole significant factor in regards to the level of interactivity. Further, self-interested, goal-directed, and strategic purposes behind the allegedly transparent, engaging, and interactive public diplomacy were evidenced through a critical analysis of the objectives, key issues, and target publics addressed and highlighted in the public diplomacy narratives on the Web. The results suggested a possible digital divide in the interactive adoption of Web public diplomacy as well as strategic motives and interests embedded in the public diplomacy communication on the Web. This study helps increase our understanding of the paradox of public diplomacy in the digital age

The Digital Cultural Atlas Project: Design Research and Cultural Narratives. An Experiential Approach for Design Education.

This paper outlines an approach developed for teaching research methods in a graphic design program, working in an interdisciplinary context with cultural researchers. Initially, the Digital Cultural Atlas (DCA) is introduced, as a 'work-in-progress' web site, which locates a diversity of geographic and place-based cultural resources across Greater Western Sydney. The initial information architecture consists of ‘bird’s eye view’ cartographic maps and cultural project resources. Through a teaching project in design research, students consider ways in which experiential ‘on the ground’ visual stories can be included. Initial student research identifies a diversity of observed cultural community contexts and situations. This is followed by a second smaller scale study of fewer sites, using an understanding of participatory design research. In this stage, each student researches an individual community context using two 'voices' of the self - as participant, and as observer. These engagements with the self as 'actor' are recorded in a journal format across a specific time period, with reference to reflections prior to, during, and after 'action'. These provide the basis for the new visual stories in the DCA. This paper describes and critiques this approach to teaching design research in visual communication, based on the DCA. In so doing, it links design research with human experiences of community and culture to engage with wider debates about the design of digital mapping spaces as information systems. The paper concludes with some reflections about the project's possible future as an ongoing participatory community resource which engages with both geographic and experiential web content and form. Keywords: Design Education; Participatory Design; Visual Narrative; Digital Mapping Systems; Community Identity; Designer As Actor</p

Generating Feedback Reports for Adults Taking Basic Skills Tests

SkillSum is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Generation (NLG) system that produces short feedback reports for people who are taking online tests which check their basic literacy and numeracy skills. In this paper, we describe the SkillSum system and application, focusing on three challenges which we believe are important ones for many systems which try to generate feedback reports from Web-based tests: choosing content based on very limited data, generating appropriate texts for people with varied levels of literacy and knowledge, and integrating the web-based system with existing assessment and support procedures

Energy Counselling and Modern IT. Drawing on Web 2.0 for a Greener World

The aim of this article is to explore how modern IT solutions for collaborative knowledge evolution could lead to more effective energy counselling and increased energy knowledge among the public. Comparative studies have been performed where the focus has been on the prerequisites for effective use of web 2.0 type collaboration and wikis. The research is primarily aimed at actors within the energy sector, although similar developments also take place in other sectors. Targeted investments employing collaborative IT to involve the public in energy counselling could lead to lower energy consumption and an increased consciousness of environmental issues in the society. A conclusion is that web 2.0-like initiatives could play a valuable role in the knowledge development and exchange between energy counsellors, and further the knowledge exchange between the counsellors, the regional energy agencies and the public. They could also help channel an energy interest among the public into a collaborative knowledge production, and contribute to a good quality factual basis for the conceptions that develop in society. This would strengthen both the energy counselling and the energy counsellor corps.communities, sustainability, sector transcendence, energy counselling, web 2.0.