Early Integrators and the Passive Majority: An evaluation study of a large web-based bibliographic reference database

An evaluation is reported of user responses to zetoc, a service that provides access to the British Library electronic table of contents database and an email alerting service. Two questionnaire surveys and an interview programme gave data on over 800 users. The results show that about 17% are active users who are achieving a personal information management routine by integrating zetoc with other services (the early integrators). The other 83%, the `passive majority', make limited use of zetoc and do not achieve integration with other services. The interviews reveal that some of this group have a stable but restricted usage routine that limits information overload. The usage by others is less controlled and they make little use of the information they receive. The paper examines the impact of enhancements to the zetoc service to support integration and it discusses the barriers that prevent many users exploiting the potential of services available to them

'1966 and all that': trends and developments in UK ergonomics during the 1960s

The 1960’s represent a key decade in the expansion of ergonomics within the UK. In this paper we review trends and developments that emerged out of the 1960’s and compare these with ergonomics research and practice today. We focus in particular on the expansion of ergonomics as a discipline within industry, as well as more specific topics such as: the emergence of areas of interest such as computers and technology; automation and systems ergonomics; and, consumer ergonomics. We illustrate our account with a detailed timeline of developments, a set of industrial case studies and the contents of important publications during the decade. A key aim of the paper is to provide the opportunity to reflect on the past and the implications this may have for future directions for ergonomics within the UK

Factors influencing experience in crowds – the participant perspective

Humans encounter crowd situations on a daily basis, resulting in both negative and positive experiences. Understanding how to optimise the participant experience of crowds is important. In the study presented in this paper, 5 focus groups were conducted (35 participants, age range: 21–71 years) and 55 crowd situations observed (e.g. transport hubs, sport events, retail situations). Influences on participant experience in crowds identified by the focus groups and observations included: physical design of crowd space and facilities (layout, queuing strategies), crowd movement (monitoring capacity, pedestrian flow), communication and information (signage, wayfinding), comfort and welfare (provision of facilities, environmental comfort), and public order. It was found that important aspects affecting participant experience are often not considered systematically in the planning of events or crowd situations. The findings point to human factors aspects of crowds being overlooked, with the experiences of participants often poor

Factors influencing experience in crowds – the organiser perspective

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Crowds are a commonplace encounter but the experience for participants can be highly variable. Crowds are complex sociotechnical phenomenon, affected by many interacting factors. Little is known, however, about how those responsible for organising crowd situations approach their responsibilities. This study conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 41) with organisers responsible for different aspects of the design, planning, management and operations of events and other crowd situations. The objective was to understand organisers' priorities, along with the consideration given to the experience of crowd participants. The interviews revealed that organisers generally prioritised finance, security and health and safety aspects, whilst giving limited explicit attention to other important factors that affect participant experience. Organisers tended to approach their planning and decisions on the basis of their own experience and judgement, without accessing training or reference to guidance. It is suggested that the non-use of guidance is in part due to problems with the guidance currently available, both its content and its form. The organisers of infrequent or small-scale events have the greatest knowledge and experience gap. It is concluded that in order to achieve a consistent, high quality experience for crowd participants, there needs to be improved understanding among organisers of the complexity of crowds and the multiple factors influencing participant experience. Guidance and tools need to be usable and tailored to organisers’ requirements. Organisers of infrequent or small-scale events are especially in need of support

Sociotechnical design for mobile anticoagulant therapy

In this paper we present MANTRA (Mobile ANticoagulant TheRApy), a project aimed at studying feasibility and acceptability of the introduction of mobile technology in the management of anticoagulant therapy involving both patients and health practitioners in their design. By the evaluation of the MANTRA Project, we developed a general approach to mHealth in the remote management of chronic diseases by supporting the communication among patients and healthcare practitioners. Patients usually have to make frequent visits to surgeries to meet nurses for the tests, and General Practitioners (GPs) for receiving drug prescriptions. We report on the implementation of the project as a proof of concept in London. A group of patients, General Practitioners, nurses, and healthcare assistants from the National Health Service (NHS) participated in design and evaluation phases. The distinct characteristics of the NHS as one of the world's largest publicly funded health services posed a number of sociotechnical challenges to the design team. We present how we approached and addressed these challenges through MANTRA. Patients and Healthcare practitioners recognized the validity of our proposed design approach not only for supporting the remote therapy practice preserving an efficient and effective communication with the patients, but also as a way for better managing resources in anticoagulant clinics in the context of the NHS. With our research we explored the process that needs to be followed to develop a mobile system that would fit the sociotechnical ecosystem of anticoagulant therapy. Furthermore, we are now able to identify the changes that will be necessary in the ecosystem itself to make an effective use of the mobile system

Bottom-up and middle-out approaches to electronic patient information systems: a focus on healthcare pathways

Background A study is reported that examines the use of electronic health record (EHR) systems in two UK local health communities.Objective These systems were developed locally and the aim of the study was to explore how well they were supporting the coordination of care along healthcare pathways that cross the organisational boundaries between the agencies delivering health care.Results The paper presents the findings for two healthcare pathways; the Stroke Pathway and a pathway for the care of the frail elderly in their own homes. All the pathways examined involved multiple agencies and many locally tailored EHR systems are in use to aid the coordination of care. However, the ability to share electronic patient information along the pathways was patchy. The development of systems that enabled effective sharing of information was characterised by sociotechnical system development, i.e. associating the technical development with process changes and organisational changes, with local development teams that drew on all the relevant agencies in the local health community and on evolutionary development, as experience grew of the benefits that EHR systems could deliver.Conclusions The study concludes that whilst there may be a role for a national IT strategy, for example, to set standards for systems procurement that facilitate data interchange, most systems development work needs to be done at a ‘middle-out’ level in the local health community, where joint planning between healthcare agencies can occur, and at the local healthcare pathway level where systems can be matched to specific needs for information sharing

A 'Joined-Up' electronic journal service : User attitudes and behaviour

Studies are reported of user attitudes and behaviour with the Zetoc service before and after the implementation of a 'joined-up' service using OpenURL technology. Positive attitudes translated into active usage in some circumstances but not others. Four strategies are identified by which users identify articles of interest and obtain full text. A model of user behaviour is advanced to explain the factors that mediate attitudes and behaviour. The model depicts usage as dependent on the effectiveness of the 'joined-up' service delivery for each user and on the way in which users add useful facilities to their 'ready to hand' current practices

Towards an Integrated Digital Library; Exploration of User Responses to a `Joined-Up' Service

Digital library users have to deal with many separate services. This paper describes efforts in the United Kingdom to use OpenURL technology to provide `joined-up' services. The focus is on zetoc, a national electronic service, which enables users to find references in a British Library bibliographic database. zetoc now uses OpenURL technology to provide routes to services, which might give users access to electronic full text versions of references they have found. Data is provided from two questionnaire surveys and an interview programme conducted to explore user responses to these services. These evaluation studies show that users want these integrated services and are extremely positive about them when they work. However, `joined-up' services depend for their success on the access rights that each user has to full text sources in their institution. As a result, the success level in obtaining full text varies considerably between institutions. Users in disadvantageous positions have expressed disappointment and frustration; the service may be regarded as a promise not fulfilled. The paper describes the development of `joined-up services' as a partnership at national and local levels