Meaningful measures for individuals' realities: evidence from the JUBILEE project

Reality differs according to the individual's perception : this is a statement of the obvious. How to deliver appropriate library and information services to fulfil those individuals' requirements is not obvious. Measures of success are needed to form the basis of service planning.These measures must be meaningful for individuals, both users and managers, if the goal of designing and delivering library and information services to meet individuals' realities is to be realised. Contexts are changing for individuals: the fast developing world of electronic information services (EIS) provides individuals with new opportunities and new threats. It is against this background that the JUBILEE project was launched.This paper will use evidence from JUBILEE to present the issues underlying the development of an evaluation toolkit for managers of EIS, which will take into account differences between individuals, between disciplines, and between institutions

Selling the JUBILEE Project: issues arising from a methodology

This article, inspired by JUBILEE project fieldwork, is influenced by van Leeuwen and Leeuw's work on the growing negative attitude towards market research. While the JUBILEE team, as academic researchers, were not making a sales pitch, they were trying to sell the project to putative participants. Issues discussed include length - and degree of difficulty - of questionnaire; how to sell a questionnaire; and how to identify key prospects for interviews and focus groups. Through the experiences gained, the JUBILEE researchers were able to identify key points of good fieldwork practice in relation to the issues discussed

Enhancing ICT skills: the how, who and when - illustrations from the JUBILEE project

This article reports on findings from the first cycle of the three year JUBILEE (JISC User Behaviour in Information-seeking: Longitudinal Evaluation of EIS) project, being undertaken at the Information Management Research Institute at the University of Northumbria, in respect of the degree to which students and academics in Higher Education lack the necessary skills to take full advantage of EIS. The skills are examined in subsets: IT literacy skills; information searching skills; evaluative & critical skills; and information handling skills. In addition there is discussion on how best to upskill students and at what point in their academic careers. Another debate, common at several JUBILEE case study sites, focuses on whether such upskilling is better delivered by academics or LIS personnel

The information worlds of a disadvantaged community

Information seeking in context is a developing area of research, which explores the subject in settings ranging from high schools to legal practices to health organisations. Relatively little research, however, has been devoted to information behaviour in disadvantaged communities from a non-library perspective, particularly within a UK context. This study contributes to this field of research by exploring the information worlds — the everyday lives and information behaviour — of people living on a disadvantaged estate in Northeast England. The project was firmly rooted within the qualitative paradigm and employed a combination of ethnographic data collection methods to explore information behaviour including episodic narrative and extended participant observation. Interviews were carried out with 21 estate residents and with 13 key workers. The study discovered that everyday life on the estate was difficult and complex, a fact mirrored in the participants' information needs and in their information seeking behaviour. Cognitive information needs stemmed from everyday life issues such as debts, employment and health problems and were often met only with affective support from informal networks of family, friends and trusted on-estate regeneration workers. Trust was a major factor in information seeking owing to the insular nature of the estate and the participants' need for confidentiality and privacy. Participants often used the term information to indicate what was happening on the estate in terms of gossip and local news, but they also found the term a worrying one, associating it with intrusive questioning and with formal institutions. Formal, off-estate information providers were used for health reasons or in crisis situations, and the public library was not considered as an information source. In order to overcome the many barriers to information seeking, information providers need to focus on working in ongoing partnership with other agencies and on developing trusting relationships with people within their communities.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The information worlds of a disadvantaged community

Information seeking in context is a developing area of research, which explores the subject in settings ranging from high schools to legal practices to health organisations. Relatively little research, however, has been devoted to information behaviour in disadvantaged communities from a non-library perspective, particularly within a UK context. This study contributes to this field of research by exploring the information worlds — the everyday lives and information behaviour — of people living on a disadvantaged estate in Northeast England. The project was firmly rooted within the qualitative paradigm and employed a combination of ethnographic data collection methods to explore information behaviour including episodic narrative and extended participant observation. Interviews were carried out with 21 estate residents and with 13 key workers. The study discovered that everyday life on the estate was difficult and complex, a fact mirrored in the participants' information needs and in their information seeking behaviour. Cognitive information needs stemmed from everyday life issues such as debts, employment and health problems and were often met only with affective support from informal networks of family, friends and trusted on-estate regeneration workers. Trust was a major factor in information seeking owing to the insular nature of the estate and the participants' need for confidentiality and privacy. Participants often used the term information to indicate what was happening on the estate in terms of gossip and local news, but they also found the term a worrying one, associating it with intrusive questioning and with formal institutions. Formal, off-estate information providers were used for health reasons or in crisis situations, and the public library was not considered as an information source. In order to overcome the many barriers to information seeking, information providers need to focus on working in ongoing partnership with other agencies and on developing trusting relationships with people within their communities.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Effective information dissemination to a community in crisis

In 1998 a village in Northumberland was at the centre of a suspected TB infection. This thesis describes a research project that aimed to characterise and evaluate the dissemination of information to the community during the crisis. The context within which the incident occurred is discussed, and the main areas of research within which this project is located are reviewed. The following objectives were set for the project — 1. To determine existing evidence of effective information dissemination 2. To determine the criteria for dissemination in the specific context of the crisis 3. To identify and develop research methods that reflect the cross-disciplinary nature of the topic. The project employed a broadly qualitative methodology and was firmly grounded in information science. A qualitative systematic review of research literature identified the existing evidence of effective information dissemination. The technique was adapted from systematic reviews conducted in health research. Twenty relevant studies were identified and their results synthesised and analysed using a meta-ethnographic approach. From this analysis the elements of effective dissemination were extracted, and when combined produced a model of effective information dissemination. Interviews conducted with key informants ascertained the criteria specific to the TB incident. The information providers for the information dissemination process set three explicit criteria during the TB incident. These criteria were underpinned by a set of assumptions about the audience for the information. A questionnaire survey of respondents in the community was conducted to incorporate their perspective in the evaluation. Analysis of the survey and interview data shows that, whilst the criteria set for the dissemination process were mostly achieved, the assumptions underpinning the dissemination process were not wholly correct. The research data was compared to the model of effective information dissemination. Additional elements were identified and a model of effective information dissemination in a crisis was produced. Further research is required to test the validity of this model. It is proposed, however, that extracting the elements from the unique situation enables translation of the research findings to other crisis situations.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceArts & Humanities Research BoardGBUnited Kingdo

JUBILEE: monitoring user information behaviour in the electronic age.

The three-year JUBILEE project 'JISC User Behaviour in Information seeking: Longitudinal Evaluation of EIS' is being funded by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). It is seeking to predict, monitor and charcaterise the information seeking behaviour of UK students and academics in relation to electronic information services (EIS) and is providing illuminative and contextualised pictures built up over time and in different disciplines. The project began in August 1999 and is approaching the end of the first annual cycle. Data are being collected and analysed in each cycle, to inform subsequent cycles. Preliminary analysis of the first cycle is already characterising the differences and similarities existing between the disciplines studied in cycle one, with some general themes emerging. The picture is not straightforward, with a very wide variation of views and experiences already reported within as well between disciplines at different sites

Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in North East England

This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach

Student use of electronic information services in further education

This paper presents a profile of user behaviour in relation to the use of electronic information services (EIS), information skills, and the role of training and wider learning experiences in UK further education colleges. The research was conducted under the JISC User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. Work was conducted in two strands, by two project teams, JUSTEIS and JUBILEE. JUSTEIS profiled the use of EIS and assessed the availability of EIS. JUBILEE objectives focussed on understanding the barriers and enablers, with a view to developing success criteria. JUSTEIS used a multi-stage stratified sampling process, and collected data from 270 respondents from 17 departments in the baseline survey (2001/2002). JUBILEE conducted in-depth fieldwork in five institutions and snapshot fieldwork in 10 institutions, collecting data from 528 respondents. Information skills and experience develop across work, home and study. There is a growing use of EIS in curriculum, but practice varies between institutions and disciplines. Tutors express concern about student's ability to evaluate and use the information that they find. Assignments can promote EIS use. The main categories of EIS used by students are search engines and organisational web sites. Search engines are the preferred search tools and search strategies are basic. Information skills are acquired through a variety of routes, with peer instruction, surfing and personal experience, instruction from tutors, and LIS induction and training all making an important contribution. The solutions to improving students’ information skills may include use of the Virtual Training Suites, but librarians need to adopt different roles in promoting and evaluating use of such tools