A framework for understanding user requirements for an information service : defining the needs of informal carers

The aim of this research was to develop a conceptual framework that would help to collect and understand the information needs of a target community. Many information behaviour frameworks already exist, however; although they share some features, they tend to focus on different aspects of the person and their interaction with information. It was proposed that a synthesis of these frameworks could lead to a comprehensive framework. Previous research was analysed and an initial framework defined. This was piloted and adapted and then applied to data on informal carers. This led to further adaptation. Informal carers are people who care for another person, generally a relative, for more than fourteen hours per week and are not paid for this. The data stemmed from 2 sixty interviews that were transcribed and coded. This paper presents the data on informal carers and their information experience using the final framework. This serves to demonstrate how the framework sensitizes the researcher to certain types of significant data, enables the organization of the data, indicates the relationships between different types of data and, overall, helps to provide a rich picture of the target community’s information needs. In conclusion the paper discusses the differences and advantages of the framework in relation to previous work and also the limitations of the study and possible further research

“Behaviors of Employees in the Frontlines: Implications for Customer-Based Strategy”

This dissertation examines customer responses to frontline employee (FLE) behaviors during customer-FLE encounters. Customer interaction strategy, when properly leveraged, plays an integral role in helping to elicit desired customer responses, such as satisfaction and repeat patronage. This dissertation, and its findings, are thus intended to help managers craft customer interaction strategies that evoke customer responses which benefit the firm and create more meaningful interactions between customers and employees. Two essays explore phenomena in which FLE behaviors shape critical outcomes for customers and the firm. In the first essay, I explore instances of FLEs deviating from the manager-prescribed script when interacting with customers, and thus exhibiting behaviors (e.g., complaining to customers) that run counter to firm objectives. A series of experiments in the laboratory and field reveal that customers perceive script deviations as key indicators of authenticity and therefore evaluate such behaviors more favorably. The second essay explores the emerging practice of checkout charity, in which customers are solicited to donate at point-of-purchase transactions. Across a qualitative exploratory study and a series of experiments, I demonstrate that when employees solicit customers for donations at retail checkouts, it heightens feelings of anxiety and leads to a host of detrimental interaction outcomes that are conditioned by FLE attributes and the type of interaction interface. Theoretical and managerial implications of the research are discussed

System hazards in managing laboratory test requests and results in primary care: medical protection database analysis and conceptual model

Objectives To analyse a medical protection organisation's database to identify hazards related to general practice systems for ordering laboratory tests, managing test results and communicating test result outcomes to patients. To integrate these data with other published evidence sources to inform design of a systems-based conceptual model of related hazards. Design A retrospective database analysis. Setting General practices in the UK and Ireland. Participants 778 UK and Ireland general practices participating in a medical protection organisation's clinical risk self-assessment (CRSA) programme from January 2008 to December 2014. Main outcome measures Proportion of practices with system risks; categorisation of identified hazards; most frequently occurring hazards; development of a conceptual model of hazards; and potential impacts on health, well-being and organisational performance. Results CRSA visits were undertaken to 778 UK and Ireland general practices of which a range of systems hazards were recorded across the laboratory test ordering and results management systems in 647 practices (83.2%). A total of 45 discrete hazard categories were identified with a mean of 3.6 per practice (SD=1.94). The most frequently occurring hazard was the inadequate process for matching test requests and results received (n=350, 54.1%). Of the 1604 instances where hazards were recorded, the most frequent was at the ‘postanalytical test stage’ (n=702, 43.8%), followed closely by ‘communication outcomes issues’ (n=628, 39.1%). Conclusions Based on arguably the largest data set currently available on the subject matter, our study findings shed new light on the scale and nature of hazards related to test results handling systems, which can inform future efforts to research and improve the design and reliability of these systems

Building Research Capacity: Enabling Critical Thinking Through Information Literacy in Higher Education in Africa

DfI

Workplace information literacy for administrative staff in HE

A joint project carried out by Leeds University and Loughborough University, funded by JISC studied the information literacy of non academic staff in higher education. The in-depth, qualitative, study deployed an information audit, interviews and focus groups with eleven staff in the Finance and Research Departments at Loughborough University. The information literacy needs of staff were compared with the JISC iskills model. The hierarchical and collaborative nature of the workplace meant that people’s experience of information literacy in the workplace was more fragmented than in the academic context. Common labels could be used to describe information literacy in the different contexts but more emphasis was placed on data, internal information and information from other people in the workplace. Time had an impact on information literacy. Social networking skills were recognised as key information literacy skills. The need for staff to know how to organise information and develop information policies was identified

Final report: SMaRT messenger pilot project

The SMaRT Messenger Pilot Project is an extension of a previous collaboration between Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) and Loughborough University. Research at the university has contributed to the development of a device by which messages can be sent to the television screens of older and vulnerable people. For example, such messages might: • Alert them to take medication • Remind them of appointments • Send them information of interest • Communicate with friends and family This research project has two objectives. NCHA would like to use the SMaRT Messenger system as a commercial product to enhance their service for their clients and to market to other agencies. Loughborough University, on the other hand, is interested in the digital inclusion of older and vulnerable people and the use of a television based messenger system to facilitate communication and Information to that portion of society. This one year study has investigated the utility of the device as perceived by participants in three different locations served by NCHA. A three phase survey was conducted of people who are testing the system in their own homes. A subgroup of participants was questioned through SMaRT messenger and five people were interviewed face to face. The system has been designed to enable communication between people who receive support from NCHA in their own home and NCHA staff, family and friends and other relevant services. The target audience is people who are not highly competent users of digital communication, such as emails or social media sites, and who have underlying or deteriorating health conditions, live independently with a strong functional support system. The findings indicate that a television based messenger system is an important way of communication for such a limited audience, giving them the feeling of reassurance and inclusion in society

End-user engagement in the design of communications services: lessons from the rural Congo

End-user engagement is considered essential when designing new socio-technical systems, but in the context of designing large-scale infrastructural systems, such as communications networks, this ideal is rarely put into practice. We examined the challenges in engaging end-users in the design of communications services, by exploring how communities from 15 villages in the rural Congo, incorporated mobile phones into their daily lives. To analyze the changes in social and cultural capital that resulted from mobile phone use, we applied Bourdieu’s capital theory. This analysis exposed the difference in perceived value of the communication services between end-users and the business owners of the infrastructure. The paper concludes by suggesting new forms of partnership with end-users in order to craft ways in which infrastructures, and related organizations and practices, can best cohere with local cultural views, specifics, beliefs, needs, or realities of concerned participants

Young people: a phenomenographic investigation into the ways they experience information

This paper reports on a phenomenographic investigation into the ways young people, aged between eleven and eighteen years of age, experience information in both their academic and everyday life. Experience here is interpreted as the relationship between the subject (the young person) and the object (information). This research builds on previous studies of people’s experience of information. However, other studies have had either a different focus, such as, focusing on information literacy, or, different respondents. Therefore this research addresses a gap in the knowledge. Three research questions are addressed in this paper: What are the qualitatively different ways young people experience information? What are the logical relationships between the categories of description? Can a holistic picture of young people’s relationship with information be composed from knowledge of the different ways young people experience information? The study used a phenomenographic research approach to elicit and describe the qualitatively different ways in which young people experienced information. A purposeful sample of forty-one young people aged eleven to eighteen years participated in the study. The data, which were gathered through drawings and semi-structured interviews, were subjected to a rigorous process of phenomenographic analysis. The outcome of phenomenographic analysis is an outcome space consisting of a finite set of categories of description which, with their relationships, explain the different ways people experience phenomena in the world. In phenomenographic research, the focus is on the collective rather than the individual experience. The purpose of the study was therefore to highlight differences within the sample. In this study, six ways of experiencing information were identified: knowledge of sources of information; receiving information; process of finding information; store of unprocessed information; processing information; and use of information. The findings demonstrate some broad similarities with other studies. However, there are significant differences. The paper, therefore, gives a new insight into young people’s experience of information. It also highlights the complex and multi- faceted way that young people experience information. These views help to understand what young people need to know and be able to do

An investigation of factors that may de-motivate secondary school students undertaking project work : implications for learning information literacy

This paper describes an exploratory, qualitative, study of the motivational issues associated with project work – a method intended to help encourage independent learning skills. The population studied were United Kingdom secondary school students who attended a state funded comprehensive school in Derbyshire. The study chose to explore why students, generally, did not engage in the project process and to determine those factors that either motivated or de-motivated them during this process. Questionnaires were completed by twenty-six Year 7 (11-12 year old) students and ten Year 13 (17-18 year old) students. Interviews were conducted with six Year 7s and ten Year 13 students. In addition six Year 7 students were involved in a focus group and nine Year 13 students in a separate focus group. Different methods, as well as previous research, enabled triangulation of the data and indicated the validity of the findings. Aspects of the students experience when undertaking a piece of research were found to be de-motivating. In general students did not have a clear understanding of the different elements of information literacy. The majority considered that their information skills were not well developed and they were not confident of completing the research process successfully. Specific factors that had significant impact on the students’ motivation included choice of topic, the amount of group work, the level of support and feedback during the process and the study environment. It was also found, in this case study, that educators did not utilise Library and Information Science (LIS) information literacy/information behaviour models or knowledge to teach and support project work. Nor was there any recognition of the attitudes and skills or motivational issues associated with the stages of the project process. This was in contrast to the teaching in school of data analysis and handling, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), during subject based project work where there seems to be a more cohesive approach. Based on these findings recommendations for improving the project process and the learning experience are given

The development of a conceptual framework for understanding people's requirements for an information service.

The aim of this research was to see whether a conceptual framework could be developed that would help conduct: • studies of people's interaction with information; • user requirements analysis for information services and systems. The following questions were addressed: • could the accumulated past research in user studies and information seeking behaviour now provide a good basis for the development of a conceptual framework for understanding people's interaction with data, information and knowledge and • whether a conceptual framework could be developed that: ~ indicated those factors that influence the individual's interaction with information ~ indicated and helped explain those factors that influence each other and the individual's experience when interacting with information and information systems ~ helped to derive data that enabled the researcher to identify user requirements for an infonnation system that relates to their needs and also whether: • the conceptual framework would help to identify an appropriate research methodology and techniques for studying people and determining their requirements for information services and systems? As a result of the research a framework, that encompassed earlier models and frameworks, was developed. The framework evolved through an inductive analysis of the literature and was then applied to two communities. This led to modification of the framework. The resulting framework, and the levels of analysis that were considered significant, identified categories of data that were important and indicated the relationships between these variables. The communities were postgraduate students and informal carers. Insights were generated into the information experience of the two conununities and their requirements for an infonnation service. With regard to methodology and techniques it was concluded that, although the framework did help to identify the data that one can collect, many techniques, such as observation or task analysis can be applied and are likely to vary, depending on the research context. However certain techniques were shown to be more effective than others for gathering different types of data, such as behvioural or psychological