Information Behavior of People Diagnosed with a Chronic Serious Health Condition: A Longitudinal Study.

This study consisted of a longitudinal investigation into the information behavior of people diagnosed with a particular chronic serious health condition, type 2 diabetes. This study sought to identify the factors that motivate or impede the information seeking and use of these individuals and to discover how these factors and their influences change across time. It also aimed to uncover how they become aware of and capable of articulating their information needs, how they look for and make use of health-related information, and how these processes change across time. Lastly, it sought to discover what sources and types of diabetes-related information they perceive to be useful and how their perceptions of usefulness change as their knowledge about, and their experience with, diabetes transform across time. A longitudinal, mixed method approach was taken in which data were collected through two interview sessions spaced approximately four to six months apart. These sessions explored the experiences of 34 adults with type 2 diabetes, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques, including semi-structured interview, background questionnaires, health condition questionnaires, card-sorting exercises, and timeline elicitation. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The findings from this study provide evidence that information behavior plays a very important role in enabling participants to physically, cognitively, and affectively cope with having diabetes. Participants who rated diabetes-related information as more useful rated their general health higher and indicated that they felt less confused, more optimistic, and more in control of their experience with diabetes. This study’s findings also show that time forms a critical dimension within the context of consumer health information behavior. Participants’ information seeking and use practices, as well as their perceptions regarding the usefulness of diabetes-related information, also underwent important transformations across time. Moreover, their willingness and ability to act on this information also varied. Participants were not always immediately aware of their information needs and this state, termed “incognizance” here, sometimes led to serious health consequences. Having information at the point in time when it could be of the most use to them was of paramount importance.Ph.D.InformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91570/1/bstjean_1.pd

Secrets of Success: Identifying Success Factors in Institutional Repositories

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PresentationsDate: 2009-05-19 08:30 AM – 09:30 AMThere is little agreement on which factors lead to successful institutional repositories. Researchers primarily cite content recruitment and services as key factors; however, there has also been discussion of measuring IR success in terms of how well the IR furthers the overall goals of the library. This paper examines the topic of IRs and success. Our findings are based on a comparative case study of five IRs in colleges and universities. We argue that success should be measured by both internal (e.g., content or services) as well as external factors - how well the IR fulfills or brings the library closer to achieving its long-term goals in terms of service to the academic community.Institute of Museum and Library Service

“You Have to Know Your Body!”: The Role of the Body in Influencing the Information Behaviors of People with Type 2 Diabetes

Although many information behavior studies have investigated the wide array of sources people turn to when they have a health-related information need, very few have looked at the roles played by the body in these processes. Drawing on a mixed-method exploration of the information behaviors of people with type 2 diabetes, this study identifies the important roles played by an individual’s own body (i.e., informant, motivator, demotivator, and barrier) and by the bodies of other people with diabetes (i.e., comrades/mentors, role models, galvanizers, inhibitors, inspirations, and potential mentees). One of the most significant findings is that a person’s own body and the bodies of others with diabetes can fuel incognizance (an enduring unawareness that one has a particular information need), information avoidance, and information nonuse; however, they also can interrupt incognizance, illuminating information needs and motivating information seeking and use. We propose a novel model of body-related information behavior and discuss the possibility that body-related information behaviors may not only affect an individual’s health trajectory but also reinforce health disparities within disadvantaged communities. In conclusion, we recommend strategies for ensuring everyone has optimal opportunities to benefit from body-related information behaviors and to live a long and healthy life

Institutional repositories: What's the use?

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78316/1/1450460315_ftp.pd

How content contributors assess and establish credibility on the web

The proliferation of user‐generated content (UGC) is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Web 2.0. Internet users contribute content online through platforms such as blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, and sites that allow user feedback. Yet little is known of the credibility practices of these content contributors. Through phone interviews conducted with 29 online content contributors, this study investigates how content contributors assess credibility when gathering information for their online content creation and mediation activities, as well as the strategies they use to establish the credibility of the content they create. These contributors reported that they engaged in content creation activities such as posting or commenting on blogs or online forums, rating or voting on online content, and uploading photos, music, or video. We found that credibility judgments made when gathering information for online content creation and mediation activities could be grouped into three levels: intuitive, heuristic, and strategy‐based. We identified three distinctive ways of establishing credibility that are applied during different phases of content contribution: ensuring credibility during the content creation phase; signaling credibility during the content presentation phase; and reinforcing credibility during the post‐production phase. We also discovered that content contributors tend to carry over the strategies they used for assessing credibility during information gathering to their strategies for establishing the credibility of their own content. Theoretical implications for credibility research and practical implications for developing information literacy programs are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90253/1/14504801163_ftp.pd

A diary study of credibility assessment in everyday life information activities on the web: Preliminary findings

This study investigates how people's credibility assessment processes have evolved as they engage in increasingly diverse types of online activities beyond seeking for information or reading online news. Using an online activity diary method, information on people's online activities and their associated credibility assessment processes were collected at multiple points throughout the day for three days. This paper reports on a preliminary analysis of 2,471 diary entries received from 333 respondents. Content analysis was applied to people's descriptions of their online activities, yielding 17 different types of information objects and 26 categories of online content. People's credibility judgments were examined on three levels: construct, heuristics, and interaction. The results, although preliminary, indicate that distinct credibility assessment heuristics are in fact emerging as people engage in online activities involving more user-generated and multimedia content. The unique contribution of this paper is its identification of the importance of taking a heuristic approach to credibility assessment by studying a large sample of heavy Internet users within the context of the everyday life information activities they conduct online.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83172/1/14504701182_ftp.pd

An online activity diary method for studying credibility assessment on the Web

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78324/1/1450460388_ftp.pd

Toward successful institutional repositories: Listening to IR staff's experiences

This poster presents a study of what is required to plan, implement, maintain, and sustain successful institutional repositories (IRs). This study is part of the MIRACLE (Making Institutional Repositories a Collaborative Learning Environment) Project, which aims to identify the factors contributing to the success of IRs and effective ways of accessing and using repositories. The data for this study were collected through telephone interviews with IR managers and staff members. Interviews focused on participants' motivations, experiences, and viewpoints in regard to IRs, among other IR deployment issues. The transcriptions of interviews were analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicate that IRs are more than the sum of their component parts (i.e., collections, systems, policies, staff, contributors, and end-users); rather, they are a knowledge sharing and content management tool that works together with other types of open access infrastructure in colleges and universities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63089/1/14504503100_ftp.pd

Unheard voices: Institutional repository end-users.

This exploratory study investigates the perceptions and experiences of a group of institutional repository (IR) stakeholders seldom heard from: end-users. We interviewed twenty IR end-users recruited through five IRs to discover how they characterize the IR, how/why they use the IR, their credibility judgments in relation to the IR, and their willingness to return to and/or recommend the IR. Despite our small sample size, we were able to ascertain that IR end-users, although not yet loyal IR devotees, recognize their value and unique nature. Our findings also revealed several areas for improvement, such as lack of visibility and transparency.Institute of Library and Museum Services (IMLS)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106414/2/StJean_CRL2011.pd

Institutional repositories: The Experience of master’s and baccalaureate institutions

In 2006, MIRACLE Project investigators censused library directors at all U.S. academic institutions about their activities planning, pilot testing, and implementing the institutional repositories on their campuses. Out of 446 respondents, 289 (64.8 percent) were from master’s and baccalaureate institutions (M&BIs) where few operational institutional repositories (IRs) were in place but where interest in learning more about the M&BI experience pertaining to IRs was high. Comments by these library directors in the MIRACLE study demonstrated their desire to learn more about IR planning and implementation at institutions like their own. We address their comments in this paper, which compares IR activities at M&BIs to research universities (RUs).Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106420/1/markey_portal2008_institutional repositories.pd