This study examines the ways in which information consumers evaluate the quality of content in a collaborative-writing environment, in this case Wikipedia. Sixty-four users were asked to assess the quality of five articles from the Hebrew Wikipedia, to indicate the highest-and lowest-quality article of the five and explain their choices. Participants viewed both the article page, and the article's history page, so that their decision was based both on the article's current content and on its development. The analysis shows that the attributes that most frequently assisted the users in deciding about the quality of the items were not unique to Wikipedia: attributes such as amount of information, satisfaction with content and external links were mentioned frequently, as with other information quality studies on the web. The findings also support the claim that quality is a subjective concept which depends on the user's unique point of view. Attributes such as number of edits and number of unique editors received two contradictory meanings -both few edits/editors and many edits/editors were mentioned as attributes of high-quality articles.
A Delphi study conducted in Israel during 1998 -2000 examined the views of library and information science (LIS) experts on the future of the profession in light of the changes in information technology. The study focused on three areas: (a) the transition from the traditional to the virtual library; (b) the transition from the technical to user-centered approach, and( c) the skills and the roles of the LIS professionals. The study found that most experts believe that the traditional library will continue to operate along with the virtual library. Most of the experts agree that in the future, libraries will place larger emphasis on customer services. LIS professionals will be specialists in locating, filtering, and evaluating information, and will be primary instructors in the use of new information technologies. This study's conclusions closely match those of the Kaliper project (1998 -2000), which examined the change in the curricula of LIS schools.
User studies provide libraries with invaluable insight into their users' information needs and behaviors, allowing them to develop services that correspond to these needs. This insight has become even more important for libraries since the advent of the Internet. The Internet has brought about a development of information technologies and electronic information sources that have had a great impact on both the ways users search for information and the ways libraries manage information. Although humanists represent an important group of users for academic libraries, research studies into their informationseeking behavior since the advent of the Internet have been quite scarce (Ellis & Oldman, 2005) in the past decade. This study presents updated research on a group of humanists, Jewish studies scholars living in Israel, as information users in the digital age based on two categories: (a) the use of formal and informal information channels, and (b) the use of information technologies and their impact on humanistic research.
The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in Israel according to two theoretical frameworks, the 'cost—benefit ratio' that focused on the quality of the information provided by the channel and the 'least effort principle' that focused on the accessibility of the channel. The study sought to identify which of the two parameters, quality of information or accessibility of the channel, was the decisive one when selecting an information channel. In order to further understand the underlying principle behind scholars' choice of information channels participants were asked about the obstacles they face when searching for information. Four obstacles were stipulated in the structured questionnaire: (1) cost; (2) distance, when the item can only be found at a distant location; (3) unfriendly interface; and (4) time that it takes to get hold of a copy of the desired item. Findings showed that, in general, participants' information channel use was not affected by the obstacles encountered in the information seeking process and that the quality of the information was the decisive factor in choosing an information channel.
This paper presents our proposal for an exploratory research study. The objective of the research is to develop a conceptual framework of the interpretations, meanings, perceptions, and beliefs related to the role, development, and future of the knowledge management (KM) discipline. We propose to develop a holistic model that will depict professionals' perceptions of this issue: the combined perceptions of both KM consultants and knowledge managers. The proposed qualitative research will be based on three research tools: Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews, focus groups, and content analysis. The data will be analyzed using a thematic analysis method based on the grounded theory approach. We collected preliminary empirical evidence from international KM experts during 2020. The findings revealed a remarkable variety of issues that exist at the core of the KM discipline. These issues include the role and purpose of KM in knowledge‐intensive organizations, the implications of the existence or absence of KM, and views about future avenues for its development. Our intention is to explore these issues further by expanding the research to other KM professionals. Through this, we hope to assist in the positioning of the discipline in the age of knowledge. This research may contribute significantly to both the theoretical and practical aspects of KM. Its uniqueness is reflected in the voices of KM professionals. We foresee that our research will enable a better understanding of the evolution of KM as a discipline, its contemporary role, and its future possibilities.
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