Library & Information Science Research最新文献

Library and information science (LIS) graduate students often pursue careers in public libraries, which have faced increased challenges in supporting patrons in crisis. As a result, LIS graduate students benefit from increased training opportunities that help them gain crisis communication skills that will help them confidently and effectively interact with patrons in crisis. There is a need to provide training that is readily available, repeatable, and engaging for students. One approach that may prove valuable is the implementation of virtual reality (VR) training, which presents a low-stakes, innovative approach to support skill development in areas like empathy and crisis communication. To date, no virtual reality training for tailored crisis communication skills development in libraries exists. Examining the effectiveness of VR training for crisis communication skills among LIS graduate students included 1) creating a virtual environment and training scenario based on in-person trainings conducted by the researchers, and 2) administering pre and post tests on confidence, empathy, and de-escalation skills and then observing participant behavior in the virtual environment. Findings indicate that the VR training is overall effective and showed self-reports of increased empathy and skills for LIS graduate students. Recommendations for further study involve 1) implementing crisis communication training for students who will work in libraries (particularly public libraries); 2) extending the training contexts presented here to include other areas for skill development; and 3) more systematic consideration and conversation around the use of VR training in LIS education.

Despite a proliferation of digitally enhanced makerspaces in public libraries, there is an acute need for libraries to explore new strategies to broaden the engagement of diverse groups, especially those who do not see themselves as technology oriented. This qualitative nexus analytical inquiry analyses multimodal data from a Hebocon robot-making activity situated in a Finnish public library makerspace, targeting library and youth workers as participants. The findings illuminate how the Hebocon format helped to promote the democratization of technology and the inclusion of novices in robot-making activities, enhancing practice change by creating a safe space in which the participants felt confident about experimenting and being creative. This study contributes to research on maker practices and formats aligned with public libraries' mission particularly from the perspective of robot-making event organization, showcasing the value of the nexus analysis framework to guide research in this area.

Based on the expectancy-value theory, contextual factors related to users’ self-regulated learning (SRL) on medial Q&A platforms were investigated. A theoretical model was developed and validated through an online survey involving 483 participants with experience in health information-seeking on medical Q&A platforms. The empirical analysis yielded three main findings. First, a significant positive relationship existed between searching for health answers and SRL. Second, perceived usefulness of health answers was also positively related to SRL. Third, user satisfaction with the medical Q&A platform partially mediated the relationship between searching for health answers and SRL, as well as the relationship between perceived usefulness of health answers and SRL. This study bridges the gap between the field of self-regulated learning and medical Q&A research, providing valuable insights for improving the well-being of online health information consumers and advancing the information science community.

Care theory and critical discourse analysis were utilized to examine bilingual reference interactions extracted from 20 h of observations in a U.S.-Mexico border town public library. The researchers identified three types of caring discourse, including commiseration, soothing, and expressions of condolence. They also associated five conversation devices with caring discourse: humor, idiomatic expressions, interjections, lexical intensifiers, and whispering. Notably, librarians' infrequent production of elements of care were primarily in English regardless of community members' language choice. Further analysis revealed that linguistic expressions of care frequently masked unintentional, deficit-based perceptions about community members. Other salient themes that emerged include camouflaged community members' needs, clashes between intersectional and shared identity(ies), and librarians' dismissal of community members. Ultimately, bilingual caring discourse in this setting was often an interpersonal and institutional illusion.

The product type and multi-disciplinarity level of tasks may be associated with the behaviors of data searchers and their utilization of cognitive System 1 and System 2. To test these associations, a user experiment was conducted. Findings suggest that due to differences in the uncertainty of data needs and the difficulty of data evaluation, when executing tasks with intellectual products, users devote more effort to data evaluation rather than query optimization and rely more on System 2. Moreover, due to differences in knowledge complexity and the availability of data resources, when performing multi-discipline tasks, users devote more effort to query optimization and data evaluation but gain lower search performance. When performing intellectual-multi-discipline tasks, data searchers use System 1 and System 2 in a complementary way to support systematic and efficient evaluation. A task classification has been developed, offering a framework to identify behavioral and cognitive patterns linked to specific tasks.

A vital aspect of the library and information science (LIS) professional's identity involves an ongoing reflective, inquiry-based research praxis that can be considered “the information deep,” where the LIS skillset is enacted as a means of sociocultural restorative justice. In the American context, with the LIS profession's demographics comprised of over 80% white women, professional practices can be problematic when librarians lack an inquiry-based positionality while serving a diverse reading public. Footed is a methodology that advocates for reclaiming and restoring heritage-based knowledge to actualize a justice-based identity and praxis for LIS professionals. An autoethnographic case study from the authors' heritage-based research process is presented to examine how Footed's process informs information-seeking behavior for praxis. Librarians and information professionals can use the Footed method to guide their own heritage-based research to build self-knowledge as a foundation for exacting meaningful, culturally competent information services.

Health information literacy links people to the information sources and ways of knowing that they need to make informed decisions about wellbeing. Qualitative research methods provide a powerful way to centre how people use information to learn about health as well as the conditions and social structures that enable and constrain information practice. This approach challenges health information literacy's more traditional focus on the measurement of normative, approved skills. Collaborative enquiry analysis of three recent studies into critical health literacy and children, chronic illness (irritable bowel syndrome) and vaccine hesitancy establishes a research agenda for qualitative health information literacy research. Producing four themes, including positioning information settings as health literate organisations, literacies for life, scaling up infrastructure and empowerment, the research agenda outlines directions for future theoretical, practical, and methodological health information literacy research.

In the context of sudden natural disasters, people are easily influenced by message frames, resulting in irrational dissemination behaviors. A theoretical model was built based on framing theory, and a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (lasso) regression model was adopted to conduct empirical research on the impact of cognitive and emotional frames on user dissemination behaviors. Results show that (1) cognitive frame has a significant positive effect on users' content creation behavior; (2) emotional frame contained has a significant positive effect on users' content integration behavior; and (3) psychological distance weakened the influence of primary cognition and positive and negative emotions on dissemination behavior but strengthened the influence of secondary cognition on dissemination behavior. The findings enrich framing theory in natural disaster emergencies from the psychological language perspective and have important practical implications for authorities and microblogging platforms to guide users more effectively during emergencies.

Searching for information on online environments is a crucial part of today's academics' work. However, no published research has been identified that comprehensively focuses on academics' online information searching patterns. This study aimed to determine the predictor variables of academics' online information searching strategies. A structural model which seeks to explain the relationship between online information searching strategies and predictor variables was constructed. Data was collected with four different data collection instruments: “Personal Information Form”, “Online Information Searching Strategies Scales”, “Cognitive Absorption Scale”, and “Digital Literacy Scale”, which were collected from 501 academics from 18 different universities. SEM analysis techniques were used in the analysis of the data. Twenty-four hypotheses were tested through SEM analysis. The results of the analysis found that academics' online information search strategies can be predicted by digital literacy. Daily internet usage time has a significant effect on cognitive absorption. In addition, digital literacy has a mediating role between online information searching strategies and cognitive absorption.

Public libraries serve as important hubs for lifelong learning for older adults. Nevertheless, if library visits are perceived as discouraging and frustrating, they can be burdensome for this demographic. The perceptions of motivations influencing public library use among older adults was explored through 37 semi-structured interviews. Employing the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) motivation model, a qualitative approach was adopted. The analysis aims to shed light on the motivations and perceptions of elderly library users. The significance lies in being the pioneer in applying the ARCS motivation model to library use among older adults within the framework of public libraries, highlighting profound implications for library services catering to this demographic. The findings will contribute to new methodologies in library user research, increase knowledge and interest in public library use among older adults, and provide concrete suggestions for library administrators and policymakers.