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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
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2012
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| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546444 |
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| _version_ | 1867181756731359232 |
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| author | Lu, Chi-Jung |
| author_facet | Lu, Chi-Jung Lu, Chi-Jung |
| collection | Education Resources Information Center |
| contents | Accidental Discovery of Information on the User-Defined Social Web: A Mixed-Method Study Lu, Chi-Jung Discovery Learning Information Seeking Web 2.0 Technologies Internet Social Networks Users (Information) Learning Motivation Learning Strategies Information Needs Data Collection Surveys Followup Studies Interviews Mixed Methods Research Frequently interacting with other people or working in an information-rich environment can foster the "accidental discovery of information" (ADI) (Erdelez, 2000; McCay-Peet & Toms, 2010). With the increasing adoption of social web technologies, online user-participation communities and user-generated content have provided users the potential for ADI. However, ADI on the Social Web has been under-examined in the literature of library and information science. This gap needs to be addressed in order to get a more complete picture of human information behavior. The objectives of this dissertation were to develop the propositions that describe and explain ADI behaviors among individual users of web-based social tools. Two research questions were addressed: (1) What are the characteristics of ADI on the Social Web? (2) What are the users' perceptions about ADI on the Social Web? This dissertation used a sequential mixed-method research design involving three data collection methods: a survey, and follow-up logs, and interviews. The sample includes 45 participants in an academic environment. Among the survey participants, a purposeful sample of 13 individuals completed follow-up incident logs and in-depth interviews. Qualitative analysis with Stata 12/MP (StataCorp, 2011) and qualitative analysis with ATLAS.ti v.6 (http://www.atlasti.com/) were performed on the data. The results presented include descriptive statistics and thematic findings. The important findings include: (1) ADI on the Social Web has many unique characteristics that can be identified within the six elements of "user," "motivation," "context," "information behavior," "information," and "information need"; (2) participating users considered the Social Web as a useful environment for ADI, and they even used some self-developed strategies to facilitate ADI; (3) prior experience and anticipation of ADI can be the motivations to use particular social tools; (4) social tools can serve as information grounds where users gather together and form relations, precipitating conditions which foster ADI; (5) users considered ADI on the Social Web as supplementary to their overall information acquisition; the unexpected information that they found was most beneficial for addressing long-term information needs. The findings of this study expand on existing information behavior theories and offer practical insights for the design of information services and library instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] |
| format | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| id | eric_ED546444 |
| institution | ERIC Institute of Education Sciences |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| record_format | eric |
| spellingShingle | Accidental Discovery of Information on the User-Defined Social Web: A Mixed-Method Study Lu, Chi-Jung Discovery Learning Information Seeking Web 2.0 Technologies Internet Social Networks Users (Information) Learning Motivation Learning Strategies Information Needs Data Collection Surveys Followup Studies Interviews Mixed Methods Research Accidental Discovery of Information on the User-Defined Social Web: A Mixed-Method Study Lu, Chi-Jung Discovery Learning Information Seeking Web 2.0 Technologies Internet Social Networks Users (Information) Learning Motivation Learning Strategies Information Needs Data Collection Surveys Followup Studies Interviews Mixed Methods Research Frequently interacting with other people or working in an information-rich environment can foster the "accidental discovery of information" (ADI) (Erdelez, 2000; McCay-Peet & Toms, 2010). With the increasing adoption of social web technologies, online user-participation communities and user-generated content have provided users the potential for ADI. However, ADI on the Social Web has been under-examined in the literature of library and information science. This gap needs to be addressed in order to get a more complete picture of human information behavior. The objectives of this dissertation were to develop the propositions that describe and explain ADI behaviors among individual users of web-based social tools. Two research questions were addressed: (1) What are the characteristics of ADI on the Social Web? (2) What are the users' perceptions about ADI on the Social Web? This dissertation used a sequential mixed-method research design involving three data collection methods: a survey, and follow-up logs, and interviews. The sample includes 45 participants in an academic environment. Among the survey participants, a purposeful sample of 13 individuals completed follow-up incident logs and in-depth interviews. Qualitative analysis with Stata 12/MP (StataCorp, 2011) and qualitative analysis with ATLAS.ti v.6 (http://www.atlasti.com/) were performed on the data. The results presented include descriptive statistics and thematic findings. The important findings include: (1) ADI on the Social Web has many unique characteristics that can be identified within the six elements of "user," "motivation," "context," "information behavior," "information," and "information need"; (2) participating users considered the Social Web as a useful environment for ADI, and they even used some self-developed strategies to facilitate ADI; (3) prior experience and anticipation of ADI can be the motivations to use particular social tools; (4) social tools can serve as information grounds where users gather together and form relations, precipitating conditions which foster ADI; (5) users considered ADI on the Social Web as supplementary to their overall information acquisition; the unexpected information that they found was most beneficial for addressing long-term information needs. The findings of this study expand on existing information behavior theories and offer practical insights for the design of information services and library instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] |
| title | Accidental Discovery of Information on the User-Defined Social Web: A Mixed-Method Study |
| topic | Discovery Learning Information Seeking Web 2.0 Technologies Internet Social Networks Users (Information) Learning Motivation Learning Strategies Information Needs Data Collection Surveys Followup Studies Interviews Mixed Methods Research |
| url | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546444 |