Louise F. Spiteri

Access to electronic commerce sites on the World Wide Web: an analysis of the effectiveness of six Internet search engines:

The success of electronic commerce (e-commerce) sites that cater to online shopping is dependent upon a number of factors, such as the quality, variety and price of their products, their guarantees, return policies, etc. The success of these sites is predicated upon the more basic assumption that consumers can actually find the sites on the World Wide Web. A major advantage of online shopping is that it enables consumers to engage in comparison shopping with an ease that cannot be replicated easily in the physical world. This paper examines the ways in which six Internet search engines facilitate access to online shopping sites via their hierarchical subject directories. Specifically, the paper examines the internal structure, consistency and orientation of the six subject directories. The findings indicate that the search directories (i) use ambiguous and sometimes misleading categories to organize e-commerce sites, (ii) are only moderately consistent in the way they organize e-commerce sites and (iii) provide relatively few opportunities for comparison shopping.

The Impact of Social Cataloging Sites on the Construction of Bibliographic Records in the Public Library Catalog

This article examines and evaluates the social features and comprehensiveness of the catalog records of sixteen popular social cataloging Web sites to determine whether their social and cataloging features could or should impact the design of library catalog records. Selected monograph records were evaluated to determine the extent to which they contained the standard International Standard Bibliographic Description elements used in Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules–based cataloging practice. The heuristics Communication, Identity, and Perception were used to evaluate the sites’ social features. Although the bibliographic content of most of the catalog records examined was poor when assessed by professional cataloging practice, their social features can help make the library catalog a lively community of interest where people can share their reading interests with one another.

Incorporating Facets into Social Tagging Applications: An Analysis of Current Trends

An increasingly difficult challenge in social tagging applications is negotiating the number of existing tags. This article examines the use of facets to facilitate the efficient organization and browsing of tags into manageable and distinct categories. Current and proposed methodologies for the application of facets in social tagging applications are evaluated. Results of this analysis indicate that these methodologies provide insufficient guidelines for the choice, evaluation, and maintenance of the facets. Suggestions are made to guide the design of a more rigorous methodology for the application of facets to social tagging applications.

The Essential Elements of Faceted Thesauri

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to evaluate, compare, and contrast how facet analysis is used to construct the systematic or faceted displays of a selection of information retrieval thesauri. More specifically, the study seeks to examine which principles of facet analysis are used in the thesauri, and the extent to which different thesauri apply these principles in the same way. A measuring instrument was designed for the purpose of evaluating the structure of faceted thesauri. This instrument was applied to fourteen faceted information retrieval thesauri. The study reveals that the thesauri do not share a common definition of what constitutes a facet. In some cases, the thesauri apply both enumerative-style classification and facet analysis to arrange their indexing terms. A number of the facets used in the thesauri are not homogeneous or mutually exclusive. The principle of synthesis is used in only 50% of the thesauri, and no one citation order is used consistently by the thesauri.

OPACs, Users, and Readers’ Advisory: Exploring the Implications of User-Generated Content for Readers’ Advisory in Canadian Public Libraries

This article examines the contribution of social discovery platforms and user-generated content (UGC) on readers’ advisory (RA) services in Canadian public libraries. Grounded Theory was used to conduct a content analysis of library-assigned subject headings and UGC of 22 adult fiction titles in 43 Canadian public libraries that use BiblioCommons, SirsiDynix, and Encore social discovery platforms. Findings indicate that UGC complements the MARC bibliographic record as it provides insight into the subject of a work, its protagonists, and the effect the book has on readers. User-generated reviews provide a rich data set that clearly connects to known RA access points.

Social discovery tools: extending the principle of user convenience

Purpose – New social discovery systems have social‐type Web 2.0 features that allow users to enhance the content of bibliographic records by adding their own tags, ratings, and reviews. One of the primary underlying principles of cataloguing is that catalogue records be designed with the user in mind, i.e. user convenience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the principle of user convenience and social discovery systems.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature and codes of ethics of associations of information professions was undertaken to examine: the ethical dimensions of creating catalogue records to reflect user convenience, the relationship between culture and user convenience, and how social discovery tools can facilitate the creation of interactive and flexible catalogue records that reflect the culture(s) and needs of the library communities in which they exist.Findings – Social discovery systems can address the primary barriers to creating catalogue r...

Information architecture of business-to-consumer e-commerce websites. Part I: The online catalogue of selected video retailers

Recent surveys of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce websites indicate that these sites lack well-designed online catalogues necessary to enable consumers to locate easily what they want to find. This paper examines how online vendors organize their catalogues and how this organization could affect the consumers’ ability to find the information necessary to make an informed purchase. The contents of the catalogues of 50 B2C video websites were evaluated against fifteen criteria derived from the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. Results indicate that, on average, the catalogues meet only 8.8 of the fifteen criteria and thus fail to provide consumers with sufficient information needed to make a fully informed and rational purchasing decision. The only elements of information the consumer can be assured of finding are the title and purchase price of the videos.

Social Discovery Systems in Public Libraries: If We Build Them, Will They Come?

If the public library catalogue is to continue to have relevance to its users, it needs to move beyond its current inventory model, where all content is designed and controlled by library staff and client interaction with catalogue content is limited, to a social catalogue, where users can contribute to, and interact with information and with each other. The goal of this report is to present the results of an analysis of four months worth of log analysis of two social discovery systems used in two Canadian public libraries to examine: (a) how public library users interact with social discovery systems; (b) how usage compares between the two social discovery systems; and (c) whether the use of the features in social discovery systems is consistent over time. Results suggest that clients are making limited use of the social features of the system that allow them to interact with the catalogue records and with one another.

Knowledge Contribution in Social Media: Exploring Factors Influencing Social Taggers’ Acceptance towards Contributing and Sharing Tags

Based on a thorough literature review of social tagging and on technology acceptance models, we developed and empirically validated a motivational model to predict users’ acceptance to add and share tagging content. Four factors successfully predicted users’ intention to add and share metadata tagging content. Unlike previous studies on virtual communities, Reciprocity was found to be positively related to attitude whereas, in line with previous research, Ease of Use and Personal Productivity were confirmed to have substantial influence on users’ attitude, which in turn affects the intention towards creating and sharing tagging content. Our findings are expected to shed light on developing strategies to understand and promote tagging content contribution and sharing which have the potential to increase the collective power and intelligence of the community.

Social tagging & folksonomies: Indexing, retrieving… and beyond?

The purpose of this panel is to look back on seven years of research on folksonomies and tagging systems and to summarize its main contributions as well as to try forecasting the evolution folksonomies will make in the future. Research findings which show the advantages and drawbacks of folksonomies and tagging systems in various scenarios and which may reduce the reluctance of the professional side will be presented. Additionally, the panellists and audience will discuss the new breed of “folksonomies” formed by hashtags, geo-tags, system-tags etc. in order to find the best definitions for folksonomies and folksonomy-like structures.