Samuel Kai-Wah Chu

Social networking tools for academic libraries

This is an exploratory study investigating the use of social networking tools in academic libraries, examining the extent of their use, library staff’s perceptions of their usefulness and challenges, and factors influencing decisions to use or not to use such tools. Invitations to participate in a web-based survey were sent to 140 university libraries from Asia, North America and Europe. Responses were received from 38 libraries (response rate: 27.1%). Twenty-seven libraries (71.1%) used social networking tools, five (13.1%) were potential users and six (15.8%) did not plan to use them at all. Facebook and Twitter were the most commonly adopted tools in university libraries. Most library staff had positive perceptions on the usefulness of social networking tools, but hesitancy among library staff and limited participation of users (i.e. students) were perceived to be hindrances. This study offers insights for academic librarians to make informed decisions in applying social networking tools.

Charting intellectual capital performance of the gateway to China

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether intellectual capital (IC) has an impact on the financial aspects of organizational performance as well as attempting to identify the IC components that are associated with corporate financial performance indicators that signal organizational growth.Design/methodology/approach – This study drew on financial data from publicly available annual reports of all the constituent companies of the Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the years 2001‐2009. Following the value added intellectual coefficient™ (VAIC) methodology, regression models were constructed to examine the relationships between IC and the corporate financial performance indicators.Findings – Evidence was found to suggest that IC, as measured by VAIC, was positively associated with profitability of businesses. In particular, structural capital, as a key component of IC, played a notable part in enhancing corporate profitability, and showed a growing trend in its significance. Empirica...

Interactions between English-speaking and Chinese-speaking users and librarians on social networking sites

Social networking sites (SNSs) can encourage interaction among users. Existing research mainly focuses on the ways in which SNSs are used in libraries and on librarians’ or users’ attitudes towards these SNSs. This study focused on the flow of information via SNS interactions between librarians and users on library Facebook, Twitter, and Chinese Weibo sites, and developed an SNS user interaction type model based on these information flows. A mixed‐method approach was employed combining quantitative data generated from the analysis of 1,753 posts sampled from 40 library SNSs and qualitative data from interviews with 10 librarians. Four types of interactions were identified: information/knowledge sharing, information dissemination, communication, and information gathering. The study found that SNSs were used primarily as channels for disseminating news and announcements about things currently happening in the library. Communication allowed open‐ended questions and produced more replies. In Facebook posts, Chinese Facebook users generated less “likes” than English‐speaking users. The comparison of data between Facebook‐like and Twitter‐like SNSs in different library settings suggested that libraries need to coordinate different types of SNSs, and take library settings and sociocultural environments into consideration in order to enhance and encourage user engagement and interaction.

Users’ experiences and perceptions on using two wiki platforms for collaborative learning and knowledge management

– This study aims to examine users’ experiences and perceptions associated with the use of two wiki variants in the context of collaborative learning and knowledge management in higher education., – Participants included two groups of postgraduate students from a university in Hong Kong who used MediaWiki (n=21) and TWiki (n=16) in completing course requirements. Using a multiple case study approach and a mixed methods research design, data logs on the wiki platforms were downloaded and the contents were analysed. Students’ perceptions were examined through a survey., – The findings indicate that both wikis were regarded as suitable tools for group projects, and that they improved group collaboration and work quality. Both wikis were also viewed as enabling tools for knowledge construction and sharing., – This study provides insights that may inform the decisions of educators who are considering the use of wikis in their courses as a platform to enhance collaborative learning and knowledge management., – Previous research has shown that wikis can be effectively used in education. However there are a number of wiki variants and it may be difficult to identify which variant would be the best choice. There is a dearth of research comparing the effectiveness of different types of wikis. This study compares two wiki variants on a number of outcomes which may provide some insights to teachers who are in the process of selecting an appropriate wiki for teaching and learning.

Fixed Group and Opportunistic Collaboration in a CSCL Environment.

This study investigated synchronous discourses involving student collaboration in fixed groups during an introductory research methods course’s first 8-week phase, and opportunistic collaboration during its second 8-week phase. Twenty-seven Chinese undergraduates participated in online discourse on Knowledge Forum as part of the course. A multi-faceted analysis was performed to examine different aspects of collaboration – interaction patterns, knowledge characteristics distributed over inquiry, discourse patterns, and knowledge advances that emerged from discourse threads. The results show little variation in social interactions, but substantial differences in knowledge distribution between fixed groups. Groups that were productive in constructive discourse tended to generate higher-level questions and ideas. When engaged in opportunistic collaboration, the students were capable of engaging in a large range of interactions and of contributing higher-level questions and ideas; however, they were constrained by making little use of metacognition and having scattered interactions. Additionally, this study tested the relationship between online discourse and individual performance in the end-of-course assessment tasks. The results indicate that actively participating and contributing high-level ideas were positively correlated with students’ domain knowledge. The study’s implications for understanding online discourse dynamics within and across fixed groups and opportunistic collaboration in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment are discussed.

A multidimensional approach to evaluating management journals: Refining pagerank via the differentiation of citation types and identifying the roles that management journals play

In this article, the authors introduce two citation‐based approaches to facilitate a multidimensional evaluation of 39 selected management journals. The first is a refined application of PageRank via the differentiation of citation types. The second is a form of mathematical manipulation to identify the roles that the selected management journals play. Their findings reveal that Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Administrative Science Quarterly are the top three management journals, respectively. They also discovered that these three journals play the role of a knowledge hub in the domain. Finally, when compared with Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters, Philadelphia, PA), their results closely match expert opinions.

Examining the application of Web 2.0 in medical-related organisations

OBJECTIVES This study surveyed Web 2.0 application in three types of selected health or medical-related organisations such as university medical libraries, hospitals and non-profit medical-related organisations. METHODS Thirty organisations participated in an online survey on the perceived purposes, benefits and difficulties in using Web 2.0. A phone interview was further conducted with eight organisations (26.7%) to collect information on the use of Web 2.0. Data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. RESULTS Results showed that knowledge and information sharing and the provision of a better communication platform were rated as the main purposes of using Web 2.0. Time constraints and low staff engagement were the most highly rated difficulties. In addition, most participants found Web 2.0 to be beneficial to their organisations. CONCLUSIONS Medical-related organisations that adopted Web 2.0 technologies have found them useful, with benefits outweighing the difficulties in the long run. The implications of this study are discussed to help medical-related organisations make decisions regarding the use of Web 2.0 technologies.

Hope, social support, and depression among Hong Kong youth: personal and relational self-esteem as mediators

Abstract Previous studies have shown that depression is negatively associated with hope and social support. However, little research has been undertaken to investigate the theoretical mechanisms underlying the connections among hope, social support, and depression. This study examined how two types of self-esteem (personal and relational) would mediate the relationship of hope and social support to depression among 384 Hong Kong adolescents (age: 12–18 years; M = 14, SD = 1.19). Participants reported their levels of hope, social support, personal self-esteem, relational self-esteem, and depressive mood. Results of the path analysis showed that both personal and relational self-esteem mediated the associations of hope and social support with depression. Hope and social support were associated with higher levels of personal and relational self-esteem, which were in turn related to decreased levels of depression. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Collaborative writing with wikis: an empirical investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process and interaction among group members using wikis to produce collaborative writing (CW) projects, and to compare their collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education. Design/methodology/approach – The study investigated the participation and collaboration of Hong Kong primary school, secondary school, and university students in the process of developing their wiki-based CW projects. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from analyzing the revision histories and the content of wiki pages. Findings – Results indicated that the level of education significantly affected student CW actions, and their interaction and coordination behavior to co-construct the work. Also, the frequency of collaborative activities varied noticeably among the primary, secondary, and university students. Practical implications – The study enriches our understanding of the complex and dynamic process of CW using wikis. It has practi...

Wikiglass: a learning analytic tool for visualizing collaborative wikis of secondary school students

This demo presents Wikiglass, a learning analytic tool for visualizing the statistics and timelines of collaborative Wikis built by secondary school students during their group project in inquiry-based learning. The tool adopts a modular structure for the flexibility of reuse with different data sources. The client side is built with the Model-View-Controller framework and the AngularJS library whereas the server side manages the database and data sources. The tool is currently used by secondary teachers in Hong Kong and is undergoing evaluation and improvement.