Sei-Ching Joanna Sin

Selecting quality sources

This study investigated undergraduates’ source selection behaviour: what sources they use frequently, what criteria they consider important for source selection, how they perceive different sources, and whether their source selection behaviour is related to what they know about selection criteria. Semantic differential rating scales and correspondence analyses were used to capture the participants’ perception of source characteristics. Five hundred and seventy-six undergraduate students from a public university participated in the study. The study found discrepancies between what students know and what they do regarding source selection. Spearman’s rank correlation results imply that participants did not apply the criteria they considered important (e.g. accuracy, currency) frequently when selecting sources. Sources perceived to be ‘accessible’ in economical, physical, and psychological senses tended to be used often. Suggestions were made to refine information literacy programmes to support the selection of quality sources.

Increasing Ethnic Diversity in LIS: Strategies Suggested by Librarians of Color.

The proportion of ethnic minorities in the LIS school student population has remained significantly lower than in the U.S. population: in 2002, ethnic minorities constituted only 11.3 percent of the LIS student population, compared to 31.3 percent of the U.S. population. Despite efforts by LIS schools and associations in recruiting and retaining more students of color, the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities continues. This study aimed at assessing what LIS schools and other library and information professional associations have done for the recruitment and retention of students of color and identifying effective strategies for the recruitment and retention from the perspective of librarians of color. A nationwide, Web‐based survey was conducted to collect input from librarians of color who already have experience with LIS schools and the librarianship. Based on the findings, suggestions were made to improve the recruitment and retention of students of color, which will ultimately contribute to the ethnic/cultural diversity in librarianship.

Social media and problematic everyday life information-seeking outcomes: Differences across use frequency, gender, and problem-solving styles

Social media offers both opportunities and challenges in everyday life information seeking (ELIS). Despite their popularity, it is unclear whether the use of social media for ELIS heightens problematic outcomes, such as encountering too much information and finding irrelevant, conflicting, outdated, and noncredible information. In light of this gap, this study tested (a) whether the level of problematic informational outcomes varies with the use of social networking sites, microblogs, and social question and answer sites; (b) whether the problem level varies by gender and problem‐solving styles; and (c) whether the aforementioned factors have significant interaction effects. An online questionnaire was used to survey 791 U.S. undergraduates. Irrelevant information was the top issue. Gender difference was statistically significant for conflicting information, which was more problematic for women. The multiway analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated notable problem‐solving style differences, especially on the Personal Control subscale. This highlights the importance of affective factors. It is noteworthy that although social media use has no significant main effect, there were significant interaction effects between microblog use and the Approach‐Avoidance and Problem Solving Confidence subscales. The impact of microblog use on ELIS outcomes therefore warrants further investigation. Five propositions are posited for further testing.

Impacts of social media usage on the outcomes of students’ everyday life information seeking

University students’ social media use for everyday life information seeking (ELIS) opens up opportunities for seeking information from weak ties, but it may exacerbate issues such as information overload. Currently, it is unclear whether social media use affects the outcome of ELIS. The current study surveyed undergraduate and graduate students to test whether the frequent uses of (a) social networking sites (SNS), (b) microblogs, (c) social question and answer sites (Social Q&A), and (d) Web search engines affect (a) level of satisfaction with the quality of ELIS results and (b) level of difficulty in ELIS. Gender and study level were included as control variables. ANOVA tests of the 1,144 responses found that the frequent use of SNS, microblogs, and Web search engines each had significant effects on ELIS satisfaction level. Frequent microblog use had a significant effect on ELIS difficulty. Interestingly, the effects of SNS, microblogs, and Web search engine usage showed a U-shaped relationship. The heavy-users as well as non-users of social media experienced higher level of satisfaction and lower level of difficulties. It was the occasional users who were more troubled, as were underclassmen and masters students. These user groups could benefit from more social media information literacy training. The current study shows that social media use does make a difference in ELIS. Future studies may further test the influence of social media use on specific types of ELIS problems.

Public services or private gains: Motives behind participation on a mobile crowdsourcing application in a smart city: Public Services or Private Gains: Motives Behind Participation on a Mobile Crowdsourcing Application in a Smart City

The increased use of crowdsourcing to support smart city initiatives has been reported in the literature. However, a gap remains in understanding the needs motivating crowdsourcing participation in smart city projects. Integrating perspectives from self‐determination theory and public service motivation, this study investigates the motives driving the use of a mobile crowdsourcing platform prototype known as My Smart Mobile City app (i.e., MSMC) that aims to help smart cities manage public engagement with their residents. Data was collected from 100 participants. Factor analysis was conducted and results indicate that the motives driving the use of MSMC fell into three categories: affective, norm‐based and rational. Results and implications of our work are discussed.

Social Q&A Question-and-Comments Interactions and Outcomes: A Social Sequence Analysis

Scholars and developers have long recognized that the collections of user-generated content at social questions and answers (SQA) sites can benefit open knowledge sharing and resolve individual information needs. This has prompted strong interest in improving the quality of SQA postings, and the creation, curation, and use of these collections. While interactivity is a key feature of SQA, few studies have investigated the interaction sequence between the OP (original poster) and commenters. Drawing from Robert Taylor’s question-negotiation perspective, we posit that interaction patterns may affect SQA outcomes. Social sequence analysis (SSA) and the R package TraMineR were used to analyze the commenting sequences of Stack Overflow postings (8,132 questions and 16,598 comments). The relationships between commenting sequence structure and outcome metrics (e.g., question score, view count) were then tested with logistic regressions. Implications of the results for SQA research, SQA site design, and digital literacy training are discussed.

Why Do People View Photographs on Instagram

Drawing from the uses and gratifications framework, the aim of the present study is to examine the needs driving users to view photographs on Instagram, a popular photo-sharing social networking service. Data (N = 115) were collected from an online survey. A principal component factor analysis indicated that there were four cluster of needs. Specifically, we found that users were driven by diversion needs, surveillance needs, personal relationship needs, and voyeuristic needs. Further data analysis revealed and found that age, number of followers and number of followings on Instagram are related to the gratifications users seek on Instagram. Specifically, we found that older respondents were more likely to seek gratifications to meet personal relationship and surveillance needs. We also found that users with more followers viewed photos to seek for diversion and voyeurism needs. Implications of our work are also discussed.

Hypotheses of information-seeking satisfaction gaps: demographics, sources usage, and person-source fit

Informed by the knowledge gap theory, this study explored possible hypotheses on information‐seeking satisfaction gaps. Using a survey of 1,000 Singapore Internet users and an ANOVA test, this research tested whether individuals’ satisfaction with everyday information seeking varies by demographics and by the frequency of information sources usage. Interaction effects were also tested. Significant differences were found in the satisfaction level based on the income level and on the frequency of using all four sources tested. Three interactions were significant, two of which suggest lower satisfaction among lower socioeconomic status individuals who used the Internet or social media with moderate frequency. Five propositions were introduced for further testing.