Information in crisis : health & technology-related information behaviors of parents in emergency departments

This research examined the information behavior of parents (including legal guardians) during an emergent health situation with a child. Although many studies examine health-related information behaviors, very few explore health consumers' information practices during moments of health crisis. This study explored parents' information needs, source use, and source preferences during a visit to the emergency department. An online questionnaire was administered using iPads given to 897 parents with children at one of 32 participating general emergency departments (ED) across Canada. Before taking their child to the ED, only 38.8% (n=348) of parents looked for information; those who did search looked most frequently for information about specific symptoms or severity of illness. Prior to visiting the ED the sources most frequently accessed were the internet and direct contact with healthcare professionals. At the emergency department, parents' information needs centred on immediate concerns, including explanations of their child's illness, treatments, and care instructions. Household income, education level, and parents' age were factors that affected information seeking in emergent health situations. Overwhelmingly, speaking to a healthcare professional in person is the typical and preferred way to obtain health information when facing a health crisis involving a child. The results have implications for how and when healthcare information is shared; the findings add to the limited research on parents' information behavior, particularly their roles as information proxies for their children

Watching young children 'play' with information technology : everyday life information seeking in the home

Research on how young children use information to orient themselves in daily life and to solve problems (known as everyday life information seeking or ELIS) has not been conducted, in-depth, in information science. This exploratory observation study examines how 15 Australian preschool children (aged three to five) used information technologies in their homes to orient themselves in daily life and to solve problems. Children engaged in various ways with the digital technologies available to them and with parents and siblings during play activities. The results explore the value of artistic play, sociodramatic play, and early literacy and numeracy activities in shaping young children's ‘way of life’ and ‘mastery of life’ as outlined in Savolainen's (1995) ELIS model. Observed technology engagement provided an opportunity to explore children's social worlds and the ways that they gathered information during technology play that will inform future learning activities and support child development. By using ELIS theory as an analytic lens, the results demonstrate how children's developmental play with technology tools helps them to internalize social and cultural norms. The data also point to the type of capital available to children and how that capital contributes to children's emerging information practices

Fragmented practice: Creating and maintaining information-rich websites in SMEs

Background. Whilst designing and implementing optimal Web information structures contributes to organisational goals and success, the size and structure of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make Web information architecture (IA) a challenging task. At the same time, the attitudes and the capabilities of SMEs for online participation are crucial to a robust economy in nations across the world. Objectives. This research aimed to better understand the context and activity in the development of an information-rich website in SMEs in Australia. The particular issues, obstacles and successes in the practice of IA in SMEs are explored. Methods. Framed by a multi-case study methodology, this research used SMEs as units of analysis. In an inductive approach to analysis, the data were coded using NVivo software to reveal patterns and themes common across the studied SMEs. Results. The context for the development of online information structures is a fragmented Web development process. Web information structures are not always effective and SMEs are challenged to maintain an IA once a new website is launched. Contributions. This study suggests that Web IA and its allied practices are severely under-researched and under-theorised in SMEs. Whilst SMEs exert significant effort in the development of an information-rich website, they are poorly informed or influenced by expertise and theory. Staff with the knowledge and attitude needed to embed effective IA in the development and maintenance of the enterprise website are crucial in ensuring that the organisation’s online strategy is achieved.Published versio

Measuring Quality in Chat Reference Consortia: A Comparative Analysis of Responses to Users’ Queries

Academic libraries have experienced growing demand for 24/7 accessto resources and services. Despite the challenges and costs of chatreference service and consortia, many libraries are finding the demandfor these services worth the cost. One key challenge is providing andmeasuring quality of service, particularly in a consortia setting. This studyexplores the quality of service provided in one academic library participatingin a 24/7 chat reference consortium, by assessing transcripts ofchat sessions using in-house reference quality standards. Findings pointto both similarities and differences between chat interactions of locallibrarians versus consortia staff

Design of a Rich-Prospect Browsing Interface for Seniors

A Qualitative Study of Image Similarity Clustering. This paper examines inclusive design delivery through interface design, with a particular focus on access to healthcare resources for seniors. The goal of the project was to examine how seniors are able to access drug information using two different online systems. In the existing retrieval system, pills are identified using a standard search interface. In the new browsing prototype, all of the pill images appear on a single screen, where the user identifies images by clustering the pills displayed by choosing similarity criteria related to the database search terms (e.g., all white pills or all pills of a certain size). The feedback mechanism in this interface involves re-organization of the pill images that are already visible to the user. We used a qualitative, task-based verbal analysis protocol with 12 participants aged 65 and older who were asked to locate pill images in each database and to discuss their preferences for navigation, aesthetics and the results that appear on the screen. By assessing the features of both interfaces, the results suggest possible models that could be applied in meeting seniors\u27 information retrieval needs