Web search is often viewed as a solitary task; however, there are many situations in which groups of people gather around a single computer to jointly search for information online. We present the findings of interviews with teachers, librarians, and developing world researchers that provide details about users ’ collaborative search habits in sharedcomputer settings, revealing several limitations of this practice. We then introduce CoSearch, a system we developed to improve the experience of co-located collaborative Web search by leveraging readily available devices such as mobile phones and extra mice. Finally, we present an evaluation comparing CoSearch to status quo collaboration approaches, and show that CoSearch enabled distributed control and division of labor, thus reducing the frustrations associated with shared-computer searches, while still preserving the positive aspects of communication and collaboration associated with joint computer use. ACM Categories H5.3 [Information interfaces and presentation]: Group and

Studies of everyday life information seeking have begun to attend to incidental forms of information behavior, and this more inclusive understanding of information seeking within broader social practices invites a constructionist analytical paradigm. Positioning theory is a constructionist framework that has proven useful for studying the ways in which interactional practices contribute to information seeking. Positions can construct individuals or groups of people in ways that have real effects on their information seeking. This article identifies some specific types of discursive positioning and shows how participants in a clinical care setting position themselves and one another in ways that justify different forms of information seeking and giving. Examples are drawn from an ongoing study of information seeking in prenatal midwifery encounters. The data consist of audio recordings of nine prenatal midwifery visits and of 18 follow-up interviews, one with each participating midwife and pregnant woman. The midwifery model of care is based on a relationship in which the midwife provides the pregnant woman with information and support necessary for making informed decisions about her care. Midwife–client interactions are therefore an ideal context for studying information seeking and giving in a clinical encounter.

In this article a social constructionist approach to information technology (IT) literacy is introduced. This approach contributes to the literature on IT literacy by introducing the concept of IT self as a description of the momentary, context-dependent, and multilayered nature of interpretations of IT competencies. In the research literature, IT literacy is often defined as sets of basic skills to be learned, and competencies to be demonstrated. In line with this approach, research on IT competencies conventionally develops models for explaining user acceptance, and for measuring computer-related attitudes and skills. The assumption is that computerrelated attitudes and self-efficacy impact IT adoption and success in computer use. Computer self-efficacy measures are, however, often based on self-assessments that measure interpretations of skills rather than performance in practice. An analysis of empirical interview data in which academic researchers discuss their relationships with computers and IT competence shows how a self-assessment such as “computer anxiety ” presented in one discussion context can in another discussion context be consigned to the past in favor of a different and more positive version. Here it is argued that descriptions of IT competencies and computer-related attitudes are dialogic social constructs and closely tied with more general implicit understandings of the nature of technical artifacts and technical knowledge. These implicit theories and assumptions are rarely taken under scrutiny in discussions of IT literacy yet they have profound implications for the aims and methods in teaching computer skills.

This paper discusses the role of user-centred evaluations as an essential method for researching interactive information retrieval. It draws mainly on the work carried out during the Clarity Project where different user-centred evaluations were used during the lifecycle of a cross-language information retrieval system. The iterative testing was not only instrumental to the development of a usable system, but it enhanced our knowledge of the potential, impact, and actual use of cross-language information retrieval technology. Indeed the role of the user evaluation was dual: by testing a specific prototype it was possible to gain a micro-view and assess the effectiveness of each component of the complex system; by cumulating the result of all the evaluations (in total 43 people were involved) it was possible to build a macro-view of how cross-language retrieval would impact on users and their tasks. By showing the richness of results that can be acquired, this paper aims at stimulating researchers into considering user-centred evaluations as a flexible, adaptable and comprehensive technique for investigating non-traditional information access systems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate what kinds of sources people prefer to use when they answer questions online, especially, in the context of social Q&A. Social Q&A is a Web-based service, that allows people to ask questions and receive answers from their fellow users. In social Q&A, people often cite sources of information when they answer questions. It could be a name, a short description, or hyperlinks to the original sources. Yahoo! Answers was chosen for this study due to its popularity as a top ranked social Q&A service as well as its capability for separately indicating sources for the answers in its format. We collected data with a crawler that used Yahoo! Answers APIs. A total number of 5,391 sources were identified and analyzed with the following three approaches: (1) source distribution by online accessibility, (2) source distribution by genre, and (3) source distribution by subjects. At the early stage of this study, it was expected that the results of source preferences heavily relied on sources online, since people ask and answer questions on the Web-based service. Nevertheless, it was found that human (56.4%) was the most frequently cited type of source, and it was followed by online (40%) and offline sources (4%). According to the source distribution by genre, human (56.4%) was followed by the Internet (38.1%), books (3.6%), and mass media (1.6%), and the sub-categories of these sources were analyzed. Additionally, the patterns of source distribution were shown differently across subjects. The categories of Health, Home & Electronics, and Society & Culture relied heavily on human sources, while Computers & the Internet included most of the Internet-based sources of information.

Abstract not found

Abstract: The paper reports the results and findings of a pilot study undertaken as part of a research project to explore the interaction between learning tasks and students ’ collaborative information behaviour when working as a group in a project-based undergraduate engineering design course at a Canadian university. Résumé: Cette communication présente les résultats d'une étude pilote entreprise dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche sur l'interaction entre les activités d'apprentissage et le comportement informationnel collaboratif des étudiants. L'étude s'est penchée sur un cours de génie de premier cycle offert dans une université canadienne et utilisant une méthode d'enseignement par projets de groupe. 1. Background Information seeking is an important and integrated part of work domains and work practices, and has been the focus of much research in information science. While many different models of information seeking have been proposed, most assume that the information seeker is an individual interacting with complex information spaces. Recent research, however, has found that people frequently collaborate and communicate when they retrieve and use information, and researchers have begun to challenge the individualistic approach by exploring the social, contextual and collaborative dimensions of information behaviour and information seeking (e.g., Bruce et al., 2002; Ingwersen &

Explaining knowledge sharing in organizations through the dimensions of social capital