Dissertation Information for Soo Young Rieh NAME: - Soo Young Rieh
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Rutgers University (USA) (2000)
ADVISORS: - Nicholas Belkin
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Marilyn Tremaine - Carol Kuhlthau - Colleen Cool - Tefko Saracevic
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Information quality and cognitive authority in the World Wide Web
Abstract: When searching for "useful" information, people often base their actions on the concepts of quality and authority. In traditional information environments, there are well-established mechanisms for indicating or controlling for these factors. However, the World Wide Web lacks such mechanisms, making the problem of identifying "good" and "useful" information especially difficult. The purpose of this study is to identify and understand the various factors which influence people's judgments of quality and authority of information on the Web, and the effects of those judgments on selecting behaviors. The eventual goal toward which this study is aimed is to design Web systems which will effectively support people's judgments of quality and authority when searching for information. This study examines these issues by observing people's information searching behavior in the Web with regard to their judgments of information quality and cognitive authority.
The participants were 6 faculty members and 9 doctoral students recruited from diverse disciplinary areas at Rutgers University. Generic tasks were given to them in a laboratory setting. The tasks were related to their research projects, travel, medicine, and computer price. During an interview after the searches, the searches were replayed for the participants, who were asked to explain their decision-making process, judgments, and criteria for judgments. The transcribed interviews and think-aloud during the searches were content analyzed.
Based upon the literature, two kinds of judgments were identified: predictive judgment and evaluative judgment. The study found that, in predictive judgments, the subjects made predictions that reflected what they expected when they opened a new page. In evaluative judgments, they made value judgments by which they expressed preferences about the web page with respect to use. Both predictive and evaluative judgments were analyzed in terms of facets indicating information quality, cognitive authority, topical interest, aesthetic aspects, affective aspects, and general expectation. Factors influencing judgments of quality and authority were identified including characteristics of information objects, characteristics of sources, knowledge, situation, ranking in search output, and general assumption. Implications for Web design which could effectively support people's judgments of quality and authority are discussed in the conclusion.
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MPACT Scores for Soo Young Rieh A = 2
C = 5
A+C = 7
T = 2
G = 1
W = 2
TD = 2
TA = 0
calculated 2014-07-23 15:36:37
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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