DEFINITIONS

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Information

Individual subjective knowledge, the product of cognitive processes, which is transformed into objective knowledge or information by public expression via speech, writing and so on. This information is publicly observable, is in a location (stored), is transportable (communicated to/from) and may be altered (processed) in various ways. Additionally it may be produced (generated by) and lost or altered in the process of communication.

Information Systems

Information systems are a type of communication systems which select, organize, store, and disseminate public knowledge for the purpose of communication of that knowledge to users.

Information Product

Customised information resource, developed by an information provider in relation to a specific need, or situation. The term is used in areas when the customising processes are being considered. Otherwise, the more general term "information resource" is used. Conceptually the term embraces the notion of information service which is frequently used to indicate situations where a human intermediary is directly involved in the provision of information.

Information Resource

A source of information or data regardless of format, location or purpose for which the source was developed or established. Includes computer-based sources, print-based sources, and undocumented sources such as interpersonal sources, organisations, broadcast media, information services provided by various organisations, user education activities and so on. As for information product, the term information resource can embrace the notion of information service which is frequently used to indicate situations where a human intermediary is directly involved in the provision of information.

Information Consolidation

The process of evaluating and modifying information from relevant sources in order to provide defined user groups with new information products and services. It normally involves:

1. Study of potential users

2. Selection of information source(s) potentially containing the most useful information for given user problems and information needs; the selection can be done from a variety of primary and secondary sources.

3. Evaluation of information as to its intrinsic merit, validity, and reliability.

4. Analysis to identify and extract the most salient features

5. Restructuring (if necessary) of the extracted information into a content that can be used most effectively and efficiently by users - this may involve synthesis, condensation, rewriting, simplifying, review, state-of-the-art presentation, etc.

6. Packaging and/or repackaging of restructured information in a form that will enhance the potential of its use. (Restructuring deals with content or substance of information while repackaging deals with the form of its presentation).

7. Diffusion or dissemination of information in ways that will encourage or promote its use. This may also involve education of users in the use of information and marketing of information

8. Feedback from users, evaluation of the efforts, and adjustments. (see Saracevic & Wood, 1981).

FUNCTIONS OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS

a. Common functions and processes undertaken by information professionals are:

	identification of information need
	information search design
	retrieval of information
	evaluation of information, Level 1 (1)
	analysis of information
	synthesis of information, Level 1 (3)
	packaging information
	dissemination
	design and provision of information services

b. Functions and processes which build on the expertise of information professionals (e.g. subject expertise) are:

	evaluation of information, Level 2 (2)
	restructuring/synthesis of information, level 2 (4)

(1) Evaluation of information Level 1 is the application of criteria related to the package and format of the information, e.g. publishers reputation, currency of information on the database in question.

(2) Evaluation of information Level 2 requires subject expertise in relation to the information being evaluated. It involves the application of criteria related to the substance of the information, examining aspects such as the logic behind the reasoning, or the research methods used in an empirical study.

(3) Synthesis of information involves putting together information from a number of sources to create new text e.g. bibliography, newsletter, database.

(4) Restructuring or synthesis of information Level 2 involves extensive interaction with the substance of various pieces of information as it is reformed into a unique structure or pattern such as a state of the art review.

Evaluation of information Level 2 and restructuring or synthesis of information Level 2 are functions that underpin information consolidation.

User-Centered Design

User-Centered Design: A Practical Guide I (from Allen, 1996)

            Note: At the end of each even-numbered chapter of this book, a brief guide to the practical aspects of design is provided.  This guide summarizes discussions in preceding chapters as they relate to the practical aspects of conducting user-centered design.

            1. Identify a user population.  The first and obvious step in user-centered design is to find a user, or more appropriately, a user population.  Sometimes user identification is dictated by the mission of the organization where the designer works.  In other cases, users may be selected by the designer.  The identification of the user population is such an obvious step that it is sometimes omitted.  This omission results in systems that are not particularly usable for any set of users.

            2. Investigate the information needs of your user group.  The users identified in step 1 have a number of information needs.  These can be investigated using a wide range of research methods, which are easily accessible in manuals on social science research or market research [e.g., Miller (1991) or Babbie (1992) discuss social science research, while Worchester and Downham (1986) present market research techniques]. The key element of this step is to talk to users and find out what kinds of information they need to resolve the problems they encounter.  No information system can meet all of the information needs of a user group.  Once the full range of information needs has been identified, system designers must select those that their information system will be designed to meet.

            3. Discover the tasks that users accomplish as they meet these information needs.  Again, research methods from social science and market research are useful in this step.  The key element is to talk to users and observe them as they work on meeting their information needs.  Identify the tasks that users employ as they meet their information needs and how they accomplish these tasks.  Note the sequential ordering of the tasks.  Try to distinguish between the tasks that are essential and those that are optional.  The result will be one or more task models for each information need.

            4. Investigate the resources that users require to complete these tasks.  Each task completed by a user who is meeting an information need requires a variety of resources: background knowledge, procedural knowledge, and abilities.  List the resources required for each task and identify the level of the resources required.  For example, expert knowledge or high levels of verbal ability may be required to complete a task involving vocabulary selection.  At the same time, it is important to note the levels of these resources that users possess.  Some users, for example, may have less expert topic knowledge or lower levels of verbal abilities, and gaps between resources required and resources possessed are obvious areas of concern.  Research methods to investigate the resources possessed by users can be found in any text on psychometrics (e.g., Kline, 1993).

            5. Summarize the preceding steps in user models.  For each distinct user group to be served by the information system, there will be a number of information needs that the system is designed to meet.  For each of these information needs, there will be a number of tasks that must be accomplished.  For each of the tasks, there will be a list of resources that are necessary.  Integrating these elements together results in a user model that can be used to guide design decisions or that can be implemented as part of the information system to direct how the system will respond to users.  For example, user models can form the basis for the preset options for how the information system will work, but users will be able to change the options to make the system conform to their own preferences. 

            6. Consider each design decision in the light of resource argumentation and enabling.  The goal of system design is to allow users to complete the tasks that will meet their information needs.  With this in mind, system features that will augment the resources of users when necessary will enable them to complete the tasks.  Some of these features will be required by all users, while others will be required by only a portion of the user group.  In the latter case, system features are best implemented as user-selectable options.  Experimental research to identify interactions between user resources and design options can be used to select system features that should be implemented as user-selectable options.  Experimental research techniques are discussed in considerable detail by Atkinson, Hernstein, Lindzey, and Luce (1988).

The Value-Added Model

User Criteria and Values Added

Taylor (1986)

Definitions of Value Added

Following are brief definitions of the added values discussed in this chapter.  They are alphabetised.  The expression in parentheses following the value name indicates the section in the chapter where more extended discussion may be found.

Access (Noise Reduction): the values added by the intellectual technologies that provide the systematic meanings, based on subject matter, of narrowing the information universe to a set of data and information which have some probability of containing material that is wanted or needed.  Different kinds of intellectual access provide different sets of the subject universe. 

Access I (Noise Reduction): the value achieved by the identification of any information chunk or discrete piece of data by systematic physical description and location information.

Access II (Noise Reduction): the provision of a subject description through access points such as index terms, descriptors, and names.

Access III (Noise Reducation): the result of processed which reduce or compress large amounts of information into compact items, such as executive summaries, abstracts, terse conclusions, chemical structure diagrams, mathematical formulae, graphs, or charts.

Accuracy (Quality): the value added by system processes that assured error-free transfer of data and information as it flows through the system and is eventually displayed to a client.

Browsing (Ease of Use): the capability of a system to allow a client to scan an information neighborhood, with the probability that the client will serendipitously find information of value.

Closeness to Problem (Adaptability): the value added by the activities of the system, usually through human intervention, to meet the specific needs of a person in a particular environment with a particular problem; this implies knowledge of that person’s style, bias, idiosyncracies, and sophistication, as well as the politics and constraints of the context.

Comprehensiveness (Quality): value added by the completeness of coverage of a particular subject or of a particular form of information.

Cost savings: the value achieved by conscious system design and operating descisions what save dollars for the client.

Currency (Quality): the value added (a) by the recency of the data acquired by the system; and (b) by the capability of the system to reflect current modes of thinking in its structure, organization, and access vocabularies.

Flexibility (Adaptability): the capability of a system to provide a variety of ways and approached of working dynamically with the data/information in a file.

Formatting (Ease of Use): the physical presentation and arrangement of data/information in ways that allow more efficient scanning and hence extraction of items of interest from the store.

Interfacing (Ease of Use): the capability of the system to interpret itself to users.

Interfacing (Mediation) (Ease of Use): the means used to assist users in getting answers from the system.

Interfacing (Orienting) (Ease of Use): the means used to help users understand and to gain experience with the system and its complexities.

Linkage (Noise Reducation): the value added by providing pointers and links to items, sources, and systems external to the system in use, thus expanding the client’s information options.

Ordering (Ease of Use): the value added by initially dividing or organizing a body of subject matter by some form of gross ordering, such as alphabetisation, or large groupings.

Physical Accessibility (Ease of Use): the processes of making access to information stores easier in a physical sense.

Precision (Noise Reduction): the capability of a system to aid users in finding exactly what they want, by providing signals on such attributes as language, data aggregation, sophistication level, or by ranking output.

Reliability (Quality): the value added by the trust a system inspired in its clients by its consistency of quality performance over time.

Selectivity (Noise Reduction): the value added when choices are made at the input point of the system, choices based on the appropriateness and merit of information chunks to the client population served.

Simplicity (Adaptability): the value achieved by presenting the most clear and lucid (explanation, data, hypothesis, or method) among several within quality and validity limits; not to be confused with simplistic.

Stimulatory (Adaptability): those activities of an information system that may not be directly supportive of its primary mission, but which assume importance in establishing a presence in the community or organization served and which encourage use of the system and/or its staff expertise.

Time savings: the perceived value of a system based on the speed of its response time.

Validity (Quality): the value added when the system provides signals about the degree to which data or information presented to users can be judged as sound.

Processes In Information Consolidation

Saracevic & Wood (1981, p. 31)