Browsing by Subject "Information Seeking Behavior"
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Item Connecting Library Instruction to Web Usability: The Key Role of Library Instruction to Change Students’ Web Behavior(2015-04) Lee, Yoo Young; Snajdr, EricThis article is a conference proceeding for the 4th International Conference of Asian Special Libraries. Library instruction plays a key role in web usability. During instructional sessions, librarians shape the ways students behave on the library website (user’s web behavior). They teach students how to use the library website and demonstrate various pathways by which students can access library resources and services. Although library instruction and user’s web behavior are closely intertwined, very little research has combined these two realms. Many usability studies have focused only on the library website itself without considering the various contexts in which students use it. Few usability studies have had any connection with library instruction. This study investigated the intersection between user’s web behavior and library instruction. During instructional sessions, freshman students were asked to perform a series of information seeking tasks on the library website both prior to, and immediately after, instruction. A usability tool – Verify – recorded individual student use of the website during the completion of each of these tasks. The results allowed us to investigate how students behaved on the library website to complete the tasks and how the steps demonstrated by the librarian during instruction strongly influenced how students completed the tasks afterward. This paper suggests how these techniques could be used to improve library websites.Item EXPLORING HEALTH WEBSITE USERS BY WEB MINING(Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Applications and Services Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2011, Volume 6768/2011, 376-383, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-21657-2_40, 2011-07) Kong, Wei; Jones, Josette F.; Mahoui, Malika; Kharrazi, HadiWith the continuous growth of health information on the Internet, providing user-orientated health service online has become a great challenge to health providers. Understanding the information needs of the users is the first step to providing tailored health service. The purpose of this study is to examine the navigation behavior of different user groups by extracting their search terms and to make some suggestions to reconstruct a website for more customized Web service. This study analyzed five months’ of daily access weblog files from one local health provider’s website, discovered the most popular general topics and health related topics, and compared the information search strategies for both patient/consumer and doctor groups. Our findings show that users are not searching health information as much as was thought. The top two health topics which patients are concerned about are children’s health and occupational health. Another topic that both user groups are interested in is medical records. Also, patients and doctors have different search strategies when looking for information on this website. Patients get back to the previous page more often, while doctors usually go to the final page directly and then leave the page without coming back. As a result, some suggestions to redesign and improve the website are discussed; a more intuitive portal and more customized links for both user groups are suggested.Item Health Information Seeking Behavior and Perceived Source Trustworthiness in Public Health Students: A Pilot Study for Improving the Curriculum(2019) Hancher-Rauch, Heidi; Britt-Spells, Angelitta; Wojtyna, Amie; Standish, MeganPurpose: The Internet is a key resource for college students seeking health information, but it is unclear how well students are trained to evaluate the quality of information accessed. This pilot study sought to determine the sources and critical appraisal of health information accessed by public health students enrolled in a midwestern university to assess and potentially revise the health information seeking skills training of students in the program. Methods: Researchers used five questions from an online 21-item questionnaire that included demographics, novel questions regarding personal sources of health information, and evaluations of the perceived trustworthiness of information from those sources. Students in the public health education program at a mid-sized, private, midwestern university were asked to complete the online questionnaire assessing their health information seeking behavior and appraisal of the information sources. Results: A total of 46 public health students provided a final response to the questionnaire. Results highlighted that perceived beliefs regarding trustworthiness of health information sources were highest for medical providers (76%) and evidence-based websites (71%), but least for social media (65%). However, those who used social media for health information also found it to be trustworthy. Conclusions: Overall, it seemed students were capable of identifying valid health information sources, but some program revisions are recommended to better develop health literacy skills in students. Recommendations: It is recommended that programs of public health/health education consider a self-assessment of this type within their own programs. Identifying where students access health information and how they determine its validity allows programs to tailor educational experiences to best fit the needs of students.Item Pilot study of reproductive health counseling in a pediatric rheumatology clinic(Wiley, 2014-04) Ronis, Tova; Frankovich, Jennifer; Yen, Sophia; Sandborg, Christy; Chira, Peter; Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of MedicineObjective: To assess perception and behavior after reproductive health counseling among adolescent patients in a tertiary care-based pediatric rheumatology clinic. Methods: Adolescent females seen at Stanford pediatric rheumatology clinic were prospectively enrolled during routine visits. At study start, standard clinic procedures for the following were reviewed with providers: 1) HEADSS (home, education, activities, drugs, sexual activity, and suicide/depression) assessment; 2) reproductive health counseling; and 3) medical record documentation. Patients were enrolled if providers indicated that they performed HEADSS assessment and reproductive health counseling. At enrollment, patients completed a survey to assess perceptions of reproductive health counseling. Chart review confirmed documented discussions. Follow-up survey 3-5 months after enrollment tracked reproductive health information seeking behavior. Results: Ninety females (ages 17 ± 2 years old) participated. Almost all patients (99%) agreed that reproductive health was discussed. Seventy-one percent reported that pregnancy risks were discussed, 42% had recent concerns about reproductive health, and 33% reported their provider recommended that they seek further reproductive health care. Eighty-four patients completed follow-up phone surveys, with 25% reporting seeking further information on reproductive health concerns but merely 9.5% actually sought further care. Only 18% reported having ever asked their rheumatology provider for guidance regarding reproductive health care concerns. Conclusion: Routine reproductive health discussion and counseling are necessary in a rheumatology clinic; as in our experience, a substantial number of adolescents have concerns and actively seek reproductive health information. Despite these discussions, teens rarely pursued further reproductive health care. Further work to bridge this gap is needed.Item Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting(JMIR Publications, 2017) Menachemi, Nir; Rahurkar, Saurabh; Rahurkar, Mandar; Department of Health Policy and Management, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public HealthBackground: Internet search is the most common activity on the World Wide Web and generates a vast amount of user-reported data regarding their information-seeking preferences and behavior. Although this data has been successfully used to examine outbreaks, health care utilization, and outcomes related to quality of care, its value in informing public health policy remains unclear. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Internet search query data in health policy development. To do so, we studied the public’s reaction to a major societal event in the context of the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting incident. Methods: Query data from the Yahoo! search engine regarding firearm-related searches was analyzed to examine changes in user-selected search terms and subsequent websites visited for a period of 14 days before and after the shooting incident. Results: A total of 5,653,588 firearm-related search queries were analyzed. In the after period, queries increased for search terms related to “guns” (+50.06%), “shooting incident” (+333.71%), “ammunition” (+155.14%), and “gun-related laws” (+535.47%). The highest increase (+1054.37%) in Web traffic was seen by news websites following “shooting incident” queries whereas searches for “guns” (+61.02%) and “ammunition” (+173.15%) resulted in notable increases in visits to retail websites. Firearm-related queries generally returned to baseline levels after approximately 10 days. Conclusions: Search engine queries present a viable infodemiology metric on public reactions and subsequent behaviors to major societal events and could be used by policymakers to inform policy development. [JMIR Public Health Surveill 2017;3(1):e12]