Human Information Interaction

Information Seeking Behavior of the Student Clienteles of Counselling Services at Kharazmi University

Marziye Sadat Mousavi

Background and Aim: Gaining appropriate information service primarily depends on the information needs and users' information seeking conducts. Students' mental health requires gratification in their information needs. Present study makes an attempt to investigate the information conduct of student clienteles at counseling center.

Method: Current study employs a quantitative descriptive method. The population of the current study is composed of all student clienteles at Kharazmi University counseling center. Available sampling method was used. Researcher's made questionnaire was applied for collecting the data and questionnaires were distributed amongst 145 student clienteles.

Results: Findings identified students: information needs, motivation for searching information, required information sources for searching students mental health, first source of reference to counseling centers, and assessment and viewpoints on the quality of services at counseling centers.

Conclusion: the findings of this study confirms the vital role of investigating the information seeking behavior of students coming to counseling centers as a suitable source for identifying students mental health which could lead to better planning and services in counseling centers.

Studying Users’ Emotions Attribution Style in Information Retrieval Based on Weiner’s Emotion Attribution Theory

Azam Sanathoo

Background and Aim: This research aimed to study emotions attribution style of users in information retrieval based on Weiner's theory.

Methods: The survey method was used in this study. Population consisted of graduate students in humanities at Imam Reza (AS) International University. Sample of 72 students was selected. Data was collected by attribution style questionnaire (ASQ) and two researcher made questionnaires.

Results: Research findings showed that users attributed success and failure in information retrieval to internal causes. Also, consistent with Wiener theory, users attribute success to attempts and failure to inability and insufficient effort. On the other hand, it was found that there is significant relationship between users overall attribution style and information retrieval attribution style.

Conclusion: It can be determined that style of user attribution in information retrieval would strengthen correct attributions and destroys incorrect attributions in information retrieval and thereby provided better information retrieval.

Intellectual Structure of Knowledge in Information Behavior: A Co-Word Analysis

Faramarz Sohaili

Background and Aim: The intellectual structure of knowledge and its research front can be identified by co-word analysis. This research attempts to reveal the intellectual structure of knowledge in information behavior inquiries, via co-word, network analysis, and science visualization tools.

Methods: Bibliometric methodology and social network analysis are used. Population comprises 2146 records in the field of Information Behavior during 2006-2014, which had been retrieved from Web of Science.

Results: finding indicate that “Information Retrieval” is the most frequent keyword in the Information Behavior inquiries. Also, “Information Needs and Information Behavior” are the most frequent co-occurred keywords. Use of hierarchical cluster analysis by Ward method led to the creation of 11 topical clusters in Information Behavior, including among others: “User Studies,” “Health Information Behavior,” and “Social Networks.”

Conclusions: The results indicated that the co-word analysis can be well uncover the intellectual structure of scientific disciplines. The results of the strategic diagram showed that “health information behavior”, “user studies”, “social networks”, and “relevance in information retrieval” are among well-matured and central clusters with pivotal role. Moreover, four clusters, including “information resources”, “Web search”, “information retrieval”, and “information management” are among emerging or declining clusters. Finally, although the “interface and information technology” cluster is in the central part, but it is underdeveloped. Due to the frequency of keywords on the one hand, and clusters obtained on the other hand, it seems to be a close relationship between information behavior and health studies. Therefore, it seem that many of information behavior studies have been conducted in health and medical communities

Iraqi and Afghan Immigrants Information Needs: Barriers and Effective Factors in Information Seeking Behaviors of Foreigners in Iran

Nadjla Hariri

Background and Aim: Contrary to the fact that information must be accessible to all in every society, it is not obtainable for immigrants and refugees. The aim of this study is to find Information needs and the effective factors on information seeking of foreign immigrants in Iran and finding solution and presenting refining Policies.

Method: Mixed research method was applied. Participants selected from 12 provinces (384 immigrants), were all Afghan and Iraqi legal immigrants. Instrument was a researcher made questionnaire which its reliability and validity was tested and approved. Further, to identify most convenient strategies for immigrants information accessibility ten managers and Policy makers were interviewed to find refining policies.

Result: Findings revealed that most important social, cultural, political and health information needs of immigrants needs extended from: Job (4.02), religion (3071), borders, illegal and legal places (3.81), and diseases (4.05). Afghanistan and Iraq’s TV and radio (3.84) and educational institutions (3.85) had most significant role in securing the information needs of immigrants.

Conclusion: Study shows that the major challenges of Afghans and Iraqi immigrant are accessibility to information to solve Information needs. Substantial portions of these challenges might be resolved by suitable Planning and proper legislation. Also, Information providers could help immigrant by supporting humanitarian outlook and overlooking national origins of people.

Ethical Responsibilities of Instructional Design and Technology Discipline

Hassan Rastegarpour

Background and Aim: Generally, where learning and teaching concerns, instructional technology’s presence had been certain. Instructional technology by having the standards and components of a profession needs ethics. Therefore, as a professional, an instructional technologist has to yield to ethical criteria, knowledge, standards, and appreciate ethical responsibilities in order to succeed. To recognize the ethical responsibilities in any profession, its stakeholders should be identified first.

Method: This research thoroughly analyzes and goes over the main points of definitions of instructional technology, and explains the educational technology as a profession. The existence of the term “ethics” in the definition of the field, and studying instructional technology as a profession is an entrance into a professional discipline and articulating its code of ethics.

Result: Findings reveals that in Instructional Design Technology discipline, the change in the definition, modifys the functions and responsibilities of professionals in the field. Hence, the field encompasses five separate activities, yet these interaction closely with one another. These activities are: application, development, management, design, and evaluation. Technologists may be involved in one or more of the aforementioned activities, but what is of most value is the ethics in all of them.

Conclusion: It may be concluded that Instructional Technology enjoys professional ethics. So, it should be categorized as a profession withholding rights and ethical responsibility. Stakeholders in this field have dual responsibilities, due to its inherent nature of face-to-face and virtual learning activities.

Media Literacy and Information Literacy and its Impact on Entrepreneurial Ability

Elham Esmaeil Pounaki

Background and Aim: The aim search was to investigate the relationship between media literacy and information literacy of students of communication and information sciences and knowledge studies, and its impact on their entrepreneurial ability.

Methods: This is a survey correlational method. Population consists of postgraduate students in information science and knowledge and communication sciences at Tehran and Allameh Tabatabai University. Data was collected from two sources: library documents and questionnaires. First, library method was used to examine the theoretical foundations of media literacy, information literacy and entrepreneurship. Then, by careful examination of literature - based on the research model - a questionnaire created and distributed. Data was analyzed by Independent One-Sample t-Test and Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient.

Results: Findings showed that the level of media literacy and information literacy of students is desirable and the level of characteristics of entrepreneurship is relatively desirable.

Conclusion: The Pearson Correlation test showed a significant relationship between the variables of media literacy and information literacy. The impact of information literacy on entrepreneurial ability was confirmed and the impact of media literacy on entrepreneurial ability was rejected.

Information Needs of Nomadic Women of Kohkilouyeh City

Mahdi Mohammadi

Background and Aim: The present study was conducted to determine health, educational, religious, economic and cultural information needs of nomadic women in Kohkilouyeh city and identifying the way they use resources, their barriers and problems in accessing information, their information priorities.

Methods: This is applied survey conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire and oral interviews with 235 nomadic women. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics through SPSS v.19.

Results: The findings showed that over %60 of samples had primary school degree. The main information need of nomadic women was health information needs (%36.2), and the main motivation for them for access and seeking information was to create a healthier life (%56.2). Among the resources of information, Radio had been used mostly in over %57.9 compared to other resources. The research findings showed that %53.2 of women nomads had a very low familiarity to public libraries as an information center. Respondents stated the most important obstacles to access to information resources impassable roads for commuting, lack of information and communications infrastructure, lack of familiarity with the sources of information, lack of easy access to health, training, cultural and service centers.

Conclusion: It seems that nomadic women are in serious needs with information resources, and especially hygenic and educational information, thus full attention must be paid to them.