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Dr. Ali Naimi-Sadigh, Dr. Mohammad Rabiei, Dr. Alireza Seghatoleslami,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2022)
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2022)
Abstract
Objectives: The National Conference of Information Technology Managers is conceivably the most significant of its nature in the country. Chief competitive advantage to comparable ones is its observant of products in IT as an alternative to papers. The purpose is a comprehensive design for the scientific evaluation of information technology products.
Method: For the evaluation plan of the premium information technology award (FAB), three main scientific-technological, managerial-economical and cultural-social axes were studied. At the end, the criteria and sub-criteria were interviewed using the experts' focus group method. Initially, the information technology products were classified according to their nature. Then, the importance of criteria and sub-criteria were determined for all their features. Finally, evaluation of the products was done based on their identified importance.
Findings: The products are divided into 9 groups according to the type of customer and the product usage. Each of these 9 groups will have unique features and different sub-criteria. They receive their total weight by points given via expert judges that will be their score compared to the other products, and therefore could rank the products.
Conclusion: After receiving the products, in the first stage, they are evaluated in the internal scientific evaluation committee of the conference. In the next stage, the products receiving the highest points are for the evaluation of the presence of internal and external judges.
Dr Zivar Sabaghinejad, Mr Abdolreza Khalaf-Kabomeiri, Dr Ahmad Fakhri,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2022)
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2022)
Abstract
Introduction: Study evaluated the internal structure of Ellis information seeking model in the student community with the aim of presenting the Persian norm.
Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study conducted by cross-sectional survey method in the second semester of the academic year 1399-1400. Population comprise of 280 graduate students at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tool is a questionnaire based on Ellis information seeking behavior pattern with 41 questions. Findings were analyzed using SPSS software and Amos.
Results: Results of exploratory factor analysis by principal component method with Varimax cycle led to identify five factors of identification, confirmation and organization; Monitoring, conservation and extraction; Relevance; Availability and up-to-datedness and credit factor. The extracted five-factor pattern explains more than 66% of the changes in information seeking behavior. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate the optimal fit of the extracted pattern. All factors had good consistency and Cronbach's total alpha of the instrument was 0.97.
Conclusion: The five-factor pattern of web-based information retrieval behavior is a new self-report tool for assessing the nature of academic user retrieval behavior on the Web. This pattern is based on Ellis's information pattern in terms of content and items used, but it differs from it in terms of subscale.
Masoud Samadzadeh, Hassan Givarian, Mohammadreza Rabiee Mondjin, Gholamreza Hashemzadeh Khorasgani,
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Abstract
Purpose: This research has been done to investigate relationships in information technology outsourcing in strategic policy with an interactive approach at Islamic Azad University.
Methodology: The present research is in terms of the library-field environment, in terms of practical purpose, in terms of the time of cross-sectional data collection, in terms of the descriptive-survey research implementation method, and is correlational and causal. The statistical community of the research in the qualitative part includes 16 professors, managers, and senior experts in the field of information technology as well as professors, managers, and senior experts in the field of investment and development of Islamic Azad University and the quantitative part it includes all employees, managers and senior experts in the field of information technology and The Vice President of Development and Investment of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran was 260 people, which was calculated based on the Cochran formula, the sample size was 155 people. A simple random method was used to select the samples. Structured interview tools and a researcher-made questionnaire were used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.733.
Findings: The research findings showed that There is a positive and meaningful relationship between IT system performance, system support services, information technology, information technology application gap, strategic importance, organization and project characteristics, and supplier and project characteristics.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be said that IT outsourcing can increase organizational effectiveness, provide better services and reduce costs.
Methodology: The present research is in terms of the library-field environment, in terms of practical purpose, in terms of the time of cross-sectional data collection, in terms of the descriptive-survey research implementation method, and is correlational and causal. The statistical community of the research in the qualitative part includes 16 professors, managers, and senior experts in the field of information technology as well as professors, managers, and senior experts in the field of investment and development of Islamic Azad University and the quantitative part it includes all employees, managers and senior experts in the field of information technology and The Vice President of Development and Investment of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran was 260 people, which was calculated based on the Cochran formula, the sample size was 155 people. A simple random method was used to select the samples. Structured interview tools and a researcher-made questionnaire were used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.733.
Findings: The research findings showed that There is a positive and meaningful relationship between IT system performance, system support services, information technology, information technology application gap, strategic importance, organization and project characteristics, and supplier and project characteristics.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be said that IT outsourcing can increase organizational effectiveness, provide better services and reduce costs.
Fereshteh Kamran Toroghy, Dr Azam Sanatjoo, Dr Masoumeh Tajfari,
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to create and validate the information literacy experience questionnaire in the workplace with an emphasis on activity theory.
Methodology: This study is a functional approach and a survey method was used. The current research is quantitative research that was conducted with the tool design approach. In this research, to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire, the stratified random sample method of 86 employees of different educational groups of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad In 2020-2021 was used. Also, questionnaire construction methods such as content and face validity and confirmatory factor analysis were used to check to construct validity. To check internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was used. In this research, smart pls and SPSS statistical software were used to analyze the data.
Findings: The content and face validity index of the scale obtained the desired value. Also, the value of statistics in all cases is greater than 1.96, and in the factor loading, all factors were confirmed with a suitable level of explanation in the factor analysis (greater than 0.4). Cronbach's alpha for all factors was an acceptable value of 0.7 to 0.9.
Conclusion: The results indicate the influence of information literacy experience factors according to activity theory. The scale designed to study the experience of information literacy in the workplace according to the factors of activity theory is considered appropriate. It is recommended to measure the new concept of information literacy, that is, the experience of information literacy that deals with activity theory.
Zahra Alimoradi, Mohammad Zerehsaz, Ali Azimi,
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Volume 9, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Abstract
Purpose: Information counselors have different tasks depending on the different roles they can take on in libraries or other organizations. These tasks are based on the needs of the organization and, of course, current developments, especially in the field of emerging technologies. The first task of an information consultant in an organization can be to help determine the policies and information needs of that organization. The purpose of this study is to determine the model of desirable job competencies for holding an information consulting job in Iran.
Methodology: This research was applied in the fall and winter of 2019 using thematic analysis and Delphi analysis methods. The research community in the first part includes texts in the field of information consulting and two parts of Delphi include experts and experienced people in the field of information consulting. In this research, a coding list and two questionnaires for Delphi panels have been used as data collection tools. SPSS software was also used for data analysis.
Findings: Findings showed an increase in the score of all types of individual competencies, knowledge, and skills at the advanced level compared to the basic level. Moreover, the average merit scores in both levels were higher than the average level. This finding indicates that despite the high importance of all competencies at both professional levels, the importance of many competencies is higher at the advanced level, where more complex responsibilities are envisaged for IT consultants.
Conclusion: In the research model, the types of individual competencies, knowledge, and skills required at both the basic and advanced professional levels are introduced. It should be noted that providing specialized training to job applicants such as information counseling can strengthen their desirable job competencies. Therefore, when starting to work in professions such as intelligence consulting, applicants should have an acceptable level of competence and experience the additional training, knowledge, and skills needed to take on higher and more complex levels of responsibilities
Conclusion: In the research model, the types of individual competencies, knowledge, and skills required at both the basic and advanced professional levels are introduced. It should be noted that providing specialized training to job applicants such as information counseling can strengthen their desirable job competencies. Therefore, when starting to work in professions such as intelligence consulting, applicants should have an acceptable level of competence and experience the additional training, knowledge, and skills needed to take on higher and more complex levels of responsibilities
Mazhar Babaee, Hedyeh Azagh, Shima Yazdanpanah,
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: Information literacy is the ability to identify and critically evaluate information to solve problems in a specific field. The use of this procedure in the environment of universities and for students depends on their awareness of the many angles of information measurement in this field.
Methods: this study was to investigate the information literacy status of students and teachers of the Farhangian University of Kurdistan Province From six perspectives: information review, information source recognition, information dissemination, information recognition, flexibility, and information search. This research is practical and of a survey type and was carried out between January and March 2022. The study population consisted of all students of Farhangian University of Kurdistan Province in the academic year 2021-2022, which numbered over 1500 people. Using random sampling, 350 student-teachers were selected as a statistical sample. The data collection tool was a researcher-made 66-item information literacy questionnaire based on a 3-point Likert scale. The reliability of the questionnaire was 86% using Cronbach's alpha method. And for its validity, the views of university professors were used. Multivariate analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson torque correlation coefficient test was used to analyze the data using SPSS software.
Results: The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the components of information literacy of male and female student teachers (P = 0.0001). Therefore, in this study, gender has a small effect on the components of information literacy. Also, there is no significant difference between information literacy in its 6 components and the different educational disciplines of Farhangian University (P> 0.05). Finally, there is no significant relationship between information literacy in its 6 components and the age of Farhangian University students and teachers. Therefore, the information literacy situation of the students of the Farhangian University of Kurdistan is at an Intermediate level.
Conclusion: Information literacy is the set of skills and qualifications needed in the information society for teachers, therefore, by considering factors such as review, knowledge of sources, dissemination, recognition, flexibility, and search for information, it can be enriched. Building information literacy skills.
Dr Mohammad Reza Shekari, Dr Mohammad Hassan Zadeh,
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: A thorough understanding of the drivers and inhabitants to the study can provide the basis for effective planning to improve the study. The aim of this study was to investigate the driving and inhibitory factors affecting the tendency of Iranian knowledge and information science PhD students towards study.
Methods: This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and using content analysis method. The data collection tool was an in-depth semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted through face-to-face visits, telephone calls, e-mails, sending and receiving audio files and conversations on social media. PhD students in knowledge and information science at state universities, Payame-Nour Universities, and Islamic Azad Universities form the research community, and 33 people were selected as the research sample using targeted sampling.
Results: The results show that four factors of "professor", "compulsion", "personal promotion" and "interest" were the driving factors among doctoral students and seven factors were "professor", "family". "Access problems", "ambiguous future", "problems and weaknesses of the educational system", "growth of the spirit of need to study" and "non-participation in teaching" have been identified as deterrents factors.
Conclusion: The drivers and inhabitants of the study are very intertwined and interrelated. Some of these factors affect others and are in some way the cause and effect of each other. To strengthen effective factors and reduce barriers to study, it requires more effort from professors and programmers at the macro level, libraries and librarians, politicians, and more effort and planning from doctoral students themselves. It is necessary for the education system and the education system in universities to get out of the monolithic system and to be the speaker of unity. In this way, students are less likely to study and research until there are fundamental changes in teaching methods and curriculum content in the education system. For the first time, this study examines the most important factors and barriers to the advancement of PhD students in information science, and the results provide qualitative factors for the context of the research community. And it can be used in planning and policy making for the doctoral program of the field. Since no research has been done in this field so far, the present study can be considered as a new research in this field.
Dr Zivar Sabaghinejad, Mr Reza Poorsavari, Dr Amin Koraei,
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: The present study was conducted by explaining the internal norm of Davis's technology acceptance model in online health information search among Iranian students to provide a local model.
Methods: The current research is descriptive and was carried out using a survey method. The research community is the students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences at all levels of study. A sample of 358 people voluntarily participated in the research by stratified random sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with 20 questions, which after validation, Cronbach's alpha was 0/933 Obtained. The findings were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS software and using descriptive statistical tests, exploratory factor analysis, and other related tests.
Results: The findings of the exploratory factor analysis led to a four-factor model regarding students' online search for health information. The first factor: is the user's intention to search for health information online, the second factor: is the usefulness of using the Internet to receive health information, the third factor: is the ease of using the Internet to receive health information, and the fourth factor is the user's attitude towards the online search for health information. These four factors explain 66.983% of the changes related to the online search of health information among students.
Conclusion: The findings of the research indicate the approval of the Davis technology acceptance model for use in research in the field of health information among Iranian students. Therefore, it can be used in other research in this field among students with the assurance of confirming the internal norm.
Methods: The current research is descriptive and was carried out using a survey method. The research community is the students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences at all levels of study. A sample of 358 people voluntarily participated in the research by stratified random sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with 20 questions, which after validation, Cronbach's alpha was 0/933 Obtained. The findings were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS software and using descriptive statistical tests, exploratory factor analysis, and other related tests.
Results: The findings of the exploratory factor analysis led to a four-factor model regarding students' online search for health information. The first factor: is the user's intention to search for health information online, the second factor: is the usefulness of using the Internet to receive health information, the third factor: is the ease of using the Internet to receive health information, and the fourth factor is the user's attitude towards the online search for health information. These four factors explain 66.983% of the changes related to the online search of health information among students.
Conclusion: The findings of the research indicate the approval of the Davis technology acceptance model for use in research in the field of health information among Iranian students. Therefore, it can be used in other research in this field among students with the assurance of confirming the internal norm.
Dr. Amir Hossein Seddighi,
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Volume 9, Issue 4 (1-2023)
Abstract
Purpose: As mission-oriented organizations, research institutes have the task of answering community questions in specialized areas, and should therefore be able to effectively present their outputs to their target users. Achieving such a goal requires the proper use of information architecture principles to properly organize the information platform in which the research institutes interact with their audiences. Therefore, reviewing and evaluating the information architecture of Research Institutes’ websites as their main communication platform with their users is of particular importance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology’s website based on information architecture.
Methodology: The research method is based on content analysis and case evaluation and is done using direct observations and checklists in March 2022. In this regard, first the components of the information environment, ie the context, content, and user of the website are identified. Then, we check the information architecture subsystems of the website using checklists based on the components of the information environment. The organization system checklist contains 14 main questions, the labeling system checklist contains 32 main questions, the navigation system checklist contains 20 main questions, and finally, the search system checklist contains 41 main questions. The checklists were prepared using the library research method and approved by an expert panel. Excel software is used to collect and analyze data.
Findings: Users of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology’s website can be categorized into four groups: researchers and students, science and technology policymakers, librarians and informants, and educational and research institutions. The main content of this website includes reports, books, articles, research projects, information systems, scientific events, training courses, laboratories, and collaborative services. The context of the website is based on service development and delivery in the areas of knowledge management, scientific and technological information management, dissemination of information science and technology, supporting science and technology policymakers, Publicizing the use of information technology, cooperating with universities and research institutes, and supporting research in the field of information science and technology. The results of the checklists indicate the score of this website for the organization system, the labeling system, the navigation system, and the search system as 67.6%, 68.4%, 65.4%, and 34.8%, respectively.
Conclusion: The status of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology’s website is assessed as good in terms of the organization system, the labeling system, and the navigation system, and poor in terms of the search system. The use of an audience-oriented organization plan in the website organization system, the use of index labels in the form of unique entities in the website labeling system, and the use of a main navigation bar with an integrated and similar design in the website navigation system are among the strengths of the website information architecture design. On the other hand, according to the research findings, to improve the search system, it is necessary to pay attention to features such as “correcting spelling errors in the input query”, “highlighting the input query in the retrieved results”, “adding logical operators to the search system”, “searching metadata”, “sorting results in alphabetical and chronological order”, and “adding search filters such as subject and year”.
Methodology: The research method is based on content analysis and case evaluation and is done using direct observations and checklists in March 2022. In this regard, first the components of the information environment, ie the context, content, and user of the website are identified. Then, we check the information architecture subsystems of the website using checklists based on the components of the information environment. The organization system checklist contains 14 main questions, the labeling system checklist contains 32 main questions, the navigation system checklist contains 20 main questions, and finally, the search system checklist contains 41 main questions. The checklists were prepared using the library research method and approved by an expert panel. Excel software is used to collect and analyze data.
Findings: Users of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology’s website can be categorized into four groups: researchers and students, science and technology policymakers, librarians and informants, and educational and research institutions. The main content of this website includes reports, books, articles, research projects, information systems, scientific events, training courses, laboratories, and collaborative services. The context of the website is based on service development and delivery in the areas of knowledge management, scientific and technological information management, dissemination of information science and technology, supporting science and technology policymakers, Publicizing the use of information technology, cooperating with universities and research institutes, and supporting research in the field of information science and technology. The results of the checklists indicate the score of this website for the organization system, the labeling system, the navigation system, and the search system as 67.6%, 68.4%, 65.4%, and 34.8%, respectively.
Conclusion: The status of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology’s website is assessed as good in terms of the organization system, the labeling system, and the navigation system, and poor in terms of the search system. The use of an audience-oriented organization plan in the website organization system, the use of index labels in the form of unique entities in the website labeling system, and the use of a main navigation bar with an integrated and similar design in the website navigation system are among the strengths of the website information architecture design. On the other hand, according to the research findings, to improve the search system, it is necessary to pay attention to features such as “correcting spelling errors in the input query”, “highlighting the input query in the retrieved results”, “adding logical operators to the search system”, “searching metadata”, “sorting results in alphabetical and chronological order”, and “adding search filters such as subject and year”.
Mahmmoud Ahmadisharif,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (6-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 1 (6-2023)
Abstract
Purpose: This study was conducted to know the relationship between monitoring the relationship between information literacy components of marketing experts in manufacturing industries with their success rate in marketing and their success rate in marketing.
Methodology: The research method is a descriptive survey of correlation type. The statistical population of the study is all marketing experts of food production industries in Tehran, due to the size of the statistical population, 384 of them were selected as a sample. Katz and McLean's (2007) ICT questionnaire was used to collect information related to information literacy and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure the success of experts in marketing. Overall reliability of the Information Literacy Questionnaire based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient formula / 78. And the reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire was estimated to be 0.72.
Findings: Pearson's formula was used to analyze the data in the inferential statistics section on the correlation coefficient and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that there is a relationship between ICT literacy and each of its dimensions (describing, achieving, evaluating, managing, combining, creating, and communicating) with the success of experts in marketing. has it.
Methodology: The research method is a descriptive survey of correlation type. The statistical population of the study is all marketing experts of food production industries in Tehran, due to the size of the statistical population, 384 of them were selected as a sample. Katz and McLean's (2007) ICT questionnaire was used to collect information related to information literacy and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure the success of experts in marketing. Overall reliability of the Information Literacy Questionnaire based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient formula / 78. And the reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire was estimated to be 0.72.
Findings: Pearson's formula was used to analyze the data in the inferential statistics section on the correlation coefficient and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that there is a relationship between ICT literacy and each of its dimensions (describing, achieving, evaluating, managing, combining, creating, and communicating) with the success of experts in marketing. has it.
Ahmadreza Varnaseri, Maryam Andalib Kendri, Maryam Ghanbari, Sajjad Mohamadian,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: In daily life, human beings are constantly in the position of making simple or important decisions, so in order to make the best decision, it is inevitable to interact with information. In the present era, when the era of change from industrial society to post-industrial society or information society has been dubbed, information is considered as the most basic assets for human beings and human societies, and the foundation of information society is based on information. In other words, in today's world, a society that has superiority over other societies in terms of information is considered advanced. The growth and development of different science fields can be evaluated according to the research activities carried out in that field. The strength of these activities is the publication of scientific-research publications. The scientific value and validity of publications is undeniable at the time of publication and also after the passage of time. Therefore, knowing the position of the country's scientific research publications with their different and important functions requires great attention. The amount of scientific productions in the form of articles along with the quality of magazines and the amount of use of these resources by people in the society is one of the indicators of the scientific growth of the society. In the meantime, the scientific quarterly of human-information interaction is published by the Department of Information Science and Knowledge of Kharazmi University in cooperation with the Scientific Association for the Promotion of Public Libraries of Iran in the form of an electronic quarterly. Human and Information Interaction Journal publishes original research articles and critical review works in the field of human and information interaction, human information behavior, and related topics.
Purpose: Almost a decade has passed since the publication of research articles in the Scientific Journal of Human and Information Interaction requires that its research record be studied in order to gather and analyze the researches that have been carried out, the existing gaps in the research topics, trends. and recognized the research priorities and found the subject bias of the research done over time. to review the content of the articles in the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly.
Method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and content analysis type. And because this research tries to describe and evaluate the content of the articles of the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly, it is of the type of content analysis. Content analysis The researcher tries to provide the necessary answer to a specific question in a coordinated action while identifying all the conducted researches and evaluating them accurately. Therefore, in this study, by analyzing the content and using a descriptive approach, the frequency of the subject under investigation is determined and a conclusion is made based on it. The statistical population of the present study includes all the scientific and research articles published in the scientific-research quarterly "Human and Information Interaction" from the spring of 2014 to the winter of 2022, which were published in 9 periods. The number of articles was 242, all of which were subjected to content analysis. The tool used was made by the Checklist researcher.
The obtained data were analyzed using Excel software. Descriptive statistics methods, such as data classification according to distribution and frequency percentage, as well as graphs and tables, have been used in data analysis. By referring to each issue of the magazine and its articles, the content analysis information includes the number of articles published in the quarterly, the number of authors by gender, the scientific rank of the authors, the field/trend, and the topics and axes of the authors' attention, Participating universities/organizations, statistical community, approach, type, level of analysis, strategy and time period of the researches were investigated. Sampling was not used and all elements of the society were investigated by census.
Findings: 242 articles have been published in the Quarterly Journal of Human and Information Interaction during 9 periods of articles, Of these, the largest number of articles were published in 2014. Thematic areas: Examining the titles of the articles and the keywords used in the collection of articles published in the studied journal showed that, in general, the articles can be categorized into 11 main topics and 165 sub-topics. The main areas are: Information management) Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system, Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system، 38%), information seeking behavior(Information seeking behavior Knowledge sharing behavior, consumer behavior, information behavior, unplanned behavior, collaborative information seeking behavior, employment information behavior, relational information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, information seeking interaction behavior, inquiry behavior, health information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, human information behavior , reading behavior, 23%), social network (Research Gate, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Fatigue, Social Network, Scientific Graph Network, Network, Internet Social Network, Facebook, Social Network Analysis, Continuous Social Networks, Scientific Social Network, Online Social Network, Virtual Social Network, Big Data In social network, specialized social network, artificial neural network, selfie, social media, mobile phone based social network, 18%), research method (Research Methodology Grand theory, Koolthau model, qualitative approach, thematic analysis, semantic analysis, Meta composition, metanalysis, qualitative study, self-efficacy in qualitative research, fuzzy Delphi, database method, Delphi method, quantitative method, methodology, exploratory method, clustering, interactive content, methodology Research, methodological diversity, scientometrics, synonyms, fact-based interview, mixed approach, trend analysis, altmetrics, research problems, Ellis model, citation analysis, cybernetic revelation model, hierarchical analysis process, fuzzy method, data-based theory18%), library (16%), user (8%), retrieval (8%), information need (6%) %), information base (2%), information science and Knowledge (2%) and organization (1%) are assigned, with the largest share related to information management with 38% and the lowest share related to organization with 1%. Gender of the authors: 53% of them were men and 47% of them were women. According to the findings of the research, the most participants in writing articles are assistant professors (158), Associate Professor 119, doctorate student (114), master's student (100), doctorate (47), professor (42), unreported (20), student Bachelor's degree (12), postdoctoral degree (1).
Researchers in the field of information science and Knowledge have contributed the most in writing articles with 75%. Researchers in the field of business management (12%), educational sciences (2%), and information technology (01%) contributed more than other fields in writing articles in the journal. The most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University; Also, Isfahan University with 27 article titles, Azad University with 25 article titles, Tehran University with 21 article titles, Beheshti University with 18 article titles, and Chamran University with 15 article titles Unreported 14 article titles, Al-Zahra University 10 article titles, Allameh Tabatabai University 10 article titles, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 10 article titles, Tabriz University 9 article titles, Tarbiat Modares 8 article titles, Shiraz University 7 article titles, Shahid University 5 article titles, Mohaghegh Ardabili University 5 article titles respectively have contributed the most in writing articles. The population of quantitative researches was students, professors, and academics. In terms of the research approach, among the 242 published articles, 123 articles were conducted with a quantitative approach, which includes 51% of the research, and qualitative research accounted for 28%, and mixed research for 21%.
Strategy of research results: applied researches with 185 numbers have the highest percentage of 77% of the human and information interaction quarterly, and developmental and fundamental researches are in the next ranks with 32% and 25%, respectively. Also, the most applied researches, 10 titles, belong to the fourth issue of the five-year period of 2018, and the most basic researches, 5 titles, were published in the fourth issue of 2021. Research method strategy: According to the findings of the research, descriptive research with 167 titles is the highest percentage (69 percent), and correlation research 35% in the second rank and experimental research with 30 titles with 13% frequency in the rank are next. In the following, comparative and historical causal researches with 5 article titles are at the End. The level of research analysis: The findings of the research show that the level of
analysis of 78% of the articles published in the quarterly is the group level, and the individual, intersection, and organizational levels account for a total of 21% of the researches. The review of the articles shows that 64% of the researches conducted in the Scientific Quarterly of Human and Information Interaction have used primary data to conduct the research. Data collection method: Most researches have used questionnaires (74%) to collect data. The interview method is ranked next with (24%).
Conclusion: The analysis of the distribution of the gender frequency of the authors of the articles showed the difference in the role-creation of men compared to women in writing articles. In such a way that men have had a greater contribution and role in writing articles. The frequency distribution of the organizational affiliation of the authors of the articles showed that the most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University. This indicates the fact that the researchers of Kharazmi University are more inclined to send their researches and achievements to their university journal, and naturally, this tendency increases the acceptance rate and the high percentage of participation of the researchers of this university in publishing articles. Considering that the field of organization has received less attention from researchers, besides the need to investigate the reasons for the low interest of researchers in this field in an independent research it is suggested that the editorial board and judges determine research priorities in the subject areas.
Due to the limitation of the research method used in 69% of the articles, it seems that the variety of research methods in the acceptance and publication of the journal articles should be given more attention by the reviewers, editor-in-chief, and other officials. In some informational articles, such as Society and statistical sample, the exact title of the university, organization, orientation, author's field, etc. are not mentioned, so it is suggested that the editorial board and the internal manager pay more attention. The data collection tool is a set of questionnaires and other tools are used less. Therefore, it is suggested that the editorial board and judges pay more attention to the acceptance of articles that use other tools to collect data. It is obvious that using various tools helps to increase the scientific richness of researches. Due to the unequal participation of researchers from different scientific fields in publishing articles in the quarterly journal, publishing articles in different fields with an almost equal ratio in each issue of the journal can solve this imbalance and equality. Also, the determination of research needs by the journal can lead researchers to other fields. About 77 percent of the reviewed researches were of applied type and exploratory researches had a smaller contribution; Therefore, it is suggested that the acceptance of exploratory researches should also be prioritized; Because this type of research helps to expand existing knowledge in line with research goals.
Purpose: Almost a decade has passed since the publication of research articles in the Scientific Journal of Human and Information Interaction requires that its research record be studied in order to gather and analyze the researches that have been carried out, the existing gaps in the research topics, trends. and recognized the research priorities and found the subject bias of the research done over time. to review the content of the articles in the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly.
Method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and content analysis type. And because this research tries to describe and evaluate the content of the articles of the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly, it is of the type of content analysis. Content analysis The researcher tries to provide the necessary answer to a specific question in a coordinated action while identifying all the conducted researches and evaluating them accurately. Therefore, in this study, by analyzing the content and using a descriptive approach, the frequency of the subject under investigation is determined and a conclusion is made based on it. The statistical population of the present study includes all the scientific and research articles published in the scientific-research quarterly "Human and Information Interaction" from the spring of 2014 to the winter of 2022, which were published in 9 periods. The number of articles was 242, all of which were subjected to content analysis. The tool used was made by the Checklist researcher.
The obtained data were analyzed using Excel software. Descriptive statistics methods, such as data classification according to distribution and frequency percentage, as well as graphs and tables, have been used in data analysis. By referring to each issue of the magazine and its articles, the content analysis information includes the number of articles published in the quarterly, the number of authors by gender, the scientific rank of the authors, the field/trend, and the topics and axes of the authors' attention, Participating universities/organizations, statistical community, approach, type, level of analysis, strategy and time period of the researches were investigated. Sampling was not used and all elements of the society were investigated by census.
Findings: 242 articles have been published in the Quarterly Journal of Human and Information Interaction during 9 periods of articles, Of these, the largest number of articles were published in 2014. Thematic areas: Examining the titles of the articles and the keywords used in the collection of articles published in the studied journal showed that, in general, the articles can be categorized into 11 main topics and 165 sub-topics. The main areas are: Information management) Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system, Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system، 38%), information seeking behavior(Information seeking behavior Knowledge sharing behavior, consumer behavior, information behavior, unplanned behavior, collaborative information seeking behavior, employment information behavior, relational information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, information seeking interaction behavior, inquiry behavior, health information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, human information behavior , reading behavior, 23%), social network (Research Gate, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Fatigue, Social Network, Scientific Graph Network, Network, Internet Social Network, Facebook, Social Network Analysis, Continuous Social Networks, Scientific Social Network, Online Social Network, Virtual Social Network, Big Data In social network, specialized social network, artificial neural network, selfie, social media, mobile phone based social network, 18%), research method (Research Methodology Grand theory, Koolthau model, qualitative approach, thematic analysis, semantic analysis, Meta composition, metanalysis, qualitative study, self-efficacy in qualitative research, fuzzy Delphi, database method, Delphi method, quantitative method, methodology, exploratory method, clustering, interactive content, methodology Research, methodological diversity, scientometrics, synonyms, fact-based interview, mixed approach, trend analysis, altmetrics, research problems, Ellis model, citation analysis, cybernetic revelation model, hierarchical analysis process, fuzzy method, data-based theory18%), library (16%), user (8%), retrieval (8%), information need (6%) %), information base (2%), information science and Knowledge (2%) and organization (1%) are assigned, with the largest share related to information management with 38% and the lowest share related to organization with 1%. Gender of the authors: 53% of them were men and 47% of them were women. According to the findings of the research, the most participants in writing articles are assistant professors (158), Associate Professor 119, doctorate student (114), master's student (100), doctorate (47), professor (42), unreported (20), student Bachelor's degree (12), postdoctoral degree (1).
Researchers in the field of information science and Knowledge have contributed the most in writing articles with 75%. Researchers in the field of business management (12%), educational sciences (2%), and information technology (01%) contributed more than other fields in writing articles in the journal. The most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University; Also, Isfahan University with 27 article titles, Azad University with 25 article titles, Tehran University with 21 article titles, Beheshti University with 18 article titles, and Chamran University with 15 article titles Unreported 14 article titles, Al-Zahra University 10 article titles, Allameh Tabatabai University 10 article titles, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 10 article titles, Tabriz University 9 article titles, Tarbiat Modares 8 article titles, Shiraz University 7 article titles, Shahid University 5 article titles, Mohaghegh Ardabili University 5 article titles respectively have contributed the most in writing articles. The population of quantitative researches was students, professors, and academics. In terms of the research approach, among the 242 published articles, 123 articles were conducted with a quantitative approach, which includes 51% of the research, and qualitative research accounted for 28%, and mixed research for 21%.
Strategy of research results: applied researches with 185 numbers have the highest percentage of 77% of the human and information interaction quarterly, and developmental and fundamental researches are in the next ranks with 32% and 25%, respectively. Also, the most applied researches, 10 titles, belong to the fourth issue of the five-year period of 2018, and the most basic researches, 5 titles, were published in the fourth issue of 2021. Research method strategy: According to the findings of the research, descriptive research with 167 titles is the highest percentage (69 percent), and correlation research 35% in the second rank and experimental research with 30 titles with 13% frequency in the rank are next. In the following, comparative and historical causal researches with 5 article titles are at the End. The level of research analysis: The findings of the research show that the level of
analysis of 78% of the articles published in the quarterly is the group level, and the individual, intersection, and organizational levels account for a total of 21% of the researches. The review of the articles shows that 64% of the researches conducted in the Scientific Quarterly of Human and Information Interaction have used primary data to conduct the research. Data collection method: Most researches have used questionnaires (74%) to collect data. The interview method is ranked next with (24%).
Conclusion: The analysis of the distribution of the gender frequency of the authors of the articles showed the difference in the role-creation of men compared to women in writing articles. In such a way that men have had a greater contribution and role in writing articles. The frequency distribution of the organizational affiliation of the authors of the articles showed that the most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University. This indicates the fact that the researchers of Kharazmi University are more inclined to send their researches and achievements to their university journal, and naturally, this tendency increases the acceptance rate and the high percentage of participation of the researchers of this university in publishing articles. Considering that the field of organization has received less attention from researchers, besides the need to investigate the reasons for the low interest of researchers in this field in an independent research it is suggested that the editorial board and judges determine research priorities in the subject areas.
Due to the limitation of the research method used in 69% of the articles, it seems that the variety of research methods in the acceptance and publication of the journal articles should be given more attention by the reviewers, editor-in-chief, and other officials. In some informational articles, such as Society and statistical sample, the exact title of the university, organization, orientation, author's field, etc. are not mentioned, so it is suggested that the editorial board and the internal manager pay more attention. The data collection tool is a set of questionnaires and other tools are used less. Therefore, it is suggested that the editorial board and judges pay more attention to the acceptance of articles that use other tools to collect data. It is obvious that using various tools helps to increase the scientific richness of researches. Due to the unequal participation of researchers from different scientific fields in publishing articles in the quarterly journal, publishing articles in different fields with an almost equal ratio in each issue of the journal can solve this imbalance and equality. Also, the determination of research needs by the journal can lead researchers to other fields. About 77 percent of the reviewed researches were of applied type and exploratory researches had a smaller contribution; Therefore, it is suggested that the acceptance of exploratory researches should also be prioritized; Because this type of research helps to expand existing knowledge in line with research goals.
Zahra Poorpir, Mohammadreza Kiyani, Mohammad Ali Rostaminegad, Seyyed Ebrahim Hosseini Zargaz,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Introduction and Objective: Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease that, like other infectious diseases, has affected people's health. As an important source for obtaining health information, social media have made a major contribution in meeting the need for information about Covid-19. The role of people's health information-seeking behavior is important in disease management and control, and it has an impact on the health of the society in the future.
Methodology: This research was practical and survey type. Statistical population, all students were studying at Birjand University at the time of the study. Sampling was done based on proportional classification random sampling (370 people). The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was measured by using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, epistemology and medical sciences, and its reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha (0.897).
Findings: The findings of the research showed that students used more search engines, foreign social networks and news media to get information about Covid-19 than reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites. Telegram and Instagram were the most used. They paid more attention to news related to covid-19 and preventive behaviors than getting information about treatment methods. The amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about this disease on students was less than expected and among the components of information-seeking behavior, they paid the least attention to information sharing. In the field of aspects related to Covid-19, they paid the most attention to the educational aspect and the least attention to the political aspect.
Conclusion: Information and realizing its value and importance in human life today, leads to the concern of how to access the required information from among the multitude of available information. Information-seeking behavior follows the need for information, which includes activities such as information search, search tools, the type of information sought, search problems, and factors affecting it. Since the need for health information due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease creates concerns. Therefore, it leads to health information-seeking behavior, which includes actions related to searching and finding health-related problems, information about diseases, risk factors, and health promotion (Jalilian et al., 2021). In the course of searching for information, a person may use a manual information system or a computer-based system (Wilson, 2000).
Social media, as a platform that provides a lot of information, including health-related information, has been distinguished from other information systems due to components such as quick and easy access, interactive and comprehensible, and convenience. In the process of health information seeking behavior, the role of social media as a tool for searching for information and its effect on people's behavior is important (Liu, 2020). The types of information about which the search helps to meet the need for information and curiosities in the midst of this pandemic, information such as news related to Covid-19 (the number of patients and deaths), preventive behaviors (washing hands regularly, wearing masks) , vaccination, etc.) and various medical methods and related drugs.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the corona virus and spread in late 2019. The Corona pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency (Jalilian et al., 2021). This epidemic prompted scientists in different disciplines to investigate various issues arising from this phenomenon (Shehata, 2020). Access to health information is essential for any country and this is more important in developing countries where health challenges are more (Ankama et al., 2021). Progress in the prevention of Covid-19 is partially dependent on understanding the process of health information seeking behavior and its tools. To promote effective health knowledge, behavior change must be done at the individual level, and health messages must be accurate, transparent, and comprehensible. Also, be available and appropriate to the cultural environment of the society (Jalilian et al., 2021). Due to the epidemic nature of this disease and its unexpected consequences, the role of people and their information behaviors in fighting and controlling this disease is very important (Ostadi, 2019).
The main variables of the research included: the amount of use of each type of social media, the amount of use of each type of social network, the types of information obtained, the amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about Covid-19, the amount of each From health information seeking behaviors and aspects related to covid 19.
To carry out the research, the researcher-made questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. This questionnaire was compiled in two parts based on the objectives and questions of the research. The first part includes questions related to the objectives of the research, and in the second part, three questions are asked about the personal characteristics of the respondents.
This questionnaire had 42 items and was measured in 7 variables, which are: social media (items 1-9), social networks (items 10-16), types of information obtained (item 17-21), negative consequences of information acquisition (items 22-26), positive consequences of information acquisition (items 27-33), types of health information-seeking behavior (items 34-37) and related dimensions with covid 19 (items 42-38). The mentioned questionnaire was distributed among the statistical population after checking and testing the validity and reliability. In this research, in order to measure the content validity of the questionnaire, the questions of the questionnaire were prepared by studying and reviewing related study sources, and then using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, philology, and medical sciences, they were reviewed and modified.
Out of a total of 224 respondents, that is, 58% of the people were women and 162 of them, equal to 42%, were men. Students in the study field of humanities with 167 people (43%) have the highest frequency among the respondents. After that, engineering science group with 112 people (29 percent), basic science group with 63 people (16 percent) and agricultural science group with 44 people (12 percent) respectively.
The number of respondents in the undergraduate level was the highest with 319 people (83 percent), as well as 47 people (12 percent) in the master's degree and 20 people (5 percent) in the doctoral level.
In the social media variable, the results showed that the average amount of social media use was generally lower than average. In the components of official medical websites, doctors' websites, unofficial websites, internal social networks, Wikipedia and encyclopedias, discussion groups and forums are also less than It was average. According to Zhang and Zhao (2017) and Haider et al. (2009), concern about the quality of information reduces the amount of social media use and consumer participation.
In the variable of social networks, the findings show that the average amount of use of the variable of social networks was generally lower than the average. Due to the filtering of YouTube, Twitter, and Clubhouse platforms, their use was quite logically lower than average. In the components of the Telegram and Instagram platforms, the average amount of use was more than average. The researchers' field observations of the users' use of these networks are consistent with the obtained results, as a result, the use of social networks due to their accessibility and the widely used role of mobile phone technology today is a source of information dissemination and information acquisition. Since the specialized information on websites and official sources is valuable, it is necessary to pay attention to the reason why they are not given much attention, and it should be carefully rooted and investigated.
The search rate of Birjand University students regarding each type of health information about Covid-19, the research indicates that, in general, the search rate in the variable of types of information about Covid-19 was equal to the average. But in the components of news related to Covid-19, preventive behaviors were more than average. Since the purpose of searching users during the Covid-19 pandemic was to deal with the said disease; Therefore, the results refer to the consumption of health information related to the news of Covid-19 and various preventive behaviors, because obtaining health information about each of the information related to Covid-19 is important in the process of managing and controlling this disease.
The rate of negative consequences of acquiring information about Covid-19 was below average. Also, in all components of worry, anxiety, lack of trust in information, confusion and confusion, and cognitive avoidance were also below the average level. What causes worry and anxiety in people is often lack of awareness and lack of ability to manage a crisis. In Nakheizadeh's new research (2019), the level of anxiety caused by covid-19 was high, as Nakheizadeh's study shows, his research is related to the early period of the corona epidemic. What is remarkable at the beginning of the matter, with the indiscriminate spread and the lack of sufficient and correct information about this disease, as well as the lack of a related vaccine, the influx of this amount of anxiety and worry among people can be considered normal. Moreover, the data of the current research was collected after about two years of the corona virus, when the students were in the approximate routine of life before the corona virus, right at the same time as face-to-face education in the university, and this change in the results can be completely logically explained. Justified. Also, the study of Bigdali et al. (2013) also expressed the positive view of users towards health information on the web. Montsi (2020) also stated that even receiving fake information does not affect people's physical or mental health, and its results are completely intangible, which can be roughly generalized to the results of this research and considered consistent.
In the variable of positive outcomes of acquiring information about Covid-19, it was below average. Also, in the components of the ability to recognize the need for information, search skills, the spirit of cooperation and information sharing, and the promotion of critical thinking, it was also below average. Also, in the components of knowledge of information sources and ability to evaluate information sources, it was equal to the average level. As a result, considering that in some components of the skill of recognizing the need for information and the ability to evaluate information sources, their average score was equal to the average level, which indicates that their health literacy is average; Because the results are consistent with the acquisition of their health information sources (social networks), so it is in line with the results of Apok and Ellis.
The average rate of performing various types of information-seeking behavior about Covid-19 was higher than average. Also, in the components of information search, identifying the need for information and changing health and treatment behavior, seeking more information was more than average. In the information sharing component, the average score of this component was equal to the average; Considering that the sources of obtaining health information about this disease are basically the media and social networks. What emerges from the evidence is that following a crisis or problem related to health and feeling the need for related information, people start searching for related sources and if it is noticeable, their health information seeking behavior is an increasing trend. has it. Therefore, the present study is consistent with all previous studies.
The results of the present study show that the average of information acquisition in the variable of information dimensions related to Covid-19 was higher than the average and also in all components, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, the average score was higher. It was average. In other words, the findings show the students' concerns about each of the dimensions related to economy, health, politics, social justice, and especially about education and concerns about holding classes, not having the necessary infrastructure in an optimal way. In some people, lack of concentration and anxiety is caused by the situation.
The findings showed that the most sources of obtaining health information for students of Birjand University are search engines, foreign social networks and news media, and they paid less attention to reliable media such as official specialized medical websites. Also, the results point to the important and prominent role of Telegram and Instagram platforms. In addition, what the studied community sought to obtain information about covid-19 was mostly preventive behaviors and news related to covid-19 rather than its treatment methods. Also, the results showed that the health information-seeking behavior of Birjand University students has generally increased during this pandemic; But they have done the behavior of sharing information related to Covid less. Meanwhile, the role of dimensions related to Covid-19, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, and obtaining information about each of these dimensions was of great importance for students, and the most important aspect for them was the educational dimension. .
The results showed that women used reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites and news media compared to men, and men used social networks (Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and search engines to get information about Covid. 19 have used. The influence of the role of gender showed that women are more interested in obtaining all kinds of information about this disease, and also paid more attention to the negative consequences of women; After creating negative consequences in women, they sought to obtain information about preventive behaviors. Because a significant relationship has been established between negative consequences and preventive behaviors in past studies. In addition, the role of gender had no effect on the positive outcomes and dimensions related to Covid-19, except for the economic dimension component. The field of study and level of study did not make a significant difference in the research variables. Based on this, it is suggested to hold training courses to improve the quality and awareness of health information literacy in social networks and news media for students of different levels. Also, policy makers and decision makers should pay more attention to providing authentic information on social media for the audience. Social networks and internal messengers should be adapted in the field of providing health information. Future researches can examine the subject of study in other societies and use different research methods to collect data or analyze findings.
Methodology: This research was practical and survey type. Statistical population, all students were studying at Birjand University at the time of the study. Sampling was done based on proportional classification random sampling (370 people). The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was measured by using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, epistemology and medical sciences, and its reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha (0.897).
Findings: The findings of the research showed that students used more search engines, foreign social networks and news media to get information about Covid-19 than reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites. Telegram and Instagram were the most used. They paid more attention to news related to covid-19 and preventive behaviors than getting information about treatment methods. The amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about this disease on students was less than expected and among the components of information-seeking behavior, they paid the least attention to information sharing. In the field of aspects related to Covid-19, they paid the most attention to the educational aspect and the least attention to the political aspect.
Conclusion: Information and realizing its value and importance in human life today, leads to the concern of how to access the required information from among the multitude of available information. Information-seeking behavior follows the need for information, which includes activities such as information search, search tools, the type of information sought, search problems, and factors affecting it. Since the need for health information due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease creates concerns. Therefore, it leads to health information-seeking behavior, which includes actions related to searching and finding health-related problems, information about diseases, risk factors, and health promotion (Jalilian et al., 2021). In the course of searching for information, a person may use a manual information system or a computer-based system (Wilson, 2000).
Social media, as a platform that provides a lot of information, including health-related information, has been distinguished from other information systems due to components such as quick and easy access, interactive and comprehensible, and convenience. In the process of health information seeking behavior, the role of social media as a tool for searching for information and its effect on people's behavior is important (Liu, 2020). The types of information about which the search helps to meet the need for information and curiosities in the midst of this pandemic, information such as news related to Covid-19 (the number of patients and deaths), preventive behaviors (washing hands regularly, wearing masks) , vaccination, etc.) and various medical methods and related drugs.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the corona virus and spread in late 2019. The Corona pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency (Jalilian et al., 2021). This epidemic prompted scientists in different disciplines to investigate various issues arising from this phenomenon (Shehata, 2020). Access to health information is essential for any country and this is more important in developing countries where health challenges are more (Ankama et al., 2021). Progress in the prevention of Covid-19 is partially dependent on understanding the process of health information seeking behavior and its tools. To promote effective health knowledge, behavior change must be done at the individual level, and health messages must be accurate, transparent, and comprehensible. Also, be available and appropriate to the cultural environment of the society (Jalilian et al., 2021). Due to the epidemic nature of this disease and its unexpected consequences, the role of people and their information behaviors in fighting and controlling this disease is very important (Ostadi, 2019).
The main variables of the research included: the amount of use of each type of social media, the amount of use of each type of social network, the types of information obtained, the amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about Covid-19, the amount of each From health information seeking behaviors and aspects related to covid 19.
To carry out the research, the researcher-made questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. This questionnaire was compiled in two parts based on the objectives and questions of the research. The first part includes questions related to the objectives of the research, and in the second part, three questions are asked about the personal characteristics of the respondents.
This questionnaire had 42 items and was measured in 7 variables, which are: social media (items 1-9), social networks (items 10-16), types of information obtained (item 17-21), negative consequences of information acquisition (items 22-26), positive consequences of information acquisition (items 27-33), types of health information-seeking behavior (items 34-37) and related dimensions with covid 19 (items 42-38). The mentioned questionnaire was distributed among the statistical population after checking and testing the validity and reliability. In this research, in order to measure the content validity of the questionnaire, the questions of the questionnaire were prepared by studying and reviewing related study sources, and then using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, philology, and medical sciences, they were reviewed and modified.
Out of a total of 224 respondents, that is, 58% of the people were women and 162 of them, equal to 42%, were men. Students in the study field of humanities with 167 people (43%) have the highest frequency among the respondents. After that, engineering science group with 112 people (29 percent), basic science group with 63 people (16 percent) and agricultural science group with 44 people (12 percent) respectively.
The number of respondents in the undergraduate level was the highest with 319 people (83 percent), as well as 47 people (12 percent) in the master's degree and 20 people (5 percent) in the doctoral level.
In the social media variable, the results showed that the average amount of social media use was generally lower than average. In the components of official medical websites, doctors' websites, unofficial websites, internal social networks, Wikipedia and encyclopedias, discussion groups and forums are also less than It was average. According to Zhang and Zhao (2017) and Haider et al. (2009), concern about the quality of information reduces the amount of social media use and consumer participation.
In the variable of social networks, the findings show that the average amount of use of the variable of social networks was generally lower than the average. Due to the filtering of YouTube, Twitter, and Clubhouse platforms, their use was quite logically lower than average. In the components of the Telegram and Instagram platforms, the average amount of use was more than average. The researchers' field observations of the users' use of these networks are consistent with the obtained results, as a result, the use of social networks due to their accessibility and the widely used role of mobile phone technology today is a source of information dissemination and information acquisition. Since the specialized information on websites and official sources is valuable, it is necessary to pay attention to the reason why they are not given much attention, and it should be carefully rooted and investigated.
The search rate of Birjand University students regarding each type of health information about Covid-19, the research indicates that, in general, the search rate in the variable of types of information about Covid-19 was equal to the average. But in the components of news related to Covid-19, preventive behaviors were more than average. Since the purpose of searching users during the Covid-19 pandemic was to deal with the said disease; Therefore, the results refer to the consumption of health information related to the news of Covid-19 and various preventive behaviors, because obtaining health information about each of the information related to Covid-19 is important in the process of managing and controlling this disease.
The rate of negative consequences of acquiring information about Covid-19 was below average. Also, in all components of worry, anxiety, lack of trust in information, confusion and confusion, and cognitive avoidance were also below the average level. What causes worry and anxiety in people is often lack of awareness and lack of ability to manage a crisis. In Nakheizadeh's new research (2019), the level of anxiety caused by covid-19 was high, as Nakheizadeh's study shows, his research is related to the early period of the corona epidemic. What is remarkable at the beginning of the matter, with the indiscriminate spread and the lack of sufficient and correct information about this disease, as well as the lack of a related vaccine, the influx of this amount of anxiety and worry among people can be considered normal. Moreover, the data of the current research was collected after about two years of the corona virus, when the students were in the approximate routine of life before the corona virus, right at the same time as face-to-face education in the university, and this change in the results can be completely logically explained. Justified. Also, the study of Bigdali et al. (2013) also expressed the positive view of users towards health information on the web. Montsi (2020) also stated that even receiving fake information does not affect people's physical or mental health, and its results are completely intangible, which can be roughly generalized to the results of this research and considered consistent.
In the variable of positive outcomes of acquiring information about Covid-19, it was below average. Also, in the components of the ability to recognize the need for information, search skills, the spirit of cooperation and information sharing, and the promotion of critical thinking, it was also below average. Also, in the components of knowledge of information sources and ability to evaluate information sources, it was equal to the average level. As a result, considering that in some components of the skill of recognizing the need for information and the ability to evaluate information sources, their average score was equal to the average level, which indicates that their health literacy is average; Because the results are consistent with the acquisition of their health information sources (social networks), so it is in line with the results of Apok and Ellis.
The average rate of performing various types of information-seeking behavior about Covid-19 was higher than average. Also, in the components of information search, identifying the need for information and changing health and treatment behavior, seeking more information was more than average. In the information sharing component, the average score of this component was equal to the average; Considering that the sources of obtaining health information about this disease are basically the media and social networks. What emerges from the evidence is that following a crisis or problem related to health and feeling the need for related information, people start searching for related sources and if it is noticeable, their health information seeking behavior is an increasing trend. has it. Therefore, the present study is consistent with all previous studies.
The results of the present study show that the average of information acquisition in the variable of information dimensions related to Covid-19 was higher than the average and also in all components, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, the average score was higher. It was average. In other words, the findings show the students' concerns about each of the dimensions related to economy, health, politics, social justice, and especially about education and concerns about holding classes, not having the necessary infrastructure in an optimal way. In some people, lack of concentration and anxiety is caused by the situation.
The findings showed that the most sources of obtaining health information for students of Birjand University are search engines, foreign social networks and news media, and they paid less attention to reliable media such as official specialized medical websites. Also, the results point to the important and prominent role of Telegram and Instagram platforms. In addition, what the studied community sought to obtain information about covid-19 was mostly preventive behaviors and news related to covid-19 rather than its treatment methods. Also, the results showed that the health information-seeking behavior of Birjand University students has generally increased during this pandemic; But they have done the behavior of sharing information related to Covid less. Meanwhile, the role of dimensions related to Covid-19, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, and obtaining information about each of these dimensions was of great importance for students, and the most important aspect for them was the educational dimension. .
The results showed that women used reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites and news media compared to men, and men used social networks (Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and search engines to get information about Covid. 19 have used. The influence of the role of gender showed that women are more interested in obtaining all kinds of information about this disease, and also paid more attention to the negative consequences of women; After creating negative consequences in women, they sought to obtain information about preventive behaviors. Because a significant relationship has been established between negative consequences and preventive behaviors in past studies. In addition, the role of gender had no effect on the positive outcomes and dimensions related to Covid-19, except for the economic dimension component. The field of study and level of study did not make a significant difference in the research variables. Based on this, it is suggested to hold training courses to improve the quality and awareness of health information literacy in social networks and news media for students of different levels. Also, policy makers and decision makers should pay more attention to providing authentic information on social media for the audience. Social networks and internal messengers should be adapted in the field of providing health information. Future researches can examine the subject of study in other societies and use different research methods to collect data or analyze findings.
Fatemeh Salmani, Mohammad Reza Kiani, Mohammad Mohammad Akbari Booreng, Leila Talebzade Shoshtari,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Social media and psychological issues related to it, have attracted increasing attention nowadays and have been the subject of many studies in this field. Meanwhile, Instagram was studied in this research due to its many features and the special attention of young people to this platform. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of body image in using Instagram.
Materials and methods: This correlation study was conducted in a sample of 375 students. Data were collected using “body image” and “use of Instagram” questionnaires.
Findings: According to the results, students used Instagram more than average. They were relatively satisfied with their body image. Also, the results showed that the higher the apparent dissatisfaction and functional interference of the respondents (as components of body image), the higher their use of Instagram.
Conclusion: Due to the increasing popularity of social media, researchers have begun to investigate the possible consequences of this new media format on body image. There are some unique features of social media that distinguish them from traditional media and may help in understanding any effect they may have on body image: 1. Social media such as Instagram have their own users and are very popular among the younger generation. have; 2. People often present an idealized version of themselves on social media, uploading their most attractive images to their profile that can be edited and improved, and deleting any images they find unattractive; 3. Although social media contain images of a range of different types of people (eg, friends, family, strangers, celebrities), they are generally used to interact with peers.
Young people are influenced by three main sources: parents, peers, and media. As a major factor in socialization, parents have a strong influence on their children's body image, and this can be directly or indirectly related to body weight or appearance in general, for example through their comments. As children grow older and enter adolescence, peers play an increasingly important role in body image concerns, especially when intimacy is a necessary component of receiving approval from others. Adolescents learn from their peers what type of body image is associated with popularity and attractiveness. Finally, the media plays a determining role, as young people in the media are often portrayed as attractive and perfectly fit, which may lead to body image concerns among those exposed to them. Past research has shown that certain social media environments, such as Instagram, may be effective in creating feelings of inadequacy and comparing oneself to others in terms of body image.
Instagram contains a plethora of seemingly authentic images, many of which represent body ideals. Physical appearance actually plays an important role on Instagram, and studies have shown that teens and young adults experience distress, body dissatisfaction, and pressure to look perfect on social media. Since Instagram gives its users the opportunity to edit content before posting it on their profile, users tend to resort to behaviors such as image filtering.
Previous studies have emphasized the importance and extent of using social media, especially the Instagram social network, in the world and in Iran, and clearly confirmed the mutual effect of its use with psychological issues, including people's attitudes about their body image among the users of this network. It is important to note that most researches have focused on the role of using Instagram on psychological variables, but this research focused on the role of body image variable on the use of Instagram. Although two-way relationship is tested in correlation studies, the goal of the researchers in terms of predictor variables and criteria determines the direction of the analysis. Based on this, this research sought to determine the relationship between the body image of the studied community and the use of Instagram after examining the status of the variables of Instagram use and body image among the subjects under study ( University of Birjand students)?
Instagram is a visual program that has given its users the ability to send photos, videos, selfies, live broadcasts, and in addition has created the necessary interaction so that users can react to the stories and posts of their followers. The many features of this platform and its attractiveness for young people made the community under study of this research to show high statistics of using this media (based on the results of the first question). This issue can provide many opportunities for society's decision makers to use these capabilities in the service of raising the standards of today's social life. Therefore, domestic similar platforms should be strengthened so that they can replace it due to the filtering of this social media. However, due to the international nature of Instagram, it is unlikely that a suitable alternative will be found for it; Therefore, it is suggested to facilitate favorable conditions for students to use this media along with their awareness about its benefits and harms. Because filtering media that is very popular among young people will cause dissatisfaction and hidden and open social aggressions.
Data were collected using body image questionnaires (Littleton et al., 2005) and using Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). The body image questionnaire (Littleton et al., 2005) contains 19 items and uses a Likert scale (scored from 1 meaning never to 5 meaning always). The validity of this questionnaire using the correlation method with the self-report scale of body dysmorphic disorder was reported as 0.83 in the research of Littleton et al. (2005). Also, in a study conducted by Basak Nejad and Ghaffari (2006), the validity of this questionnaire was tested and confirmed using the correlation coefficient between this scale and the fear of negative evaluation of physical appearance (r=0.55). The reliability of the questionnaire in the research of Littleton et al. (2005) was evaluated by the internal consistency method and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained was equal to 0.93. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the first and second factors was 0.92 and 0.76, respectively, and the correlation coefficient between the two factors (1. apparent dissatisfaction and 2. functional interference) was 0.69. In the research of Rostagarinia and Ali Khademi (2022), the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha method was 0.86 for the entire questionnaire, 0.84 for the first subscale (apparent dissatisfaction) and 0.71 for the second subscale (functional interference). It is reported that it indicates acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. In the present study, Cronbach's alpha of the whole body image questionnaire was 0.88, the first component (appearance dissatisfaction) was 0.84, and the second component (functional interference) was 0.77.
The second questionnaire was the use of Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). This questionnaire contains 13 items and has been used in many personality and clinical research projects due to its high validity (Pouyanfar, 2019). In this research, the validity of this questionnaire was checked and confirmed using the content validity method (subject experts and professors). Lezbana (2015) reported the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81 and Pouyanfar (2019) 0.83. In the current study, the Cronbach's alpha of the Instagram usage questionnaire was 0.81.
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-________________________________________________________________________
The Journal of Human Information Interaction is supported by Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
This work is published under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-test). The software used for statistical analysis was SPSS version 25. In addition, the normality of the data distribution was confirmed using the Kolomogrov-Smirnov test.
The results of the first question, which asked the students' use of the social network Instagram, were obtained in such a way that the sample T-Tech test showed that the students' use of Instagram, despite being filtered, with an average of 43.53 at the level of 0.01, is significantly higher than The average was 39. The findings showed that most of the respondents (138 people) have been using Instagram for more than 4 years, the respondents spend between 1 and 2 hours on Instagram, the number of posts they share on this platform is less than 10 posts, and according to the results, although They post pictures on Instagram once a month. The respondents checked Instagram sometimes and agreed that they devoted a part of their daily schedule to Instagram and that Instagram was a part of the respondents' daily activities; So that they used Instagram in their free time, at work or class, etc. In the end, the respondents believed that they should be present on Instagram all day and if they are not present, their communication is cut off.
McCormick (2018) believes that Instagram is a social network platform, and the adoption of this program by many users and the use of new technologies in different fields increase the value of this program day by day, and the reason that makes it more attractive to advertisers is the young audience of this program. . According to the latest statistics of the Statista website, users aged 25 to 34 are the largest age group of Instagram users worldwide, followed by people aged 18 to 24, and in the meantime, India is at the top of the list of Instagram users with 201 million Instagram users. . Bolton et al. (2013) concluded that young consumers are a technologically savvy and visually advanced generation, and their adaptability to using technology eases many issues because they are born with the introduction of technology. Starcevich and Konjikoshi (2018) also believe that the young generation has the most participation in social media when compared to previous generations. Other researches inside and outside the country such as Poyanfar (2019); Borbor and Tajik Ismaili (1401); Brati and Atrian (1400); Kapenter et al. (2020); Huang and Chu (2018) have obtained results consistent with the results of this research.
The results of the second question, how do the students perceive their body image? It showed that the students' opinion about the negative image of their own body was significantly lower than the average, in other words, they did not have a very unfavorable image of their appearance. Also, the respondents were rarely dissatisfied with some parts of their appearance, sometimes they spend considerable time in the mirror, they never feel that the people around them have a negative opinion about them, if they are dissatisfied with their appearance, they still participate in social activities, use cosmetics to improve their appearance. They rarely seek approval from others about their appearance, they are not afraid of others finding fault with their appearance, and they do not avoid looking in the mirror. The results of the T-Tech exam of the sample of students regarding their body image with two research components (appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference) are reported with an average level. The results show that the status of students regarding their body image with an average of 41.78 at the level of 0.01 is significantly lower than the average of 57. Also, the state of apparent dissatisfaction of students with an average of 20.93 and functional interference with an average of 20.85 is significant at the level of 0.01 and below the average; Therefore, the students had a relatively positive image of their body. Mohad et al. (2013) in their research, consistent with the current research, concluded that 85% of the respondents are more than average satisfied with their body. In the case of those who had an unfavorable body image, this dissatisfaction with appearance increased the desire to wear makeup. Also, interference in a person's social performance increases both the desire and the practice of makeup. Khodaparast et al. (2019) obtained the average of body image components and compared it with the average, and concluded that the sample people have a positive and favorable view of their body image. Contrary to the present study, Wood-Barkalow et al. (2010) concluded that 12 of the respondents were not satisfied with their body image. It seems that the type of subjects of this study did not have an effect on obtaining these results. Students in an active and rich environment usually receive positive feedback from their friends, and at a young age, due to physical health and vitality, a person's attitude towards his body is more positive than at an older age.
In the research hypothesis, students' body image predicts their use of Instagram. The results were such that in this hypothesis, the components of body image including appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were considered as predictor variables and Instagram use as criterion variable. The results of the variable correlation test (as a regression assumption) showed that there is a significant relationship between body image and both of its components, i.e., appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference (as a predictor variable) and using Instagram (as a criterion variable) at the level of 0.05. Appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were the variables entered in the regression equation at the same time, and both variables remained in the model. Chua and Chang's (2016) research showed that people's feedback from peers and society has a significant effect on the dissemination of photos published on Instagram, and functional interference is a predictor of Instagram use. Verastro et al. (2020) conducted a study, and the results showed that people who felt more anxious and uncomfortable about their body image and had more pressure to comply with social media standards were people who edited their pictures and then posted them online. upload, internalize the beauty stereotype suggested by Instagram and use Instagram more. Pedalino and Camrini (2022) obtained results consistent with this research, which was associated with lower levels of body satisfaction in the target population due to the social comparison process of ideal body images shared on the Instagram platform.
Fardouli et al. (2022) used the multiple regression method in their research and the result of their research was also consistent with the present research. Also, Cowles et al. (2023) concluded that participants who spent more time on Instagram had higher levels of body dissatisfaction and more comparisons of physical appearance. In their research, Sohrabzadeh et al. (2018) concluded that there is a significant and direct relationship between body image and the use of Instagram with a correlation coefficient (0.236) and a significance level (0.0001). In addition, Sadeghzadeh et al. (2018) reported in their study that dissatisfaction with body image has a significant and positive relationship with the amount of use of Instagram (r = 0.64, p<0.01).
Materials and methods: This correlation study was conducted in a sample of 375 students. Data were collected using “body image” and “use of Instagram” questionnaires.
Findings: According to the results, students used Instagram more than average. They were relatively satisfied with their body image. Also, the results showed that the higher the apparent dissatisfaction and functional interference of the respondents (as components of body image), the higher their use of Instagram.
Conclusion: Due to the increasing popularity of social media, researchers have begun to investigate the possible consequences of this new media format on body image. There are some unique features of social media that distinguish them from traditional media and may help in understanding any effect they may have on body image: 1. Social media such as Instagram have their own users and are very popular among the younger generation. have; 2. People often present an idealized version of themselves on social media, uploading their most attractive images to their profile that can be edited and improved, and deleting any images they find unattractive; 3. Although social media contain images of a range of different types of people (eg, friends, family, strangers, celebrities), they are generally used to interact with peers.
Young people are influenced by three main sources: parents, peers, and media. As a major factor in socialization, parents have a strong influence on their children's body image, and this can be directly or indirectly related to body weight or appearance in general, for example through their comments. As children grow older and enter adolescence, peers play an increasingly important role in body image concerns, especially when intimacy is a necessary component of receiving approval from others. Adolescents learn from their peers what type of body image is associated with popularity and attractiveness. Finally, the media plays a determining role, as young people in the media are often portrayed as attractive and perfectly fit, which may lead to body image concerns among those exposed to them. Past research has shown that certain social media environments, such as Instagram, may be effective in creating feelings of inadequacy and comparing oneself to others in terms of body image.
Instagram contains a plethora of seemingly authentic images, many of which represent body ideals. Physical appearance actually plays an important role on Instagram, and studies have shown that teens and young adults experience distress, body dissatisfaction, and pressure to look perfect on social media. Since Instagram gives its users the opportunity to edit content before posting it on their profile, users tend to resort to behaviors such as image filtering.
Previous studies have emphasized the importance and extent of using social media, especially the Instagram social network, in the world and in Iran, and clearly confirmed the mutual effect of its use with psychological issues, including people's attitudes about their body image among the users of this network. It is important to note that most researches have focused on the role of using Instagram on psychological variables, but this research focused on the role of body image variable on the use of Instagram. Although two-way relationship is tested in correlation studies, the goal of the researchers in terms of predictor variables and criteria determines the direction of the analysis. Based on this, this research sought to determine the relationship between the body image of the studied community and the use of Instagram after examining the status of the variables of Instagram use and body image among the subjects under study ( University of Birjand students)?
Instagram is a visual program that has given its users the ability to send photos, videos, selfies, live broadcasts, and in addition has created the necessary interaction so that users can react to the stories and posts of their followers. The many features of this platform and its attractiveness for young people made the community under study of this research to show high statistics of using this media (based on the results of the first question). This issue can provide many opportunities for society's decision makers to use these capabilities in the service of raising the standards of today's social life. Therefore, domestic similar platforms should be strengthened so that they can replace it due to the filtering of this social media. However, due to the international nature of Instagram, it is unlikely that a suitable alternative will be found for it; Therefore, it is suggested to facilitate favorable conditions for students to use this media along with their awareness about its benefits and harms. Because filtering media that is very popular among young people will cause dissatisfaction and hidden and open social aggressions.
Data were collected using body image questionnaires (Littleton et al., 2005) and using Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). The body image questionnaire (Littleton et al., 2005) contains 19 items and uses a Likert scale (scored from 1 meaning never to 5 meaning always). The validity of this questionnaire using the correlation method with the self-report scale of body dysmorphic disorder was reported as 0.83 in the research of Littleton et al. (2005). Also, in a study conducted by Basak Nejad and Ghaffari (2006), the validity of this questionnaire was tested and confirmed using the correlation coefficient between this scale and the fear of negative evaluation of physical appearance (r=0.55). The reliability of the questionnaire in the research of Littleton et al. (2005) was evaluated by the internal consistency method and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained was equal to 0.93. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the first and second factors was 0.92 and 0.76, respectively, and the correlation coefficient between the two factors (1. apparent dissatisfaction and 2. functional interference) was 0.69. In the research of Rostagarinia and Ali Khademi (2022), the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha method was 0.86 for the entire questionnaire, 0.84 for the first subscale (apparent dissatisfaction) and 0.71 for the second subscale (functional interference). It is reported that it indicates acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. In the present study, Cronbach's alpha of the whole body image questionnaire was 0.88, the first component (appearance dissatisfaction) was 0.84, and the second component (functional interference) was 0.77.
The second questionnaire was the use of Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). This questionnaire contains 13 items and has been used in many personality and clinical research projects due to its high validity (Pouyanfar, 2019). In this research, the validity of this questionnaire was checked and confirmed using the content validity method (subject experts and professors). Lezbana (2015) reported the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81 and Pouyanfar (2019) 0.83. In the current study, the Cronbach's alpha of the Instagram usage questionnaire was 0.81.
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-________________________________________________________________________
The Journal of Human Information Interaction is supported by Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
This work is published under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-test). The software used for statistical analysis was SPSS version 25. In addition, the normality of the data distribution was confirmed using the Kolomogrov-Smirnov test.
The results of the first question, which asked the students' use of the social network Instagram, were obtained in such a way that the sample T-Tech test showed that the students' use of Instagram, despite being filtered, with an average of 43.53 at the level of 0.01, is significantly higher than The average was 39. The findings showed that most of the respondents (138 people) have been using Instagram for more than 4 years, the respondents spend between 1 and 2 hours on Instagram, the number of posts they share on this platform is less than 10 posts, and according to the results, although They post pictures on Instagram once a month. The respondents checked Instagram sometimes and agreed that they devoted a part of their daily schedule to Instagram and that Instagram was a part of the respondents' daily activities; So that they used Instagram in their free time, at work or class, etc. In the end, the respondents believed that they should be present on Instagram all day and if they are not present, their communication is cut off.
McCormick (2018) believes that Instagram is a social network platform, and the adoption of this program by many users and the use of new technologies in different fields increase the value of this program day by day, and the reason that makes it more attractive to advertisers is the young audience of this program. . According to the latest statistics of the Statista website, users aged 25 to 34 are the largest age group of Instagram users worldwide, followed by people aged 18 to 24, and in the meantime, India is at the top of the list of Instagram users with 201 million Instagram users. . Bolton et al. (2013) concluded that young consumers are a technologically savvy and visually advanced generation, and their adaptability to using technology eases many issues because they are born with the introduction of technology. Starcevich and Konjikoshi (2018) also believe that the young generation has the most participation in social media when compared to previous generations. Other researches inside and outside the country such as Poyanfar (2019); Borbor and Tajik Ismaili (1401); Brati and Atrian (1400); Kapenter et al. (2020); Huang and Chu (2018) have obtained results consistent with the results of this research.
The results of the second question, how do the students perceive their body image? It showed that the students' opinion about the negative image of their own body was significantly lower than the average, in other words, they did not have a very unfavorable image of their appearance. Also, the respondents were rarely dissatisfied with some parts of their appearance, sometimes they spend considerable time in the mirror, they never feel that the people around them have a negative opinion about them, if they are dissatisfied with their appearance, they still participate in social activities, use cosmetics to improve their appearance. They rarely seek approval from others about their appearance, they are not afraid of others finding fault with their appearance, and they do not avoid looking in the mirror. The results of the T-Tech exam of the sample of students regarding their body image with two research components (appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference) are reported with an average level. The results show that the status of students regarding their body image with an average of 41.78 at the level of 0.01 is significantly lower than the average of 57. Also, the state of apparent dissatisfaction of students with an average of 20.93 and functional interference with an average of 20.85 is significant at the level of 0.01 and below the average; Therefore, the students had a relatively positive image of their body. Mohad et al. (2013) in their research, consistent with the current research, concluded that 85% of the respondents are more than average satisfied with their body. In the case of those who had an unfavorable body image, this dissatisfaction with appearance increased the desire to wear makeup. Also, interference in a person's social performance increases both the desire and the practice of makeup. Khodaparast et al. (2019) obtained the average of body image components and compared it with the average, and concluded that the sample people have a positive and favorable view of their body image. Contrary to the present study, Wood-Barkalow et al. (2010) concluded that 12 of the respondents were not satisfied with their body image. It seems that the type of subjects of this study did not have an effect on obtaining these results. Students in an active and rich environment usually receive positive feedback from their friends, and at a young age, due to physical health and vitality, a person's attitude towards his body is more positive than at an older age.
In the research hypothesis, students' body image predicts their use of Instagram. The results were such that in this hypothesis, the components of body image including appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were considered as predictor variables and Instagram use as criterion variable. The results of the variable correlation test (as a regression assumption) showed that there is a significant relationship between body image and both of its components, i.e., appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference (as a predictor variable) and using Instagram (as a criterion variable) at the level of 0.05. Appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were the variables entered in the regression equation at the same time, and both variables remained in the model. Chua and Chang's (2016) research showed that people's feedback from peers and society has a significant effect on the dissemination of photos published on Instagram, and functional interference is a predictor of Instagram use. Verastro et al. (2020) conducted a study, and the results showed that people who felt more anxious and uncomfortable about their body image and had more pressure to comply with social media standards were people who edited their pictures and then posted them online. upload, internalize the beauty stereotype suggested by Instagram and use Instagram more. Pedalino and Camrini (2022) obtained results consistent with this research, which was associated with lower levels of body satisfaction in the target population due to the social comparison process of ideal body images shared on the Instagram platform.
Fardouli et al. (2022) used the multiple regression method in their research and the result of their research was also consistent with the present research. Also, Cowles et al. (2023) concluded that participants who spent more time on Instagram had higher levels of body dissatisfaction and more comparisons of physical appearance. In their research, Sohrabzadeh et al. (2018) concluded that there is a significant and direct relationship between body image and the use of Instagram with a correlation coefficient (0.236) and a significance level (0.0001). In addition, Sadeghzadeh et al. (2018) reported in their study that dissatisfaction with body image has a significant and positive relationship with the amount of use of Instagram (r = 0.64, p<0.01).
Mousa Bamir, Associate Professor Maryam Okhvati,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: Information behavior is a term used to describe the ways of human interaction with information, especially information search methods, which is intended to understand the relationship between humans and information. Information behavior refers to the complex patterns of human behavior and mutual interactions when searching for any type of information, which leads to information seeking Information seeking, as an information behavior, is a set of activities that are used to meet information needs, information search, information search method and factors affecting information search, and includes two important aspects, information search and information retrieval, which In it, recognition, evaluation and understanding of users' behavior with information needs and their performance in facing information sources, the method of retrieving and accessing information are taken into consideration. Information seeking is a growing behavior that has enabled individuals and organizations to change their information seeking behaviors to meet their needs and users. Searching for information has been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, which today, with the increase in the number of sources, the number of information systems, the prevalence of social networks, collaborative research and the increase in digital literacy, increase cooperation. International scientific events, multi-specialization of research, increase of work teams, etc. have led to a change in information behavior. Since the type of information behavior has seen many changes as a result of the interactions of existing information carriers and the effects of technology, and is of great importance in today's world, and so far no research has been conducted in the form of a review of information search behaviors, in The world level has not been done, so it is necessary to have a comprehensive research of information search behaviors, all existing studies should be included in one study in order to get a general impression of information search behaviors and their direction. Based on this, the researchers of this research decided to review the studies related to information seeking behaviors, to determine their direction.
Methodology: In order to examine the topic of the research, a narrative review method has been used. Narrative review is one of the important scientific functions that is used to review detailed and comprehensive topics. In fact, a narrative review creates a bridge between a wide and scattered set of articles on a topic or a reader who does not have enough time and resources to follow them. Since in this research, giving meaning to scattered and read sources does not require the study of individual sources, therefore, narrative review is an appropriate method. In this narrative review study, in order to collect data, keywords related to information search behavior in English such as Information seeking behavior, collaborative information seeking, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information behavior and IIB and search for Persian articles using keywords, collaborative information search, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative sense, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information search, and IIB; In the reliable scientific databases and search engines, Web of Science, Pubmed, google scholar, Google SID, Magiran were examined in the period from 1980 to 2023, which 115 studies were obtained in the initial search and after entering the entry criteria and Exclusion, studies that were generally in the field of information seeking behavior were excluded from the study circle and 12 related studies entered the final stage. Then related studies were summarized in terms of concept and findings and categorized and interpreted in the form of individual and collaborative search behavior.
Findings: After searching and selecting related articles, finally analysis was done on twelve articles. What was extracted from the results of this narrative review study, in the general field of information search behavior, in the 4 main axes of individual search behavior, cooperative search behavior, advantages and disadvantages of individual and cooperative search behavior, and the comparison of these two types of information search behavior are described below. This narrative review study was carried out in order to investigate the direction of information behaviors, the findings of this research generally showed that the studies investigated individual and cooperative information behavior and the difference between these two behaviors and the reasons for the direction of individual search behavior. According to the results of studies, one of the types of information search behavior is individual search behavior. As the findings of the research showed, information behaviors have been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, but in the early stages, in most of these studies, the emphasis was on individual needs and behaviors. It has also been investigated in some studies. Kolthau, by studying the search behavior of high school students, presented a model for individual search behavior. Ellis also presented a model for individual information seeking behavior, which is the result of studying the information seeking behavior of engineers and researchers of an industrial company, which examined the search behavior from an individual point of view. presented, which paid attention to the individual nature of information search. After studying the researches conducted on the information behaviors of engineers, doctors and lawyers, Laki and his colleagues have presented a model for individual information behavior. Another area investigated in the present study was the investigation of collaborative information behavior. The findings of the research showed that in recent years, many researches have been proposed and investigated in the field of collaborative behavior, and they have investigated the motivating factors and obstacles in the collaborative search behavior. In his last work, Shah has introduced participatory search behavior as an interdisciplinary field that is based on participation, human-computer interaction, networks and social media. In another research, the collaborative search behavior in an exploratory search team has been investigated. In this research, three main factors in the collaborative search behavior were identified, which are: repeated communication between team members, division of work and awareness. Karanakaran, with the cooperation of Reddy, has studied the factors inhibiting cooperative behaviors in organizations by using the findings of previous researches. Another area investigated in this research is the difference between individual and collaborative search behavior. The findings of this research showed that both types of search behavior have obstacles and inhibiting factors. The research findings of Karanakaran and Redi have identified the factors of complexity of information needs, lack of sufficient expertise, dispersion of information sources and lack of access to information sources as the advantages of cooperative information behavior. Some studies have also identified the barriers to cooperative information behavior and the lack of spirit of participation, responsibility, and envy of the progress of others is a serious obstacle to any cooperative activity. Another area investigated by the research is the comparison of these two types of information search behavior. The findings of this research showed that the strengths and motivating factors of collaborative search behavior along with the weaknesses of individual search behavior and other stimuli are among the most important differences of this research. There are two types of information search behavior, which has provided the context for the orientation from individual to collaborative search behavior. Reddy and Jansen observed that two main concepts: (a) collaboration (two or more people working together to search for information) and (b) solving an information need as a group; Also, the important role of communication as the first motivating factors has been one of the most important reasons for the direction towards collaborative search. In another study, Kurankaran and colleagues considered the stimuli and technology of information and communication recovery as one of the main motivating factors in directing towards cooperative behavior. Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. Although there are different views and different vocabulary in the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior and clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages and despite some barriers to collaborative search and some strengths of individual search, but stimuli such as The complex nature of information, dispersion of information, lack of specialization, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information search, meaning understanding, information search troubleshooting, workload sharing, sending diverse questions, communication and interaction. , the complexity of information problems, the interdisciplinary nature of information, understanding the behavior of collaborative information in organizations, in turn, are the starting point and the factor of moving from individual search to collaborative search. The researchers believe that, despite the identification of the direction of information behaviors, there are still gaps, and to know how this process is, one should learn about the existing approaches in the field of information systems design and identify the type of information behaviors based on this.Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Conclusion: Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. However, there are different views and different terminology on the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior, and a clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages. The research findings indicated that despite the barriers and benefits of individual and collaborative information seeking behavior, factors such as the complex nature of information, scattered information, lack of expertise, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information seeking, understanding meaning, motivation for collaboration, workload sharing, diversity of requests, communication and interaction, complexity of information problems, interdisciplinary nature of information, and understanding of collaborative information behavior in organizations are motivating factors leading to a shift from individual to collaborative information seeking behavior. Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Methodology: In order to examine the topic of the research, a narrative review method has been used. Narrative review is one of the important scientific functions that is used to review detailed and comprehensive topics. In fact, a narrative review creates a bridge between a wide and scattered set of articles on a topic or a reader who does not have enough time and resources to follow them. Since in this research, giving meaning to scattered and read sources does not require the study of individual sources, therefore, narrative review is an appropriate method. In this narrative review study, in order to collect data, keywords related to information search behavior in English such as Information seeking behavior, collaborative information seeking, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information behavior and IIB and search for Persian articles using keywords, collaborative information search, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative sense, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information search, and IIB; In the reliable scientific databases and search engines, Web of Science, Pubmed, google scholar, Google SID, Magiran were examined in the period from 1980 to 2023, which 115 studies were obtained in the initial search and after entering the entry criteria and Exclusion, studies that were generally in the field of information seeking behavior were excluded from the study circle and 12 related studies entered the final stage. Then related studies were summarized in terms of concept and findings and categorized and interpreted in the form of individual and collaborative search behavior.
Findings: After searching and selecting related articles, finally analysis was done on twelve articles. What was extracted from the results of this narrative review study, in the general field of information search behavior, in the 4 main axes of individual search behavior, cooperative search behavior, advantages and disadvantages of individual and cooperative search behavior, and the comparison of these two types of information search behavior are described below. This narrative review study was carried out in order to investigate the direction of information behaviors, the findings of this research generally showed that the studies investigated individual and cooperative information behavior and the difference between these two behaviors and the reasons for the direction of individual search behavior. According to the results of studies, one of the types of information search behavior is individual search behavior. As the findings of the research showed, information behaviors have been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, but in the early stages, in most of these studies, the emphasis was on individual needs and behaviors. It has also been investigated in some studies. Kolthau, by studying the search behavior of high school students, presented a model for individual search behavior. Ellis also presented a model for individual information seeking behavior, which is the result of studying the information seeking behavior of engineers and researchers of an industrial company, which examined the search behavior from an individual point of view. presented, which paid attention to the individual nature of information search. After studying the researches conducted on the information behaviors of engineers, doctors and lawyers, Laki and his colleagues have presented a model for individual information behavior. Another area investigated in the present study was the investigation of collaborative information behavior. The findings of the research showed that in recent years, many researches have been proposed and investigated in the field of collaborative behavior, and they have investigated the motivating factors and obstacles in the collaborative search behavior. In his last work, Shah has introduced participatory search behavior as an interdisciplinary field that is based on participation, human-computer interaction, networks and social media. In another research, the collaborative search behavior in an exploratory search team has been investigated. In this research, three main factors in the collaborative search behavior were identified, which are: repeated communication between team members, division of work and awareness. Karanakaran, with the cooperation of Reddy, has studied the factors inhibiting cooperative behaviors in organizations by using the findings of previous researches. Another area investigated in this research is the difference between individual and collaborative search behavior. The findings of this research showed that both types of search behavior have obstacles and inhibiting factors. The research findings of Karanakaran and Redi have identified the factors of complexity of information needs, lack of sufficient expertise, dispersion of information sources and lack of access to information sources as the advantages of cooperative information behavior. Some studies have also identified the barriers to cooperative information behavior and the lack of spirit of participation, responsibility, and envy of the progress of others is a serious obstacle to any cooperative activity. Another area investigated by the research is the comparison of these two types of information search behavior. The findings of this research showed that the strengths and motivating factors of collaborative search behavior along with the weaknesses of individual search behavior and other stimuli are among the most important differences of this research. There are two types of information search behavior, which has provided the context for the orientation from individual to collaborative search behavior. Reddy and Jansen observed that two main concepts: (a) collaboration (two or more people working together to search for information) and (b) solving an information need as a group; Also, the important role of communication as the first motivating factors has been one of the most important reasons for the direction towards collaborative search. In another study, Kurankaran and colleagues considered the stimuli and technology of information and communication recovery as one of the main motivating factors in directing towards cooperative behavior. Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. Although there are different views and different vocabulary in the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior and clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages and despite some barriers to collaborative search and some strengths of individual search, but stimuli such as The complex nature of information, dispersion of information, lack of specialization, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information search, meaning understanding, information search troubleshooting, workload sharing, sending diverse questions, communication and interaction. , the complexity of information problems, the interdisciplinary nature of information, understanding the behavior of collaborative information in organizations, in turn, are the starting point and the factor of moving from individual search to collaborative search. The researchers believe that, despite the identification of the direction of information behaviors, there are still gaps, and to know how this process is, one should learn about the existing approaches in the field of information systems design and identify the type of information behaviors based on this.Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Conclusion: Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. However, there are different views and different terminology on the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior, and a clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages. The research findings indicated that despite the barriers and benefits of individual and collaborative information seeking behavior, factors such as the complex nature of information, scattered information, lack of expertise, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information seeking, understanding meaning, motivation for collaboration, workload sharing, diversity of requests, communication and interaction, complexity of information problems, interdisciplinary nature of information, and understanding of collaborative information behavior in organizations are motivating factors leading to a shift from individual to collaborative information seeking behavior. Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Shahrzad Nasrollahzadeh, Safiyeh Tahmasebi Limooni, Mitra Ghiasi,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Studies show that limited models have been designed to measure women's information sharing behavior, but so far no valid and reliable tool has been provided to measure women's information sharing behavior in information environments. Since knowing and determining the type of information environment and the extent of their use in information sharing behavior is very effective in strengthening information channels, and informal communication is extremely important in scientific relations, and women, as one of the social groups in a prestigious positions in Society; Most of their information needs are met through informal channels of information, so it is necessary to examine women's information environments; Because the identification of these environments is a solid foundation for planning and making changes in the type and manner of presenting macro-policies with the aim of women achieving dignified competencies, and it can also be a way to optimize information environments. Therefore, the purpose of the current research is to construct and validate a questionnaire to analyze the information sharing behavior of women in information environments.
Materials and methods:This research is mixed in terms of applied objective, in terms of exploratory approach, and in terms of data collection method. The statistical population in the qualitative section includes 15 experts and in the quantitative section includes all women (20 years old and above) active members of urban institutional public libraries in the city centers of Mazandaran province, numbering 4936 people. The sample size was 357 people who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling in 1401. The proportional stratified random sampling method has other names such as "matched sampling", "proportionate to volume" and "proportional" method. This method is used when the target population of the research has a heterogeneous and inconsistent structure. Therefore, due to heterogeneous and heterogeneity, in such cases, the research community is divided into different "classes", in fact, by using stratified sampling, the society is divided into homogeneous groups, so that the people in each class are similar and homogeneous. Then, a random sample is selected from each class in proportion to the number of people in the community. In this method, the researcher wants to select the research sample in such a way as to make sure that the subgroups are present in the sample with the same proportion as they exist in the society as representatives of the society. In other words, in this sampling method, the studied community units are grouped into classes that are homogeneous and congruent in terms of variable attributes so that their changes and diversity within the groups are reduced. As a result, groups and classes that have similar characteristics are formed. Then, with this action (dividing the society into homogeneous groups), the number of samples for each group is determined, then by using the simple random sampling method, the required number of people from each group will be selected in proportion. In this research, through stratified sampling, three geographical regions (east, west and center of Mazandaran province) were considered as strata, in such a way that the researcher entered the selected geographical strata after obtaining the necessary permits and filled out the questionnaire as It was randomly distributed among the designated groups. The sample size in this research was selected and precisely determined based on Cochran's formula. . The pattern of information sharing behavior of women in information environments, 34 questions in 10 dimensions of personal and personal motives; spatial factors; time factors; social motives, cultural motives; moral motives; motivation of informational awareness, political motivation; The information sharing environment and information sharing method was designed. Then, in order to analyze the data using statistical techniques and Smart PLS statistical software, content validity ratio and confirmatory factor analysis, instrument validity, check, and finally with Cronbach's alpha method and reliability coefficient. Combined, the reliability of the instrument was determined.
Findings: In the findings of the present research, the results showed that people with different motivations and to meet different needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using these environments for sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural and social institutions and especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies in providing the best possible services. Reviewing what was previously discussed, people go to informal information sources such as their family members, relatives, and friends to obtain information. They were very dependent. Lack of access, illiteracy, lack of awareness, unfavorable economic conditions, cultural restrictions, and language or communication barriers have been declared as the main obstacles in obtaining daily information for women. Also, the findings regarding the background factors of women's information environments in information sharing showed that people do not depend on environmental factors and time factors, which were considered as the governing factors in women's information sharing in information environments, to establish social interaction. People are willing to engage in social interaction anywhere, at any time, and at different and unexpected places. When people gather in an information field, they actually participate in social interaction, and conversation about life, generalities, and specific circumstances that lead to unexpected and sometimes purposeful finding of information and formal and informal sharing of information on various topics. In the provided tool, it was found that including "moral", "social", "cultural" and "political" motivations among women can be important factors of information sharing in information environments and it is necessary to observe ethical minimums in information environments. To be Political issues, dimensions and sensitivity to them is another important issue that can be seen in this tool and must be observed by women in information environments and during information sharing. The type and cultural level of people and the sense of security guarantee for women are effective while sharing information in information environments. Therefore, the role of these factors in information sharing in information environments should not be ignored. Because these factors lead to the emergence of planned behaviors by women in information sharing and increase the confidence factor of the abilities of these environments, which ultimately, in this way, they feel satisfied with social interactions and information sharing. Also, based on the results of the research in the presented scale, the direct and indirect planning of discussions and the use of social networks have been approved as strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments. In fact, the strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments are a set of reasons that their implementati on and application cause the emergence of information sharing consequences in women's information environments. Environments such as parks or family gatherings are suitable environments for sharing information and experiences. A large part of the information we receive is obtained in a social context and in the form of interaction with familiar people, family members, and friends. In addition, the behavior of sharing information in women's information environments is done through "direct discussions". In social interactions, information is created and shared. Therefore, the most important issue in the information sharing process is effective interactions, and this usually happens through direct (face-to-face) or indirect communication. Formal and informal social interactions between people provide channels for creates information sharing between them. Through social interactions, people find more opportunities to share their information and experiences, and as a result, the flow of information increases. A review of researches shows that obtaining information in any period and for any user under any conditions is one of the main concerns. Because most of the responsibility of the family rests with women, especially regarding health, education and acquiring the necessary skills in household affairs. So they need more information. The sharing of information among women can be effective in raising children and strengthening the foundations of life, which in itself causes the society to flourish and grow more and more. How much the people present in the information environment show enthusiasm towards receiving or providing information is effective in the process of information sharing. Finally, the findings of the research showed that the structure of the pattern of women's information sharing behavior in information environments was confirmed according to the content validity ratio (0.76) and confirmatory factor analysis with the goodness of fit index (GOF) equal to 0.3285. Also, the tool had good reliability with total Cronbach's alpha values (0.988). On the other hand, the results of Figure (1) and Table 4 also show that the 34 items in question can be reduced to 10 factors. The contribution of each factor in explaining the variance of 34 items related to the designed questionnaire is different and decreasing. That is, the first factor has the largest contribution (24.70% with a specific value of 8.40) and the tenth factor with (2.97% and a specific value of 1.01) has the lowest contribution in explaining the variance of these 34 items. In total, all 10 factors have been able to explain 70.40% of the variance of the 34 items related to the designed questionnaire with specific values higher than 1. The results of the independent sample One Sample T-Test also showed that the significance level of the test regarding all the components of women's information sharing in information environments is less than the error level of 0.05% and the average of these variables is 3 (the middle of the Likert scale) 5 options is more and also the upper limit and lower limit of all the variables are both positive values, with confidence above 95%, it can be stated that the information sharing of women in information environments and its components are in a relatively favorable situation.
Conclusion: The scale designed to investigate the information sharing behavior of women in information environments in the work environment has been evaluated as suitable according to the revealed factors, and its use is recommended to measure the information sharing behavior of women in information environments. All criteria of Cronbach's alpha, significance of factor loadings between questions and underlying variables, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Discriminant validity by Fornell and Larcker method, as well as the appropriateness of the measurement model, indicate that the questionnaire used in this research measures what the researchers are looking for. Therefore, the built tool provides the criteria of the behavior pattern of women's information sharing in information environments to the researchers. The results of the current research showed that people with different motivations and needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using information environments in sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural, and social institutions, especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies, provide the best possible services. Discovered factors include:
Individual and personality motivations with sub-factors (personal desire, altruism, individual and personality fit, individual interests, and recognition of personality dimensions to share information between individuals or other; Spatial factors with sub-factors (no place and no need for a specific place for information sharing behavior in information environments); Time factors with sub-factors (timelessness, unplanned and completely accidental occurrence of information sharing behavior in information environments); Social motivations with sub-factors (social interaction, promotion of social status, and the desire to communicate in order to engage in information sharing behavior in information environments); Cultural motivations with sub-factors (people's cultural level, the existence of an information-seeking culture in people and the existence of an information-seeking culture in sharing); Ethical motives with sub-factors (religious and religious considerations in information sharing, interpersonal trust in information sharing, and privacy in information sharing); Information awareness motivation with sub-factors (gaining awareness of the results and consequences of information sharing behavior, information and knowledge sharing, exchange of knowledge and information, exchange of experience and scientific considerations affected by the results and consequences of information sharing in information environments); Political motivation with sub-factors (political issues and sensitivities in society, the existence of a sense of political security in society, the distribution and transfer of political information from one person, group, or organization to another, and the sharing of ideas and thoughts, suggestions, and experiences); Information sharing environment with sub-agents (formal gatherings, friendly meetings and informal gatherings and social networks to share information in information environments) and finally how to share information with sub-agents (direct plan of topics, indirect plan of topics and how to share information in Women's information environments were with information taken from social networks, family periodicals, etc.) , which by measuring in the experimental environment of public libraries of Mazandaran province, while confirming their efficiency in cultural environments, it was determined that the built tools are qualitatively and quantitatively capable has the measurement of the desired variable. Therefore, it is suggested:
Materials and methods:This research is mixed in terms of applied objective, in terms of exploratory approach, and in terms of data collection method. The statistical population in the qualitative section includes 15 experts and in the quantitative section includes all women (20 years old and above) active members of urban institutional public libraries in the city centers of Mazandaran province, numbering 4936 people. The sample size was 357 people who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling in 1401. The proportional stratified random sampling method has other names such as "matched sampling", "proportionate to volume" and "proportional" method. This method is used when the target population of the research has a heterogeneous and inconsistent structure. Therefore, due to heterogeneous and heterogeneity, in such cases, the research community is divided into different "classes", in fact, by using stratified sampling, the society is divided into homogeneous groups, so that the people in each class are similar and homogeneous. Then, a random sample is selected from each class in proportion to the number of people in the community. In this method, the researcher wants to select the research sample in such a way as to make sure that the subgroups are present in the sample with the same proportion as they exist in the society as representatives of the society. In other words, in this sampling method, the studied community units are grouped into classes that are homogeneous and congruent in terms of variable attributes so that their changes and diversity within the groups are reduced. As a result, groups and classes that have similar characteristics are formed. Then, with this action (dividing the society into homogeneous groups), the number of samples for each group is determined, then by using the simple random sampling method, the required number of people from each group will be selected in proportion. In this research, through stratified sampling, three geographical regions (east, west and center of Mazandaran province) were considered as strata, in such a way that the researcher entered the selected geographical strata after obtaining the necessary permits and filled out the questionnaire as It was randomly distributed among the designated groups. The sample size in this research was selected and precisely determined based on Cochran's formula. . The pattern of information sharing behavior of women in information environments, 34 questions in 10 dimensions of personal and personal motives; spatial factors; time factors; social motives, cultural motives; moral motives; motivation of informational awareness, political motivation; The information sharing environment and information sharing method was designed. Then, in order to analyze the data using statistical techniques and Smart PLS statistical software, content validity ratio and confirmatory factor analysis, instrument validity, check, and finally with Cronbach's alpha method and reliability coefficient. Combined, the reliability of the instrument was determined.
Findings: In the findings of the present research, the results showed that people with different motivations and to meet different needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using these environments for sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural and social institutions and especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies in providing the best possible services. Reviewing what was previously discussed, people go to informal information sources such as their family members, relatives, and friends to obtain information. They were very dependent. Lack of access, illiteracy, lack of awareness, unfavorable economic conditions, cultural restrictions, and language or communication barriers have been declared as the main obstacles in obtaining daily information for women. Also, the findings regarding the background factors of women's information environments in information sharing showed that people do not depend on environmental factors and time factors, which were considered as the governing factors in women's information sharing in information environments, to establish social interaction. People are willing to engage in social interaction anywhere, at any time, and at different and unexpected places. When people gather in an information field, they actually participate in social interaction, and conversation about life, generalities, and specific circumstances that lead to unexpected and sometimes purposeful finding of information and formal and informal sharing of information on various topics. In the provided tool, it was found that including "moral", "social", "cultural" and "political" motivations among women can be important factors of information sharing in information environments and it is necessary to observe ethical minimums in information environments. To be Political issues, dimensions and sensitivity to them is another important issue that can be seen in this tool and must be observed by women in information environments and during information sharing. The type and cultural level of people and the sense of security guarantee for women are effective while sharing information in information environments. Therefore, the role of these factors in information sharing in information environments should not be ignored. Because these factors lead to the emergence of planned behaviors by women in information sharing and increase the confidence factor of the abilities of these environments, which ultimately, in this way, they feel satisfied with social interactions and information sharing. Also, based on the results of the research in the presented scale, the direct and indirect planning of discussions and the use of social networks have been approved as strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments. In fact, the strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments are a set of reasons that their implementati on and application cause the emergence of information sharing consequences in women's information environments. Environments such as parks or family gatherings are suitable environments for sharing information and experiences. A large part of the information we receive is obtained in a social context and in the form of interaction with familiar people, family members, and friends. In addition, the behavior of sharing information in women's information environments is done through "direct discussions". In social interactions, information is created and shared. Therefore, the most important issue in the information sharing process is effective interactions, and this usually happens through direct (face-to-face) or indirect communication. Formal and informal social interactions between people provide channels for creates information sharing between them. Through social interactions, people find more opportunities to share their information and experiences, and as a result, the flow of information increases. A review of researches shows that obtaining information in any period and for any user under any conditions is one of the main concerns. Because most of the responsibility of the family rests with women, especially regarding health, education and acquiring the necessary skills in household affairs. So they need more information. The sharing of information among women can be effective in raising children and strengthening the foundations of life, which in itself causes the society to flourish and grow more and more. How much the people present in the information environment show enthusiasm towards receiving or providing information is effective in the process of information sharing. Finally, the findings of the research showed that the structure of the pattern of women's information sharing behavior in information environments was confirmed according to the content validity ratio (0.76) and confirmatory factor analysis with the goodness of fit index (GOF) equal to 0.3285. Also, the tool had good reliability with total Cronbach's alpha values (0.988). On the other hand, the results of Figure (1) and Table 4 also show that the 34 items in question can be reduced to 10 factors. The contribution of each factor in explaining the variance of 34 items related to the designed questionnaire is different and decreasing. That is, the first factor has the largest contribution (24.70% with a specific value of 8.40) and the tenth factor with (2.97% and a specific value of 1.01) has the lowest contribution in explaining the variance of these 34 items. In total, all 10 factors have been able to explain 70.40% of the variance of the 34 items related to the designed questionnaire with specific values higher than 1. The results of the independent sample One Sample T-Test also showed that the significance level of the test regarding all the components of women's information sharing in information environments is less than the error level of 0.05% and the average of these variables is 3 (the middle of the Likert scale) 5 options is more and also the upper limit and lower limit of all the variables are both positive values, with confidence above 95%, it can be stated that the information sharing of women in information environments and its components are in a relatively favorable situation.
Conclusion: The scale designed to investigate the information sharing behavior of women in information environments in the work environment has been evaluated as suitable according to the revealed factors, and its use is recommended to measure the information sharing behavior of women in information environments. All criteria of Cronbach's alpha, significance of factor loadings between questions and underlying variables, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Discriminant validity by Fornell and Larcker method, as well as the appropriateness of the measurement model, indicate that the questionnaire used in this research measures what the researchers are looking for. Therefore, the built tool provides the criteria of the behavior pattern of women's information sharing in information environments to the researchers. The results of the current research showed that people with different motivations and needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using information environments in sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural, and social institutions, especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies, provide the best possible services. Discovered factors include:
Individual and personality motivations with sub-factors (personal desire, altruism, individual and personality fit, individual interests, and recognition of personality dimensions to share information between individuals or other; Spatial factors with sub-factors (no place and no need for a specific place for information sharing behavior in information environments); Time factors with sub-factors (timelessness, unplanned and completely accidental occurrence of information sharing behavior in information environments); Social motivations with sub-factors (social interaction, promotion of social status, and the desire to communicate in order to engage in information sharing behavior in information environments); Cultural motivations with sub-factors (people's cultural level, the existence of an information-seeking culture in people and the existence of an information-seeking culture in sharing); Ethical motives with sub-factors (religious and religious considerations in information sharing, interpersonal trust in information sharing, and privacy in information sharing); Information awareness motivation with sub-factors (gaining awareness of the results and consequences of information sharing behavior, information and knowledge sharing, exchange of knowledge and information, exchange of experience and scientific considerations affected by the results and consequences of information sharing in information environments); Political motivation with sub-factors (political issues and sensitivities in society, the existence of a sense of political security in society, the distribution and transfer of political information from one person, group, or organization to another, and the sharing of ideas and thoughts, suggestions, and experiences); Information sharing environment with sub-agents (formal gatherings, friendly meetings and informal gatherings and social networks to share information in information environments) and finally how to share information with sub-agents (direct plan of topics, indirect plan of topics and how to share information in Women's information environments were with information taken from social networks, family periodicals, etc.) , which by measuring in the experimental environment of public libraries of Mazandaran province, while confirming their efficiency in cultural environments, it was determined that the built tools are qualitatively and quantitatively capable has the measurement of the desired variable. Therefore, it is suggested:
- Necessary conditions to strengthen information sharing in information environments should be provided.
- New solutions for the optimal management of information sharing in information environments should be considered.
- Ways to create a positive attitude to promote and grow information sharing in information environments should be developed.
- An integrated approach of interaction and optimal communication for information sharing in information environments should be adopted.
- Training and providing all kinds of skills and specialized information for information sharing in information environments are essential.
- Motivating, encouraging, and promoting the use of information environments for information sharing should be prioritized.
- Identifying and determining the levels of access to information in information environments is crucial.
Dr Yazdan Shirmohammadi, Mr Qasem Aryafard,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
purpose: The mobile application market is expanding rapidly. Furthermore, a new form of online-to-offline services available in mobile shopping apps, which help users instantly search for what they want online, try them on in nearby offline stores, and pay online, increasingly becomes popular. As technology is developing rapidly and the smartphone has become an essential part of our daily life, the smartphone is a versatile tool that can perform many functions. Shopping also changes its process from offline to online and is based on mobile. With the increase in the use of the Internet from smartphones, most of the Internet consumption is done through smartphones and not through personal computers as in the past (Kim et al., 2021). In recent years, online to offline has emerged as a new e-commerce model that differs from traditional e-commerce models. In this model, consumers can obtain information, access products through an online channel, and then consume them in offline stores. The rapid development of the online to offline model has led to the rise of online tourism platforms. Some tour operators choose to cooperate with online tourism platforms to sell tourism products with the aim of expanding market demand. In the case of the online-to-offline tourism supply chain, the tourism platform sells its product online and the tour operator provides the service offline. Through division of labor and cooperation, both of them can focus on applying their respective advantages to achieve a win-win situation. With the online-to-offline tourism model, consumers can book tourism products through an online platform anytime, anywhere. Before making a final decision, consumers often review the information displayed on the web page of online tourism platforms, especially the available reviews (Luca and Zervas, 2016, as cited in Zhou et al., 2022). Tourists can gather online information about price, service level, and product quality to make better purchase decisions. This has created many opportunities as well as severe challenges for the survival and growth of tourism-related companies (He et al.,2019). Companies providing online to offline services recognize smartphones as a useful communication channel for strategic marketing, and therefore they are willing to use smartphones to provide various services and types of information directly to customers and constantly reflect their needs (Fuentes & Svingstedt, 2017). Since the online platform is data controlled, so that the information is asymmetric, there will be problems such as fake reviews, rating fraud, false advertising, etc. This phenomenon puts consumers in an unfavorable information situation. According to the "Online Tourism Consumption Trend Report and Consumer Rights Protection Trend Report (2019)", the problems of online tourism platforms are mainly focused on ten aspects, including information leakage, false advertising, tourism products with big data analysis to harm Existing consumer income and data fraud investigation (Zhou et al., 2022). These problems not only affect consumers' tourism experience and reduce consumer satisfaction, but also damage the credibility of the tourism platform and weaken consumers' trust in the platform. Therefore, privacy protection is an important problem in this field. Since online to offline applications in tourism is an emerging and practical issue, it is very important to investigate this issue in our country. Previous studies have largely ignored service quality evaluation and decision-making by traditional travel agencies, hotels, and airlines. Although the importance of service quality in tourism firm development has been demonstrated by some researchers, few have studied the benefits of service quality from online tourism supply chains to offline hospitality and tourism fields for tourists. Also, in the researcher's point of view, the features of mobile shopping applications that are based on online to offline services are questionable as to what features affect the delight and satisfaction of tourists and lead to the brand's reputation. Meanwhile, the influence of the information quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) and the services quality (including the convenient services quality and the accessible services quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications on the delight of tourists and the reputation of the tourism brand is questionable. The researcher thought that it was not investigated in the previous research and the researcher investigated these issues in this research.
Methodology:Considering that tourism and hotel businesses can easily use online to offline tourism platforms by applying the results of this research to have satisfied and loyal customers, this research is applied in terms of purpose. On the other hand, in this research, the type of relationship and the degree of influence of the variables were described, so the method of doing the work is descriptive and correlational. In fact, the impact of information and service quality on privacy protection, delight, and reputation of tourism brands in mobile shopping applications based on online to offline (O2O) is investigated. A quantitative method was also used to collect data. The statistical population of this research is European tourists who traveled to Iran. Since the target population is unlimited and its exact size is not available, according to Cochran's formula for the unlimited population, 384 people are considered for the sample size. The convenient non-randomly sampling method is a suitable method for sampling. The collection of information takes place in two stages: library and field. By referring to reliable databases, the researcher examines scientific articles, books, dissertations, and theses to prepare the theoretical foundations of his subject. Then, a questionnaire is used to collect the data required by the researcher in the field and survey method. The questionnaire was made by the researcher. The questionnaire includes five demographic questions (gender, age, marital status, education, employment status). 39 items were designed to answer the research questions, which are analyzed with a Likert scale. In the inferential findings section, the pairwise relationships of the variables were evaluated with Pearson correlation test and the conceptual model of the research was tested with structural equation modeling test with AMOS software. Also, mediation relationships were tested using the Sobel method.
Findings: The online-to-offline service platform channels provide tourists with innovative tools to get service information, order travel package online (via apps) and check-in offline almost instantly. The main purpose of this research is to discover the effect of information quality (including intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including convenient service quality and accessible service quality) perceived from online to offline based mobile shopping applications with perceived privacy protection on the delight of tourists and the reputation of the tourism brand. The findings indicated that the information quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) and the quality of services (including the convenient services quality and the accessible services quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications with the protection of privacy perceived on the delight of tourists and tourism brand reputation is effective and all hypotheses were confirmed.
Conclusion:In today's world, searching for information online is very important and common for tourists to make decisions. In recent years, online to offline has been used as a new e-commerce model. This research shows that all dimensions of a mobile phone shopping application, such as the information and services quality provided, privacy protection, are effective on delight of tourists and ultimately the brand's reputation. In fact, considering the wide importance of information needed by tourists, the validity of this information, considering the quality of intrinsic and textual information in applications is very important and effective. On the other hand, the quality of the services provided in these types of applications, easier access and their appropriateness are also factors that should be considered in this type of shopping applications. On the other hand, the higher the quality of information and services, the more the privacy of people in the online world is preserved and the delight of tourists increases. This delight of tourists also improves and increases the reputation of the attitudinal and behavioral brand.
This study investigates the impact of information quality including (intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications on delight of tourists and the behavioral and attitudinal reputation of the tourism brand. For this reason, the research model of Kim et al. (2021) is used, which was added to it with the researcher's innovation of the brand reputation variable. The results showed that the information quality intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications are effective on the delight of tourists and the behavioral and attitudinal reputation of the tourism brand. This research concludes that the quality of information provided in mobile shopping applications is important for tourists, especially European tourists in Iran. The quality of intrinsic information and the quality of textual information significantly affect tourists' perception of information quality, and this quality of information has an effect on the delight of tourist. Therefore, tourism industry managers should describe their products and services with detailed and accurate information. When providing it in mobile shopping applications, such as online-to-offline platforms, since the accuracy of information is a key feature of inherent information quality, practitioners in this industry must also thoroughly ensure that the data provided is up-to-date and reflect consumption transactions. Also, the results showed that convenience and high accessibility positively increase the perceived service quality of online to offline platforms. Based on this, tourism industry managers should create easier access for services. In particular, since new phone models are released frequently nowadays, mobile shopping applications must have compatible payment systems to remove barriers to tourists' purchases. Therefore, according to the available results, it is only in this case that mobile shopping applications can have high accessibility and convenience to affect the quality of mobile shopping application services. Another thing that was investigated in this research was the protection of privacy. The results show that privacy protection is a very important factor in creating the delight of tourists, this issue is observed in all the countries of the world that have achieved the technology of mobile shopping applications. Unfortunately, today, some technological advances endanger their privacy from the point of view of customers. For example, CCTV cameras, which are in most tourist places and should protect the safety of tourists, can violate their privacy, or artificial intelligence, which has many capabilities, in the view of some people, spies on their information and violates their privacy rights. Therefore, in the researcher's point of view, despite this level of concern in the world, tourists in our country also have concerns about privacy and take into account the care of their privacy when evaluating the quality of online services. As discussed in this study, managers should be confident that their security systems do not violate tourists' privacy to directly contribute to delight of tourist and brand reputation. Based on the results, it can be suggested that high-quality information helps customers who want to effectively find information on a specific topic and helps customers avoid unnecessary efforts to process useless information. Therefore, providing high-quality information can increase the delight of tourist. Tourism booking and review websites need to improve their entertainment element and create a more interactive and interesting experience for those browsing them. The information provided by the websites must be useful and up-to-date, match the needs of the user and provide links to other websites relevant to these users. By informing tourists about developments, sales plans, product updates and any other content they may find interesting and relevant, it helps to improve delight of tourists and ultimately brand reputation. Also, when tourists have a problem, they can be assured that they can talk to a genuine, caring and ideal person in person or on the phone. Even in the digital world, people like to connect with others. Since this research has a new topic in the field of technology in tourism, the researcher recommends that in future researches, this topic should be investigated with other statistical communities such as local tourists, international tourists, specific hotel guests and other sectors.
Marzieh Morovati, Nosrat Riahinia, Ali Azimi,
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Abstract
Background and Aim: The Covid-19 pandemic crisis has highlighted the importance of open and timely access to scientific information. The aim of this study was to explain the world community's efforts to open access in the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Method: This was a review study in terms of approach using documentary research method. In this regard, open access literature was studied using searches on Google search engine, Google Scholar and databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and the websites of publishers, journals and scientific institutions, focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Results: Since the formation of the open access movement, this issue has attracted a lot of attention and extensive efforts have been made in the direction of open access to research publications by the scientific community. Publishers, financial sponsors and international institutions have also entered this arena and various statements and plans have been formed in order to recognize the open access movement and its development. “Budapest Open Access Initiative”, “Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing”, “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” are the first measures in this regard. On the other hand, the importance of access to timely information, especially in the fields of medical sciences and information related to health and diseases, is worthy of attention in promoting public health. The need to pay attention to open access and sharing of information and the consequences of not doing so has become more important with the occurrence of critical and emergency situations caused by pandemic and public health emergencies. Along with the emergence of COVID-19 and the pandemic caused by it, many researches have been conducted in order to deal with the crisis of this disease and to find solutions for its treatment and control. The aspects of this deadly disease have attracted the attention of everyone, especially scientists and scholars in various fields around the world, and an unprecedented number of articles have been published in this field. In addition, many international organizations have published various information about the disease of COVID-19 in the form of open access, for example, “WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard” and "Coronavirus Watch". The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of information transparency and timely and open access to it. Access to accurate and timely information about this emerging disease is very important and can help to assess and understand the risks and obtain strategies to contain it, strong evidence, better information and support for decisions and policies in the direction of public health. The need to provide suitable solutions for treatment, prevention and control of the disease on the one hand and the increasing number of researches on COVID-19 on the other hand, has created new opportunities in the system of scientific communication and publication of research findings, and the scientific community has decided to accelerate the cycle of knowledge to find possible solutions to deal with the disease crisis. Explaining the efforts and measures taken in this direction during the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important global crisis and concern can provide useful information to the scientific community, especially those involved in research. Considering the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as the importance of timely and open access to scientific information about this disease, the question arises as to what measures have been taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Also, what measures and measures have been taken for free access to scientific information about the pandemic? A review of the literature regarding the issue of open access in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic showed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, a global effort has been made to facilitate open access to COVID-19 research findings. The need for appropriate strategies for the treatment, prevention and control of the disease and the increasing number of COVID-19 research has affected the system of scientific communication and the publication of research findings and the world community, especially reputable publishers and scientific institutions, have made extensive statements, measures and efforts to provide open access to as much scientific information as possible about the disease. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many publishers, journals and funders have committed to open access in a statement to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly to inform the public health response and help save lives. The measures and actions of publishers and scientific journals in this regard are worthy of attention. Access to Elsevier's free medical and health research related to COVID-19 is possible through the "Elsevier's Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier has also created a collection of free resources, including evidence-based clinical guidelines and more than 41,000 research articles to read, download and extract data, in support of the research communities' impressive efforts in the fight against COVID-19. This guide provides an overview of the resources. Through the "COVID-19 Resource Centre", Lancet has provided free access to all research articles, review articles, news and analysis related to COVID-19 from its journals. Springer Nature has provided free access to the latest COVID-19 articles through the "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research Highlights". The publisher has now enabled free access to articles, book chapters, reference works and protocols on its platforms and has supported all researchers to make their experimental datasets freely available. Springer Nature has made more than 8,700 preprint articles on COVID-19 available through “Research Square”, with links to key resources, free content, and up-to-date information related to COVID-19, along with key information and policies in support of access from placed far away. NEJM has made available a collection of articles and resources such as clinical reports and management guides about the pandemic, as well as a collection of resources about the COVID-19 vaccines. BMJ's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub has also supported health professionals and researchers through open access to practical guides, online courses, as well as the latest BMG news, opinions and research. PLOS is committed to publishing research as quickly as possible, especially in public health emergencies. All articles published in PLOS journals are free for all readers. PLOS articles collection highlights all the content related to the COVID-19 pandemic published in PLOS journals. To support the efforts of global health professionals and the scientific research community, Taylor & Francis has created a special collection of research articles related to COVID-19, providing free access to published articles related to COVID-19 in the publisher's major medical journals. he does. This collection is updated weekly. On the other hand, the archive of all research articles related to COVID-19 published in 2020 by Taylor & Francis has also been made available to the audience. Wiley has created the "COVID-19 Resources" in order to help researchers, educators and specialists for online training and access to the latest research on COVID-19. Believing in the power of social and behavioral sciences to transform the best medical research into policies and procedures for development, SAGE has published a collection of the latest medical research related to COVID-19 published by this publisher, as well as the best social and behavioral research in order to help It has enabled individuals, communities and guardians to make the best decisions to deal with the pandemic and its consequences. Science journals are trying to make research related to COVID-19 available in open access. The "COVID-19" option is placed on the main page of the Science website. CABI has also created free access to more than 37,000 records related to COVID-19 in its online platforms, Global Health and CAB Abstracts in order to support global efforts to deal with the disease pandemic. Global Health provides researchers and students with unparalleled access to all public health research and practices in the world - providing knowledge without borders. “Sci-Dev.Net” also includes episodes about the coronavirus in the Health, Science and Development series. Wolters Kluwer is also one of the publishers that has provided free access to publications related to COVID-19 in order to support professionals. According to IFLA reports, the actions of publishers such as Penguin Random House and Macmillan, as well as the measures of Audible and ENSSIB in terms of access to resources, are worthy of attention. Some libraries, such as the National Library and Archives of Iran, have provided extensive access to their users. Some associations and scientific societies, such as the International Coalition of Library Consortia, LIBER and the Association of University Library Directors in France, have asked publishers to facilitate access to works. Italian and Spanish librarians have called for more open access efforts. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, open access has also attracted the attention of scientific institutions, and extensive measures have been taken in this direction by them. In the January 30 statement, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board called for immediate measures such as the free and immediate sharing of all information about the pandemic, the cooperation of countries to immediately allocate resources to prevent, identify and inform about the pandemic and the rapid sharing of research data by the research community, support Low-income countries are advised to ensure proper notification to national and international communities to control the pandemic. On January 30, 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the disease pandemic a public health emergency of international concern. The world's scientists gathered on February 11-12, 2020 at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus and about critical questions and find solutions to contribute to accelerating and funding research priorities and solving the pandemic crisis and preparedness Discuss and negotiate for future issues. This meeting led to an agreement on two basic goals. The first case was to accelerate innovative research to help curb the pandemic and facilitate care, and the second case was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms. The World Health Organization believes that the coherence of countries is necessary to ensure fair access to the effects of COVID-19. The World Health Organization is collecting global research on the disease COVID-19 and the latest findings and international multilingual scientific information on the pandemic. UNESCO has also emphasized the value and necessity of open solutions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and believes that open access to scientific information can facilitate better and faster research in the direction of a suitable vaccine, and open Educational Resources help everyone to use their information. updates about COVID-19 and also teaches how to follow public health recommendations. Relying on its mission to ensure global access to information, UNESCO has taken various initiatives to apply open solutions in the fight against the pandemic. For example, the Coronavirus Watch provides a global view of the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 Universal REsource gateway (CURE) is also an immediate response to the pandemic. IFLA has made efforts to encourage the World Intellectual Property Organization to emphasize how balanced intellectual property laws can help facilitate access. IFLA has also provided a list of key resources for libraries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on its website. Open access is also emphasized in the statement of the President and Secretary General of IFLA. Following the COVID-19 crisis, priorities have also been considered in the SPARC program. Also, the Copyright Clearance Center recognizes publishing and information institutions to participate in the public interest through access to scientific, news and educational materials related to COVID-19. The list of institutions is regularly updated. The Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation Institute has also launched the "COVID-19 Visualizer" in order to provide up-to-date statistics about the pandemic situation and accelerate the transmission of scientific findings about COVID-19. In addition, government officials have also called for open access to the publications of COVID-19. The National Science and Technology Advisors of the United States of America, Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the European Commission have published an open letter asking scientific publishers to Pandemic, make publications related to COVID-19 available with open access through PubMed Central and other public databases such as the World Health Organization's COVID-19 database. The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. The present study is one of the first studies conducted in our country regarding the free access movement in the pandemic crisis and tried to present a picture of the efforts of the scientific community in this field in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that future researches on the wide dimensions and angles of this issue can cause the scientific community to become more aware of the importance of free access, especially in crises.
Conclusion: The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. If open access is considered as a value in the system of publishing and research communications, the development and generalization of this value requires the adoption of policies and requirements of the scientific community in order to develop it as a global value.
Method: This was a review study in terms of approach using documentary research method. In this regard, open access literature was studied using searches on Google search engine, Google Scholar and databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and the websites of publishers, journals and scientific institutions, focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Results: Since the formation of the open access movement, this issue has attracted a lot of attention and extensive efforts have been made in the direction of open access to research publications by the scientific community. Publishers, financial sponsors and international institutions have also entered this arena and various statements and plans have been formed in order to recognize the open access movement and its development. “Budapest Open Access Initiative”, “Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing”, “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” are the first measures in this regard. On the other hand, the importance of access to timely information, especially in the fields of medical sciences and information related to health and diseases, is worthy of attention in promoting public health. The need to pay attention to open access and sharing of information and the consequences of not doing so has become more important with the occurrence of critical and emergency situations caused by pandemic and public health emergencies. Along with the emergence of COVID-19 and the pandemic caused by it, many researches have been conducted in order to deal with the crisis of this disease and to find solutions for its treatment and control. The aspects of this deadly disease have attracted the attention of everyone, especially scientists and scholars in various fields around the world, and an unprecedented number of articles have been published in this field. In addition, many international organizations have published various information about the disease of COVID-19 in the form of open access, for example, “WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard” and "Coronavirus Watch". The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of information transparency and timely and open access to it. Access to accurate and timely information about this emerging disease is very important and can help to assess and understand the risks and obtain strategies to contain it, strong evidence, better information and support for decisions and policies in the direction of public health. The need to provide suitable solutions for treatment, prevention and control of the disease on the one hand and the increasing number of researches on COVID-19 on the other hand, has created new opportunities in the system of scientific communication and publication of research findings, and the scientific community has decided to accelerate the cycle of knowledge to find possible solutions to deal with the disease crisis. Explaining the efforts and measures taken in this direction during the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important global crisis and concern can provide useful information to the scientific community, especially those involved in research. Considering the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as the importance of timely and open access to scientific information about this disease, the question arises as to what measures have been taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Also, what measures and measures have been taken for free access to scientific information about the pandemic? A review of the literature regarding the issue of open access in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic showed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, a global effort has been made to facilitate open access to COVID-19 research findings. The need for appropriate strategies for the treatment, prevention and control of the disease and the increasing number of COVID-19 research has affected the system of scientific communication and the publication of research findings and the world community, especially reputable publishers and scientific institutions, have made extensive statements, measures and efforts to provide open access to as much scientific information as possible about the disease. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many publishers, journals and funders have committed to open access in a statement to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly to inform the public health response and help save lives. The measures and actions of publishers and scientific journals in this regard are worthy of attention. Access to Elsevier's free medical and health research related to COVID-19 is possible through the "Elsevier's Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier has also created a collection of free resources, including evidence-based clinical guidelines and more than 41,000 research articles to read, download and extract data, in support of the research communities' impressive efforts in the fight against COVID-19. This guide provides an overview of the resources. Through the "COVID-19 Resource Centre", Lancet has provided free access to all research articles, review articles, news and analysis related to COVID-19 from its journals. Springer Nature has provided free access to the latest COVID-19 articles through the "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research Highlights". The publisher has now enabled free access to articles, book chapters, reference works and protocols on its platforms and has supported all researchers to make their experimental datasets freely available. Springer Nature has made more than 8,700 preprint articles on COVID-19 available through “Research Square”, with links to key resources, free content, and up-to-date information related to COVID-19, along with key information and policies in support of access from placed far away. NEJM has made available a collection of articles and resources such as clinical reports and management guides about the pandemic, as well as a collection of resources about the COVID-19 vaccines. BMJ's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub has also supported health professionals and researchers through open access to practical guides, online courses, as well as the latest BMG news, opinions and research. PLOS is committed to publishing research as quickly as possible, especially in public health emergencies. All articles published in PLOS journals are free for all readers. PLOS articles collection highlights all the content related to the COVID-19 pandemic published in PLOS journals. To support the efforts of global health professionals and the scientific research community, Taylor & Francis has created a special collection of research articles related to COVID-19, providing free access to published articles related to COVID-19 in the publisher's major medical journals. he does. This collection is updated weekly. On the other hand, the archive of all research articles related to COVID-19 published in 2020 by Taylor & Francis has also been made available to the audience. Wiley has created the "COVID-19 Resources" in order to help researchers, educators and specialists for online training and access to the latest research on COVID-19. Believing in the power of social and behavioral sciences to transform the best medical research into policies and procedures for development, SAGE has published a collection of the latest medical research related to COVID-19 published by this publisher, as well as the best social and behavioral research in order to help It has enabled individuals, communities and guardians to make the best decisions to deal with the pandemic and its consequences. Science journals are trying to make research related to COVID-19 available in open access. The "COVID-19" option is placed on the main page of the Science website. CABI has also created free access to more than 37,000 records related to COVID-19 in its online platforms, Global Health and CAB Abstracts in order to support global efforts to deal with the disease pandemic. Global Health provides researchers and students with unparalleled access to all public health research and practices in the world - providing knowledge without borders. “Sci-Dev.Net” also includes episodes about the coronavirus in the Health, Science and Development series. Wolters Kluwer is also one of the publishers that has provided free access to publications related to COVID-19 in order to support professionals. According to IFLA reports, the actions of publishers such as Penguin Random House and Macmillan, as well as the measures of Audible and ENSSIB in terms of access to resources, are worthy of attention. Some libraries, such as the National Library and Archives of Iran, have provided extensive access to their users. Some associations and scientific societies, such as the International Coalition of Library Consortia, LIBER and the Association of University Library Directors in France, have asked publishers to facilitate access to works. Italian and Spanish librarians have called for more open access efforts. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, open access has also attracted the attention of scientific institutions, and extensive measures have been taken in this direction by them. In the January 30 statement, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board called for immediate measures such as the free and immediate sharing of all information about the pandemic, the cooperation of countries to immediately allocate resources to prevent, identify and inform about the pandemic and the rapid sharing of research data by the research community, support Low-income countries are advised to ensure proper notification to national and international communities to control the pandemic. On January 30, 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the disease pandemic a public health emergency of international concern. The world's scientists gathered on February 11-12, 2020 at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus and about critical questions and find solutions to contribute to accelerating and funding research priorities and solving the pandemic crisis and preparedness Discuss and negotiate for future issues. This meeting led to an agreement on two basic goals. The first case was to accelerate innovative research to help curb the pandemic and facilitate care, and the second case was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms. The World Health Organization believes that the coherence of countries is necessary to ensure fair access to the effects of COVID-19. The World Health Organization is collecting global research on the disease COVID-19 and the latest findings and international multilingual scientific information on the pandemic. UNESCO has also emphasized the value and necessity of open solutions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and believes that open access to scientific information can facilitate better and faster research in the direction of a suitable vaccine, and open Educational Resources help everyone to use their information. updates about COVID-19 and also teaches how to follow public health recommendations. Relying on its mission to ensure global access to information, UNESCO has taken various initiatives to apply open solutions in the fight against the pandemic. For example, the Coronavirus Watch provides a global view of the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 Universal REsource gateway (CURE) is also an immediate response to the pandemic. IFLA has made efforts to encourage the World Intellectual Property Organization to emphasize how balanced intellectual property laws can help facilitate access. IFLA has also provided a list of key resources for libraries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on its website. Open access is also emphasized in the statement of the President and Secretary General of IFLA. Following the COVID-19 crisis, priorities have also been considered in the SPARC program. Also, the Copyright Clearance Center recognizes publishing and information institutions to participate in the public interest through access to scientific, news and educational materials related to COVID-19. The list of institutions is regularly updated. The Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation Institute has also launched the "COVID-19 Visualizer" in order to provide up-to-date statistics about the pandemic situation and accelerate the transmission of scientific findings about COVID-19. In addition, government officials have also called for open access to the publications of COVID-19. The National Science and Technology Advisors of the United States of America, Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the European Commission have published an open letter asking scientific publishers to Pandemic, make publications related to COVID-19 available with open access through PubMed Central and other public databases such as the World Health Organization's COVID-19 database. The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. The present study is one of the first studies conducted in our country regarding the free access movement in the pandemic crisis and tried to present a picture of the efforts of the scientific community in this field in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that future researches on the wide dimensions and angles of this issue can cause the scientific community to become more aware of the importance of free access, especially in crises.
Conclusion: The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. If open access is considered as a value in the system of publishing and research communications, the development and generalization of this value requires the adoption of policies and requirements of the scientific community in order to develop it as a global value.
Mansoor Koohi Rostami, Hadi Alhaei, Zeinab Jozi, Mohammad Amin Sekhavatmanesh,
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Abstract
Introduction: Human life has always been subject to crisis. The important thing in dealing with a crisis is the appropriate response. The emergence of information technology has provided crisis managers with the best possible potential and capacities for crisis management. Today, managers should always be ready to deal with crises. These crises can be economic and financial or natural events such as storms, floods, tsunamis, or disease outbreaks. Managers who have not taken measures in advance to deal with such events will lose more. No one is aware of the crisis in advance. Expert managers have basic plans to deal with such situations. To overcome uneven events, managers should use the experiences of their predecessors to get acquainted with crisis coping strategies. Not all managers can overcome the crisis. However, if the managers in their organization believe in crisis management as an inseparable part of their strategic management responsibility, the probability of confronting a crisis will be significantly reduced. Crisis management activities are performed in three stages before the crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis. The first step consists of the actions needed to prevent the crisis. This stage is the first step in identifying and diagnosing the crisis and also gathering information to deal with the crisis. The second stage includes the stage of crisis occurrence. In this stage, it is necessary to gather information to diagnose the causes of the crisis. The third stage is the actions that must be taken after the crisis. At this stage, we had to ensure that the crisis has resolved or not. Also, learning from the crisis so that it does not happen again occurs at this stage. The crisis is a test for stability in a system. A crisis is an unusual situation in which a problem or sudden event occurs that is not predictable. Etymologically, the word crisis has been derived from the Greek language. In ancient Greek, the word crisis (κριςις) means "judgment" or "decision". The crisis means that it is necessary to make a decision that has not been made before. In the 21st century, the growth of information technology and the expansion of research has created a significant increase in the understanding of the challenges of crisis management when facing a crisis to reduce victims, and thanks to technology and the use of communication technologies, crisis management has become more realistic. During crisis management, by using correct communication, participation, coordination, and integration in information systems play an important role in crisis control. In a crisis, those affected perceive, process, and act on information differently than in non-crisis times. One of the applications of information technology in crisis management is "crisis informatics". Crisis informatics deals with the relationship between people, organizations, information, and technology during a crisis. Crisis informatics means the knowledge of receiving and transmitting information. In other words, crisis computing is the science of information processing and information systems. On the other hand, inaccuracy in choosing and publishing news and information in crisis conditions can be called crisis informatics. The expansion of social media such as Facebook, and Twitter, search based on people, and response to the crisis of Google, YouTube, and Flickr has changed the face of information management in critical situations. One of the capabilities of information science specialists is information monitoring. Information specialists can identify which information is fake and which is valid through information review. Therefore, experts in this field can play an influential role in preparing information reports for decision-makers. Also, by producing correct and reliable content, they should prevent the information confusion of the public. Considering that information forms the link between crisis management, crisis informatics, and information science, the present study was conducted to explain the role and functions of information science in crisis informatics.
Methods: The current research was conducted using a library method with an analytical approach and after reviewing previous studies to identify concepts related to the concept of crisis informatics. In this study, researchers first searched for materials related to the purpose of the research using keywords (crisis informatics, disaster informatics, informatics patterns of crisis, information science and crisis, information science and disasters, crisis informatics in disasters and social media) in databases including Google Scholar, Emerald, WebOscience, Scopus, ScienceDirect paid. The researchers examined the recovered. After reviewing the found texts, the researchers selected the related materials based on the purpose of the research and presented them in this article. In this research, by examining the concept, history, and patterns of information flow in crisis informatics and the role of information science specialists, an analytical review has been made on the importance of the role and position of information science specialists as crisis informatics in times of crisis.
Findings: The findings showed that although the importance of social media in a crisis is critical to researchers and many studies have covered it and paid attention to its role in gathering information during a crisis as well as providing aid, so far Informing people when dangerous events occur in social networks has not been given serious attention. Self-coordination through social media among citizens and providing aid to fellow citizens, through the advice of shared posts, helps to improve crisis conditions, and authorities use media for public communication during a crisis. However, obstacles such as the lack of personnel to verify and disseminate information are still challenges to the efficient use of social media by authorities. Also, data mining of citizens' behaviors is one of the issues through which authorities can identify wrong information and deal with it. Officials and crisis managers can identify the fundamental gaps in society and take action to solve them by obtaining public information. In social networks, due to the existence of two types of official and unofficial information, the flow of communication is also two-way. This means that both people and authorities send and receive information. As a result, the main focus of crisis informatics is information. These findings show that providing information during a crisis, especially health information to accident victims, is still a challenge, despite the commonality of crisis informatics and information science, no independent research has yet addressed this issue. At the same time, the common point of information science and informatics is the crisis and the main topic of both information. Information science specialists can play an essential role in crisis informatics due to their capacities to produce reliable information, verify information, manage and set up information systems, create databases, and facilitate and accelerate information recovery.
Conclusion: Crisis informatics is a field of study that has received much attention and is proliferating. And its importance during the last decade has made it a subject area of research activities. This relatively new field has emerged to ensure that the full potential of information and communication technologies is maximized to improve decisions and actions at various stages of crisis management. Examining the definitions shows that crisis informatics is sometimes defined only in interaction with social networks (Palen et al., 2020), and sometimes it is generally understood in interaction with technology (Soden, 2017; Palen et al., 2009). In some cases, it has been proposed as a social system that is created as a result of communication between different groups (Soden, 2017; Palen and Soden, 2018; Palen and Anderson, 2016). But the commonality of all the above definitions can be seen as the existence of the social system and the interaction of humans and information. This field collects data from social reactions to crises and incidents and analyzes the results. Based on this, crisis informatics can be defined as the response of human groups to crises and incidents in the context of information technology. The increasing importance of social media in conflicts and crises has made people use them with more interest. People share feelings, thoughts and images with their friends on these media. During the crisis, this process increases. Most important events are quickly released to the public before they even hit the news. Although information on social networks may contain true and false information, including rumors. But these media are among the most important media for providing information about accidents and the condition of people who have been injured. Research on crisis informatics and social media has also shown that emergency services departments can use social media to obtain valuable information (e. g. eyewitness reports, images, or videos) that help them Inform about disaster situations so that they can send their immediate aid. Of course, due to the emerging nature of crisis informatics, we can expect to see more precise and more developed definitions in the future. Of course, the maturity of the field of crisis informatics requires providing a comprehensive, accurate, and precise definition, which in this study was tried to be formulated based on the theoretical background of the research.
The review of informatics literature also showed that this emerging field is an interdisciplinary research field that includes several different disciplines. Among them, the field of information and communication technology, health/medicine, and information systems play the most crucial role. It was also found that despite the centrality of information and its importance in the crisis, so far no research has been done on the role of information science and information specialists in informatics. Because information is very critical in all stages of a crisis and, accordingly, crisis informatics, the field of information science can play a crucial role in the best performance of crisis informatics. Validation of information was identified as one of the functions of this field, because the combination of a large volume of official information sources and content produced by citizens adds to the information load in crises. This increases uncertainty and difficulty in deciding who and what sources are trustworthy. Deciding which information providers and sources to trust in a crisis is very essential because acting on reliable information can shape and influence the nature of the crisis. Verification of the accuracy of this information can be done by experts in the field of information science.
Providing the information needs of people involved in the crisis, such as citizens, organizations, non-governmental groups, etc., can also be included in the scope of the duties of specialists in the field of information science. One of the primary needs after a crisis is accurate information, and this is what information specialists and librarians are trained for. This group can provide critical information to support the performance of local authorities, emergency managers, police, fire, and medical personnel. Librarians are trained to provide accurate information in various formats and are fast to solve problems. Most importantly, the general public considers librarians to be closer, more accessible, and more reliable than the employees of government agencies. Also, the organization of information recovery tools can be part of the roles of this field in crisis informatics. Controlling and directing the correct flow of information, and designing and implementing banks and information systems are also included in the activities of specialists in the field of information science. Summarized to the "right" person at the "right" time using a suitable platform for specific needs and groups. With population growth and ecological changes (such as climate changes, nature changes, and the destruction of many non-renewable natural resources), it is necessary to think of measures to prevent abnormal events in emergencies. The emergence of artificial intelligence technology and its use in information systems as well as social networks promises that the use of this technology will be fruitful in investigating the possibility of accidents and it is easy to provide people with the correct information in an intelligent way. Also, the authorities will strengthen their communication with the community through this technology. Promoting smartphones and increasing bandwidth to high-risk areas will also facilitate data recovery in times of crisis and increase self-organization among people affected by accidents.
Methods: The current research was conducted using a library method with an analytical approach and after reviewing previous studies to identify concepts related to the concept of crisis informatics. In this study, researchers first searched for materials related to the purpose of the research using keywords (crisis informatics, disaster informatics, informatics patterns of crisis, information science and crisis, information science and disasters, crisis informatics in disasters and social media) in databases including Google Scholar, Emerald, WebOscience, Scopus, ScienceDirect paid. The researchers examined the recovered. After reviewing the found texts, the researchers selected the related materials based on the purpose of the research and presented them in this article. In this research, by examining the concept, history, and patterns of information flow in crisis informatics and the role of information science specialists, an analytical review has been made on the importance of the role and position of information science specialists as crisis informatics in times of crisis.
Findings: The findings showed that although the importance of social media in a crisis is critical to researchers and many studies have covered it and paid attention to its role in gathering information during a crisis as well as providing aid, so far Informing people when dangerous events occur in social networks has not been given serious attention. Self-coordination through social media among citizens and providing aid to fellow citizens, through the advice of shared posts, helps to improve crisis conditions, and authorities use media for public communication during a crisis. However, obstacles such as the lack of personnel to verify and disseminate information are still challenges to the efficient use of social media by authorities. Also, data mining of citizens' behaviors is one of the issues through which authorities can identify wrong information and deal with it. Officials and crisis managers can identify the fundamental gaps in society and take action to solve them by obtaining public information. In social networks, due to the existence of two types of official and unofficial information, the flow of communication is also two-way. This means that both people and authorities send and receive information. As a result, the main focus of crisis informatics is information. These findings show that providing information during a crisis, especially health information to accident victims, is still a challenge, despite the commonality of crisis informatics and information science, no independent research has yet addressed this issue. At the same time, the common point of information science and informatics is the crisis and the main topic of both information. Information science specialists can play an essential role in crisis informatics due to their capacities to produce reliable information, verify information, manage and set up information systems, create databases, and facilitate and accelerate information recovery.
Conclusion: Crisis informatics is a field of study that has received much attention and is proliferating. And its importance during the last decade has made it a subject area of research activities. This relatively new field has emerged to ensure that the full potential of information and communication technologies is maximized to improve decisions and actions at various stages of crisis management. Examining the definitions shows that crisis informatics is sometimes defined only in interaction with social networks (Palen et al., 2020), and sometimes it is generally understood in interaction with technology (Soden, 2017; Palen et al., 2009). In some cases, it has been proposed as a social system that is created as a result of communication between different groups (Soden, 2017; Palen and Soden, 2018; Palen and Anderson, 2016). But the commonality of all the above definitions can be seen as the existence of the social system and the interaction of humans and information. This field collects data from social reactions to crises and incidents and analyzes the results. Based on this, crisis informatics can be defined as the response of human groups to crises and incidents in the context of information technology. The increasing importance of social media in conflicts and crises has made people use them with more interest. People share feelings, thoughts and images with their friends on these media. During the crisis, this process increases. Most important events are quickly released to the public before they even hit the news. Although information on social networks may contain true and false information, including rumors. But these media are among the most important media for providing information about accidents and the condition of people who have been injured. Research on crisis informatics and social media has also shown that emergency services departments can use social media to obtain valuable information (e. g. eyewitness reports, images, or videos) that help them Inform about disaster situations so that they can send their immediate aid. Of course, due to the emerging nature of crisis informatics, we can expect to see more precise and more developed definitions in the future. Of course, the maturity of the field of crisis informatics requires providing a comprehensive, accurate, and precise definition, which in this study was tried to be formulated based on the theoretical background of the research.
The review of informatics literature also showed that this emerging field is an interdisciplinary research field that includes several different disciplines. Among them, the field of information and communication technology, health/medicine, and information systems play the most crucial role. It was also found that despite the centrality of information and its importance in the crisis, so far no research has been done on the role of information science and information specialists in informatics. Because information is very critical in all stages of a crisis and, accordingly, crisis informatics, the field of information science can play a crucial role in the best performance of crisis informatics. Validation of information was identified as one of the functions of this field, because the combination of a large volume of official information sources and content produced by citizens adds to the information load in crises. This increases uncertainty and difficulty in deciding who and what sources are trustworthy. Deciding which information providers and sources to trust in a crisis is very essential because acting on reliable information can shape and influence the nature of the crisis. Verification of the accuracy of this information can be done by experts in the field of information science.
Providing the information needs of people involved in the crisis, such as citizens, organizations, non-governmental groups, etc., can also be included in the scope of the duties of specialists in the field of information science. One of the primary needs after a crisis is accurate information, and this is what information specialists and librarians are trained for. This group can provide critical information to support the performance of local authorities, emergency managers, police, fire, and medical personnel. Librarians are trained to provide accurate information in various formats and are fast to solve problems. Most importantly, the general public considers librarians to be closer, more accessible, and more reliable than the employees of government agencies. Also, the organization of information recovery tools can be part of the roles of this field in crisis informatics. Controlling and directing the correct flow of information, and designing and implementing banks and information systems are also included in the activities of specialists in the field of information science. Summarized to the "right" person at the "right" time using a suitable platform for specific needs and groups. With population growth and ecological changes (such as climate changes, nature changes, and the destruction of many non-renewable natural resources), it is necessary to think of measures to prevent abnormal events in emergencies. The emergence of artificial intelligence technology and its use in information systems as well as social networks promises that the use of this technology will be fruitful in investigating the possibility of accidents and it is easy to provide people with the correct information in an intelligent way. Also, the authorities will strengthen their communication with the community through this technology. Promoting smartphones and increasing bandwidth to high-risk areas will also facilitate data recovery in times of crisis and increase self-organization among people affected by accidents.
Abolghasem Karimi, Alireza Rousta, Majid Ahmadi, Saeid Daniali,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Abstract
Information search strategies change rapidly in continuous mode, and successive searches gradually teach the user what can be retrieved inside the system. Users must be able to interact with the system appropriately to achieve their information needs. The information revolution is not a new issue, but understanding information seeking behavior is important and vital in this era. In future projects, extraordinary efforts should be made to create intelligent systems. Therefore, success or failure in this matter is not the responsibility of the new information technology, but it requires awareness of human needs and his behavior to obtain information. Therefore, in the companies based in Pardis Technology Park, according to the technology-oriented approach and innovation, it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of market information learning and joint innovative capacities to improve the organization's performance. Generally, because the environment and technology are constantly and rapidly changing, and specifically, the demographic characteristics of customers and their expectations undergo changes and transformations, Certainly, in order to have a successful presence in the national and international arena and their dynamism, as well as greater adaptation to environmental changes, these companies should aim to activate their potentials through improving the performance of the organization. In fact, this research seeks to answer the question of what is the role of explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the organization's performance with an information approach?
Methods and Materoal
This research is based on the applied purpose and according to the descriptive type of correlation, according to the model, we should use the structural equation modeling method. The statistical community of the research is top and middle managers of companies that are members of Pardis Technology Park in Tehran. Using Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as a sample and 400 questionnaires were distributed by available sampling method and 387 questionnaires were collected in 50 companies. The data collection method of this research was done by library method and using books and articles, and questionnaire was used in the field method. To measure the variable of market information learning ability with 7 items, internal learning ability with 10 items, relational learning ability with 7 items and administrative innovation with 6 items from Teece et al., 1997; Weerawardena et al., 2015; and to measure the variable of service innovation with 4 items and organization performance with 5 items from Thakur & Hale, 2013 questionnaire; and to measure the variable of shared innovative capacities with 3 items, Oly Ndubisi et al., 2019 questionnaire was used.
Resultss and Discussion
Demographic characteristics of the sample include gender, age and education. In the method of structural equation modeling, the fit of the model is checked to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the findings before implementing the model to test the hypotheses. Also, Cronbach's alpha indices of combined reliability of average variance were extracted and the coefficient of determination was used to measure the model. The average values of the extracted variance of all 7 model structures are at the optimal level. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability is for all model constructs, so the questionnaire has good and acceptable reliability. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability for all model constructs is more than 0/7, so the questionnaire has acceptable and acceptable reliability. The value of R2 for the endogenous constructs of the research confirms the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model. The results of the Q2 criterion for the endogenous structure indicate the appropriate predictive power of the model regarding the endogenous constructs of the research and indicate that the fitting model has appropriate and favorable predictive power. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to measure the reliability and validity of the measurement scale. The final results of the confirmatory factor analysis are reported in Table No. 4. Factor loadings greater than 5% have good validity. Figure 1, shows the confirmatory factor analysis for the whole model. Figure 2, shows the analysis of significant coefficients for the whole model. Since all the numbers on the paths are above 1/96%, it indicates the significance of the paths, the appropriateness of the structural model and the confirmation of all research hypotheses. The GOF criterion was used for the overall fit of the model, Since three values of 0/01, 0/25 and 0/36 are determined as weak, medium and strong values for GOF and on the other hand, the coefficient is in a good condition (0/598), Therefore, the results show that the fit of the model in the statistical population of the research is appropriate. Also, the t-test for all hypotheses is greater than 1/96. Therefore, with 95% confidence, the relationship between the variables is significant.
Conclusion
The present research was done by explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the performance of the organization with an information approach. Organizational performance is a valuable activity at the community level. It also has a fundamental role in the economy and is considered as a useful tool to achieve economic growth and benefits of the organization. In fact, it is like an umbrella that includes all concepts related to the success and activities of the entire organization. In this research, 7 hypotheses were tested and the results of the hypothesis analysis indicate that the ability to learn market information plays a role in the internal learning ability (0/945) and the ability to learn interfaces (0/785) and internal learning ability (0/220) and interface learning ability (0/662) have been effective on administrative innovation. Also, administrative innovation has had an effect on the organization's performance (0/488), and shared innovative capacities have a significant effect on service innovation (0/904). Finally, service innovation has played a role in the organization's performance (0/590).
Methods and Materoal
This research is based on the applied purpose and according to the descriptive type of correlation, according to the model, we should use the structural equation modeling method. The statistical community of the research is top and middle managers of companies that are members of Pardis Technology Park in Tehran. Using Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as a sample and 400 questionnaires were distributed by available sampling method and 387 questionnaires were collected in 50 companies. The data collection method of this research was done by library method and using books and articles, and questionnaire was used in the field method. To measure the variable of market information learning ability with 7 items, internal learning ability with 10 items, relational learning ability with 7 items and administrative innovation with 6 items from Teece et al., 1997; Weerawardena et al., 2015; and to measure the variable of service innovation with 4 items and organization performance with 5 items from Thakur & Hale, 2013 questionnaire; and to measure the variable of shared innovative capacities with 3 items, Oly Ndubisi et al., 2019 questionnaire was used.
Resultss and Discussion
Demographic characteristics of the sample include gender, age and education. In the method of structural equation modeling, the fit of the model is checked to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the findings before implementing the model to test the hypotheses. Also, Cronbach's alpha indices of combined reliability of average variance were extracted and the coefficient of determination was used to measure the model. The average values of the extracted variance of all 7 model structures are at the optimal level. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability is for all model constructs, so the questionnaire has good and acceptable reliability. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability for all model constructs is more than 0/7, so the questionnaire has acceptable and acceptable reliability. The value of R2 for the endogenous constructs of the research confirms the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model. The results of the Q2 criterion for the endogenous structure indicate the appropriate predictive power of the model regarding the endogenous constructs of the research and indicate that the fitting model has appropriate and favorable predictive power. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to measure the reliability and validity of the measurement scale. The final results of the confirmatory factor analysis are reported in Table No. 4. Factor loadings greater than 5% have good validity. Figure 1, shows the confirmatory factor analysis for the whole model. Figure 2, shows the analysis of significant coefficients for the whole model. Since all the numbers on the paths are above 1/96%, it indicates the significance of the paths, the appropriateness of the structural model and the confirmation of all research hypotheses. The GOF criterion was used for the overall fit of the model, Since three values of 0/01, 0/25 and 0/36 are determined as weak, medium and strong values for GOF and on the other hand, the coefficient is in a good condition (0/598), Therefore, the results show that the fit of the model in the statistical population of the research is appropriate. Also, the t-test for all hypotheses is greater than 1/96. Therefore, with 95% confidence, the relationship between the variables is significant.
Conclusion
The present research was done by explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the performance of the organization with an information approach. Organizational performance is a valuable activity at the community level. It also has a fundamental role in the economy and is considered as a useful tool to achieve economic growth and benefits of the organization. In fact, it is like an umbrella that includes all concepts related to the success and activities of the entire organization. In this research, 7 hypotheses were tested and the results of the hypothesis analysis indicate that the ability to learn market information plays a role in the internal learning ability (0/945) and the ability to learn interfaces (0/785) and internal learning ability (0/220) and interface learning ability (0/662) have been effective on administrative innovation. Also, administrative innovation has had an effect on the organization's performance (0/488), and shared innovative capacities have a significant effect on service innovation (0/904). Finally, service innovation has played a role in the organization's performance (0/590).
Abdulamir Mabhoot, Mohammad Reza Farhadpoor, Ebrahim Hoseini,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Abstract
One of the most important current debates in organizational information security is information leakage. Information leakage, which refers to the unauthorized sharing of information by one organization with another, is one of the serious problems faced by organizations. Information leakage can cause losses to the company and affect its ability to gain a competitive advantage. Information leakage includes two types of leakage or intentional or unintentional disclosure of data or exclusive content to unauthorized persons. Intentional information leakage includes the intentional disclosure of information by employees to unauthorized persons. Deliberate information leakage is often caused by employee dissatisfaction with the company or a motive for personal gain. The main cause of intentional information leakage is revenge or unethical behavior of employees who are willing to betray their company or disclose sensitive information to competitors. In other words, if employees are not aware of how much information to disclose to outsiders, then unwanted/inadvertent information leakage may occur. These cases damage the reputation of the organization, its income and business. As a result, the pervasiveness of this uncertainty about information security in the work environment puts the organization's information assets at risk. In order to minimize or prevent information leakage, it is important to investigate and identify the factors that lead to this happening.
Regardless of the type of information leakage and the related motives, the impact of these actions in itself can lead to financial losses, disruption of the organization, loss of reputation and long-term impact on the organizational culture. Although the phenomenon of information leakage may happen in any organization; But considering the opportunities and values that every organization loses as a result, its importance can be understood. For this reason, the consequences of information leakage will be different from one organization to another, and accordingly, its degree of importance will also be different. The study and identification of factors affecting the phenomenon of information leakage is interesting from several aspects. First, the airport environment with the presence of various airlines is an example of a highly competitive market where the actions and operations of the airport are exposed to the customers. The second point is that the customers of the airport system are heterogeneous and may be people of different nationalities. Third point, the issue of security in airport systems is a complex and interesting phenomenon that is provided by the participation of different organizations. The fourth point is that the flow of information in the airport system is intense, intra-organizational and trans-organizational/cross-border. The fifth point is that the occurrence of an error in the flow of information in airport systems can have unfortunate human, financial, and other consequences. Considering these points, the present study was conducted at Ahvaz International Airport. Preventing information leakage is one of the most important security issues at Ahvaz International Airport. Because with the loss of data, the reputation of the airport is damaged and it loses its customers, it has to pay a high cost to fix the damages, and this will sometimes lead to the destruction of the organization. According to the mentioned contents, this research seeks to answer the question, what are the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport? How are they ranked? Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify and rank the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport using the Hierarchical Analysis Process.
Methods
Since the ultimate goal of the current research was to improve the understanding of the problem of information leakage as an important concern for the organization and to find a practical solution to reduce it, it is practical research in terms of the goal. Also, from the point of view of nature, the current research is descriptive-exploratory; Because what follows the data follower approach to "describe" and "interpret" the factors affecting organizational information leakage as it is. The research community was all information security experts in different parts of Ahvaz Airport; that by the snowball method (because it was difficult to identify the experts and the possibility of contacting and accessing them) 15 experts in the information security field of Ahvaz Airport (having relevant work experience of more than 15 years, a master's degree or higher and familiar with security issue and information leakage). In this study, the library method was used to compile the theoretical foundations of the research, the background of the research and the design of the decision tree. Then, the field method was used to distribute the five-point paired comparison questionnaire to collect data. The first questionnaire was taken from the research literature and was distributed among 15 experts using the Delphi technique. Opinions were sought from the expert group of the Delphi study, in the form of sending a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, consisting of 22 questions, in two rounds with the participation of 15 people, in such a way that first, the first questionnaire consisting of 22 questions was sent to the members of the Delphi group. After distributing and collecting completed questionnaires and evaluating the results of this Delphi round, 5 main factors and 21 important sub-factors were identified (laws and regulations sub-factor with an average of 2.87±83 and a t value of 0.61 was not recognized as significant and was excluded from the questionnaire for the second round) and after twenty days, from the initial opinion poll, the important factors were re-evaluated in order to conduct the next round of Delphi in the form of a questionnaire with 21 questions related to the important sub-factors, the collected data It showed the confirmation of all subfactors. Finally, the data was analyzed using the hierarchical analysis method and using Expert Choice software.
Resultss and Discussion
Based on the results, 5 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting organizational information leakage were identified. The weighting and prioritization of indicators showed that intentional individual factors (0.277) ranked first, unintentional individual factors (0.235) ranked second, organizational factors (0.188) ranked third, infrastructural factors (0.167) ranked fourth and environmental factors (0.133) ranked fifth.
Conclusion
The results showed that information leakage is a complex phenomenon that various individual, organizational, infrastructural and environmental factors are involved in its occurrence. However, the first and second rank of the intentional and unintentional dimensions of information leakage by individuals, on the one hand, indicate the complexity of the information leakage phenomenon, and on the other hand, require a review in the strategies related to human resources management in Ahvaz International Airport.
Based on the results, intentional individual factors with a weight of 0.277 were the first effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among intentional individual sub-factors, personal greed with a weight of 0.232 was the most important sub-factor and the experience of invasion of privacy with a weight of 0.078 was the least important sub-factor. The findings confirmed that intentional information leakage due to human factors should still be of concern to managers. Since it is not possible to abandon human factors in the organizational life cycle of information, managers should accept this challenge and look for appropriate mechanisms. In other words, despite human factors, organizations face the challenge of intentional or unintentional information leakage. Intentional leakage of information in the organization may have happened due to personal greed against organizational interests, where employees are willing to sell the organization's information to competitors for material reasons and prefer their interests over the interests of the organization. Jealousy of a company employee to colleagues or employees of competing companies, being dissatisfied with the company or feeling a grudge for any reason also causes the intentional leakage of information. Disgruntled employees may also intentionally disclose important information to unauthorized parties. Unintentional individual factors with a weight of 0.235 were the second most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among unintentional individual sub-factors, negligence with a weight of 0.283 was the most important sub-factor and the use of contract and temporary employees with a weight of 0.133 was the least important sub-factor. An inadvertent leak occurs when an insider inadvertently discloses business-critical information that is not intended to be shared with third parties. Unintentional individual threat is the potential behavior of an individual who has access to the network, system or data of an organization through an accidental act or action, without malicious intent, and causes damage or significantly increases the likelihood of serious damage in the future to confidentiality, integrity Or the value of the organization's information.
Organizational factors with a weight of 0.188 were the third most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the organizational sub-factors, lack of understanding the value of information with a weight of 0.392 was the most important sub-factor and lack of proper intra-organizational communication with a weight of 0.262 was the least important sub-factor. The first is a lack of understanding of the value of information. Employees evaluate information differently depending on the hierarchical level, the type of information and the type of organizational structure. Employees' perception of the value of information is described by various researchers as an important aspect. This lack of awareness leads to the fact that the value of information is not clear, so the negative consequences of information leakage are not taken seriously by them. The second case is inappropriate organizational structure. Large companies are sensitive to data protection in the long term. Smaller companies do not have such extensive awareness. In general, organizational structure in terms of formality and existing control mechanisms may affect information leakage. The third case is the lack of proper communication within the organization. To achieve shared understanding, communication is required to convey a set of necessary values and norms that define the rules or context of interaction. Infrastructural factors with a weight of 0.167 were the fourth most effective factor on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Similarly, among the infrastructure sub-factors, the weakness of information systems with a weight of 0.418 was the most important sub-factor and the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure with a weight of 0.258 was the least important sub-factor. The first is the weakness of information systems. Buying an incomplete information system and weak design of information systems may cause serious problems for organizations. Mechanisms that insiders use to perform business tasks based on their usual information systems can also be used to steal information assets. To prevent leakage and theft of information, mechanisms and protective measures against these methods should be used. The second case is improper use of physical means of data storage (hard drives, USB, CD, etc.). These days, most of the information inside the organization is stored electronically, the media of this information are hard drives, C drives. D. and U. S. etc.) are physical tools that are likely to be physically stolen. Preventing leakage with these devices requires implementing physical security measures. The third thing is the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure. The organization's networks are one of the essential parts of the organization's information technology infrastructure. There are several types of communication in the network. Internal-to-external communication includes any communication that is initiated within the boundaries of the organization and whose destination is outside the organization.
Finally, environmental factors with a weight of 0.133 were the fifth most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the environmental sub-factors, the stakeholders' request for information about security incidents with a weight of 0.416 was the most important sub-factor and the requirements of business partners with a weight of 0.259 was the least important sub-factor. One of the input sources that shape the behavior of people in an organization is the organizational environment. Employee decisions are influenced by environmental structure, the availability of environmental information, and the relevant meaning that employees assign to environmental information. The first case is the request of stakeholders to inform about security incidents. In the recent era, the demand for the type of information leakage events for companies is more intense, external and internal stakeholders are constantly concerned about maintaining a good public image of the organization. Overall, public interest in data breach incidents appears to exert pressure on organizations, while organizational responses are dynamic and appear to change over time. If stakeholder expectations are ignored and social influence is allowed to run its course, political and legal pressure will build, often leading to negative corporate outcomes. Stakeholder dissatisfaction arises when corporate actions do not meet societal expectations, and the gap between corporate actions and stakeholder expectations widens as public trust declines. Therefore, the greater the employees' understanding of information protection as a social expectation, the greater the perception of public leakage events as a threat to the company's image.
In general, the results show that information leakage is a major concern for organizations. In this context, the more the organization depends on information assets, the more relevant the concern of information leakage becomes. In such a situation, the taste of the competitors is stimulated more and more to think of the necessary mechanism to deal with it by getting the information of the organization, while being aware of the related organization's plans. Therefore, the identification of factors affecting information leakage in the form of 21 sub-factors in 5 groups provided the necessary insight to the managers of Ahvaz airport to strengthen the vulnerable points by adopting the necessary measures such as building trust, strengthening the sense of cooperation, observing professional ethics. , using motivational measures, raising awareness of the value of information, proper training of employees regarding information security, redesigning information systems, and designing targeted programs regarding information storage, sharing, and transfer.
Regardless of the type of information leakage and the related motives, the impact of these actions in itself can lead to financial losses, disruption of the organization, loss of reputation and long-term impact on the organizational culture. Although the phenomenon of information leakage may happen in any organization; But considering the opportunities and values that every organization loses as a result, its importance can be understood. For this reason, the consequences of information leakage will be different from one organization to another, and accordingly, its degree of importance will also be different. The study and identification of factors affecting the phenomenon of information leakage is interesting from several aspects. First, the airport environment with the presence of various airlines is an example of a highly competitive market where the actions and operations of the airport are exposed to the customers. The second point is that the customers of the airport system are heterogeneous and may be people of different nationalities. Third point, the issue of security in airport systems is a complex and interesting phenomenon that is provided by the participation of different organizations. The fourth point is that the flow of information in the airport system is intense, intra-organizational and trans-organizational/cross-border. The fifth point is that the occurrence of an error in the flow of information in airport systems can have unfortunate human, financial, and other consequences. Considering these points, the present study was conducted at Ahvaz International Airport. Preventing information leakage is one of the most important security issues at Ahvaz International Airport. Because with the loss of data, the reputation of the airport is damaged and it loses its customers, it has to pay a high cost to fix the damages, and this will sometimes lead to the destruction of the organization. According to the mentioned contents, this research seeks to answer the question, what are the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport? How are they ranked? Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify and rank the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport using the Hierarchical Analysis Process.
Methods
Since the ultimate goal of the current research was to improve the understanding of the problem of information leakage as an important concern for the organization and to find a practical solution to reduce it, it is practical research in terms of the goal. Also, from the point of view of nature, the current research is descriptive-exploratory; Because what follows the data follower approach to "describe" and "interpret" the factors affecting organizational information leakage as it is. The research community was all information security experts in different parts of Ahvaz Airport; that by the snowball method (because it was difficult to identify the experts and the possibility of contacting and accessing them) 15 experts in the information security field of Ahvaz Airport (having relevant work experience of more than 15 years, a master's degree or higher and familiar with security issue and information leakage). In this study, the library method was used to compile the theoretical foundations of the research, the background of the research and the design of the decision tree. Then, the field method was used to distribute the five-point paired comparison questionnaire to collect data. The first questionnaire was taken from the research literature and was distributed among 15 experts using the Delphi technique. Opinions were sought from the expert group of the Delphi study, in the form of sending a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, consisting of 22 questions, in two rounds with the participation of 15 people, in such a way that first, the first questionnaire consisting of 22 questions was sent to the members of the Delphi group. After distributing and collecting completed questionnaires and evaluating the results of this Delphi round, 5 main factors and 21 important sub-factors were identified (laws and regulations sub-factor with an average of 2.87±83 and a t value of 0.61 was not recognized as significant and was excluded from the questionnaire for the second round) and after twenty days, from the initial opinion poll, the important factors were re-evaluated in order to conduct the next round of Delphi in the form of a questionnaire with 21 questions related to the important sub-factors, the collected data It showed the confirmation of all subfactors. Finally, the data was analyzed using the hierarchical analysis method and using Expert Choice software.
Resultss and Discussion
Based on the results, 5 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting organizational information leakage were identified. The weighting and prioritization of indicators showed that intentional individual factors (0.277) ranked first, unintentional individual factors (0.235) ranked second, organizational factors (0.188) ranked third, infrastructural factors (0.167) ranked fourth and environmental factors (0.133) ranked fifth.
Conclusion
The results showed that information leakage is a complex phenomenon that various individual, organizational, infrastructural and environmental factors are involved in its occurrence. However, the first and second rank of the intentional and unintentional dimensions of information leakage by individuals, on the one hand, indicate the complexity of the information leakage phenomenon, and on the other hand, require a review in the strategies related to human resources management in Ahvaz International Airport.
Based on the results, intentional individual factors with a weight of 0.277 were the first effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among intentional individual sub-factors, personal greed with a weight of 0.232 was the most important sub-factor and the experience of invasion of privacy with a weight of 0.078 was the least important sub-factor. The findings confirmed that intentional information leakage due to human factors should still be of concern to managers. Since it is not possible to abandon human factors in the organizational life cycle of information, managers should accept this challenge and look for appropriate mechanisms. In other words, despite human factors, organizations face the challenge of intentional or unintentional information leakage. Intentional leakage of information in the organization may have happened due to personal greed against organizational interests, where employees are willing to sell the organization's information to competitors for material reasons and prefer their interests over the interests of the organization. Jealousy of a company employee to colleagues or employees of competing companies, being dissatisfied with the company or feeling a grudge for any reason also causes the intentional leakage of information. Disgruntled employees may also intentionally disclose important information to unauthorized parties. Unintentional individual factors with a weight of 0.235 were the second most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among unintentional individual sub-factors, negligence with a weight of 0.283 was the most important sub-factor and the use of contract and temporary employees with a weight of 0.133 was the least important sub-factor. An inadvertent leak occurs when an insider inadvertently discloses business-critical information that is not intended to be shared with third parties. Unintentional individual threat is the potential behavior of an individual who has access to the network, system or data of an organization through an accidental act or action, without malicious intent, and causes damage or significantly increases the likelihood of serious damage in the future to confidentiality, integrity Or the value of the organization's information.
Organizational factors with a weight of 0.188 were the third most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the organizational sub-factors, lack of understanding the value of information with a weight of 0.392 was the most important sub-factor and lack of proper intra-organizational communication with a weight of 0.262 was the least important sub-factor. The first is a lack of understanding of the value of information. Employees evaluate information differently depending on the hierarchical level, the type of information and the type of organizational structure. Employees' perception of the value of information is described by various researchers as an important aspect. This lack of awareness leads to the fact that the value of information is not clear, so the negative consequences of information leakage are not taken seriously by them. The second case is inappropriate organizational structure. Large companies are sensitive to data protection in the long term. Smaller companies do not have such extensive awareness. In general, organizational structure in terms of formality and existing control mechanisms may affect information leakage. The third case is the lack of proper communication within the organization. To achieve shared understanding, communication is required to convey a set of necessary values and norms that define the rules or context of interaction. Infrastructural factors with a weight of 0.167 were the fourth most effective factor on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Similarly, among the infrastructure sub-factors, the weakness of information systems with a weight of 0.418 was the most important sub-factor and the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure with a weight of 0.258 was the least important sub-factor. The first is the weakness of information systems. Buying an incomplete information system and weak design of information systems may cause serious problems for organizations. Mechanisms that insiders use to perform business tasks based on their usual information systems can also be used to steal information assets. To prevent leakage and theft of information, mechanisms and protective measures against these methods should be used. The second case is improper use of physical means of data storage (hard drives, USB, CD, etc.). These days, most of the information inside the organization is stored electronically, the media of this information are hard drives, C drives. D. and U. S. etc.) are physical tools that are likely to be physically stolen. Preventing leakage with these devices requires implementing physical security measures. The third thing is the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure. The organization's networks are one of the essential parts of the organization's information technology infrastructure. There are several types of communication in the network. Internal-to-external communication includes any communication that is initiated within the boundaries of the organization and whose destination is outside the organization.
Finally, environmental factors with a weight of 0.133 were the fifth most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the environmental sub-factors, the stakeholders' request for information about security incidents with a weight of 0.416 was the most important sub-factor and the requirements of business partners with a weight of 0.259 was the least important sub-factor. One of the input sources that shape the behavior of people in an organization is the organizational environment. Employee decisions are influenced by environmental structure, the availability of environmental information, and the relevant meaning that employees assign to environmental information. The first case is the request of stakeholders to inform about security incidents. In the recent era, the demand for the type of information leakage events for companies is more intense, external and internal stakeholders are constantly concerned about maintaining a good public image of the organization. Overall, public interest in data breach incidents appears to exert pressure on organizations, while organizational responses are dynamic and appear to change over time. If stakeholder expectations are ignored and social influence is allowed to run its course, political and legal pressure will build, often leading to negative corporate outcomes. Stakeholder dissatisfaction arises when corporate actions do not meet societal expectations, and the gap between corporate actions and stakeholder expectations widens as public trust declines. Therefore, the greater the employees' understanding of information protection as a social expectation, the greater the perception of public leakage events as a threat to the company's image.
In general, the results show that information leakage is a major concern for organizations. In this context, the more the organization depends on information assets, the more relevant the concern of information leakage becomes. In such a situation, the taste of the competitors is stimulated more and more to think of the necessary mechanism to deal with it by getting the information of the organization, while being aware of the related organization's plans. Therefore, the identification of factors affecting information leakage in the form of 21 sub-factors in 5 groups provided the necessary insight to the managers of Ahvaz airport to strengthen the vulnerable points by adopting the necessary measures such as building trust, strengthening the sense of cooperation, observing professional ethics. , using motivational measures, raising awareness of the value of information, proper training of employees regarding information security, redesigning information systems, and designing targeted programs regarding information storage, sharing, and transfer.
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