This thesis is focused on the issues of information behaviour of editors from publishing with an emphasis on information needs and the sources of information. The first part deals with the position in the information publishing companies, the trend for electronic publishing and its influence on the book market. The following is an overview of selected terminological terms from publishers and their analysis. The next chapter is a summary of information behaviour theories, related concepts, models and current research in the Czech republic. The results of research that was realized for the purpose of the thesis between Czech editors are summarized and analyzed in the conclusion. Based on these results, proposals for the increasing of information literacy of editors are included in the thesis.

The theoretical part of the thesis presents the evolution of the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) including hedonic-pragmatic model of user experience. It further presents platforms and ecosystems in general, the evolution of smartphone market and the platforms of Android and iOS, and explains the basic concepts of information and consumer behaviour. A part of the thesis is a qualitative study examining the differences between the preferences towards smartphones of Android and iOS users, and differences in their information behaviour. It was found out that the participants - users of both platforms have mostly pragmatic reasons for their platform preference but describe them differently; that Android users seek more information at the time of smartphone purchase decision and that some iOS users, unlike Android users, started using their platform based on observation of others' good user experience with it.

<p>  </p> <p>Highway workers are required to work close to moving traffic during road construction and maintenance activities, which exposes them to the risk of being struck by a distracted driver or intruding vehicle. In addition, work zones disturb the usual traffic flow and patterns due to changes in the existing geometric layout of a roadway, and this is also problematic for the drivers as they must navigate a layout of signs, barrels, and lane changes while keeping the vehicle in control. Moreover, late-night tasks, reckless driving, inconsistent work zones, drunk driving, and increased vehicle miles traveled are some of the additional causes of work zone incidents in the United States. Nationwide, around 40,000 accidents occur each year in highway work zones due to vehicle intrusion into the work zone and have steadily increased during the past ten years. Most often, the driver and passenger of the vehicle are the victims of such accidents. The resulting fatalities, injuries, and property damage due to such incidents lead to significant expenses, prolonged travel delays, and potential damage to expensive products in transit.</p> <p>While traditional safety precautions (e.g., truck-mounted attenuators, rumble strips, speed monitoring displays) can help enhance work zone safety, the number of work zone intrusions calls for designing and implementing emerging intrusion alert technologies to warn drivers and workers when errant vehicles intrude into the work zone. Several state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have begun examining the use of intrusion alert technologies to mitigate work zone intrusions. While previous studies examined the general effectiveness (e.g., sound levels, work zone coverage, deployment characteristics, etc.) of these technologies in both controlled and active construction and maintenance work zones, there are still significant research gaps in investigating how well these intrusion technologies alert the driver and workers, and no documented best practices are available for transportation agencies and DOTs interested in implementing them. In addition, these technologies have been through many improvements and modifications, and further research is imperative to ascertain their chances of acceptance by workers and contractors.</p> <p>To address these gaps, this thesis focuses on (a) empirically examining the effectiveness, implications, and practices of four commercially available intrusion technologies in enhancing work zone safety through various field tests and surveys, and (b) empirically investigating the effectiveness of these technologies considering drivers’ cognitive processing (perception -reaction time) and responses in case of work zone intrusion. The findings of this research study provide detailed information on the identification and testing procedures of technologies and offer guidelines and recommendations for adopting these technologies for practitioners and professionals in the highway construction sector. The proposed decision-making matrix and multi-criteria decision-making framework are based on the empirical data obtained from the various field experiments, literature review, and evaluation survey. This study also provides valuable insights into the overall effectiveness (i.e., by considering functional characteristics, associated drivers’ responses and reactions, and current implementation) of commercially available intrusion technologies to incorporate required modifications in designing and implementing these technologies to enhance work zone safety. The long-term outcome of this study is to significantly reduce the injuries and fatalities in highway maintenance work zones in Indiana and across the country.</p>

This study examines the efficacy of collection development and management practices, policies, guidelines and standards in universities of technology to meet the information needs of academics and researchers at such institutions. In South Africa, as in Australasia, technikons or polytechnics have been upgraded first into degree granting institutions and then, at the beginning of the 21st century, into universities of technology. The researcher was concerned that library collections in South African universities of technology have not grown to meet the research and teaching needs of academics at the level of universities offering instruction up to a doctoral level. As research funding, government grants and the general prestige of the institutions depend on the research output of the institutions, it is essential that academics and researchers find the information resources they require in their institutional libraries. Case studies of universities of technology in New Zealand and South Africa reveal that, while Auckland University of Technology has been successful in extending its collection to meet the increasing demands placed on it, the collection development policies, standards and guidelines in a South African university of technology need to be upgraded in order to meet the information needs and information behaviour of their researchers and academics. Current levels of funding for the acquisition of information resources in South Africa lag behind those found at the New Zealand university of technology. The university of technology that was the object of the South African case study needs to bring its collection in line with that of similar institutions worldwide. This entails adapting goals and objectives stating how the collection is to develop, evaluating the collection and the needs of users, changing the Collection Development Policy to reflect the direction collection development will take and ensuring that the institution and the government back this project financially. To this end, a model Collection Development Policy has been drawn up that can be adapted to the local requirements of South African universities of technology to assist with the process of developing and managing library collections that will be worthy of such an institution. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

This study investigates, within the current health care situation, the interrelationship of the user, resources and tool in the design of a prototype WELLNESS database-driven web site. A shift has taken place in health care, in which the base of conventional medicine has broadened to integrate other systems, practices and worldviews. These include complementary and alternative medicine, health promotion, disease prevention and wellness. Emphasis is placed on the need to take personal responsibility for one's own health and wellness. The global burden of chronic disease, reaching epidemic proportions, is increasingly linked to risk factors resulting from personal lifestyle choices. The growing evidence of the user's need to make personal, informed, lifestyle choices and their reliance on the Web for health information, required investigation. WELLNESS, a specific orientation to health and wellness, formed the framework within which the user and resources were defined and the tool designed. The user was profiled as the WELLNESS health information seeker, hereby contributing significantly to an understanding of the user in this new context. The user profile informed the establishment of resource selection criteria and tool design. The identification of WELLNESS content selection criteria, within a five-dimensional model, was required to ensure quality, relevant and credible resources. The tool is comprised of the WELLNESS thesaurus and WELLNESS database-driven web site. The WELLNESS thesaurus was constructed based on a combination of relevant thesauri. It will be used as an indexing tool. An investigation of existing health information web sites highlighted the importance of designing a specific WELLNESS database-driven web site. A database host was identified against which the original study's conceptual schema was assessed. A low-fidelity prototype web site was designed as the interface between the WELLNESS health information seeker and the database of WELLNESS health information resources. This study has epidemiological, philosophical, epistemological, sociological and psychological relevance. The provision of access to WELLNESS health information resources, made available in the WELLNESS database-driven web site, for personal, informed lifestyle choice by the WELLNESS health information seeker could potentially contribute to the reduction of the global burden of chronic disease. / Information Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

This study investigated access and use of information in the health-care of home-based elderly people (EPs) in Nakuru District, Kenya. The literature review revealed a gap with respect to information behaviour in health-care of EPs in a development context. The researcher used qualitative methods; with exploratory and descriptive research design because the focus of the study was on the littleknown and socially disadvantaged community of EPs in Nakuru District. Respondents were sampled by using the snowball technique. At the end of an interview session, each respondent was encouraged to nominate someone who either shared the same or had different experiences, views, socio-economic levels and gender. The researcher collected data through face-to-face interviews with EPs, informal care providers (ICPs) and formal health-care providers (FHCPs), in order to gain insight of information behaviour in health-care of EPs, by focusing on aspects of information needs; sources; use of information and factors that influence the respective groups of respondents to access and use health-care information health-care of EPs. The findings showed that the respective groups of respondents had similar as well as diversified needs for information for health-care. The groups used both formal and informal sources of information and channels of communication to access information for health-care, with FHCPs using authoritative sources more than the EPs and ICPs. Factors such as being a professional or a lay person, cost, ease of accessibility, availability of sources and channels of communication, time and trustworthiness of a source or channel of communication determined preference for use of information. The major contribution of the study is to the theory about information behaviour: some EPs and ICPs used CAM services without informing FHCPs, thereby revealing a form of concealed information use behaviour (CIUB). / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

The entire world needs and seeks information to survive and thrive in the 21st century as a result of information acquisition, with doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and even the elderly all desiring information for their everyday activities. Researchers of different disciplines working at the various federal institutes in Nigeria are no exceptions to the craving for requisite information that will enable them successfully carry out their numerous research projects undertaken towards achieving sustainable national development. The aim of the study was to investigate the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of researchers at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Nigeria. This study applied both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for the purpose of triangulation. The quantitative approach had a strong dominance over the qualitative approach in this study. This study adopted the positivist paradigm. The questionnaire, interview and observation data collection tools were the chosen tools used to collect data from researchers from the six departments of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi and five professional librarians of the institute’s library. Out of 165 questionnaires that were administered to researchers, a total of 121 were returned (resulting in a response rate of 73%). Inaccuracies were identified in seven copies of the questionnaires which were discarded and not analysed. Therefore, usable returns totalled 114 (67%). Wilson’s 1999 model of information behaviour was used as the theoretical framework. This study revealed that both formal and informal sources were consulted by the researchers. It was important to note that the internet was the information source most commonly used by the researchers to obtain information. The institute’s library was poorly used because it contained outdated library materials and was not equipped with an internet facility. The researchers opted for the use of mobile phone/iPad, personally owned or sourced internet access and business centres (supplying internet services outside the institute) to access information sources for information. The study ascertained that there was undoubtedly an instituted library officially established within the institute to provide information to researchers. But due to socio-economic and political problems faced by the country Nigeria, predominantly with respect to the outlook of poor funding of sustainable library development concerns and the government’s lack of interest in research, outdated library collections and poor information provision services have become the given at the institute’s library. This ultimately brought about pessimistic reactions from the researchers. Among its recommendations, the study suggested that funding the institute’s library in order to update and replace outdated library collections is a priority. An information audit should be carried out to ascertain the current state of ICTs within the institute and the institute’s library should be equipped with an internet facility promptly. Adopting these recommendations would enable researchers to have limitless access to items of information they need for research as they seek for information. / Information Science / D. Phil. (Information Science)

This study investigates, within the current health care situation, the interrelationship of the user, resources and tool in the design of a prototype WELLNESS database-driven web site. A shift has taken place in health care, in which the base of conventional medicine has broadened to integrate other systems, practices and worldviews. These include complementary and alternative medicine, health promotion, disease prevention and wellness. Emphasis is placed on the need to take personal responsibility for one's own health and wellness. The global burden of chronic disease, reaching epidemic proportions, is increasingly linked to risk factors resulting from personal lifestyle choices. The growing evidence of the user's need to make personal, informed, lifestyle choices and their reliance on the Web for health information, required investigation. WELLNESS, a specific orientation to health and wellness, formed the framework within which the user and resources were defined and the tool designed. The user was profiled as the WELLNESS health information seeker, hereby contributing significantly to an understanding of the user in this new context. The user profile informed the establishment of resource selection criteria and tool design. The identification of WELLNESS content selection criteria, within a five-dimensional model, was required to ensure quality, relevant and credible resources. The tool is comprised of the WELLNESS thesaurus and WELLNESS database-driven web site. The WELLNESS thesaurus was constructed based on a combination of relevant thesauri. It will be used as an indexing tool. An investigation of existing health information web sites highlighted the importance of designing a specific WELLNESS database-driven web site. A database host was identified against which the original study's conceptual schema was assessed. A low-fidelity prototype web site was designed as the interface between the WELLNESS health information seeker and the database of WELLNESS health information resources. This study has epidemiological, philosophical, epistemological, sociological and psychological relevance. The provision of access to WELLNESS health information resources, made available in the WELLNESS database-driven web site, for personal, informed lifestyle choice by the WELLNESS health information seeker could potentially contribute to the reduction of the global burden of chronic disease. / Information Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

This study examines the efficacy of collection development and management practices, policies, guidelines and standards in universities of technology to meet the information needs of academics and researchers at such institutions. In South Africa, as in Australasia, technikons or polytechnics have been upgraded first into degree granting institutions and then, at the beginning of the 21st century, into universities of technology. The researcher was concerned that library collections in South African universities of technology have not grown to meet the research and teaching needs of academics at the level of universities offering instruction up to a doctoral level. As research funding, government grants and the general prestige of the institutions depend on the research output of the institutions, it is essential that academics and researchers find the information resources they require in their institutional libraries. Case studies of universities of technology in New Zealand and South Africa reveal that, while Auckland University of Technology has been successful in extending its collection to meet the increasing demands placed on it, the collection development policies, standards and guidelines in a South African university of technology need to be upgraded in order to meet the information needs and information behaviour of their researchers and academics. Current levels of funding for the acquisition of information resources in South Africa lag behind those found at the New Zealand university of technology. The university of technology that was the object of the South African case study needs to bring its collection in line with that of similar institutions worldwide. This entails adapting goals and objectives stating how the collection is to develop, evaluating the collection and the needs of users, changing the Collection Development Policy to reflect the direction collection development will take and ensuring that the institution and the government back this project financially. To this end, a model Collection Development Policy has been drawn up that can be adapted to the local requirements of South African universities of technology to assist with the process of developing and managing library collections that will be worthy of such an institution. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

This study investigated access and use of information in the health-care of home-based elderly people (EPs) in Nakuru District, Kenya. The literature review revealed a gap with respect to information behaviour in health-care of EPs in a development context. The researcher used qualitative methods; with exploratory and descriptive research design because the focus of the study was on the littleknown and socially disadvantaged community of EPs in Nakuru District. Respondents were sampled by using the snowball technique. At the end of an interview session, each respondent was encouraged to nominate someone who either shared the same or had different experiences, views, socio-economic levels and gender. The researcher collected data through face-to-face interviews with EPs, informal care providers (ICPs) and formal health-care providers (FHCPs), in order to gain insight of information behaviour in health-care of EPs, by focusing on aspects of information needs; sources; use of information and factors that influence the respective groups of respondents to access and use health-care information health-care of EPs. The findings showed that the respective groups of respondents had similar as well as diversified needs for information for health-care. The groups used both formal and informal sources of information and channels of communication to access information for health-care, with FHCPs using authoritative sources more than the EPs and ICPs. Factors such as being a professional or a lay person, cost, ease of accessibility, availability of sources and channels of communication, time and trustworthiness of a source or channel of communication determined preference for use of information. The major contribution of the study is to the theory about information behaviour: some EPs and ICPs used CAM services without informing FHCPs, thereby revealing a form of concealed information use behaviour (CIUB). / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)