The purpose of this research was to contribute to an important research and practice issue, how users use evaluative metadata (i.e., end-user ratings, annotations, opinions, usage, and experts' recommendations) when searching for documents in educational digital libraries. The dissertation built a model of the predictive judgment process to develop design principles for digital library systems with evaluative metadata. Multiple methods were employed in the research design: (1) a questionnaire gathered demographic information, the subjects' computer/Internet/web knowledge, information needs (tasks), search keywords, and topic knowledge; (2) a think-aloud protocol was used to collect data about cognitive processes, in this case document selection; (3) semi-structured interviews gathered information about subjects' thoughts about their behavior; (4) the researcher wrote field notes (observation); and (5) Camtasia software was used to record the trace of each subject's metadata usage. The participants were 14 graduate students from School of Library and Information Studies in Florida State University. Four tasks were given to them in a laboratory setting. Tasks were two types 1) for finding teaching materials as an instructor, and 2) study materials as a student. The analyses were based on data from surveys, searching experiments, and post interviews. The data included 366 reviewed items in the search results of 60 searches. The results showed the user's positive inclination toward the evaluative metadata during searching in MERLOT. The research identified the reasons for scanning and examining evaluative metadata elements in the predictive judgment process. In addition, three ways to use evaluative metadata in the predictive judgment process were showed. The research also found the factors which influence the usage of the evaluative metadata: Users' cognitive, Function of the Digital Libraries, Situational, and Task. Finally, the revised predictive process model was presented including three stages of the predictive judgment (Scanning/Examining, Judgment, and Decision), the factors which affect the usage of evaluative metadata, and relevance criteria when the participants searched documents in MERLOT. The findings of the research provide implications for advancing empirical research for evaluative metadata and user-centered relevance study, and improving the design of the educational digital libraries. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2010. / June 21, 2010. / Digital Libraries, User's Behavior, Metadata / Includes bibliographical references. / Michelle M. Kazmer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Vanessa Dennen, University Representative; Paul F. Marty, Committee Member; Besiki Stvilia, Committee Member.

The study of the information behavior of Puerto Ricans and their reliance on personal social networks to procure needed information upon their migration to Central Florida is the core of this research. Life experiences of the researcher, as well as unstructured observations made in Puerto Rico from 1980 to 1996, and in Central Florida from 1996 to 2005 indicated that Puerto Ricans steadily rely on family members, friends, and acquaintances to solve their information needs and have a tendency to use similar personal social networks to seek information and to make sense of the new environment upon migration. This dissertation sought to answer three main questions: Is the information seeking behavior of Puerto Ricans modified by their relocation experience? Once they relocate to Central Florida, how do they use their personal social networks to seek the information needed to make sense of their new environment?; and; What new patterns of information behavior, if any, emerge from their information transactions/ interactions in their new environment? To answer these questions, this study used the combination of Yin's multiple case studies and Dervin's Sense-Making interview design for data collection. For the analysis of the data, Glaser's grounded theory emerging design was used. As the result of this study, a documented record of the patterns of information behavior of Puerto Ricans migrants in Central Florida, and an emergent grounded theory to that effect, are hereby presented. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / April 10, 2009. / Puerto Rico, Orlando, Central Florida, Information Behavior, Emergent Theory, Information Seeking Behavior, Puerto Rican Migration, Puerto Ricans, Grounded Theory, Grounded Analysis / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Burnett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Felipe Korzenny, Outside Committee Member; Sylvia Hall-Ellis, Committee Member; Michelle Kazmer, Committee Member.

This dissertation aims to provide empirical insight into the effectiveness of governmental intervention that helps to explain the extension of broadband penetration at the national level and to propose an appropriate perspective for explaining governmental intervention in the process of broadband proliferation. Criticizing the previous studies that focused on the supply side of governmental action, this dissertation expands the scope of governmental intervention to supply and demand sides. To prosecute this purpose on a measurable basis, the scope of this dissertation is focused on the impact of local loop unbundling, privatization using the ownership of incumbent carriers and market competition levels in the supply side and government online service in the demand side. A conceptual model was constructed using five groups of factors for the diffusion of broadband at the national level. From the results of panel and OLS regression analyses, this study finds evidence that the availability of broadband services is certainly influenced by governmental interventions from both supply and demand sides. The effect of governmental intervention is also significant when controlling economic, technological, demographic, and cultural factors in developed and developing countries. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 31, 2008. / Panel Analysis, Government Role, Broadband Diffusion / Includes bibliographical references. / John Carlo Bertot, Professor Directing Dissertation; HeeMin Kim, Outside Committee Member; Larry C. Dennis, Committee Member; John Gathegi, Committee Member.

Web-based tailored approaches hold much promise as effective means for delivering health education and improving public health. This study examines the effects of interactive tailored health videos on attention to health messages using neurophysiological changes measured by Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Electrocardiogram (EKG). Sixty-eight college students were randomized to examine one of two conditions: an interactive tailored health video using web-automated human interaction technology or a static site on the same health topic. Neurophysiological changes during exposure to stimuli were measured using event-related potentials (ERP) related toP300 and N1, as well as heart rate variability (HRV), including low-frequency power (LF), high-frequency power (HF), and the LF/HF ratio measurements. A survey questionnaire examined participants' self-reported perceptions about their viewing experience including: attention, interactivity, overall evaluation, preference, and engagement. Results show that the P300 and HF values were significantly higher when viewing the WAHI compared to when viewing the static site, indicating greater levels of attention, which was confirmed by the self-reported data. These results suggested that interactive tailored health intervention programs achieved a relatively greater effect on attention levels indicated by ERP, HRV and self-report, when compared to static message delivery. The study indicated that further research should investigate other neurophysiologic analyses as possible means to better assess the impact of interactive tailored video as a health education approach. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2011. / April 26, 2011. / Neurophysiologic Analysis, Interactive Tailored Health Videos, Attention, Health Messages, ERP, HRV / Includes bibliographical references. / Mia Liza A. Lustria, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Glueckauf, University Representative; Leonard LaPointe, Outside Committee Member; Kathleen Burnett, Committee Member; Besiki Stvilia, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study is to gain a finer-grained picture and better understanding of the travel patterns of library users, and the activities, demographics, and other factors that affect library access. Previous studies of physical accessibility of public libraries, which have focused on library users' single-destination trips and their travel distance, do not provide a full understanding of library use patterns in their full temporal and spatial environment. By analyzing individuals' daily travel activity, this study modeled library access patterns of users and suggested ways to improve library access. To accomplish this purpose, this study employed a mixed methodology including two-phases, quantitative and qualitative research. In the first phase, pre-existing quantitative household travel survey data were analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The data set for analysis was collected from the Metropolitan Travel Survey Archive, which stores 79 household daily travel data sets. Daily activities of 409 people who visited public libraries were extracted from the Puget Sound Region data set. Even though secondary data analyses allow researchers to analyze social phenomena in inaccessible settings, the interpretations of a secondary analysis can be limited due to a researcher's lack of knowledge of the setting. In the second phase, therefore, qualitative approaches were pursued to ensure the credibility of interpretations of secondary data analysis. During interviews with librarians from the area of study, questions intended to elicit corroboration of conclusions drawn from the secondary data analysis were asked. The interviews conducted, also provided a collection of the perspectives of public librarians regarding their users' access patterns. Through the analysis, four library access patterns were identified: single-destination, en route, base camp, and trip-chaining trips. Only 20% of library users made single-destination trips, while 80% of users made trips of a multi-destination nature; these are depicted by the remaining three patterns. In particular, 62.2% of the activities fell into the trip-chaining travel pattern, which is composed of discretionary activities including a library visit. Library visits were closely related to visits of other facilities such as groceries, shopping malls, and restaurants. Even though privately owned cars were used for almost all activities (75.2%), in the case of base camp activities, in which library visits start from such obligatory activities as work and school and end at the starting location, 84.6% of these activities were made on foot. Half of en route type users, that is, those who visit the library on their way to obligatory activity places, spent less than 10 minutes for library visits. In addition, findings indicate that although travel distance is still a constraint to library access, travel time is a more informative factor than travel distance for gaining a richer understanding of the nature of library visits. Based on these findings, this study made such recommendations to enhance the physical accessibility of public libraries as developing corporate sponsorships, creating library market area maps, placing drop-off boxes along the main route, and developing library programs for workers during lunch time. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2011. / April 28, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary Burnett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lisa Jordan, University Representative; Kathy Burnett, Committee Member; Michelle Kazmer, Committee Member; Christie Koontz, Committee Member.

Beginning January 18, 2011, proposals submitted to The National Science Foundation (NSF) must include a supplementary Data Management Plan (DMP) of no more than two pages. The NSF DMP requirement has significantly redefined the role of scientists, researchers, and practitioners in the United States of America (USA) by presenting the opportunity to engage in effective data management planning and practices for current and future use. In order for data to be useful to research, science, scholarship, and education, data must be identified, described, shared, discovered, extended, stored, managed, and consulted over its lifecycle (Bush, 1945; Lord & Macdonald, 2003; Hunter, 2005; JISC, 2006; UIUC GLIS, 2006/2010; NSF, 2011). Within the scope of this research study data management planning is defined as the planning of policies for the management of data types, formats, metadata, standards, integrity, privacy, protection, confidentiality, security, intellectual property rights, dissemination, reuse/re-distribution, derivatives, archives, preservation, and access (NSF, 2011). The management of data includes analog [physical], digitized [made electronic] & born digital [no physical surrogate] data. NSF's data management plan requirements have incentivized the development of a multitude of programs, projects, and initiatives aimed at promoting and providing data management planning knowledge, skills, and abilities for NSF data management plan requirements compliancy. Without the specification, clarification, & definition of key concepts; assessment of current data management practices, experiences, & methods; interrelationships of key concepts; and utilization of multiple methodological approaches, data management will be problematic, fragmented, and ineffective. The accomplishment of effective data management is contingent on funders, stakeholders, and users' investment and support in Infrastructure, Cultural Change, Economic Sustainability, Data Management Guidelines, and Ethics and Internet Protocol (Blatecky, 2012, p. 5) across organizations, institutions, & domains. One of the goals of the researcher "is to select a theory or combine [multiple theoretical perspectives] so they resonate with the guiding research questions, data-collection methods, analysis procedures, and presentation of findings" (Bodner & Orgill, 2007, p. 115) within a conceptual framework that "places its assumptions in view for practitioners" (Crotty, 1998). The introduction of the Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Methodological Suppositions (Burrell & Morgan, 1979: Morgan & Smircich, 1980: Morgan, 1983, Solem, 1993) to gather competing approaches and paradigmatic assumptions for multiple paradigm integration and crossing via interplay (Schultz & Hatch, 1996) is an attempt by the researcher to build theory from multiple paradigms through Metatriangulation (Lewis & Grimes, 1999), a theory-building approach. Within this study, the Data Asset Framework (DAF) is framed as a sequential mixed methods explanatory research design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011) and applies social science research to facilitate scientific inquiry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the data management and curation practices of scientists at several research laboratories at the Florida State University and select scientists associated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) EarthCube project. The goal of this research is not to provide extensive literature review to prove the need for effective data management practices but to provide empirical evidence to support current data management and curation practices. Within the scope of this dissertation, data management and curation practices will be generally defined as the effective aggregation, organization, representation, dissemination, and preservation of data. Data refers to analog and digital objects, databases, data sets, and research data. For purposes of discussions in this study, data is both singular and plural. Data management and curation practices include four key concepts: (1) data management planning, (2) data curation, (3) digital curation, and (4) digital preservation. Literature review suggests that these key concepts when applied with relevant standards, best practices, and guidelines can assist scientists in ensuring the integrity, accessibility, and stewardship of research data throughout its lifecycle. The combination of the conceptual framework for analyzing methodological suppositions (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Morgan & Smircich, 1980; Morgan, 1983; Solem, 1993), Metatriangulation (Lewis & Grimes, 1999), and the Data Asset Framework (DAF) (JISC, 2009) contributes to the development of an interdisciplinary conceptual framework model concept capable of addressing the data management and curation issues common across disciplines. For the purpose of this dissertation "research data are being understood as both primary input into research and first order results of that research " (ESRC, 2010, p. 2). / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / June 23, 2014. / Conceptual frameworks, Data Asset Framework (DAF), Data curation, Data management, Digital preservation, Metatriangulation / Includes bibliographical references. / Paul Marty, Professor Directing Dissertation; Helen Burke, University Representative; Stvilia Besiki, Committee Member; Lorri Mon, Committee Member.

Digital libraries must support the existing and emergent communities they serve, lest social opportunities to seek, use, and share information and knowledge become diminished compared to physical libraries. Despite many calls for a social view of digital libraries and the rise of social informatics and sociotechnical systems research, there is continuing need to examine how digital libraries support communities and facilitate collaboration. This research improves our understanding of the organizational, cultural, collaborative, and social contexts of digital libraries, conceptualizing social digital libraries to include content, services, and organizations, with a focus on facilitating information and knowledge sharing. A sequential mixed-methods design, drawing from the tenets of social informatics and social constructionism, explores and describes two cases of social digital libraries, LibraryThing and Goodreads, under a theoretical framework focusing on Star's boundary object theory and incorporating Strauss's social worlds perspective and Burnett and Jaeger's theory of information worlds. This framework conceives of social digital libraries adapting to the local needs of many communities, reconciling and translating meanings across them; supporting coherent norms, types, values, behaviors, and organizations; serving as sites and technologies for information behavior and activities; and supporting convergence of broader communities around their use. Content analysis of messages in five LibraryThing and four Goodreads groups, a structured survey of users, and semi-structured qualitative interviews with users identifies three roles LibraryThing and Goodreads play, as boundary objects, in facilitating and supporting translation, coherence, and convergence: (a) establishing community and organizational structure; (b) facilitating users' sharing of information values; and (c) building and maintaining social ties, networks, and community culture. Potential implications for digital library design and practice include highlighting translation processes and resources; providing user profiles and off-topic spaces and encouraging their use; taking a sociotechnical approach that tailors technology and community features to the right audiences; and facilitating the establishment of shared structure, values, and ties and boundary spanning activities. Further research on social digital libraries and in social informatics and information behavior should examine deeper facets of these roles, other digital libraries with less overt social features, and other ICTs in light of the processes of coherence and convergence, taking a boundary-sensitive view of information phenomena in community and collaborative contexts. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 3, 2014. / Boundary objects, Communities, Digital libraries, Information behavior, Online communities, Social informatics / Includes bibliographical references. / Michelle M. Kazmer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Deborah J. Armstrong, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Sanghee Oh, Committee Member.

There is a paucity of data on the resources, organization and management of secondary school libraries in Anglophone Cameroon. The few data available are based principally on casual observations and personal impressions, and in general, describe the collections as shocking and disgracefully meagre. The main objective of this study was to examine the current status of school library resources in selected secondary schools in Anglophone Cameroon. To this effect, attention was focused on book stock, periodical holdings, audiovisual materials, physical facilities and equipment, finance, management and use. In doing so, the principal method used was survey research method. This was supplemented with interview and observation, document analysis and participant observation techniques. The survey research instrument contained 59 item questions centered on the current status of secondary school libraries in Anglophone Cameroon. During visits to schools, the researcher interviewed relevant school authorities and also observed first-hand the state of the libraries. Information so obtained was cross-checked against responses to the mail questionnaire and also data gained from documentary sources. In all the schools studied there was acute shortage of such library resources as books, reference materials, periodicals, and audiovisual collections. Most schools also lacked adequate work space, seating accommodations for the pupils and basic working equipment for the libraries. In the issue of personnel, evidence showed that all the schools lacked qualified manpower. A few schools have full-time librarians who are neither qualified academically nor professionally. Some schools try, once in a while, to set aside some money for the needs of the library. But on the whole, the amount usually budgeted is grossly inadequate for even the basic needs of the library. Specific and policy oriented recommendations in the form of guidelines for the improvement of secondary school library services in Anglophone Cameroon were proposed.

Wayfinding is the method by which humans orient and navigate in space, and particularly in built environments such as cities and complex buildings, including public libraries. In order to wayfind successfully in the built environment, humans need information provided by wayfinding systems and tools, for instance architectural cues, signs, and maps. This is true of all built environments, including public libraries, but the issue is all the more important in public libraries where users already enter with information needs and possibly anxiety, which may interfere with their ability to wayfind successfully. To facilitate user wayfinding, which in turn facilitates user information seeking, public library facilities need to be designed with consideration of users' wayfinding needs, along with their information-seeking and other library-specific needs. The public library facility design literature identifies the importance of understanding user wayfinding behavior and designing around it, and this dissertation is a step toward answering that call. A single-method pilot study utilized unobtrusive observation to investigate library users' initial wayfinding behavior from the two entrances of a medium-sized public library, with the data analyzed and displayed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software (Mandel, 2010). The pilot study found certain routes to be more popular than others and suggested that such information could be gathered relatively easily and then used by the library to improve the library's wayfinding system and for marketing of library materials in high-traffic areas. However, the pilot study's largest limitation, namely the inability to ascertain any user opinions regarding their wayfinding in the library, indicated the need for a multi-method case study approach, replicating the original unobtrusive observation and adding document review of the Library's wayfinding tools such as maps and signage, intensive interviews with library users, and an expert review of findings with library staff and a library wayfinding and signage expert to gain a more comprehensive view of library user wayfinding behavior. This dissertation follows a multi-method case study research design, guided by Passini's Conceptual Framework of Wayfinding, to investigate library user wayfinding behavior from the entrance of a medium-sized public library facility. The case study design includes unobtrusive observation of library user wayfinding behavior, document review of the library's wayfinding tools, intensive interviews with library users to discuss their views on wayfinding in public libraries, and an expert review of findings with library staff and a library wayfinding and signage expert to test the validity of research findings. The researcher chose the case study design to guide this dissertation because of the ability to analyze data gathered from different methods, thereby mitigating the limitations of a single-method dissertation, strengthening the overall findings, and providing a more comprehensive view of library user wayfinding behavior than could be obtained from a single-method approach. The dissertation finds that users' wayfinding behavior is generally inconsistent over time as far as segments used to connect two given nodes, although high-traffic areas do show consistency of traffic levels. Also, of people connecting the same two nodes, some were very consistent in using the predominant segment (the one used most frequently) or other connecting segments used multiple times, but the behavior of other wayfinders was inconsistent with the majority in that they used unpopular segments to connect the two nodes. There also seems to be discrepancy between the segments and routes users are observed to utilize and those they say they utilize in navigating the entry area. Reasons for this discrepancy are unknown, but one possibility is interviewees' general difficulty in describing their entry area routes because of challenges in recalling their past behavior. Overall, it seems that users of the research site employ Passini's wayfinding styles more often than his wayfinding strategies, and two of the strategies were neither noted during unobtrusive observation nor mentioned during interviews. A possible reason for this lies in the difficulties in observing and articulating cognitive processes. Finally, although many users seem to struggle wayfinding in the library serving as research site, that does not seem to translate into recommended changes to improve this library's wayfinding system as interviewees were unlikely to indicate that any changes are needed, even after they had indicated struggling to wayfind in the facility. Ultimately, this research concludes that user wayfinding behavior in the research site is variant to some degree, but the degree to which that is so or why that is so remain unexplored. About half of observed users navigated via segments that other users also navigated, but the other half navigated via segments that they alone navigated. There does not appear to be any degree of consistency over time other than to say that user wayfinding behavior in this research site is consistently inconsistent. Additional research is necessary to compare this with user wayfinding behavior in other libraries and information organizations. Also, this research concludes that a significant amount of work remains to be done with regard to Passini's Conceptual Framework of Wayfinding (1981). This framework holds potential for explaining user wayfinding behavior, but additional research is necessary to investigate more fully the degree to which the styles and strategies are valid descriptors of how users wayfind. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library & Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / January 30, 2012. / observation, public libraries, spatial behavior, user studies, wayfinding / Includes bibliographical references. / Melissa Gross, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen D. McDowell, University Representative; Charles R. McClure, Committee Member; Lorraine M. Mon, Committee Member.

With the aim of improving information retrieval system design, this study explored the effect of cognitive load on the propensity to reformulate queries during information seeking on the Web, specifically the effect of manipulating three affective components that contribute to cognitive load--mental demand, temporal demand, and frustration A significant difference in the propensity of query reformulation behavior was found between searchers exposed to cognitive load manipulations and searchers who were not exposed. Those exposed to cognitive load manipulations, namely, mental demand, temporal demand, and frustration, made 2.18 times fewer search queries than searchers not exposed. Furthermore, the NASA-TLX cognitive load scores of searchers who were exposed to the three cognitive load manipulations were higher than those of searchers who were not exposed. However, the propensity of query reformulation behavior did not differ across task types. The findings suggest that a dual-task method and NASA-TLX assessment serve as good indicators of cognitive load. Because the findings show that cognitive load hinders a searcher's interaction with information search tools, this study concludes by recommending strategies for reducing cognitive load when designing information systems, or user interfaces. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / April 3, 2012. / Cognitive load, Cognitive load manipulation, Information retrieval, Mental workload, NASA-TLX, Query reformulation / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Burnett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Charness, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Besiki Stvilia, Committee Member.