Design is a process of changing current situations into preferred ones, through conversations with design materials, and an understanding of the present practice of the designed artefact’s future users. Domain-relevant data, such as those generated by personal and autonomous computing systems, are an increasingly important design material presenting new ways to explore current practice. Examples of these data include that being generated by people using smartphones, health and fitness monitors, smart energy meters and social media; or that from official statistics made publicly available via Open Data initiatives. This thesis details research developing CoDesign With Data, a novel approach to collaborative early-stage design workshops in which working with domain-relevant data is the key distinguishing feature. During a CoDesign With Data workshop participants are given the tools and techniques to help them seek insight from data, gain an understanding of the context these data might come from, and to inspire creative design ideas. These tools and techniques build on an understanding of research into information visualization and applied creativity. The activities in which they are used build on the experiences reported from other approaches to creativity in collaborative requirements gathering and design workshops. The aim of this research is to support design innovation that results in new products or services appropriate to the contexts in which they will be used. To investigate the primary research question, and evaluate the tools and techniques being developed, two design experiments and three case studies were undertaken. In each study, examples of tools, in the form of workshop materials and information visualization interfaces, and techniques, in the form of workshop activities, are presented, and simple takeaways for design practice are offered. Finally, the knowledge and understanding gained during this research is presented as a series of guidelines and recommendations, and a description of the current state-of-the-art CoDesign With Data workshop.

This thesis is concerned with exploring patients’ experiences of using a diabetes eHealth system. The context of the study is the growth of interest in eHealth systems that focus on patient needs, alongside increasing home computer use and the rising incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. I aim in this thesis to make a novel contribution to knowledge about how eHealth technology is experienced by patients with diabetes. The study takes the form of a qualitative enquiry into the use of a diabetes eHealth system by a group of patients and their healthcare practitioners at a primary care general practice in Northern England. Using symbolic interactionism as a methodological perspective and taking elements from grounded theory the study produces a theoretical framework based on a thematic analysis of participants’ descriptions of their experiences of using the eHealth system. A diabetes eHealth system was designed and built for the study, and 38 patients were recruited from a single GP practice using purposive sampling. Participants used the system for six months and were interviewed at the beginning, middle and end of the study period. Issues of surveillance, automation, endorsement and interaction influenced use and experiences of the system. Results from the study indicate that participants use and perceive the eHealth system as part of their diabetes management experience. My thesis is that the eHealth system is a boundary structure through which boundary objects, such as electronically formatted blood glucose readings, are created and shared across different social worlds. The eHealth system crosses the boundary between two spheres of an individual’s diabetes management experience, the personal sphere of self-management, and the external sphere of seeking and receiving support from medical experts and others with diabetes. The co-location of these two spheres exposes participants to scrutiny but also opens up new possibilities for collaboration and learning.

The University of Huddersfield Press, re-launched in 2010, is an open access publisher of peer reviewed journals, monographs and sound recordings. The research to inform this thesis was conducted between 2011 and 2015. The primary research question of this thesis and accompanying business plan is to demonstrate how the University of Huddersfield Press can establish a viable and innovative business model. Subsidiary research questions are to establish how the output of the Press will contribute to and enhance the University’s strategic objectives and to indicate how the Press, as an open access publisher, can contribute to the world of scholarly communication by increasing the literature on New University Presses. As such, a number of chapters have been published as journal articles. The thesis introduces the University of Huddersfield Press before setting out the motivation, background and focus of the study. The rise of New University Presses (NUPs), the open access movement, the role of the repository and the library as publisher are examined and placed in context to the Press. The four cases studies included in this thesis are not multiple case studies, rather they are embedded units of analysis in a single practice based case study, which allows the reader to follow a number of different reading paths. The case studies use observation, in depth investigations and a personal account of the author’s work in developing the Press, which will give new insight into open access publishing by NUPs. The first case study presents data and findings regarding the Press monograph publishing imitative. It draws on external literature and reflections of experience of the Press in order to derive lessons for best practice on future management of the Press. The second case study takes an in depth look at journal publishing within the Press. It looks at how the Huddersfield Open Access Publishing (HOAP) Project was used to launch a number of successful journals using the institutional repository and has helped to build the reputation of the Press in the University and wider community. Lessons learned are examined in order to recommend a more sustainable future for the Press. The third case study involves one of the journals to be published by the Press, Fields: journal of Huddersfield student research. It outlines the rationale for Fields in an institutional context, including the process of setting up an online, open access, multidisciplinary journal for student research. Year one of the project, which saw the journal go from proposal to fully fledged publication, is analysed and lessons learned are discussed. The final case study investigates Huddersfield Contemporary Records (HCR) and presents a case study of music publishing within the University. This case study stands independently and therefore begins with a review of the literature specifically on music industry issues pertinent to HCR. The case study includes a suggested business model and workflow for future releases. The thesis analyses the results and findings from the case studies in order to suggest a viable and innovative business model for the Press. This addresses questions of sustainability, arising from the case studies. The thesis develops Hahn’s programme and publication level business planning in library publishing before providing evidence of the reputational value of the Press to the University of Huddersfield. This is practically demonstrated in the Business Plan, which outlines the future for the Press for the next five years. The accompanying business plan will help to shape future thinking regarding this form of publishing.

This research project was motivated by the question of how a Slow perspective may relate to and impact upon theories of information behaviour and upon everyday information practices. Two related qualitative studies were undertaken to explore the relevance of Slow principles to the notion of the information society. The task-based, fixed end-points of existing theories of information behaviour and information literacy are shown to inadequately reflect the complexity of life in a social landscape characterised by the acceleration, and subsequent proliferation, of information channels. The project progressed through three distinct but related phases which are reported here. First, the conceptual foundations of a Slow perspective were hypothesised during reviews of the literature and existing conceptions of the information society. A Delphi study was then executed to facilitate discussion of the issues between experts in information behaviour. Thirdly, a focus group session was held to engage Slow experts in similar discussion of the issues from a practice perspective. Each phase was guided by a social constructivist methodology which encouraged participants and moderator to engage in conscious consideration of their perspective by connecting and discussing with others, echoing the Slow principles that the project sought to explore. A Slow perspective is shown to challenge received notions of information behaviour in three ways. The first two relate to fixed causal processes wherein the temporal progression of information behaviour and, relatedly, information literacy, is disrupted by a focus on tempo. The third challenge disrupts what ‘information’ is when society itself is perceived as information-based, shifting from an instrumental to an experiential view. Elements of a Slow approach were reported in practice as a means of attaining ‘informational balance’, which in turn can be seen to encourage everyday information literacy. Specifically Slow attitudes were reported in some withdrawal and avoidance behaviours, and were also rejected when the pressure of informational speed and scale proved too beneficial, or indeed, too addictive. The project concludes with an illustration of the implications of a Slow perspective of information behaviour, and recommendations for further research with this illustration in mind.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-216).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 306-318).

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed February 12, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Toni Kazic. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Union Institute (Randolph County, N.C.), 1989. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

This research was aimed towards the planning, design and evaluation of an experimental prototype for the systematic organisation, access and retrieval of community information and local studies, henceforth defined jointly as community-related information, for public libraries in Brazil. Community-related information services were identified as areas of modern public librarianship still to be developed in that country. To raise relevant theoretical issues that could be discussed in practice, applied prototyping was chosen as the core methodology for this project. The model proposed was built upon a software especially designed by Unesco for library applications available in Brazil called CDS/ISIS - Computerised Documentation System/Integrated Set of Information Systems. The resulting Automated Library and Community-Related Information System (ALTS) was designed based on a theoretical framework which suggested 1) information repackaging of community-related information concerns represented as A-Z listings with corresponding definitions aimed at encouraging public librarians to create their own community-related information systems; 2) a reference function implicit in the self-defining element of information repackaging and by referring the user to wider library resources to complement a community-related information query, thus encouraging the use of wider library resources, and 3) a referral function to direct users to resources external to the library capable of helping him/her with a community-related information concern and to encourage the inhouse creation of local resources files. This conceptual and practical framework was aimed at encouraging indigenous resources-building and a degree of autonomy for Brazilian public libraries to define and create their own community-related information systems based on their perceptions of community needs. ALTS prototype was made of six menu-driven modules or databases (CITYOR, AZHEAL, AZJOBS, AZLAW, LOCAL and LIBRY), related to one another in content and structure, accessed by a top menu via one-key options. Prototype specifications, database maps, data entry, master file maintenance, information retrieval services and user interfaces were described and illustrated with examples. System evaluation was carried out in Brazil in two selected public libraries which agreed to participate in the evaluation exercise. Evaluation consisted of individual interviews on perception of concepts, self-administered questionnaires on system use and implementation and data collection of real users' queries in Brazil to check whether ALTS could respond to present community-related information needs. Finally, the prototype was reviewed and discussed in the light of trends and developments for community-related information supply worldwide, validity of applied prototyping as the core methodology for this project and the setup of a national infrastructure for community-related information supply based on this research findings. Conclusions and recommendations were also drawn to encourage the development of community-related information activities in Brazil and further implementation of CDS/ISIS.