Construction is one of the largest industry sectors in terms of size and output in the United Kingdom (UK). The sector contributes about 10% directly to the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and drives historical GDP growth. However, Construction projects and Organisations continue to underperform at significant levels which is underpinned by actors' Information Behaviours (IBs).

Access to educational resources by teachers contributes to improve the quality ofteaching and learning at school. In order to inquiry to what extent teachers accessto these resources an exploratory study took place in eight public schools of Lima.School libraries and innovation classrooms were observed, a survey was applied toteachers; there were also focus groups with them and interviews to schools’ principals.Results reveal the scarce availability of resources that teachers have at schools,the precariousness of school libraries in collections, personnel and services, thepoor development of innovation classrooms, as well as the gap between the officialdiscourse and the practice in order to reach educational achievements / El acceso a los recursos educativos por los docentes contribuye a mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en la escuela. Con el fin de conocer en qué medida los docentes acceden y usan tales recursos, se realizó un estudio exploratorio en ocho instituciones educativas estatales de Lima. Para ello, se observaron las bibliotecas escolares y las aulas de innovación, se aplicaron encuestas a los docentes, seorganizaron focus groups y se entrevistó a los directores. Los resultados revelan la poca disponibilidad de recursos educativos que tienen los docentes en la institución, la precariedad de las bibliotecas escolares en cuanto a colecciones, personal y servicios, el escaso desarrollo de las aulas de innovación, así como la distancia entre el discurso oficial y la práctica para alcanzar mayores logros en materia de enseñanza.

Submitted by Fábio Marques (fabiomacz@gmail.com) on 2018-08-07T13:27:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CruzFabio_O_uso_da_informação_na_Bolsa_de_Valores.pdf: 6766877 bytes, checksum: 3198654a4627f78b7c32e9f6975613b8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Urania Araujo (urania@ufba.br) on 2018-08-27T19:15:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 CruzFabio_O_uso_da_informação_na_Bolsa_de_Valores.pdf: 6766877 bytes, checksum: 3198654a4627f78b7c32e9f6975613b8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T19:15:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CruzFabio_O_uso_da_informação_na_Bolsa_de_Valores.pdf: 6766877 bytes, checksum: 3198654a4627f78b7c32e9f6975613b8 (MD5) / FAPESB / Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar as informações utilizadas pelos investidores para a tomada de decisão no mercado de ações brasileiro. Os investidores devem estar informados sobre as empresas e a economia dos países para tomar decisões no mercado de ações. Os preços das ações podem aumentar ou diminuir, de acordo com um maior ou menor interesse e expectativas dos investidores. Assim, as informações usadas pelos investidores para tomar decisões podem ter um importante impacto sobre os preços das ações. O impacto da informação sobre o mercado de ações pode ser inferido através da investigação das reações do mercado às informações divulgadas sobre as empresas listadas. Para isso, coletamos informações sobre a Petrobras, cujas ações são as mais negociadas no mercado de ações brasileiro. Os dados para a pesquisa foram coletados através da análise de notícias e comunicados corporativos ao longo do Ano de 2015. As fontes das notícias e dos comunicados são jornais e o sítio eletrônico da Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (B3). Além disso, os preços das ações da Petrobras foram recuperados de arquivos fornecidos pela bolsa de valores. Como procedimentos de análise, foram utilizados métodos quantitativos, tais como: estudo de eventos, volume de negociação anormal e volatilidade. O último mede a incerteza na precificação das ações e os anteriores ajudam a inferir as informações mais utilizadas pelos investidores com base no impacto da divulgação de informações sobre os retornos das ações e sobre o volume de negociação. Como resultados, pôde-se constatar que as informações mais usadas em 2015 para negociar as ações da Petrobras estavam relacionadas com: crédito; venda de ativos; investimentos; produção; preço do petróleo; demonstrações financeiras; baixa contábil. Observou-se que as informações oficiais foram mais relevantes para o processo decisório dos investidores do que as informações de fontes informais. No entanto, a divulgação atrasada de informações e com conteúdo pouco preciso provocou um grande fluxo de informações de fontes informais. Isso confirma a importância de se divulgar informações precisas e oportunas, sobretudo em apresentações e resultados da companhia, que, segundo investidores institucionais e analistas financeiros, estão entre as principais fontes de informação para a tomada de decisão nos mercados de ações. Desse modo, conclui-se que as informações de fontes formais possuem maior relevância para a tomada de decisão dos investidores em geral e que o uso de informações de fontes informais se deu, em maior parte, pelos investidores de varejo que costumam gerar, isoladamente, menor volume de compra e venda de ações e, geralmente, estão mais sujeitos a tendências de curto prazo e especulações que confirmem suas crenças. / Abstract This study aims to analyze the information used by investors for decision-making in the Brazilian stock market. Investors must be informed about the companies and countries’ economies to make decisions in the stock market. The stock prices may increase or decrease, according to a greater or lesser interest and expectations of investors. Thus, information used by investors to make decisions can have a huge impact on stock prices. The impact of information on the stock market can be inferred by investigating the market reactions to information disclosed about listed companies. In order to achieve this, we collected information about Petrobras whose shares are the most traded in the Brazilian stock market. Data was gathered through analysis of news and press releases over the year of 2015. The sources of this information are newspapers and the website of Stock Exchange of São Paulo (B3). Furthermore, stock prices of Petrobras were retrieved from files provided by the stock exchange. As analysis procedures, quantitative methods were used such as: event study, abnormal trading volume and volatility. The last one measures the uncertainty in the valuation of stocks and the previous ones help to infer the most used information based on the impact of information disclosure on stock returns and on trading volume. As results, it could be seen that the information most used in 2015 to negotiate Petrobras’ shares was related to: the company’s credit; sale of assets; investments; oil production; oil prices; financial statements; write-off in the balance sheet. It was noted that official information was more relevant to investors’ decision-making than information from informal sources. However, late disclosure of relevant information and its inaccurate content has triggered a large flow of information from informal sources. This confirms the importance of releasing accurate and timely information, particularly in presentations and results of the company, which institutional investors and financial analysts say are among the main sources of information for decision- making in stock markets. Thus, it is concluded that information from formal sources is more relevant to the decision-making process of investors in general. In the other hand, information from informal sources was mostly used by retail investors who, usually, generates lower volume and are, generally, more affected by short-term tendencies and speculations that may confirm their beliefs.

Abstract Social information use is a widespread phenomenon across the animal kingdom and it affects various important aspects of animal behaviour. Animals observe and copy the behaviour of conspecifics and other species on the same trophic level in their own decision-making, e.g., in habitat or mate choice. Copying is adaptive only when it is selective. Thus, it would be important to understand when and which individuals should copy others, and which individuals they choose to copy and what are the consequences of social information use. In this thesis, I experimentally study these questions in wild animals living in natural conditions. By simulating arbitrary preference of great tits (Parus major), I demonstrated that the portrayed fitness does not affect the nest site choices of conspecifics, but the tit pairs with an old male prefer the nest site choices of good and poor conspecifics. Social information use among tits appears to be age- and sex-dependent. Pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), however, selectively copy or reject a novel nest site feature preference (symbol attached to the nest box) of great tits experimentally manipulated to exhibit high or low fitness (clutch size), respectively. By offering pied flycatchers choice in nest boxes with alternative contents, I showed that nest take-overs of flycatchers are not a form of social information use, but seem to result from the reduced building effort required. Furthermore, by conducting a decoy and playback experiment, I showed that great tits covered eggs more efficiently in the presence of pied flycatchers. One function of egg covering behaviour seems to be a counter-adaptation to reduce information parasitism by pied flycatchers. My results demonstrate that the social transmission of behaviours across species can be highly selective in response to observed fitness, plausibly making the phenomenon adaptive. In contrast with the current theory of species coexistence, overlap between realized niches of species could dynamically increase or decrease, depending on the observed success of surrounding individuals. The social information revealed by success and behaviour of animals is a resource that can be used or concealed. It is a new kind of evolutionary and ecological factor which may affect the formation of ecosystems and species coevolution. / Tiivistelmä Sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö on yleinen ilmiö eläinkunnassa, ja sitä tavataan aina hyönteisistä valaisiin. Yksilöt tarkkailevat ja kopioivat sekä lajitovereiden että toisen ekologialtaan samankaltaisen lajin yksilöiden käyttäytymistä erilaisissa tilanteissa, kuten pesäpaikan tai parittelukumppanin valinnassa. Sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö on adaptiivista ainoastaan ollessaan valikoivaa. Siksi on tärkeää selvittää kenen, koska ja ketä kannattaa kopioida, ja mitä ekologisia ja evolutiivisia seurauksia siitä koituu informaation lähteelle ja käyttäjälle. Väitöskirjassani tutkin kokeellisesti informaation hankkijan (kirjosieppo Ficedula hypoleuca) valikoivaa kopioimista ja siitä mahdollisesti johtuvaa informaation lähteen (talitiainen Parus major) vasta-adaptaatiota luonnonoloissa. Symbolikokeilla selvitin, että talitiaisten lajinsisäinen kopiointi on iästä ja sukupuolesta riippuvaa, mutta informaationlähteen havaittu kelpoisuus ei vaikuta kopioinnin todennäköisyyteen. Kirjosiepot puolestaan kopioivat valikoivasti keinotekoisesti luotuja tiaisten mieltymyksiä pesäpönttöön kiinnitettyjä symboleja kohtaan, riippuen tiaisten havaitusta manipuloidusta kelpoisuudesta (munamäärästä pesässä). Siepot kopioivat tiaisia, joiden pesässä on paljon munia (13 munaa), ja rejektoivat tiaisia (valitsevat vaihtoehtoisen symbolin), joilla munia on vähän (5 munaa). Tarjoamalla kirjosiepoille vaihtoehtoisia pesäpönttöjä osoitin, että sieppojen luontainen mieltymys vallata ja rakentaa pesänsä toisten pesien päälle ei ole sosiaalisen informaationkäytön muoto, vaan se näyttää olevan pesänrakennuksen kustannusten minimointia. Playback-kokeilla osoitin, että talitiaisten munienpeittelykäyttäytymisellä on useita funktioita. Se on vasta-adaptaatio kirjosiepon informaatioloisintaa vastaan ja toimii mahdollisesti suojana kylmää vastaan. Väitöskirjani tulokset osoittavat, että eläinten käyttäytymisen paljastama sosiaalinen informaatio on resurssi, jota voidaan hyödyntää tai salata. Se on myös uudenlainen ekologinen ja evolutiivinen tekijä, joka vaikuttaa eliöyhteisöjen muodostumiseen ja lajien koevoluutioon. Lajienvälinen valikoiva sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö -hypoteesi haastaa nykyisen koevoluutioteorian. Se ennustaa, että informaatiota hyödyntävän lajin ja informaationlähteen ominaisuudet voivat joko samankaltaistua tai erilaistua, informaationlähteen havaittavasta menestyksestä riippuen.

The aim of this study is to understand the information seeking of undergraduate students and use of electronic resources at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (namely KTH RIT). Four research questions were developed to guide the study. Wilson’s 1996 model of information behaviour was adopted. The survey research design was adopted. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was administered to a group of undergraduate students through a convenience sampling technique. A total of 122 undergraduate students were sampled from different departments in different years of study (first-to-third). Several statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient were used to analyse the data. The results obtained from the data analysis revealed that undergraduate students consider all types of information provided as important. Furthermore, books were identified as the most favoured information source that best supports undergraduate students information needs. Next are websites, databases, journals, YouTube and encyclopaedias in ascending order. The study found that what constitutes the information needs of undergraduate students were university study-related tasks, learning, personal roles and research in their order of importance.

Whilst the amount of information readily available to workers in information- and knowledge intensive business- and industrial contexts only seem to increase with every day, those workers still have difficulties in finding relevant and needed information as well as storing, distributing, and aggregating such information. Yet, whilst there exist numerous technical, organisational, and practical approaches to remedy the situation, the problems seem to prevail. This publication describes the first part of the author’s work on defining a methodology for improving the flow of work related information, with respect to the information demand of individuals and organisations. After a prefatory description of the perceived problems concerning information flow in modern organisations, a number of initial conjectures regarding information demand and use in small-scale business contexts are defined based on a literature study. With this as the starting point the author sets out to, through an empirical investigation performed in three different Swedish organisations during 2005, identify how individuals within organisations in general, and these three in particular, use information with respect to such organisational aspects as roles, tasks, and resources as well as spatio-temporal aspects. The results from the investigation are then used to validate the conjectures and to draw a number of conclusions on which both a definition of information demand, as well as the initial steps towards defining a methodology for information demand analysis, are based. Lastly, a short discussion of the applicability of the results in continued work is presented together with a description of such planned work.

Parents of children with autism shoulder substantial responsibility for navigating intervention to address autism-related concerns, and face conditions of high uncertainty and stress to do so. There is a lack of holistic research explaining how parents cope and respond to the complexity and obstacles that characterize their situation as they navigate multiple forms of intervention across multiple systems of care. The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a social psychological explanation in the form of a substantive theory of how Ontario parents of children with autism navigate intervention under complex informational conditions. I used grounded theory methods, a constructivist approach and symbolic interactionist analytic framework for this research. The findings are primarily based on 45 in-depth (90-minute) interviews with 32 mothers from different urban and rural Ontario regions (fathers participated in 3 cases), and 9 professionals with expertise supporting parents. Documents were also analyzed. The central process of navigating intervention, labeled making your own way, consists of adjusting to the need to navigate intervention, in which parents construct the meanings that prepare and motivate them for taking action to navigate intervention. Adjusting consists of 4 interdependent sub-processes that together explain parents’ action: defining concerns, informing the self, seeing what is involved, and emotionally adapting. I portray the central process according to three overlapping heuristic stages: beginning the autism journey, handling transitions, and easing off. Many parents develop a strong sense of urgency to which they can respond by going into high gear, expending substantial personal resources sometimes at unsustainable rates in the pursuit of intervention. The findings have implications for supporting parents to improve outcomes including parent stress. The central process of making your own way is generically transferrable to other healthcare consumer populations. Other conceptual elements have theoretical relevance for consumer-centered areas of health research. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Parents of children with autism shoulder significant responsibility for navigating many varying services and treatments (intervention) to address autism-related concerns, and experience great uncertainty and stress as they do so. There is a lack of research explaining how these parents respond to the complexity and obstacles they encounter as they navigate intervention. Using qualitative research methods, I interviewed 32 urban and rural Ontario parents (mostly mothers) and 9 professionals with expertise supporting parents to understand in detail how parents respond to their situation by making their own way to intervention. The resulting analytic findings have implications for improving support for parents of children with autism to reduce stress in their lives and improve other outcomes. The theory developed is also relevant for understanding how other healthcare consumer populations navigate intervention, and contributes to general knowledge in different consumer-centered areas of health research.

This qualitative study views international students as information-using learners, through an information literacy lens. Focusing on the experiences of 25 international students at two Australian universities, the study investigates how international students use online information resources to learn, and identifies associated information literacy learning needs. An expanded critical incident approach provided the methodological framework for the study. Building on critical incident technique, this approach integrated a variety of concepts and research strategies. The investigation centred on real-life critical incidents experienced by the international students whilst using online resources for assignment purposes. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and an observed online resource-using task. Inductive data analysis and interpretation enabled the creation of a multifaceted word picture of international students using online resources and a set of critical findings about their information literacy learning needs. The study’s key findings reveal: • the complexity of the international students’ experience of using online information resources to learn, which involves an interplay of their interactions with online resources, their affective and reflective responses to using them, and the cultural and linguistic dimensions of their information use. • the array of strengths as well as challenges that the international students experience in their information use and learning. • an apparent information literacy imbalance between the international students’ more developed information skills and less developed critical and strategic approaches to using information • the need for enhanced information literacy education that responds to international students’ identified information literacy needs. Responding to the findings, the study proposes an inclusive informed learning approach to support reflective information use and inclusive information literacy learning in culturally diverse higher education environments.

<p>Academic dissertaion for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Borås to be publicly defended on Friday 21 October 2011 at 13.15 in lecture room M402, University of Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås</p>

Há anos, os estudos e avaliações de uso de produtos e/ou serviços disponibilizados em ambientes digitais ganharam importância, objetivando produtos e/ou serviços que ofereçam facilidade de uso e experiências agradáveis aos usuários destes. Ocorre, entretanto, que os usuários compreendem o mundo de maneira diferente e, consequentemente, suas necessidades de informação também são diferentes. Assim, partindo desta premissa, o principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi buscar a identificação e caracterização de princípios norteadores para análise do uso de sistemas de informação em ambientes digitais. A pesquisa foi conduzida com base nos estudos de redes de relacionamentos conceituais. Para tanto, utilizou-se uma infraestrutura (framework) conceitual e, partir das formas e comportamentos apresentados pelas conexões conceituais, foram observados e extraídos princípios para análise de uso dos sistemas informação. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa qualitativa, baseada no Método Bibliográfico e Levantamento (survey) em fóruns eletrônicos de discussão e, de modo complementar nas análises, foram utilizados métodos, técnicas e medidas dos estudos de redes, para identificação e caracterização dos princípios para avaliação de sistemas de informação. Como resultado, destaca-se que os princípios identificados representam elementos norteadores para a composição de parâmetros e criação de procedimentos que auxiliam na análise dos usos de sistemas de informação em geral. Não se trata de substituição dos métodos e técnicas amplamente utilizados nas áreas de Interface Humano Computador (IHC), Usabilidade, Análise de Sistemas e/ou Engenharia de Requisitos, contudo, os referidos princípios representam contribuições ao estudo das interações entre pessoas e sistemas de informação, considerando-se os relacionamentos entre os conceitos que estas pessoas ativam e/ou mobilizam para interpretar estes contextos de uso. / For years, studies and evaluations of the use of products and / or services made available in digital environments have gained importance, aiming products and / or services that offer ease of use and pleasant experiences to users of these. It occurs, however, that users understand the world differently and therefore their information needs are also different. Thus, based on this premise, the main objective of this research was to identify and characterize guiding principles for the analysis of the use of information systems in digital environments. The research was conducted based on the studies of networks of conceptual relationships. For that, a conceptual framework was used and, from the forms and behaviors presented by the conceptual connections, principles were observed and extracted for analysis of the use of information systems. It is therefore a qualitative research, based on the Bibliographic Method and Survey in electronic discussion forums and, in a complementary way in the analyzes, were used methods, techniques and measures of the networks studies, for identification and characterization of the Principles for evaluation of information systems. As a result, it is highlighted that the identified principles represent guiding elements for the composition of parameters and creation of procedures that help in the analysis of the uses of information systems in general. It is not a question of replacing the widely used methods and techniques in the areas of Computer Human Interface (IHC), Usability, Systems Analysis and / or Requirements Engineering, however, these principles represent contributions to the study of the interactions between people and information systems , Considering the relationships between the concepts that these people activate and / or mobilize to interpret these contexts of use.