This study assessed students’ satisfaction with Ramkhamhaeng University regional library services (RURLs) and the perceived quality of information retrieved from other information sources. In particular, this study investigated factors relating to regional students’ selection of information sources to meet their information needs. The researcher applied the principle of least effort and Simon’s satisficing theory for this study. The former principle governs and predicts the selection of these students’ perceived source accessibility, whereas the latter theory explains the selection and use of the information retrieved without considering whether the information is optimal. This study employed a web-based survey to collect data from 188 respondents. The researcher found that convenience and ease of use were the top two variables relating to respondent’s selection of information sources and use. The Internet had the highest mean for convenience. Results of testing a multiple linear regression model of all four RURCs showed that these four independent variables (convenience, ease of use, availability, and familiarity) were able to explain 69% of the total variance in the frequency of use of information sources. Convenience and ease of use were able to increase respondents’ perceived source accessibility and explain the variance of the frequency of use of sources more than availability and familiarity. These findings imply that respondents’ selection of information sources at the RURCs were governed by the principle of least effort. Libraries could consider the idea of one-stop services in the design of the Web portal, making it user friendly and convenient to access. Ideally, students could have one card to check out materials from any library in the resources sharing network.

This dissertation describes the credibility judgment process using social psychological theories of dual-processing, which state that information processing outcomes are the result of an interaction “between a fast, associative information- processing mode based on low-effort heuristics, and a slow, rule-based information processing mode based on high-effort systematic reasoning” (Chaiken & Trope, 1999, p. ix). Further, this interaction is illustrated by describing credibility judgments as a choice between examining easily identified peripheral cues (the messenger) and content (the message), leading to different evaluations in different settings. The focus here is on the domain of the Web, where ambiguous authorship, peer- produced content, and the lack of gatekeepers create an environment where credibility judgments are a necessary routine in triaging information. It reviews the relevant literature on existing credibility frameworks and the component factors that affect credibility judgments. The online encyclopedia (instantiated as Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica) is then proposed as a canonical form to examine the credibility judgment process. The two main claims advanced here are (1) that information sources are composed of both message (the content) and messenger (the way the message is delivered), and that the messenger impacts perceived credibility; and (2) that perceived credibility is tempered by information need (individual engagement). These claims were framed by the models proposed by Wathen & Burkell (2002) and Chaiken (1980) to forward a composite dual process theory of credibility judgments, which was tested by two experimental studies. The independent variables of interest were: media format (print or electronic); reputation of source (Wikipedia or Britannica); and the participant’s individual involvement in the research task (high or low). The results of these studies encourage a more nuanced understanding of the credibility judgment process by framing it as a dual-process model, and showing that certain mediating variables can affect the relative use of low-effort evaluation and high- effort reasoning when forming a perception of credibility. Finally, the results support the importance of messenger effects on perceived credibility, implying that credibility judgments, especially in the online environment, and especially in cases of low individual engagement, are based on peripheral cues rather than an informed evaluation of content. / text