The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between types of health information tasks and the Internet information search processes of Chinese graduate students at the University of North Texas. the participants' Internet information search processes were examined by looking at the source used to start the search, language selection, use of online translation tools, and time spent. in a computer classroom, 45 Chinese graduate students searched the Internet and completed three health information search tasks: factual task, interpretative task, and exploratory task. Data of the Chinese graduate students’ health information search processes were gathered from Web browser history files, answer sheets, and questionnaires. Parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses were conducted to test the relationships between the types of tasks and variables identified in the search process. Results showed that task types only had a statistically significant impact on the time spent. for the three tasks, the majority of Chinese graduate students used search engines as major sources for the search starting point, utilized English as the primary language, and did not use online translation tools. the participants also reported difficulties in locating relevant answers and recommended ways to be assisted in the future when searching the Internet for health information. the study provided an understanding of Chinese graduate students' health information seeking behavior with an aim to enrich health information user studies. the results of this study contribute to the areas of academic library services, multilingual health information system design, and task-based health information searching.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc115134 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Pan, Xuequn |
| Contributors | Cleveland, Ana D., Chen, Jiangping, Chng, Chwee L. |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, Pan, Xuequn, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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