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Social Science Research- Social Science TeamQuarterly Report (work from August through October, 1995) Faculty and students in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Sociology, and Economics are continuing with their research on digital library development and use. This effort is managed overall by coPI Ann Bishop with coPI Leigh Star supervising the more theoretical sociology work. This quarter, they completed two empirical investigations: observations of how current online systems at Grainger Library are used; and a study of the design process for digital libraries, based on our DLI project. The Social Science Team also spent considerable effort in integrating the findings of their work to date and making these findings public. A third major effort this quarter was development of the Allerton Institute on “How We Do User-Centered Design and Evaluation for Digital Libraries: A Methodological Forum,” an international meeting designed to promote interdisciplinary advances in the conduct of user- centered digital library research. The team continued its preparations for studying use of the DLI testbed, including planning for economics trials and serving as a consultant to the American Institute of Physics in the preparation of its survey of subscribers to its Applied Physics Letters Online. A capsule description of each of these activities is provided below. Grainger observations A small number of people were observed as they used existing online library systems in the Grainger Library, such as Mosaic, the online library catalog, various abstracting and indexing services, and IEEE’s fulltext journal service (bitmaps) on CD-ROM. A total of 18 different system interactions were observed and a coding scheme was developed to record and summarize data related to search strategies, problems encountered, etc. The study was undertaken in consultation with the DLI testbed team, who noted that findings would be useful in helping them understand the capabilities, needs, preferences, and expectations of those people who would soon be trying out our DLI testbed initial prototype. This understanding would, in turn, help to inform basic DLI design decisions. The coding scheme provides the social science team with an initial framework that can be applied to the analysis of data from other study activities as well, and which will evolve in an iterative fashion throughout the course of the project. A report on the Grainger system observations was prepared and presented to the DLI testbed team. Integration of findings to date To date, the Social Science Team has conducted the following data collection activities related to digital information system use:
During this quarter, we employed a grounded theory approach to begin integrating and analyzing data from these different activities. A report of key issues and findings was prepared and presented to the DLI testbed team. In addition, this review of findings was instrumental in the preparation of several other papers about the DLI user research efforts of the Social Science Team that were presented to national audiences. Study of the DL design process Interviews with a range of DLI team members were undertaken in a sociological study of the digital library design process. The study contributes to theoretical understanding of how large-scale R& D projects in information systems are organized and carried out. The critical assessment of roles and views of various actors is important for analyzing the often unexplored assumptions and implications of digital library design. Planning for economics trials Plans for developing an economic model of journal pricing on the Internet continued this quarter. The concept of product differentiation (i.e., offering different online journal services, such as subscription to a single journal vs. the ability to access equations or other individual components of journal articles) was added to plans to test fluctuations in demand based on price differentials. Discussions continued with our publisher partners and with our collaborators from the CMU DLI project (the NetBill project who will be providing the charging mechanism infrastructure) for planning a major experiment. Consultation with the American Institute of Physics The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is one of our most active DLI publishing partners. The Social Science Team collaborated with the AIP by reviewing and suggesting revisions to the draft of the survey they will administer to subscribers of Applied Physics Letters Online, an online journal service offered by AIP and OCLC. It is hoped that this collaboration will be mutually beneficial, resulting in improved survey results for the AIP which can, further, supply useful input to the DLI testbed team. We hope this type of collaboration will continue; it may provide an effective means of leveraging the resources of the Social Science Team as well as a model for cross-institutional user research to support digital library development and evaluation. Allerton Institute The Social Science Team worked intensively this quarter to produce the Allerton Institute on user-centered design and analysis of digital libraries. The Institute was sponsored by NSF and the U of I’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science and was guided by a steering committee whose members represent DLI affiliates as well as other experts in the field. Approximately sixty researchers from the disciplines of Library and Information Science, Computer Science, Sociology, and Psychology gathered on October 29-31 for an intense exchange on conceptual and methodological issues related to studying the use of digital libraries. Institute sessions focused on the study of electronic information seeking and use, co-design of digital libraries, investigating work practices and institutional change, migrating foundational methodological approaches to the electronic environment, and understanding a large and heterogeneous user population. The Institute, with international representation, serves the DLI by advancing the state-of-the-art in digital library user research, focusing attention on the importance of user-centered research, offering an opportunity for graduate student participation, and bringing DLI user research teams in contact with researchers from other digital library projects. Discussion documents and other material from the Institute will be made available on the World Wide Web shortly. The consensus at the meeting was that there was a central core of knowledge on this topic, that a subfield was emerging, and that further meetings would be enthusiastically pursued. Thus the Institute was a great success in stimulating the user studies of digital libraries. Publications Bishop, A.P., Star, S.L., Neumann, L., Ignacio, E., Sandusky, R.J., & Schatz, B. (1995, in press). Building a university digital library: Understanding implications for academic institutions and their constituencies. In Higher Education and the NII: From vision to reality. Proceedings of the Monterey Conference, Sept. 26-29, 1995. Washington, DC: Coalition for Networked Information. Bishop, A.P. (1995, in press). This little user went to market, this little user stayed home: What users, potential users, and nonusers can tell us. In Challenging Marketplace Solutions to Problems in the Economics of Information: Proceedings. Washington, DC: Association for Research Libraries. Bishop, A.P. (1995, October). Working towards an understanding of digital library use: A report on the user research efforts of the NSF/ARPA/NASA DLI projects. D-LIB Magazine, 1(3). URL: http://www.dlib.org Bishop, A.P. (1995). User research and the NSF/ARPA/NASA Digital Library Initiative (DLI) projects. Working Paper. Bowker, G. and S.L. Star, "Customized Software for Community Support versus Large Scale Infrastructure," Editors: G. M. Olson, J. B. Smith, and T. W. Malone, in Coordination Theory and Collaboration Technology, 1995, in press. Star, S.L. Cultures of Computing (Sociological Review Monograph). Susan L. Star, Editor. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1995. Star, S. L. "The Politics of Formal Representations: Wizards, Gurus and Organizational Complexity," in Ecologies of Knowledge: Work and Politics in Science and Technology. Susan Leigh Star, Editor. Albany: SUNY Press, 1995. Star, S.L. Action editor for special issue on "Time in Asynchronous Group Communication," Editors Joseph McGrath and Holly Arrow, Computer- Supported Cooperative Work: An International Journal, forthcoming January 1996. Presentations Bishop, A.P. "This little user went to market, this little user stayed home: What users, potential users, and nonusers can tell us." Invited speaker in a panel on Economic Considerations for Digital Libraries at: Challenging Marketplace Solutions to Problems in the Economics of Information, Sept. 19, 1995, Washington, DC. Conference sponsored by: Council on Library Resources, Association of Research Libraries, Coalition for Networked Information, and other organizations. Bishop, A.P. "Building a university digital library: Understanding implications for academic institutions and their constituencies". Invited speaker for: Higher Education and the NII: From vision to reality, Sept. 27, 1995, Monterey, CA. Conference sponsored by: Coalition for Networked Information, American Library Association, Educom, IEEE/USA, and other organizations. Bishop, A.P. "Evaluating user needs for a digital library for engineers." Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science, Oct. 11, 1995, Chicago, IL. Bishop, A.P. "Creating a digital library for science and engineering". Invited presentation in the Fermilab Colloquium Series, Oct. 20, 1995, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL. Neumann, L.J., & Star, S.L. "Object worlds and shifting infrastructure: Building a digital library for engineers." Paper presented at the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) Meetings, Oct. 18-22, Charlottesville, VA. Star, S.L. and Bowker, G.C. "A Round-Table Discussion of Social and Organizational Issues in Classification" Invited presentation at 37th Allerton Institute -- How We Do User-Centered Design and Evaluation of Digital Libraries: A Methodological Forum, sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois and the National Science Foundation, Oct. 30, 1995, Monticello, IL. Star, Susan Leigh and Karen Ruhleder. "Theoretical Problems in the Social Analysis of Collaborative Systems," Paper presented at ASIS, Chicago, October, 1995. Star, Susan Leigh. "Containing Multitudes? : Communities, Strangers and Material Culture in Cyberspace", Plenary address to the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Charlottesville, VA, October 18-22, 1995. |