Abstract
This exploratory research identifies and investigates factors that affect the delivery of local information in a developing country. The service provider and 195 local institutions based in Medellin, Colombia collaborate through an online portal, Infolocal, constituting a local information landscape (LIL). The study implements a conceptual framework for the LIL and highlights deficiencies in traditional local information service models. A Delphi study was conducted with global experts of local information services (LIS) in order to refine the traditional Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model constructs for the Infolocal information service. Second, a survey was developed based on the revised categories (effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, organisational support, and affective commitment) and disseminated to the local institutions to assess their perceptions of the service. This data was then evaluated using exploratory factor analysis. The study found that theories of technology acceptance were insufficient in explaining the disjunctions in the information landscape of this service. This study contributes to closing a gap in understanding the perceptions of LIS practice from the perspective of institutions that engage directly with citizens’ technology acceptance and use behaviour in a multilevel relationship. This article captures, compares, and analyses the disjunctions between the theoretical frameworks as espoused by experts and the practices of LIS.
Highlights
A local information service (LIS) generates, gathers and redistributes information from affiliated partners often through an online portal
The literature uses performance expectancy of technology to refer to the probability of experiencing a better performance by using the technology
The experts interpreted performance expectancy as the perceived usefulness of information, that is, the degree to which local institutions feel that constituents perceive the information on the platform as relevant, objective, and trustworthy
Summary
A local information service (LIS) generates, gathers and redistributes information from affiliated partners often through an online portal. Based in Medellin, Colombia, a private sector organisation formed a collaboration with libraries, small museums, theatres and community centres (‘local institutions’) to deliver information about local events to residents. Infolocal began in 1991 as a paper-based, user-focused system. It is one of oldest functioning local information services in Latin America and served as a model for information practice across the continent (van Klyton and Castaño-Muñoz, 2017). The OECD defines local information as digital or print materials generated by professional or non-professional mechanisms deemed relevant to local communities. LIS is often tied to linguistic and/or cultural events and, when shared, can generate revenue and has a unifying effect on local communities (López et al, 2014)
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