Information Seeking Research Articles

Influential Factors Shaping Farmers Knowledge Levels Regarding Critical Interventions in Dryland Farming in Drought Prone Region of Andhra Pradesh

This study was conducted to investigate the profile, knowledge, and adoption of critical interventions among dryland farmers in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. Ex post facto research design was followed for the study and a sample of 120 dryland farmers were drawn. The research focused on the association between 16 independent variables and dryland farmers' knowledge and adoption of critical interventions in redgram and cotton. The findings revealed that variables such as education, land holding, yield, annual income, extension contact, mass media exposure, information seeking behavior, social participation, credit orientation, risk preference, irrigation status, economic orientation, decision making ability, and cropping pattern were positively and significantly related to knowledge and adoption of critical interventions in both crops. Conversely, age and experience in dryland farming were negatively and significantly related to knowledge and adoption. The independent variables explained 85.20% of the variation in knowledge on critical interventions in redgram, 76.80% in cotton, and 74.70% and 72.80% in the extent of adoption of critical interventions in redgram and cotton, respectively. These findings suggest that addressing these factors can enhance dryland farmers' knowledge and adoption of critical interventions, ultimately improving productivity and sustainability. Specifically, increasing education, land holding, yield, and annual income, and promoting extension contact, mass media exposure, and social participation can positively impact knowledge and adoption. Additionally, improving credit orientation, risk preference, irrigation status, economic orientation, and decision-making ability can also enhance adoption. Conversely, addressing the negative impact of age and experience is crucial. Overall, this study highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to enhancing dryland farmers' knowledge and adoption of critical interventions.

Мягкие навыки: концепции, проблемы, исследования

<p style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">The work is aimed at clarifying the concept of “soft skills”. The materials of the study of concepts, problems, and research of soft skills in a professional environment are presented. The topic of soft skills is extremely relevant, both Russian and foreign students do not exactly understand what soft skills are, which may be explained by the fact that there is currently no single approach to understanding them. The purpose of studying this problem is to review concepts, problems and research on the topic of soft skills in foreign and national scientific literature. The results obtained make it possible to say that soft skills is a broad concept, and does not include a strictly defined list of qualities or abilities. There is evidence that researchers attribute a different set of abilities to soft skills, while different abilities will be most significant for different professional fields. Separately, such abilities can be distinguished as: communication skills, leadership position, decision-making skills, responsibility, empathy, self-esteem, critical thinking, analytical thinking, emotional intelligence (often assessed as part of soft skills in foreign studies). The most effective methods for developing soft skills include: methods for early development, educational tasks related to information search and analysis, critical thinking development, self-management (including the formulation of action plans), teamwork skills, and the presence of social and humanitarian disciplines (“Philosophy" and "Sociology”), as well as specialized courses such as “Team Building” and “Time Management”. It is also emphasized that the level of soft skills development among teachers is important for fostering soft skills in students.</span></p>

Information seeking and subsequent affective well-being in Chinese young adults: the mediating effects of worry.

This study aimed to unravel micro-processes that link information seeking to subsequent affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect) at the within-person level, as well as the role of worry as a mediator in this relationship. Within the initial weeks following the Chinese government's relaxation of its epidemic control measures, 184 participants completed experience sampling methods on information seeking, COVID-related worry, and affective well-being three times a day for 14 days. According to dynamic structural equation models, information seeking was associated with high negative affect but not with low positive affect. COVID-related worry acted as a full mediator between information seeking at the previous time point (approximately 5 h ago) and the current negative affect, but not in positive affect. These findings suggested that the impact of information seeking on affective well-being was different for the two dimensions of affect. Furthermore, the persistent impact of information seeking on negative affect was attributed to the indirect effect of worry, suggesting that worry should be a point of focus for intervention to mitigate the potentially negative effects of information seeking within the context of the public health crises.

Digitalisation of onboarding: A case study to investigate the impact of virtual reality technology on employees social interactions and information seeking during job-onboarding

Digitalisation of onboarding: A case study to investigate the impact of virtual reality technology on employees social interactions and information seeking during job-onboarding

Комуникацията на Gen Z: Търсене и oбмен на информация в eрата на изкуствен интелект във висшето образование

Today, people are favouring screens than genuine communication with one another which is crucial during global crises. This issue is particularly relevant in higher education, where Generation Z is currently being educated, and the focus is on capturing their attention, trust, and engagement. This analysis takes a multifaceted approach to understanding the human factors involved in seeking and utilizing information, especially in an environment that is increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence. It examines information behavior in higher education and the impact of artificial intelligence on information search and knowledge processing.

Artificial intelligence in orthopaedic education: A comparative analysis of ChatGPT and Bing AI's Orthopaedic In‐Training Examination performance

AbstractBackgroundThis study evaluated the performance of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models on the Orthopaedic In‐Training Examination (OITE), an annual exam administered to U.S. orthopaedic residency programs.MethodsChatGPT 3.5 and Bing AI GPT 4.0 were evaluated on standardised sets of multiple‐choice questions drawn from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons OITE online question bank spanning 5 years (2018–2022). A total of 1165 questions were posed to each AI system. The performance of both systems was standardised using the latest versions of ChatGPT 3.5 and Bing AI GPT 4.0. Historical data of resident scores taken from the annual OITE technical reports was used as a comparison.ResultsAcross the five datasets, ChatGPT 3.5 scored an average of 55.0% on the OITE questions. Bing AI GPT 4.0 scored higher with an average of 80.0%. In comparison, the average performance of orthopaedic residents in national accredited programs was 62.1%. Bing AI GPT 4.0 outperformed ChatGPT 3.5 and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education examinees, and analysis of variance analysis demonstrated p < 0.001 among groups. The best performance was by Bing AI GPT 4.0 on OITE 2020.ConclusionGenerative AI can provide a logical context across answer responses through its in‐depth information searches and citation of resources. This combination presents a convincing argument for the possible uses of AI in medical education as an interactive learning aid.

Минимум по корейскому. О книге Елены Хохловой «Главное в истории искусства Кореи»

The first Russian book in forty years summarizing the information on the history of Korean art was published by the MIF publishing house as part of the book series The Main Things in History. But is the art of Korea known to us enough to highlight the “main things” in it? The publisher clearly understands the audience of readers the product is intended for, and in serial publications it offers navigation designed for the usual quick search for introductory information; however, the requirements of brevity and ease of presentation prevail over scientific fundamentality. The competence of the author, Korean Art historian Elena Khokhlova, her passion for the material, and courage in the selection of ‘key monuments’ made it possible, even within constraints, to create a serious work that awakens interest in the Oriental culture and in the history of art in general.

Factors affecting couples’ decision making about expanded prenatal cell-free DNA screening

PurposeTo assess intended parents’ preferences about expanded prenatal cell-free DNA screening. MethodsA survey was administered to couples who were pregnant or trying to conceive. Partners within couples were independently asked about willingness to seek prenatal cell-free DNA screening for diseases and traits that varied by severity, treatability, age of onset, and reliability. Additional questions explored couples’ decision-making processes and how various factors would affect those decisions. ResultsRespondents (n = 494) were most likely to seek a prenatal genetic test when the test is completely predictive (P value of predictability effect = .0116), for earlier onset (P value of onset effect = .0310), treatable diseases (P value of treatability effect = .0032), and of highest severity (P value of severity effect < .0001). Living in states where termination was not available was not associated with decreased interest in prenatal screening, with 45% reporting that it would make them more likely to seek testing. There was moderate concordance between couples about their testing decisions and the majority of pregnant persons (68.8%) and partners (66.7%) desired firm screening recommendations from their doctors. ConclusionThese data suggest that couples are highly information seeking when presented with all testing options neutrally, but most desire to be presented with firm testing recommendations from their clinician.

Changes in Information Seeking Patterns of Medical Students in the Social Media and Artificial Intelligence Age: The Implications for Urology Undergraduate Teaching

Changes in Information Seeking Patterns of Medical Students in the Social Media and Artificial Intelligence Age: The Implications for Urology Undergraduate Teaching

Factors Predicting Nonadherence to Treatment Recommendations for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain in India: A Cross-Sectional Survey

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine patients' expectations and factors that influence adherence to physiotherapists' treatment recommendations on chronic low back pain (CLBP). MethodOne hundred and forty seven patients with CLBP were included in this study. Predictive indicators including demographic information, views, expectations, and opinions regarding the health status and treatment expectations of patients were derived from questionnaires. The dependent outcome variables were the absence of trust in treatment recommendations provided by physiotherapists, the anticipation of treatment recommendations based on patient expectations, and the resistance to modifying expectations despite efforts by physiotherapists to persuade otherwise. The study was carried out between April 2022 and January 2023 in 2 regions located in India. ResultsMultivariate regression analyses show that age, expectations about diagnosis, preference for passive therapies and medical care, and information seeking behavior emerged as independent predictors of a lack of trust in physiotherapists' treatment recommendations. The information-seeking behavior of the patients’ alone predicted the anticipation of treatment recommendations based on patient expectations and the reluctance to alter those expectations despite the physiotherapists' persuasion. ConclusionOur results suggest that information seeking behavior is the most consistent independent predictor of treatment expectations that will align with physiotherapist recommendations. This indicates the importance of screening for such factors and the importance of patient education to optimize the management of CLBP. However, larger studies incorporating all variables associated with patient expectations in similar patient populations are needed to confirm these results.

Information for Decision Making in Child Protection: A study of Decision Making in Delhi

Decision making is a complex phenomenon which is usually defined as a process or a sequence of activities involving the stages of problem recognition, search for information, definition of alternatives and the selection of one from two or more alternatives with the highest degree of reward. Best Interest of the Child is one of the guiding principles under the UNCRC Article 3). Decision making in the ‘Best Interest of the Child’ in the field of child protection is necessary as the life of the child revolves around the decisions taken for him/her. In normal circumstances, the onus of taking decision for the child is on the biological parents. However, due to certain circumstances which push the children out of the safety net, the decision-making shifts to the state which has the duty to preserve the rights of the children. It is therefore important to examine the dynamics of decision making in the area of child protection by the state. Data was collected from key functionaries involved in decision making in child protection, including District Child Protection Units and Child Welfare Committee members on various aspects of their decision making Results of the study revealed that decision mkers often face difficulties in taking decisions ensuring the Best Interest of the Child due to insufficient, inaccurate and lack of quality information about the child.

Leader Attention to Information and Sustainability Performance

In contemporary business practice, sustainability has emerged as a focal point for understanding value creation. This study examines how leader attention influences sustainability performance. Specifically, it investigates two dimensions of leader attention: search intensity, which pertains to the depth and thoroughness of exploration, and search selection, which involves the criteria used to prioritize sustainability issues. This study employed a quantitative approach utilizing a survey methodology. Data collection of 30 SMEs was conducted through a postal survey, targeting the Malaysian service sector listed in the directory of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). Data is analyzed using PLS-SEM to investigate perceptions regarding leader attention towards corporate sustainability performance. Employing the ABV theory, the findings indicate that search intensity positively impacts both corporate financial and non-financial performance, highlighting the importance of comprehensive information-gathering and analysis processes. However, the study does not find a significant relationship between search selection and financial performance, suggesting a limited impact of specific information search strategies. These results underscore the pivotal role of leader attention in shaping organizational sustainability performance. The study contributes to understanding how leader attention enhances sustainability and provides valuable insights for organizations. Despite its contributions, future research could explore mechanisms through which search intensity influences financial outcomes and consider moderating factors across industries and regions. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making and comprehensive information search processes for corporate financial and non-financial performance in today's information-rich environment.

Experiences of breast milk donors in Sweden: balancing the motivation to do something good with overcoming the challenges it entails

BackgroundInfants requiring neonatal care often face initial breastfeeding challenges, leading them to receive expressed breast milk from their mother or donor milk. While emphasizing the mother’s own milk as the gold standard for infant nutrition, the utilization of donor milk stands as the preferred alternative over infant formula due to its numerous benefits. To facilitate the provision of donor milk to preterm and ill infants in neonatal units, the active participation of women willing to contribute their breast milk is crucial. This study aims to enhance the understanding of women’s experiences in the donation process, thereby contributing to efforts aiming at alleviating the shortage of donated breast milk by improve the care and support for breast milk donors.MethodsThis descriptive qualitative study took an inductive approach based on individual semi-structured interviews conducted during 2021 with 15 breast milk donors in Sweden. The data were analysed with thematic analysis.ResultsTwo themes were identified in the analysis: motivation to donate and challenges to overcome. Many of the women struggled to overcome the apparent challenges of not only starting the process of donating breast milk but also maintaining it. Despite the strain, they were motivated to donate their breast milk and seeking information by themselves to do something important for someone else. Only a few of the women talked about the financial benefits of donating breast milk; donating seemed to be mostly based on altruistic reasons.ConclusionsDespite the challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions, time consumption, and the hard work of sterilizing pump utensils, women continued to donate their milk driven by altruism. To enhance donor support and increase milk donation, several improvements are suggested: providing comprehensive information and resources, simplifying the donation process, offering flexible scheduling, and recognizing donors’ contributions.

Understanding feelings, thoughts, and actions: Social work students and individual research consultations

The purpose of this study was to better understand how individual research consultations (IRCs) with a librarian impact undergraduate social work students' feelings, thoughts, and actions during their information search process. Screencast videography was the primary method of data collection in this qualitative case study. Participants (n = 7) were sampled from a social work research seminar course at a regional university in the upper Midwest. Both prior to and after an IRC, study participants joined a recorded Zoom meeting with the researcher, share their screen, and talk aloud during their search process. Follow up interviews with participants were also conducted. Results showed participants' feelings moved from confused prior to the IRC to confident after the IRC. Participants had a more refined topic and were more effective in applying inclusion and exclusion criteria when selecting articles for their literature review assignment after the IRC. The actions students took after the IRC were more beneficial to their information search process, especially when it came to reading and understanding scholarly research. These results underscore the value IRCs can provide to undergraduate social work students. The findings of this study demonstrate and explain changes in student information seeking as a result of an IRC.

Does usage scenario matter? Investigating user perceptions, attitude and support for policies towards ChatGPT

ChatGPT's impressive performance enables users to increasingly apply it to a variety of scenarios. However, previous studies investigating people's perceptions or attitudes towards ChatGPT have not considered the effects of the usage scenario. This paper aims to extract the representative scenarios of ChatGPT, explore differences in user perceptions for each scenario, and provide a policy support model. We extracted five scenarios by collecting 50 open-ended responses from Mturk, including “Scenario 1: Daily life tasks,” “Scenario 2: Enhance efficiency (work and education purposes),” “Scenario 3: Replace manpower (work and education purposes),” “Scenario 4: Browsing and general information seeking,” “Scenario 5: Enjoyment.” Subsequently, we identified four key variables to be tested (i.e., information quality, perceived risk, attitude, and policy support), and classified usage scenarios into different categories according to the perception variables measured via an online survey (n = 514). Finally, we built a model including the four variables and tested it for each scenario. The results of this study provide deep insights into user perceptions towards ChatGPT in distinct scenarios.

Intelligent Tourism Information Search Behavior based on Data Mining

Intelligent Tourism Information Search Behavior based on Data Mining

Health Literacy among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: Disparities in Information Seeking, Educational Needs, and the Role of Healthcare Professionals

Health Literacy among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: Disparities in Information Seeking, Educational Needs, and the Role of Healthcare Professionals

The psychological influence of perceived destination attributes in 360° virtual tours on tourists’ responses

ABSTRACT A 360° virtual tour experience integrates videos and smartphones to evoke tourists’ cognition, emotion, and heightened intentions. The present study investigates the impact of perceived destination attributes on information-seeking and destination visit intention when tourists are presented with a 360° virtual tour experience. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework is extended to investigate this mechanism by incorporating perceived destination attributes as a stimulus, tourists’ perceived confidence, confirmation, and satisfaction as an organism, and information seeking and visit intention as a response. Data was collected from 260 tourists in India. The results reveal the strong influence of 360° media in generating perceived destination attributes, which has a significant and positive association with tourists’ perceived confidence and destination satisfaction. Findings based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) reveal that destination satisfaction is a strong predictor of information-seeking, and confirmation is a predictor of destination visit intention. The implications provide valuable insights to Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), VR content creators, and policymakers for effectively promoting VR videos for tourism.

The Effects of Motivation, Creativity and Social Media Usage for Information Seeking on Product Innovation

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) have important role to the national economy in Indonesia. In this regard, innovation is crucial because it is one of the major keys to develop the competitiveness of the MSME. Some previous studies indicate that there are various factors that influence innovation in the business organization. In this study, we try to investigate the effect of intrinsic motivation, creativity as well as social media usage for information seeking on product innovation among culinary MSME. We gathered 102 responses from the owner or managing staff of a culinary MSME through paper-based surveys. We delimit the location of the surveys, which is only in the area around the campuses in Depok district, Sleman, Yogyakarta because we argue that the MSMEs located in such area tend to be more innovative since their market niche are college students who are coming from the younger generation. The results of the hypothesis tests using PLS-SEM approach indicate that intrinsic motivation and creativity have positive and significant effect on product innovation. The same goes with social media usage for information seeking. Some implications are discussed in the later part of this article.

Characteristics, Influence, Prevention, and Control Measures of the Mpox Infodemic: Scoping Review of Infodemiology Studies.

The mpox pandemic has caused widespread public concern around the world. The spread of misinformation through the internet and social media could lead to an infodemic that poses challenges to mpox control. This review aims to summarize mpox-related infodemiology studies to determine the characteristics, influence, prevention, and control measures of the mpox infodemic and propose prospects for future research. The scoping review was conducted based on a structured 5-step methodological framework. A comprehensive search for mpox-related infodemiology studies was performed using PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus, with searches completed by April 30, 2024. After study selection and data extraction, the main topics of the mpox infodemic were categorized and summarized in 4 aspects, including a trend analysis of online information search volume, content topics of mpox-related online posts and comments, emotional and sentiment characteristics of online content, and prevention and control measures for the mpox infodemic. A total of 1607 articles were retrieved from the databases according to the keywords, and 61 studies were included in the final analysis. After the World Health Organization's declaration of an mpox public health emergency of international concern in July 2022, the number of related studies began growing rapidly. Google was the most widely used search engine platform (9/61, 15%), and Twitter was the most used social media app (32/61, 52%) for researchers. Researchers from 33 countries were concerned about mpox infodemic-related topics. Among them, the top 3 countries for article publication were the United States (27 studies), India (9 studies), and the United Kingdom (7 studies). Studies of online information search trends showed that mpox-related online search volume skyrocketed at the beginning of the mpox outbreak, especially when the World Health Organization provided important declarations. There was a large amount of misinformation with negative sentiment and discriminatory and hostile content against gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Given the characteristics of the mpox infodemic, the studies provided several positive prevention and control measures, including the timely and active publishing of professional, high-quality, and easy-to-understand information online; strengthening surveillance and early warning for the infodemic based on internet data; and taking measures to protect key populations from the harm of the mpox infodemic. This comprehensive summary of evidence from previous mpox infodemiology studies is valuable for understanding the characteristics of the mpox infodemic and for formulating prevention and control measures. It is essential for researchers and policy makers to establish prediction and early warning approaches and targeted intervention methods for dealing with the mpox infodemic in the future.