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In this study, we attempted to use dwell time on content pages as a predictor of document usefulness, and evaluated the prediction performance in different types of tasks. A user study was conducted to address this research problem. A total of 32 participants conducted searches associated with 4 different tasks, varying along several task type dimensions. In the study, participants were asked to save documents that were useful for the tasks during the searches. Participants' information-seeking activities were recorded. Using the logged dataset, we used the recursive partitioning method to identify the best threshold (cutoff point) of dwell time to predict which pages would be useful, i.e., be saved by the users. We examined the differences in the threshold and compared the prediction performance for each type of task. Our results indicate that the threshold should be developed according to the type of task users are working on. While the prediction performance using dwell time as the only indicator of document usefulness is acceptable for Factual tasks, it is not good for Intellectual tasks. Our results have implications on IR system design.

We report findings on how the user's perception of task difficulty changes before and after searching for information to solve tasks. We found that while in one type of task, the dependent task, this did not change, in another, the parallel task, it did. The findings have implications on designing systems that can provide assistance to users with their search and task solving strategies.

We report findings that help us better understand the difficulty of tasks which involve information seeking, retrieving, gathering, and use. We examined the data gathered from two interactive information retrieval user studies on how users' perception of task difficulty changes before and after searching for information to solve tasks, and how the difficulty of tasks relates with users' background, previous experience with the tasks, and knowledge of the task topics, etc. The two studies employed carefully designed tasks with different types along several dimensions: task structure (subtasks being dependent upon or parallel with each other), task goal in quality (being specific or amorphous), and naming (being named or unnamed). It was found that while in some types of tasks, users' perceptions of task difficulty did not change before and after working on the tasks, in others, this did, either increasing or decreasing. Specifically, in the dependent-structured task, this did not change. In the parallel-structured or specific/named task, it decreased. In the amorphous/unnamed task, it increased. We also found that users' background factors do not normally correlate with their perceived task difficulty, or perceived difficulty change. In addition to helping understand the dynamic and complex nature of task difficulty, our findings have implications for system design that can provide assistance to users with their search and task solving strategies.

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the status and construction pattern of Web 2.0 technologies employed in top Chinese university libraries, their functionalities and features. Design/methodology/approach - A combination of online survey and content analysis methodology is applied to a sample of 38 top Chinese university libraries' web sites. The Web 2.0 tools are categorized by generally accepted standards with some adjustment for library practices. Data were collected by accessing these university library web sites on two separate occasions during the period of February 10-20, 2009 by utilizing a checklist of 52 questions. Findings - More than two-thirds of the 38 top Chinese university libraries apply one or more kinds of Web 2.0 tools through the basic functions of their web sites. Among six types of tools, Catalog 2.0 and RSS are the most common, while IM, Blog, SNS and Wiki are less frequent. Research limitations/implications - Internal applications that are not publicly accessible contain hidden information that may not be gathered through content analysis since these links usually cannot be found on library web sites. It is difficult to get exact information as to the applications of Web 2.0 in these libraries without an interview method in combination to observation. Originality/value - This study provides an overall picture of Web 2.0 tools developed in top Chinese university libraries, allowing for future evaluation and planning. The implementation of Web 2.0 applications and their constructing pattern is not only indicative of the development of the Chinese digital libraries, but also to their development of digital libraries in the world at large.

The model of a library staff divided into technical and informational service divisions remains common-especially among academic libraries. The authors argue that in many ways it is now the technical services division that is best positioned to provide outreach services to a community-whether at the university or municipal level. Maintaining bibliographic access amid the changing information landscape hinges on a clear understanding of systems, metadata, and traditional organizational skills, all home grown in the back rooms of conventional libraries. The authors cite examples of library outreach that emanated from technical service departments and conclude that the sequestered staffs of the past must make themselves indispensible today by sharing their knowledge and talents, offering services to their communities that require their technical expertise, and advance the mission of the library organization. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The United States Information Agency acted as a significant patron of American independent and nontheatrical filmmakers during the 1960s, commissioning short documentaries to carry positive messages about America to foreign audiences. While much of the existing scholarship on the USIA’s motion picture output focuses on works that address major policy issues such as the civil rights movement or that were made by directors who went on to have well-known careers, many of its films and directors have been forgotten. One such filmmaker is Tibor Hirsch, whose past as a refugee from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution influenced his films Transportation USA (1966) and Six Who Fled (1972). Hirsch’s earlier career as a photojournalist informed his work for the USIA, while the style he developed through making government films led directly into his later career as a highly successful television commercial director.

Public libraries have been significantly affected by the opioid crisis. The fact that patrons can enter libraries freely and do not need a reason to be there has resulted in overdoses occurring in many such buildings throughout the country. In response to this, library directors have developed plans of action that, in some cases, include training librarians to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. This present article – the first in a two-part study – is based on interviews with representatives from libraries that have been significantly affected by the opioid crisis. After describing these community circumstances, the authors analyze various ways that each library has prepared to respond to overdoses and other emergency situations.

Numerous articles from major national newspapers have covered the fact that as the opioid crisis has become a pervasive problem in the United States, overdoses in public libraries have become a somewhat common occurrence. Many of these discussions center on librarians being trained to use the overdose reversal drug Naloxone, and that was the primary focus of the first part of this two-part study. However, this second article discusses what libraries are doing to mitigate the impacts of the crisis and help persons from vulnerable populations before matters escalate to become emergency situations. The authors document how libraries are attempting to educate their communities about the opioid crisis, ways they have partnered with community organizations to help opioid dependent persons, and how they have addressed various facilities and security concerns for their buildings.

Rising socio-cultural and political tensions have helped increase awareness about long-standing structures of violence and abuse, as we have seen in the development and tumultuous expansion of the #MeToo movement. However, other significant conditions of injustice and oppression continue without drawing attention. This seems to be the case with the library profession. Despite strong and persistent links to white supremacy and a well-established record excluding minorities from its ranks, the library profession has been remarkably successful in nurturing an unassailable public image of virtuous liberal benevolence and near mythical devotion to the highest ideals of freedom, individual rights, and democracy. Its unsurpassed ability in evading scrutiny or criticism of any serious consequence while maintaining a strong record of dedicated service to white power is all the more remarkable at a time where social media is used to amplify campaigns against injustices or organizations believed responsible for conditions of oppression. Although Critical Librarianship, or #CritLib, is beginning to question some of the doctrinal assumptions underlying the practice of librarianship, an examination of some of the mechanisms with which white supremacy has been able to build an entire system of racial protectionism as an occupational sector that intersects with areas of significant public interest is an important and timely research concern.

This paper examines to what extent the 129 members of the Urban Public Libraries Council meet the Section 508 standards for accessibility under the Rehabilitation Act, the minimum acceptable standard for accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Using an HTML evaluation tool, WAVE, the HTML coding of the libraries’ homepages was evaluated according to the Section 508 criteria for accessibility. After one-to-one deep examination to determine the accessibility of the library websites, the results tended to mirror other studies showing that most library websites have some coding deficiencies that limit the accessibility of the websites. Notably, only 7 of the 122 libraries that were surveyed had no Section 508 errors present with their homepages.

Areal precipitation estimation directly affects the accuracy of reservoir runoff inflow forecasts and flood dispatching decision-making. Because of the heterogeneous spatial and temporal precipitation distributions in large basins, inadequate precipitation stations normally have a negative impact on forecast accuracy. Using the Panjia-kou reservoir runoff inflow forecast as the research subject, this paper adopts the Thiessen polygon block, square grid computing, and DEM (digital elevation model) methods to estimate average regional areal precipitation. Based on the estimation, a model for the Panjia-kou reservoir runoff forecast is developed. The results indicate that different areal precipitation estimation methods have significantly different effects on the accuracy of the reservoir runoff inflow forecast. When the average regional precipitation estimation from the DEM method is used as an input to the model, the simulation results are accurate and are much better than those from the other two average regional precipitation estimation methods.

To determine the present situation regarding services provided to mobile users in US urban libraries, the authors surveyed 138 Urban Libraries Council members utilizing a combination of mobile visits, content analysis, and librarian interviews. The results show that nearly 95% of these libraries have at least one mobile website, mobile catalog, or mobile app. The libraries actively applied new approaches to meet each local community’s remote-access needs via new technologies, including app download links, mobile reference services, scan ISBN, location navigation, and mobile printing. Mobile services that libraries provide today are timely, convenient, and universally applicable.

The primary purposes of the study were to investigate how often bullying occurs in libraries and whether bullying policies exist in libraries. The first survey questionnaire was sent to library personnel in the six New England states through statewide email distribution lists. Altogether 571 library staff members completed the survey. The second survey questionnaire was sent to large public and academic libraries in New England to see if they have anti-bullying policies in the workplace. The results of the study clearly showed there were significant reports of workplace bullying in all kinds of libraries. Nonetheless, not many libraries have policies that deal with this workplace challenge.

The American Film Institute (AFI) presently does relatively little in terms of film preservation, but its founding in 1967 led to the growth of many of the mechanisms that define the motion picture preservation community today. As this article reveals, the AFI's success in promoting ongoing federal government support for motion picture preservation cannot be separated from the political context of the Cold War. The AFI's first director, George Stevens Jr., had previously been the head of the Motion Picture Service of the United States Information Agency (USIA). This work with a public diplomacy agency was essential to his vision for the design and structure of the AFI. Likewise, the AFI was founded as an independent nonprofit, but with the promise of significant ongoing funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). While this arrangement worked well at first, a change in presidential administrations and design flaws in the AFI's support mechanisms led to it being unable to meet the expectations of the very film preservation community it helped to foster.