A user-centred collaborative framework for integrated information services in China
| Date | 02 November 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-04-2014-0060 |
| Published date | 02 November 2015 |
| Pages | 990-1001 |
| Author | Qian Hu |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
A user-centred collaborative
framework for integrated
information services in China
Qian Hu
School of Information Management, Central China Normal University,
Wuhan, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – The paper aims to propose a user-centred collaborative framework for providing integrated
information services (IIS) to corporate users in China. The framework is conceptualized based on a literature
review of IIS models and a case study. The authors provide suggestions with regard to the implementation
of effective and efcient information services for corporate users based on the proposed framework.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the efforts of investigating appropriate
models for integrated information services (IIS) and proposes a user-centred collaborative framework
for providing IIS for corporate users. It is organized as follows: rst is an overview through a review of
the related literature of the current status of information resource services in China. Then, a case study
of IIS in Hubei Province is analysed. Next, a user-centred collaborative IIS framework is presented that
aims to address the needs of corporate users. The paper concludes with a summary and suggestions for
future study to build effective and efcient IIS systems.
Findings – Through an exploratory survey conducted in 2009, it was discovered that, in general,
corporate users need all kinds of information, not only scientic publications but also business and
market information. Their channel to obtain needed information was mainly the Internet. Books and
domain-specic databases were also used by most of the participants. The major challenges for
corporate users to obtain needed information included the high cost of purchasing or leasing desired
information resources, the low quality of information on the Internet, limited information workers or
their skills and the quality of high-level information services.
Research limitations/implications – The survey served as a tool to gather primitive information on user
needs. It was an incomplete, unsystematic exploration. However, the authors could still gain some insights on the
users’ information needs and directions for future IIS. The results showed that Hubei Science and Technology
Information Sharing Service, which was an implementation of the agency collaboration-based IIS model, satised
the needs of less than 30 per cent of the participants. It has much room for improvement.
Practical implications – This paper proposes a user-centred collaborative integrated information services
(UCIIS) framework. The UCIIS framework takes the idea of the user-centred integrated information service (IIS)
model that the construction of IIS should start from understanding the users of the services, but it also takes
important characteristics from the agency collaboration-based IIS model.
Originality/value – The discussion in this paper is basically on the macro level, leaving a lot of interesting
future work to design, develop and evaluate IIS systems based on the proposed framework. Specically, interest is
in developing user models through systematic and comprehensive investigation of corporate information users’
needs, and examining current library and information science curricula to produce qualied information
professionals who can carry out user experience studies, and high-level knowledge discovery tasks using various
advanced computational technologies.
Keywords Corporate information users, Integrated information services,
User-centered integrated industrial information services
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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EL
33,6
990
Received 8 April 2014
Revised 5 June 2014
28 August 2014
Accepted 30 September 2014
TheElectronic Library
Vol.33 No. 6, 2015
pp.990-1001
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-04-2014-0060
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