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www.turkuamk.fiwww.turkuamk.fi
Information needs and information seeking of ICT-professionals/entrepreneurs.
Influences on the development of library and information services for SMEs.
Eeva-Liisa Eskola & Leena SallasLibrary, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland
CREATING KNOWLEDGE 21.8.2008
www.turkuamk.fiwww.turkuamk.fi
TOPICS OF THE PRESENTATION
• Description of the project “E-information services for SMEs 2006-2008” (ICT- information centre as a regional information service)
• Results of the study on information needs and information service needs among the SMEs in the ICT-branch in the South-West region of Finland.
• Application of the results
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• Financed by Ministry of Education and Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS)
• Thematically connected to a building project:
• ICT- HOUSE of several universities in Turku
• ICT-house was opened in August 2006
• Located in Turku Science Park area
• HEIs, ICT- and biotechnology companies
PROJECT BACKGROUND
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PROJECT MOTIVE
• Information is a crucial factor in succesful business
• Small companies don’t often have information
services of their own
• In the region several libraries incl. the new ICT-library with up-to-date collections (print & e) and educated staff and as well library and information service education
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PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
1. Integrate research & development and education
2. Develop new service concepts for libraries, SMEs as target group, e.g. tailored information service through network or mobile technologies
3. Support entrepreneurship through R&D projects
4. Strengthen regional cooperation of higher education institutions
5. Enhance R&D in the libraries of higher education institutions
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PARTNERS:
• Library of Turku University of Applied Sciences
(project management)
• Library of Åbo Akademi University
• Library and information services of Turku School of Economics
• Library of Turku University (2006)
• Degree Programmes of Library and Information Services and Information Technology at Turku University of Applied Sciences
• Participating companies
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VIEWPOINTS TO STUDY ”INFORMATION PROCESSING” IN ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTERPRISES
• Environmental scanning (ES)
• Competetive/Business intelligence activities (CI , BI)
• Knowledge management (KM)
• Information management (IM)
• Corporate information competence/literacy
• Professional information seeking
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PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION SEEKING (Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain (1996)
- work roles and related tasks are the prime motivators of information seeking
- worker’s status in the organization, years of experience and specialization, familiarity and prior success with the source and its packaging, timeliness, cost and accessibility are important variables
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WORK TASK CATEGORISATION (Järvelin 1987, Byström & Järvelin 1995).
Simple categorisation of the complexity of work tasks:
- simple tasks are routine information processing tasks, where the inputs, process and outcomes can be determined in advance
- difficult or complex tasks are new and genuine decision tasks, which cannot be determined in advance
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INFORMATION TYPES & TASKS & INFORMATION SOURCES (Byström, 1999)
- Task information
- often in factual form: contact information, circumstances, places, numbers
- Domain information
- in form or facts or interpretations: characteristics of the task domain, known facts, concepts, laws, theories
-Task solving information – aspects of task treatment
- in form or facts and interpretations
- describes how tasks should be seen and formulated
- describes what task and domain information should be used and how i.e. instructional information
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INFORMATION TYPES & TASKS & SOURCES
-Task complexity determines which information types are used for performing a tasks
- Simple tasks are performed either without information seeking or with the help of task information
- The more complex a task is perceived the more surely domain as well as task solving information is needed besides task information
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- Documents are mainly used as sources for task information
- The higher the task complexity, the more popular is the use of people as information sources (experts, meetings)
- Experts are sources of all three information types; task information, domain information and task solving information
- Lack of time affects source use: for example journalists decreased the use of experts and electronic archival records and increased the use of people involved under time pressure
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INFORMATION NEEDS AND INFORMATION SERVICE NEEDS OF
ICT-PROFESSIONALS/ENTREPRENEURS
• SMEs in South-West region of Finland
• Small-scale web survey (151-34)
• Theme interviews with 9 respondents
• ICT-branches: industrial production, service production, telecommunications and content providing
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• Background
• Information needs in different topics
• Needs for ICT-specific information (open-ended question)
• Importance of different information sources and channels
• Use or desired use of specific databases
• Problems in seeking information
• Information service needs
• Ideas for an ICT-portal and other possible information
services (open-ended questions)
WEB-QUESTIONNAIRE
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INTERVIEWS
- Futher elaboration of the questionnaire questions
- Emphasis on tasks and information seeking and use of internet in information seeking
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RESULTS: Respondents’ work tasks
- Because most of the studied enterprises were micro or small enterprises, one person had several tasks:
-79 % of the respondents reported that they have managerial/administrative tasks
- 52% were specialists (doing R & D or consulting)
- 15 % was doing other vocational tasks (e.g. client service/support, programme maintenance)
- Task variety and number of cognitive and skills demands are factors of task complexity
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RESULTS: INFORMATION NEEDS
• Most: clients, development of their own branch and market future, competitors, and partners
• Next most important topics were products, events of the own branch, R & D, marketing, and experts
• Least information was needed about patents, consumers, statistics, taxation and funding.
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RESULTS: INFORMATION NEEDS
• Specific work-related information: technical device development, open source code programs, terms of contract of IT branch and manufacturers.
• In the interviews: cooperation partners in EU-projects, information about EU-projects and funding, information about the invitations to tenders, trends in the branch, market situation, competitor information and customer information, technical information, content development
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RESULTS: IMPORTANCE OF SOURCES
• Most important: persons (clients, colleagues and partners of the own enterprise and colleagues outside the own enterprise) and internet’s search engines
• Least important: trade unions, different libraries and databases
• Databases were generally not seen as important information sources
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RESULTS: PROBELMS IN SEEKING INFORMATION
• Information access and usability:
• missing rights to access, price, unanalyzed information
• Where to seek/find information
• Lacking skills in information management or seeking
• Lack of time to seek information
• Reliability of the information was not a problem.
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RESULTS: INFORMATION SERVICE NEEDS
• Web-portal for information services
• Individual guidance in information seeking
• Updating the own skills in information seeking
• Professional information searches
• Information analysis performed by an expert
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RESULTS: IDEAS - ICT-PORTAL & SERVICES
•The portal should include or allow access to information
• cooperation partners, EU-information (programmes, projects, partners and funding)
• Forum for networking, incl. a company register
• The portal should be tailored to the users’ needs (e.g. young/established companies)
• Possibility of own profiles and to get rss -feeds of partners or new information sources
• Possibility to order information searches on specific topics
• Help in information seeking problems through the portal
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INFO TYPE
Task information
Domain information
PURPOSE
- e.g. taxation, vat
- Contact information:
clients - marketing
competitors – products
partners – cooperation
compoments production- Development of the branch
- Market prospects
- Competitors’ patents- International client and competitor information
SOURCE- Internet, phone,colleagues
- Internet: registers, websites of communes and companies
-Internet: news sites and events information,
printed journals- Internet- Internet- Databases (library)
Work tasks & information seeking
OWNERS, CEOs – (managerial/administrative tasks)
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OWNERS, CEOsINFO TYPE
Task solving informationPURPOSE
- Technical information
- Research & Product development(e.g. client’s database content)
SOURCE
- Internet- Internet,
database (library)
Work tasks & information seeking
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Respondents’ work tasks & information seeking
- Owners and CEOs used internet in information seeking for various work tasks (different business operations and domain-specific information) and all the three information types
- In the questionnaire people and the net search engines were of equal importance, in the interviews internet was emphasized
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RESULTS: information APPLICATION in the project
service needs
• Information service pilot
• ICT-portal
• Preliminary plan – ICT-student
• “Information evening”
• Marketing and productization
• Thesis - LIS-student
• Professional information searches
• Web-portal for information services
• Individual guidance in information seeking
• Updating the own skills in information seeking
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APPLICATION OF THE RESULTS IN THE PROJECT:
•“Information evening”
- Topics? User needs questionnaire and interviews
- Date? Integration to the LIS curriculum? – Course in “Pedacogic skills” late in autumn
- Presenters? – Experts, student participation
- Use of the library’s e-resources, licences? – Permission from the publisher
- Marketing? - E-mail invitations to companies, web-sites,
poster advertising, brochures in business events
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”Information evening”TOPICS 2006
• Web 2.0, Deep web, Open access business sources – LIS-student
• EU-information- Expert from an regional non-profit business service
• Finnish commercial e-resource on business and juridical information – Information specialist
TOPICS 2007
• Web 2.0 from the point of view of SMEs – Expert
• Patent information on the net – Expert
• Finnish commercial e-resource on business and juridical information – 2 LIS-students
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BRITISH EXAMPLES & PROSPECTS
-British Library Business and IP Centrehttp://www.bl.uk/bipc/index.html
- Events & Workshops
- Free e-courses: e.g. ‘Searching the Databases’, a guide to patent searching
- Ask an Expert
- Business & IP Information Clinic
- Join us on Facebook
- Watch our Inspiring Entrepreneurs on YouTube
- Business & IP Blogs
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BRITISH EXAMPLES & PROSPECTS
- Neil Infield, Manager of Business and IP Centre:
”As more and more content is digitized and available over the web, and technology becomes ever more sophisticated, this [moving from old to new roles] will become a necessary survival tactic for information professionalsOld NewGatekeeper CollaboratorOnline searcher TrainerCustodian of collections FacilitatorService provider Information advisorsInformation gatherer Problem solverLibrary process Business processInward looking Networker (Lesley Robinson, 2006)”IN: Business Information Review 25(2) 2008
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BRITISH EXAMPLES & PROSPECTS
- City Business Library London
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/cbl.htm
- CBL manager Goretti Considine: ”CBL is expecting to become busier as credit problems cause companies to decrease information services” (Library & Information Update May 2008)
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Thank you!
Eeva-Liisa Eskola
Library, Turku University of Applied Sciences