Information horizons of Taiwanese graduate students

Tsai, Tien-I

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/14911 Copy

Description

Title

Information horizons of Taiwanese graduate students

Author(s)

Tsai, Tien-I

Issue Date

2010-02-03

Keyword(s)

• Information Horizon, Information Behavior, Source Accessibility, Source Quality, Taiwan
• Information Behavior
• Source Accessibility
• Source Quality
• Taiwan

Abstract

The information horizon is an imaginary field that users position their information sources according to their perceived importance. Previous research investigated Internet users’ information horizons and pointed out that the information source accessibility and quality play an important role in the information horizons and orient people’s information seeking behavior. This study examined how the perceived source accessibility and perceived source quality influence Taiwanese graduate students positioning their information sources in their information horizons. The study aims to examine the influence of perceived source accessibility and quality on students’ information horizons, and to examine the differences of information horizons among students from different disciplines. Two methods were employed to collect data: the information horizon map drawn by Taiwanese graduate students and interviews with those students. Nine Taiwanese graduate students at University of Wisconsin-Madison were recruited. Results showed that all students tend to include more information sources in the center (most preferable) than the peripheral zone (least preferable) on their information horizon map. However, students from humanities and social sciences included more information sources in their information horizons than students from sciences did. Contrary to previous information horizon research on everyday information seeking behavior, this study showed that despite the fact that graduate students from all disciplines preferred information sources with high accessibility, they also considered quality as an important factor. Future research may focus on a specific concept of information horizons, such as social networks, and include different groups of International students and compare with their American counterparts to learn more about students’ information horizons under research contexts among disciplines and cultures.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14911

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