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Dissertation Information for Elliot Cole

NAME:
- Elliot Cole
- (Alias) Elliot Burton Cole

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Information Systems

SCHOOL:
- Syracuse University (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: AN APPROACH TO THE CLIENTS AND USES OF SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (SDI) SYSTEMS: THE ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING OF SUBSCRIBERS TO AN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICE

Abstract: "his study focuses on users of selective dissemination of information (SDI) systems, the clients and subscribers to SDI services. SDI, a computerized information retrieval system, scans computer readable bibliographic data for references which meet the criteria of user interest statements.

The objective of this study was to identify a model to identify (1) the people who use SDI systems, and (2) the behaviors involved in obtaining and using SDI services and their products. Thus the study sought to test the ability of the present model of SDI users to identify (1) those social actors involved in obtaining and using SDI service, (2) their behaviors relating to using the service and its products, and (3) the nature of service and product use.

Assumptions underlying the present model of the users of SDI services and products are that (1) the user is identified in service provider records, (2) that the user is a scientist or engineer, (3) that Scientific Communication is the theoretical context for SDI, and (4) that SDI-based information is used for scientific production and in critical incidents. Data collection involved in-depth personal interviews, using a structured scheduled instrument, as a means of identifying counter-examples for these assumptions. The presence of counter-examples would demonstrate the need to modify the assumptions to include the observed patterns of behavior.

Administrative records of two SDI services were used to draw a multistage clustered stratified sample of 14 subscriptions. Snowball sampling techniques were then used which identified an additional 26 people. Interviews were conducted with 29 people. The response rate was 94%; interviews lasted from 5 minutes to three hours, with the median over two hours.

The model failed to identify most of the people involved in the SDI subscriptions (only 14 of 40 were classifed as users). This is attributed to under-identifying the behavior and tasks involved in use of SDI products and services, particularly circulation tasks. No instances were found where the user was a single individual. In some subscriptions, circulation activities involved a cluster of coworkers; in other subscriptions circulation activities involved only a single individual. In 10 of the 14 subscriptions, there were changes,--additions and departures--in the individuals involved in using the subscription.

The present model was also found to be too narrow in describing the occupational activities of users. Some were involved in scientific and technical production, but others were not, indicating the Scientific Communication context needs to be subsumed by a broader context.

Use of SDI-based information indicated a need to broaden the Scientific Communication context of SDI. Eighteen of the 23 people using SDI-based information were able to report a critical incident where the information was used. Incidents were found in scientific and technical production activities of research, development and design. Activities outside scientific production were organizational planning, professional society service, and technological gatekeeping. It should be noted that six of the respondents were unable to recall SDI-based information, suggesting other modes of use.

A new model was proposed to overcome the inadequacies of the present model. The SDI user was reconceptualized a cluster of social actors who are involved in the SDI subscription. A set of behaviors or tasks was also developed which described the subscribers' activities in obtaining and using SDI service and its products. The model depicts Basic Tasks which are common across the user community, and Optional Tasks which are found in some but not all of the subscriptions. Change over time was incorporated into the model, for both the set of subscription participants as well as the set of applicable tasks."

MPACT Scores for Elliot Cole

A = 0
C = 3
A+C = 3
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:02:43

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