digital libraries and design for social engagement

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Digital Libraries and Design for Social Engagement Tony A. Moore College of Information Science & Technology Drexel University 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Phone: (484) 574-5088 [email protected] New information and communication technologies are fundamentally changing social engagement. Through an evaluation of literature, I critique digital library research in the context of consumer health information. This paper first explains the concepts of digital libraries and healthcare informatics. An example of design for social engagement is presented. This paper concludes with themes for future research on the grounds of designing for social engagement through digital libraries. Social engagement should become a key component of the emerging Digital Library discussions. Introduction Information needs, seeking behavior, and technologies all function within a larger context of values and social organizations (Barry, 1994; Borgman, 2002; Capurro & Birger, 2003; Wilson, 1973). Healthcare informatics is the application of information technologies to encourage behavior change, improve health care and enhance life. Interactions between users and health information systems makes evaluating and analyzing systems according to attributes such as privacy, trust, reliability and accuracy of information essential. While digital libraries have been implemented and evaluated in a variety of domains, little work has been done in addressing digital libraries as mechanisms which can mirror the ability of traditional libraries to address social engagement and inclusion. It is the goal of this paper to call for such discussions on digital library use. Research is needed if we are to extend the current notions of digital libraries from a techno-centric perspective to digital libraries as a mechanism for enhancing social engagement around specific domains such as healthcare. This discussion is grounded in the need for further collaboration and potential for social engagement surrounding consumer healthcare digital repositories. The complexity of digital library technology calls for understanding both the technical and social issues related to creating, accessing, interpreting, and organizing information. Only through understanding these sociotechnical aspects of system design can we develop digital repositories which take into account user values and encourage use participation.

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Page 1: Digital libraries and design for social engagement

Digital Libraries and Design for Social Engagement

Tony A. MooreCollege of Information Science & Technology Drexel University 3141 ChestnutStreet, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Phone: (484) 574-5088 [email protected]

New information and communication technologies are fundamentally changingsocial engagement. Through an evaluation of literature, I critique digital libraryresearch in the context of consumer health information. This paper first explains theconcepts of digital libraries and healthcare informatics. An example of design forsocial engagement is presented. This paper concludes with themes for futureresearch on the grounds of designing for social engagement through digitallibraries. Social engagement should become a key component of the emergingDigital Library discussions.

Introduction

Information needs, seeking behavior, and technologies all function within a larger contextof values and social organizations (Barry, 1994; Borgman, 2002; Capurro & Birger, 2003;Wilson, 1973). Healthcare informatics is the application of information technologies toencourage behavior change, improve health care and enhance life. Interactions betweenusers and health information systems makes evaluating and analyzing systems accordingto attributes such as privacy, trust, reliability and accuracy of information essential. Whiledigital libraries have been implemented and evaluated in a variety of domains, little workhas been done in addressing digital libraries as mechanisms which can mirror the ability oftraditional libraries to address social engagement and inclusion. It is the goal of this paperto call for such discussions on digital library use. Research is needed if we are to extendthe current notions of digital libraries from a techno-centric perspective to digital librariesas a mechanism for enhancing social engagement around specific domains such ashealthcare. This discussion is grounded in the need for further collaboration and potentialfor social engagement surrounding consumer healthcare digital repositories. Thecomplexity of digital library technology calls for understanding both the technical and socialissues related to creating, accessing, interpreting, and organizing information. Onlythrough understanding these sociotechnical aspects of system design can we developdigital repositories which take into account user values and encourage use participation.

Page 2: Digital libraries and design for social engagement

Digital Libraries

The definition of a digital library is still highly contested. On the most basic level, digitallibrary as a technology is a notion that encompasses an integrated set of services forcapturing, cataloging, storing, searching, protecting, and retrieving information. What'smore, digital libraries can include reference material or resources accessible through theWorld Wide Web along with digitized portions of a library's collection or original materialproduced for the web can also be included in a digital library. Depending on thetechnology supporting the digital content, a user may be able to access magazine articles,books, papers, images, sound files, and videos. Often accessible via the Internet, the useof a digital library is enhanced by a broadband connection such as cable modem or DSL.

Research Objectives & Rationale

The popularity of internet technology for health information is changing the nature ofdoctor-patient relationships. Several authors have suggested that the internet has thepotential to alter the doctor-patient relationship but have not explicitly stated how thesechanges occur. Hardley investigated the Internet as a source of health information andfound various accounts of how medical professionals use their social monopoly ofexpertise and knowledge to manage encounters and perpetuate their position of power(Hardey, 1999). The equity of presentation offered by the internet dissolves the boundariesaround areas of expertise upon which the medical professions derive much of their power(Hardey, 1999). Numerous patients reported that they had renegotiated treatment forthemselves or their children with their general practitioners based on information foundonline. This action of health-negotiation is an example of social engagement. Doctors andpatients are interacting in new ways as a result of networked technology. Digital librariesas networked information sources have great potential in the healthcare arena as theytake the notions of networked information into an organized space. It is not the intentionhere to state that finding information online is synonymous with finding information in adigital library but rather to state that through digital libraries we in the information sciencecommunity can address issues of information accuracy, trust, and organization ofinformation sources. More research for digital libraries design and use in the context ofhealthcare information use is needed. At the heart of this project is the question; candigital libraries be explicitly designed to encourage social engagement? If so, how wouldthis take shape in the domain of healthcare? How can traditional information sciencetheory and methods be leveraged to create meaningful information interaction?

Digital Libraries & Healthcare Informatics

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Along these lines of internet access to information, roughly 95 million American adultshave used the internet to find health information (Fox, 2005). While significant work hasbeen done to monitor and address issues surrounding health informatics, much is stillunknown about patterns of use relative to urban communities. In 1997, healthcareinformatics was best understood as the science that studies the use and processing ofdata, information, and knowledge applied to medicine, health care and public health (vanBemmel JH, Musen MA). In 2001, consensus was that the field of study concerned wasconcerned with the broad range of issues in the management and use of biomedicalinformation, including medical computing and the study of the nature of medicalinformation itself (Shortliffe EH, Perreault LE) In brief, healthcare informatics is theapplication and utilization of information technologies to encourage behavior change,improve health care and enhance life.

Design for Social Engagement

Social engagement is understood as the product of communal meetings and exchanges.Public libraries have historically been instrumental in the integration of immigrants intomainstream society (Witten, Loots, Trujillo, & Bainbridge, 2002). The importance oflibraries is further represented through understanding them as a place where culture,literature and knowledge all come together. George Soros asserts that it is not thecondition of the information professional to restrict access. This is not to say thatprofessionals must refrain from using their judgment of promoting and recommendinginformation sources. This refusal to restrict information is crucial in the discoursesurrounding the role of digital libraries as a force for democratic participation (Robinson &Bawden, 2001). Still, simply allowing the free-flow of information is not sufficient. Takingthis concept further, digital libraries should provide relevant information and an aid to thereflective process of the user (Schon, 1987). Building on themes presented by Robinsonand Bawden, Ragnar Audunson presents ideas surrounding the role of digital libraries andtheir associative ability to function as a low-intensive and highly necessary meeting placein a multicultural and digital context. He argued that the growth of the ‘knowledge society’,a society centered on information as power and multiculturalism where an increasedimportance of a library (in the traditional sense) is a key component in shaping socialengagement. The public library is presented here as a catalyst for democratic involvementand the digital library should serve as an extension of the view. According to Audunson,“… democracy in a multicultural context is dependent on low-intensive meeting placeswhere we can see one another across the high-intensive arenas on which we engage…”(Audunson, 2005). Regarding the digital context of libraries today, it is possible forindividualization and fragmentation. In an influential study of the decline in civic

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engagement in the United States Robert Putman classified a similar phenomenon as‘bowling alone’, with an associated loss of connection and social capital. It is not a novelnotion that we [society] instinctively recognize that we need to reconnect with one another.In Bowling Alone (2000) Putnam presented a comprehensive exploration that uncovered inthe realm of civic engagement and social connectedness. He discussed the significance ofsocial connectedness and the pervasiveness of its effects. His work offered a clear andconvincing explanation for the unease that many were feeling surrounding growing socialdisconnects. The notion of social capital has been around for decades. Regarding digitallibraries as vehicles for encouraging social engagement, social capital is closely related.Social capital calls attention to the fact that social engagement is most powerful whenembedded in a network of mutual social relations. This paper argues that it is possible foruser interaction through digital libraries to enable people to build communities; committingthemselves to each other, and to knit the social fabric and potentially improve the humancondition in various contexts such as healthcare. With that said, can we (society as awhole but more so information scientist and systems designers) establish an arena for thepurpose of democracy in the realm of digital library design?

Discussion & Conclusion

The Internet is increasingly being used as a medium for health information and healthcaredelivery. Millions of dollars have been spent on web-based digital repositories to improvehuman condition (Lunin & Fox, 1993). With this emergent use of digital library technologyfor health information, a number of complex set of technical, social, and legal issues(Tyler, 2001). This paper is an initial step in the discourses on the social and culturaleffects of information system design. Extensions of this work include discussion of thedigital divide with respect to digital libraries as well as a comparative analysis with specialattention on the distinctions between the use of ‘community’ here and ‘onlinecommunities’. Currently digital libraries are still very young in their development. There isgreat potential to reduce the amount of disease, premature death, and disease-produceddiscomfort and disability in society through their use. Core to this argument is support andpromotions of health information of the population as a whole rather than medical healthcare, which focuses on treatment of the individual ailment. Further research on digitallibraries has the potential to address health illiteracy as well as policy formation in thecontext of healthcare information systems. Rather than settling a question (whereproponents are determined as much economically as intellectually), I hope to expand theresearch agenda of value-driven design to digital libraries. How do social ideals andmotives inspire design choices and the social dimensions of system design?Understanding human and social factors is critical for establishing a comprehensive viewof digital library design for social engagement. The key idea to take away from this work isto recognize the challenges associated with the growth of digital libraries and understand

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their relation to the creation of communication and democracy promoting meeting places.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my advisors Profs. Xia Lin and Scot Silverstein from Drexel Universityfor their continued support and encouragement in this research domain. I would also liketo thank Prof. Marti Smith from Drexel University and Prof. Kalpana Shankar from IndianaUniversity for their critiques of earlier drafts of this work.

References

Audunson, R. (2005)The public library as a meeting-place in a multicultural and digital context: the necessity

of low-intensive meeting places Journal of Documentation 61(3), 429-441

Barry, C.L. (1994) User-Defined Relevance Criteria Journal of the American Society for Information Science 43, 149-159

Borgman, C.L. (2002) Challenges in building digital libraries for the 21st centuryDigital Libraries: People, Knowledge, and Technology, Proceedings Vol. 2555 pp. 1-13

Capurro, R., & Birger, H. (2003) The Concept of Information Annual Review of Information Science & Technology 37, 343-411

Hardey, M. (1999)Doctor in the house: The Internet as a source of lay health knowledge and the

challenges to expertise Sociology of Health & Illness 21(6), 820-835

Lunin, L.F., & Fox, E.A. (1993) Perspectives on Digital Libraries: Introduction andOverview Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 44, 440-445

Robinson, L., & Bawden, D. (2001)Libraries and open society; Popper, Soros and digital information Aslib Proceedings

53(5), 167-178

Schon, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design forTeaching and Learning in the Professions San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Tyler, J.L. (2001)In The Healthcare Information Technology Context: A Framework for Viewing Legal

Aspects of Telemedicine and Teleradiology 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii IEEE

Wilson, P. (1973) Situational Relevance Information Storage and Retrieval 9, 157-171

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Witten, I.H., Loots, M., Trujillo, M.F., & Bainbridge, D. (2002) The promise of digital libraries in developing countries The Electronic Library 20(1), 7-13