Uncovering the Mystery of How Users Find and Use eBooks through Guerilla Usability Testing

Abstract

This case study focuses on user research that was conducted to enhance our users’ ebook discovery experience. We took an outward-facing approach by seeking the users’ perspectives. We wanted to know: How do users find ebooks? How do they perceive multiple records for the same title? Would users find additional metadata useful, such as download availability, file format, and chapter titles? We coordinated guerilla usability testing in our library lobby, inspired by low-overhead, high-impact user experience work at other academic libraries. The resulting data gave us a much-needed new perspective of ebook usage that supplements what we already know from our day-to-day work.     

Absorptive and transformative capacities in nanotechnology innovation systems

We identify managerial challenges offered by an emergent nanotechnology innovation system in which knowledge is dispersed, asymmetric and contested. We argue the proposed models of knowledge absorption and transformation enhance existing theories of knowledge and emergent technology by recognizing how and why knowledge flows among the actors in emergent technology innovation system. We base our argument on combined research evidence from a Delphi study concerning the future of European manufacturing, from which a selected statement has been analyzed, and from analysis of the NanoManufacturing Institute at Leeds University, UK; specifically its work in building ties between different actors associated with nanotechnology. We conclude our paper with suggestions for future research.     

Complementary person-supervisor fit: An investigation of supplies-values (S-V) fit,leader-member exchange (LMX) and work outcomes

By applying the supplies-values (S-V) fit approach from the complementary person-environment (P-E) fit literature to the leader-employee perspective, and drawing upon social exchange theory, we examine how fulfillment of different work values is related to Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and work outcomes. First, polynomial regression analyses combined with response surface analysis of data collected at two time points (N = 316) showed that LMX (Time 2) was higher the more the leader fulfills the employee's work values (Time 1). Second, LMX (Time 2) was higher when leader supplies (Time 1) and employee work values (Time 1) were both high than when both were low. Third, analyses of data from a sub-sample of matched leader-employee dyads (N = 140), showed that LMX (Time 2) played a mediating role on the relation between S-V fit (Time 1) and work outcomes (Time 2). Specifically, we found eight out of 10 relationships between S-V fit (Time 1) and leader-rated task performance and OCB (Time 2) to be fully mediated by LMX (Time 2). LMX (Time 2) partially mediated the relation between S-V fit (Time 1) and job satisfaction (Time 2) as only two out of five relationships were fully mediated.     

Chinese and Americans Agree on What Is Fair,but Disagree on What Is Best in Societal Decisions Affecting Health and Safety Risks

Through surveys of students and junior professionals and interviews with business and government executives, we studied Chinese choices and fairness perceptions in risky health and safety decisions. The survey responses were compared with American responses from an earlier study by Keller and Sarin.The survey results show that the American and Chinese respondents had similar fairness perceptions, but the Chinese did not make decisions that were consistent with their fairness perceptions, whereas the Americans did. We found that the middle-age Chinese professionals tended to make choices that were more different from the Americans than were the choices of the young Chinese management students. It is likely that these discrepancies were caused by cultural differences, with the younger Chinese tending to face a stronger Western influence.The insights from the survey results were enriched by interviews that revealed fairness perceptions of Chinese business and government executives. A framework to interpret cultural influences on decision making was also proposed.     

Near‐Misses and Future Disaster Preparedness

Disasters garner attention when they occur, and organizations commonly extract valuable lessons from visible failures, adopting new behaviors in response. For example, the United States saw numerous security policy changes following the September 11 terrorist attacks and emergency management and shelter policy changes following Hurricane Katrina. But what about those events that occur that fall short of disaster? Research that examines prior hazard experience shows that this experience can be a mixed blessing. Prior experience can stimulate protective measures, but sometimes prior experience can deceive people into feeling an unwarranted sense of safety. This research focuses on how people interpret near‐miss experiences. We demonstrate that when near‐misses are interpreted as disasters that did not occur and thus provide the perception that the system is resilient to the hazard, people illegitimately underestimate the danger of subsequent hazardous situations and make riskier decisions. On the other hand, if near‐misses can be recognized and interpreted as disasters that almost happened and thus provide the perception that the system is vulnerable to the hazard, this will counter the basic “near‐miss” effect and encourage mitigation. In this article, we use these distinctions between resilient and vulnerable near‐misses to examine how people come to define an event as either a resilient or vulnerable near‐miss, as well as how this interpretation influences their perceptions of risk and their future preparedness behavior. Our contribution is in highlighting the critical role that people's interpretation of the prior experience has on their subsequent behavior and in measuring what shapes this interpretation.     

When Futures Meet the Present

In this essay, I respond to Mische's work on projection and the research of future action. Further, I suggest a tri-partite framework of mechanisms—one I have termed "political semiosis"—that allows historical actors to materially and figuratively reorient and realign the past, present, and future in projects of transformation.     

The effectiveness of job specific training on the occupational performance of student nurses

Body mechanic checklist scores during a one-person pivot transfer, and boosting up in bed were evaluated to determine the effectiveness of training on the work performance of female student nurses from a local college. Thirty subjects participated in the study and were divided into a control group, an experimental group that received basic body mechanic training, and an experimental group that received job specific training. A one-way ANCOVA was calculated to examine the effects of the experimental procedures on the subjects' performance. This revealed a statistically significant difference between the groups (patient transfer F = 10.11, p value < 0.001; boosting F = 38.62, p value < 0.001). A post hoc analysis (Bonferroni procedure) indicated that the job specific training group (mean 11.65, SD 0.66) demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their performance compared to the other two groups (control group mean 7.5, SD 0.67; BBMT mean 9.66, SD 0.67).     

Revisiting the relationships among gender,marital status,and mental health

Three decades ago, Grove introduced his sex-role theory of mental illness, which attributes women's higher rates of psychological distress to their roles in society. Central to his hypothesis is that marriage is emotionally advantageous for men and disadvantageous for women. This article revisits this topic with data from the National Survey of Families and Households. The analyses indicate that the emotional benefits of marriage apply equally to men and women, but that men and women respond to marital transitions with different types of emotional problems. The implications of these findings for future research on gender and mental health are discussed.