Tensions are a ubiquitous feature of social life and are manifested in a number of particular forms: contradictory logics, competing demands, clashes of ideas, contradictions, dialectics, irony, paradoxes, and/or dilemmas. This essay aims to explore in detail tensions surrounding seven common findings of the information seeking literature relating to: interpersonal communication, accessibility, level of skill, individual preferences, psychological limits, inertia, and costs. Our incomplete understanding of these tensions can lead us to suggest resolutions that do not recognize their underlying dualities. Human information behavior stands at the intersection of many important theoretical and policy issues (e.g., personalized medicine). Policy makers need to be more attuned to these basic tensions of information seeking recognizing the real human limits they represent to informing the public. So, even if you build a great information system, people will not necessarily use it because of the force of these underlying tensions. While rationality rules systems, irrationality rules people. The proliferation of navigator roles over the last several years is actually a hopeful sign: recognition that people need a human interface to inform them about our ever more complex health care systems.

The purpose of this investigation is to define the central contents and issues of the impact of informing systems on the rise and development of Virtual Civilization. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary big-picture view of the Virtual Civilization’s elements of development and their interdependency. Among the findings are: Virtual Civilization has infrastructural characteristics, a world-wide unlimited, socially constructed work and leisure space in cyberspace, and it can last centuries/millennia - as long as informing systems are operational. Practical implications: The mission of Virtual Civilization is to control the public policy of real civilizations in order to secure the common good in real societies. Social implication: The quest for the common good by virtual society may limit or even replace representative democracy by direct democracy which, while positively solving some problems, may eventually trigger permanent political chaos in real civilizations. Originality: This investigation, by providing an interdisciplinary and civilizational approach at the big-picture level defined the ethics question of the role of informing systems in the development of Virtual Civilization.

In today’s knowledge environment, individuals and groups who gather relevant information about the organization’s external environment and distribute that information for use by their colleagues receive increasing attention and are viewed with great importance. These individuals have been named Information Gatekeepers. Thus far, researchers have not established a unanimous and interdisciplinary definition regarding the human information gatekeeper. Nonetheless, a recurrent theme in previous papers regards gatekeepers as a select few throughout the organization. This approach creates two kinds of employees based on a specific set of criteria – those who are gatekeepers and those who are not. The main goal of this research is to examine whether gate keeping is an individual attribute that exists or does not exist within the organization, or whether gate keeping is a continuous attribute that exists within every member and throughout the organization in varying intensity subject to differences in personal characteristics and other factors. We find that evidence to the existence of latter approach is significant and suggest practical recommendations that arise from these findings.

Technology has transformed education, perhaps most evidently in course delivery options. However, compelling questions remain about how technology impacts learning. Adaptive learning tools are technology-based artifacts that interact with learners and vary presentation based upon that interaction. This paper compares adaptive learning with a conventional teaching approach implemented in a digital literacy course. Current research explores the hypothesis that adapting instruction to an individual’s learning style results in better learning outcomes. Computer technology has long been seen as an answer to the scalability and cost of individualized instruction. Adaptive learning is touted as a potential game-changer in higher education, a panacea with which institutions may solve the riddle of the iron triangle: quality, cost and access. Though the research is scant, this study and a few others like it indicate that today’s adaptive learning systems have negligible impact on learning outcomes, one aspect of quality. Clearly, more research like this study, some of it from the perspective of adaptive learning systems as informing systems, is needed before the far-reaching promise of advanced learning systems can be realized.

The Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX) event, organized by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), is conducted 3-4 times a year at various locations. The four day event can be characterized as an informing system specifically designed to facilitate structured and unstructured communications between a variety of parties—e.g., software developers, inventors, military and civilian users of various technologies, academics, and agencies responsible for identifying and procuring technology solutions—that frequently are constrained in their informing activities in more restrictive venues. Over the course of the event, participants may observe technology demonstrations, obtain feedback from potential users, acquire new ideas about their technologies might be employed and, perhaps most significantly, engage in ad hoc collaborations with other participants. The present paper describes an exploratory case research study that was conducted over a one year period and involved both direct observation of the event and follow-up interviews with 49 past participants in the event. The goal of the research was to assess the nature of participant-impact resulting from attending JIFX and to consider the consistency of the findings with the predictions of various theoretical frameworks used in informing science. The results suggest that participants perceived that the event provided significant value from three principal sources: discovery, interaction with potential clients (users) of the technologies involved, and networking with other participants. These findings were largely consistent with what could be expected from informing under conditions of high complexity; because value generally derives from combinations of attributes rather than from the sum of individual attributes, we would expect that overall value from informing activities will be perceived even though estimates of the incremental value of that informing cannot be made.

This paper discusses applications of the measures of the risk of misinforming and the role of the warranty of misinforming in the context of the informing component of Customer Related Management (CRM) issues. This study consists of two parts. Firstly, we propose an approach for customers’ grouping based on their attitude toward assessing product's properties and their expertise on the terminology/domain of the seller’s message describing the product. Also we discuss what the most appropriate personal/group warranty is for each of these group/clusters. 

This paper identifies areas in the design science research (DSR) subfield of the information systems (IS) discipline where a more detailed consideration of practitioner audiences of socio-technical design artifacts could improve current IS DSR research practice and proposes an initial conceptualization of these audiences. The consequences of not considering artifact audiences are identified through a critical appraisal of the current informing science lenses in the IS DSR literature. There are specific shortcomings in four areas: 1) treating practice stakeholders as a too homogeneous group, 2) not explicitly distinguishing between social and technical parts of socio-technical artifacts, 3) neglecting implications of the artifact abstraction level, and 4) a lack of explicit consideration of a dynamic or evolutionary fitness perspective of socio-technical artifacts. The findings not only pave the way for future research to further improve the conceptualization of artifact audiences, in order to improve the informing power – and thus, impact on practice and research relevance – of IS DSR projects; they can also help to bridge the theory-practice gap in other disciplines (e.g. computer science, engineering, or policy-oriented sociology) that seek to produce social and/or technical artifacts of practical relevance.

Web portals have been used as information products to deliver personalized, feature-rich, and flexible information needs to Internet users. However, all portals are not equal. Most of them have relatively a small number of visitors, while a few capture the majority of surfers. This study seeks to uncover the factors that contribute the perceived quality of a general portal. Based on 21 factors derived from an extensive literature review on Information Product Quality (IPQ), web usage, and media use, an experimental study was conducted to identify the factors that are perceived by web portal users as most relevant. The literature categorizes quality factors of an information product in three dimensions: information, physical, and service. This experiment suggests a different clustering of factors: Content relevancy, Communication interactiveness, Information currency, and Instant gratification. The findings in this study will help developers find a more customer-oriented approach to developing high-traffic portals.

Certain trends in scientific research have important relevance to bioethics theory and practice. A growing stream of literature relates to increasing transparency and inclusivity of populations (stakeholders) in scientific research, from high volume data collection, synthesis, and analysis to verification and ethical scrutiny. The emergence of this stream of literature has implications for bioethics theory and practice. This paper seeks to make explicit these streams of literature and to relate these to bioethical issues, through consideration of certain extreme examples of scientific research where bioethical engagement is vital. Implications for theory and practice are derived, offering useful insights derived from multidisciplinary theory. Arguably, rapidly developing fields of citizen science such as informing science and others seeking to maximise stakeholder involvement in both research and bioethical engagement have emerged as a response to these types of issues; radically enhanced stakeholder engagement in science may herald a new maximally inclusive and transparent paradigm in bioethics based on lessons gained from exposure to increasingly uncertain ethical contexts of biomedical research.

The privacy of personal information is an important area of focus in today’s electronic world, where information can so easily be captured, stored, and shared. In recent years it has regularly featured as a topic in news media and has become the target of legislation around the world. Multidisciplinary privacy research has been conducted for decades, yet privacy remains a complex subject that still provides fertile ground for further investigation. This article provides a narrative overview of the nature of information privacy, describing the complexities and challenges that consumers and organizations face when making decisions about it, in order to demonstrate its importance to both groups. Based on this work, we present a transdisciplinary view of information privacy research linking the consumer and organization. It illustrates areas of concern for consumers and organizations together with the factors that influence the decisions they make about information privacy. By providing such a view we hope to encourage further cross-disciplinary research into this highly pertinent area.

Based on the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory (Rogers, 2003), the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, and trust theory, this study investigated the factors that influence the use of Twitter among the Kuwaiti community. The study surveyed Twitter users in Kuwait. A structured online questionnaire was used to collect data, and 463 respondents who provided complete answers participated. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the effect of three theoretical perspectives on Twitter usage. The result of the analysis showed that Twitter usage is better explained by DOI constructs than by U&G constructs. The findings indicated that the perceived relative advantage from DOI, and the need for information, need to pass time, and need for interpersonal utility from the U&G approach, have a direct positive significant effect on the use of Twitter. None of the trust theory constructs was found to be significant in predicting the general use of Twitter. The study results help Twitter providers and users in individual or organizational contexts to understand what factors generally affect the usage of the Twitter service.

The all-pervasive Internet has created serious problems, such as Internet overuse, which has triggered considerable debate over its relationship with addiction. To further explore its genetic susceptibilities and alternative explanations for Internet overuse, we proposed and evaluated four hypotheses, each based on existing knowledge of the biological bases of addiction, inattention, novelty-seeking, and harm-avoidance. Four genetic loci including DRD4 VNTR, DRD2 Taq1A, COMT Val158Met and 5-HTTLPR length polymorphisms were screened from seventy-three individuals. Our results showed that the DRD4 4R/4R individuals scored significantly higher than the 2R or 7R carriers in Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The 5-HTTLPR short/short males scored significantly higher in IAT than the long variant carriers. Bayesian analysis showed the most compatible hypothesis with the observed genetic results was based on attention (69.8%), whereas hypotheses based harm-avoidance (21.6%), novelty-seeking (7.8%) and addiction (0.9%) received little support. Our study suggests that carriers of alleles (DRD4 2R and 7R, 5-HTTLPR long) associated with inattentiveness are more likely to experience disrupted patterns and reduced durations of Internet use, protecting them from Internet overuse. Furthermore, our study suggests that Internet overuse should be categorized differently from addiction due to the lack of shared genetic contributions.

The global Business Intelligence (BI) market grew by 10% in 2013 according to the Gartner Report. Today organizations require better use of data and analytics to support their business decisions. Internet power and business trend changes have provided a broad term for data analytics – Big Data. To be able to handle it and leverage a value of having access to Big Data, organizations have no other choice than to get proper systems implemented and working. However traditional methods are not efficient for changing business needs. The long time between project start and go-live causes a gap between initial solution blueprint and actual user requirements in the end of the project. This article presents the latest market trends in BI systems implementation by comparing Agile with traditional methods. It presents a case study provided in a large telecommunications company (20K employees) and the results of a pilot research provided in the three large companies: telecommunications, digital, and insurance. Both studies prove that Agile methods might be more effective in BI projects from an end-user perspective and give first results and added value in a much shorter time compared to a traditional approach.

The main aim of this paper is to provide a theoretically and empirically grounded discussion on IT-based organizational creativity support. This study attempts to answer the following questions: (1) what is the issue of organizational creativity and its IT-based support, (2) what is the demand for IT –based organizational creativity support; (3) what are the main determinants and barriers to IT-based organizational creativity support; and (4) what success factors are crucial for IT-based organizational creativity support. This paper presents the analysis results of a survey conducted in 25 selected organizations. The paper provides valuable information on the possibilities of IT applications in organizational creativity support as well as the associated success factors. It makes useful contribution to our better understanding of IT-based organizational creativity support issues.

The following definition of “option” is given in Wikipedia - “In finance, an option is a contract, which gives the buyer (the owner or holder) the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the form of the option” (“Option,” n.d.). Option as a risk management (mitigation) tool is broadly used in finance and trade. At the same time, it introduces asymmetry in the sense that, probabilistically, it limits the level of losses (e.g., the price of the option) and allows for unlimited gains. In the market of sophisticated devices (as smart phones, tablets, etc.), where technologies are rapidly advancing, customers usually do not have the experience to use all features of the device at the time of the purchase. Due to the lack of appropriate expertise, the risk of misinforming, leading to not purchasing the “right” device is high, but given enough time to learn the capabilities of the device and map these to the needs and tasks that device will be used for, could provide the client with substantial long term benefits. Warranty of misinforming is a mechanism that provides the client with the opportunity to explore the device and master its features under limited risk of financial losses. Thus, the warranty of misinforming could be considered as an option - the custom-ers buy it (at a fixed cost) and may gain (theoretically) unlimited benefit by realizing (within the terms of the warranty) that the device can be used to solve a variety of problems not envisaged at the time of purchase. In this study we present the idea of treating the warranty of misinforming as an option in finances and provide examples to illustrate our viewpoint.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to provide a better understanding of individual acceptance of enterprise resource (ERP) systems. Based on the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) and informing science theory, the study developed and empirically tested a research model to explain the effects of ERP characteristics (specifically, informativeness and enjoyment) on ERP acceptance and use. Background: Individual acceptance of ERP systems is crucial for achieving the benefits associated with ERP systems. Unfortunately, little research has focused on acceptance of ERP systems at the individual level. This study attempts to fill this void. Methodology: A survey questionnaire was distributed to ERP users to collect data to empiri-cally test the research model developed in this study. In addition to demographic and background information question, the survey contained instruments to measure the study variables. Contribution: The empirical results show that UGT provides a sound theoretical framework for explaining users’ gratifications, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward adopting and using an ERP. These results support the view that subsumes information systems and other fields that endeavor to inform their audience. Findings: Individuals’ perceptions of the informativeness and entertainment of ERP systems demonstrated strong direct effects on attitude toward using and satisfaction with ERP systems. In turn, satisfaction with ERP systems showed a direct significant impact on intention to use an ERP system. Recommendations for Practitioners: Maintaining a favorable environment and designing training workshops that highlight the information and enjoyment aspects of an ERP can boost users’ perceptions of ERP informativeness and enjoyment and, eventually, improve their attitude and satisfaction with an ERP. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should test the proposed research model with other types of ERP systems and in different environments to enhance the generalizability of the results to other systems and settings. Impact on Society: The results of is study can be used as a foundation on which to develop plans and design strategies to enhance individual acceptance of ERP systems and realize the benefits associated with these systems. Future Research: Future research should extend the research model by integrating other personal and technology variables to provide further insights into what influences individuals to accept or reject an ERP system.

Aim/Purpose: In the light of the recent attention to the role of social media in the dissemination of fake news, it is important to understand the relationship between the characteristics of the social media content and re-sharing behavior. This study seeks to examine individual level antecedents of information re-sharing behavior including individual beliefs about the quality of information available on social network sites (SNSs), attitude towards SNS use and risk perceptions and attitudes. Methodology: Testing the research model by data collected through surveys that were adminis-tered to test the research model. Data was collected from undergraduate students in a public university in the US. Contribution: This study contributes to theory in Information Systems by addressing the issue of information quality in the context of information re-sharing on social media. This study has important practical implications for SNS users and providers alike. Ensuring that information available on SNS is of high quality is critical to maintaining a healthy user base. Findings: Results indicate that attitude toward using SNSs and intention to re-share infor-mation on SNSs is influenced by perceived information quality (enjoyment, rele-vance, and reliability). Also, risk-taking propensity and enjoyment influence the intention to re-share information on SNSs in a positive direction. Future Research: In the dynamic context of SNSs, the role played by quality of information is changing. Understanding changes in quality of information by conducting longitudinal studies and experiments and including the role of habits is necessary.

Aim/Purpose: Professional companies selling persuasive-communication services via the World Wide Web need to be exemplars of effective informing practices. Their credibility is at risk if their websites do not excel in marketing message and use of medium. Their unique brands need to be expressed through website technology and content, or they cannot compete successfully. Background: Compares marketing communication consultants’ websites with expert criteria. Methodology: Content analysis of 40 advertising agency websites. Contribution: Links an evaluation of advertising agency compliance with expert website criteria to established branding constructs. Findings: Most small advertising agencies could improve their brand reputations through better compliance with experts’ recommended website design and content criteria. Recommendations for Practitioners: A hierarchy of recommendations for practitioners is offered, addressing ease and importance. Impact on Society: Clarity and credibility of message and medium improve our ability to practice effective informing. Future Research: Explore online communications of specialized populations such as digital marketing experts.

Aim/Purpose: The media and research have made significant noise about young people’s addictions to technology, however the American Psychological Association (APA) has reserved judgment on the clinical diagnosis of technology addiction. Research to understand technology addiction is important to the future of information systems development and behavioral usage understanding. Background: Addiction implies that there is a problem from which an IS client needs to try to recover, further implying a negative impact on life. Multiple defini-tions and outcomes of addictions have been studied in the information systems discipline, with virtually no focus on quality of life of the IS client. Methodology: This research employs a survey of students at a large southwestern United States university. Measures were adopted from previously validated sources. The final sample includes 413 usable responses analyzed using PLS. Contribution: This research broadens theoretical and practical understanding of SNS IS client perceptions by relating technology addiction to a broader impact on an individual’s life. By doing so, it provides guidance on society’s understanding of frequent technology use, as well as the development of new systems that are highly used. Findings: This research indicates diminished impulse control, distraction, social influence and satisfaction are all highly correlated with technology addiction; specifically, 55% of the variance in addiction is explained by these four indicators. However, the model further shows addiction has no significant relationship with overall satisfaction of life, indicating that IS clients do not correlate the two ideas. Recommendations for Practitioners: Heavy technology use may indicate a paradigm shift in how people inter-act, instead of a concern to be addressed by the APA. Recommendation for Researchers: Research needs to clearly define technology dependence, addiction, and overuse so that there is a strong understanding of what is meant. These findings help guide assumptions about the dark side of Information Technology. Impact on Society: While technology use is increasing, younger generations may find the use to be acceptable and less of a problem then older generations. Future Research: Future research should replicate these findings on other technology artifacts and other technology addiction definitions. In the future, there is also opportunity to delve deeper into the outcome variable of satisfaction with life.

Aim/Purpose: Sharing ideas generated in a Business Intelligence (BI) Applications class to upgrade an Information System in to an Informing System. Background: Course Registration is the essential university’s business process in a university that follows a liberal-arts education model. Almost all categories of users are involved, including students, individual faculties and departments, and administration. A typical Information System, designed to support this process, allows departments to schedule selected courses for a particular time slot and location, and allows students to choose courses to study for the semester. Methodology: The course project is to design a BI application. Domain knowledge is essential for such projects and course registration was the natural choice for this class. The assignment includes (1) identifying the categories of stakeholders; (2) identifying the information needs of different categories; (3) identifying available information sources; (4) identifying how is possible to acquire the additional data; and (5) designing the Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) process and interface scenarios in a way to inform clients. Contribution: Contributions are in two directions: (1) pedagogy - involving students in such a project motivates creativity, also enforcing students to think in cost-benefit framework may lead to creation of really effective and efficient solutions; (2) practice - implementation of some of the ideas could be with low cost, but with high impact. Findings: Exploring BI techniques may increase the informing value of existing Information Systems. Recommendations for Practitioners: Careful analysis of information needs and the way information is used, combined with deep domain knowledge and understanding the value provided by Data Mining techniques, is the way to initiate a process of transforming an Retrieval Information System to better inform clients. Recommendation for Researchers : Combining pedagogy with practice allows one to overcome routine thinking and may lead to effective solutions. This needs further structuring and research on outcomes. Impact on Society Transforming Information towards Informing Systems has a significant impact by allowing users to make rational data driven decisions in an efficient way. Future Research: The future of this project is implementation of developed ideas and assessment of the results. Impact on Society : Transforming Information towards Informing Systems has a significant impact by allowing users to make rational data driven decisions in an efficient way. Future Research: The future of this project is implementation of developed ideas and assessment of the results.

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how Kuwaiti Academic Libraries (KALs) have responded to the rapidly evolving Smartphone-Apps (SP-Apps) environment, as well as exploring the level of electronic services provided in these libraries. Background: This study can illustrate whether the governmental, academic libraries in the State of Kuwait have already benefited from the mobile services provided by smart phones or not. Methodology: In this study, the researchers use both qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore, questionnaires and interviews are used in order to collect in-depth data in this field. The questionnaire sample was 400 respondents. They divided in two KALs: Kuwait University Library (KUL) and Public Authority of Applied Education Training Library (PAAETL), while eight individual interviews were conducted one-to-one in this research. Contribution: This paper may be important for academic libraries to identify shortcomings in the smartphones’ content and services they provide and in highlighting efforts by libraries to address their users’ needs in this area. Findings: The findings show that most participants expressed the need to introduce an SP-App to their library. They also confirmed that there are many difficulties in creating an SP-App including lack of budget, lack of awareness of library management, lack of clarity about library management strategic objectives, and vision for an SP-App. Recommendations for Practitioners: Designing SP-Apps that have reliable content and user interface that is easy to use is a considerable challenge. For this reason, the study highly recommends introducing SP-Apps for KALs as soon as possible. Future Research: The recommendations proposed are relevant to Kuwait. Further research may be useful in this field in other developing countries, in order to test or develop the suggested strategy.

Aim/Purpose Information Technology students’ learning outcomes improve when teaching methodology moves away from didactic behaviorist-based pedagogy toward a more heuristic constructivist-based version of andragogy. Background There is a distinctive difference, a notable gap, between the academic community and the business community in their views of the level of preparedness of recent information technology program graduates. Understanding how Information Technology curriculum is developed and taught along with the underpinning learning theory is needed to address the deficient attainment of learning outcomes at the heart of this matter. Methodology The case study research methodology has been selected to conduct the inquiry into this phenomenon. This empirical inquiry facilitates exploration of a contemporary phenomenon in depth within its real-life context using a variety of data sources. The subject of analysis will be two Information Technology classes composed of a combination of second year and third year students; both classes have six students, the same six students. Contribution It is the purpose of this research to show that the use of improved approaches to learning will produce more desirable learning outcomes. Findings The results of this inquiry clearly show that the use of the traditional behaviorist based pedagogic model to achieve college and university IT program learning outcomes is not as effective as a more constructivist based andragogic model. Recommendations Instruction based purely on either of these does a disservice to the typical college and university level learner. The correct approach lies somewhere in between them; the most successful outcome attainment would be the product of incorporating the best of both. Impact on Society Instructional strategies produce learning outcomes; learning outcomes demonstrate what knowledge has been acquired. Acquired knowledge is used by students as they pursue professional careers and other ventures in life. Future Research Learning and teaching approaches are not “one-size-fits-all” propositions; different strategies are appropriate for different circumstances and situations. Additional research should seek to introduce vehicles that will move learners away from one the traditional methodology that has been used throughout much of their educational careers to an approach that is better suited to equip them with the skills necessary to meet the challenges awaiting them in the professional world.

Aim/Purpose : An important objective of any firm is escalation of its performance and the achievement of competitive advantages. Supply chain agility plays a prominent role to enhance the level of firm’s performance. Moreover, information technology (IT) plays a foundational role in supply chain management practices. Hence, this study proposes the relationship between IT integration as the competency of IT and firm’s market performance both directly and through mediating role of supply chain agility. Background: Many studies have been done to date on the impact of supply chain agility on overall firm’s performance. However, the effect of an agile supply chain on firm’s market performance per se needs to be studied. Furthermore, there is a gap in the literature about the effect of IT competency such as IT integration on firm’s market performance both directly and through mediating role of supply chain agility. Recommendation for Researchers: The first direction this study gives to researchers is to consider the different factors which have significant effect on the agility of supply chain, particularly the IT related ones. The second direction is about the study on the effect of IT competencies and supply chain agility on each category of firm’s performance separately instead of considering it as a one construct. Impact on Society : Although this is a conceptual study, it can highlight the importance of IT competency not only in our daily life, but also in our businesses and industries. Future Research: This study only proposes some relationships based on theory and literature. Future researchers can test these proposed relationships in different contexts and compare the results. Furthermore, this study proposes the relationships for large manufacturing sector in developing countries. The model could be tested for SMEs as well. In addition, the proposed theoretical model in this study might be tested in both developing as well as developed countries to compare the results which will be contributed to the body of knowledge.

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this paper is to review the vast literature of user-centric in-formation science and inform about the emerging themes in information behaviour science. Background: The paradigmatic shift from system-centric to user-centric approach facilitates research on the cognitive and individual information processing. Various information behaviour theories/models emerged. Methodology: Recent information behaviour theories and models are presented. Features, strengths and weaknesses of the models are discussed through the analysis of the information behaviour literature. Contribution: This paper sheds light onto the weaknesses in earlier information behaviour models and stresses (and advocates) the need for research on social information behaviour. Findings: Prominent information behaviour models deal with individual information behaviour. People live in a social world and sort out most of their daily or work problems in groups. However, only seven papers discuss social information behaviour (Scopus search). Recommendations for Practitioners : ICT tools used for inter-organisational sharing should be redesigned for effective information-sharing during disaster/emergency times. Recommendation for Researchers: There are scarce sources on social side of the information behaviour, however, most of the work tasks are carried out in groups/teams. Impact on Society: In dynamic work contexts like disaster management and health care settings, collaborative information-sharing may result in decreasing the losses. Future Research: A fieldwork will be conducted in disaster management context investigating the inter-organisational information-sharing.

Aim/Purpose: This study was undertaken to shed light on how the use of a heteronormative mobile dating application creates an environment to promote psychological empowerment among female users within the online dating scene. The study focused on a mobile dating application which specifically challenges traditional gender roles, namely Bumble. Background: Mobile dating applications have become an increasingly popular medium for people to meet potential partners. However, users’ pre-existing social norms and biases inform how they communicate on these platforms, and stereotyped judgment about women perpetuates ideologies which continue to oppress them within the cyber world. Despite this, very little research has investigated the experiences of female users of mobile dating applications. Methodology: The study was qualitative in nature, and 10 semi-structured interviews of female Bumble users were conducted. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Contribution: The study contributes to knowledge by highlighting how key features of mobile dating applications influence various aspects of psychological empowerment as articulated in the findings. Findings: The findings show that the Bumble application supports Intrapersonal variables of Psychological Empowerment of female users relative to Domain Specific Perceived Control and Self-Efficacy, Motivation to Control and Perceived Competence. However, Domain Specific Perceived Control can also be negatively impacted due to self-doubt when female users receive little to no matches. Interactional variables of psychological empowerment are also supported, as Bumble allows female users to be critically aware of the need to screen potential partners, understand relevant causal agents, develop skills relative to initiating conversations and mobilize resources. However, Bumble is not effective in supporting behavioral variables of psychological empowerment because of limitations in the tool’s functionality and the behavior of the people interacting on the platform. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings are important as they suggest the need to enhance the features available to female users in order to better suit their needs and desire to take control of their lives in the context of dating and/or friendship. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings reveal the need for a change of perceptions and attitudes on the part of some users to create a safer and more considerate virtual dating space, to truly achieve psychological empowerment. Future Research: More research is required on how male and female users domesticate mobile dating applications and how the use of these applications influence their daily lives from a socio-cultural point of view.

Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we discuss how a Transdisciplinary (TD) and a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) initiative was conceptualized, developed, implemented, and sustained at a small academic institution with limited research infrastructure, emphasizing the role of capacity building. Background: Most examples of the implementation of TD research come from large-scale initiatives in research-intensive institutions or centers with multiple resources to establish collaborations among experts from different disciplines. However less is known about the implementation of TD and CBPR initiatives in small academic settings. Methodology: This paper includes a discussion of the challenges and lessons learned of this process in a teaching-intensive Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), which included a research component as part of the institutional priorities when it transitioned to a 4-year college in 2001. Contribution: We hope that our experience helps other researchers in similar institutions to engage in this type of research. Findings: In this case, a collaborative TD and CBPR initiative was successfully implemented despite limited resources for capacity building and research infrastructure, as well as diversity among researchers and community members. Recommendation for Researchers: To sustain institutional collaborative capacity in this type of institution, authors recommend continuous capacity building efforts and the development of modules and/or courses to provide formal TD training for junior faculty while encouraging researchers to interact and collaborate. In addition, the importance of the role of the community liaison is highlighted. Impact on Society: Successful TD and CBPR initiatives may have a positive impact on the reduction or elimination of health disparities which involve complex phenomena that requires a broad view from different perspectives. Future Research: Even though capacity building can facilitate the implementation of TD and CBPR, many challenges arise as an inherent result of community engagement and the integration of different disciplines. Thus, the need of continuous reflection to acknowledge them becomes critical for advancing TD and CBPR efforts.

Aim/Purpose: This paper describes the regulatory affairs discipline as a useful case in the study of both inter- and transdisciplinary science and dynamics related to communication across multiple boundaries. We will 1) outline the process that led to the development of transnational competencies for regulatory affairs graduate education, 2) discuss how the process highlights the transdisciplinary character of regulatory affairs, 3) provide implications for how to communicate the influence of this characterization to future healthcare professionals, and 4) draw conclusions regarding how our lessons-learned might inform other programs of study. Background: In the past few decades, the regulatory affairs profession has become more internationalized. This prompted the need for new competencies grounded in the transnational and cross-disciplinary contexts in which these professionals are required to operate. Methodology: A convenience sample of experienced regulatory affairs professionals from multiple disciplines contributed to the development of transnational competencies for a master’s program in regulatory affairs using a transdisciplinary framework. Contribution: An applied exemplar in which to understand how transdisciplinary characteristics can be communicated and applied in higher education. Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper recommends how competencies developed from a regulatory affairs program can serve as exemplars for other applied transdisciplinary higher education programs. Impact on Society: This framework provides a seldom-used reflective approach to regulatory affairs education that utilizes cross-disciplinary theory to inform competence-based formation of professionals.

Aim/Purpose: This paper explores the implications of machine-mediated communication on human interaction in cross-disciplinary teams. The authors explore the relationships between Open Science Theory, its contributions to team science, and the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting open science principles. Background: Open Science Theory impacts many aspects of human interaction throughout the scholarly life cycle and can be seen in action through various technologies, which each typically touch only one such aspect. By serving multiple aspects of Open Science Theory at once, the Open Science Framework (OSF) serves as an exemplar technology. As such it illustrates how Open Science Theory can inform and expand cognitive and behavioral dynamics in teams at multiple levels in a single tool. Methodology: This concept paper provides a theoretical rationale for recommendations for exploring the connections between an open science paradigm and the dynamics of team communication. As such theory and evidence have been culled to initiate a synthesis of the nascent literature, current practice and theory. Contribution: This paper aims to illuminate the shared goals between open science and the study of teams by focusing on science team activities (data management, methods, algorithms, and outputs) as focal objects for further combined study. Findings: Team dynamics and characteristics that will affect successful human/machine assisted interactions through mediators of workflow culture, attitudes about ownership of knowledge, readiness to share openly, shifts from group-driven to user-driven functionality, group-organizing to self-organizing structures, and the development of trust as teams regulate between traditional and open science dissemination. Recommendations for Practitioners: Participation in open science practices through machine-assisted technologies in team projects/scholarship should be encouraged. Recommendation for Researchers: The information provided highlights areas in need of further study in team science as well as new primary sources of material in the study of teams utilizing machine-assisted methods in their work. Impact on Society: As researchers take on more complex social problems, new technology and open science practices can complement the work of diverse stakeholders while also providing opportunities to broaden impact and intensify scholarly contributions. Future Research: Future investigation into the cognitive and behavioral research conducted with teams that employ machine-assisted technologies in their workflows would offer researchers the opportunity to understand better the relationships between intelligent machines and science teams’ impacts on their communities as well as the necessary paradigmatic shifts inherent when utilizing these technologies.

Aim/Purpose: The complexity of scientific problems has spurred the development of transdisciplinary science, in which experts are brought together to collaborate across disciplinary and practice boundaries. These knowledge diverse teams can produce novel solutions, but they often fail to achieve their potential. Background: Leaders have a crucial role to play in enabling effective collaboration among these diverse experts. We propose that a critical predictor of whether a newly formed interdisciplinary team will perform well is the leader’s multidisciplinary breadth of experience, which we define as a leader’s possession of significant experience in multiple areas of research and practice. We suggest that these leaders will have the capability to skillfully manage the interactions within the team. Methodology: We test our prediction in a sample of 52 newly formed interdisciplinary medical research teams. We also observe and examine the communication patterns in a subset of these teams. Contribution: There is a lack of systematic study of the impact leaders have on newly formed interdisciplinary science teams whose members have little or no prior collaborative experience with each other, possess specialized knowledge, and have limited overlapping expertise. This study combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the effect of leader multidisciplinary experience on team communication patterns and innovation. Findings: Our study finds that teams are more innovative when their leader has a moderate breadth of multidisciplinary expertise. Exploration of team communication patterns suggests that leaders with moderate multidisciplinary breadth of experience actively stimulated information sharing across expert domains by choosing cross-cutting topics and drew individuals’ attention to the knowledge and approaches of others in the team. Recommendations for Practitioners: Insights from this work can have practical implications regarding how to best select and train leaders to facilitate cross-boundary collaboration in transdisciplinary science. This study elucidates a variety of communication strategies that leaders can to enhance the team innovativeness. Recommendation for Researchers: Further investigation into the underlying psychological states that these communication strategies elicit is needed. Future research should investigate psychological mediators such as knowledge consideration, perspective taking, and cognitive flexibility. Impact on Society: Transdisciplinary science is needed to solve society’s most complex problems. The more insight we gather about factors that can help these knowledge diverse teams to be successful, but more society will benefit. Future Research: More research is needed on team formation, leader experience, and team outcomes in transdisciplinary science teams in a variety of contexts.

Aim/Purpose: To understand the process of social change creation in social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs), specifically emphasizing the role and nature of the communicative process in social change creation. Background: Drawing on data from seven SEVs from India and the US and employing a grounded theory methodology, this research scrutinizes the social change process and uncovers the role and characteristics of dialogue in this process. Methodology: Qualitative data was collected from seven social entrepreneurial organizations over a period of eight months from July 2011 to February 2012. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a wide range of members within these social entrepreneurial organizations (n=27) with additional informal interviews with field workers and volunteers. Data from the semi-structured interviews and notes from observations were integrated with analyses of archival resources. Contribution: There is little scholarship about the process of social change creation and the necessary conditions to promote social change over time. Understanding the process of social change creation and the individual, interpersonal, and organizational conditions that facilitate the process is central to design of effective trans-sector TD problem solving ventures. This paper focuses on the process of social change creation in social entrepreneurial settings, specifically emphasizing the role and nature of the communicative process in social change creation. Findings: The reflections and experiences of the members of SEVs revealed that social entrepreneurship is a collective endeavor and this collective character is essential to its success. Collective organization and synergy, deep intra-organizational communication, and a conducive organizational context are critical for the creation of collective wisdom and knowledge networks for long-term collaborative community capacity building. Dialogue emerged as a central category linking the other categories to explain the process of social change creation. Organic organizational structure enables knowledge creation and integration through the process of organizational learning through deep and continuous social interaction, or dialogue. Recommendations for Practitioners: This research elucidated the key characteristics of the organizational context required to support the creation of social change. It also identified the critical role and characteristics of the communicative process required to generate structural knowledge and collective wisdom at the organizational level. Recommendation for Researchers: For individual and organizational learning, trans-sector transdisciplinary organizations require an appropriate organizational context. Key elements of such an organizational context include (1) understanding the ecology of the social problem; (2) organic organizational structure; (3) continuous and deep social interaction among all levels of the organization; (4) employee and community autonomy and empowerment; and (5) attention to subtle environmental changes in the system. These elements in combination lead to the creation of collective wisdom. Collective wisdom then feeds back into the conception, planning, and action stages of the iterative cycle of organizational knowledge creation to create positive social change. Impact on Society: Same as above Future Research: Future research model theoretically and study empirically the ecology of social entrepreneurship and trans-sector TD problem solving more broadly. For example, the ways in the personal attributes of social entrepreneurs (e.g., their leadership style, networking abilities) combine with circumstances at organizational, institutional, and international levels to influence the effectiveness of their efforts to promote positive social change within local and global communities. Second, the grounded theoretical framework developed here should be further refined and elaborated through the identification of additional key contextual factors that affect SEVs’ capacity to promote positive social change and to achieve sustainability in different socio-environmental contexts. There is also a need to translate the findings from this research to facilitate the creation of more inclusive problem solving contexts and practices.