User-driven efforts in creating knowledge graph information system
ISSN: 2059-5816
Article publication date: 17 April 2020
Issue publication date: 8 June 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that involved students of an interdisciplinary PhD program. The study objective was to gather requirements to create a knowledge graph information system. The purpose of this study was to determine information-seeking practices and information needs of this community, to inform the functionalities of a proposed system, intended to help students with relevant resource discovery and decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
The study design included semi-structured interviews with eight members of the community, followed by a website usability study with the same student participants.
Findings
Two main information-seeking styles are recognized and reported through user personas of international and domestic (USA) students. The findings show that the useful information resides within the community and not so much on the program website. Students rely on peer communication, although they report lack of opportunities to connect. Students’ information needs and information seeking are dependent on their progress through the program, as well as their motivation and the projected timeline.
Practical implications
Considering the current information needs and practices, a knowledge graph hosting both information on social networks and the knowledge produced by the activities of the community members would be useful. By recording data on their activities (for example, collaboration with professors and coursework), students would reveal further useful system functionalities and facilitate transfer of tacit knowledge.
Originality/value
Aside from the practical value of this research that is directly influencing the design of a system, it contributes to the body of knowledge on interdisciplinary PhD programs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to offer special thanks to study participants for their time and valuable inputs. The author would also like to thank anonymous reviewers for making this paper much stronger. Also, the author wants to thank Crystal Boyce-Gudat for her advice and help with the paper text. Finally, and above all, the author wishes to thank Dr Kelly Bergstrom for advising each step of this research. Dr Kelly Bergstrom’s assistance and guidance are deeply appreciated.
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Stanislava Gardasevic “User-driven efforts in creating knowledge graph information system”, published in Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 97-111, was published with incorrect information for the ‘Domestic (US) student’ user persona. This error was introduced in the editorial process and has now been corrected in the online version The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.
Citation
Gardasevic, S. (2020), "User-driven efforts in creating knowledge graph information system", Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 97-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-12-2019-0043
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited