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Information-seeking in multilingual digital libraries: Comparative case studies of five university students

Hany M. Alsalmi (Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA) (Institute of Public Administration, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Library Hi Tech

ISSN: 0737-8831

Article publication date: 3 January 2020

Issue publication date: 23 February 2021

1059

Abstract

Purpose

Less attention has been paid to users’ interactions and behavior in studying multilingual search. Although digital library researchers have yet to assess user interaction and behavior in multilingual search, they have concurred that there is a need for user studies that document the extent to which information retrieval systems meet multilingual users’ needs and expectations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is composed of five individual cases. The case study participants were Saudi students enrolled either at a large state university or Historically Black College and University located in the same community. Research questions are, what do Saudi Digital Library (SDL) users experience when searching within the SDL in Arabic and English? And what strategies do they use if they fail to find resources? Data collected for this study were via a qualitative method called video-stimulated recall.

Findings

In the Arabic search tasks, participants realized that finding resources is not easy. Participants expressed their concerns about the lack of relevance and accuracy of results returned by the search system, indicating weak trust and confidence in the search system. Whereas in the English search task, participants felt more satisfied and confident in their ability to trust the results returned from the search system. Participants expressed their satisfaction in the search experience as it provided them with accurate and varying resources. The participants faced difficulties finding Arabic resources than English resources in the SDL.

Originality/value

This study is considered one of the earliest works in studying the information-seeking behavior of multilingual digital libraries in the Arabic language. The value of this study arises as being the first study to investigate and report the information-seeking behavior of SDL users.

Keywords

Citation

Alsalmi, H.M. (2021), "Information-seeking in multilingual digital libraries: Comparative case studies of five university students", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 80-100. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-06-2019-0119

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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