Search results

The paper aims to present an approach for services in the domain of tourism based on a software application in the area of ontology engineering, showing a methodology for intelligent knowledge‐based P2P networks creation, in the tourism knowledge domain, given that, potential tourists share and organize their experiences, interests and knowledge. Using the proposed software application, they automatically exchange their knowledge, with an intelligent and transparent way, with other users that have the same or similar interests and make use of it.

The approach followed was categorizing tourism‐related interests and services into ontologies (system and user), then comparing them, using intelligent algorithms, suggesting new, unknown to the user, interests. The data were evaluated by experts in order to provide a guide for correct (according to the expert) interestingness of profile concepts.

The paper presents the outcomes of the software used, running on mobile devices, showing the connection for them, among user knowledge profiles and tourism services. It has been found that the return results (concepts) are of high interestingness to the user.

Experiments have been performed with one central ontology, used as reference and two user ontologies at the same time. The authors would suggest more experimentation, with more users connected concurrently.

Of high practical importance is the creation of intelligent social networking processes and user communities based on interests for further e‐commerce activities, based on a semantic framework.

The paper fulfils the need for intelligent interaction and distribution of knowledge and content to users in an autonomous way, anywhere.

This research aims to investigate the effects of innovation types (exploratory innovation vs. exploitative innovation) on users' psychological perceptions (perceived self-improvement and prosocial impact) and continuous knowledge sharing intention and the moderating effects of monetary incentives.

The research model was developed based on the self-determination theory. A two-study approach involving an online survey (n = 338) and an online experiment (n = 160) was employed to collect quantitative data. Structural equation modeling and variance analysis were adapted to analyze the data.

The results show that exploratory innovation leads to higher perceived self-improvement among users than exploitative innovation, whereas exploitative innovation leads to higher perceived prosocial impact than exploratory innovation. The perceived self-improvement and perceived prosocial impact positively affects users' continuous knowledge sharing intention. Monetary incentives moderate the relationships among perceived self-improvement, perceived prosocial impact and continuous knowledge sharing intention.

This research highlights the role of users' experience of initial participation in forming continuous knowledge sharing intentions and also reveals the effectiveness of monetary incentives in different types of innovation activities. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the antecedents of users' continuous knowledge sharing behavior, offering new insights and recommendations for managerial practitioners.

The goals of this study are: to evaluate the merits of a newly developed health information retrieval system; to investigate users' search strategies when using the new search system; and to study the relationships between users' search strategies and their prior topic knowledge.

The paper developed a new health information retrieval system called MeshMed. A term browser and a tree browser are included in the new system in addition to the traditional search box. The term browser allows a user to search Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms using natural language. The tree browser presents a hierarchical tree structure of related MeSH terms. A user study with 30 participants was conducted to evaluate the benefits of MeshMed.

The paper found that MeshMed provides a user with more choices to select an appropriate searching component and form more effective search strategies. Based on the time a participant spent using different MeshMed components, the paper identified three different search styles: the traditional style, the novel style, and the balanced style, which falls in between. MeshMed was particularly helpful for users with low topic knowledge.

A new health information retrieval system (MeshMed) was designed and developed (and is currently available at http://129.89.43.129/meshmed). This is the first study to explore users' search strategies on such a system. The study results can inform the design of future clinical‐oriented health information retrieval systems.

Drawing on the stakeholder theory and stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures and users' knowledge-sharing behaviors on social media (SM). Two underlying mechanisms are used to explain the relationship between CSR disclosures and knowledge sharing, namely, CSR identification and content richness.

An empirical analysis based on a negative binomial regression model is conducted using CSR data disclosed on corporate official Microblog in the past year on 30 companies with a high CSR development index in China.

CSR disclosures are positively related to users' knowledge-sharing behaviors, and this relationship is mediated by CSR identification. Content richness strengthens the positive relationship between CSR disclosures and users' CSR identification. User's retweeting behavior is positively related to commenting behavior.

This is one of the few studies to investigate the relationship between CSR disclosures and knowledge sharing on SM. The findings of this study can help companies formulate and implement effective CSR disclosure strategies to achieve sustainable development of companies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of task and user’s topic familiarity in the evaluation of information patch (websites).

An experimental study was conducted in a computer laboratory to examine users’ information seeking and foraging behaviour. In total, 160 university students participated in the research. Two types of task instructions, specifically defined and non-specifically defined (general) task types were administered. Mixed methods approach involving both quantitative and qualitative thematic coding were adopted, from the data of the questionnaire surveys and post-experiment interviews.

In the context of task attributes, users who conducted information seeking task with specifically defined instructions, as compared to the non-specifically defined instructions, demonstrated stricter credibility evaluations. Evidence demonstrated the link between topical knowledge and credibility perception. Users with topical knowledge applied critical credibility assessments than users without topical knowledge. Furthermore, the evidential results supported that the level of difficulty and knowledge of the topic or subject matter associated with users’ credibility evaluations. Users who have lesser or no subject knowledge and who experienced difficulty in the information search tended to be less diagnostic in their appraisal of the information patch (website or webpages). Users equipped with topical knowledge and who encountered less difficulty in the search, exhibited higher expectation and evaluative criteria of the information patch.

The constraints of time in the lab experiment, carried out in the presence of and under the observation of the researcher, may affect users’ information seeking behaviour. It would be beneficial to consider users’ information search gratifications and motivations in studying information evaluations and foraging patterns. There is scope to investigate users’ proficiency such as expert or novice, and individual learning styles in assessing information credibility.

Past studies on information evaluation, specifically credibility is often associated with users’ characteristics, source, or contents. This study sheds light on the context of task type, task difficulty and topical knowledge in affecting users’ information judgement.

One of the scarce studies in relating task orientation, task difficulty and topical knowledge to information evaluations.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on the social cognitive theory to identify the determinants of online knowledge community user continuance, which reflects a user’s continued use.

Based on the 271 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modelling was employed to examine the research model.

The results indicated that the cognitive factors of outcome expectation and the environmental factors of system quality and knowledge quality significantly affect a user’s continuance intention, which, in turn, affects continuance usage.

The results imply that service providers need to enhance community platforms and improve knowledge quality in order to retain users and facilitate their continuance.

Although previous research has examined online knowledge community user behaviour from multiple perspectives such as the social exchange theory and the motivational theory, it has seldom explored the relative effects of personal cognitions and environmental factors on user behaviour. This research fills the gap.

Examines the who, what and why of the knowledge mapping process used in the visual display of information in contemporary organizations. Knowledge mapping serves as the continuously evolving organizational memory, capturing and integrating strategic explicit knowledge within an organization and between an organization and its external environment. Knowledge map making is treated as a medium of communication over what is important and actionable information (knowledge) in organizational contexts. Effective knowledge maps take into account the who, what and why of the knowledge mapping process. Effective knowledge maps help identify intellectual capital, socialize new members, enhance organizational learning and help anticipate impending threats and/or opportunities.

This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms for transforming construction professionals’ intentions into use of social media (SM) for knowledge sharing (KS). The objectives are to: identify the common types of SM platforms used by the construction professionals for KS; identify the key problems influencing transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS; identify the factors mitigating the problems; and provide recommendations for enhancing construction professionals’ use of SM for KS.

The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Australian construction professionals and analysed using grounded theory (GT). The outcomes of the analyses formed a framework for the enhancement of SM use for KS.

The findings show that private SM followed by enterprise SM are more appealing to the construction professionals for KS compared to public SM; and uncertainties about users’ privacy/confidentiality and the quality of the shared knowledge adversely affect the transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS. Three types of trust are identified as the mitigators of the identified problems. A framework is proffered to enhance SM use for KS by construction professionals.

This paper contributes to the construction literature by developing a GT to explain the factors which impact the transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS. Additionally, the practical contribution of this study is the provision of framework constituting recommendations for the enhancement of SM use for KS.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of organizational rewards on two forms of knowledge sharing – explicit knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and further to explore the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation on the effect of virtual community rewards on implicit knowledge sharing.

Based on relevant knowledge sharing theories, this study develops an integrated framework to explore virtual community rewards and tacit and explicit knowledge sharing in a virtual context. This study then collected data from 429 virtual community users in four virtual communities via an online survey. Hierarchical regression analyzes were used to test the proposed research model.

The results of this study show that virtual rewards have a significantly positive linear relationship with explicit knowledge sharing but have an inverse U-shape relationship with tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities. In addition, intrinsic motivations including enjoyment and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between rewards and tacit knowledge sharing.

This study suggests more virtual community rewards may not always lead to more tacit knowledge sharing. Instead, too many rewards may weaken the motivation for tacit knowledge sharing. Knowledge management practitioners should make full use of the positive impact of self-efficacy and enjoyment to set up appropriate reward incentives to encourage knowledge-sharing, in particular, tacit knowledge sharing and to better manage virtual communities.

This study explores knowledge-sharing behavior in virtual communities, an important step toward more integrated knowledge-sharing theories. While online communities have become increasingly important for today’s knowledge economy, few studies have explored knowledge and knowledge sharing in a virtual context and this study helps to bridge the gap. In addition, this study develops an integrated framework to explore the mechanism through which virtual community rewards affect knowledge sharing with intrinsic motivation mediating this relationship in online communities, which further enriches the understanding on how to use virtual rewards to motivate knowledge sharing behaviors in the virtual context.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: why Google Answers and Yahoo! Kimo Knowledge+, both virtual communities built on users asking and answering questions with different rewarding mechanisms, have different outcomes.

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the authors developed the constructs, including self‐efficacy, altruism, reward, and the sense of virtual community, that influence the intention of sharing knowledge in terms of answering questions on Knowledge+.

The results show that users showing higher levels of contribution tended to be motivated by virtual rewards, such as advanced ranks, and the need for self‐fulfillment. Additionally, for these knowledge providers, altruism is also an important factor. Therefore, these users share not because of a reward but because of altruism and fulfillment. The findings can answer why Google Answers failed with its monetary rewards but Knowledge+ remains with its virtual rewarding mechanism.

This study extends the literature on understanding the antecedents of sharing knowledge in terms of answering others’ questions in virtual communities. Especially, it identifies different factors affecting the intention of users in different levels of engagement with the community to share knowledge.

The various effective factors influencing users’ knowledge sharing behavior identified in this study can guide the incentive mechanism design for virtual communities.

Besides proposing research models to identify the constructs affecting the users’ intention to answer questions in a virtual community, such as Knowledge+, this study compares the models explaining the intention to share knowledge in different user groups with different levels of knowledge contribution. This research design is unique from the prior literatures; Moreover, the results shed light on designing incentive mechanisms for knowledge sharing in virtual communities.