Comparing digital libraries with social media from the dual route perspective

A comparative analysis on digital libraries and academic search engines from the dual-route perspective

Purpose

Digital libraries and academic search engines have developed as two important online scholarly information sources with different features. The purpose of this study is to compare digital libraries and academic search engines from the perspective of the dual-route model.

Design/methodology/approach

Research hypotheses were developed. Potential participants were recruited to answer an online survey distributing at Chinese social media out of which 251 responses were deemed to be valid and used for data analysis. The paired samples t-test was used to compare the means.

Findings

Both information quality (central route) and source credibility (peripheral route) of digital libraries are significantly higher than those of academic search engines, while there is no significant difference between digital libraries and academic search engines in terms of affinity (peripheral route).

Practical implications

In the digital information society, the important status of digital libraries as conventional information sources should be spread by necessary measures. Academic search engines can act as complementary online information sources for seeking academic information rather than the substitute for digital libraries. Practitioners of digital libraries should value the complementary role of academic search engines and encourage users to use academic search engines while emphasizing the importance of digital libraries as conventional information sources.

Originality/value

According to the dual-route model, this study compares digital libraries and academic search engines in terms of information quality, source credibility and affinity, which the authors believe presents a new lens for digital libraries research and practice alike.

Perceived information pollution: conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity

Purpose

Currently, employees are facing information explosion in the presence of disruptive information and communication technologies of industry 4.0. With the prevalent nature of information pollution, employees are suffering to process large volume of information in order to access quality information. The objective of present study is to develop a measurement scale of perceived information pollution in the context of workplace. Furthermore, this study aims to assess the nomological validity of the proposed construct.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has employed a sequential exploratory mixed-method design to develop and validate the measurement scale of perceived information pollution. The population of the present study comprised of the employees who work in the operations and credit department of banking sector. The present study has used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to analyze data in AMOS.

Findings

The present study has developed the second-order measurement scale of perceived information pollution. The perceived information pollution comprises of five dimensions – accessible, intrinsic, contextual, representational, and distractive information pollution. This study has also confirmed the nomological validity of the information pollution in relation to employee's job satisfaction, work effort, and learning effort.

Research limitations/implications

Management may employ the five dimensions as a benchmark in revealing polluted information as well as enhancing information quality through information processing.

Originality/value

This study has contributed to the literature of information management by providing a five-dimensional scale of perceived information pollution and confirming its nomological validity.