Dr. Kathleen Burnett
"Modeling Information Seeking in contemporary Information Retrieval Systems," co- authored with E. Graham McKinley and published in Interacting with Computers in 1998, analyzed models of information seeking behavior used in previous research in information retrieval. This article set the stage for a series of empirical studies examining human interaction with emerging information technologies.
While still at Rutgers University, I taught a doctoral seminar on the history of information technology. An outgrowth of this seminar was a collaboration with two students, Kwong Bor Ng and Soyeun Park. Together we explored the increasingly important role of metadata for information retrieval in digital libraries. Our work examined the two major approaches to metadata conceptualization, and proposed an integrated concept of metadata to facilitate a merger. In 1997 we presented a paper, "Control or Management: A Comparison of the Two Approaches for Establishing Metadata Schemes in the Digital Environment" at the ASIS Annual Conference. The paper was subsequently revised and published in 1999 inthe Journal of the American Society for Information Science, one of the top two journals in the field.
With Borying Ju of Louisiana State University, I have conducted analysis of data relating to error types, frequency, sequencing, and task completion to compare the performance of two different knowledge domain groups using a geographical information system (GIS). This research was among the first to isolate how domain knowledge might link to knowledge or rule based errors. Two completed articles report the results of this study, for which I am co-author on one. “Comparison of Human Performance by Knowledge Domain: Types, Frequency, and Sequencing of Errors Made while Interacting with an Information System” was published in Library and Information Sciences Researchin 2007.
I became actively engaged in online learning as an instructor, a developer of a course management system, and an administrator of a large online learning program when I moved to Florida State University in 1996. I received the Florida State University President's Award for Exemplary Uses of Technology in Instruction for my contribution to the development of the course management system used by the then School of Information Studies from 1997-2003. Throughout the development and implementation of the system, I collected or supervised the collection of data regarding system adoption and use, which was subsequently analyzed to make improvements to the system. In June 1999, Gary Burnett and I presented a paper, "Integrated Online Course Delivery System (IOCDS): Florida State University School of Information Studies" at the Ed-Media Conference in Seattle, Washington. "Contextual Learning: Learning about Information Technology through Information Technology," co-authored with Laurie J. Bonnici, Eliza T. Dresang, and Margery K. Thomas, was presented at the annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education in Orlando, Florida in March 2001. That same month, I presented a paper co-authored with Marilia Painter, a former graduate student, "Learning from Experience: Strategies for Assuring Effective Library and Information Services to Web-based Distance Learners," at the 10th National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Denver, Colorado. The book chapter, "Distributed Learning in the Florida State University School of Information Studies," co-authored with Gary Burnett and Don Latham and published in Benchmarks in Distance Learning: The LIS Experience (2004) summarizes this work in the context of distance learning at Florida State University.
In a separate study, Boryung Ju, Robert F. Brooks, and I introduced conceptual mapping in a mixed-methods usability study of the course management system. The resulting paper, "Measuring Navigational Preference in Hypertext Systems for Distance Learning," won the ALISE Methodology Paper Award in 2000 and was published in the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. My co-authors were both doctoral students at the time of the award and publication.
An institutional planning grant awarded in 2001 funded the data analysis for a study on interactivity in web-based learning. Two refereed papers introducing and providing a progress report on this research were presented at the first and second annual conferences of the Association of Internet Researchers IR 1.0 and 2.0 "The Role of Interaction in Web-Based Distance Learning" (2000) and "Research in Interaction in Web-Based Distance Learning"(2001). Another refereed paper "On the Reform of Library and Information Science Distance Education in the Networked Environment" (2001) was presented at the International Federation of Library Associations in Boston. Two refereed articles appeared in 2007 reporting the results of this study. "Frequency, Intensity and Topicality in Online Learning: An Exploration of the Interaction Dimensions that Contribute to Student Satisfaction in Online Learning", co-authored with Laurie J. Bonnici, Shawne D. Miksa, and Joonmin Kim appeared in the Journal of Education in Library and Information Science in the Winter 2007 issue. This article analyzes dimensions of interaction that contribute to student satisfaction in web-supported courses. Shawne D. Miksa's dissertation research, which I supervised from 1999-2002, informed the faceted analysis approach taken in the second article, "The Development of a Facet Analysis System to Identify and Measure the Dimensions of Interaction in Online Learning," co- authored with Shawne D. Miksa, Laurie J. Bonnici, and Joonmin Kim. This article appeared in one of the two top ranked journals in the field: Journal of the American Society for Information Science in September 2007. Laurie J. Bonnici and I are currently collecting data for a third article that will examine student success and satisfaction seven years later.
In 2002 and 2003 respectively, Laurie J. Bonnici and I were awarded grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to recruit and prepare future LIS faculty to help replenish our nation's insufficient supply. Among the goals of this funding, two were closely tied to social networking and led to our focus on social networking technologies: the establishment of a web of recruitment based on social network theory, and the development of a web-based tool to help potential students make better decisions regarding doctoral programs. The web of recruitment is discussed in a 2005 book chapter co-authored with Laurie J. Bonnici, "A Web Model of Recruitment for LIS Doctoral Education: Weaving in Diversity" in Unfinished Business: Race, Equity, and Diversity in Library and Information Science Education. We presented a refereed paper at the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) annual conference in Seattle, Washington in January 2007, "Formalizing Informal Approaches to Improve the Preparation of Professionals: The IRE Model," further developing this model for application to recruitment of librarians. A second refereed paper discussing the decision tool, "Qualitative Decision Impact Model: A Tri-partite Broadcast Social Network Approach" was presented at the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) annual conference in Milwaukee, WI in October 2007. I presented an invited paper as a member of the panel, Once Upon a Furl in a Podcast Long Ago: Using New Technologies to Support Library Instruction, sponsored by the ACRL Women's Studies Section at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Library Association in June 2007. In this paper, I discussed the use of social networking technologies in LIS education.
Currently, I am supervising a research collaboration involving two doctoral students-- Bradley Compton and Suyoung Lim. Employing a typology of cognitive abilities that manifest as information behaviors, we have conducted empirical studies to identify those that may become components of 21st century literacy. In a series of quasi- naturalistic observations, we first identify behaviors then relate these behaviors to the social setting and the cluster of social networking technologies being used. A works-in- progress poster introducing this research was presented at the Association for Library and Information Science Education 2007 annual conference. Data collection has been completed and analysis is in progress. We plan to submit an article reporting the results in fall 2008.