Conclusion
Since an SB website requires users’ activities and contributions to maintain its sustainability (Butler, 2001), it is important to understand users’ bookmarking behaviors and their perceptions about the service. The results of this study contribute to further understanding of academic users’ SB behaviors and their opinions, which has not yet been fully understood. The recent decline in the number of visitors on some academic SB websites may be an indicator that SB for academic purposes may not have been a very successful application of the technology. For a technology to become popular, it requires not only a positive user perception of its usefulness, but also of its ease and convenience in use. This empirical investigation may help to improve the design, development, and use of academic SB applications. The benefits of SB systems (flexible personal information management, group collaboration, and enhanced information discovery) make it well worth the effort.
Acknowledgment
-
This research is supported by the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2010A032000002).
-
The authors would like to thank K.Y. Yu for her assistance in data analysis.
References
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Table 1. Research on SB, 2006-2010
Research topics
|
Author(s)
|
Year Published
|
Findings
|
tag growth and dynamics
|
Golder & Huberman
|
2006
|
- Users exhibit a wide variety in their sets of tags while stable patterns emerge in tag proportions.
- Most of the tagging is done not for public benefit but personal purpose.
|
Kittur et al.
|
2007
|
- There was also the decline of elite user influence in del.icio.us.
|
Farooq et al.
|
2008
|
- This study investigates tag growth and patterns and a matrix is hence developed to explain tagging behavior.
|
semantics
|
Al-Khalifa & Davis
|
2007
|
- The study categorized folksonomy tags into meaningful semantics.
|
Cattuto, Benz, Hotho & Stumme
|
2009
|
- It introduces a systematic methodology in a folksonomy for characterizing different measures of tag relatedness.
|
tag choices
|
Radar
|
2006
|
- The views towards the concept space of the articles from the user, author and intermediary are different.
- It is important for users to have time management information as a tag for articles.
- A large number of user terms were related to author and intermediary terms.
- In most cases, this was due to the use of newer terminology or differences in approaching problems.
|
Kipp
|
2008
|
- Users’ past tag choices greatly influence future tag choices.
- In del.icio.us, tag selection is governed by individual and idiosyncratic processes instead of direct limitation.
|
classification of tags
|
Sen et al.
|
2006
|
- Pre-existing tags do affect future tagging behavior, i.e., users tend to follow the distribution of the pre-existing tag.
|
Sun et al.
|
2007
|
- More tags do not necessarily give rise to better classification.
- Moreover, it evaluates a tag expansion algorithm.
|
Razikin el al.
|
2008
|
- It is not true that all tags are useful descriptors for resource sharing.
- The result is not consistent with the Wisdom of Crowds theory.
- It is found that objective tags appear frequently.
|
Huang & Chuang
|
2009
|
- This study identifies ten classes of social tagging which can offer a semiotic solution to the ambiguous and vague tagging in the online communication process.
|
potential academic use and application
|
Gordon-Munane
|
2006
|
- To make tagging as easy as going to Google, new features should be developed to capture the context and meaning.
- Improving the easiness to tag pages or other media and merging the collaborative tagging with more formal systems could strengthen the power of searching.
|
Redden
|
2010
|
- Academic libraries may use SB as collaborative tools in practical and relatively simple ways.
|
Seki, Qin & Uehara
|
2010
|
- This study revealed that there has been an improvement in information retrieval with the use of social bookmarks.
|
Table 2. Academic background of the participants (N=119)
Academic background
|
Group I
(experienced users)
|
Group II
(moderately experienced users)
|
Group III
(novice users)
|
|
(n = 39)
|
(n = 48)
|
(n = 32)
|
Science and engineering
|
8
|
5
|
14
|
Social science and humanities
|
1
|
43
|
13
|
General university research/administration
|
22
|
0
|
3
|
Business research/administration
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Others
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
Table 3. Bookmarking behaviors
Bookmarking behaviors
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
Creating bookmarks
|
3.26 (1.349)a
|
2.63 (0.890)d
|
2.53 (0.983)f
|
0.014*
|
Copying bookmarks from other users
|
1.68 (0.747)b
|
1.96 (0.771)d
|
1.63 (0.609)f
|
0.085
|
Using self-created bookmarks
|
2.62 (1.139)b
|
2.53 (1.120)e
|
2.31 (0.931)f
|
0.485
|
Sharing bookmarks with collaborators
|
1.92 (1.360)c
|
2.02 (1.139)d
|
1.75 (0.762)f
|
0.514
|
Creating tag notes
|
2.13 (1.277)a
|
2.15 (0.899)d
|
1.94 (0.759)f
|
0.571
|
Notes: * statistically significant at p < .05.
an = 38, bn = 37, cn = 36, dn = 48, en = 47, fn = 32.
Participants gave ratings based on a scale where 1 = Never, 2 = Once a month or less, 3 = Once every 2 weeks, 4 = 1-2 times a week, 5 = 3-6 times a week, 6 = Once every day or more.
Table 4. Users' perceptions of the usefulness of bookmarks and tags
Criterion
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
It is useful to create a title for a bookmark
|
2.94 (0.827)a
|
3.21 (0.690)g
|
3.03 (0.556)k
|
0.192
|
It is useful to form a group with friends or colleagues for sharing bookmarks
|
2.93 (0.704)b
|
2.98 (0.766)g
|
2.80 (0.610)k
|
0.424
|
It is useful to use tags to find your own bookmarks
|
3.78 (0.428)c
|
3.17 (0.732)g
|
3.07 (0.583)k
|
0.000*
|
It is useful to use tags in finding relevant bookmarks created by other Connotea users
|
3.00 (0.816)d
|
3.04 (0.658)g
|
2.90 (0.759)k
|
0.629
|
It is useful to use tags in sharing bookmarks with friends or colleagues
|
3.19 (0.750)e
|
3.02 (0.715)h
|
2.73 (0.583)k
|
0.025*
|
It is useful to create tag notes in Connotea
|
3.24 (0.768)e
|
3.05 (0.524)i
|
2.88 (0.612)l
|
0.082
|
It is a good policy that Connotea requires its users to create at least one tag per bookmark
|
3.19 (0.834)f
|
3.05 (0.714)j
|
3.04 0.611)m
|
0.419
|
Notes: * p < .05.
an = 17, bn = 13, cn = 18, dn = 15, en = 21, fn = 27, gn = 47, hn = 46, in = 37, jn = 40, kn = 30, ln = 24, m n= 25. Participants gave ratings based on a 4 - point Likert scale where 1 = “Strongly disagree”, and 4 = “Strongly agree”.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 5. Users' perception on automatic collection of bibliographic information
Statement
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
It is useful
|
3.33 (0.816) a
|
3.03 (0.556) c
|
3.17 (0.491) d
|
0.082
|
It is easy to use
|
2.92 (0.862) b
|
2.84 (0.473) b
|
2.71 (0.772) e
|
0.399
|
Notes: an = 24, bn = 25, cn = 30, dn = 23, en = 17.
Participants gave ratings based on a 4 - point Likert scale where 1 = “Strongly disagree”, and 4 = “Strongly agree”.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 6. Users' perception on the usefulness of different search functions
Methods
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
Using the search box with the choice "Find Exact URL"
|
2.10 (0.944)d
|
2.54 (0.852)g
|
2.58 (1.121)n
|
0.147
|
Using the search box with the choice "Find Exact User"
|
2.64 (0.790)a
|
2.41 (0.837)k
|
2.67 (0.856)d
|
0.503
|
Using the search box with the choice "This Collection"
|
2.95 (0.844)a
|
2.77 (0.731)g
|
3.05 (0.669)d
|
0.344
|
Through other users who have similar interests
|
2.87 (0.869)e
|
3.10 (0.656)h
|
3.05 (0.575)a
|
0.504
|
Using the search box with the choice "All"
|
2.80 (0.816)c
|
2.63 (0.751)i
|
2.88 (0.680)f
|
0.534
|
Using "Related Users"
|
2.88 (1.076)f
|
2.25 (0.770)m
|
2.65 (0.832)e
|
0.031*
|
Using "Related Tags"
|
2.83 (1.029)e
|
2.88 (0.714)l
|
2.96 (0.767)e
|
0.891
|
Using the search box with the choice "My Library"
|
3.27 (0.874)b
|
3.17 (0.730)h
|
3.08 (0.717)f
|
0.440
|
Note: * statistically significant at p < .05.
an = 22, bn = 26, cn = 25, dn = 21, en = 23, fn = 24, gn = 35, hn = 42, in = 38, jn = 39, kn = 32, ln = 41, mn = 36, nn = 19.
Participants gave ratings based on a scale where 1 – Not useful, 2 – A bit useful, 3 – Useful, 4 – Very useful.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 7. Users' perceptions on the use of SB for information management
Criterion
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
Individual Information Management
|
|
|
|
|
It is quick to create bookmarks
|
3.15 (0.784)a
|
2.98 (0.794)e
|
3.21 (0.738)h
|
0.308
|
It is easy to save bookmark
|
3.19 (0.786)b
|
3.02 (0.707)e
|
3.19 (0.483)b
|
0.365
|
It is useful for managing personal information
|
2.92 (0.845)a
|
2.87 (0.647)e
|
3.04 (0.706)i
|
0.473
|
Group Information Management
|
|
|
|
|
It is easy to share bookmarks with others
|
3.04 (0.690)c
|
3.10 (0.700)f
|
3.05 (0.394)d
|
0.854
|
It is useful for managing information in a group
|
2.95 (0.686)d
|
2.89 (0.689)g
|
2.81 (0.602)j
|
0.748
|
Notes: an = 26, bn = 27, cn = 24, dn = 20, en = 47, fn = 41, gn = 38, hn = 28, in = 23, jn = 21.
Participants gave ratings based on a scale where 1 – Not useful, 2 – A bit useful, 3 – Useful, 4 – Very useful.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 8. Percentage of users who found various SB features to be useful.
Feature
|
Group I
(n= 25)†
|
Group II
(n = 47)†
|
Group III
(n=30)†
|
Recognizing references and automatically filling in bibliographic information
|
68.0%
|
27.7%
|
30.0%
|
Sharing references/bookmarks among all users of the SB website - good for information discovery
|
48.0%
|
57.4%
|
36.7%
|
Accessing your references/bookmarks from any computer
|
80.0%
|
78.7%
|
80.0%
|
Exporting your references/bookmarks to Endnote or other desktop reference managers
|
32.0%
|
19.1%
|
16.7%
|
Notes: †Based on participants who responded to this question. Users could select all those features that they found useful; the percentage shown here is the number of users who have picked this feature over the total number of respondents.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 9. Users' perception on SB and traditional way of saving bookmarks
Statement
|
Group I
|
Group II
|
Group III
|
Kruskal Wallis
|
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
M (SD)
|
p-value
|
I enjoy using the SB website
|
3.04 (0.825)a
|
2.66 (0.645)c
|
2.69 (0.736)b
|
0.043*
|
Using SB websites like Connotea to save bookmarks is better than using the traditional way of saving bookmarks into a dedicated computer
|
3.81 (0.402)b
|
3.02 (0.690)d
|
2.76 (0.926)e
|
0.000*
|
Notes: * p < .05. an = 23, bn = 26, cn = 44, dn = 45, en = 25.
Participants gave ratings based on a 4 - point Likert scale where 1 = “Strongly disagree”, and 4 = “Strongly agree”.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
Table 10. Percentage of users who use the methods of managing useful websites
Ways of managing useful websites
|
Group I
(n=26)†
|
Group II
(n=47)†
|
Group III
(n=30)†
|
Bookmarking websites on a computer
|
42.3%
|
80.9%
|
83.3%
|
Using Connotea
|
61.5%
|
21.3%
|
23.3%
|
Using other SB sites
|
61.5%
|
17.0%
|
13.3%
|
Adding them to your own website
|
7.7%
|
14.9%
|
3.3%
|
Notes: † Based on participants who responded to this question.
Percentage of “don’t know” answers is represented in gray; the darker the shade the larger the percentage (see Fig. 2).
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