Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of appraisal with regard to compliance with archives and records management legislations (ARML), the archives and records management policy (ARMP), reappraisal of records, capacity building, archives building and electronic records management (ERM) and to make a recommendation based on the research findings. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on the qualitative research technique. The research approach was a multiple case study comparing the previously advantaged and disadvantaged universities in South Africa. Findings The study found that ARML, ARMP, reappraisal of records and capacity building are essential for the appraisal of university records. The lack of appropriate appraisal theory/strategy led to a loss of institutional memory. Research limitations/implications This research was limited to the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and the University of Venda (UNIVEN). These two institutions are representatives of the state of archiving in South Africa. Practical implications This research will serve a benchmark for other South African universities, intending to implement systematic disposal of records in compliance with legislations and policies. Social implications Failure by universities to appraise records will lead to the loss of institutional memory. This implies that history of institution will be lost if necessary measures are not taken. Originality/value There is very little, if any, research on the appraisal of South African universities’ records. The outcome of this research will benefit universities that are seeking to develop and implement appraisal strategies.
PurposeThe online health community's success depends on doctors' active participation, so it is essential to understand the factors that affect doctors' knowledge contribution behavior in the online health communities. From the perspective of peer effect, this paper discusses the influence of focal doctors' peers on focal doctors' knowledge contribution behavior and the mechanism behind it. This paper aims to solve these problems.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data of 1,938 doctors were collected from a Chinese online health community, and propensity score matching and ordinary least squares were employed to verify the proposed theoretical model.FindingsThe results show that the presence of focal doctors' peers in online health communities has a positive effect on the knowledge contribution behavior of focal doctors, and the economic returns and social returns of focal doctors' peers have a significant mediating effect.Originality/valueThis paper discusses focal doctors' knowledge contribution behavior from the perspective of peer effect. It enhances the understanding of focal doctors' behavior in the online health communities by exploring the mediating role of their peers' economic and social returns. The results of this paper extend the research in the field of peer effect and online health and provide management implications and suggestions for online health platforms and doctors.
Purpose Upon the realization of the need for guideline in cross-organizational data integration, in an exploratory manner, this study developed a public data governance framework, specifically, the governance for integrated public data (GIPD) framework and identified the influential factors of its successful implementation. This framework was then subjected to an analysis of a real data integration case in the South Korean public sector to test its efficacy. Design/methodology/approach To develop the GIPD framework, the authors conducted an extensive meta study, focus group interviews and the analytic hierarchy process involving field experts. Further, the authors performed topic modeling on documents from Korean research and development data integration projects, and compared the extracted factors to those of the GIPD to illustrate the latter's usefulness in a real case. Findings Legislation, policy goals and strategies, operation organization, decision-making council, financial support size and objective, system development and operation, data integration, data generation, system/data standardization and master data management were derived as the 10 important factors in implementing the GIPD framework. The illustrative case of Korea revealed that decision-making council, financial support size and objective, legislation, data generation and data integration were insufficient. Research limitations/implications Although this study reveals important findings, it has a few limitations. First, the potential factors for data governance might vary depending on the attribute of the “interviewee” (such as their career or experience period) and the goal and area of GIPD framework building. Second, the inherent limitation of topic modeling in determining topics from groups of extracted keywords means that topics may be interpreted in various ways, depending on the perspective of the expert. Practical implications This study is highly significant in that it provides a starting point for discussions on the issue of data integration among public institutions. Therefore, although this study examined public data governance based on R&D data, it will contribute to providing a sufficient guideline for any type of inter-institutional data governance framework, what to discuss and how to discuss between institutions. Originality/value The findings are expected to provide a roadmap to formulate practical guidelines on inter-institutional data cooperation and a diagnostic matrix to improve the existing data governance system, especially in the public sector, from the existing practice of empirical analysis using a mixed methodology approach.
Purpose Online medical repositories provide a platform for users to share information and dynamically access abundant electronic health data. It is important to determine whether case report information can assist the general public in appropriately managing their diseases. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce a novel deep learning-based method that allows non-professionals to make inquiries using ordinary vocabulary, retrieving the most relevant case reports for accurate and effective health information. Design/methodology/approach The dataset of case reports was collected from both the patient-generated research network and the digital medical journal repository. To enhance the accuracy of obtaining relevant case reports, the authors propose a retrieval approach that combines BERT and BiLSTM methods. The authors identified representative health-related case reports and analyzed the retrieval performance, as well as user judgments. Findings This study aims to provide the necessary functionalities to deliver relevant health case reports based on input from ordinary terms. The proposed framework includes features for health management, user feedback acquisition and ranking by weights to obtain the most pertinent case reports. Originality/value This study contributes to health information systems by analyzing patients' experiences and treatments with the case report retrieval model. The results of this study can provide immense benefit to the general public who intend to find treatment decisions and experiences from relevant case reports.
Purpose The study investigates the information-related challenges as well as the practices adopted by early-career researchers during transitions between roles and institutions. Its primary goal is to delve into how information behaviors serve as scaffolding during significant life shifts. Moreover, the research aims to provide actionable insights based on this scaffolding concept for individuals navigating transitions. Design/methodology/approach This preliminary and exploratory study took a phenomenological approach to examine the role of information seeking and personal information management (PIM) behaviors during life transitions. In-depth semi-structured interviews were held with 15 early-career researchers from various disciplines, who were about to finish their PhDs or had recently graduated. Findings By employing information seeking and PIM practices, participants were able to address three main information challenges that arose during the transition process: the timing of information behavior, the nature of information and the social components of the transition. The use of networked and independent information seeking/validation practices enabled to establish a sustainable network of transition-related information, reducing uncertainty. PIM practices helped planning the transition, maintaining information over the long-term and gaining control over personal information. Originality/value This study underscores the significance of information behaviors, encompassing both information seeking and PIM, as scaffolding mechanisms during crucial life transitions. It offers essential insights that can guide the creation of impactful interventions and resources. Additionally, the research illuminates the pressing demand for more in-depth exploration in this domain.
