• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.29-44
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the concept of amount of invested mental effort (AIME) developed in the field of educational psychology can help explain why people put so little effort into online searching. In this experimental study, two information retrieval systems - a web search engine and a university library system - were used to make a comparison. The data were collected from 15 undergraduate students through background questionnaires, think-aloud protocols, search logs, post-search questionnaires, and post-task interviews. The findings indicate that perception of the web's "easy-ness" and high levels of self confidence in searching capability led the subjects to put less effort into web searching than they do into library system searching. In addition, the perceived difficulty of search task influenced the extent of mental effort invested. The AIME proved a useful framework for understanding search behavior and user experience for both web search engines and library systems.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.95-106
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• 2019

This study examines how mental health promotion programs based on positive psychology brings changes in pleasant life, engaged life and meaningful life. This research considers 15 programs featuring 178 students during one semester. Pre-and-post examination of psychological well-being, depression and optimism were conducted to identify changes before and after the program. 56 students (32%) showed positive changes in all 3 factors. 15 students among them were selected for an in-depth interview for a qualitative case study. As a result of the quantitative study, a mental health promotion program based on positive psychology showed statistically significant positive changes in the pre-and-post examinations of psychological well-being, depression and optimism. Mental health promotion programs based on positive psychology showed positive changes in mental, cognitive and behavior perspectives in the fields of pleasant life, engaged life and meaningful life of college students. Specifically, positive psychology and thinking programs influenced students to become more enthusiastic and active in pursuing a pleasant life. Secondly, positive psychology intervention concerning engaged life brought a recognition of higher 'self-acceptance'. Thirdly, each individual spent more time and effort to experience more satisfaction and accomplishments. Lastly, subjects showed greater optimism after the program. Through the searching gratitude program, study subjects expanded their appreciation of their relationships with others.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.155-178
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• 2010

Assessment of information credibility is a ubiquitous human activity given that people constantly make decisions and selections based on the value of information in a variety of information seeking and use contexts. Today, people are increasingly engaging in diverse online activities beyond searching for and reading information, including activities such as creating, tagging and rating content, shopping, and listening to and watching multimedia content. The Web 2.0 environment presents new challenges for people because the burden of information evaluation is shifted from professional gatekeepers to individual information consumers. At the same time, however, it also provides unprecedented opportunities for people to use tools and features that help them to make informed credibility judgments by relying on other people's ratings and recommendations. This paper introduces fundamental notions and dimensions of credibility, and contends that credibility assessment can be best understood with respect to human information behavior because it encompasses both the level of effort people exert as well as the heuristics they employ to evaluate information. The paper reports on a survey study investigating people's credibility judgments with respect to online information, focusing on the constructs, heuristics, and interactions involved in people's credibility assessment processes within the context of their everyday life information activities. Using an online activity diary method, empirical data about people's online activities and their associated credibility assessments were collected at multiple points throughout the day for three days. The results indicate that distinct credibility assessment heuristics are emerging as people engage in diverse online activities involving more user-generated and multimedia content. A heuristic approach suggests that people apply mental shortcuts or rules of thumb in order to minimize the amount of cognitive effort and time required to make credibility judgments. The paper discusses why a heuristic approach is key to reaching a more comprehensive understanding of people's credibility assessments within the information-abundant online environment.