Conference Agenda

Objectives

The process of Design Thinking (DT) is widely used in various areas of human activity, including information activities. According to Rak (2022), there are three areas where DT processes can take place. The first and most general and universal applies to entities whose activities are related to broadly understood information activities and information management (institutional area). The next one refers to individual and group information management and includes tools supporting activities among participants of the DT process (operational area). The third and last area is related to the use of DT in the implementation of practical subjects in the field of information management and related fields (didactic area). The aim of the paper is to explore and capture the relationship between DT and information literacy (IL) in the context of the didactic process. In this perspective, DT can be understood as a manifestation of collective intelligence (Lévy, 1997) of great importance for didactic processes (Fisher, Oon & Benson, 2018), in which students undertake both practical activities of designers (Kimbell, 2011) and users of innovations (Kimbel, 2012). It is innovation design (Soukalová, 2017) that is the main core of activities undertaken by students in the didactic area where specific information competences are also needed. IL is understood as undertaking information behaviors that allow obtaining information tailored to information needs and their ethical use (Johnston & Webber, 2003).

Methodology & Outcomes

The main problem of the research study is to explore and capture the relationship between ILand Design Thinking processes in the context of didactic processes. The main research questions are: What information competences should students have in order to actively participate in the DT process? What information management tools do they use in the DT process? The study will be carried out in two groups of students who participated in classes where DT was used. The first group is represented by people studying at the first-cycle studies in the field of electronic information processing (humanities and information technology studies). Their curriculum does not include subjects directly related to IL. The second group consists of students from second-cycle studies in the field of information management (studies in the field of social sciences). The study program provides for participation in many subjects related to IL. In both groups, the author of the paper conducted classes and moderated the DT process. The study will be conducted using the survey method. Survey research will be supplemented by a critical analysis of the literature, comparative analysis, and statistical methods.

The expected outcomes of the research are to show what information skills are needed and preferred in the process of DT and what differences in IL exist among students in information-related fields of study.

References

Fisher, W. P., Oon, E., & Benson, S. (2018). Applying design thinking to systemic problems in educational assessment information management. Journal of Physics: Conf. Series, 1044(1).

Johnston, B., & Webber, S. (2003). Information literacy in higher education: A review and case study. Studies in Higher Education, 28(3), 335–352.

Kimbell, L. (2011). Rethinking Design Thinking: Part I. Design and Culture, 3(3), 285–306.

Kimbell, L. (2012). Rethinking Design Thinking: Part II. Design and Culture, 4(2), 129–148.

Lévy, P. (1997). Collective intelligence: mankind’s emerging world in cyberspace. Cambridge: Perseus Books.

Rak, D. (2022). Design thinking in information management – from the diagnosis of needs to the creation of solutions. In S. Cisek, & M. Wójcik (Eds.), Diagnostyka w zarządzaniu informacją: perspektywa nauk o komunikacji społecznej i mediach w kontekście rozwoju badań interdyscyplinarnych (pp. 83–97). Kraków: Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Biblioteka Jagiellońska.

Soukalová, R. (2017). Design thinking role in process of solving creative projects. In K. S. Soliman (Ed.), Proceedings of the 30th International Business Information Management Association Conference (pp. 5157–5169). Madrid: IBIMA.

According to Zotero Style Repository, one may choose from 10,377 different citation style languages (Zotero Style Repository, 2023). Although only a limited number of citation styles are widely used, especially in individual disciplines, authors may encounter a further expansion of the number of styles because some journals create their own or modified styles. Such a quantity represents a significant barrier for authors. They are not specialists in citation styles to create flawless entries in different citation styles themselves (many have trouble creating perfect references even in one style). Creating the references flawlessly (preferably in a citation style supported by databases and services such as Crossref) is essential to meet the requirements for publication and raise their usability and citation impact. Therefore, authors can use citation managers, so they do not have to manually rewrite references according to the templates, which, moreover, are not offered by every journal. In practice, that creates a set of challenges for authors: (1) to identify the correct citation style for the journal, (2) to try to find the style in their citation management system, (3) to create the references in the system or manually. It follows that a critical factor for referencing is which citation style the journal defines and how it facilitates the named challenges for authors by choosing a widely-used citation style that it describes appropriately.

The research aims to describe how scholarly journals define the required citation styles. We will analyze a sample of journals available in the Scopus database, thereby including only high-quality journals that meet the criteria for inclusion in this database (Content Policy and Selection, 2021). However, Scopus does not impose any requirements on citation styles. Therefore, they depend only on the journal’s policies. We will create the research dataset manually in early 2023. The sample size will be approximately 400 journals. Our task is to identify how widespread individual citation styles are; to which extent journals use the various procedures for defining citation style requirements (e.g., naming, citing examples, referencing the interpretation); and whether there are any errors in the requirements description. Scopus includes both open and closed-access journals, journals in different languages, from different countries, and various scientific fields. In the second part of our analysis, we will compare the journals according to their discipline (scientific domain), openness, and rank in Scopus. We also want to compare the country specifics of Lithuania and the Czech Republic, which are small countries with local languages, and a general international group (the three groups will be of comparable size). The potential influence of these factors will be discussed. Information literacy practitioners and educators can consider the research results in academic writing courses, guidance offered to academics and doctoral students, and in supporting scholarly journals in setting the publishing rules to amplify the impact of articles.

References

Elsevier. (2021). Content policy and selection. Retrieved January 4, 2023 from https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus/how-scopus-works/content/content-policy-and-selection

Zotero. (2023). Zotero style repository. Retrieved January 4, 2023 from https://www.zotero.org/styles