A user-centred collaborative framework for integrated information services in China

The paper aims to propose a user-centred collaborative framework for providing integrated information services (IIS) to corporate users in China. The framework is conceptualized based on a literature review of IIS models and a case study. The authors provide suggestions with regard to the implementation of effective and efficient information services for corporate users based on the proposed framework.

This paper reviews the efforts of investigating appropriate models for integrated information services (IIS) and proposes a user-centred collaborative framework for providing IIS for corporate users. It is organized as follows: first is an overview through a review of the related literature of the current status of information resource services in China. Then, a case study of IIS in Hubei Province is analysed. Next, a user-centred collaborative IIS framework is presented that aims to address the needs of corporate users. The paper concludes with a summary and suggestions for future study to build effective and efficient IIS systems.

Through an exploratory survey conducted in 2009, it was discovered that, in general, corporate users need all kinds of information, not only scientific publications but also business and market information. Their channel to obtain needed information was mainly the Internet. Books and domain-specific databases were also used by most of the participants. The major challenges for corporate users to obtain needed information included the high cost of purchasing or leasing desired information resources, the low quality of information on the Internet, limited information workers or their skills and the quality of high-level information services.

The survey served as a tool to gather primitive information on user needs. It was an incomplete, unsystematic exploration. However, the authors could still gain some insights on the users’ information needs and directions for future IIS. The results showed that Hubei Science and Technology Information Sharing Service, which was an implementation of the agency collaboration-based IIS model, satisfied the needs of less than 30 per cent of the participants. It has much room for improvement.

This paper proposes a user-centred collaborative integrated information services (UCIIS) framework. The UCIIS framework takes the idea of the user-centred integrated information service (IIS) model that the construction of IIS should start from understanding the users of the services, but it also takes important characteristics from the agency collaboration-based IIS model.

The discussion in this paper is basically on the macro level, leaving a lot of interesting future work to design, develop and evaluate IIS systems based on the proposed framework. Specifically, interest is in developing user models through systematic and comprehensive investigation of corporate information users’ needs, and examining current library and information science curricula to produce qualified information professionals who can carry out user experience studies, and high-level knowledge discovery tasks using various advanced computational technologies.