Journal article
Everyday life information seeking in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic: daily topics of information needs in social Q&A
Online information review
18 Jul 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Purpose - This study investigated information needs on COVID-19 by identifying topics discussed on social questions and answers (Q&A) about daily routines, problems, and health issues for survival. A layered model of contexts for everyday life information seeking (ELIS) was adapted for interpreting topics to better understand the contexts in which users could relate information needs.
Design/methodology/approach - Questions and answers posted on Naver Knowledge-iN were collected and analyzed during the first nine months following the outbreak. Time distribution, topic modeling, and association rule mining were applied to examine the topics on COVID-19 and their temporal variation.
Findings - Numerous topics related to the cognitive context (symptoms and masks) and situational contexts (international affairs, financial support, study, and work) were discovered. Topics related to social context were discussed moderately, but the number of questions on this topic increased with time. Strong associations were observed between terms related to symptoms, indicating their importance as a COVID-19 topic in health.
Originality/value - This study investigated topics of information needs using social Q&A data in which not only information inquiry but also information sharing coexist. The findings can help bridge the theory of ELIS to topic modeling in practice. The insights gained from this study can be used by information service providers for developing guidance and programs about how to survive during a pandemic.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Everyday life information seeking in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic: daily topics of information needs in social Q&A
- Creators
- Heejun Kim - Univ North Texas, Dept Informat Sci, Denton, TX 76203 USASanghee Oh - Sungkyunkwan Univ, Dept Lib & Informat Sci, Seoul, South Korea
- Publication Details
- Online information review
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing
- Number of pages
- 17
- Grant note
- NRF-2020S1A5A8043500 / National Research Foundation of Korea Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education (MOE), Republic of Korea
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Information Science
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000824776800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85134034309
- Other Identifier
- 991019189061304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Computer Science, Information Systems
- Information Science & Library Science