“Sentences like these:” Multicultural information dynamics and international diversity of thought |
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| Authors: | Paul L Jun |
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| Institution: | aUniversity Libraries, Virginia Tech, P.O. Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24060-29001, USA;bDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, American University, Gray Hall 201, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20016, USA |
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| Abstract: | Multicultural information dynamics is exploratory cross-cultural research of the information-seeking behavior of a group of eighty-four Egyptian and American reference librarians asked to choose from websites in different languages. This paper, the fourth in a series, focuses on national, monolingual, and multilingual subgroups, and provides multi-tiered analyzes of websites clicked, reasons given for clicking, preferences for machine translations vs. original foreign language websites, decision making when choosing non-native language hits, and foreign language anxiety. Findings of the research show that information seekers of both nationalities are reluctant to cross cultural lines at the basic level of retrieved Internet information hits. Further results delineate differences and similarities in motivations, circumstantial preferences for original languages or machine translations, and comparative information-seeking behavior of subgroups. The research has implications for improving search performance in the fields of global knowledge dissemination via website and search engine design, library science, and international scholarship. |
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