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Purpose/Thesis: The article contains theoretical and conceptual reflection and analysis of how emotions and other affective phenomena are defined and understood in contemporary research on human information behavior. The article draws attention to the interdisciplinary nature of research into affective information activities. Approach/Methods: The reported research employs a qualitative approach, relying on critical literature review, and conceptual and thematic analysis. The analyzed material came from select publications from 2014–2020. Results and Conclusions: Information science studies the role of emotions in information behavior. However, the application of the affective paradigm remains very limited. The affective understanding of information activities should be constantly expanded on an interdisciplinary basis with reference to theories and methods of other disciplines, such as psychology. Originality/Value: The article studies the development of the theoretical affective phenomenon pa­radigm and presents the most important approaches psychology takes to emotions. By analyzing the latest trends in the study of affective information behaviors, the study joins the collaborative effort to develop an agenda providing a theoretical and practical basis for the development of interdisciplinary research within the affective paradigm.

PurposeIn this paper we propose an evaluation framework for analyzing learning objects usage, with the aim of extracting useful information for improving the quality of the metadata used to describe the learning objects, but also for personalization purposes, including user models and adaptive itineraries. MethodologyWe present experimental results from the log usage analysis during one academic semester of two different subjects, 350 students. The experiment looks into raw server log data generated from the interactions of the students with the classroom learning objects, in order to find relevant information that can be used to improve the metadata used for describing both the learning objects and the learning process. FindingsPreliminary studies have been carried out in order to obtain an initial picture of the interactions between learners and the virtual campus, including both services and resources usage. These studies try to establish relationships between user profiles and their information and navigational behavior in the virtual campus, with the aim of promoting personalization and improving the understanding of what learning in virtual environments means. Research limitationsDuring the formal learning process, students use learning resources from the virtual classroom provided by the academic library, but they also search for information outside the virtual campus. Not all of these usage data are considered in the model we propose. Further research needs to be done in order to get a complete view of the information search behavior of students for improving the users' profile and creating better personalized services. Practical implicationsIn this paper we suggest how a selection of fields used in the LOM standard could be used for enriching the description of learning objects, automatically in some cases, from the learning objects usage performed by an academic community. OriginalityEver since the beginnings of libraries, they have been a "quiet storage place". With the development of digital libraries, they become a meeting place where explicit and implicit recommendations about information sources can be shared among users. Social and learning process interactions, therefore, can be considered another knowledge source.

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Purpose/Thesis: The paper contains a methodological reflection on qualitative analysis of visual empirical data as a research procedure in the contemporary human information behavior research. The possibility of implementing this approach has been tested on a case study of personalized information spaces in everyday life of undergraduate information management students in the academic year 2018/2019.Approach/Methods: The reported research employs the realist epistemological stance, qualitative and descriptive approaches, and four methods/techniques: critical literature review, case study, drawing as a mental mapping tool, and thematic analysis. Results and conclusions: Visual data analysis is cognitively fruitful; it enables grasping the multidimensional “information reality” as perceived by the users (the humanistic coefficient). However, it is time-consuming, it requires meticulousness and self-reflection on the part of the researcher; it must also leave a clear audit trail to assure credibility and intersubjective verifiability of investigations.Originality/Value: The article is concerned with innovative research procedures, rarely discussed in Polish information science literature. Combining visual approach with individual information spaces, it corresponds to the latest methodological and topical trends in the field of information behavior. It also links theoretical reflection with the research practice.

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