Local versus Global Information Relevance in Website Use: A Case Study with the Information Literacy Portal AlfinEEES

Abstract

Introduction: A model to explore the relations among local and global relevance-based information behaviour is proposed that is based on objective and subjective measures of the relevance of the Website contents. Method: Global interest for the Website was researched using data on visits, while local use was explored with two surveys on the motivations and self-assessed knowledge of a group of fifteen students, administered to them before and after being exposed to the information site. Results: Results suggest that improvement in competence perception and the number of visits are, in general, measures of the site relevance that offer similar results. Regarding general data, the most visited competences are those of a more general interest (such as learning to learn), and the students show a big pre-test confidence in their knowledge of most of the studied competences. Conclusions: The increase in the subjective level of competence in an e-learning site is a good predictor of the whole success of a site, when working with their primary intended audience. In the future, to have independent measures, it would be interesting to carry out expert evaluation of the real competences of the students.