Page 178 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

Wenjie ZHOU, Hui YAN & Shenglong HAN / Exploring information divide based on a theoretical view of information source horizon 177

5 Conclusion

This study explored information divide through an investigation and questionnaire procedure based
on information source horizon, and our findings include:
Firstly, the information rich are not only utilizing the socially designed information space
adequately, but also bringing their subjective dynamics into information practice initiatively.
Therefore, the so-called “the information rich” broadens their constructed information space and
forms wide information source horizon. Finally, they are on the advantaged side of information
divide. In reverse, the information poor have a narrow information source horizon and limited
information source. They tend to perform passive information acquiring actions. Thus, these people
are more likely to fall into the disadvantaged side of information divide.
Secondly, due to the deficiency of organized information sources, those people who are unable
to get access to these types of information sources own a relatively high possibility to fall into
information poor situations.
Thirdly, a complex relationship is built between the broadness of information source horizon
and demographics of the sample as follows: the broadness of information source horizon does not
have gender differences; age span may affect information richness through information source
horizon; educational level affects the broadness of information horizon potentially; there is a
complex relationship between occupation types and the broadness of information source horizon,
for that many social and individual factors are embedded in occupation.
The limitations of our research include: the quantitative data is not extracted from a random
sample, thus, the findings are limited to describing the correlation relationship instead of cause-
and-effect relationship, and as an exploratory research, we did not cover the impacts of different
importance across various information sources within the information sources horizon on
information divide. Many theoretical propositions and logics in the field of constructivism are still
under debate, and therefore this dilemma may affect the validity.

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