Public Libraries
Mahdi Deramnesari; Fahimeh Babalhavaeji; zahra abazari; Nadjla Hariri; fatemeh nooshnfard
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the strategic role of the public libraries in the Iran Geopolitics of Information This is an applied research with a mixed method (qualitative-quantitative) approach. To collect qualitative information, a semi-structured interview has been used. In the quantitative ...
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The main purpose of this study is to analyze the strategic role of the public libraries in the Iran Geopolitics of Information This is an applied research with a mixed method (qualitative-quantitative) approach. To collect qualitative information, a semi-structured interview has been used. In the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire Based on the result of the qualitative part, has been used. The statistical population of the research in the qualitative section includes 13 experts and university professors who were selected by a purposeful method based on criteria and has been analyzed using qualitative content analysis method. The findings of quantitative part has been analyzed using factor analysis. The population of the quantitative part, included the head managers and deputies of the general administrations of the Iran's public libraries (70 people) and the librarians of the provinces that have main and central public libraries from five clusters of north, south, east, west and center of Iran, including 10 provinces & 160 librarians. 201 complete questionnaires were received. Findings shows that, libraries have an implicitly role in strengthening cultural identity and increasing public awareness, especially in terms of strengthening Iranian-Islamic identity, as one of the three main components of geopolitics, but this role is not designed for a specific mission and It is also not clearly explained in upstream documents. Also, based on the findings, the centralized resources acquisition by the Iran Public Libraries Foundation for all public libraries in an integrated manner that there is not any clear role of users need in the selection process is inconsistent with the Free-Flow of Information approach. Other points of emphasis in the findings were: national policymakers should pay attention to the role of public libraries as a public discourse space in transmitting culture and information and a base for strengthening the power of soft defense, training and explaining the specific role for librarians, developing technological infrastructure of libraries, providing resources based on local needs and the audience needs, continuous and purposeful monitoring of activities and increasing the number of service recipients from public libraries.
Scientometrics
Esmaeil khademizadeh; fatemeh nooshnfard; Amir Reza Asnafi
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the thematic structure and production process and growth of articles extracted from master's theses in knowledge and information science of Iranian public universities.
Methodology:The present study has examined articles from the beginning to ...
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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the thematic structure and production process and growth of articles extracted from master's theses in knowledge and information science of Iranian public universities.
Methodology:The present study has examined articles from the beginning to the first half of 1398 through homogeneous analysis. 1425 dissertations were retrieved by searching the dissertation sites. Through the search of researchers, the titles of dissertations in the databases of "Meg Iran", "Normagz", "Science Search Engine", "Humanities Database", "University Jihad Database" and "Google Scholar" were retrieved 623 articles. Excel and Rover Prim software were used to analyze the bibliographic information of the articles and to analyze the homogeneity of the topics of the articles and to unify the keywords. Out of a total of 394 keywords, 59 keywords with a minimum frequency of 5 were selected using the Bradford's law and inclusion threshold to construct the co-occurrence matrix. Then, the created matrix was converted to UCNET software format, and maps and the value of degree, proximity and intermediate degree indicators were drawn and calculated through the software plugin, ie NetDraw
Findings: Findings showed that according to the indicators of intermediate centrality and rank, the highest value belongs to the topics of "academic libraries", "librarians", "knowledge management" and "scientometrics". Also, according to the Centrality of Proximity Index, the topics of "librarians", "academic libraries", "information literacy" and "knowledge management" have the most impact on the network. The growth trend reached its highest level in 1994 and 1995. Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with 100 titles and Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz with 83 titles have the first and second ranks of nuclear universities among the universities that publish articles, respectively.
Conclusion: The greater focus of dissertation papers on scientometrics, knowledge management, librarians, information literacy, and academic libraries indicates the importance of these topics in postgraduate research.
Public Libraries
sedigheh raeisi; Fahimeh Babalhavaeji; fatemeh nooshnfard; zahra abazari
Abstract
Purpose: The growing trend of increasing information in today's world has doubled the need for public libraries to pay more attention to the process of collecting development resources. The annual increase in the price of books and publications, the lack of budget and space has made it impossible for ...
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Purpose: The growing trend of increasing information in today's world has doubled the need for public libraries to pay more attention to the process of collecting development resources. The annual increase in the price of books and publications, the lack of budget and space has made it impossible for any library, even a huge one, to provide all the library materials, so the aim of this study is to provide a model for collecting development resource's public libraries based on Grand theory. Method: The research is an applied type that has been done with a qualitative approach and as a grounded theory method. The study population consisted of the experts and professors in the field of Knowledge & information science. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. To analyze the interviews, Strauss & Corbin's analysis method was used, which included three stages of open source, central and selective coding. During the central coding, the main categories were identified and after selective coding and relationship determination, the model of resource collection in public libraries of the country was presented.Results: The research finding showed that 5 main categories and 15 sub-components were conceptualized as dimensions and components of collection development resource's model in public libraries. The five main categories include causal conditions (structural and managerial factors , culture and ethic factors and financial factors), intervening conditions (information needs of users, librarians and specialists), contextual conditions (space governing the mentality of policymakers, factor of uniformity and halo error of policymakers, cost management) were the strategies for collection development resource's modeling (reflecting the voice of users and justice in resource provision, training, and structural and financial decentralization). The consequences of using the model of collecting development resources in public libraries will lead to the satisfaction of users, official, librarians, increasing the productivity of the public libraries of the country, as well as the popularity and fame of this institution.
Mahboubeh Ghorbani; fahimeh babalhavaeji; Fatemeh Nooshinfard
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate Greening in Iranian central Academic libraries from perspective of their managers. The study is an applied research and was performed by an evaluative survey method. For data collection, a researcher-made questionnaire was utilized containing six sections relevant ...
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The present study aims to investigate Greening in Iranian central Academic libraries from perspective of their managers. The study is an applied research and was performed by an evaluative survey method. For data collection, a researcher-made questionnaire was utilized containing six sections relevant to Environmental management. The research population was comprised of the managers of Iranian Academic libraries affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, Iran’s Islamic Azad University and a total of 186 libraries were included . The Green Library measures included the construction and equipment, management and planning, librarians’ motivation and commitment, acquisition and protection, information organization and dissemination, and participation and support national and international programs were in an intermediate state, and there was not any differences between the three groups of central academic libraries in terms of observance of these measures. Iranian Academic libraries can be due to the fact that in Iranian academic system, Environmental management has not yet been turned into the university managers’ concerns, and no significant difference has been observed in this situation.
Public Libraries
Mehrdad Bavarsad-Omidiyan; fatemeh nooshnfard; Mohammad Reza Farhadpoor
Abstract
AbstractBackground and Objectives: The process of teaching and research in universities is dynamic, complex and requires extensive change and transformation. As a result of advances in information and communication technology, the world of academia also entered the age of the information society. Its ...
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AbstractBackground and Objectives: The process of teaching and research in universities is dynamic, complex and requires extensive change and transformation. As a result of advances in information and communication technology, the world of academia also entered the age of the information society. Its manifestation is the use of academic management information systems, test and evaluation information systems, online education systems, student information systems, faculty member information systems, etc. in universities. The main idea behind the use of all these systems is to collect relevant data, represent it and illustrate it based on the needs of different academic users. The management information system with the aim of providing the required information, helps managers in issues such as planning, control and decision making and provides the necessary support to make strategic and optimal decisions for managers of the educational system. Provides. This paper has studied interoperability factors of information system among Iranian universities. The lack of interoperability among Iranian universities has verified the importance of this article.Methodology: This paper is an exploratory qualitative study which base on its objectives classifies under applied researches. Several key factors of interoperability have been extracted precisely, and results have been analyzed by experts along using Delphi technique (Zeinali et al. 2017 & Namli et al, 2009). The population of this study has concluded all information system experts and managers at different branches of Islamic Azad University (IAU) which had qualified to interview with their corresponding experiences. The sample population has been made of both faculty members and manger level participants that participate in Delphi roundsFindings: Increasing the volume of data has been one of the major concerns of organizations. They are trying to facilitate its by using information management mechanism. Lack of a comprehensive and systematic approach over time leads to the implementation of a variety of information systems in an organization with different data structures and programming that complicate their usage. Over the years, the issue of information systems interoperability under these conditions has been considered.Results have proven that the key factors of technical interoperability in information system of IAU are:· Ability to interact with information systems and Data exchangeability· Link-ability to decision support system (DSS)· Standard format of saved Data· Centralized security· Centralized Data monitoring· Integrated processing and Synchronization· Easy communication with other systems· Ability to use virtually, online and distance education· And so on.Similarly, this study had claimed the below listed items as the critical organizational interoperability factors of information system in Iranian university case study:· Its mechanism regarding information delivery and updating · Flexibility and ability to Change and update· Dynamic and flexible setting· Changeable task manager· Efficiency measurement and feedback· Expandable architecture· Ability to develop regarding new demands· Service-oriented architectureAnd finally, the most significant semantic interoperability factors of information system in Iranian university case study had highlighted as below:· Ability to code the learning symbols and identifiers · Ability to communicating with independent clients not considering languages. · Using standard coding and identifiers· XML interpreter service· Map service· Preparing a standard format of texting between clients· Content Based Routing· Being user friendly considering user’s knowledge and vocabulary Discussion: At the end, this paper significantly had determined that the architecture of university information system should guaranty the integration of information process while eases the flowing data between the departments or clients smoothly. In the other word, establishing an interoperable information system which covers all technical, Organizational and Semantic aspects and share demanded information with clients on time is the most crucial characteristic of modern organizations. Furthermore, lack of these aspects (technical, Organizational and Semantic) obstructs systems achieving efficiency, development and interoperability, and it may affect their decisions at current competitive market. On the other hand, improving these factors significantly simplifies the communication between clients and increases the effectiveness, efficiency, and customer satisfaction as well.
shahram abdiazar; Nadjla Hariri; fatemeh nooshnfard
Abstract
AbstractBackground and Objectives: The major aim of current research was "to identify the correlation between the state of the philosophic mindedness and the accuracy of their retrieval in selected information databases include Scopus, ProQuest, Science Direct, and Sege and Web of Knowledge Databases. ...
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AbstractBackground and Objectives: The major aim of current research was "to identify the correlation between the state of the philosophic mindedness and the accuracy of their retrieval in selected information databases include Scopus, ProQuest, Science Direct, and Sege and Web of Knowledge Databases. Present research also seeks to answer the following questions:1. What is the average philosophic mindedness of the researchers?2. What is the average of users' retrieval accuracy from the databases under investigation?3. Which of the demographic features of the statistical society has a crucial linkage with the psychological mindedness?4. Which of the demographic features of the statistical society has a crucial linkage with the users’ retrieval accuracy from the databases under investigation?Ultimately, the research hypothesis that "there is a significant correlation between the philosophic subjectivity of the statistical society and their recovery accuracy" will be examined.Methodology: The research method utilized here was semi-experimental. Participants of present survey were 42 researchers in different fields of science (humanities, medical sciences, engineering sciences, arts and basic sciences) in public universities in Tehran, who were chosen on the basis of targeted sampling of the research. In this study, it was endeavored to select factors such as lack of familiarity with search strategies, lack of knowledge of English, and the lack of knowledge of the English language by selecting students to write master's degree dissertation or doctoral theses and autonomous researchers with a master's degree or doctorate in order control the factors so that they will not affect the research outcomes. The Soltani’s philosophic Concept (1996) was utilized to measure the status of the philosophic mindedness of the statistical society. Different studies have been carried out on its validity and reliability. Cronbach's alpha was reported to be 0.91. To elaborate upon the outcomes received from the research data, the mean and standard deviations were deployed for data analysis and Chi-square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA, T-test and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the relationship between variables. Findings: The analysis of the characteristics of the philosophic mindedness of the statistical society is indicative that the category of "good and pleasant philosophic mindedness" is most frequent with 21 people, as well as the category of "philosophic mindedness" with three (7.1%) was the least frequent among the participants. In other words, the users enjoyed the "philosophic mindedness". According to the statistical analysis, Scopus's database has retrieved the most r and semi-relevant resources and the Science Direct database has retrieved the least pertinent, semi-related resources. Thus, the Scopus, Sage, ProQuest, Web of knowledge and Science Directories databases have the highest accuracy or precision in data retrieval from the researchers’ point of view. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, the relationship between the philosophic mindedness and the demographic features of the statistical society, there is a significant relationship between the philosophic mindedness of the users and their gender. The analysis also indicated that there is a strong relationship between the accuracy of the retrieval of the statistical sample of the outcomes retrieved in the scientific research databases and their marital status. Moreover, between the accuracy of the retrieval of the statistical sample of the outcomes in all studied bases and their last degree of education is significant, and with increased education, researchers retrieve and find more relevant sources from the databases. The analysis reveals that there is a positive and significant correlation with the reliability of 99% and the level of error less than 0.01 between the variables of the philosophic mindedness of users and the accuracy of their recovery of the results retrieved from the scientific databases. Besides, the intensity of the relationship of all bases with the philosophic mindedness at the strongest level is almost the same which signifies that by raising the philosophic subjectivity of the statistical sample, they will assess the resources with a higher concentration and decision-making power which ultimately will lead to a better retrieval accuracy in the selection of related resources.Discussion: The results received from current study resembles to the outcomes of the study on the impact of the philosophic mindedness of people on facilitating decision-making. Researches have reported that individuals with a high philosophic mindedness have the right decision-making power and have a high ability to handle and run all affairs. The previous findings also signify that people with a high philosophic mindedness make good decisions to promote their performance. Related judgments in data retrieval from search engines are a kind of decision-making process in the research process that has a direct impact on the philosophic mindedness of users so people with a high philosophic mindedness have better recovery. Based on the results, there is a positive and significant relationship between the accuracy of data retrieval from scientific databases and marital status. These outcomes are in line with the findings of the research. In previous studies, there are also individual, psychological, emotional, and demographic factors of the statistical sample such as gender, age, marital status, education, and occupation of the statistical sample had a positive and significant relationship with the accuracy of data retrieval from the databases.
Scientometrics
Firoozeh Dokhani; Amir reza Asnafi; nadjla hariri; fatemeh nooshnfard
Abstract
Background and Objectives: This study has aimed to investigate the level of familiarity of librarians and users of the Central Library of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch of Tehran with Web 2.0 services, especially mobile instant messaging applications. Another goal of this study ...
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Background and Objectives: This study has aimed to investigate the level of familiarity of librarians and users of the Central Library of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch of Tehran with Web 2.0 services, especially mobile instant messaging applications. Another goal of this study was to provide practical solutions for using applications in order to provide library services. Methodology: This study was an applied research and was conducted with a survey-based approach. The population consisted of librarians and users of the Central Library of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch in Tehran. A digital questionnaire was prepared for data collection, and data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Findings: The findings indicated that librarians and library users were more familiar with Web 2.0 applications than with Librarian 2.0 and Library 2.0. The frequency of librarians’ and users' responsiveness to the use of mobile instant applications was quite high, 0.35 and 0 .40, respectively. In both groups, the use of mobile messaging applications was moderate. Library users also agreed on providing a variety of virtual social media services in the library. Discussion: The analyses of this study on services offered by libraries using mobile instant messaging applications would make libraries adopt new technologies and move towards changes in the new era.
asgar akbari; fatemeh nooshnfard; nadjla hriri
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Knowledge management is a planned and structured view of creating, sharing and storing knowledge as an organizational asset that is designed to enhance the ability, speed and effectiveness of an organization to deliver products or services to customers in line with business ...
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Background and Objectives: Knowledge management is a planned and structured view of creating, sharing and storing knowledge as an organizational asset that is designed to enhance the ability, speed and effectiveness of an organization to deliver products or services to customers in line with business strategy. But the barriers to knowledge flow usually create barriers that lead to temporary constraints, lack of motivation, lack of awareness, and lack of coordination among departments, which in turn impose a heavy cost on the organization, so the main purpose of this study was to rank university libraries. Based on the maturity model of knowledge management to utilize the services of libraries in knowledge management.
Methodology: The present study is a qualitative and quantitative combination. The statistical population consisted of 18 experts in the qualitative section and 184 in the central libraries of the university in the first phase and 35 faculty members in the second group of information science in the first stage. . Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire.
Findings: In evaluating the importance of Friedman test for knowledge flow dimensions with other dimensions of knowledge flow, mean rating of management factors was 5.72, knowledge source dimension 5.17, organizational factors 4.67, time factors 4.37, communication channel factors 4.22, individual factors 4.21, technical factors 3.92 and knowledge features dimension 3.72 which have the lowest rank and least importance among the different dimensions of knowledge flow. In this test, chi-square statistic value was calculated 97.55 and significance level was 0.000. Since the level of significance is smaller than the alpha value (P <0.05), the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the dimensions of knowledge rejection flow and its opposite assumption is confirmed. This means that there is a statistically significant difference between the dimensions of knowledge flow. Also, ranking libraries with maturity levels of knowledge management showed that at developmental level, at the level of individual and managerial factors, at the level of standardization, at the level of knowledge features and communication channels, at the optimization level, at the knowledge source dimension, and at the innovation level, at the organizational factors dimension. Time factors have obstacles. For the knowledge features and communication channels, the standardization stage is more tangible than the stages of knowledge flow. For the source of knowledge, organizational and technical factors are the most hindrances in the fourth level of optimization. For managerial and individual factors, the second level, development, is more tangible for this obstacle. For time factors, innovation is recognized as the most important obstacle. Overall, the results show that innovation is the most tangible step in the whole process.
Discussion: Academic libraries as organizations, based on the steps of the knowledge management cycle, which include knowledge creation, knowledge gathering, knowledge sharing, knowledge access and use of knowledge, have an important role to play in knowledge management. The current status of the library compared to the maturity levels of KM showed that barriers to knowledge flow factors other than start level, development level, standardization level, optimization level and level of innovation have barriers. These barriers at the level of innovation, the level of exploitation, are the output of knowledge management and the ability to manage and lead an organization. If libraries are effectively managed to overcome the barriers at this level, their output will be desirable. Ineffective management and leadership have the most unsuccessful role in managing libraries. It should be kept in mind that organization leadership is a key pillar of knowledge management, so it should be clear to managers how and where to manage knowledge, because if the management of the organization does not seriously support knowledge management in any way, any ineffective effort will be made. Will be. Of course, not all the barriers to knowledge flow factors can be removed at once, or an implementation plan can be designed for all of them, as there are certainly barriers to organizational life and various factors. So, to get rid of them, you need all the attention. Therefore, although the emphasis on the role of managerial factors is more than other factors, the role of other factors such as organizational factors, human factors, technical factors, temporal factors, communication channel factors should not be overlooked. The present study identifies the bottlenecks and levels of barriers at each level of knowledge management levels in academic libraries. Specifies the factors and indicators needed for each step for the next step. This is a great help for managers to use it to remove the barriers to knowledge management.
