Evaluation of Information and Knowledge Retrieval Systems
Saeed Ghaffari; Masoud Bakhtiari
Abstract
IntroductionAlthough in recent years and in the current conditions, knowledge management has become an important and vital issue for the success of organizations, and attention to it has increased by a wide range of activists in this field as well as the librarian community, knowledge management has ...
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IntroductionAlthough in recent years and in the current conditions, knowledge management has become an important and vital issue for the success of organizations, and attention to it has increased by a wide range of activists in this field as well as the librarian community, knowledge management has not yet been systematically and widely implemented and used in libraries, and there is little agreement among some librarians regarding knowledge management (Gandhi, 2004); however, most managers and librarians agree that the use of knowledge management in libraries improves performance and enhances library services. Scientific communities believe that the power of knowledge in organizations can lead to long-term competitive advantages. In other words, successful organizations have realized that knowledge is their most important asset and that some of the basic principles of knowledge management exist in the organization's human resources, so they view knowledge management as one of the vital factors in the success of the organization. In this regard, many factors are closely related to knowledge management, and organizational wisdom is considered an important factor in the organization's performance and enables the best possible realization of knowledge management goals. Effective and efficient use of knowledge leads to the formation of wise organizations, but this requires innovative application of knowledge by organizations. Accordingly, educational organizations should simultaneously train knowledge, skills, efficiency, and utilization of knowledge to strengthen their potential abilities and talents. Therefore, organizational wisdom is the most important ability to realize this (Estifaei, 2014). Organizational wisdom is a concept that refers to the acquisition of knowledge that is achieved through the use of humans, computers, and other tools, and focuses on knowledge that is related to the organization's activity environment (internal and external) (Vazifeh Doost & Ghasemi, 2008).Literature ReviewOne of the most important reasons that has led organizations to show interest in the subject of knowledge management is that knowledge management increases productivity, strengthens collaboration, the emergence and growth of innovation, encourages and innovates, accelerates the flow of knowledge transfer, facilitates information sharing among employees, prevents duplication of work, increases the organization's ability to deal with the phenomenon of information inflation, collects and stores information, and improves the quality of service delivery and organizational performance (Haraj Hassanabadi & Mozaffari, 2017). In fact, knowledge management means creating the necessary processes to identify and absorb the data, information, and knowledge needed by the organization from the environment and transfer it to individuals for the purpose of decision-making and taking appropriate internal and external actions in the organization (Muñoz & Galende, 2017). Given the importance of the role of organizational wisdom and innovation in knowledge management and the relationship between them and the value of knowledge management in libraries, it is important to be aware of the predictive power of organizational wisdom in the knowledge management process, as well as the mediating role of innovation in the relationship between wisdom and organizational wisdom and the knowledge management process of public libraries in Qom province, which is the subject of this study.MethodologyThe present study is a descriptive study in terms of its purpose and was conducted using a correlational method. The variables of the present study are innovation; organizational micro-organization, knowledge management, and its dimensions. Also, gender and education level constitute the demographic variables of the present study. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all specialist and non-specialist librarians who were working full-time in public libraries in Qom province at the time of the study. Based on the statistics obtained, the number of full-time librarians working in public libraries in Qom province was 112. To collect information through a questionnaire, the simple random sampling method of this study was used. The sample size was determined using the Cochran formula as 86 people. After sending and distributing the questionnaires and with the efforts and follow-ups of the researcher, 80 completed questionnaires were collected.ResultsThe findings showed that organizational wisdom was a significant predictor of the knowledge management process among the participants of the study (Hypothesis 1). However, it is possible that other possible factors may intervene, the identification of which could help the growth and progress of organizations, especially public libraries in Qom province. The results showed that innovation was a significant predictor of knowledge management among librarians in public libraries in Qom province (Hypothesis 2). Therefore, considering the importance and role of innovation in knowledge management, it is suggested that in hiring new people in public libraries in Qom province, attracting and selecting creative people with special skills should be considered by those involved in human resource selection for public libraries. The research findings also showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between organizational wisdom and innovation (Hypothesis 3). Therefore, it is recommended that public library managers in Qom province try to correctly and efficiently manage and identify organizational wisdom, which is an unlimited source of intellectual capital, in order to increase the flexibility of libraries in adapting to local and national needs and to provide and promote the necessary conditions for creating knowledge management, organizational learning, and the ability to generate ideas, and innovate. Other results showed that the overall score of organizational wisdom predicts knowledge management and innovation. However, innovation did not play a mediating or interventionist role in the relationship between organizational wisdom and knowledge management (Hypothesis 4).DiscussionLibrary staff or public library librarians, most of whom are graduates of information science and knowledge studies, become familiar with courses such as library management, management information systems, information and communication technologies, information software, and communication theories, etc. during their education, which prepares them to provide better services to users. In addition, the fact that librarians are surrounded by a multitude of information sources and an information environment inevitably makes most of them people who are fond of reading and leads them to share knowledge, provide information services to others, and help people in need of information. They will also know that if they do not keep their clients satisfied, their organization will not be successful. Therefore, they make decisions as a group for the survival and sustainability of their organizations, and provide the resources needed by the patrons, which are all examples of organizational wisdom. In this regard, and considering what has been said, the current results regarding the state of organizational wisdom among librarians in Qom province libraries can be attributed to such factors. The results of the present study are consistent with the results of Rashidi & Karani (2016), Hariri & Taremi(2012), Tahmasebi & Akbari(2010).ConclusionAlthough the present study was able to provide more and more necessary research evidence for the triple role and relationship between knowledge management, organizational wisdom, and innovation, and the predictive role of innovation and organizational wisdom in the knowledge management process, it was unable to provide the necessary research evidence for the interventionist role of innovation in the relationship between organizational wisdom and knowledge management, an issue that should be further addressed in future research.
Azam Mousa Chamani; Saeid Ghaffari; Soraya Ziaei; Afshin Mousavi
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the status of knowledge management in the titles of specialized doctoral courses in the humanities of higher education. The present study is a type of mixed exploratory research project. Hence, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used. ...
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The purpose of this study is to determine the status of knowledge management in the titles of specialized doctoral courses in the humanities of higher education. The present study is a type of mixed exploratory research project. Hence, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used. First, the components of knowledge management were extracted by content analysis method with an inductive approach and based on that, a questionnaire in the form of 9 main components and 44 questions was prepared and provided to the experts. In addition, the checklist was prepared in the form of 442 sub-items. In the content analysis of 2250 specialized courses in 11 humanities disciplines in the doctoral program, 3260 identifiers were extracted. This study showed that knowledge sharing 25.46%, knowledge application 17.48%, knowledge change 12.73%, knowledge creation 11.75%, knowledge identification 9.97%, knowledge organization 7.73%, knowledge development 6.23% knowledge presentation, 4.97%, and knowledge protection obtained 3.68% of the data. In order to prepare graduates as capable future leaders, higher education needs to play a pivotal and effective role in teaching knowledge management to students. Utilizing knowledge management-based curricula facilitates the skills needed to apply and rely on knowledge. Applying standard methods in education and research prepares future managers to present and share knowledge in organizations. Knowledge management promotes a comprehensive approach to identifying, capturing, retrieving, sharing, and evaluating the knowledge capital of organizations.
Saeid Ghaffari; Elham Ghorbannezhad
Abstract
AbstractPurpose: To investigate the status of communication in public libraries to attract children and adolescents in West Azarbaijan province.Method: The method is survey-descriptive and correlational and in terms of the purpose of the applied research part. The statistical population includes 13,000 ...
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AbstractPurpose: To investigate the status of communication in public libraries to attract children and adolescents in West Azarbaijan province.Method: The method is survey-descriptive and correlational and in terms of the purpose of the applied research part. The statistical population includes 13,000 active members of children and adolescents of public libraries of West Azarbaijan province. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. In the sample, based on the rating of libraries, 9 public libraries were selected at the provincial level. Then, by random sampling, 250 questionnaires were distributed among active member and finally 234 The questionnaire was collected. The questionnaire consists of two sections: 1- The questionnaire of 7 factors of library service quality (human resources, technology, space and equipment, collection, planning, communication and programs, services). 2- Child and child user satisfaction questionnaire from library service.Results: Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 software and Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and ANOVA were used. The results indicate that there is a significant correlation between the quality of service status in the public libraries and the satisfaction of the child and adolescent members of these libraries. Also, the results of the research showed that, from the viewpoint of respondents at a relatively moderate level, the connections in these libraries are available to attract them.Originality / Value: The results of this study emphasize the importance of more attention to communication in public libraries.Keywords: Public Libraries, Communication, Satisfaction, Children and Adolescents, West Azarbaijan
Leyla Bani Fatemeh; Saied Ghaffari
Abstract
The aim of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction of users of the Tabriz Central Library of the nature and architecture of the library and discover the strengths and weaknesses of the library's architecture. Method of this research was descriptive and survey type and the tool for collecting data ...
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The aim of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction of users of the Tabriz Central Library of the nature and architecture of the library and discover the strengths and weaknesses of the library's architecture. Method of this research was descriptive and survey type and the tool for collecting data was a questionnaire made by the researcher. The statistical population of this research was 100 student users from Tabriz central library who were sampled randomly. Validity of the questionnaire was discussed and approved with 10 experts based on index CVR and CVI. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient by means of a
Maryam Amini; Saeed Ghaffari
Abstract
To determine the status (number, subject, changes, release period, websites, Scientific-Research) of the journals published in the Tehran University since the establishment until the end of year 2016. The present survey method is descriptive. The population includes approximately 600 academic and student ...
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To determine the status (number, subject, changes, release period, websites, Scientific-Research) of the journals published in the Tehran University since the establishment until the end of year 2016. The present survey method is descriptive. The population includes approximately 600 academic and student magazines published in Tehran University since the establishment (1935) until the end of 1394. Sampling of the census and the entire population are included. Collecting process data and logs were taken using library studies and information gathered in the table include the title, the beginning and the end [of publication, the publication period, subject, attachment, language, website addresses, location and other explanations. Data analysis using SPSS software and descriptive statistics are presented in the form of graphs. 256 academic and 306 student journals were identified at Tehran University. From 185 journals that were published, 48/8 percent are about human sciences and the other half is devoted to other topics. More than 52 percent of the published university journals are scholarly scientific and 8/32 percent of approved research forms the scientific publications. The dominant language is Farsi and the publication half of the magazines are bi-quarterly Journals and the other half are quarterly ones. The oldest university magazine belongs to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, which is now published under the title of Journal of Veterinary Researches. The oldest magazine (without change) has about 30 years from the 50s. 76 percent of active journals, present their information via websites. During 1976-1985 the number of journals decreased because of social circumstances after the Islamic Revolution, imposed war and the years after the war. During the years 1986-2016 the number of published magazines increased greatly thanks to new technologies and ease of online publishing due to the technical development and possibility of using academic institutions facilities and public budget and because of the importance of publishing scientific results for researchers, it is necessary to pay special attention to make websites for all journals.
