Information and Knowledge Management
Rahim Shahbazi; Fatemeh Beheshtdost
Abstract
1. IntroductionThe success and profitability of organizations depend on the presence of competent and capable people. For this reason, organizations try to identify the factors that affect the strengthening of human resources and make the necessary planning. In this regard, “knowledge sharing” ...
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1. IntroductionThe success and profitability of organizations depend on the presence of competent and capable people. For this reason, organizations try to identify the factors that affect the strengthening of human resources and make the necessary planning. In this regard, “knowledge sharing” is mentioned as one of the effective factors for strengthening human resources. Lin (2007) believes that knowledge sharing leads to the formation of new ideas and strengthening human resources in a knowledge-based economy. Accordingly, organizations and companies that are constantly involved in providing quality goods and services also try to pay attention to the basic components of strengthening the culture of knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing refers to the process through which knowledge is shared among the employees of an organization. During knowledge sharing, competent employees try to share experience-based knowledge with stakeholders (including colleagues, managers or customers) so that they can also perform better. Of course, persuasion and attention to the factors (material and spiritual) that affect knowledge sharing have always been one of the main challenges of human resource management in organizations. In knowledge sharing, individuals must provide others with the knowledge that is the result of their years of effort and experience, while this knowledge may be one of the key factors of their individual advantage in the organization. Therefore, it is natural that they must have strong incentives or motivations to do this. The level of participation of individuals in various knowledge sharing processes in the organization can be affected by their perception of the potential benefits that they may gain as a result. Studying and identifying factors that facilitate knowledge sharing behavior (including emotional intelligence) among employees has long been of interest. Of course, based on the results of numerous studies, the relationship between emotional intelligence and other variables (including media literacy, communication skills, psychological climate, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, emotional organizational commitment, subjective well-being, and employee attitudes) has also been confirmed. Emotional intelligence, which is the ability to control and effectively use defined emotions, contributes to performing rational behaviors and effective communication with others (Taboli, 2013). In other words, the higher the emotional intelligence of individuals, the more rational their behavior will be. Emotional intelligence is related to the ability to communicate with others and social media literacy. People with higher emotional intelligence will avoid emotional and irrational behaviors in different environments. Having communication skills will lead to rational behaviors with others. Communication skills can be defined as the ability to effectively send and receive information, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Social media literacy also refers to the correct and intelligent use of social media (such as Instagram and Telegram). Social media literacy enables individuals to move beyond being illiterate listeners and consumers of information (true or false) and to act proactively. Due to the Internet and the expansion of the use of virtual networks, the general public is exposed to a wealth of information. This has led to a greater need for intelligent individuals to behave logically and intelligently in virtual environments. It seems that the variables of emotional intelligence and communication skills have additional importance among librarians, because they can act as essential and influential elements in attracting and retaining patrons to public libraries. Today, public libraries - whose philosophy of existence is to serve the community, due to having patrons from different classes, tastes and cultures, must have literate, intelligent and communication-skilled individuals in their service. A deficiency or gap in these areas and a decrease in patron satisfaction can further damage the acceptability of libraries and pose a more serious challenge to their existential philosophy, especially in the present era. The present study was conducted in the public library environment of East Azarbaijan Province, a province with linguistic and cultural diversity, and attempts to study the relationship between emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing with the mediating role of social media literacy and communication skills among librarians.Research hypothesesThere is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and "social media literacy".There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and librarians' communication skills.There is a significant relationship between social media literacy and librarians' knowledge sharing.There is a significant relationship between librarians' communication skills and knowledge sharing.There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and librarians' knowledge sharing.There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing mediated by librarians' "social media literacy".There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing mediated by communication skills.2. Literature ReviewLiterature review goes here. Direct citations of 40 words and more must be separated into a block quote, without quotation marks:3. MethodologyThis research is based on the nature and general characteristics, quantitative, and based on the research and data collection method, it is a description of the correlation type based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research was the librarians of the public libraries of East Azarbaijan province in 1401 (n=401). Four standard questionnaires, including the Schutte emotional intelligence questionnaire (1998), Zadboud et al., communication skills questionnaire (2022), Mojaradi social media literacy questionnaire (2014), and Ajzan knowledge sharing questionnaire (2006) were used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined by the Cronbach alpha coefficient, which was equal to 0.89, 0.86, 0.81, and 0.79, respectively. Using SPSS and Amos software, data analysis was performed at both descriptive and inferential levels.4. ResultsBased on the findings, there is a positive and significant correlation between emotional intelligence, communication skills, and social media literacy with knowledge sharing, at 0.688, 0.701, and 0.544, respectively. Findings showed the fit of the conceptual model presented regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence, communication skills, social media literacy, and knowledge sharing among librarians (RMSEA=0.78, CFI=0.94, GFI=0.98). Also, it is recommended that in the educational system of Iran and by the Iran Public Libraries Foundation, necessary planning should be done to strengthen the mentioned variables, especially emotional intelligence.5. DiscussionIn knowledge sharing, individuals must provide others with the hidden knowledge that is the result of their years of hard work and experience. While this knowledge may be one of their superior advantages in the organization. For this reason, the willingness of individuals to share knowledge without expecting a corresponding reward from others may not seem very logical. The findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence and librarians' knowledge sharing. It seems that people with high emotional intelligence think that if they share their useful experiences with others, they will be encouraged (verbally or financially) by their colleagues or managers more; for this reason, they share knowledge with this assumption, so the existence of a relationship between these two variables also seems to be somewhat reasonable.6. ConclusionAccording to the findings of the present study, it can be claimed that the emotional intelligence variable has the ability to influence the communication skills, social media literacy, and knowledge sharing of librarians. Accordingly, it is likely that weakness in communication skills and social media literacy can also have a negative impact on the indirect effect of emotional intelligence on knowledge sharing behavior.
Aziz Hedayati Khoshemehr; maryam samadi; Rahim Shahbazi; Abolfazl Ghasemzadeh
Abstract
1. IntroductionLibrarians in public libraries who possess low levels of information literacy may inadvertently provide incomplete or inaccurate information to users, resulting in errors and wasted time—consequences that can lead to broader organizational challenges. Investigating the relationship ...
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1. IntroductionLibrarians in public libraries who possess low levels of information literacy may inadvertently provide incomplete or inaccurate information to users, resulting in errors and wasted time—consequences that can lead to broader organizational challenges. Investigating the relationship between information literacy and factors such as professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital enables the identification of existing deficiencies and facilitates long-term strategic planning to address them. Despite the significance of these interconnected variables, previous studies have not examined them collectively, nor have they assessed the specific role of public libraries within this context. Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics in public libraries remains lacking.The present study seeks to evaluate the extent to which librarians in the selected public libraries demonstrate information literacy and engage with professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital. The overarching aim is to explore the occupational implications of information literacy for librarians working in public libraries and to examine its influence on the aforementioned dimensions.Research Question(s)What is the relationship between information literacy and professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital in public libraries of East Azerbaijan Province?2. Literature ReviewMoradi and Bahraminia (2019), in their study titled "The Impact of Librarians' Information Literacy on the Organizational Growth of Public Libraries", found that information literacy —specifically the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively—was present at a relatively acceptable level among librarians in Kermanshah’s public libraries.Hossein Tabar and Berimani (2019), in "The Relationship between Information Literacy and Social Capital with Students' Academic Satisfaction", reported a significant positive correlation between students' information literacy and social capital and their academic satisfaction. Moreover, each dimension contributed differently to predicting satisfaction outcomes.Gharibzadeh, Moeinikia, and Maqbal Sarband (2019), in their research titled "Investigating the Influence of Teachers' Ethical Decision-Making on Managers' Professional Ethics Based on the Mediating Role of Information Literacy", concluded that there is a direct, positive, and statistically significant association between teachers' information literacy and their professional ethical standards in Urmia District 2.Wojciechowska (2020), in the international study "Social Capital, Trust, and Social Activity among Librarians: Results from 20 Countries", reported that while librarians demonstrated moderate levels of individual social capital, their trust in others was relatively high.Kshirsagar (2018), in "Study of Professional Ethics of Librarians of Faculties Affiliated to Saint George Baba University of Amravati", found that over 95% of librarians were aware of ethical norms and practices in librarianship.Hemmati (2017), in "The Relationship between Information Literacy and Knowledge Management among Students and Faculty Members of Shiraz University", demonstrated a significant link between information literacy and the four core components of knowledge management: creation, storage, sharing, and application.A review of existing databases and monographs reveals that the combined exploration of all four variables—information literacy, professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital—has not been previously conducted. Most prior studies have examined these dimensions in isolation or in pairs.3. MethodologyThis study employs a descriptive-correlational design, with data collection structured around structural equation modeling (SEM). In the proposed analytical framework, information literacy serves as the exogenous variable, while professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital function as endogenous variables.The statistical population comprises all librarians employed in public libraries across East Azerbaijan Province—370 individuals as of 2018. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing 67 items rated on a five-point Likert scale (ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). A simple random sampling technique was used to select a representative sample of 250 participants, determined based on Morgan’s sample size table. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.4. ResultsThe structural model analysis revealed a chi-square value of 13.548, indicating the linearity of relationships among the latent constructs. This value, obtained at a significance level of p < 0.01, suggests that the empirical data align well with the hypothesized model.According to model fit indices, the degrees of freedom (DF) are 2.20, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) is 0.90, the Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) is 0.87, the Incremental Fit Index (IFI) is 0.90, the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) is 0.89, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) is 0.08. Collectively, these metrics indicate a satisfactory level of model fitness.Analysis of the structural paths shows that information literacy has its strongest effect on social capital, with a standardized path coefficient of β = 0.56 and t = 6.40. The next strongest relationship is between information literacy and knowledge sharing (β = 0.67, t = 6.07).Furthermore:- The relationship between employees’ information literacy and professional ethics is statistically significant, with β = 0.54 and t = 5.75 (p < 0.01).- The relationship between information literacy and knowledge sharing is confirmed with β = 0.67 and t = 6.07 (p < 0.01).- The impact of information literacy on social capital is affirmed with β = 0.56 and t = 6.40 (p < 0.01).These findings demonstrate that higher levels of information literacy among librarians correlate positively with their professional ethics, knowledge-sharing behavior, and social capital.5. ConclusionImproving information literacy levels among librarians significantly enhances their professional ethics, knowledge sharing, and social capital within public libraries. As such, library administrators should prioritize the development of information literacy competencies to foster ethical behavior, collaborative culture, and social cohesion among staff.Information-literate librarians possess the intellectual framework necessary to locate, evaluate, and utilize information effectively. They play a critical role in the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge. Moreover, they exhibit strong moral responsibility and professional integrity, fostering mutual trust, active social interaction, and a shared sense of collective identity within their institutions
