Knowledge Retrieval and Semantic Systems

Abstract The current research was conducted with the aim of explaining the information-seeking behavior of Allameh Tabataba'i University faculty members based on Belkin Episode Model for use in selective dissemination of information services. In terms of its nature and purpose, it was of an applied type and was done with a survey-analytical method. The studied population consisted of 562 faculty members of Allameh Tabataba'i University, and the research sample consisted of 226 people who were selected by stratified random method. The tool used for data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by three subject experts, and the reliability of the questionnaire was estimated to be 0.90 by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. The findings of the research showed that the information-seeking behavior of faculty members is at an "average level" and is far from the desired level. As a result, it seems that the design of the databases, the suggested keywords and key phrases of databases, and the capabilities and facilities of the database search system for users for the purpose of conceptual searches should be designed more user-oriented to solve the information needs and improve the information-seeking behavior of faculty members. to help In addition, the faculty members' use of subject thesauruses in order to use specialized terms in order to retrieve information sources that match their information needs can also be a way forward.

Abstract Introduction

Scientific outputs that report on the findings of scientific research play a crucial role in enhancing knowledge, advancing science, and promoting research within academic communities. Therefore, the aim of this research project was to analyze the scientific outputs of Allameh Tabataba'i University and to represent them in the form of scientific maps.
 
Research Question(s)

What is the status of the university's scientific output in international citation indexes and the scientific maps of co-authorship networks, co-occurrence of terms, inter-terms, and their frequent terms?
What is the status of the publication of books by researchers and faculty members of the university, and how is the scientific map of their co-occurrence of terms drawn?
What is the status of the theses/dissertations of Allameh Tabataba'i University in terms of publication and subject area, and how is the scientific map of their frequent terms drawn?
What is the status of the publication of articles by Allameh Tabataba'i University in internal and external systems that do not have citation indexes (not indexed), and how is their scientific map drawn?
What is the status of research projects at Allameh Tabataba'i University and how is their scientific map drawn?
Literature Review

Previous studies in the field of scientific mapping were categorized into two groups. The first group contains research that has focused on mapping scientific fields across various disciplines. Notable studies include those by Meskarpour Amiri et al. (2022); Varnaseri et al. (2022); Mohammadzadeh & Baghernejad (2023); Alipour Hafezi and Matlabi (2022); Yao et al. (2014); and Masoumi and Khajavi (2023). In the second group, studies are included that address scientific mapping in different universities. Research by Mohammadian, Esmaeili Givi, and Nahghineh (2016); VahdatZad et al. (2017); Galyani-Moghaddam and Taheri (2018); Ghasemian, Asnafi, & Erfanmanesh (2021); Soltani et al. (2022); Goftari (2024); Sandler and Gladyrev (2020); Chen and Zhang (2023) fall into this category. An examination of the research conducted has shown that in recent years, there has been an increasing interest in evaluating the scientific outputs of universities as a way to assess their performance and research impact. One of the most common criteria used for evaluating scientific outputs is the number of publications produced by a university. Additionally, studies have indicated that apart from the number of publications, other metrics such as the number of citations, journal impact factors, and H-index scores are often used to assess the scientific outputs of universities. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been significant interest in developing alternative metrics or altmetrics to evaluate scientific outputs.

Methodology

This paper was conducted using scientometrics research methods. The aim of this research was to analyze the status of the scientific outputs from Allameh Tabataba'i University and represent them in the form of scientific maps using bibliometric research methods. The statistical population of this study included all research outputs (international articles, books, theses/dissertations, domestic journal articles, and research projects) from Allameh Tabataba'i University in Persian and other languages between the years 1974 to 2024, totaling 69,420 titles. In this study, analytical tools from citation databases, reports from the university's research systems, and bibliometric tools were utilized to collect the necessary data. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, social network analysis, and co-occurrence of keywords. Excel software was used to create tables, UCINET and VOSviewer softwares were employed for analyzing centrality indicators and visualizing the networks.

Results

Among the 3,227 articles published by researchers from Allameh Tabataba'i University in the Scopus citation index, 1,091 articles, accounting for 18.6%, are in the field of social sciences; 666 articles, representing 11.4%, are in the field of medicine; 493 articles, also at 8.4%, are in the field of computer science; and 492 articles, another 8.4%, are in the fields of business, management, and accounting. The lowest number of articles are in the fields of veterinary science, with 4 articles; immunology and microbiology, with 21 articles; and chemical engineering, with 23 articles. In total, 1,105 article titles from the university have been published in the Web of Science index, of which 23 are among the highly cited articles. The most common keywords were Iran, decision-making, supply chain management, and policymaking. The subject area of statistics and probability, with 114 titles, and the subject area of artificial intelligence, with 103 titles, were identified as the most active research areas at Allameh Tabataba'i University. An investigation of the theses and dissertations from the university indicated that the keywords Iran, education, learning, quality of life, economic growth, job satisfaction, and others were frequently used. A review of over 28,000 domestic articles from the university showed that the keywords Iran, effectiveness, students, and quality evaluation were most commonly employed. Most research projects at Allameh Tabataba'i University were centered around topics such as educational satisfaction, employment status, and students' social activities.

Discussion

The findings indicate that in recent years, the number of publications from Allameh Tabataba'i University in international indexes has increased, reflecting the university's greater focus on publishing articles in international journals. However, the conducted reviews show that, in terms of citations, the articles from Allameh Tabataba'i University require more visibility, as only 23 out of the 1,105 articles published in the Web of Science index are classified as highly cited. It can be stated that Allameh Tabataba'i University has a favorable status in conducting research across various thematic areas.

Conclusion

Overall, it can be stated that mapping scientific outputs can lead to improvements and advancements in scientific fields, development of knowledge, enhancement of universities' credibility, facilitation and acceleration of data understanding and analysis, improvement of communication and collaboration among researchers, knowledge sharing, and increased transparency of research and its results. Undoubtedly, evaluating scientific outputs requires the participation and collaboration of all university members to be favorably integrated into the university's overarching policies. It is expected that by utilizing these tools, Allameh Tabataba'i University and other educational and research institutions can enhance their research processes and improve the quality of their research outcomes, thereby contributing to knowledge development and increasing the scientific credibility of the country. To enhance the functionality of scientific outputs, it is recommended to use specific keywords that are suitable for the thematic context of the research to clarify the subjects of the outputs.
Acknowledgments
This research has been conducted with the support of the Research Vice-Presidency of Allameh Tabataba'i University. In this regard, the researchers express their gratitude.

Abstract Introduction

Information protection is one of the most important issues in human history, culture, and economy. In the past, information was recorded in the form of engraving and writing on stone, ceramics, papyrus, wood, etc., but with the evolution of human civilization, the way to the emergence of new storage media and ways to record information was paved. A sudden change in the field of information storage with the invention of electronic storage media, including all types of disks, audio tapes, magnetic tapes, CDs, etc. V. Days, etc. took place. With the advent of high-speed networks and computers with high-performance quality (large memory and high processing speed), the use of technologies increased rapidly. These technologies enable libraries to easily produce, process, locate, store, and disseminate their information, as well as guarantee long-term protection of stored information and permanent access to that information (Samiei, 2016). With the rapid development of cloud computing, cloud storage and other information technologies, libraries and digital resources increasingly enable users to remotely access a wide range of distributed information resources, regardless of physical storage conditions (Zhu and Du, 2018). Cloud computing reduces the costs of using technology in libraries and expands the capacities and ability to use tools. Integration of resources and information in one space, speed, flexibility, providing services with the possibility of control and measurement, supply based on demand, access to a wide network (Shehzad, 2014), changing the shape of education, expanding cooperation, and most importantly reducing risk and increased security (Boyer & Arste, 2014) is one of the benefits of cloud computing for digital libraries. The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the views of managers and librarians of Allameh Tabataba’i University libraries regarding digital protection in the cloud environment.

Literature Review

There are new mechanisms in digital libraries that can be used in the field of digital protection to improve the security of digital resources, and one of these mechanisms is cloud computing. Cloud computing is a model for easily providing a type of network access based on user needs from a shared repository that is derived from configurable computing resources. Examples include networks, servers, applications, and services that are rapidly provisioned and available with minimal management effort and service provider interactions. In the studies that were conducted in the field of the role of cloud computing in library services, including the researches of Fermanlolilab (2015), Sepehr et al. (2015); Sadeghi (2016); Haddad Oskoui (2016); Ghazizadeh et al. (2017); Gabajeh (2011); Sosa-Sosa & Hernandez Ramiz (2012); Oliver & Knight (2015); Corrado & Molaison (2015); Yuvaraj (2016); Spence et al. (2019); Anuyako et al. (2019) and Shawvedi Sarkar (2020) found that the use of cloud computing facilities is effective in reducing costs, increasing productivity and communication. However, the categories of threats and information security are concerns related to the use of cloud computing in libraries. Also, in this regard, concerns about data ownership, portability and cloud portability, and in general, issues related to digital protection are the main bottlenecks in the adoption of cloud technology in digital libraries.

Methodology

The present study is applied in nature and with a descriptive survey method in two stages. In the first stage, by reviewing the texts of a researcher-made questionnaire with five components: "introduction to the concepts of digital preservation in the cloud", "trust and security of digital preservation in the cloud", "technological infrastructure of digital preservation in the cloud", "organizational status of digital preservation in the cloud environment "and "barriers and challenges of digital preservation in cloud" were prepared and provided to the administrators and librarians of Allameh Tabataba'i University libraries for a survey. This questionnaire was designed on a five-point Likert scale and its reliability was 0.852 using Cronbach's alpha. In the second stage, the collected data were analyzed based on descriptive statistics (mean, median, standard deviation, and variance) and one-sample t-test. Friedman test was also used to rank the factor of "possible challenges and barriers".

Results

The findings showed that the majority of the participants were moderately familiar with the concepts related to digital protection in the cloud environment. Also, from the point of view of managers and librarians of Allameh Tabataba’i University libraries, "the state of trust and security of data in cloud environment protection" and "the availability of technological infrastructure for cloud environment protection in the university" are at a favorable level (p>0.05 -the amount of). The "organizational state of the university for protection in the cloud environment" is at an average and relatively favorable level, and the "knowledge and awareness necessary for protection in the cloud environment among librarians" is at a relatively unfavorable level (p-value < 0.05). On the one hand, from the point of view of the managers and librarians of the libraries of Allameh Tabataba'i University, the most important obstacles and possible problems of protection in the cloud environment, "the risk of return of investment is one of the problems of using the cloud environment for digital protection", "the unaffordability of using the cloud environment is one of the problems using it for digital protection" and "unaffordability of training costs were one of the problems of using the cloud environment for digital protection".

Discussion

 Regarding the familiarization of library managers and librarians with the topics of digital protection in the cloud environment, it seems that the use of new technologies such as cloud computing in libraries requires more familiarity of managers and librarians with such technologies. Familiarity with the activities that take place in such environments will provide a suitable platform for accepting this technology and using it. In general, the respondents' level of familiarity with the issue of digital protection in the cloud environment was moderate. In the researches of Farmanlou Lilab (2015) and Vivaraj (2016), the application of cloud computing in university libraries was discussed and the relatively good level of familiarity of the employees with cloud computing was pointed out, which is consistent with the results of the present study.

Conclusion

 The results showed that managers and librarians of Allameh Tabataba’i University libraries were moderately familiar with issues related to digital protection in the cloud environment. According to the participants, the state of trust and security of data in cloud environment protection, the availability of technological infrastructure for cloud environment protection in the university at an optimal level, the university's organizational situation for cloud environment protection at a relatively favorable level, and the librarians’ necessary knowledge and awareness for protection in the cloud environment were at a relatively unfavorable level. Also, the obstacles and challenges facing digital protection in the cloud environment were approved by the respondents.

Abstract This study investigates the factors affecting users' understanding of digital libraries with emphasis on Allameh Tabataba'i University Digital Library.The method of this study is descriptive-analytical and it is a purposeful one. All students of Allameh Tabatabai University were the statistical population of this study(18000 students) out of which 378 students were selected using simple random sampling method. Due to the lack of a standard questionnaire, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The questionnaire used for data collection consisted of three demographic questions (gender, digital library experience and educational level) and eight components with 25 closed questions including system quality, information quality, service quality, usefulness, ease of use, digital library Affinity, user satisfaction and user loyalty. Data were analyzed using t-test, independent t-test and ANOVA, at significance level α = 0.05.: The findings showed that considering the calculated significance level, all factors affected students' perception of digital library of Allameh Tabatabai University including system quality (-39.88), information quality (-57.425), service quality (571.721) -), usefulness (-66.320), ease of use (-49.558), digital library Affinity (-60.944), user satisfaction (-61.497), and user loyalty (-60.488). Also, there was no significant difference between students' perception of digital library of Allameh Tabatabai University in terms of gender (0.554) and educational level (0.064). But there was a significant difference between students' perception of digital library of Allameh Tabatabai University and digital library experience (0.000) according to the level of significance calculated.The results of the study show the overall effect of the students' perceptions of the digital library of Allameh Tabataba'i University, and each of these components of understanding can be defined according to different models in different environments.

Abstract The present research surveys the scientific publications of Allameh Tabataba’i University since foundation of the university the April communications, by using a scientometric approach. Descriptive method was used and the population was all publications indexed in Scopus. To analyze the data, excel and Nodexi soft wares were used to draw the scientific communication network graph. The results indicated that all of these publications were 279 records in formats such as research articles, conceptual articles, articles presented in conferences, and articles in press. All of these two hundred and seventy nine publications were published in English language. Although the quantity of the publications and the number of citations to these articles especially recently published in comparison with other internal universities significantly is not high, but they generally show an exponential growth and of course according to our findings this growth is owing to the special efforts made by certain scholars of some departments. At the end of the article we presented the solutions for the improvement of Allameh Tabataba'I University publications in future.