Research Paper
Reza Karimi; Morteza Mohammadi Ostani; Leila Ahmadi
Abstract
IntroductionThe use of metadata in various information contexts such as cultural heritage contexts (libraries, museums, and archives) requires proper management. Using metadata, especially during the production or before publication of the content objects, is an appropriate solution; because it provides ...
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IntroductionThe use of metadata in various information contexts such as cultural heritage contexts (libraries, museums, and archives) requires proper management. Using metadata, especially during the production or before publication of the content objects, is an appropriate solution; because it provides the ability to identify, evaluate, select, explore, and manage content objects in various information storage and retrieval systems. Each library and information center needs a range of metadata standards to manage content objects and facilitate and expedite access to them. In most cases, a single standard cannot meet all needs or support all intended functions. In other words, not all elements of a metadata standard are applicable to a particular library or information center. The solution offered by the information and knowledge organization field, especially the metadata field, is an application profile to solve the problem of the non-applicability of a metadata standard and its set of elements in a particular library or information context.The Library, Museum, and Archive of the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (A.S.) have a collection of valuable ancient resources and objects, which its printed resources and written heritage have been organized, and their bibliographic information is available for viewing and use by clients through the Azarsa Software. A vast number of written and audiovisual documents, along with over 7,000 historical artifacts, have been registered and recorded in this center. The purpose of the current research was to design a metadata application profile for describing and organizing (processing) the content objects of the Library, Museum, and Archive of the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (A.S.).Literature ReviewApplication profiles emerged after criticisms were made about the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) for being simple and proposals to expand or complete it through other metadata standards (Tennis, 2015). Application profiles provide a mechanism to extract the elements required, appropriate to the characteristics of a database or information centers, link between these elements, and present them in the application profile form. Non-use of an application profile causes local needs not to be considered in the metadata schema, and this causes the database, digital library, or information centers to face many problems during the use phase (Najafzadeh, 2016).Application profiles consist of metadata elements from one or more standards that are implemented, combined, and optimized according to the local environment. Combining multiple standard metadata schemas to develop an application profile enables metadata to have a higher level of standardization, organization, and interoperability, and to be easily shared among many organizations (Nonthakarn & Wuwongse, 2015). Application profile consists of four main components: application, entities, entities’ properties, and property’s value (Gerontakos & Riesenberg, 2021, p14). From Taheri's point of view (2014, p154), the birth certificate of each metadata application profile element has 13 components. These components are: name of term, label, defined by, source definition, library definition, description, type of term, refinement(s), refined by, encoding scheme, obligation, data type, and occurrence. These components are generally mentioned in the table form.Libraries, archives, and museums have been important institutions that have facilitated access to all kinds of information in the form of diverse content objects and have led to the cultural and educational progress of the society. These institutions in the current information society need to describe and organize their content objects, and metadata tools are very helpful in this field. Therefore, some of the best places to design, use, and exploit application profiles are libraries and information centers.MethodologyThe research method was practical in terms of the goal, which was carried out with an analysis approach. The research community was the employees of the organization department and managers of the Library, Museum and Archive of the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (A.S.) and elements, attributes and properties of the metadata standards of the cultural heritage context (library, archive and museum), which were selected by purposeful sampling method. The data collection method was structured observation and the tools were interviews, questionnaires, and checklistsResultsThe findings showed that in order to describe and organize (process) the content objects of the Library, Museum, and Archive of the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (A.S.), three separate metadata application profiles are needed for the library, museum, and archive. The metadata application profile designed for library, museum and archives content objects had 53, 83, and 27 main and sub-elements, respectively. Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), UK Collection Management Standard (Spectrum), and International Standard Archival Description (ISAD) had the highest number in the metadata application profile in the contexts of library, museum, and archives, respectively.ConclusionThe design of a metadata application profile will lead to the proper description and processing of content objects, more convergence of the cultural heritage context, as well as better management of metadata. This is done according to local context and needs, and it will increase the access points, retrieval, and interoperability with other information management systems and libraries
Research Paper
Interactive Retrieval
Mehdi Rahmani; Ghasem Azadi Ahmadabadi
Abstract
IntroductionThe situation of university libraries in Iran shows that due to the existence of a gap between strategy development and implementation, these organizations have not achieved much success in implementing their strategies, and there is a fear that the developed strategy, like the strategic ...
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IntroductionThe situation of university libraries in Iran shows that due to the existence of a gap between strategy development and implementation, these organizations have not achieved much success in implementing their strategies, and there is a fear that the developed strategy, like the strategic plans of most organizations, will remain theoretical or its implementation will be postponed. Therefore, in the current research, it was decided to first examine the strategic plans that have been developed and implemented by the world's top academic libraries based on the Times ranking, and based on that and relying on the specific conditions of the country, a strategic plan for Iranian academic libraries will be developed. The current research sought to provide a simple and practical framework for the custodians, practitioners, and those interested in Iranian university libraries, so that based on this framework, they can provide a road map for activities and practical actions in libraries. It is expected that this research will be the starting point for the formulation of comprehensive and large national programs that will help to improve reading and study as well as the development of reading culture in the society. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine the strategic plan of academic libraries in the world and to present a proposed model for Iranian academic libraries. Literature ReviewA review of the conducted researches shows that the ever-increasing complexity of activities and continuous changes in organizations have made managers face new challenges that neglecting them will lead to irreparable consequences. Surveys indicate that the existence of a strategic plan helps to improve the performance of libraries and defines the direction of the organization and can provide a clear understanding of the performance of the library to the authorities and the user community. Investigations show that various researches have been conducted on the presentation of strategic plans, and on the other hand, the review of previous researches indicates that a large percentage of the proposed programs were only suggested and not implemented. This reason led to the present research, in order to provide a strategic plan for university libraries in Iran by using the strategic plans of the best university libraries in the world. Outside of Iran, many studies have been done to develop a strategic plan for libraries. Most of the mentioned researches have presented the findings obtained from the formulation or implementation of a strategic plan at the micro and macro levels of the activities of a university library. Methodology The current research is practical in terms of its purpose and it is hybrid in terms of method. In the current research, library, Delphi, and descriptive survey methods have been used. In this research, three questions have been raised, and to answer them, special tools related to each have been used. In response to the first question of the research regarding the identification of university libraries that have a strategic plan, first by referring to the website of the studied university library, if they have a strategic plan, the plan was extracted and stored, and if there was no section on the website under the title of the management plan. Ask me through the department or ask the librarian about the strategic plan of the library, and if no answer was received from this department, in the last step, the public relations manager or the director of public services of the library followed up on the strategic plan of the library and whether it was or not. The strategic plan was determined. In order to answer the second question of the research, which sought to identify the main criteria in the strategic plan of university libraries, the libraries that had a strategic plan were identified in the first stage, and in the second stage, their plans were analyzed and evaluated, and the principles of each of the plans were extracted. According to the reliability standard law, if the principle was common in at least 70% of the strategic plans, it is chosen as the principle of the strategic plan. To answer the third question of the research, after extracting the principles of the strategic plan of the library, a list consisting of various principles that are important in presenting the strategic plan (based on the main criteria of the strategic plan of the world's university libraries) was prepared. Then, with the Delphi method, the list was provided to 14 experts in the field of information science and epistemology and university libraries in Iran who had the experience of managing university libraries. In the last stage, according to the obtained results, a model for a strategic plan in Iranian university libraries was presented. The research community for identifying the strategic plan of the world's university libraries included the libraries of twenty-five top universities based on the Times ranking in 2020-2021. In the Times ranking system, educational, research, welfare, cultural and service criteria are emphasized, so they were chosen as the research ranking system. Results The results of the research showed that all the studied university libraries have a written strategic plan, but the strategic plan of 4 university libraries of Yale, Pennsylvania, London School of Economics and University of Washington is not up to date and out of date. Also, according to the investigations, the strategic plan of two university libraries, Stanford and Massachusetts, does not have a time frame. But most of the strategic plans developed for a period of 2 to 5 years have been presented. A brief look at the structure and content of the strategic plan of the world's academic libraries shows that the emphasis on the introduction section, necessary actions, implementation schedule and the mission of the library is more important than other components. The result of the analysis carried out in the current research; the strategic model of Iranian academic libraries is as follows. The proposed strategic model for Iranian academic libraries should include introduction, summary, mission, goal, vision, planning and implementation. Discussion In this research, the strategic plan of 25 university libraries ranked 1 to 25 in the Times ranking was examined and evaluated. According to the surveys, all 25 university libraries had a written strategic plan, which shows the importance of having a strategic plan for university libraries. The studied university libraries had a section entitled About Us on their home page, which was part of the strategic plan. In the survey that was conducted, strategic plans were presented in three ways. The first picture is that the different parts of the strategic plan were presented in a list form and by clicking on each part, the related information was provided. The second form was that a brief introduction of the strategic plan was placed on the site and the link to download the strategic plan was next. And the third form was that the strategic plan was fully presented in this section. In some university libraries, the presented program was complete and comprehensive with all the necessary details mentioned, and in others, the program was presented in a brief form, and finally, a model was designed for the program. The noteworthy point in the strategic plans of university libraries was the importance of the university to the strategic plan of the library, in several cases of the investigated libraries, the strategic plan of the library was presented as a part of the strategic plan of the university. Also, according to the surveys, most of the strategic plans had a time frame and their goal was to focus on the time frame of 3 to 5 years. The existence of a short period of time indicates continuous changes in organizations and the need to review and update the strategic plan. Considering the rapid scientific progress and the need to change university policies, updating the strategic plan is very important for the university library, and libraries should always have short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans to achieve great goals. ConclusionAccording to the research conducted on the strategic plan of university libraries, in most of the strategic plans, the introduction section of the library, necessary measures to carry out the strategic plan, the schedule of the implementation of the strategic plan and the missions of the library were present, and this shows the importance of the mentioned items. The purpose of the strategic plan is to provide a better vision of the library and plan it for a better future. Therefore, the existence of the library introduction section, which includes a brief introduction of the university, introduction of the library, history of the library, number of library resources, different sections of the library, library facilities, locational and physical condition of the library, and information of this kind, is very important and almost in most programs. The subject of this section was to provide information in summary or complete form. The next thing that is very important in the presentation of the strategic plan is the necessary measures to achieve the goals of the library during the strategic plan. In this section, all the activities that the library must do according to the strategic plan to achieve its ultimate goal are presented. Most of the investigated libraries were very careful about this issue, and in some programs, the actions were divided by library departments or by library goals, and the indicators of their achievement were provided. The third part that is very important in the strategic plan is the discussion of the implementation schedule. Due to the rapid growth of science and the change of programs and the change of the scientific course of the country, it is very important to pay attention to the schedule, the strategic plan should be up-to-date and adjusted according to the needs of the society at the present time. Also, the strategic plan should be evaluated at certain time intervals and if there is a weakness or problem, it should be fixed. Another part that was important in the strategic plans was the discussion of the library's missions. The clarity of the missions facing the library helps to define the framework of the strategic plan, and the strategic plan is set based on the missions of the university library.
Research Paper
Intelligent Systems Recovery
Jalal Rezaeenour; Rahele Karimian
Abstract
IntroductionWith the tremendous growth of the Internet from the 1990s to the present, a variety of innovative technologies have emerged that enable users to interact virtually. Metaverse is one of the technologies that has attracted attention. In fact, it is a new technology brought about by augmented ...
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IntroductionWith the tremendous growth of the Internet from the 1990s to the present, a variety of innovative technologies have emerged that enable users to interact virtually. Metaverse is one of the technologies that has attracted attention. In fact, it is a new technology brought about by augmented and virtual reality, which integrates new technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and virtual reality. In Metaverse, users are able to communicate with each other in virtual space instead of physical communication. Therefore, the aim of the current research is to identify the development barriers of Metaverse in digital libraries.Research Question(s)What are the causal conditions for identifying metaverse development obstacles in digital libraries?What are the background conditions affecting the identification of metaverse development obstacles in digital libraries?What are the intervening conditions in identifying the development obstacles of metaverse in digital libraries?What are the strategies to identify the development obstacles of metaverse in digital libraries?What are the consequences of identifying the development barriers of metaverse in digital libraries?Literature ReviewMetaverse is a combination of two words, Meta+ Universe. Each of these two words has different meanings. The word meta is derived from the Greek root "beyond" and verse is derived from the word "universe" meaning "world". As a result, the word metaverse means a world beyond the real world. Metaverse is a virtual world where users can experience all the activities they have in the real world in the virtual world. Many experts in this field believe that the further development of Metaverse will not affect the daily lives of companies and people, but its impact on culture and society, in general, is undeniable (Yufu. et.al, 2023؛ Mohammad Hasan, 2023(. Since 1999, the growth of information technology has transformed the future of information systems (Arshad, Ameen, 2019). Hence, information technology increases the speed of operations and reduces costs and ultimately has made a major difference in how libraries do things (Thimm, 2017). As organizations that store and retrieve information, libraries are voluntarily or involuntarily influenced by new technologies. In recent years, smart libraries have been created with the growth of technology from terms such as digital, virtual, and electronic libraries (Gul and Bano, 2019). One of the types of libraries that can be imagined in the field of virtual reality or metaverse is digital libraries. It is a new type of traditional library in which time and place do not matter and users who have the necessary information are given the opportunity to find the resources they need in any situation (Rahmani, 2022(.MethodologyThe current research is qualitative in terms of purpose and implementation method. The approach considered in the present research is based on the basic theory, which is a method utilized in qualitative research according to inductive methods. For this purpose, it starts with sampling, data collection, and at the same time coding and data analysis. Data analysis is done based on open-source, central, and selective sources, which will continue until theoretical saturation. In the present study, the steps of work are as follows. First, sampling was done from among the research population, followed by formulating interview questions, collecting information, coding and analyzing data, open coding, and selective focus, and the conceptual model was formulated based on answers to the research questions. In the present study, the statistical population included 10 university specialists who were selected by purposive sampling. The sample size was calculated based on the theoretical saturation principle. In fact, the researchers did not identify any barriers to the interview after holding the interview, so two other interviews were held. The inclusion criteria of selected specialists were membership in educational and academic institutions, fields of study being related to digital libraries and Metaverse (information science and epistemology, computer, architecture), having books and articles related to the current research field, and interest in participating in interviews. Due to the closure of educational and academic institutions in the summer, most of the interviews were held by phone. The research tool was semi-structured interviews in the field of developing Metaverse libraries in digital domains. Open, central and selective coding method based on grounded theory was used to analyze the data. "user understanding", "heady library", "economic status", "technology literacy level", "cultures and values", "background and experience", "user needs". Intervening conditions include "limited resources", "high speed of change", "uncertainty in the future of the Metaverse", "human factors". Strategies include "education and awareness", "collaboration with technology companies", "development of technology infrastructure", and "research and development" and messages include "access to information", "non-compliance with standards", "security and privacy risks", "non-acceptance by users".ResultsThe findings of the research show that there are 53 central themes in the form of causal conditions as follows. "Existence of a problem or issues involved", "individual factors", "organizational, managerial", "technology", "political", "social", "institutional"; terms of the fields include "technology development", "user understanding", "heady library", "economic status", "technology literacy level", "cultures and values", "background and experience", "user needs". Intervening conditions include "limited resources", "high speed of change", "uncertainty in the future of the Metaverse", and "human factors". Strategies include "education and awareness", "collaboration with technology companies", "development of technology infrastructure", "research and development" and messages include "access to information", "non-compliance with standards", "security and privacy risks", and "non-acceptance by users".DiscussionIn explaining the result, it can be said that according to the codes extracted from the interviews, the causal conditions involve individual, organizational, managerial, political, institutional, social and other factors that create a barrier in the formation of Metaverse in digital libraries. In addition to the causal conditions, intervening and contextual factors were also considered and investigated. In the intervening factors, those factors such as limited resources, high speed of technological change, uncertainty in the future of Metaverse, and human factors were identified. Moreover, contextual factors including users' understanding, economic status, technology literacy level, cultures and values, background and experience, and users' needs were identified. Therefore, according to the abovementioned obstacles, the strategies of education and awareness, cooperation with technology companies, development of technology infrastructure, and finally research and development were extracted. The strategies show both positive and negative reactions of the emerging Metaverse phenomenon on digital libraries. Finally, the consequences of Metaverse in digital libraries include lack of access to Metaverse and its development, reducing access to information, non-compliance with standards, security and privacy risks, non-acceptance by users, which result from strategies.ConclusionBased on the results, it can be said that there are various obstacles in the development of Metaverse. When these obstacles are identified and the necessary solutions are provided to solve them, it can be said that libraries will have new opportunities to provide services to their users with the development of Metaverse. By thinking creatively about how to use this technology, libraries can become valuable educational and social platforms.
Research Paper
Knowledge Management
Mostafa Pahlevanzadeh; Nadjla Hariri; Dariush Matlabi; Fahimeh Babalhavaeji
Abstract
Introduction The purpose of the current research is to design a knowledge management system performance evaluation model in the software industry using a neural network. Based on the collected data, a quantitative study was conducted to confirm the findings obtained from the qualitative stage. For exploratory ...
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Introduction The purpose of the current research is to design a knowledge management system performance evaluation model in the software industry using a neural network. Based on the collected data, a quantitative study was conducted to confirm the findings obtained from the qualitative stage. For exploratory study and extraction of categories related to evaluation factors, the meta-combination method (Sandelowski and Barroso model) was used. The research method in the quantitative part is descriptive survey. The statistical population of the research was made up of all software developers and software experts in universities and companies. Findings: 7 main categories including individual factors, organizational factors, technology and infrastructure, functional factors, knowledge management tools, economic factors, knowledge management tools, and 29 sub-categories were identified. The innovation of the research is building a model using neural network algorithms that have the ability to predict the performance evaluation index of the knowledge management system and the impact of each of the indicators using a neural network in the field of software. Conclusion: The results obtained from the questionnaire have been used for the input of the network model, the results showed that components such as technology infrastructure factors and functional factors have a greater impact on the evaluation of knowledge management performance in software development.Literature ReviewIn a research, they evaluated the performance of the knowledge management system in Iranian software companies. The results showed that the knowledge management system consists of 4 processes of identifying and creating, recording and maintaining, sharing and applying and internalizing knowledge. In a research, they designed a fuzzy inference system to evaluate the performance of the knowledge management system in the software development industry. The use of neural networks in evaluating the key factors of the knowledge management system in Iranian companies based in Alborz province was investigated. A research modeled an organizational knowledge management system based on artificial intelligence. Fuzzy theory was used to create knowledge extraction mechanism and reference model library from project model to dedicated reference model.MethodologyThe method used in this research is a mixed research method of exploratory type with a qualitative approach and meta-composite and Delphi methods. In the first stage, the meta-composite method was used to identify the main and sub-categories of the indicators, and then the validation and presentation of the final indicators were done with the fuzzy Delphi method. The current research method is practical in terms of purpose. The sample size was selected by simple random sampling method with Cochran's formula of 186 people. In the meta-combination method of the research, library sources and documents including articles, reliable and referable internet sources, as well as domestic and foreign scientific reports were used. For exploratory study and extraction of categories related to evaluation factors, the meta-combination method (Sandelowski and Barroso model) was used. Factors and dimensions of knowledge management system evaluation for which indicators are considered were provided to 20 members and experts. The implementation of the Delphi panel was carried out in two periods. Fuzzy Delphi method was used to screen and identify the final indicators and to answer the first and second questions of the research regarding the agreement of the experts of the research community regarding the obtained components, which includes software experts and knowledge management experts. 7 main categories including individual factors, organizational factors, technology and infrastructure, functional factors, knowledge management tools, economic factors, and 29 sub-categories were identified. In order to collect quantitative data, a researcher-made questionnaire (40 items) was used, the items of which were taken from the results of the meta-composite analysis in the first stage. In this research, in order to check the reliability of the research questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was estimated at 0.89 for infrastructure factors and 0.88 for functional factors, respectively.Results In this research, the performance of the knowledge management system was evaluated with a neural network approach. Examining the results showed that the following components affect the evaluation of knowledge management performance in the software development industry. 1. Individual factors 2. Economic factors 3. Organizational factors 4. Knowledge management processes 5. Functional factors 6. Technological infrastructure factors 7. Knowledge management toolsDiscussionSolutions to improve the performance of knowledge management in the software development industry were presented: • Adjust the strategies in such a way that the creation of new knowledge, the application of new knowledge, its dissemination and sharing, and the storage and documentation of knowledge are explicitly considered. • Identifying influential people in the process of implementation and establishment of knowledge management, to improve the effective factors in the effective establishment of knowledge management more than in the past. • Developing procedures for documenting the experiences of experts in the software development industry on a continuous basis. • Managers and practitioners of the software industry should also consider parameters such as available budget, organizational culture, infrastructure, etc. • To provide the relevant managers and practitioners with a criterion for reviewing future policies and investments and help them make more appropriate decisions.ConclusionIn this research, 29 primary indicators have been identified based on the research literature, which include: • Organizational culture for sharing and using knowledge • Organizational Structure • The physical environment • Organization strategy • Support of senior managers such as motivation and commitment • Supporting innovations and digital technologies • Specialized knowledge of software development • General knowledge in software development • Involvement of developers • Education • Being up-to-date in the fields of specialized software • Knowledge and awareness of the knowledge management system • Correct understanding of system design requirements • Portals and portals of knowledge such as the Internet and email and social networks • MIS, Expert, DSS systems • Data warehouse - knowledge warehouse • Search and recovery tools and dashboard • Data security • The degree of integration of organizational systems • Quality of knowledge • Document management • Data management and workflow • Process Management • Creation and acquisition of knowledge, transfer and sharing of knowledge • Acquisition and use of knowledge • Operating cost of the software • Cost of software support.
Research Paper
Information and Knowledge Management
Reyhaneh Izadian; ٖGolnessa Galyani-Moghaddam; Reza Maleki
Abstract
1.Introduction Knowledge is the axis of value creation in today's organizations. Knowledge management as a strategic capital of an organization is considered the most important organizational advantage. On the other hand, the importance of sharing the experiences of librarians to each other in order ...
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1.Introduction Knowledge is the axis of value creation in today's organizations. Knowledge management as a strategic capital of an organization is considered the most important organizational advantage. On the other hand, the importance of sharing the experiences of librarians to each other in order to perform their professional duties, shows the role of knowledge transfer and sharing methods among librarians. These days, improving the performance of the organization is a response from an organization to face the challenges that arise from the rapid global transformations. From the organization's point of view, this challenge includes responding to the needs of customers and providing goods or services with a high degree of efficiency and in an efficient and effective manner. From the perspective of organizational members, this challenge includes improving the quality of work life. So that the organization is a pleasant and satisfying place for work and effort.This paper examines the state of knowledge sharing among managers and librarians of public libraries in the city of Ahvaz. Every organization has its own culture, which is influenced by the culture of the organization's people. In this research, it has tried to measure the effect of culture on knowledge sharing in the form of components such as competition, motivation, support, cooperation, trust, etc.Research questions are:What is the culture of knowledge sharing among the employees (librarians and managers) of Ahvaz public libraries?What are the different methods of sharing knowledge among the employees (librarians and managers) of public libraries in Ahvaz?What is the status of information and communication technologies for sharing knowledge among public libraries in Ahvaz? Literature Review Literature review shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between organizational culture and knowledge sharing in many studies. For example, a study by Burnette (2017) aims to explore the nature of tacit knowledge (TK) sharing among library colleagues, with a focus on the characteristics of TK and contextual factors such as organizational culture or the mentor/mentee relationship. Three thematic areas emerged. First are the influence of organizational culture and the importance of trust in knowledge sharing behavior. Second, the value of teamwork and the significance of mentor/mentee roles surface as significant drivers of TK exchange. Last but not least is a better understanding of the nature of TK, as it relates to types of knowledge and characterizations of experience and expertise. Methodology This is an applied research and has been done by survey. The statistical population was all employees (managers and librarians) of public libraries in Ahvaz City and the implementation time was 2022. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data, and the content validity of the questionnaire was obtained by experts' opinion and its reliability using Cronbach's alpha (0.90) and dividing it into two halves (0.85). In analyzing the questionnaire data, descriptive statistics techniques were used for demographics, and techniques such as one-sample t-test and Friedman's rank average test were used for the questionnaire's inferential questions. ResultsIn terms of the components of sharing culture, the competition between employees for sharing knowledge with the highest average (3.16) has the best status, and the managers' motivation to share knowledge with other libraries is the lowest with an average of 2.70. Also, the state of knowledge sharing in terms of different methods of knowledge sharing shows that the most favorable state is related to courses and workshops with an average of 3.55, followed by the enterprise resource planning (ERP) with 3.51, as well as the quality of personal communication and informal among librarians with an average of 3.26. The findings show the status of knowledge sharing and communication technology from the point of view of the managers and librarians of public libraries in the city. For instance, while training courses and workshops and personal and informal communication between librarians, as well as administrative automation are good, other things such as employee performance and the culture of knowledge sharing are less favorable. Cases were found where there was a lack of awareness of the importance of knowledge sharing and a lack of organizational support. Conclusion The results of the current research show that information and communication technology and then knowledge-sharing methods are in a more suitable situation than the categories of employee behavior and knowledge-sharing culture. According to the findings regarding the knowledge-sharing methods, where Friedman's test was used, the highest average rating was given to the method of sharing and exchanging knowledge from courses and workshops with an average rating of 9.63 with a deviation of 0.78. The next ranks were administrative automation system with an average rank of 9.43 and personal and informal communication between librarians with an average rank of 8.46. Finally, the knowledge management system with an average rating of 5.36, publications and bulletins with an average rating of 5.30, and public libraries with an average rating of 4.67, have the lowest average, which should be used by examining the problem of the degree of its solution. Overall, this study shows there is a need to improve information technology and the culture of knowledge sharing.
Research Paper
Information and Knowledge Theories
Marzieh Yari Zanganeh
Abstract
Introduction In today's societies, extensive and rapid developments in the world of technology increasingly account for information, which is considered a basic component of socioeconomic, socio-political, and cultural development (Naveed and Aiin, 2017). In this vein, the ultimate user has to possess ...
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Introduction In today's societies, extensive and rapid developments in the world of technology increasingly account for information, which is considered a basic component of socioeconomic, socio-political, and cultural development (Naveed and Aiin, 2017). In this vein, the ultimate user has to possess strong information literacy skills in tackling a variety of information options in such a world with superior and complex technology (Becker, 2018).Self-efficacy is a multidimensional structure that is evaluated at different academic, social and emotional levels. Academic self-efficacy is related to an individual’s sense of ability to manage learning activities, master coursework, and meet academic expectations (Morris, 2001). On the other hand, social intelligence is what makes people perform well in the areas of living. Considering the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS), a person with social intelligence should have three capabilities: the ability to understand and predict other people’s behavior and feelings and to understand verbal and non-verbal messages in human relationships (social information processing), the ability to involve new social situations and make social adaptations such as active listening, acting assertively, etc. (social skills), and the ability to actively behave according to the situation, time and place (social awareness) (Silvera, Martinussen & Dahl, 2001)Literature ReviewConsidering the past and present literature review, there is a significant correlation between information literacy and students' self-efficacy (Haghi, 2014, Maghsoodi and Esmaili Shad, 2017) and hence it is concluded that the greater the individual’s feeling of competence, the higher perseverance, flexibility and the ability to face challenges in solving information problems in modern life.Considering the review of literature, many studies have examined the relationship between individual's belief in self-efficacy and information literacy and intelligence, but few studies have examined the effectiveness of teaching information literacy skills in social intelligence and the level of students' self-efficacy in problem-solving with an experimental approach. Therefore, in this research, an attempt was made to explore whether teaching information literacy skills has an effect on social intelligence and the students’ level of self-efficacy in solving problems.MethodologyIn terms of purpose, the present study was applied and in terms of procedure, it was an experimental study of a correlational nature with an experimental interventional approach (pre-test-post-test design with a control group) based on Solomon's four-group design. This research design consisted of four participating groups, two experimental groups and two control groups.The statistical population of the research comprised all master’s level students of the Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch in the Departments of Humanities and Engineering in the year 2021-2022. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan Table, 76 people were selected as the sample of the study and were then divided into four groups by stratified random sampling method. Afterward, a pre-test was administered to one of the control and experimental groups. To conduct the research, the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) (2001) and Scherer et al.'s Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) (1982) were used.In order to determine the effectiveness of information literacy skills, the information literacy skills training package was used which consisted of: skills, including defining information needs, finding information, evaluating information, organizing information, and exchanging (disseminating) information, for which 8 sessions of 45 minutes were scheduled and for each session, a specific topic, goal and working method were determined.The data extracted from the research instruments were analyzed using SPSS 22. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk statistical tests were used to validate the normality of the error distribution, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and independent samples t-test were used to test the research hypotheses.Results The findings of the research showed that teaching information literacy skills had a positive effect on increasing the level of social intelligence in the participants of the experimental groups. Also, the results of the test showed that teaching information literacy skills had a significant effect on the students' self-efficacy in solving problems, but there was no difference between the students’ fields in the post-test in terms of social intelligence and their self-efficacy in solving problems.Discussion Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be suggested that teaching information literacy skills can improve the students' performance in problem solving by increasing social intelligence and self-efficacy. Also, high self-efficacy can play a crucial role in the desire for success and a sense of self-worth and self-confidence.In general, under the influence of individuals’ social intelligence, variables such as individuals’ competence in information literacy skills can affect their participation in personal and social communication and its quality. Therefore, an effective information literacy training program is needed to increase the students’ self-efficacy at all levels of different university disciplines.ConclusionThe research results highlight the beneficial effects of teaching information literacy skills on improving social intelligence and cognitive abilities of students in boosting their level of self-efficacy in problem solving.
Review Paper
Information Storage and Retrieval
Hoda Homavandi; Yaghoub Norouzi; Bent-ol hoda Khabbazan
Abstract
IntroductionRecently, the development of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction has highlighted the increasing importance of language challenges in information retrieval. The crucial role of language in disseminating, accessing, and retrieving information cannot be studied independently ...
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IntroductionRecently, the development of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction has highlighted the increasing importance of language challenges in information retrieval. The crucial role of language in disseminating, accessing, and retrieving information cannot be studied independently of syntax and semantics. Explaining and describing research in this field from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and understanding researchers' trends, is an important step in comprehending the significance of syntax and semantics in communication structures within modern information search and retrieval environments. Consequently, in this descriptive and analytical study, we conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses of studies in the field of syntax and semantics in information retrieval. Literature ReviewIn recent years, there has been a lot of interdisciplinary research focusing on investigating the impact of language on the interaction between users and the web environment. These studies have discussed the language from various perspectives and have explored information retrieval across different types of information media, including web databases, search engines, commercial websites, and libraries. Tapsai (2019), Norouzi and Hamavandi (2018), Hammo (2009), Lazarinis (2008), Ofoghi, Yearwood & Ghosh (2006) have focused on different languages such as Persian, English, Arabic, and Greek. The findings show that the syntax and morphology, as well as the semantics of searched terms and phrases, have a significant impact on the retrieval of results. In addition, search tools tend to rely more on the general form of words instead of focusing on the real needs of users in order to improve the search process.Due to the huge amount of information on the World Wide Web and the challenges related to information retrieval, researchers and software developers have turned to the Semantic Web to keep up with the changes. The Semantic Web has provided a large amount of structured and machine-understandable information on a wide range of topics (Guha, McCool & Miller, 2003). Semantic models perform well in identifying and recognizing synonyms, similar words, and semantic frameworks. Therefore, one of the most important challenges in the field of information storage and retrieval is to bridge the gap between the language used by information seekers and information providers (Rezaee Sharifabadi et al., 2010).The current study aims to systematically review previous research findings on syntax and semantics in information storage and retrieval across different contexts. Each context represents different dimensions of knowledge representation systems, from traditional to semantics. Upon reviewing the research, it was found that no systematic review has been conducted with a focus on syntax and semantics in the field of information retrieval. MethodologyIn this qualitative research using Aveyard’s systematic review method, we aim to address the following questions:What is the statistical status of studies in the field of syntax and semantics in storing and retrieving information?What are the main subject areas that researchers have focused on in studies related to syntax and semantics in storing and retrieving information?What research methods and approaches have researchers employed in this field?What are the research gaps and areas that require further study in this field?To gather relevant sources from information databases, we selected search keywords based on the research questions. Then, we used search strategies and various operators to combine the keywords and phrases, ensuring a comprehensive and effective search in Persian databases such as Magiran, Irandoc, SID, NoorMagz, ISC, and Civilica, as well as databases including Scopus, Emerald, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. There was no time limitation for the search. We recorded accepted sources such as articles and theses that were relevant and valid. By removing irrelevant and duplicate sources, we selected 12 Persian sources and 42 English sources. After categorizing, the studies were analyzed according to the type of source, research method, and tool. The results of the analysis of the studies were presented in the form of tables and graphs. ResultsThe selected studies were categorized into three groups (their characteristics were described in detail): information retrieval, information organization, and information search based on the analysis of keywords and subjects raised in the sources. The results of the study revealed that among the 54 reviewed studies, Iranian researchers had conducted the most research in the field of syntax and semantics in information retrieval, with 12 studies. The United States followed with 5 studies, and China and Vietnam tied for third place with 4 studies each. The majority of the studies focused on syntax and semantics in information retrieval. DiscussionAnalysis of 54 selected studies has shown that these studies were conducted over a period of 26 years. The oldest study was included in the review back to 1997, while the most recent one is from 2022. This shows the dynamic nature of the field under investigation and demonstrates how it is constantly changing and being influenced by the advancement of web technologies. Furthermore, a thematic analysis of the research, based on the studies' keywords, reveals that "Ontology," as a tool of the semantic web, is closely linked to the semantic and syntax aspects of language in information retrieval.Moreover, in a total of 54 studies, the majority were experimental (19), followed by applied (15) and analytical (9). Additionally, there were 6 studies that combined applied and analytical methods. Content analysis and comparative analysis each had 2 instances, while case studies were the least frequent with only 1 case. These studies have utilized tools such as ontology, search engines, and techniques including natural language processing, annotation, tagging, and indexing.The discussion about exploring syntax and semantics in relation to information retrieval across different languages is believed to make a significant contribution to the development of future research literature in this field. This is because users’ native language plays a central role in forming search terms for information retrieval, based on subjective meanings, context, and content. Considering this point can effectively enhance information retrieval systems. ConclusionAlthough many studies have addressed various aspects of syntax and semantics in information retrieval, more research is needed to investigate syntax and semantics in information organization. It is also important to delve into and analyze their theoretical aspects in information retrieval, especially through interdisciplinary studies.Moreover, the interconnectedness of various areas of study demonstrates the close relationship between syntax and semantics and linguistic issues in nearly every field that involves organizing, storing, and retrieving information. These areas include the study of syntax and semantics in relation to environmental sensors, indexing, identification and summarization of texts, plagiarism detection, natural language processing, repositories, improvement of query users and data retrieval in repositories and search engines, metadata enrichment, and image retrieval. The results of this research, such as its main themes, identified methods and approaches, and research gaps, can offer valuable insights for future studies.
