Volume 54, Issue 1

Knowledge economy literature indicates that proof of an organization's sustainable future and growth lies in multi-dimensional evaluation rather than in the traditional one-dimensional monetary or financial capital perspective. This article attempts to provide a multi-dimensional framework within which a library and information service (L&IS) could measure its performance. As prerequisite, for implementation of the stated framework, the L&IS management (and staff) needed to understand that: • measuring should be done for local development and progress using the L&IS's mission and a strategy for a sustainable future as the focal areas; • sustainability requires more than providing proof of spending the stakeholder's money wisely; and • adding value for the customer in isolation also does not ensure sustainability. In order to be sustainable in the knowledge economy it is necessary to understand that the relationships between the human, structure, customer and stakeholder capitals are vital. The L&IS sector would therefore, in the first instance, be required to ensure that customers could trust that they are receiving the services and products that maximise their own productivity and asset utilization. Secondly L&IS stakeholders would need to be assured that they are receiving the best value for their investment. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, L&IS staff would have to be assured that they have the necessary skills and resources to provide for a motivating environment and that the infrastructure created will ensure continuous improvement for all.

The Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI), produced and published by the Latin American Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, is an example of a relatively small, multilingual, specialized bibliographic database developed in the early 1970s that has managed to stay abreast of technological innovations in the field of information science to the extent that it now offers links to full text articles for many of its citations. HAPI indexes the contents of nearly 550 scholarly journals, published throughout the world and of interest to Latin Americanists. Subject coverage includes all areas of the social sciences and the humanities. Although HAPI operates on a small budget and with a minimal staff, it was initially developed in computerized format and has always been a leader among non-commercial databases in providing technologically current forms of access, via Telnet in 1992 and on CD-ROM the next year. Its Web site opened in 1997. Links to full text articles were released to subscribers in December 2003. This article chronicles HAPI's history, describes its contents, and offers a detailed picture of its full text linking service as well as plans for future developments.

This study reports findings from a survey conducted to measure the use and perception of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) faculty members of electronic resources. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 140 faculty members. Responses were received from 125 (89%) faculty members. Analysis confirmed frequency of use of electronic resources was low. Reasons cited were lack of time because of the time needed to focus on teaching; lack of awareness to electronic resources provided by the library; ineffective communication channels, and language barrier.

This article aims to explain the essence of the theory of bibliography as it has developed in Russia since 1975. The basic methods used are literature review and analysis of theoretical concepts. The article consists of a background section, presentation of four main concepts of modern Russian bibliography and an attempt to relate those to the equivalent concepts in the Western (mainly English) LIS literature. The four Russian concepts described are the ‘documentary’ concept of bibliography by Korshunov, the ‘ideo-documentary’ concept by Sliadneva, the ‘cognitive’ concept by Fokeev and the ‘epistemological’ concept by Astakhova. Basic features and shortcomings of each theory are discussed. The ideas of the four authors had to be significantly compressed for the article, and the authors of this article also confronted major difficulties in reproducing the equivalent of Russian academic LIS language. The essential issues reflected in the theories are the context, in which bibliography emerges and develops, the basic functions and role of bibliography in society, the essential features and structure of bibliography, the regularities of the development of bibliography, the role of bibliographic science and the theory of bibliography.

To reveal the structure of the relationships that establish themselves on the World Wide Web, one needs to apply tools that faithfully represent the virtual environment. Some of the most interesting relationships are those that are brought to light by web-coupling (the Web analogue of bibliographic coupling). We here propose an analysis of this type based on the common links that are generated within a closed web environment, using multivariate statistics (principal component analysis, and multidimensional scaling) and a connection-based technique (Kohonen's self-organizing maps). The results show that it is possible to use the common links of web spaces in order to reveal the structures and the underlying relationships in a thematic closed environment.

This article reports the results of a study aimed at identifying the information needs and uses of the informal sector in Uganda. The demographic and business characteristics of these entrepreneurs are highlighted and empirically tested with regard to their information needs. This study has largely employed qualitative research methodologies, such as the critical incidence technique for interviews with 602 informal sector entrepreneurs from a variety of trades. Observations of the entrepreneurs' work environments and historical methods were also employed. The results suggest that modern/exotic models of information transfer based on textual media and ICT exhibit less impact on the entrepreneurs' information needs and use at macro levels because of poverty, illiteracy and poor information infrastructure. It is however noted that most ‘elite’ models share a platform with information behaviour of entrepreneurs at the micro levels. The study concludes that an appropriate model for information behaviour for the information poor community must be grounded on oral traditions and indigenous knowledge and be sensitive to poverty, infrastructure and illiteracy. Recognition is also made of the need for information repackaging and the use of appropriate media for information provision.