Volume 62, Issue 4

Traditionally, science education has stressed the importance of teaching students to conduct ‘scientific inquiry’, with the main focus being the experimental model of inquiry used by real world scientists. Current educational approaches using constructivist pedagogy recognise the value of inquiry as a method for promoting the development of deep understanding of discipline content. A recent Information Learning Activity undertaken by a Grade Eight science class in an Australian school was observed to discover how inquiry- based learning is implemented in contemporary science education. By analysing student responses to questionnaires and assessment task outcomes, the author was able to determine the level of inquiry inherent in the activity and how well the model supported student learning and the development of students’ information literacy skills. Although students achieved well overall, some recommendations are offered that may enable teachers to better exploit the learning opportunities provided by inquiry based learning. Planning interventions at key stages of the inquiry process can assist students to learn more effective strategies for dealing with cognitive and affective challenges. Allowing students greater input into the selection of topic or focus of the activity may encourage students to engage more deeply with the learning task. Students are likely to experience greater learning benefit from access to developmentally appropriate resources, increased time to explore topics and multiple opportunities to undertake information searches throughout the learning activity. Finally, increasing the cognitive challenge can enhance both the depth of students’ learning and their information literacy skills.

The challenge of bringing metadata-based order to the World Wide Web to facilitate information retrieval has persisted for nearly twenty years. One popular front-runner known as the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES, or “Dublin Core”) answered the challenge with a flexible, simple system: fifteen optional descriptive elements that could be built into a variety of syntaxes for use and retrieval. A variety of national agencies and international consortiums encouraged Dublin Core adoption, but early critics like Thomas and Griffin (1998) warned that “although a common metadata standard [like Dublin Core] does offer much promise, it may be useless if it is not implemented widely.” This study explores Dublin Core implementation on the Internet by replicating previous research on metadata use across randomly selected websites as well as homepages belonging to National Libraries (NL) around the world such as the Library of Congress (U.S.), the National Library of Thailand, or Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The study considers two hypotheses: first, that contemporary public and NL website creators continue to be not sufficiently motivated to include any metadata in their source code; and second, that Dublin Core use in website source code continues to be remarkably infrequent. These hypotheses support critical observations on the failure to implement use of Dublin Core or any other metadata system on the World Wide Web. While the data show little change from previous counts of Dublin Core use in website source code as predicted, the majority of randomly-selected and National Library contemporary websites do include at least one metadata tag. The author concludes that the financial reward of increased findability may be a significant motivator reflected in this increase of metadata use.

This paper reports the findings from a research project which focused on determining the factors influencing acceptance of open access journals (OAJs) among Iranian medical researchers. Low use of OAJs as a publishing media, especially in developing countries, could be a sign of low acceptance of it. However, it is still not clear what factors influence researchers to publish their scholarly outputs through this channel. This study used a survey design and a questionnaire as the data collection instrument. The sample comprised 367 clinical/basic science academic staff of medical schools at public medical universities in Iran. Results of hierarchical multiple regression indicate that out of the 14 predictors of intention to publish in OAJs, only experience, attitude, facilitating conditions and type of university were significant. Also, results of hierarchical multiple regression show that out of 14 predictors of self-reported publishing in OAJs, intention, social influence, attitude, academic rank, facilitating conditions, type of university and familiarity were significant key predictors. This study is significant in that it provided a description of the current status of OA among Iranian medical researchers. It also investigated the acceptance of OAJs among researchers based on a theoretical framework derived from the UTAUT model, as well as the inclusion of attitude and anxiety as dimensions influencing acceptance.

This study aims at exploring the usefulness of an information literacy course in helping students develop skills and capabilities needed to use information effectively. In an earlier part of this study (Rehman and Al Awadhi 2012), we had found that an information literacy course made a significant difference in the skills and capabilities of students who took that course. We felt the need for additional research by conducting two focus group discussions with students and faculty members to investigate the benefits students gained and the obstacles they encountered while taking this course. In addition, this additional probe examined the perceptions of faculty members regarding course content, contribution of the course in developing students’ information literacy skills, resources and facilities supporting delivery of the course, and course evaluation.

This paper discusses a study that investigated the feasibility of providing Library and Information Management (LIM) higher education in Swaziland. The study centred on two major concerns / problems facing the country with respect to LIM higher education. The first concern is the dependence by the country on foreign schools to acquire higher education and training, and secondly, the required funding to import such education and training into the country. Also highlighted were issues of the relevance of the imported higher education and training to the country, and the major concerns of the government concerning funding for higher education and training in other countries. The study targeted five population groups as follows: prospective entrants to the LIM profession, existing and practicing LIM personnel, job advertisements for LIM personnel, existing and potential employers of LIM personnel, and training institutions likely to host LIM higher education and training. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained using survey questionnaires, interviews, content analysis and observation. Questionnaires gathered data from prospective entrants to the profession of LIM and existing employees / personnel in the profession. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with current and potential employers in the government and major LIM service organizations. The content analysis of newspaper advertisements was done on two local dailies covering a period of four years (2005-2008) to assess the job market in Library and Information Management. Observations were carried out in two higher education institutions to check whether or not they were capable of hosting LIM higher education. The results revealed that prospective entrants, personnel, employers and the training institutions were in support of higher education in LIM within the country. The content analysis of job advertisements produced low results, which suggests low feasibility, but only if the expectation is that job advertisements for a profession would run every day in a local newspaper. Employers in LIM insisted on the availability of jobs in the local market and highlighted several positive indicators of a growing market in this profession. We conclude the paper with recommendations for hosting education, stakeholder participation, balanced relevance and tracer studies.

Traditional information seeking behaviour models are not representative of indigenous values and customs. This article outlines research undertaken with New Zealand Māori secondary school students aged between 16-18 years to ascertain how they seek information in the Maori and the mainstream society cultural worlds in which they participate. The research outcomes indicate that these students primarily seek information from other people and in the process of doing so draw on tikanga Māori (Māori customs) to guide their behaviour. The research has resulted in the development of a new framework that describes these cultural behaviours and how they assist in the information seeking process.

Blogging has been well-established as a communication tool, yet the literature documenting its use in education is still developing and lacks the theoretical underpinning to back it up. Blogging in education and for education has critics as well as promoters. This research is a phenomenological study that aims to create a framework and rationale for the use of blogs in higher education. It is a comparative descriptive analysis of two educational blogging experiences in Kuwait: one is a blog used by a faculty member in the Library and Information Science Department at Kuwait University that is shared with graduate students attending the courses of that faculty. The second is administered by a former graduate student of the MLIS program at Kuwait University and is open to both faculty and students. A comparison of the two experiences is the basis for the analysis and generalizations provided about the use of blogs as an educational tool and for drawing a framework for using blogs in education.