Volume 68, Issue 1 -

The purpose of this paper is to show the features of document sharing in library and information professionals’ virtual communities. A novel method is offered to investigate document request and provision through group emails and compare personal and professional contacts. Using different search operators on two major Iranian email groups, IranKIS and LIS, 173 message pairs were identified as document request/ provision transactions during 2015–2016. Directed graphs were built for completed interlibrary document exchange transactions with results showing that 23 % of requests had LIS topics while three universities were distinguished as the hub organizations for document providing. Iranian librarians use email-based communities as a quick and reliable tool to provide documents for library users and themselves. The mixed combination of email exploration and social network analysis offered in this work can be used to visualize document exchange transactions among organizations and cities in virtual communities.

Th aim of the paper is to present findings of a study on information sources and information behavior of doctoral students at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The study also looked into student perceptions of the role of the academic library and their attitudes toward it as a legitimate partner in the research process, as doctoral students are required to publish the results of their doctoral research in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals during their course of study. However, they rarely use the library and its services; the study was undertaken with the intent to obtain insight into the students’ information behavior as well as needs and reasons for overlooking the library as a relevant partner in their research process. The online survey was conducted on a sample of 138 postgraduate students, with semi-structured interviews with five postgraduate students also conducted. The findings show a dominant student orientation towards online sources such as online databases and Google Scholar. Students tend to overlook the library as a relevant information source but have positive attitudes toward librarians (their knowledge, skills and courtesy). The library needs to become more active in promoting its services and, especially in the domain of postgraduate education, needs to be regarded as a necessary location for any serious research work, where librarians are regarded as cooperating partners in the research process. There were a few limitations of the study: respondents were unwilling to dedicate their time to this research and therefore the interviews were too short to examine the topics discussed in-depth, while the sample was extremely homogeneous, making the results only in part transferable to other contexts.

The aim of the article is to identify the limits of traditional methods of preserving ancient parchment Ge’ez manuscripts found in churches and monasteries of Tigray, Ethiopia. The researcher used interview and observation methods to gather relevant data in regard to manuscript preservation practices in churches and monasteries of Tigray, Ethiopia. General Collection Condition Survey (GCCS) and an Item-by-Item Survey were also employed to assess the physical and preservation status of ancient Ge’ez manuscripts, while survey checklist was used to document preservation condition assessments. It was generally viewed that churches and monasteries in Tigray have been playing a pivotal role in the production as well as preservation of ancient Ge’ez parchment manuscripts, however, the assessment result shows most of the traditional techniques employed by these institutions to preserve manuscripts are neither functional nor strong enough to withstand the ever-growing human and natural impacts on these priceless artefacts. Therefore, the paper concludes that in view of the relevance of Ge’ez manuscripts for the Ethiopian people, as well as the poor state of affairs with regard to the preservation and availability of these manuscripts, a new approach that ensures long-term preservation and guarantees their availability for current and future generations should be designed. As a way forward, it is deemed necessary to accomplish in situ conservation and digitization works through scientific procedures and make the digital document available to the wider public using digital library technology. This new approach will enable us to rescue the vanishing literary heritage and unlock the local knowledge contained in those ancient Ge’ez manuscripts through systematic and scientific study as well as to ensure long term preservation.

This study aimed to use the Kirkpatrick four-stage model to evaluate the learning outcomes of information organization (IO) courses. The study used the learning outcomes evaluation method and case studies; the evaluation method was used to transform the expected achievement and course goal according to cataloging competencies. The 3-credit “information organization” (IO) course at National Chengchi University and enrolled students during the 2016 fall semester were selected as the case study, with the study population consisting of 33 graduate students of two classes. Cataloging competencies were transformed into learning objectives and ten course units for the IO course, including information organization concept, descriptive cataloging, subject analysis, cataloging management and technology. The study used the four–stage Kirkpatrick model to evaluate student learning outcomes of the IO course, including evaluation of the level 1 reaction, level 2 learning, level 3 behavior and level 4 results. The empirical data collected from the course tasks was used to evaluate level 2 through three assignments, four tests and a final examination, while a questionnaire survey was used to evaluate levels 1, 3 and 4, with the student satisfaction score 4.51, shown with the IO course. As the average student achievement score was 83.48 points, the post-test scores of two classes’ graduate students were significantly higher than pre-test scores, with the study thus proving that all students made progress after taking the courses. Based on the Kirkpatrick model, the results provide favorable evidence for course effectiveness and its value, as well as illustrating that the students learned well on the information organization course.

This paper focuses on the recent development of the National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project in China. This is a national scale project that was initiated by the Chinese central government and has stimulated immense academic attention. Specifically, this paper attempts to understand people’s expectations and requirements on the project. Moreover, this paper aims to articulate and provide specific and useful suggestions for relevant politicians and project operators so that public expectations and requirements can be carefully met. A survey was used to sample a very large and widely distributed population in China, with a questionnaire designed and disseminated through an online survey service platform. A total of 1,076 usable responses were returned and 29 invalid response cases were discarded, yielding an effective response rate of 97.3 percent. An evident public expectation has emerged from the data collected which shows that the Chinese public primarily expects a comprehensive, convenient and unified one stop online access portal to all types of Chinese digital cultural heritage. This paper is of interest to Chinese government officials as well as professionals working at libraries, museums, archives and other cultural institutions in China. Furthermore, although the context of this study is China, the research findings, insights and experiences gained in this study can be shared across international borders.