Volume 68, Issue 3 -

With the spatial culture theory as the basis and from the perspective of cultural heritage, this paper elucidates the construction of the Liu Xiao Ling Tong Book Pavilion of Yunnan Normal University (which may also be interpreted as a Traditional Culture Commons), introduces modern library concepts such as ‘celebrity charm’, featured resources and space reconstruction, as well as provides enlightenment to the library cycle with Chinese wisdom and experience. This paper applies participant observation method, interviewing method and textual analysis method with the data collection period from September 2015 to December 2016. Through library space reconstruction and the inheritance of certain outstanding features of Chinese culture, the Liu Xiao Ling Tong Book Pavilion has had an influence among university faculty and students, the university library circle in China and even the entire education circle, while also complemented and improved the applicability of the spatial culture theory in the library circumstance.

In a survey of 31 informational world cities, we investigate the state of the art public library core services. For this study, we applied the core service catalog developed by (Mainka, A., S. Hartmann, L. Orszullok, I. Peters, A. Stallmann, and W. G. Stock. 2013. “Public Libraries in the Knowledge Society: Core Services of Libraries in Informational World Cities.” Libri 63 (4): 295–319. 10.1515/libri-2013-0024), counted the services offered by the libraries and compared findings with the results from 2013, allowing us to calculate a score for each library and rank them accordingly. An overall improvement of the range of services was observed, with North American libraries taking the top three positions in the ranking. To get a clearer picture of the challenges facing libraries today, personal interviews were also conducted with (chief) librarians, especially concerning developments such as maker spaces, increasing demand for information literacy instruction and the changing role of physical library space. The results presented in this paper highlight best practice examples of library services in prototypical cities of the knowledge society.

In the interest of developing relevant information services for ECD practitioners in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), as ECD is one of the national priorities, a study was conducted to ascertain their information needs and information-seeking behaviour. Using Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain’s General Model of the Information Seeking of Professionals (GMISP) as the theoretical framework, and situated within interpretivist paradigm, the study took a qualitative approach to collect data, with the results based on group discussions and an interview with a key informant. The research focused on establishing Grade R practitioners’ information needs, with information sources they often consulted, actions and strategies used when seeking information, as well as challenges they face when seeking information. Grade R practitioners need information to increase their knowledge for optimum performance of their duties. To satisfy the demand for information, it is recommended that the EMM libraries and Gauteng Department of Education school libraries should consider a coordinated and accessible library and information service (LIS) that supports ECD practitioners. The plans and design of LIS in the EMM should accommodate the information needs expressed by the Grade R practitioners.

In educational settings, physical objects or artwork are commonly used to convey meanings. These designs can be enhanced in ways which provide dynamic information overlay and context for children’s stories, such as how augmented reality technology (AR) uses created overlay digital information on the realistic object for enhancing interactions in learning and reading. The recent advancements in mobile AR have attracted a great deal of attention in the area of children’s learning and reading. In this context, a mobile AR story library (containing 228 picture books created by young artists from secondary schools) was developed for children’s reading. An AR platform (Hp Reveal) was used with Drupal for the management of story video clips, with children invited to immerse themselves in the artwork and stories in the library. Specific research questions were raised in this study: (1) how did teachers and the library implement the AR stories for children’s reading and (2) how did children react to AR reading? Observations and questionnaires were used to gather research data, while themes for scaffolding children’s reading in the mobile AR reading environment are summarized. It was observed that adults learned to use the AR mobile application and set up physical reading spaces (the library and classrooms) for children. When children were reading with AR, adults provided guidance and support for scaffolding children’s reading processes. The children were positive about the use of tablet with AR for reading stories and enjoyed reading the story content triggered by the AR technology.

This study examined the task type as an important factor in collaborative information seeking activities, devoting special attention to its impacts on collaborative information seeking behavior, awareness and sentiment. Collaborative information search experiments were conducted on a collaborative search system—Coagmento—for three different types of task (informational, transactional and navigational). System log, surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, with quantitative and qualitative analyses carried out on the data which related to 12 participants in four groups. Quantitative analysis employed SPSS 20, while qualitative analysis was carried out using ATLAS.ti. Through our research, we found that the task types have impact on users’ collaborative information seeking behavior in terms of web page browsing, search and image using, as well as interact with task awareness. A collaborative team approach is more suitable for completing the informational task than transactional and navigational tasks, while the task type also influences the sentiment. Concretely speaking, the transactional task causes more negative emotions.

Information literacy is considered an essential competency in the workplace because it gives a competitive advantage, improves decision-making and enhances efficiency as well as effectiveness of the workforce. This study intends to investigate information literacy among scientists working at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Lahore. The data were collected from 121 scientists using a questionnaire, with both descriptive as well as inferential statistics applied for data analysis. The results indicated that a large majority of these scientists never received any formal IL training during their entire career. A large majority of these scientists, in general, perceived IL instructions as important and preferred short-term training programs if offered. In addition, these scientists were confident and competent in using searching tools, multiple printed and electronic information resources, comprehending published research and writing research papers. However, they were less comfortable in interpreting visual information, defining information needs, assessing relevance and quality, synthesizing and evaluating gathered information, using library e-resources, managing citations as well as developing and initiating search strategies. The age, gender, academic qualification, research experience and number of publications appeared as the predictor of IL self-efficacy. There was a critical need for making arrangements regarding IL instruction program for in-service scientists.

Today, most of the results and knowledge obtained from national and international research do not actually change the health status of people, which has led to a gap or distance between knowledge and practice. This research was a descriptive survey and examined the status of the knowledge translation process among the researchers of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from 2011 to 2015. The study population consisted of the researchers of the Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, who were chosen using a completely randomized design. 83 researchers were finally selected by the inclusion criteria of presenting or collaborating on at least five approved areas of research during the 2011–2015 period. Data collection was undertaken using the Assessment Questionnaire of Academic Researchers Knowledge Translation Activities, with its psychometric test also used. The results showed that the researchers’ performance was rated in the fields of transfer of the research question, knowledge production, knowledge transfer and promoting the use of evidence with 64, 75, 63 and 67 % of the total score (mean± SD) of 19.40 ± 3.89, 26.30 ± 3.97, 37.79 ± 6.89 and 13.39 ± 3.41 respectively. Based on the results of this study, the performance of the researchers in the process of knowledge translation was at a desired level while, in the fields of the research tool, the researchers had the best research performance in knowledge production and promoting the use of evidence, transfer of research question and knowledge transfer (all at the desirable level). However, the gap between knowledge and practice of the researchers in the fields of transfer of the research question and knowledge transfer was noticeable. Therefore, in order to strengthen all aspects of the research activities of the knowledge translation process, the provision of proper premises and structure will be a priority for the university’s research and technology departments.