Volume 72, Issue 2

Health Information Literacy (HIL) influences the decision making of individuals towards the understanding of health-related matters. Married women are the major contributors to family members’ health decisions in a country like Pakistan, where the role of women in family life is very significant. In most families, women are responsible for food selection, cooking, management of the home, including cleanliness etc. Married working women have an integral role both at home and workplace. The current study explores the everyday health information literacy (EHIL) of 213 married working women using a survey research design with a convenient sampling technique from two prominent universities of Lahore, Pakistan. The study’s findings reveal that most of the married working women (3.57 mean value) are well-aware of the sources from where the health-related information can be obtained. Sixty-two percent of the respondents prefer using allopathic healthcare methods for medical treatment. Moreover, 38 percent of women do not understand health-related terminologies. It has been noted that age, education, nature of the job, birthplace, nuclear family system, and educational environment are the significant demographic factors that contribute towards the levels of EHIL.

The present study aimed to rank the factors affecting the appointment of health library at central libraries of Iranian universities of medical sciences through employing the analytic network process. The statistical population of this applied study comprised the research directors and deputies as well as managers and assistants of central libraries of three universities of medical sciences of whom 12 were selected through the census method. Data were collected via a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using the decision-making techniques of ANP in Super Decisions 2.0.8. Results revealed that among criteria related to occupational factors, honesty and integrity obtained a higher rank . Out of the criteria related to organizational factors, familiarity with organizational technology and perception of objectives and strategies were two high-ranked criteria. Finally, from the criteria related to environmental factors, familiarity with the customer was ranked top, while familiarity with economic factors was ranked as the least important determinant. This study was aimed at offering a framework for step-by-step ranking of major criteria in the selection and recruitment of library directors in libraries for health professions education/academic health sciences libraries.

Leveraging a knowledge management model (KMM), organizing digital resources, and measuring performance beyond digital libraries continue to be hot topics for many organizations. Given its growing importance, the aim of this study was to design a robust integrated research model based on social cognitive theory and KMM to organize resources and improve the productivity of academic librarians to make services effective. Using a quantitative method based on key data collected by librarians at Pakistani universities, the researchers reviewed previously published literature and sought expert opinions to develop a research tool. The authors distributed 350 printed questionnaires to professionals from 190 universities, of which 339 were returned. These were analyzed to test the hypotheses and assess the accuracy of the measurement and structural models. After undergoing rigorous statistical analysis, the seven constructs using Social Cognitive Theory and the Knowledge Management Model have proven to be suitable for digital asset integration, employee productivity measurement, and high-quality academic services. In addition, the model based on social cognitive theory supports the application of KMM to promote knowledge culture, resource organization, and successful integration and innovation of academic services by enhancing the technical and professional skills of staff in academic institutions.

This research aims to investigate the work performance self-efficacy of university librarians using a cross-sectional survey method. The data were collected from currently working 200 university librarians at Higher Education Commission (HEC) recognized public and private sector universities in Punjab, Pakistan by adopting a validated and reliable questionnaire. Survey results indicate that university librarians focus on work goals and are therefore able to meet deadlines through planning and time management. They make efforts to update knowledge and skills pertaining to their job by actively participating in meetings and social gatherings. They are not harmful to their respective institutes and avoid sharing any negative aspect with other colleagues. A relationship is found between task and contextual performance, whereas there is no significant association between counterproductive work behavior and task performance. No correlation is observed between work performance self-efficacy and type of organization (public vs. private) in which university librarians are currently working. Furthermore, designations of the study participants do not affect their work performance self-efficacy, however, gender, age, and experience appear to be the predictors of job performance self-efficacy. These findings provide a pragmatic insight into work performance self-efficacy of university librarians that can be used as a guide in developing cohesive and useful directions for a need-based performance development training program.

The role of news types on people’s mobile news consumption has seldom been researched. In this study, the authors examine types of news participants consume, demographic differences, participants’ reactions to different types of news, and participants’ accounts of the impact of news types. Data were collected by conducting a diary study and follow-up interviews of university students in the USA total of 522 news items were submitted by 51 participants through a mobile diary tool. Participants’ reactions to the news were expressed through providing choices on 23 semantic differential scales. Fifteen survey respondents also participated in the follow-up interview after completing their news submissions and diary entries. Results show political and societal news were consumed most frequently. Statistically significant demographic differences and differences in participants’ evaluative and affective reactions were found. Qualitative analysis of the 15 follow-up interviews concerning news types and reading/sharing activities uncovered specific lived experiences of mobile news consumption patterns. By using a mixed-method approach, the study fills the gap and provides an enriched understanding of the relationship between news types and mobile news consumption experiences. The study also has practical implications for reporters and producers of news, and developers of news apps.

Cataloging and metadata description is one of the major competencies that a trainee cataloger must conquer. According to recent research results, library and information studies students experience difficulties understanding the theory, the terminology, and the tools necessary for cataloging. The experimental application of teaching models which derive from predominant learning theories, such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, may help in detecting the difficulties of a cataloging course and in suggesting efficient solutions. This paper presents in detail three teaching models applied for a cataloging course and investigates their effectiveness, based on a survey of 126 first-year students. The survey employed the Kirkpatrick model aiming to record undergraduate students’ perceptions and feelings about cataloging. The results revealed that, although a positive change in students’ behavior towards cataloging has been achieved, they still do not feel very confident about the skills they have acquired. Moreover, students felt that practicing cataloging more frequently will eliminate their difficulties. Finally, they emphasized the need for face to face courses, as the survey took place in the coronavirus pandemic, during which the courses were held via distance learning.

This research attempts to explore digital divide among tribes in Taiwan and to reveal relevant important tribal contextual features. Firstly, we collect residents’ connection event logs from the free wireless Internet, i-Tribe. Those connect behaviors are quantified as average of daily connection frequency, daily connection time, daily data transmission, inter-login time, Internet speed, and connection quality which are corresponding to evaluate how often, how long, how much, how active, how fast and the effectiveness of the information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility of tribes. Then the tribes are grouped into tribal clusters optimally by a rank aggregation algorithm and are asked if there are significant differences among them by three stages of hypothesis testing. After the phenomenon of digital divide is confirmed, some important contextual features, longitude, female dependency ratio, network environment level, economic service level, and policy cooperation level, are identified using the ordinal regression model (ORM).