The integration of ICT in library and information science curriculum analytical study of students’ perception in Jordanian Universities

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 461-478
Author(s):  
Younis Al-Shwabkah ◽  
Faten Hamad ◽  
Nashrawan Taha ◽  
Maha Al-Fadel

Purpose This study aims to explore undergraduate students’ perceptions of teaching information and communication technology (ICT) courses in the library and information science (LIS) program in Jordanian universities. It also aims at investigating the correlation between the impact of some variables, namely, gender, the type of university, academic year and student GPA on and their students’ views. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative methods were adopted. A questionnaire with 40 items was distributed on a stratified random sample of 220 students from four LIS departments in Jordan and, of whom, 203 responded with a response rate of 92.3 per cent. Findings Research findings indicated that teaching ICT courses was considered highly important. Students stressed on the importance of incorporating ICT courses in LIS programs. They also pointed out the competence of the teaching staff and the efficacy of their teaching methods. On the other hand, student assessments of the curriculum content, the teaching pedagogy and methods of assessment were on an average level. In addition, the findings indicated that resources and facilities necessary to teach ICT courses were available and adequate. It was noted that the “university” was the only factor that affected results; the University of Jordan students showed a higher satisfaction. The other factors (gender, academic year and GPA) did not appear to affect student perceptions. Originality/value Previous studies investigated the importance of teaching ICT courses in general but did not consider students’ perceptions. Only a few studies discussed students’ perceptions of studying ICT courses but in a different context, i.e. Kuwait. This research focused on students’ perceptions of studying ICT in Jordan as a new geographic region. This would be beneficial for other developing countries to learn from this experience and refine their ICT curricula and LIS programs accordingly.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javaria Javaid ◽  
Saira Soroya ◽  
Khalid Mahmood

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of faculty members towards knowledge-sharing in the University of Education, Lahore. The impact of personal and organizational factors that may contribute to effective knowledge-sharing among the university’s teaching staff is also analyzed. The factors affecting the willingness of the faculty members to share knowledge are broadly classified as “organizational” and “personal” factors. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on permanent teaching staff working at different campuses of the University of Education all over the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The survey instrument for this study was adapted from four studies. The questionnaires were distributed among 246 faculty members personally. Findings The findings of the study showed that the faculty members were familiar with the importance of knowledge-sharing and were also interested in sharing their knowledge and expertise with others. The results showed that organizational factors (trust, reward system and organizational culture) played a vital role in enhancing the knowledge-sharing attitude of faculty members. The impact of these factors on knowledge-sharing attitude was significant. Originality/value This is the very first study which explored the personal and organizational factors of knowledge-sharing in a specific academic institution from Pakistan. The findings of the research provided useful insights to the management of the University of Education particularly and other universities in general to design strategies for enhancing knowledge-sharing culture in the higher education institution. These findings may also be helpful for other developing countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Anwarul Islam ◽  
Naresh Kumar Agarwal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the place of library and information Science (LIS) research within leading knowledge management (KM) journals and conferences. Design/methodology/approach Authors examined articles published from 2000-2018 in top-20 KM publications identified by Google Scholar to look for relationship with LIS. Authors analyzed the identified LIS-related articles to determine the publication trends based on LIS terms used, populations, authorship pattern, country, information setting type and top-cited articles. Findings Authors found that the coverage of LIS-related articles within leading KM publications was very low. From the more than 10,000 KM research articles, less than 1 per cent were LIS-related. Research limitations/implications This study would help LIS researchers measure the space they have created for their field within leading KM research. By showing the relatively low coverage of LIS within KM research, the study demonstrates that LIS researchers/practitioners need to do more for LIS to be recognized as an important area within KM. KM publications can also enable greater synergies with LIS for mutual benefit. Originality/value LIS researchers have increasingly called for KM implementation within libraries. The KM field has a long history in library practice in the context of managing and organizing codified knowledge. Both KM and LIS share the common goals of providing access to knowledge for sharing, transfer and use. However, hardly any studies have looked at the amount of synergy or overlap between these two different but related areas, and whether LIS matters to KM, even though LIS practitioners have been highlighting that KM matters to LIS.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Leung

Gallant, Gail. Apparition. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2013. Print.This Young Adult mystery-ghost story tells the story of seventeen year-old clairvoyant, Amelia MacKenzie. Amelia has seen ghosts since she was a little girl, and after her mother passed away from cancer, Amelia saw her mother’s ghost too. Until recently, Amelia thought she was imagining these visions, but that all changes when her best friend and crush Matthew dies.Amelia lives near the small city of Owen Sound, Ontario, with her grandmother Joyce, and her two brothers Ethan and Jack. Amelia struggled with depression after her mother’s death, but her friendship with Matthew helped her through the hardest time of her life, and leads to burgeoning romantic feelings. After Amelia gathers the strength to express her feelings to him, Matthew is flustered. The next time she meets him, however, Matthew is acting strangely, and while giving Amelia a ride home, begins to talk about a mysterious girl. Amelia finds out the next day that Matthew apparently killed himself in a nearby barn. Although devastated, Amelia feels something is off about Matthew’s death.At Matthew’s funeral, Amelia meets a local journalist named Morris Dyson. Morris investigates paranormal occurrences, as he believes ghosts travel along specific geographic routes, and sometimes become stuck or cause trouble. Morris also believes Amelia can see ghosts, just like he knew her mother could. Morris suspects Matthew’s death is linked to similar deaths that happened in the same barn - all young men who committed suicide after heart-break surrounding a mysterious woman named Dot. Morris theorizes a ghost is in the barn and causing all these problems.With the help of Morris’ handsome and charming son, Kip, Amelia and Morris begin to unravel the mystery of the barn, the ghosts who still haunt it (including Matthew), and the impact for those who come into contact with the barn. At the same time, Amelia learns to come to terms with her gift, her grief, and to explore her own identity.Gail Gallant conveys the stark beauty of the Canadian landscape throughout her novel, and captures the unique and realistic culture of small town Ontario. The setting will strike home with many Canadian youth. Even with its supernatural elements, Gallant’s characters are interesting and realistic, especially for a young adult novel. Amelia makes a notable heroine not because of her clairvoyance, but from how she learns to understand her own feelings as an ordinary teenager. Amelia cares deeply for her brothers, and her stern, no-nonsense grandmother, but can at times find them aggravating. She also navigates realistic issues, such as family, friendship, and integrity in relationships. Gallant presents these themes with sophistication and empathy.Apparition tackles mature issues including depression, grief, death, romance, the afterlife, and murder. Young readers may find some content scary, although the novel is more suspenseful than frightening. The book stands complete on its own, but has a sequel, Absolution.Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Colette LeungColette Leung is a graduate student at the University of Alberta, working in the fields of Library and Information science and Humanities Computing who loves reading, cats, and tea. Her research interests focus around how digital tools can be used to explore fields such as literature, language, and history in new and innovative ways.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-185
Author(s):  
Mike McGrath

Purpose This paper aims to review the current library and information science (LIS) literature for document supply, resource sharing and other issues such as open access (OA) that have an impact on the service. Design/methodology/approach The approach is based on the scanning of about 150 journals, reports, websites and blogs. Findings OA continues to grow and, hence, the impact of document supply. Improvements in the Interlending and Document Supply service are satisfying. Originality/value This paper is the only regular review of LIS literature in this subject area.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chukwuma Clement Okeji ◽  
Okeoghene Mayowa-Adebara

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the library school’s curriculum in Nigeria with the aim of comparing it with international and national library and information science (LIS) guidelines regarding provision of “digital libraries” course. Design/methodology/approach This study covered 31 universities offering LIS approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC). The main instrument for data collection for the study was analysis of departmental documents containing the LIS curriculum. Second, some library and information science educators from universities that were yet to integrate the course digital libraries in their LIS curriculum were interviewed. Findings This study revealed that majority of the library schools offer the course “digital libraries” or related areas as core course in their curricula. However, only few library schools have computer laboratories for students to enhance digital library skills. Some LIS educators in the library schools identified challenges such as lack of qualified information and communication technology (ICT) staff to handle the course coupled with lack of computer laboratories equipped with modern computers with stable internet facilities in the LIS departments in Nigeria. Practical implications The findings from this study may inform curriculum revision and updating efforts to make it more relevant by incorporating a stand-alone course on “digital libraries” and provision of computer laboratories in the LIS departments to produce future ICT/digital librarians. Originality/value If university administrators, decision-making body in the departments and LIS educators understand the factors that are currently standing in the way of integrating a course on digital libraries, then those barriers can be removed or lowered. If the enabling factors are appreciated, then actions can be taken to stimulate the implementation of the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN)/NUC recommendations in all library schools in Nigerian universities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Hikmat Ullah Khan ◽  
Tassawar Iqbal ◽  
Saqib Iqbal

Purpose Bibliometrics is one of the research fields in library and information science that deals with the analysis of academic entities. In this regard, to gauge the productivity and popularity of authors, publication counts and citation counts are common bibliometric measures. Similarly, the significance of a journal is measured using another bibliometric measure, impact factor. However, scarce attention has been paid to find the impact and productivity of conferences using these bibliometric measures. Moreover, the application of the existing techniques rarely finds the impact of conferences in a distinctive manner. The purpose of this paper is to propose and compare the DS-index with existing bibliometric indices, such as h-index, g-index and R-index, to study and rank conferences distinctively based on their significance. Design/methodology/approach The DS-index is applied to the self-developed large DBLP data set having publication data over 50 years covering more than 10,000 conferences. Findings The empirical results of the proposed index are compared with the existing indices using the standard performance evaluation measures. The results confirm that the DS-index performs better than other indices in ranking the conferences in a distinctive manner. Originality/value Scarce attention is paid to rank conferences in distinctive manner using bibliometric measures. In addition, exploiting the DS-index to assign unique ranks to the different conferences makes this research work novel.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1016-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Geraei ◽  
Gholamreza Heidari

Purpose – The purpose of the present survey is to identify and measure generic core competencies essential for Iranian library and information science (LIS) students. Design/methodology/approach – The study population included all undergraduate LIS students in Iran, and the sample included all undergraduate LIS students in the three universities of Tehran, Shahid Chamran and Ferdowsi of Mashhad. The study was performed during the second semester (February to May) of the 2010-2011 academic year. After a thorough review of the literature, a pattern for generic core competencies was formulated and, accordingly, a researcher-designed questionnaire was developed and distributed. The final data analysis was carried out using 207 completed questionnaires, and the data were analysed using the SPSS19 software. Findings – Except for English and management, the major participants’ scores mean for the 12 identified generic core competencies were higher than the total mean. Originality/value – Besides presenting a new theoretical pattern for measuring core generic competencies, especially for students in the LIS field, the study is expected to help higher education planners to channel their efforts into strengthening the examined competencies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 5-7
Author(s):  
Aziz Ur Rahman ◽  
Haroon Idrees ◽  
Arif khan

Purpose This study aims to explore the awareness status of Web 2.0 tools among library and information science (LIS) professionals in the University Libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Design/methodology/approach The study used quantitative method to collect data from 73 LIS professionals in 18 public sector university libraries of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Inferential and descriptive statistical techniques were used to analyze data using SPSS. Findings It was observed from the findings that majority of LIS professional s possess good knowledge of MS Office; however, some senior librarians were less acquainted. Internet facility was available to 60 participants out of 66. Librarians were not familiar with many services of Web 2.0; however, Facebook, YouTube and Skype were most familiar among the librarians. Majority of the respondents had no experience of using podcasting, RSS feeds, LinkedIn, LibraryThing, Flickr and MySpace. On the other hand, e-mail services, Facebook and YouTube were founded to be the most commonly used Web 2.0 tools among respondents. Problems faced by majority of the respondents were power failure, lack of training, non-cooperation from higher authorities, low speed of internet and financial problems. Practical implications These research results can be very beneficial for the interested librarians in universities, when they plan to use Web 2.0 applications in their libraries. Originality/value This study presents an overall picture of Web 2.0 applications in university libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and attempts to provide the readers with helpful information to better understand how their colleagues elsewhere are utilizing Web 2.0 tools in execution of library services.


2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 482-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priti Jain

Purpose Advancement in Information and communication technologies (ICTs) has revolutionised Library and Information Science (LIS) education and libraries. Both theory and practice have been transformed completely. LIS education programmes have become highly competitive and must be market-driven and technology-oriented. At the same time, academic libraries have been transformed and have become dynamic. Fostering a close collaboration between LIS educators and practitioners can multiply their strength and abilities by sharing educational resources and theoretical and practical knowledge. This paper aims to present the findings of a study carried out to investigate the current status of collaboration among LIS educators and library practitioners at the University of Botswana. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaires from both LIS educators at the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS) and practicing librarians working at the University of Botswana Library (UBL). To follow-up some of the issues, an interview was carried out with a subject librarian and a focus group discussion method was used to discuss some of the challenges from the findings. Findings The major collaborative activities from the DLIS staff were identified as the following: creating awareness of library resources and promoting library usage among students, facilitating library material selection and inviting librarians as guest lecturers to teach in the classroom. The main collaborative activities from practicing librarians were found to be the following: delivering information literacy instruction, providing professional/practical experience to students and information sharing with the DLIS teaching staff. The major challenges were identified as the following: different cultures of educators and librarians, lack of need to collaborate and lack of formal policy at the department and the university level. Research limitations/implications The UBL has 51 library staff members. All the librarians were not included in this research study, only senior librarians and library management were involved in the study. No theoretical framework was used to carry out the study. The questionnaire was designed based on the general literature in the field of professional collaboration among faculty and educators in the information profession. The follow-up interview and focus group discussion were conducted to address the collaborative activities and challenges that were acknowledged by at least 50 per cent of the participants. Issues with less than 50 per cent responses were considered insignificant to follow-up. Follow-up interview was conducted only with one subject librarian. As all subject librarians have the same job profile and undertake the similar activities, it was assumed that one subject librarian can represent others. Originality/value This research paper contributes to the body of literature. It may be useful for other LIS schools and libraries that work in similar environments, and it also opens up avenues for further research on this topical issue.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 547-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Thomas ◽  
Anne E. Leonard

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to interpret and discuss survey results of a study of academic librarians’ scholarship and creative work outside of library and information science in order to reveal some librarians’ motivations to perform such work as well as their perceptions of administrators’ attitudes toward it. Design/methodology/approach – The authors published a link to a qualitative survey instrument on COLLIB-L and ULS-L, the e-mail lists for the college libraries section and the university libraries section of American Library Association, asking that only academic librarians engaged in scholarship and creative work outside of library and information science participate. This paper is an exploratory analysis of the survey results. Findings – Librarians reported that they produce such work for many reasons, including personal satisfaction, dynamic and successful liaison work, and ongoing commitment to scholarship and creative work. Academic librarians who produce non-LIS work do so with varying levels of support, and the recognition of such work is inconsistent among institutions. Originality/value – The authors are the first to query American academic librarians specifically about their scholarship or creative work outside of library and information science. Managers and administrators will glean much about academic librarians’ attitudes toward such work and how it adds value to the library operation and institution. Findings could affect criteria for reappointment, promotion, and tenure.


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