1,720,959 research outputs found
A Literature Review of Information Dissemination Techniques in the 21st Century Era
Full text linkOwing to advances in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), information repositories have radically changed their information dissemination platforms and employed new techniques. Information repositories such as libraries are striving to remain relevant in the 21st century. It has become essential for libraries to meet 21st century user needs and demands. Today libraries have acquired new roles and are making use of various technologies such as mobile technology and social networks to disseminate information to library users. ICTs have been employed in information services due to their ability to provide high speed and effective access. Usage of information communication technologies present information seekers with a variety of advantages such as; 24/7 connectivity, self-service platforms, limitless access and it is time saving. The purpose of this paper is to discuss various techniques used to disseminate information in the 21st century era. The paper aims to inform and raise awareness to 21st century information professionals about the use of technology in information dissemination. This paper is based on literature review, it is an in depth desk-top research
A Consolidation of Challenges Faced by School Libraries in Developing Countries
Full text linkAchieving quality education is a challenge for many developing countries. One of the problems leading to this challenge is the inability of governments to invest in the development and management of effective school libraries. The school library is a hub of knowledge for students and teachers. Thus, it plays a paramount role in the ability of students to achieve the desired level of literacy and numeracy. As a result, school libraries need to be fully equipped and have effective library services to support the teaching and learning process. This paper enumerates the problems that hinder effective school library services in developing countries. The main aim is to provide a picture of the status of school libraries in developing countries. Of which, if the situation is not addressed it will be difficult for developing countries to reach their desired level of development and be knowledge based economies. These challenges include; poor staffing practices, poor funding, lack of a library policy, poor ICT infrastructure, poor library facilities, and lack of awareness of the importance of school libraries. The findings in this paper are based on literature review and author’s own experience/observations. Only current sources which are within the 10 year window of publication were selected
Covid-19 and African Libraries: Perspectives Through Literature from the Library Philosophy and Practice (E-Journal)
Full text linkThis study sought to establish how African libraries have been thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic through systematic review of literature from the Library Philosophy and Practice e-Journal (LPP). The PRISMA guidelines were followed to review and select the twelve (12) articles used for qualitative analysis. The study findings established that research productivity pertaining to libraries and Covid-19 is very low in Africa based on LPP e-journal. Nigeria was established to be the most active country in this research phenomenon. Majority, of the studies were conducted in academic libraries, thus creating a gap in research. To sail through the pandemic, libraries are using various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Zoom, Microsoft teams and Skype to provide virtual reference services. Librarians also, went an extra mile to ensure dissemination of authentic COVID-19 information by collating and verifying information sources for their patrons. Services such as curb-side pick-up have also been introduced in Africa. However, it was not clear whether African libraries are conducting document delivery by scanning or through courier services. Challenges that are likely to fuel the pandemic and inhibit transition of libraries in to the 4IR era include lack of change management, lack of ICT literacy, inadequate ICT infrastructure, and lack of technological support, lack of clear policies, power cuts and financial issues. Research implications to policy makers, librarians and researchers have been established
A Glimpse into Botswana’s AI Readiness Landscape
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This study seeks to provide insights into Botswana’s AI readiness landscape. It was achieved by analysing secondary data from the Oxford Insights 2022- Government AI Readiness Index (AIRI). According to the AIRI, Botswana is in position 98, out of 181 countries surveyed. The major drawbacks to successful AI adoption were; a lack of AI strategy, limited capacity to support change, an immature technology sector incapable of supporting innovation, inadequate skills to support AI development, insufficient technological infrastructure to support AI, insufficient data to train AI models, and there are few use cases identified in the public sector. Despite these hurdles, the country is putting in efforts to transform digitally, and there are opportunities for improvement. The country is faring similarly, or even better than, regional peers but is lagging behind global peers in the upper middle-income group. Consequently, it is recommended that the government should start by developing an AI strategy to set the vision for AI adoption
A service delivery improvement strategy for a records management programme
No full textGood records management boosts efficient and effective public service delivery in that it minimizes litigation risks, promotes accountability and transparency, ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and supports informed decision-making. The current study sought to find out what initiatives have been implemented by land boards in Botswana, as a way of improving their records management programmes to enhance effective service delivery. An interpretive paradigm was adopted through a case study research design. This study adopted purposive sampling and collected data from 53 employees at the Tlokweng Land Board (TLB). Data were collected through interviews, observation, document review and an open-ended questionnaire. The study findings revealed that the TLB has implemented various initiatives as a way of improving the recordkeeping processes. As a result, the land board has improved its service delivery as there is adherence to policies, reduction of errors, online services, improved security of records and easy access to records. It is, therefore, recommended that organizations should move with time and continue to improve recordkeeping practices to remain relevant in the current environment
Strategic Framework for Service Delivery Improvement in School Libraries
Full text linkOne of the fundamentals to building a knowledge-based economy is through the provision of quality information via school libraries. Schools play a fundamental role in raising an educated and informed nation. Therefore, the school library is fundamental to the teaching and learning activities of the school. The school library should be able to provide resources that are relevant to the school curriculum and also be able to provide quality information services to both students and teachers. That being said, this study introduces a school library assessment model that can be used by school management and librarians to evaluate the effectiveness of their school library resources and services. The proposed model integrates the IFLA school library guidelines and the LibQUAL model. The study is based on literature review to explicitly present the proposed model. The proposed school library assessment model is expected to help school librarians to implement the right programs and acquire the right resources for the school library, to be able to meet the users` information needs and satisfy them, thereby making the library relevant to the 21st century information era. This will further ensure that the school library is rightly positioned to support training and teaching activities effectively. As a result, quality education and lifelong learning skills will be realized.Keywords: School libraries, LibQUAL, quality, service, service delivery framework
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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