DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology

Social Tags Versus LCSH Descriptors a Comparative Metadata Analysis in the Field of Economics

Kalyan Sundar Samanta — 2019-07-15

The concept of ‘social tagging’ has gained popularity nowadays due to the emergence of web 2.0 technologies. Those technologies led to the practice of associating metadata with digital resources among users through collaboratively or socially for self-information retrieval. Many researchers have opined that social tags can enhance the use of library collections. The present study was predominantly carried out to compare social tags collected from the LibraryThing website with Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) descriptors collected from the Library of Congress Online Catalogue applied for thousand book titles in the field of Economics. The study also aimed to know whether social tags can be applied in the library database or not. The findings elucidate that users mostly use descriptors (47.39 %) as tags than expert’s usage of tags (12.77 %) as descriptors. Spearman’s correlation suggests that 75 per cent chance where tags and descriptors can be used simultaneously in overlapping terms. The Jaccard similarity coefficient identifies that users and experts use different terminologies to annotate the books. Users and experts use at least one common keyword for major book titles (908). Users mostly sought title based keywords but experts use mostly subject-based terminologies. The study further clarifies that social tags may be incorporated into the library databases but cannot replace LCSHs. The accessibility and usage of documents especially in the field of economics may be enhanced once the notion of social tags is incorporated with the library OPAC.

Scientometric Visualisation of the Documentary Array on Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site

Valentina V Rykova — 2019-07-15

The article presents the analysis of a documentary array on Semipalatinsk nuclear test site using analytical services of the Web of Science database. It identifies the authors, organisations, countries, leading in the publications number at the research field. Shows the journals in which articles on the studied problem are published most frequently. Enumerates scientific meetings where the problems of Semipalatinsk test site were discussed and identifies the most cited publications. Using CiteSpace software, the paper reveals and visualises research fronts and its intellectual bases by means clustering and cluster automated labelling of Semipalatinsk test site papers co-citation network. Document co-citation network and research clusters are revealed using CiteSpace software. It shows, that studies are related to research of medical and biological (genetic changes, diseases as a result of ionizing radiation) effects of nuclear tests and its effects on the environmental situation (degree of contamination of the territory); the effectiveness of various dosimetry methods to determine the degree of radiation exposure on living organisms and objects of inanimate nature. The work represents scientometric visualisation of the documentary array showing research trends on Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

Usability of Central Library Websites of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences an Evaluation

Shafi Habibi — 2019-07-15

With regard to the potential of huge knowledge dissemination by academic library websites, their usability is considered as a matter of great interest to university administrators as well as users. In the present study, a descriptive survey was designed aimed at evaluating usability of central library websites of type-1 universities of medical sciences in Iran in order to identify their usability issues and to provide inputs for possible remediation efforts to improve the design of similar websites in the future. The research procedure involved a library study to identify the tasks typically needed on library websites, use of the identified tasks to design a checklist for measuring three dimensions of usability (effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction), and finally a usability evaluation by two specialists of medical informatics and two librarianship experts. The given websites were rated “good” (60 % - 80 %) in terms of usability and no statistically significant difference was found between evaluations by different experts. It was concluded that more attention to website usability could improve users’ interest in services and facilitate realisation of goals in parent organisations. The results of this study could provide a basic framework for website design and improvement through giving proper attention to usability dimensions.

Relationship between Altmetrics and Citations A Study on the Highly Cited Research Papers

Shabnam Heydari — 2019-07-15

The present study aims to assess highly cited articles using altmetrics and citations and identify the relationship between them. The statistical population consists of all the highly cited articles on surgery indexed on the Web of Science. The number of article citations was measured using the Web of Science and the altmetric score of the articles using the Altmetric Bookmarklet. The analysis of the data was carried out using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Of the 1077 highly cited surgery articles, 62.74 per cent had an altmetric score. The highest number of received citations was 1787, and the highest altmetric score was 2019. A positive and significant correlation was observed between the number of citations and the policy-making documents, Wikipedia citations and CiteULike (P<0.001). A positive but non-significant correlation was also observed between the number of citations and the number of Mendeley readers (r=0.02, P>0.05). A poor, negative and significant correlations were observed between the number of citations and the overall altmetric score of the highly cited surgery articles (r=-0.235, P<0.001). The findings may be due to the different pattern of using social media by the surgery researchers compared to the researchers of other fields. Altmetrics can only be used to complement citations and not replace them.

Determinants of Electronic Book Adoption in Nigeria

Okocha Foluke — 2019-07-15

The study examined the adoption of electronic books (e-books) among undergraduate students in Kwara State, Nigeria using the unified theory of technology acceptance and use model (UTAUT), with a view to understanding the factors that lead to its adoption. The population consisted of 300 undergraduate students from federal, state and private universities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Results showed that usage of electronic books in scholarly databases, procured by the library, was relatively low, with more than 50 per cent of respondents claiming to have used e-books only once. Students in federal and state universities showed preference for e-books while private university students showed preference for paper books. In examining the intention to adopt e-books, using the UTAUT model, results showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions were major determinants of e-book adoption, while gender played a moderating role. Performance expectancy and effort expectance significantly influenced male students, while effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions influenced female students significantly. It is paramount for university administrators to encourage the adoption of electronic books by promoting a lecturer-student model and improving the user interface to encourage the use of these resources.

Status of Management College Libraries in Bhubaneswar Odisha, India a Comparative Study

Bhanu Partap — 2019-07-15

The aim of the present study is to explore the current status of management college libraries in Bhubaneswar region of Odisha, India. A questionnaire based survey has been conducted in the selected management college libraries in Bhubaneswar region of Odisha and tried to evaluate the current status of staff, collection, services, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, budgetary provision, and other related aspects. The copies of well structured questionnaire have been distributed among the seven management college libraries in Bhubaneswar in the month of January 2019, out of which, five college libraries have been responded positively. It was found that all the responded management college libraries were providing Internet and Wi-Fi services and have adopted open access system to its collection. The library of XIMB has the highest number of books (50,000) in its collection, whereas, the library of RCM has 44,500, ASBM has 26,562, KIITSOM has 20,868 and MIMTS has 5000. It is also found that all the libraries under study were automated their activities and services with the implementation of professional library management software, as well as offering open access to its collection. Based on the findings, the researchers were also suggested that more and more electronic resources must be procured by all the libraries under study as well as IT infrastructure should be regularly enhanced so that users’ satisfaction could be achieved at utmost level.

Status and Impact of Social Media and Networking Sites on Students of College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences

Tanveer Haider Naqvi — 2019-07-15

The present study investigated the status and impact of social media and networking sites on College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences’ students of Fiji National University, Fiji. Likert scale was used in the questionnaire. The collected data from 516 (86.00 per cent) usable questionnaires was tabulated and analysed using statistical tools and techniques. The findings showed that the majority of students participated in and satisfied with high usage of Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram accessed through laptops and PCs on daily and weekly basis. The students made their profiles visible only for the well-known people and comforted with notorious postings. The positive impacts as communication with family and friends, participation in networking activities, and involvement in social activities, as well as negative impacts as discontinuation to the sites for misusing their information, distraction from research/assignments/careers activities, continue if the account is hacked, no review of privacy settings for controlling notorious postings, and consume too much time were identified as the utmost effects of social media and SNSs. This study provides opportunity to higher management to review the social software for the benefit of Fiji National University and to carry out future related studies especially in Fiji.

Integration of ICT in Library Instruction in Clifford University, Owerrinta, Nigeria a Study

Saturday Unwelegbemenwe Omeluzor — 2019-07-15

The study investigated the integration of information communication and technology (ICT) with library instruction (LI) in Clifford University Owerrinta (CLU), Abia State, Nigeria. The study adopted total enumeration method with a population of 124 first year students of 2016/2017 academic session. Two instruments were developed and validated by two professors in the field of Library and Information Science with a reliability result of 0.82 and 0.84 respectively using Cronbach alpha procedure. The instruments were administered face-to-face to the same respondents who registered for the course in the first and second semesters with 100 per cent participation. The finding showed that a change from the traditional method of instruction to an inclusive LI with ICT integration has a significant effect on students’ use of ICT tools and related IT facilities in private university. The study recommended that ICT-based courses should be inculcated in LI curriculum; ICT tools such as projector, interactive board, computers, laptops and Internet connection should be made available for use during LI course while librarians should support and instruct students to acquire ICT skill in order to use ICT-based library information resources effectively.

Usage of e Journals in University of North Bengal under INFLIBNET (2012 2018) analysis with INFISTATS

Manash Esh — 2019-07-15

INFLIBNET under its e-Shodhsindhu consortium scheme has introduced the users of University of North Bengal with the e-Journal facility. The e-journal facility provided under INFLIBNET has brought another opportunity for university libraries to serve their users with high-quality content. This change needs to be further evaluated to identify the actual usage picture. The paper identifies the trend in the use of e-journal facilities during 2012-2018 with the help of INFISTATS (usage statistics portal for e-Resource). This has determined the period of optimal use of e-journal, which shows the popularity of e-Journals in the university. It identifies the year in which the maximum and minimum use of e-Journals is found, and J-STOR & Science Direct has the maximum use percentage (55 percent). The study also found that seven e-Journals had the highest percentage of use (91 percent) indicating the extensive use of e-journal facilities by the user community of the University of North Bengal.