نشریه مطالعات کتابداری و سازماندهی اطلاعات
سال بیست و دوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 88، زمستان 1390)

in the evaluation of digital libraries. This research aimed to review all of the levels, patterns, methods and elements effectiveDesign/Methodology/Approach: resources were reviewed and their findings cited when needed.This study was done based on a literature review. Related methods and patterns of evaluation could be applied linked to evaluation purposes including understanding basic concepts like users’ information seeking behavior, ensuring the effectiveness of investment in user-oriented services, and development of research in various fields. Different levels of evaluation, like technical or social levels, are also very important in determining the evaluation method. So before carrying out any evaluation, all the purposes, bases, levels, patterns, methods, factors involved and different views in this field need to be considered and applied along with the other tools and facilities. Different evaluation methods are used for evaluation of digital libraries. Different has not received adequate attention. Since the digital libraries are new, there are few integrated standard patterns for their evaluation. Therefore, identifying the aspects and factors involved in the evaluation of digital libraries is suggested in order to reduce the time, energy and costs needed for the evaluation process.The present study showed that digital libraries are complex systems whose evaluation

journals classified by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran.The purpose of this research was to evaluate the websites of Iranian English-languageDesign/Methodology/Approach: and the approach was webometrics. The research data was gathered through direct observation using a checklist containing 26 criteria. To develop the checklist, the quality features of scientific journals were derived from ISO standards and some other standards introduced here. The statistical population contains 81 websites of journals including 45 titles classified by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and 36 other titles classified by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. the methodology applied in this research was evaluation category, this research found that in most of the journals the communication is provided through email (with the highest frequency of 85%). In the second category, instructions to authors, the refereeing procedure has been only observed in 4% of the journals studied. It was also found that from the viewpoint of considering the details, the refereeing procedure is not the same in all cases, i.e. in some cases the refereeing procedure is brief and in some other cases it is more detailed.In the third category, access method, 74% of the journals studied possess a specific website which provides easy access to the information and more visibility. In the fourth category, the availability of contents, most of the journals present their archives and table of contents through the internet. Furthermore, 82% of the websites have provided access to the full text of their journal issues. In the fifth category, imprint of the journal, all the journals studied provide on their website: title, frequency, volume number and year of the current issue. In the sixth category, editorial board, most of the journals provide the name of their editor-in-chief and managing editor.The websites studied have observed the quality standards to a good degree, in such a way that half of these criteria have been provided in most of the websites studied. Yet, data analysis shows that some of the criteria which play a major role in winning the audiences’ trust have been widely overlooked.This research presents its findings in six categories: in the first category, the communication.

and views about technology, its increasing popularity and scholars’ views about its positive, negative and post-modernist dimensions. This research aimed to study and answer probable questions on different theoriesDesign/Methodology/Approach: the relevant literature. The methodology applied in this study was a review of The first group contained those who have a positive view about technology. They consider the development of technology to be the basic reason for economic, cultural and social progress. Accordingly they seek a knowledge-based economy in technological developments. Members of the second group have a negative view about technology. They consider the penetration of technology into different aspects of human life, as a kind of invasion of privacy. In this view technology is seen as a means of exposing the most private aspects of life to others. The third group has a post-modernist view on technology and its consequences i.e. they challenge technology since it causes some damage to nature.In accordance with the purpose of the study, three main groups were identified.

This study attempts to identify the factors affecting the extent to which students use the central library of the Islamic Azad University of Yazd (called Allameh Mohammad-Taqi Ja’fari Library).Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was carried out as a descriptive-exploratory survey. The required data were collected through a researcher-made five-point Likert scale questionnaire containing 22 questions. The study population consisted of 210 undergraduate students among whom a sample of 136 students was selected in a simple stratified way and finally 100 questionnaires were returned. The findings of the study revealed that “students’ awareness of library services” (83%) is the most important factor effective in using the library. After this factor “students’ interest in using the library and reading" (76%), the “librarians’ knowledge and experiments in identifying users’ needs” (70%) and the “quietness of reading room” (70%) are the next most important factors which affect the use of the library studied. By applying the factor analysis method, these factors were divided into seven main categories.

This research aimed to identify the level of users’ satisfaction with Payam Digital Library Software in the libraries which use it.Design/Methodology/Approach: The research method applied in this study was an analytical survey and the information gathering tools were two different questionnaires. 83 librarians working in the libraries that use this software and 79 end users completed these questionnaires. The librarians’ average satisfaction with Payam Digital Software is 4.23 and the end users’ average satisfaction is 3.99. Librarians are mostly satisfied with the dimensions of security and access control (end user management) and also data entry and organization. On the other hand, end users are most satisfied with the software's lending services, and least satisfied with the general features of the software. The satisfaction of both groups - librarians and end users – with Payam software is above average, but the satisfaction of the librarians is significantly more than the end users.

This research aimed to study and identify the information needs and the level of satisfaction of the clients, librarians and library authorities who form the population of users of the libraries affiliated to “the Organization of Libraries, Museums and Documents Center of Astan Quds Razavi” (41 libraries in total).Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were collected through three researcher-made questionnaires. The sample size of the clients was determined by applying the Morgan Table. For the librarians and library authorities, the whole population was studied. This study showed that most of the clients of these libraries were women who have high school or university education. They said their most important need was books, especially course books and supplementary reading books. The most preferred topics were respectively: stories and novels, computer and internet, religion, poetry and prose, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Clients were mainly satisfied with: the quality, quantity (number of copies available) and finally the broad topics of the books, respectively. Moreover this research showed that the authorities of most of these libraries included men with a B.A. degree in Library and Information Science (LIS). The proportion of male and female librarians is approximately similar, half of whom have a B.A. degree in LIS. From the viewpoint of the librarians and library authorities, most of the books requested by the clients were course books and supplementary reading books and also the topics of the books most preferred by the clients were stories and novels, computer and internet, physics and mathematics. The main clients of these libraries are high school students and university students whose information needs should be made the top priority. A comparison between the clients’ viewpoints with those of the librarians and library authorities shows little difference. This study also showed that each of these libraries had a special feature and population and each needs its own individual policy.

In this study the reasons for the emergence and then decline of Iran's first Association of Librarians (AKTA) is reviewed. Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Field Theory is applied as the theoretical framework of the analysis.Design/Methodology/Approach: Original documents related to the AKTA during 1966-1980 have been used for obtaining basic data. The basic data have been supplemented by interviewing available AKTA members. This research uses the method of compilation of oral history through interviews. This study illustrates that the AKTA was formed in a stable political situation and under the moderately prosperous economic condition of Iran in the 1960s. The AKTA used public resources provided by the newly established Ministry of Higher Education and improved its publication and educational activities. Until a year after the Islamic Revolution of Iran (1979) AKTA continued its academic and professional work. After the Islamic Revolution, the newly appointed members of the AKTA led the activities of the Association towards union activities with some special political interests. These ideological activities of new members caused many of the library professionals to reduce their cooperation with the Association. In addition, the budget of the Association was cut. The Association gradually lost its academic prestige, which caused a wide pessimism about it among its supporters. This process continued to the extent that after the second group of members of the Association after the Islamic Revolution, there were no volunteers to participate in the Association activities. So it was dissolved without any official announcement.

The most difficult part of codicology is analyzing the specifications of the paper used in a manuscript, which contains a part of the manuscript's historical background and identity. However, manuscript cataloguers have not done any analytical study to present precise criteria and standards for determining the type of paper used in manuscripts. Therefore the present study is done to compensate for this shortcoming.Design/Methodology/Approach: The present research first introduces different types of papers used by Muslims and Iranians for creating manuscripts and books. It then reviews some common types of papers used in manuscripts, the specifications of these papers, and the approximate period in which each of them was popular. In the next part examples of the manuscripts which possess each of the described specifications are introduced.

This research has been carried out to study the extent to which Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) metadata have been used in designing the websites of the central libraries of Iran’s universities.Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 66 homepages of the websites of the central libraries of Iran’s universities were studied in three groups i.e. Universities affiliated with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology; Universities affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education; different branches of the Islamic Azad University. For this purpose, the browsers Internet Explorer and Netscape were used and the sources of web pages were reviewed and all the meta tags existing in the HTML format of the webpages were extracted and entered in the prepared checklist. Then, by using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage and average) the data collected were analyzed. This research shows that all the reviewed websites have benefited from general HTML metadata; however, the extent of using metadata has been trivial in some cases. Considering the extent to which central library websites have used these meta tags, medical science universities have the first rank in terms of average use (43%). Branches of the Islamic Azad University have the second rank with an average use of 31% and universities affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology have the third rank with an average use of 28%. The present study shows that the most widely applied meta tag elements are, title, content-type, keywords, link and description. This is justifiable because most web designers have applied these general meta tags, considering their familiarity with these general metadata rather than specific metadata standards like the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

This research aimed to study the present status of preservation and conservation of the national digital heritage of Iran kept in the National Library and Archives of I.R. Iran (NLAI) from four aspects: 1) the present status of preservation and conservation of the national heritage of Iran in digital format in the NLAI 2) the efficiencies and facilities of the NLAI for the preservation of digital information 3) the deficiencies and needs of the NLAI in the preservation of digital information 4) suggestions for improving the digital preservation structure.Design/Methodology/Approach: The two methods applied in this study are library research and descriptive survey. Library research was used to represent the theoretical framework of the research and review the strategies of digital information preservation used in libraries all over the world especially in the National Libraries of Australia, the U.K., Canada, and the Library of Congress (U.S.). The library research method was also applied in designing the checklist used in the present study. The descriptive survey method was used for studying the present status of digital information preservation in the NLAI. This study used checklist as its research tool, which was designed based on the relevant studies and previous checklists and also by considering the needs of national libraries. Using this method the findings were gathered indirectly by interviewing the managers of the Communication Technology Department and the General Administration of Digital Resources of the NLAI. They were also gathered by reviewing the performance reports and documents obtained from the NLAI as well as checking its website. The present research showed that digital information preservation is done at the bit level including secure storage and also emphasized backing up. Moreover, in order to improve security measurements and disaster recovery, the necessary measures were taken. The organization has also taken some other professional measurements for digital information preservation including applying METS and Dublin Core and coordination with the Open Archival Information System (OAIS). The NLAI emphasizes secure storage along with back up in digital information preservation, but it has not yet taken any measures in developing a preservation program for reasonable preservation.