نشریه مطالعات کتابداری و سازماندهی اطلاعات
سال بیست و پنجم شماره 3 (پیاپی 99، پاییز 1393)

Evaluating and ranking websites of the National Libraries of the Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The Website Quality Evaluation Tool (WQET), consisted of 38 items, was employed to assess the quality of 34 National Library websites. Attention to audience, explaining objectives, scope, ease of search, speed of loading, updateness, graphics, compilers background, and the style in were found to be in overall good shapes. No significant relation was found between the content and the rank. Singapore's National Library website ranked first with 80 points and that of Laos ranked last with only 36 points. The website of the National Library of Iran with the score of 76 ranked sixth, and hence proved reliable.

Eight digital libraries are checked against eleven criteria of quality (i.e. design, availability, search capabilities, review, sharing, collaboration, structure of organization, security and access control, copyright, organization of resources, sustainable development and stability of digital library, digital library as community for users, programmer and critics). Data was collected by a checklist designed in compliance with digiQUAL protocol. All scored lower than 60 (out of 100) points. None of them provide users with in-time transaction for communication and support. Because users do not observe the rules of intellectual property, publishers of scholarly journals in Iran are not interested in providing digital versions of their products. This forces digital libraries to rely on online database services in order to satisfy user's needs. As such, they are not able to offer access to Persian language resources. With regard to resources, these libraries perform far below the international standards. Digital libraries of the Iranian research institutes with regard to the sources provide are very much behind DigiQual standards.

Examining the situation of acquisition of electronic resources as an important part of collection development in Iranian digital libraries. Methodology/approach: The research was carried out as a survey, and data of 19 digital libraries all over Iran was gathered by researcher made questionnaire. Finding shows that the most popular way for ordering the electronic resources is order to dealers. The most applied way for preparing of electronic resources is by purchase and only 37% of digital libraries have a special committee for scanning traditional resources. Books and periodicals are in the highest level of priorities in acquisition among all type of materials and ordering by dealer and purchasing of materials are the more applicable ways in acquisitions.

Assessing outsourcing the library services at the NLAI and its effect on the improvement of the performance of the support services of the library. Methodology/Research Design: Views of the managers and the staff working in the Processing, Providing, Information, and Financial Department who were and are involved in outsourcing projects were surveyed. Data was collected using a questionnaire designed by the researchers and distributed among 173 potential respondents, out of which 128 were completed and returned. Descriptive and analytic statistics, as well as T test was carried out to draw results from the data. Outsourcing has led to minor improvements in terms of effectiveness; moderate improvement in terms of efficiency; but rarely enhanced the quality of activities. Outsourcing has not improved performance at the NLAI considerably.

Knowing why the academics of the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, cite others works in their books, research reports, and teaching research methods. Method/ Research Design: Views of the academics are surveyed using a checklist adopted from Garfield's paper (1996). Main reasons for citing others works are recommending resources for further study to students, proving claims, validating data, physical proving, and introducing methodologies and tools to their students. Introducing works which discuss an idea or a concept for the first time stands at 5th place.

Examining compliance with (ISO) standards for Publication by Persian LIS Journals. A checklist was used to collect data from the title page, table of contents, running titles, footnotes, abstracts, article's first page, and references of 9 journals. Compliance rate was 63.42%. Highest rate belonged to Ganjine Asnad with 72.31%.

examining the user interface and search capabilities of a number of bibliographic databases designed for Quranic Studies, Hadith, Fiqh and Ahkam (Islamic Jurisprudence). Method/Research Design: Non-probability sampling was used to draw a population of users for examining 14 parameters generally believed to be important for the performance of retrieval systems. A questionnaire was developed to collect data. The overall user success with all the applications we examined was 3.57 out of 4. The highest score belong to Paygah Takhasosi Fiqh [Specialist Database for Fiqh], and the lowest score to the Resaleh database. In most software, the main issue is search. Therefore, solving search problems such as curtailing search flow, using operators, increasing search capabilities, as well as storage of previous logs, could have improve performance.

Fonts of the first Persian book printed in Iran. Method/ Research Design: Data is collected by photography of the text and examining the structure of the book, qualities of the font. The Arabic Naskh style has been the basis of design. In some instances, Persian equivalents are designed for the book. The typecasting master has done his best to create a novel design. However, shortage of resources and technical knowledge has prevented him from doing. Nevertheless, the product contains outstanding and brilliant features. Given the traditional book design, and the fact that it was the first Persian book printed with movable letters, Resaleh-ye Jahadiyeh, has been to some extent a successful endeavor.

Discusses the concept of reading in Quran and the Hadith narrated from Imams of Shia. Effective methods of reading of the sacred texts are explained. Finally, proposes some strategies for effective reading. Method/ Design: Content analysis. Considerable number of Quranic verses and Hadith were identified which either directly or indirectly relate to reading. Systematic reading is recommended by the Prophet. Strategies are proposed for fruitful reading in the proposed.

Evaluating the strategic situation of the Processing Department at the NLAI and proposing strategies to fulfill organizational objectives. Methodology/Design: Data regarding strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats was collected by a questionnaire as well as a number of interviews with the staff, team leaders, and the head of the department using SWOT matrix. For internal factors the score was 2.523; for external factors 2.786. The range of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats indicated that strategic situation of the Department is an aggressive one. This means that the manager and the staff can rely on strengths and use opportunities to attack weaknesses and environmental threats. Strategies to consider are telework, closer coordination with the IT Department, revising the CIP procedures, employing moral and financial incentives, and establishing a fruitful dialogue with other parts of the organization.