International Journal of Information Science and Management
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Jan-Jun 2009

This survey attempted to measure online search skills amongst post graduate students of Shiraz University. Having examined the literature on online search skills, seven most frequently used and applicable online search skills were selected for this study. The two broad objectives were to measure the mean score of each skill and also the difference between students of different post graduate levels with regard to the application of online search skills. The data were collected by a questionnaire. Descriptive and referential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that there were not any significant differences between the M.A. and the Ph.D. students in the seven search skills examined. The within-group analysis revealed, however, a significant difference amongst these seven skills such that the ''time limitation'' skill had the highest score but the ''proximity'' skill was in the lowest level. Other findings showed that there was a significant correlation between the real skills'' scores as well as the self report scores of the participants. Also, more than 84% of the students declared that their familiarity with these skills had helped them retrieve information in the least amount of time.

The explosion of information communication technology (ICT) since the beginning of the 20th century has been rendering manual-based library system in academic, research, special and public libraries less relevant. This is because using and implementing information communication technology in the library depend largely on the librarian attitude toward the current digital age. This study examined the attitudinal correlates of some selected Nigerian Librarian towards the use and application of ICT in their various libraries. A total of 41 librarians from all the four censured automated libraries in Oyo state of Nigeria formed the study’s population. Two research questions were developed to guide the study. The results indicate that all the four out of the five variables age, gender, educational qualifications and prior knowledge of ICT significantly correlate with librarian attitude towards ICT; while the other variable ICT anxiety correlate negatively with the librarian attitude towards ICT. Findings further show that all the 5 variables significantly predict librarian’s attitude towards ICT with prior ICT experience showing the greatest predictive effect. Based on these findings, it is recommended that libraries in the developing countries should consider training those librarians who do not have knowledge of ICT in order to remove the fear and anxiety hindering them from developing good attitude towards the use of ICT in their libraries.

Because digital libraries (DLs) are treated as determinant information centers, libraries especially their managers are thinking about how phenomenon "DLs" can be effectively managed. So, the present article aims to provide managers of DLs with an approach. To do this, two main pillars considered in definition offered by Digital Library Federation namely staff and users are debated. Accordingly, some skills, instructional programs and qualities needed both for users and staff of DLs with which they can interact more effectively with new technologies such as DLs are included in the text. In fact, this paper emphasizes on educational function of DLs and thus offers an approach for its implementation from a managerial standpoint

This study attempted to investigate the process and barriers of flow of technical information in KWPA[1]. A survey method was used to collect the data. Interviews with some key persons were also conducted. The target population included both experts and technical managers, and the information output of technical departments. Descriptive statistics and Spearman''s rank correlation coefficient were applied to analyze the data. Results showed that overall production and use of technical information are relatively satisfactory, and the respondents generally used the technical. Lack of a holistic view of information management and systematic access to information were major drawbacks. The authors suggest applying a holistic view for information management to systematize the production and use of information and reduce the costs.

With the increased confidence in the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web, the number of electronic commerce (e-commerce) transactions is growing rapidly. Therefore, finding useful patterns and rules of users’ behaviors has become the critical issue for e-commerce and can be used to tailor e-commerce services in order to successfully meet the customers’ needs. This paper proposes an approach to integrate Web content mining into Web usage mining. The textual content of web pages is captured through extraction of frequent word sequences, which are combined with Web server log files to discover useful information and association rules about users’ behaviors. The results of this approach can be used to facilitate better recommendation, Web personalization, Web construction, Website organization, and Web user profiling.

Controlling the Internet has for a long time been the privilege of academics in the USA. However, with the evolution of the Internet as the world communication medium of the 21st century and the world-wide-web providing the infrastructure for business and public services in the digital era, the stakes have risen dramatically. The value of the Internet is nowadays considered extremely important in a number of key areas of public life ranging from business, law, local and central government to international politics. Various proposals as to who should be responsible for controlling or even policing the Internet have been considered and debated upon over the past few years. The issue has been raised at an unprecedented level with governments of the most powerful countries on the planet locked in serious and longstanding diplomatic negotiations as to which of the super powers should be in control. Yet the less powerful and smaller nations have repeatedly called for the establishment of an international organization to guarantee independent control of the Internet. This paper considers the above two proposals and attempts to answer the following questions: a) Do single countries deserve the right of having absolute control and acting as the sole guardian of the ultimate communication medium? b) Would an international organization be the answer? If so, how independent can it be and how much security can it offer to the smaller nations and the individual user? The study of each case is performed on the basis of what criteria would apply in terms of legal framework adopted, transparency of procedures and degree of acceptance of the controlling body on a world wide basis. The ultimate question raised is: can the guardian be trusted and if so how widespread this trust would be? The results of the first internet governance forum meeting in Athens in 2006 and the aims of the second due in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007 are also discussed.

The growth and the expansion of the Internet and the World Wide Web continue to impact society in new and amazing ways. The role of economic commerce has not been as dynamic as some predicted, but has still demonstrated remarkable success and tremendous potential. Any failure to meet some of the expectations may be explained in large part by questions and concerns surrounding existing methods of electronic commerce and of the Internet. A key negative perception centres on the security involved in Internet practice and electronic payment systems. Negative perceptions are then compounded and reinforced by massive media exposure of Internet security incidents. Many consumers still lack the necessary trust in on-line merchants and Internet security procedures and continue to use the Web to simply browse. The types of attack individuals face include confidence-trick or actual encounters calculated to extract bank or personal details, computer spyware that opens on accessing the Internet, enticing users with offers of non-existent free gifts while copying confidential files, and programmes that can infiltrate networks, operating within them undetected, ultimately causing them to crash. Social Engineering is one such method used by an attacker to get information. There are two main categories under which all social engineering attempts could be classified, computer or technology-based deception and human based deception. The technology-based approach is to deceive the user into believing that is interacting with the ‘real’ computer system (such as popup window, informing the user that the computer application has had a problem) and get the user to provide confidential information. The human approach is done through deception, by taking advantage of the victim’s ignorance, and the natural human inclination to be helpful and liked. One of the most effective technology-based approach is a scam, called “phishing” as a form of identity theft. This is a technique used to gain personal information for the purposes of identity theft, using fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to come from legitimate businesses. These authentic-looking messages are designed to fool recipients into divulging personal data such as account numbers and passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. This paper provides an overview of electronic commerce and the impact of risk and trust on on-line shopping consumer behaviour. Due to the growth and potential of on-line shopping and the lack of academic-based research on Internet-related consumer behaviour, there is a tremendous need for impartial, academic investigation into the behaviour and perceptions of on-line consumers.

This paper attempts to develop a method for readiness assessment of potential electronic commerce (e-commerce) success of Iran’s insurance industry. This method can expand in other industries. Key factors impacting e-commerce are identified from Wells، D. and Thomann، j. (2006) researches. This model is a two-dimension 3*4 matrix. Each dimension consists of variables that influence on insurance industries readiness. These variables on horizontal dimension are: People Readiness، IT Readiness، and Business Readiness and on vertical dimension are: Business Imperative، Executive Sponsorship، Development Method and Business Process Orientation. Each cells of this matrix evaluated by 5 questions. This research’s data are collected via a 60-questions questionnaire-based survey from Iranian insurance companies. At the end of the research، the Iranian insurance companies were strongly recommended by us to invest on e-commerce and e-insurance area.