نشریه مطالعات کتابداری و سازماندهی اطلاعات
سال بیست و یکم شماره 3 (پیاپی 83، پاییز 1389)

Today, knowledge management is recognized as a strong tool for obtaining a competitive advantage and managing the explicit and tacit knowledge assets of organizations. Universities–as organizations for producing, increasing and disseminating knowledge–may also benefit from knowledge management. In order to effectively apply knowledge management, it is important to conduct a feasibility study for its implementation. In this research paper, a study has been carried out on the preparedness of the University of Isfahan in terms of culture and human factors, structure and procedures, and technical infrastructures for implementing knowledge management. The research population for this consists was 135 faculty members of the University of Isfahan who have implemented research projects there from 2005 to 2007. The data were collected through a questionnaire based on Hubert Rampersad’s questionnaire. The findings show that the University of Isfahan is more ready in terms of information technology infrastructures than organizational structure and procedures and culture and human factors.

The aim of carrying out this research is to provide solutions to improve the satisfaction level of users of the central library of the Industrial Management Institute (IMI) using the customer relationship management system. This research has been carried out in three phases. The first phase studied the factors that influenced user dissatisfaction. This phase was conducted with a quantitative approach and used the descriptive-survey method in which LibQual questionnaires were distributed among a sample of 274 library users. In the second phase of the research, using a qualitative approach, a descriptive case study was carried out and complementary data related to the dissatisfaction factors and solutions to improve satisfaction were collected through an interview with a focus group of the most dissatisfied library users. In the third phase, with the help of the findings of the two phases mentioned which provided the required information basis, solutions were presented for improving the satisfaction of users and a customer relationship management system was designed and proposed for the central library of the Industrial Management Institute. This system is capable of being customized by library users and has a potential capacity for providing the services required by the users and even services above their requirements

This research evaluates the collections of the central libraries of comprehensive universities under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran according to the standards for university libraries. The aim is to study the status of the collections of these libraries based on the “standards for university libraries of Iran”. The research population includes all the central libraries of the universities. The data was collected using a checklist prepared based on the standards for university libraries of Iran. From a total of 25 checklists distributed, 19 (76 %) were returned. The research has been conducted using the evaluative survey method. Findings of data analysis show that on average 62.4 % of the central libraries of the universities studied meet this standard in terms of the qualitative approach. In terms of the quantitative approach, only 19.97 % of the central libraries studied have the collections required according to the standards. This means that in terms of collection standards, the libraries studied face acute shortage of resources and are in a very bad condition

The SERVQUAL model is an instrument which can be used to evaluate the quality of services from the viewpoint of customers in three levels i.e. desired services, perceived services and minimum services expected. The main objective of this research was to qualitatively study the services provided to users using the service quality scale and also to review the problems of users when using libraries. This research was carried out in spring and summer 2008 in the libraries of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. Firstly the SERVQUAL questionnaire was distributed among library users and they were asked to score the different services of the libraries in terms of quality and over the three levels i.e. expected services, perceived services and minimum acceptable services. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS and the average of qualitative services was calculated. This research showed that the studied libraries haven’t met users’ expectation in any of the qualitative aspects of service. The findings of this study indicate the weaknesses and strengths of qualitative aspects of service according to the viewpoint of users, and shows in which aspects the libraries studied have acceptable services in terms of quality. These findings will help managers in their decision making so that they may increase the qualitative services of libraries and insure the satisfaction of users.

This research studies the information needs of faculty members in the University of Zabol in order to determine the service priorities of the central library and to identify obstacles to information access. The research was carried using a survey. The analysis of data collected showed that books, journals and e-journals are the most important resources faculty members use to meet their information needs. 42.1 per cent of the members preferred to use electronic and digital resources. The aims for accessing information were found to be guidance in developing a research topic (58.9 per cent), improving teaching skills (36.8 per cent), writing books and papers (29.5 per cent), identifying special resources (28.4 per cent), and updating special information (27.4 per cent). The research findings also show that the most important obstacles to information access include: lack of a suitable study hall for faculty members, shortage of library resources, lack of awareness of information resources available, limited time and being busy, and lack of interlibrary cooperation.

This paper is the result of a case study about the experience of implementing stages of organizational knowledge management from 2000 to 2009 in the libraries of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS). In this regard, local and international studies carried out on organizational knowledge management are briefly reviewed and the activities carried out in the central library of this university based on a 5-year strategic plan and strengthening the infrastructure required in the field of information technology is also presented. The outcomes of this experience include the formation of the specialized council of libraries of the university which gradually affected the professional practice of MUMS’ librarians and improved team spirit and the culture of information and knowledge exchange in the university libraries

The aim of this research is to study the scientific outputs of faculty members of Shiraz University at national and International (ISI) levels in an 8-year period from 2000 to 2007. The population of this survey research included 543 faculty members of Shiraz University. Findings show that in the period studied, 8507 scientific outputs including 4218 journal papers, 3308 conference papers, 515 research projects, 376 books and 90 inventions and novel works were produced. In proportion to the number of faculty members, the highest number of scientific outputs were produced by the Faculty of Agriculture and the lowest number were produced by the Agriculture Faculty of Darab. The faculty members have mostly published their scientific papers in foreign journals, however, most of the papers have been written in Persian. Findings show that 87.90 % of the works produced are authored and only 12.09 % have been translated. The numbers of scientific outputs had greatly increased during the years studied and the highest numbers of outputs were produced in 2007. A total of 1853 papers of faculty members were published in the ISI database, the largest portion of which was produced by the Faculty of Science and smallest portion by the Faculty of Literature and Humanities. The number of papers published in ISI by faculty members grew considerably in the period studied and the highest number of papers was published in 2007. The findings from analysing 39 journals in which the highest number of papers of faculty members of Shiraz University were published showed that the papers of the research population have an international reputation and a high impact factor

This research was carried out aiming to determine the satisfaction of users of the central library of the University of Qom with the reference services provided there. Specifying different types of reference services and identifying the factors influencing the satisfaction of library users were among the special goals of this study. The research population included the faculty members and students who had used the reference services of the central library of the University of Qom. The research type was descriptive and questionnaires were used to collect data. Among the questionnaires distributed, more than 53 % were returned and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the collected data. The research findings showed that 1) the population studied was aware of the reference services provided in the library but their awareness about “answering reference questions using a telephone” and “providing selective services” was in a low level. 2) More than half of the users were satisfied with the assistance provided by librarians in finding documents 3) the good conduct of the librarians and being accessible when they were needed, and individual instruction about using the library were among the main factors that helped to satisfy the users. The findings of research on the general satisfaction of reference-services-users indicated that 51 per cent of the user population was either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the reference services of the library. Finally some suggestions are made based on the research findings

Universities are one of the most important centres of education and research in each country, where a great proportion of scientific research and research projects for each country are born, and university libraries are considered as to be the beating heart of each university for reaching its idealistic goals – education and research. In this paper, the collection of the central library of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman is considered as the basis for research and subject dispersion within that library and its use in 2008 is studied. Currently the central library of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman uses the Library of the Congress Classification System (LC) and the book stacks are managed using a semi-closed method. In this research all Persian and non-Persian books of the central library of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman are regarded as the research population. Findings show that in the Persian books section, books in the philosophy and religion class (including all subclasses of this class) have the largest portion and the naval science class has the smallest portion of the collection of this library. In the non-Persian section, naval science and music have the least amount while the science class (including all subclasses of this class) has the highest amount of resources. The findings of this research also indicate that the average usage of Persian books is meaningfully higher than that of non-Persian books while there is no meaningful difference between the usages of books in different subject classes.

This research evaluates the status of collections of libraries in the Tabriz University of Medical Science and aims to identify the amount of resources available in these libraries and their strengths and weaknesses in order to inform officials and to assist the planners of the educational and research sections. This research has been carried out through a descriptive study of eight faculty libraries and the Central Library of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Data was collected from the libraries and education offices of the university and the faculties, and then analysed using Microsoft Excel. The findings were compared according to the indicators of the Standards for University Libraries of Iran and the standards of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Findings show that all the libraries of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences collectively hold 85,046 documents and this number meets 9 per cent of the Standards for University Libraries of Iran and 5 per cent of the ACRL standards. Tabriz University of Medical Sciences has 1300 printed Persian and non-Persian journals (both subscription and non-subscription) which have been regularly received in 2008 and this is 35 per cent of the Standards for University Libraries of Iran. Furthermore, the university studied has more than 2500 online journal subscriptions. Therefore, considering both printed and online journals the university has about 3800 journals which include 102 per cent of the Standards for University Libraries of Iran. The findings of this research and similar studies indicate the major weakness of university libraries of Iran in terms of their collections which has a direct effect on the activities of librarians and their position and the services provided. The emergence of online resources and unfamiliarity of the policymakers with the strengths and weaknesses of these resources leads to wrong decisions about printed and online resources which will cause university libraries to face serious problems in long run

The present research was carried out aiming to study some of the facilities of online public access catalogues. To do so, a random sample of online catalogues of 20 university libraries in England and 14 university libraries in Iran were selected. Then the catalogues chosen were studied separately using a checklist which was designed based on an initial review of online catalogues of different countries and also comparing them with research previously carried out. Findings of statistical data showed that online university catalogues of England have performed considerably better than Iranian ones in quantitative and qualitative terms regarding their design and the extent to which they include facilities required in an online catalogue. Therefore Iranian catalogues meet 56.5 % and English online catalogues meet 73.46 % of the standards evaluated in the checklist.

Today many organizations are embracing knowledge management in order to capture theintellectual capital of their employees. These organizations consider the implementation ofknowledge management to be necessary as a part of organizational strategies. The Engineering Research Institute of the Agricultural Jihad Ministry has implemented a knowledge management system from 2000 onwards to organize the knowledge existing in the institute. Periodical reports are now regularly presented in the institute. In this paper, in addition to providing some definitions of knowledge management, the method for implementing knowledge management in the Engineering Research Institute and the role of the special library of this institute in this process is studied. Finally, the skills that librarians of this library need in order to play a better role in knowledge management are studied

The aim of this research is to study the extent to which the central libraries of Tehran’s universities affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology have the characteristics of learning organizations. The research population consists of all staff of the mentioned libraries with a bachelor’s degree or higher. In this research, a Likert scale questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to survey library staff. Findings of a binominal test indicated that the libraries studied do not have the characteristics of learning organizations. Finally, some suggestions are made to enhance organizational learning in these libraries