نشریه مطالعات کتابداری و سازماندهی اطلاعات
سال سی و پنجم شماره 2 (پیاپی 138، تابستان 1403)

Information dissemination is one of the most crucial services libraries and information centers provide. The increasing explosion of information, the necessity of keeping specialists up-to-date in various scientific fields, and the need to efficiently use users' time and resources underscore its importance. This research, which aimed to identify the components and indicators of digital information dissemination in the National Library and Archives of Iran, had the potential to affect the field of digital information dissemination significantly.

This qualitative research employed a meta-study approach using the comprehensive synthesis method based on the seven-step method of Sandelowski and Barroso (2007). The research population included Persian and English articles relevant to the topic, retrieved from domestic and international scientific databases. 37 entirely relevant articles were selected for analysis through the critical appraisal skills program method. Content analysis and open and axial coding were used to analyze selected resources. The inter-coder agreement was calculated to ensure the reliability and validity of the findings

Based on the comprehensive synthesis's findings, seven components and 34 indicators and sub-indicators in the field of digital information dissemination were identified. The main components include research files, information resources, collection development, standardization, information dissemination services, dissemination tools, and evaluation.

The identified components and indicators provide a practical roadmap for enhancing digital information dissemination. The most significant achievement of this research is the development of a new information culture that can be used to assess the status of services in this area. These insights enable libraries to improve the quality of their services, enhance information dissemination, and expand knowledge dissemination. This research can be valuable for researchers, librarians, managers, and policymakers in the field of digital information dissemination.

This study aimed to analyze and examine the use of data mining techniques in the recommender system of digital libraries and information centers. By analyzing the behavioral patterns of digital library users and providing detailed suggestions, the data mining approach in this system makes it unnecessary for them to review unrelated data during the search. This not only leads to an increase in users' information requests but also significantly enhances their satisfaction with the provision of digital library services.

The current research was an analytical study of cross-sectional survey type and content analysis. This method collected the required data in four stages, and its output was analyzed using a data mining technique. Using content analysis, as in the first stage, a list of the number of transactions of user requests for books, including user IDs, manuscript titles, manuscript identification code numbers in the digital library system (manuscript database), the organization of libraries, Museums and Documents Center of Astan Quds Razavi were investigated. The data were arranged as a user column and an item (book) row. In the second step, the preprocessed raw data was further transformed into a user-item matrix, which is zero and one. In the third stage, the data output was implemented and executed using data mining technology and the implementation of association rules and FP-Growth  algorithm on RapidMiner software) and confidence (the confidence level in the desired result) were tested. In the fourth stage, the accuracy and correctness of the proposed system plan were presented.

The output of this research revealed that the association rules have a confidence level above 50% and can determine the user's access patterns, which is the best way to access the generated datasets by setting the minimum support level of 2% and the minimum confidence level of 95%, leading to 1081 new rules with conditional algorithms (if-then). If a user selects topics such as (the science of principles, Ijtihad, tradition, etc.) during the search in the digital library software, due to the history of repeated searches by previous users with the same topics by the recommender system, then titles related to the subject of principles of jurisprudence will be suggested. Also, the proof of the correctness of the proposed model showed that the first and last ones created from the new laws had thematic similarities with each other.

This study showed that various data mining techniques with the application of association rules and the implementation of the FP-Growth algorithm have high efficiency and accuracy and are suitable for analyzing the data of digital libraries and information centers to create recommender systems in order to predict user requests and make effective suggestions. One of its practical concepts is to provide a platform to significantly enhance the quality of two-way interaction between librarians and users, thereby providing optimal and beneficial services, and also to create a suitable opportunity to improve the attitude and perspective of managers in order to provide information resources that meet the real needs of users.

The usability requirements of user interface websites for sighted and visually impaired people are very different. These requirements include task adequacy, dimensional trade-off, behavior equivalence, semantic loss avoidance, and device independence. It is vital to consider these requirements to achieve the usability of library websites for visually impaired users. The purpose of the present study was to determine the factors influencing the usability of library information systems from the perspective of visually impaired users.

The current research was applied and conducted using a qualitative method. In this research, the factors affecting website usability were identified through the exploratory observation of 33 visually impaired users and by defining the tasks (3 tasks). The data were collected using formal usability testing and think-aloud protocol. While using a library website and performing defined tasks, users were observed verbally expressing their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about their interaction experience. In this research, the user interfaces (digital library, OPAC, and virtual reference) of the National Library and Archives of Iran, Organization of Libraries, Museums and Documents Center of Astan Quds Razavi; Library, Museum and Document Center Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Central Library and Document Center of Tehran University were studied as prominent libraries in the country. Visually impaired users were selected from different provinces of the country using a targeted sampling and snowball method. Observational data were collected with screen recording software (Faststone and Ocam). For qualitative data analysis, content analysis (categorizing and grouping codes), coding (specifying the primary and secondary codes), and MAXQDA software were used. The transcripts of the obtained data were read at least three times and recoded several times. These codes were continuously expanded and revised while reviewing the transcripts. Another researcher participated in the content analysis and reviewed the extracted transcripts and categories, and the data were reviewed several times to confirm their validity.

The research revealed that the influential factors of the usability of library websites from the perspective of visually impaired users can be classified into 651 codes and 5 categories. 273 codes from the total codes were assigned to the screen structure and organization category, and 263 codes were assigned to the user-oriented category. Search and information retrieval (with 64 codes), interface compatibility (with 26 codes), and system messages (with 25 codes) were in the following ranks. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of visually impaired users' usability challenges, enlightening the library information systems field.

The research findings have practical implications for the design and management of library websites. To design usable websites, data from the real feelings of particular users about library information retrieval systems are necessary. User experiences help librarians, designers, and library managers better understand the purpose of accessibility standards and their overall impact on visually impaired users. The final results helped the researcher to identify the usability problems of the library websites and provided clues about the usability issues, making the research directly relevant and applicable to the work of the audience.

Universities at the highest level of society's education system use various strategies to increase quality and respond to existing issues, among which the role of faculty members is essential. The continuous personal development of faculty members and the evaluation of their duties is one of the characteristics of a successful university. The system of assessment and promotion of faculty members is one of the tools for regulating the overall performance of higher education, and updating and revising its indicators is necessary. In Iran, despite many revisions, this system is still subject to various criticisms, one of the most important of which is the need for more attention to the differences, such as the fields of the humanities becoming more prominent and needing to formulate strategic policies. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the evaluation policies of humanities in selected universities of the world with a policy-research approach, extract evaluation indicators, and compare them with the indicators of the evaluation system in Iran. The research is a qualitative study with a comparative approach, and by using the documentary study method, the performance evaluation policies of the faculty members in the subgroups of the humanities in the selected universities were extracted and compared with the internal standards. The research population was the relevant documents in the universities of the world, which were chosen purposefully, and they are also the regulations for the promotion of faculty members in Iran. To review foreign documents, first, universities were selected that are considered excellent according to the Times 2022 university ranking system in the field of humanities and arts; And then universities that are similar to our country in terms of the higher education system and cultural, social and economic conditions; For this purpose, the countries of the region and the Islamic world, and beyond that, Asian countries were selected, which finally included 25 universities based on the availability of relevant documents. The evaluation system of the humanities of the world includes the three dimensions of education (with nine indicators and 59 measures), research (with eight indicators and 83 measures), and service (with three indicators and 30 measures). The comparison with the internal regulations showed that education is of great importance. The measures related to each index are much more detailed and comprehensive. The professors in the world's universities who participate in various professional activities receive educational points. The variety of indicators in the research for world universities is much more than the internal regulations that emphasize the outputs in the study, while the output index with nearly 30 metrics is only one of the research indicators in the world universities. Next, the services of the selected universities are multifaceted according to the internal regulations and include promotion activities in society to fulfill responsibilities in the government and professional associations. Things like appearing in the media, giving speeches, participating in civil institutions, consulting services to students and peers, etc., are among the services that are not included in the internal regulations. Considering the differences in humanities and the inefficiency of Iran's research in this field in recent years, the necessity of revising the regulations for the promotion and specific rules to the field of humanities is increasingly felt. Updating the current regulations based on the findings of this research for humanities faculty members can be more prosperous, more appropriate, and more consistent with the educational, research, and executive missions expected from this field.

This research focuses on information-seeking anxiety, a condition that can hinder individuals from effectively exploring and meeting their information needs. Its significance lies in exploring information-seeking anxiety among Islamic Azad University, Kerman branch students. This study was conducted through a survey. The population examined in this study were post-graduated students of Islamic Azad University, Kerman branch. According to statistics from the university, 38,62 were postgraduate students already studying there. The sample size for the study was based on a total population of 350, according to the Morgan Table, and the Stratified sampling method was used to select the sample, including students of Islamic Azad University, a branch of Kerman. The Efanmanesh, Abrizah & Karim's Information Seeking Anxiety Questionnaire Inventory was used to collect research data, which was organized with six primary components of anxiety with an emphasis on information: The barriers to dealing with the barriers to computing resources information; the barriers to dealing with the Internet and computer; the barriers to dealing with the library. (4) The barriers associated with barriers to information seeking: The barriers of obstacles, technical issues related to barriers related to the issue, and. Friedman's test was used to check the difference between the average components of information-seeking anxiety. Use a single sentence (T) and the Fridman test to check research questions. The chi-square test value of (244.290) and the significant value of (0.000), which is smaller than the significance level, indicate a substantial difference in the average of the six components of information-seeking anxiety. The most influential elements, 'barriers to intelligence sources' and 'barriers to information seeking,' also show significant differences, with the former having a greater impact on anxiety. The results obtained with an awareness of the importance of each component would indicate that the average difference between the level of seeking anxiety among students of Kerman Azad University is in the top size. The "barriers to intelligence sources" factor plays a vital role in this research, and it is necessary to plan appropriately to use them better. Students may face anxiety, fear, and apprehension about doing some of their activities. They may face fear and concern regarding how to use information resources, the library, the computer, and the Internet, search for some information, methods of choosing the subject, or even many technical issues. Training information exploration skills, making information sources available directly, strengthening the ability for information retrieval, training information literacy, and proper interaction of librarians with users are among the strategies to reduce anxiety.

With the increasing use of the internet and the growing volume of electronically accessible documents on the web, automatic text classification has become a critical method for enhancing information retrieval and managing digital text collections. Text classification allows individuals to search for and retrieve information more accurately and quickly. The significance of automatic document classification lies in labeling documents into predefined classes so that documents within a class exhibit the highest similarity and the most remarkable dissimilarity with documents from other classes while utilizing semantic relationships. This study investigates the application of ontology and knowledge graphs in automatic text document classification.

This study reviewed research and documents related to applying semantic tools such as ontologies and knowledge graphs in text document classification. To collect texts, three domestic databases, including the "National Journal Database," the "Scientific Information Database of Jihad University," and "Marefate Danesh," along with three internal databases "Magiran," "SID" and "Civilica" and three external citation databases, such as "Web of Science", "Scopus" and "Google Scholar" It has been examined in both categories, regardless of the period.

Results of text exploration show that the vector space model does not consider the semantic relationships between words and disregards the word order in sentences. Neglecting the semantic and syntactic relationships between words in natural language provides a different representation of documents. However, ontologies and knowledge graphs help strengthen machine learning models by capturing the meaning of entities and classes. These tools act as an external reference during the classification process and provide domain knowledge for classification models. Using these tools generally allows machines to comprehend the meaning of the data they work with.

The application of ontologies and knowledge graphs in classifying textual documents can strengthen the results of machine learning algorithms through background knowledge. These tools can free the meanings of words from ambiguous sentences and solve problems related to natural language. Using ontology and knowledge graphs can effectively help classify textual documents and improve the accuracy and efficiency of classification models. However, constructing and integrating ontologies and knowledge graphs is a tedious, time-consuming, and complex task that limits the feasibility and practical application of these tools. In the Persian language, in addition to the problems raised in the application of ontologies and knowledge graphs in the classification of documents, there are limitations such as the specific features of the language in writing and technical limitations. Therefore, the use of ontology and knowledge graphs in discussing the classification of textual documents requires attention to linguistic limitations and technical complexity, and the need for further development and efforts is felt, especially in Persian.