International Journal of Information Science and Management
Volume:6 Issue: 1, Jan-Jun 2008

Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST), located in Fars State, is one of the international institutions of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology which is active in the area of information production and dissemination. The following interview is aimed at providing the information societies as well as our respectable readers with useful information regarding RICeST.

Due to the lack of users knowledge of the collections used by search engines and in general retrieval systems, users can not express their information need appropriately in queries. In other words, they do not have enough experience to formulate their needs to find related documents. The idea of user’s query expansion aims to help users to improve and correct the queries. In fact, retrieval system, regarding the feedback it receives from user at the first stage, moves the query in set space to more related documents. Different approaches in information retrieval systems have been used; however, there has not been any assessment of efficacy of query expansion in Farsi information retrieval systems. In this paper, expansion of basic model of Rocchio, assessed as the primary model to retrieve Farsi documents, has been presented. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a standard and basic model on query expansion to retrieve Farsi documents, so that the researchers can compare their achievements of query expansion with the findings of this paper which showed a straightforward and positive effect on Farsi document retrieval.

This article deals with some social aspects of scientometry. Although scientometry and ISI -one of the scientometry evaluative standards- are something necessary for scientific measurement, they are not without defects. In this regard, the author argues that there are two significant points among criticism. These points are supposed to be external and internal. The external point is highly affected by politics and political powers. The superpowers politely and silently attract and/or invite all alert minds from all over the world and then usurp all their mental activities such as papers and patents. This is so, while these talented persons originally belong to their home countries where they have been trained and given facilities during their scientific life before their immigrations. Putting someone in real need and then preparing his/her needs in another place in order to attract him/her is a kind of imposed dependence but politely and silently. This may be regarded as usurpation if the benefits of the scientific achievements of these persons are not allocated to their home countries. The internal point is that non-English speaking countries have some disadvantages in comparison with the English speaking countries. Therefore, the author suggests that scientometry and especially ISI would operate more efficiently if they establish some branches in other countries or cooperate with some universities all over the world and allocate some benefits to the home countries of writers and researchers.

The study discusses the traditional and online procedures and outlines of SDI service. The paper has also taken an initiative to formulate an exact matching technique between user’s subject interest and document profile with exploration along with electronic delivery of voluminous information technique. It also discusses some standard features and model of user profile. Finally, the paper explores some possible requirements for performing online ‘SDI’ service.

In this study, at first, different free and four fee book-based Digital Libraries (DLs), available via www were reviewed. Four DLs Gutenberg, 24×7, Netlibrary and Ebrary were chosen. A comprehensive inventory consisted of general information, search features, display options and unique features was composed for comparing the interfaces of these DLs. Then chosen interfaces were compared and evaluated. Results showed that Netlibrary scored higher according to the specified criteria. However, in designing interface for such DLs, designers should take into considerations all the criteria proposed in this study.

By the appropriate use of information technology, organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantages. This technology because of including some characteristics such as being up-to-date, fast and precise and having different geographic localities all the time, has improved organizational efficiency, effectiveness and performance. In this article, we intend to investigate the role and effect of information technology in the creation and maintenance of sustainable competitive advantages from two different approaches: market-based approach and the resource-based approach. In the Market-based approach, meeting customer''s and creating values for them, using information technology and the issue of achieving the competitive advantage and position in the market by organizations are addressed. In the resource-based approach, compatibility of the organization''s resources such as those of information technology and organizational skills, particularly managerial ones are investigated. Amongst different organizational skills and resources, only managerial skills of information technology can create a sustainable competitive advantage.

The aim of this study is to investigate competency requirements of Iranian public librarians in library educational departments and working places. A group of 72 people from public libraries answered to questions. Questions cover all areas of library performances. The results show that the traditional competencies such as cataloging, management of collections, information resources and acquisition tools are still important for public librarians. However, the generic knowledge and skills of information services were recommended by respondents.

Liveliness of any library is directly related to the rate of using its information services and resources. Studying the amount of the existing information resources used by faculty members, who account for a considerable portion of the library users, can be a positive step for promoting the quality of library services and resources. In this descriptive survey, 72 percent of research community (Iran University of Medical Sciences'' Faculty Members) answered the research questionnaire. Findings indicated that the rate of Central Library use was 18.8% in 2005. This study investigates the problems preventing the use of library services and resources. Also, it probes into the rate of using existing services and resources in the Central Library as well as faculty ranking in terms of library use. Finally, according to the findings, there are some recommendations for promoting the quality of existing services and resources in the Central Library of IUMS.