Abdus Sattar Chaudhry

Transformation in managers’ information seeking behaviour: a review of the literature

There has been a transformation in managers’ information seeking behaviour over the decades. Based on an extensive literature review, this article analyses the factors which have influenced managers’ choice of source preferences. The review reveals four key dimensions used to study source preferences, i.e. contextual, situational, personal/sociocultural, and informational and identifies common factors under each. The factors given main weight in the literature are accessibility, quality, and richness of the information, as well as individual and institutional characteristics. The article also reflects on the data collection techniques used in information needs studies.

On the Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Education for Knowledge Management.

This paper reports the findings of a study of knowledge management courses included in the curriculum of academic disciplines of business, computing, and information. Based on a review of course descriptions selected from Web sites of universities in different countries, the paper describes levels of courses, curriculum areas and topics, and differences in emphasis in teaching knowledge management courses in different departments and schools. It highlights the multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum and suggests a collaborative approach in designing and conducting KM education programs for providing a balanced coverage.

KM Education in LIS Programs

This paper investigates the perceptions of the heads of 12 LIS schools about KM education. The heads from North America, Europe and Pacific region who consented to participate in this study had either been offering KM courses or had an apparent interest in these programs. Data about perceptions were gathered around the nature of their KM coursework, KM positions their graduates might target, interdisciplinary partnerships, strategic partnerships with industry, and practical difficulties in the introduction of KM courses. They were asked to pinpoint difficulties in the areas of faculty availability, student enrollment, resource availability, creation of partnerships, working with professional associations, and interactions with industry. There existed a strong interest in offering KM courses, cultivating collaborations with business and computing schools, and developing strategic partnerships with industry. These heads identified those problems that hindered their progress. * Professor, Library and Information Science, Kuwait University. khopri@hotmail.com ** Head, Division of Information Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. aschaudhry@ntu.edu.sg

Collaboration in LIS education in Southeast Asia

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to look into projects undertaken to promote collaboration between LIS education programs in Southeast Asia.Design/methodology/approach – The author surveys the efforts made by information studies programs to promote resource sharing.Findings – An accreditation scheme is being implemented for improving the quality of education in LIS programs in Southeast Asian countries. A plan for developing a repository of learning objects is under development for facilitating sharing of teaching materials for improved LIS education. Faculty development is considered another important area of possible future collaboration in the region with possible involvement of international forums for improving LIS education.Originality/value – The experiences reported in this paper will be an aid to anyone interested in implementing LIS into their educational facilities.

Enhancing access to digital information resources on heritage : A case of development of a taxonomy at the Integrated Museum and Archives System in Singapore

Purpose – Due to various historical differences in organising, documenting and managing information across cultural institutions, cross‐domain resource discovery in the cultural heritage sector remains problematic. Leveraging on the lessons learnt from current efforts to enhance access to networked digital cultural resources, this paper seeks to explore the development of a taxonomy for the same purpose.Design/methodology/approach – A methodology was developed for the construction of a 500‐term taxonomy for a Singapore‐based cultural heritage network. Based on this taxonomy, the benefits and problems of developing such a knowledge organisation system for a cultural network are also discussed.Findings – Collecting terms and concepts from various external and internal sources was sufficient to kick‐start the taxonomy development process. One of the key aspects of the Integrated Museum and Archives System (IMAS) taxonomy is its ability to show a broad overview of the all the resources held by the National He...

Understanding of library jargon in the information seeking process

Derived from actual librarians’ e-mail replies to clients’ queries, this study investigated the clients’ understanding of technical terms commonly used by librarians during reference interviews. Two sample groups of clients were used for the study. The first group consisted of clientele of the National Reference Library of Singapore. The second group, comprising acquaintances of the staff from the Library Support Services of the National Library Board of Singapore, might be potential or actual library clients. The participants were asked to complete a multiple-choice questionnaire, consisting of 20 technical terms, each accompanied by one correct and three incorrect definition options. The findings revealed that the participants were able to define the technical terms correctly three-quarters of the time. However, 65% of the participants faced difficulty in defining at least one technical term. The reasons underlying the participants’ choices included the appearance of the term in the chosen option and greater familiarity with the selected definition. The methods that were frequently used by the participants to derive the answers were guessing and knowing the meaning in another context. It is recommended that librarians adopt a balanced approach towards the use of technical terms when communicating with clients. While there is no need to refrain from using technical language totally, librarians should exercise discretion and care when communicating.

Using Dewey decimal classification scheme (DDC) for building taxonomies for knowledge organisation

Terms drawn from DDC indexes and IEEE Web Thesaurus were merged with DDC hierarchies to build a taxonomy in the domain of computer science. When displayed as a directory structure using a shareware tool MyInfo, the resultant taxonomy appeared to be a promising tool for categorisation that can facilitate browsing of information resources in an electronic environment.

Using classification schemes and thesauri to build an organizational taxonomy for organizing content and aiding navigation

Purpose – Potential and benefits of classification schemes and thesauri in building organizational taxonomies cannot be fully utilized by organizations. Empirical data of building an organizational taxonomy by the top‐down approach of using classification schemes and thesauri appear to be lacking. The paper seeks to make a contribution in this regard.Design/methodology/approach – A case study of building an organizational taxonomy was conducted in the information studies domain for the Division of Information Studies at Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. The taxonomy was built by using the Dewey Decimal Classification, the Information Science Taxonomy, two information systems taxonomies, and three thesauri (ASIS&T, LISA, and ERIC).Findings – Classification schemes and thesauri were found to be helpful in creating the structure and categories related to the subject facet of the taxonomy, but organizational community sources had to be consulted and several methods had to be employed. The organization...

Information literacy at work: A study on information management behaviour of Kuwaiti engineers

– The purpose of this paper was to investigate the information behaviour of Kuwaiti engineers with a focus on information sources and finding information from these sources, management of information found and re-finding of information from personal collections. , – Survey method of research was used to conduct the study. Data were collected using online questionnaire and interviews with a selected number of participants. , – Results indicated that engineers collected and received information from a variety of sources. They saved selected information for future use in folders and structured them by using work-related categories. Use of information management tools was not common. A majority of participants expressed the need for training courses in information literacy. They felt that lack of institutional support to facilitate access to information was considered a major difficulty in information seeking. , – No similar study could be found in the literature, as earlier studies either investigated personal information management practices or information seeking behaviour. This study looked at information literacy in a wider context.

Use of electronic and digital information by investment professionals in Kuwait

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of information are crucial to support investment decisions, how investment professionals find information that they use to advise their clients, what types of sources of information are available to them, what sources they prefer, and what difficulties they experience in finding investment information. The study also explores the preferred ways and means to improve the information finding skills of investment professionals.Design/methodology/approach – Survey method was used to collect data about information‐seeking behavior of investment professionals. An online questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. The questionnaire contained eight questions about types of information required for investment analysis, information‐finding practices of professionals, tools and services frequently used, and perceptions of investment professionals about the importance of sources of information. Participants were also asked about the use of so...