Abrizah Abdullah

Overcoming time and ethical constraints in the qualitative data collection process: A case of information literacy research

While a simultaneous data collection process is generally not recommended in qualitative research, this technique becomes necessary under certain circumstances where conducting one-site-at-a-time fieldwork is not possible. This article discusses the design of an information literacy case study that is driven by time and ethical constraints, and the strategies employed to overcome them. The constraints, (a) a brief three-month school project under study; and (b) restricted access to the respondents, have greatly influenced and shaped the design of this qualitative study. The theory applied in the study also has its impact in the research design. We argue that with meticulous planning, brief phenomenon and other challenges could still be investigated qualitatively. The study employed simultaneous data collection activities, carried out in three stages over an 18-month timespan to overcome the two constraints. This is done by carefully crafting the research protocol: firstly, by adhering to the Gorman and Clayton’s research plan circle framework; secondly, by constructing the multi-stage, simultaneous data collection protocol that addresses the unique challenges in the context of the study; and finally, by operationalizing the research plan.

Building an information literate school community: approaches to inculcate information literacy in secondary school students

Purpose: This paper considers the concept of an information literate school community (ILSC) and approaches to information literacy instruction appropriate to secondary schools in Malaysia. Methodology: The paper examines the literature to determine the conditions that need to be in place in order to create an ILSC, and benchmarks for determining how well a school is progressing towards an ILSC. Different approaches to IL education are outlined and a case study of project based learning in the history curriculum is highlighted. Findings: The project based learning approach in the history curriculum for 13-15 year olds does not ensure good information literacy skills if library instruction is not embedded. A digital library of the students’ history projects is being developed to encourage improvements in students’ work. Originality: This paper offers an insight into how Malaysian schools approach the task of developing student information literacy and their progress towards becoming ILSC.

Building Online Historical Resources Collaboratively: Making the Most of a Digital Library to Reinforce ICT Skills in Malaysia

Presents a framework for a Collaborative Resource Development (CoreDev) digital library for Malaysian historical resources based on the development of local historical digital content by collaborating partners. The environment would provide the platform for the educational community to participate in e-publishing of resources that can be shared by others. The desired outcomes would be an enriched local content of historical resources on the Internet and ICT-literate teachers and students. The prototype uses a biographical portal as the test bed, incorporating five main modules: (a) off site creation, indexing, searching and retrieval of historical resources; (b) a database that supports multi-format digital resources; (c) simple and complex searches; (d) varied resource display; and (e) basic security features for participating partners. CoreDev is ideal for introducing the use of ICT as a research tool. Teachers can also use it extensively to teach Internet searching skills and make the most of its flexibility to reinforce basic ICT skills.

Evaluation of new research performance indices at the researcher level

Various new performance evaluation indices for impact have been proposed and studied in various contexts. This study carried out a quantitative evaluation of the case of Malaysian engineering researchers at the micro level using a scientometric approach. In order to understand the behavior of new developments, a comparative performance evaluation is carried out of h-index, a set of h-type indices along with publication and citation metrics. Findings are compared with earlier major studies. We looked for institutional h-index and researchers’ h-index scores and did not find any relationship. Exploratory Factor Analysis is employed to examine the valid categorization and to study the underlying dimensions of the studied metrics and indices. The inter-correlation among h-index, its variants, and traditional metrics is probed in detail. The h, q and g-indices along with publication and citation hold the position on ‘quantity of the productive core’, while the R index showed equal loading on both cores. For th...Various new performance evaluation indices for impact have been proposed and studied in various contexts. This study carried out a quantitative evaluation of the case of Malaysian engineering researchers at the micro level using a scientometric approach. In order to understand the behavior of new developments, a comparative performance evaluation is carried out of h-index, a set of h-type indices along with publication and citation metrics. Findings are compared with earlier major studies. We looked for institutional h-index and researchers’ h-index scores and did not find any relationship. Exploratory Factor Analysis is employed to examine the valid categorization and to study the underlying dimensions of the studied metrics and indices. The inter-correlation among h-index, its variants, and traditional metrics is probed in detail. The h, q and g-indices along with publication and citation hold the position on ‘quantity of the productive core’, while the R index showed equal loading on both cores. For the case of Malaysian engineering researchers, two conspicuous findings are observed about the total citation and g-index. These have association with the first component named as ‘quantity of the productive core.’ Our findings strengthen the point that citation count has a strong association with the ‘quantity of the productive core’ and cannot be used as sole impact evaluation measure.