Daniel G. Dorner

Information Literacy Education in Asian Developing Countries: cultural factors affecting curriculum development and programme delivery

The prevailing models of information literacy education (ILE) are contextually grounded in Western social and intellectual structures. For the most part these models follow the taxonomy developed in the 1950s by Bloom, which has been adopted as appropriate for developing societies without considering the contexts from which they are derived, and in which they are being applied. For ILE to be meaningfully embedded in the educational fabric of a developing country, it is important to take account of a range of contextual variables that affect how and why individuals learn. Focusing on ILE through the lens of cultural contextuality, this paper addresses three questions in relation to ILE in developing countries: How do we define information literacy in a developing country context? How do we best determine the educational objectives of information literacy education in a developing country context? How can cultural awareness improve information literacy education?

A comparative review of common user interface products

A common user interface replaces the multiple interfaces found among individual electronic library resources, reducing the time and effort spent by the user in both searching and learning to use a range of databases. Although the primary function of a common user interface is to simplify the search process, such products can be holistic solutions designed to address requirements other than searching, such as user authentication and site branding. This review provides a detailed summary of software currently on the market. The products reviewed were EnCompass, MetaLib, Find‐It‐All OneSearch, ZPORTAL, CPORTAL, InfoTrac Total Access, MetaFind, MuseSearch, SiteSearch, Single Search, Chameleon Gateway, and WebFeat.

A textured sculpture: The information needs of users of digitised New Zealand cultural heritage resources

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to gather some empirical, baseline information on the perceived needs of end‐users of digital cultural heritage resources. The study was funded by the National Library of New Zealand in order to take end‐user needs into consideration more fully in its development and presentation of digital cultural heritage resources.Design/methodology/approach – The studys research design involved a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach; a user survey comprising self‐administered, semi‐structured questionnaires, seven face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews and one focus group.Findings – The findings outline the barriers users face in using New Zealand digital cultural heritage resources. They also highlight the user needs and features and characteristics they most desire in digital cultural heritage resources.Originality/value – Only a handful of studies exist about end‐user needs with respect to the digitisation of cultural heritage materials and very few are research‐base...

Stakeholders' attitudes towards the management and preservation of digital cultural heritage resources in Ghana

This paper presents an overview of one component of the preliminary findings from a research project that seeks to understand the various contextual factors influencing the management and preservation of digital cultural heritage resources (DPCH) in Ghana. Four main clusters of factors, i.e., attitudinal, resources, policy, and management factors, were identified as impacting on DPCH in Ghana. This paper focuses on attitudinal factors because increasing understanding of underlying attitudes and behaviours has the potential to inform meaningful and culturally appropriate strategies. The paper identifies attitudinal enablers and hindrances and concludes that the lack of interest by funders and policy makers in formal information management, and also in DPCH currently counters the enablers. Accordingly, information professionals and professional associations need to be proactive in their promotional efforts to bring about attitudinal changes to promote DPCH.

The influence of library manager styles on continuing education of university library practitioners in Vietnam

Purpose – This paper aims to examine and then discuss the positive and negative influences of library manager styles on the engagement of Vietnamese university library staff in continuing education (CE) activities to improve their work performance.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the relevant literature, a preliminary contextual model of factors affecting CE for university library practitioners in Vietnam was developed. Using the model as a framework to guide the data gathering, 17 focus group interviews were held with operational staff and ten individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with library managers at ten public university libraries across Vietnam.Findings – Three main managerial styles were identified, i.e. directive, decisive and formalistic styles, each of which affected academic library staff CE in different ways. These styles were reflected in the ways the managers operated their libraries and assessed their staff, as well as in the ways they dealt with and coordinated CE ac...

Using Theory to Understand Digital Preservation Management in Ghana

Abstract In this paper we discuss how Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory and Davies’ Policy, Strategy and Resources (PSR) troika model were used to underpin a Ph. D. study that explored contextual factors influencing the current state of digital preservation management in Ghana. Our goal is to explain how these theories were employed so that other researchers will be able to use them effectively to understand other related research problems. The research on which this paper is based employed an interpretive single-case-study approach. Four main clusters of contextual factors—attitude-related, resource-related, policy-related, and management-related factors—were found to be influencing digital preservation management in Ghana. We present a summary of these factors at the end of the paper. Awareness of these can enable the effective development of a digital preservation program and lead to the establishment of a national digital memory for Ghana and other developing countries.

Information behaviour in transition: a developing country perspective

Increased Internet penetration rates across the developing world have resulted in significant changes to the quantity and quality of information previously available to individuals in many regions of the world. Thus far little research has examined the contextual factors affecting information behaviour in a non-Western, developing country, and how new technologies are affecting traditional avenues to resolving information needs. This paper reports on the findings of a research project investigating information behaviour in Laos. Information behaviour was examined through 30 in-depth interviews from which the changing information environment of Laos was explored. The research employed Dervins Sense-making methodology and discourse analysis amongst other tools to investigate the unique nature of information behaviour in a developing country. The findings revealed that while increased internet access is affecting how individuals in Laos communicate and exchange information, contextual factors primarily related to culture continue to strongly influence information behaviour. These findings have implications for information professionals, information systems design, and international development.