Fifty years of UK research in information science

An attempt is made to discern the main research themes in British information science over the past half-century. Within these themes, emphasis is placed on research in the UK that has had some impact on the international information science community. The major factors affecting information research in the UK are also briefly considered

Aslib: a de facto national library/information organization

The history of Aslib, an independent library/information membership organisation in the United Kingdom between 1924 and 2014, is outlined, with emphasis in the ways in Aslib acted as a de facto national centre for special librarianship and information work, for documentation, and for technical and commercial information. Its activities in this respect included publishing, training and professional development, research and consultancy, and the maintenance of national collections and indexes. Aslib was also an official national centre for several purposes, generally associated with information retrieval and dissemination

Smoother pebbles and the shoulders of giants: the developing foundations of information science

Some developments in the information science discipline over a period of 30 years are discussed, by selecting topics covered in the early issues of Journal of Information Science, and tracing their influence on subsequent developments, largely though by no means exclusively through JIS papers. Five main themes are covered: the information discipline per se; the foundations of that discipline; the nature of information; relations between discipline and profession; and education for information science. The continuing resonance of the writings of Farradane and Brookes is noted

La situación de la Biblioteconomía y Documentación en la universidad española

Conferencia dictada en Universidad Nacional de La Plata sobre la formación española en biblioteconomía y documentación.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

The French Conception of Information science. "Une exception française"?

International audienceThe French conception of Information science is often contrasted to the Anglophone one, which is perceived as different and rooted mainly in Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. While there is such thing as a French conception of information science, this conception is not totally divorced from the Anglophone one. Unbeknownst to researchers from the two geographical and cultural regions, they share similar conceptions of the field and invoke similar theoretical foundations, in particular the socio-constructivist theory. There is also a convergence of viewpoints on the dual nature of information science, i.e., the fact that it is torn between two competing paradigms - objectivist and subjectivist. Technology is another area where a convergence of viewpoints is noticeable: scholars from both geographic and cultural zones display the same suspicion towards the role of technology and of computer science. It would therefore be misleading to uphold the view that Anglophone information science is essentially objectivist and technicist while the French conception is essentially social and rooted in the humanities. This paper highlights converging analyses from authors based in both linguistic and geographical regions with the aim to foster a better understanding of the challenges that information science is facing worldwide and to help trace a path to how the global information science community can try to meet them

Aslib: a de facto national library/information organization

The history of Aslib, an independent library/information membership organisation in the United Kingdom between 1924 and 2014, is outlined, with emphasis in the ways in Aslib acted as a de facto national centre for special librarianship and information work, for documentation, and for technical and commercial information. Its activities in this respect included publishing, training and professional development, research and consultancy, and the maintenance of national collections and indexes. Aslib was also an official national centre for several purposes, generally associated with information retrieval and dissemination

Penjanaan dan pengurusan kewangan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan: kajian kes di Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar, Kedah

Sistem pengurusan kewangan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) mempunyai lima elemen utama iaitu prosedur perancangan dan pentadbiran PBT, dasar pembangunan kerajaan negeri ke atas PBT, pentadbiran kewangan kerajaan tempatan, sumber kewangan kerajaan tempatan dan integrasi dalam jabatan PBT. Elemen-elemen ini menyumbang kepada pembentukan satu sistem pengurusan kewangan kepada Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan. Sebagai penyumbang utama kepada pembangunan sistem pengurusan kewangan dan meningkatkan keberkesanan sistem pengurusan kewangan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan. Pembangunan sistem pengurusan kewangan yang lebih praktikal akan membantu dalam meningkatkan kemajuan bagi sesebuah Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan. Bagi merealisasikan matlamat ini dalam Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar, perlunya untuk membangunkan rangka kerja sistem pengurusan kewangan yang menggabungkan faktor-faktor prosedur perancangan dan pentadbiran, dasar pembangunan, pentadbiran kewangan, sumber kewangan dan integrasi. Rangka kerja ini boleh menjawab kepada pelbagai permasalahan di dalam pengurusan kewangan dalam pentadbiran Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan di Malaysia Financial management system of Local Municipal Council consist of five main elements, namely financial procedures and financial administration in the Local Municipal Council, state development policies toward Local Municipal Council, financial administration of Local Municipal Council, financial sources of Local Municipal Council, and integration among the departments in Local Municipal Council. These elements contribute to the development of a financial management system to Local Municipal Council. As the major contributor to the development of the financial management system and increase the effectiveness of local Municipal Council financial management system. This more practical financial management system will help improve the development of Local Municipal. To realize this goal, the Alor Setar Municipal Council need to develop financial management system framework that could integrate financial procedures and administration of the Council. This framework could help identify various issues and problems of the council

Dasar Luar Indonesia Terhadap Malaysia: Kajian Kes Ambalat Dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI)

Tesis ini membincangkan dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia khasnya dalam kes Ambalat dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI). Kajian ini penting kerana dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia menunjukkan satu perubahan dalam beberapa dekad kebelakangan. Perubahan tersebut berimpak kepada timbulnya ketegangan hubungan Indonesia-Malaysia terutama dalam kedua-dua kes. Secara amnya kajian ini ingin menjawab tiga persoalan penting iaitu (i) bagaimanakah perubahan dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia?; (ii) bagaimanakah dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia dalam kes Ambalat dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI)?; (iii) bagaimanakah pengaruh struktur antarabangsa dalam menjelaskan perubahan corak dan tingkah laku dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia dalam isu Ambalat dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI)?. Oleh kerana itu, dengan menggunakan teori Realisme Defensif, kajian ini mempunyai tiga objektif utama iaitu (i) membincangkan corak dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia dalam konteks pembangunan hubungan dua hala Indonesia-Malaysia; (ii) menganalisis dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia dalam kes Ambalat dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI) dan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhinya; (iii) menganalisis kesesuaian Realisme Defensif bagi menjelaskan dasar luar Indonesia terhadap Malaysia dalam isu Ambalat dan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI). This thesis examines the Indonesia foreign policy towards Malaysia, specifically in the case of Ambalat and Indonesian workers (TKI). This study is important due to some changes in the Indonesian foreign policy towards Malaysia that have occurred in last few decades. The changes were significantly impacted to the rise of the tension between the two countries especially in the both cases. Generally, this study attempts to answer three main questions namely (i) how has the changes in Indonesian foreign policy towards Malaysia?; (ii) how has the changes in Indonesian foreign policy towards Malaysia in the case of Ambalat and Indonesian workers (TKI)?; (iii) to what extent has the impact of international structure on the changes of the pattern and behavior of Indonesian foreign policy towards Malaysia in the case of Ambalat and Indonesian workers (TKI)?

Understanding Novice Users\u27 Help-seeking Behavior in Getting Started with Digital Libraries: Influence of Learning Styles

Users\u27 information needs have to be fulfilled by providing a well-designed system. However, end users usually encounter various problems when interacting with information retrieval (IR) systems and it is even more so for novice users. The most common problem reported from previous research is that novice users do not know how to get started even though most IR systems contain help mechanisms. There is a deep gap between the system\u27s help function and the user\u27s need. In order to fill the gap and provide a better interacting environment, it is necessary to have a clearer picture of the problem and understand what the novice users\u27 behaviors are in using IR systems. The purpose of this study is to identify novice users\u27 help-seeking behaviors while they get started with digital libraries and how their learning styles lead to these behaviors. While a novice user is engaged in the process of interacting with an IR system, he/she may easily encounter problematic situations and require some kind of help in the search process. Novice users need to learn how to use a new IR environment by interacting with help features to fulfill their searching needs. However, many research studies have demonstrated that the existing help systems in IR systems cannot fully satisfy users\u27 needs. In addition to the system side problems, users\u27 characteristics, such as preference in using help, also play major roles in the decision of using system help. When viewing help-seeking as a learning activity, learning style is an influential factor that would lead to different help-seeking behaviors. Learning style deeply influences how students process information in learning activities, including learning performance, learning strategy, and learning preferences. Existing research does not seem to consider learning style and help-seeking together; therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the effects of learning styles on help-seeking interactions in the information seeking and searching environment. The study took place in an academic setting, and recruited 60 participants representing students from different education levels and disciplines. Data were collected by different methods, including pre-questionnaire, cognitive preference questionnaire, think-aloud protocol, transaction log, and interview. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed to analyze data in the study. Qualitative methods were first applied to explore novice users\u27 help-seeking approaches as well as to illustrate how learning styles lead to these approaches. Quantitative methods were followed to test whether or not learning style would affect help-seeking behaviors and approaches. Results of this study highlight two findings. First, this study identifies eight types of help features used by novice users with different learning styles. The quantitative evidence also verifies the effect of learning styles on help-seeking interactions with help features. Based on the foundation of the analysis of help features, the study further identified fifteen help-seeking approaches applied by users with different learning styles in digital libraries. The broad triangulation approach assumed in this study not only enables the illustration of novice users\u27 diversified help-seeking approaches but also explores and confirms the relationships between different dimensions of learning styles and help-seeking behaviors. The results also suggest that the designs and delivery of IR systems, including digital libraries, need to support different learning styles by offering more engaging processing layouts, diversified input formats, as well as easy-to-perceive and easy-to-understand modes of help features