Perspective of The Search Engines Among The Faculty Members of Autonomous Colleges of Coimbatore: A Study

Search engines have become an integral part of our information environment. Increasingly they are replacing the role of libraries in facilitating information discovery and access. Search engine use is an embedded task that is determined by individuals’ specific work contexts and needs. The present study attempted to analysis the perspective of the search engines among the faculty members of autonomous colleges in the Coimbatore. The study had the objective of analysis the level of computer and internet proficiency of the faculty members, purpose of using the search engines and evaluation of the search engines. The study highlighted the relationship of the designation and their proficiency of computer and internet search skill and proved that difference between using the search engines by their age

Pedagogical Approaches of Intermediate Schoolteachers for Teaching Students by Building Online Classroom Communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study explores teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical approaches for teaching students by connecting and building online classroom communities in distance education programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants in this study are teachers from 12 intermediate schools in Kuwait. The study generates survey data from 153 teachers (93 females and 60 males) to determine teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical beliefs, mode of delivery and communication, patterns of interaction and guided inquiry. The findings of the study suggest that teachers are willing to use technology and different modes of communication to connect with students and deliver remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although teachers did combine some aspects of both traditional and constructivist approaches and were willing to use technology to bridge the distance created by remote education, they were averse to teaching online and considered face-to-face interaction with students essential. While it is evident that there will be a continuum of technology-based instruction when the teachers transition from face-to-face teaching to fully online remote teaching, the teachers were not aware of interaction patterns which are critical in online distance education. ANOVA results indicate there is no significant difference in the participants’ opinions on interaction patterns based on teachers’ experience and courses they taught (p=>.05). The descriptive data and the results of ANOVA and Tukey indicate that most teachers, irrespective of their subject specializations or experience, did not consider guided inquiry to be important for distance education. This study has implications for supporting effective technology integration for the delivery of instruction during a pandemic. Keywords: Pandemic, COVID-19, Remote Teaching, Distance Learning, Pedagogical Beliefs, Pedagogical Approaches, Interaction Patterns, Guided Inquiry, Communities of Inquiry, TPACK, Practical subject (Electrical) DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-30-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

Development of a Website Page Redesign and SEO enhancement to increase Website Visibility and Brand Awareness for students and employers across the UK at The Talent Tap charity, based in Winchester, in 2024

The Talent Tap is a not-for-profit charity within the UK, serving as a vital link between business and talented students from diverse underprivileged backgrounds, by presenting valuable opportunities to young people, and enabling businesses to access a diverse talent pool. Many charities lack in digital marketing expertise, therefore the objective of this report seeks to understand how and what the charity can implement to ensure they can increase their brand awareness online to be more digitally present within the social noise of today. This discussion extracts data from a primary questionnaire and industry data online. An evaluation of the external environment in which the charity sits within discovered the economic crisis, user engagement and accessibility, along with the emergence of technology affecting the charity’s ability to maximise success. The internal environment discovered The Talent Tap’s current unengaging and low awareness digital marketing strategy for their website, combined with a large number of young people living in deprived areas and only 9% of businesses focusing on social mobility. In relation to their digital presence, it was made evident that the majority of students and employers hadn’t heard of the charity, and those that had, had not felt the website was representative of the work the charity does. The underlying factor for this presented a lack of awareness and lack of knowledge in the marketing field. A market analysis discovered the importance of charities to establish a strong digital presence in light of technological advancements with results presenting the requirement for marketing training, website design and SEO optimisation, and the creation of more comprehensive content to provide users with a complete understanding of the charity’s mission and service. Drawn from the analysis, it is recommended that The Talent Tap implement a website and SEO strategy which consists of optimising for mobile, enhancing their content and design in line with competitors, including keyword optimisation. By putting these recommendations into practice, The Talent Tap can achieve their aim of increasing their brand awareness and visibility, thereby expanding their reach and impact within the community it serves. This research uncovered a void for future researchers to explore the link between social media marketing, SEO and websites and an exploration into how contextual factors and the characteristics of users impact the importance of different aspects of website usabilit

Perceptions of University Digital Libraries as information source by international postgraduate student

University digital libraries (UDLs) have taken the place of the traditional library in the present day. In the university context, in particular, they are the obvious solution to the library needs of students. However, they encounter considerable competition from web-based search engines on the internet, which limits effective usage of the library resources by students. This research set out to identify factors that affect international postgraduate students’ choice to use Google Scholar over their UDL to create an information driven framework that can positively influence and be responsive to dynamic needs and search strategies of the end-user (student). This research utilises two theoretical models: the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model (Venkatesh et al., 2003), and Wilson’s (1999) model of information-seeking behaviour, in the process of achieving its aim of identifying factors influencing information search strategy by postgraduate students. The research used an extended version of UTAUT to evaluate the factors influencing the adoption and acceptance of UDLs and Google Scholar. The research was designed to use a mixed methodological approach, with a sample-frame of 400 international postgraduate students in two groups: both groups based in a large city in the United Kingdom. The study utilised a questionnaire to survey 400 respondents; it contained questions relating to the UTAUT model, as well as students’ intent to use their UDLs or Google Scholar. The collected data were quantitatively analysed using various statistical tests including regression and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Open-ended questions were also conducted to obtain further information examining six aspects of their intention to use– namely spectrum, search and functionality, availability, accessibility, accuracy, and references. The research found that international students preferred to use Google Scholar over UDLs because it was perceived to be faster and easier to use. It was also found that there were myriad factors that influenced the behavioural intent of the information seeker, such as social influence, domain knowledge, perceived outcome, and perceived effort. The research found that international students were not only using Google Scholar on its own, but also found the use of UDLs as the most valuable source of quality information that they could rely on. Based on the above stated findings, the research has contributed to knowledge by proposing a step-wise framework that can be used in UDLs as a means of harnessing the strength in digital libraries and amalgamate it with the technological iv platforms used by students. The framework takes into consideration systems features of information search platforms, behavioural intentions of each individual student as well as the social contextual environment that international students find themselves. Adoption of the proposed framework is recommended for university libraries to establish the ideal intervention point for educating and training students on the use of their digital library

Strategies for building user loyalty in selected university libraries in Ghana

Using business models in university libraries has proved to yield positive results. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-method approach, this study investigated strategies for building user loyalty in selected university libraries in Ghana. One-on-one planned interviews were used to glean data from librarians from the selected institutions to assess the marketing strategies used in their respective libraries. Furthermore, data from university libraries' stakeholders were collected through focus group discussions to determine library user loyalty attributes. The results were utilised to develop the quantitative questionnaire in the second stage of the research, which was used to gather data from library users to establish the determinants of library user loyalty. In all, four study sites, twenty-eight focus group members, fifteen librarians for the one-on-one planned interviews were involved in the qualitative phase, and four hundred and thirty-four library users were considered for the quantitative strand. The researcher used the IBM SPSS version 22 to analyse the quantitative data while the qualitative data were thematically analysed using QSR NVivo qualitative analysis software. This study observed the ethical standards of research proposed by UNISA’s ethical review guidelines. The findings of this study indicate that although libraries in selected universities were using various strategies to market their products and services, none had a marketing plan to drive its marketing agenda. The study further revealed that library user loyalty was determined through a four-phased loyalty process which included cognitive, affective, conative and action loyalty. To attain action loyalty which was demonstrated through user’s commitment to using the library and its resources, librarians need to start from cognitive loyalty which was characterised by service quality to the affective loyalty which was predicted mainly by user satisfaction. Affective loyalty led to conative loyalty, expressed primarily through users’ intention to utilise the library. It was also found that some predictive attributes mediated action loyalty. It was recommended that, for libraries to build and sustain loyalty among their users, there is the need for planned marketing activities. The study also proposed a framework to guide librarians in their bid to build library user loyalty.Information ScienceD. Phil. (Information Science