Enhancing the customer relationship management in public libraries: findings from three developing countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities of implementing the customer relationship management (CRM) concept and smart technologies in public libraries in developing countries. The goal was to explore the level of librarians’ awareness about CRM concept and their willingness to accept the CRM concept in libraries. Also, patrons’ satisfaction with the quality of services and relationships in public libraries is explored. Design/methodology/approach – The authors obtained data for this research through two online surveys. The first survey measures librarians’ level of awareness about CRM concept and their perception about CRM and smart technologies concept in public libraries in three developing countries: Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second survey measures patrons’ satisfaction with services and relationship in public libraries in these three countries. Findings – The research results revealed that most surveyed librarians are familiar with the CRM concept. However, libraries in these three developing countries barely use CRM or smart technologies to improve the relationship with stakeholders. Also, most patrons are satisfied with relationships and services. The analysis of data indicates no significant difference in the satisfaction level among patrons between these three developing countries. Research limitations/implications – Not all libraries participated in this research. Therefore, the sample is not distributed evenly across different types of libraries or user groups. Future research should include different types of libraries. Practical implications – The results can be used by public libraries in developing countries to improve the relationship with stakeholders harnessing CRM concept and smart technologies. Social implications – The use of CRM in combination with the smart technologies can help leverage the quality of the relationship between public libraries and stakeholders which in turn would secure their support and loyalty in the future. Originality/value – The integration of CRM concept as a component of library business automation process is an idea that has not been discussed widely in the library community and could initiate a positive trend in public libraries in developing countrie

Creating Adaptive Environment for e-Learning Courses

In this paper we provide an approach to creating adaptive environment for e-learning courses. In the context of e-education, successful adaptation has to be performed upon learners’ characteristics. Currently, modeling and discovering users’ needs, goals, knowledge preferences and motivations is one of the most challenging tasks in e-learning systems that deal with large volumes of information. Primary goal of the research is to perform personalizing of distance education system, according to students’ learning styles. Main steps and requirements in applying business intelligence techniques in process of personalization are identified. In addition, we propose generic model and architecture of an adaptive e-learning system by describing the structure of an adaptive course and exemplify correlations among e-learning course content and different learning styles. Moreover, research that dealt with application of data mining technique in a real e-learning system was carried out. We performed adaptation of our e-learning courses using the results from the research

GUEST EDITORIAL

Nowadays, Internet has evolved into a platform that reshapes modern life and removes borders between real, social and cyber worlds. Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm and a cutting edge technology that harnesses a network of embedded, interconnected objects (sensors, actuators, tags or mobile devices) in order to collect various types of information at anytime and anywhere. These devices can be used for building different complex smart environments [1], such as smart homes [2][3], smart classrooms [4], smart offices [5], smart factories [6], smart cities [7], intelligent transportation systems [8], smart power grids [9] or smart e-government. Further, the networks of devices are based on advanced Internet standards. IoT implies seamless integration of numerous types of devices into existing Internet infrastructure. Smart environments can be customized according to users’ needs and preferences which are suitable for automating these environments. Internet of things solutions often encompass integration with cloud-based systems and services [7]: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS)

HARNESSING CLOUD COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR E-LEARNING SERVICES

This paper introduces an innovative model for harnessing cloud computing infrastructure within an e-learning ecosystem. The main goal was to design a scalable, reliable and secure IT environment that provides a plethora of e-learning services and seamless integration of the heterogeneous e-learning components through IaaS, PaaS and SaaS cloud service models. The e-learning services are tailored to foster courses for IT engineers in the areas of mobile technologies, social computing, Internet of Things and big data. The model was implemented and evaluated in the e-learning ecosystem of the E-business Lab, University of Belgrade

A PLATFORM FOR A SMART LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

In this paper, a modular platform which provides student services for smart educational environment is described. The platform represents a point of mutual integration of various services, such as hosting platform for students’ projects, platform for integrating SMS service with students’ web applications, Internet of Things platform which enables acquiring data from sensors distributed within the University building and controlling various actuators. Platform is deployed as a part of Smart Learning environment. It is integrated with single sign on service and it uses CAS and Oauth2. REST API is also provided. PHP Symfony framework, relational and non-relational databases are used for deploying the platform. The platform was evaluated and tested

An approach to using Instagram in secondary education

In this paper, the authors study the possibility of applying Instagram in education and increasing the level of knowledge of high school students. The use of the Instagram app aims to motivate students to gain and improve knowledge of economics, develop environmental awareness and increase awareness of the importance of caring for their health using modern services. The possibility of improving the teaching process in secondary education by introducing mobile and pervasive technologies that would make the teaching process more effective and attractive to students was tested by posting "Challenges" on Instagram. This paper presents the research that was done with students of the third grade of secondary vocational school in the period March - May 2019

Harnessing Edutainment in Higher Education: an Example of an IoT Based Game

In this paper the authors study the problem of designing new tools and approaches for a higher implementation of edutainment into formal e-learning. The main goal is to design an educational game in order to effectively support the teaching process in higher education. The developed game is based on Internet of things technologies and implemented as a part of a smart classroom. It includes IoT infrastructure for solving assignments within a course, a mobile application that students use to interact with the game and a component for integration with Moodle LMS. The game has been implemented within the educational process at Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade

Development of an educational game based on IoT

nternet of Things(IoT)in combination with game based learning offers new possibilities to improve teaching and learning. This paper presents an example of using the IoTin education through the creation of an educational interactive game. Aneducational game based on the IoThas been developed. The developed systemaims to motivate students to acquire and enhance knowledge in the field of IoT. The system is composed of a mobile application that serves as a controller for students, an administrative tool in the form of a web application used by the teachers, a set of assignments implemented within a smart educational environment, and a collection of web services used for integration of software components.The system is integrated with Moodle learning management system. The evaluation has been conducted at the Faculty of organizationalsciences, University of Belgrade, during the Summer school in Internet of Things. A group of seven students played the game, solved the knowledge test, and gave their opinions on usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning and satisfaction with the developed system. Results show that the game has a positive effect on students’ knowledge and attitudes, and therefore is suitable for application within a blended learning environment

DEVELOPMENT OF AN IOT SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS' STRESS MANAGEMENT

This paper shows the development of an IoT system for students' stress management. The IoT system is developed in an open architecture and is an integral part of the educational ecosystem. The system is composed of two elements: the one that enables measurement of vital parameters for identifying stress in students, and the other for stress control. The system for stress control consists of a mobile health application featuring relaxation content. Such system should minimize the excitement and have an impact on reducing future stress. The IoT system for stress management was evaluated in a real environment, during students’ thesis defense on Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade. The results show that time spent using mobile health application with relaxing content can reduce students’ physiological arousal and excitement during thesis defense

DEVELOPMENT OF AN IOT SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS' STRESS MANAGEMENT

This paper shows the development of an IoT system for students' stress management. The IoT system is developed in an open architecture and is an integral part of the educational ecosystem. The system is composed of two elements: the one that enables measurement of vital parameters for identifying stress in students, and the other for stress control. The system for stress control consists of a mobile health application featuring relaxation content. Such system should minimize the excitement and have an impact on reducing future stress. The IoT system for stress management was evaluated in a real environment, during students’ thesis defense on Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade. The results show that time spent using mobile health application with relaxing content can reduce students’ physiological arousal and excitement during thesis defense