Flexible Fiber-Shaped Supercapacitor for Wearable Electronics

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Usage of E-Databases and E-Journals by Research Community in Pakistani Universities: Issues and Perspectives

Purpose: This research was conducted to achieve three objectives; 1) to investigate the usage and acceptability of e-databases and e-journals among the research scholars in selected universities of Pakistan, 2) to indicate the preferred information resource being used by researchers, and 3) to explore barriers faced by them when consulting these resources for research endeavors. Methodology: A Quantitative research method was adopted. The population of the study was MS/MPhil & PhD researchers enrolled in the public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. A structured questionnaire was distributed randomly by the principal researcher to a sample of 1031 (out of 4282) scholars at these universities. The sample included 397 social science researchers, 246 engineering scientists, 208 applied science researchers and 180 agricultural scientists. The response rate of the respondents was 981 out of 1031 distributed questionnaires with a percentage of 95.2 percent. Findings: The study reveals that most of the respondents accessed e-databases and e-Journals “2-3 times” a week and widely accepted the “importance” of these resources in research activities. In addition, the respondents were usually preferred to use electronic databases, e-books and e-journals (open access) over printed collection. Though, restrictions on e-resources, slow internet connection, students’ awareness and training were the major obstacles in using e-resources effectively. Practical implications: The outcomes of this study could enable competent authorities, university librarians and LIS professionals to further explore the tendency of research scholars towards adopting e-resources for learning and research purposes. Originality: The outcomes of this study are valuable to LIS community as it contributes to the body of existing knowledge on e-resources usage in developing country including Pakistan. Keywords: E-databases usage, e-journals usage, research scholars, accessibility issues, universities, Pakistan

Information Seeking Behavior of postgraduate students in the University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Purpose: This study investigated the information-seeking behavior (ISB) of the research students in terms of information needs, sources, resources, barriers to information seeking, significance of the libraries towards the quality of research and factors motivating the use of libraries at the University of Peshawar. Design/Methodology/approach: This study used a quantitative approach, adopting a survey questionnaire method for data collection. The population of this study was composed of the Master, M.Phil. and PhD research students in the faculties of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Management Information Sciences at the University of Peshawar. The sample size was 300 research students selected conveniently. The study response rate was 85% and data were analyzed through SPSS (20 version). Key findings: The findings revealed that research students sought information to satisfy their information needs related to the identification and selection of the research problem, access to the current information, writing of the research proposal, article and theses. To fulfill their information needs, these researches indicated the use of different sources and resources. Regarding the sources, most of the research students preferred the research-related workshops and taking help from other researchers to fulfill their information needs. Furthermore, research students used the internet and online research databases to satisfy information needs. They also utilized research and information services provided by their libraries to retrieve the needed information. While seeking the needed information, research students have reported different barriers designating poor internet connectivity, ICT facilities and unavailability of study rooms in libraries as the major barriers. Reliable information sources and e-databases were the significant motivating factors for using/visiting library. Limitations of the study: This study has two major limitations; 1) as the sample was conveniently recruited, thus there is a possibility of sample bias and; 2) likewise this study was undertaken at the University of Peshawar, thus generalization of findings is limited to the study context. Practical implication(s): the findings might motivate librarians towards the restructuring of information literacy programs to enhance the current ISB of the research students. It may inform the authorities about the barriers faced by the research students in information seeking and thus stimulate them towards the up-gradation of Internet and ICT facilities in the university. Contribution to the knowledge: This study addressed the gap in the literature on ISB in the context University of Peshawar. It revealed factors that impede and/or augment researchers’ use of libraries. The insights may include the formulation of a stable information literacy program at the University of Peshawar to support research-based learning

Major theories of Job Satisfaction and their use in the field of Librarianship

This study explored the importance of two major theories of Job satisfaction (content and process theories) and their sub domains and how LIS professionals could use these theories in the field of librarianship. The study was carried out by a review of the literature to identify the significant contribution of these two related theories in human resource management. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, the literature on these two theories was wide among scholarly sources such as web-based sources, including Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and subject-specific e-databases namely JSTOR, Emerald, Sage Journals, Taylor &Francis, and ERIC. This study explores several aspects of job satisfaction, job happiness, job ethics, and job conduct in detail. The study elaborates that work productivity, employee engagement, absenteeism, safety and security, stress management, unionization, and all other factors have an impact on employees’ job performances. This study also explained several theories of job satisfaction in the context of librarianship, such as Abraham Maslow\u27s hierarchy of needs, Clayton Alderfers\u27 ERG theory, Frederick Herzberg\u27s two-wire theory, Douglas McGregor\u27s theory of X and Y, David\u27s theory of needs McKeland, Porter and Loller’s theory of similarity, and goal setting theories with models. The study also guides how to implement the theoretical ideas of job satisfaction in the field of Librarianship

Variasjon i investerings- og LCC-kostnader for skolebygg

De siste årene har det vært befolkningsvekst i Norge. Dette har ført til elevvekst i flere kommuner, noe som igjen medfører økt fokus på utbygging av skolebygg. Oslo kommune alene skal frem mot 2022 bruke 25 milliarder kroner på utbygging av skolebygg. Oslo vil få mellom 18 000 og 20 000 nye elever frem til år 2022. Dette er store investeringskostnader for Oslo kommune, og tilhørende fremtidige budsjettbindinger for forvaltnings-, drifts- og vedlikeholdskostnader (FDV-kostnader) for disse bygningene. Derfor er det viktig for Oslo kommune å se på den totale kostnaden de får i løpet av levetiden til bygningene (Aftenposten, 2012-03-14). Faget «prosjektledelse og -styring» har fanget vår interesse for å se nærmere på kommunens prosjektgjennomføring. Vi ønsker spesielt å se på variasjonene i investerings - og levetidskostnader. I tillegg er valg av entrepriseformer og måleparametere kommunene bruker, forhold vi ønsker å se på