A practice-based exploration of the enactment of information literacy among PhD students in an interdisciplinary research field

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ola Pilerot
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crucial Part ◽  
Interdisciplinary Network

Purpose – The study aims to explore the interaction between the students, the material objects surrounding them, and their social site. The purpose of this paper is to identify and elucidate information literacy as it is being enacted within a complex and heterogeneous community of PhD students. Design/methodology/approach – The study is conducted from a practice-based perspective, according to which information literacy is conceived as learnt through interaction within the socio-material practice where the learner is active. In order to produce empirical material, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten doctoral students in an interdisciplinary research network, and their workplaces were visited. Findings – The PhD students in this interdisciplinary network are more or less constantly engaged in the enactment of information literacy. It takes place in dialogue with others who can be both co-located and distantly located, and occurs through discussions about work in progress, through processes of evaluation and assessment of texts and authors, and through mundane everyday activities such as participating in meetings, which offer insights into how to navigate, in the broadest sense, the world of academia. A crucial part of the enactment of information literacy, which in practice is inseparable from interaction with others, is to pay attention to physical surroundings and material objects. Practical implications – The findings have implications for prospective PhD students in interdisciplinary fields, for their supervisors, and potentially also for librarians who are supposed to serve these groups. Originality/value – Research on the information literacies of PhD students in interdisciplinary fields is scarce. The practice-based approach applied in this study offers an extended and deepened understanding of the enactment of information literacy among PhD students in one interdisciplinary research practice.

scholarly journals The role of libraries in teaching doctoral students to become information-literate researchers

2019 ◽  
Vol 120 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 158-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Ince ◽  
Christopher Hoadley ◽  
Paul A. Kirschner
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Types Of Information

PurposeThis paper aims to review current literature pertaining to information literacy and digital literacy skills and practices within the research workflow for doctoral students and makes recommendations for how libraries (and others) can foster skill-sets for graduate student research workflows for the twenty-first century scholarly researcher.Design/methodology/approachA review of existing information literacy practices for doctoral students was conducted, and four key areas of knowledge were identified and discussed.FindingsThe findings validate the need for graduate students to have training in information literacy, information management, knowledge management and scholarly communication. It recommends empirical studies to be conducted to inform future practices for doctoral students.Practical implicationsThis paper offers four areas of training to be considered by librarians and faculty advisers to better prepare scholars for their future.Originality/valueThis paper presents a distinctive synthesis of the types of information literacy and digital literacy skills needed by graduate students.

Identification of interdisciplinary research based upon co-cited journals

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Marco van Veller
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reference Lists ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Large Matrix ◽  
Or Groups

Purpose This paper aims to the identification of journal articles that probably report on interdisciplinary research at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). Design/methodology/approach For identification of interdisciplinary research, an analysis is performed on journals from which articles have been cited in articles (co-)authored by WUR staff. The journals with cited articles are inventoried from the reference lists of the WUR articles. For each WUR article, a mean dissimilarity is calculated between the journal in which it has been published and the journals inventoried from the reference lists. Dissimilarities are derived from a large matrix with similarity values between journals, calculated from co-occurrence of these journals in the WUR articles’ reference lists. Findings For 21,191 WUR articles published between 2006 and 2015 in 2,535 journals mean dissimilarities have been calculated. The analysis shows that WUR articles with high mean dissimilarities often are published in multidisciplinary journals. Also, WUR articles with high mean dissimilarities are found in non-multidisciplinary (research field-specific) journals. For these articles (with high mean dissimilarities), this paper shows that citations are often made to more various research fields than for articles with lower mean dissimilarities. Originality/value Identification of articles reporting on interdisciplinary research may be important to WUR policy for strategic purposes or for the evaluation of researchers or groups. Also, this analysis enables to identify journals with high mean dissimilarities (due to WUR articles citing more various research fields). Identification of these journals with a more interdisciplinary scope can be important for collection management by the library.

The needs of Muslim hotel customers: evidence from Russian guests

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Shnyrkova ◽  
Marina Predvoditeleva
Keyword(s):  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Hospitality Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Context ◽  
Hotel Managers

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify Halal hotel attributes demanded by the Russian Muslim travelers. Following this, the study aims to investigate whether gender and types of travelers influence the demand for Halal hotel attributes. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted to localize the list of Halal hotel attributes for the Russian business context. A self-administrated online questionnaire was designed, distributed and collected from 191 Russian Muslim customers, who have stayed at Halal hotels in the past 12 months. Data analysis includes a t-test and analysis of variance. Findings The study revealed a list of Halal attributes demanded by Russian Muslim customers. Also, the findings indicate that the list of the attributes demonstrated the differences in the requested attributes between gender and types of travelers. Research limitations/implications The study came across three main limitations. The first was that the respondents surveyed were leisure tourists. Second, the majority of the respondents have university degrees. Third, the research sample is limited to approximately 200 respondents. This research primarily contributes to tourism and hospitality management, and consumer behavior literature, as this is the first study yielding insights on a new demographic: Russian Muslim tourists. Practical implications The study provides a clear understanding of the Halal hotel attributes demanded by Russian Muslims that can help hotel managers to accommodate the needs of this group while, at the same time, meeting the requirements of guests of different religions. Social implications The study contributes to improving social relationships within the Russian Federation as it improves society’s understanding of the life principles of Muslims. Originality/value This is the first study investigating the demand for Halal attributes by Russian Muslim tourists. By partly covering the empty research field on this topic, the study provides meaningful direction to future research of the Russian hotels’ Halal services from both supply and demand perspectives.

Organised crime goes online: realities and challenges

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Lavorgna
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Research Field ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internet Crime ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Police Records ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide an empirically based description of how the Internet is exploited by different types of organised crime groups (OCGs), ranging from Italian mafia-style groups to looser gangs. Design/methodology/approach – The article relies on a dataset collected from mid-2011 to mid-2013 and, specifically, on semi-structured interviews to law enforcement officials and acknowledged experts in Italy, the UK, the USA and The Netherlands; judicial transcripts; police records; and media news. Findings – This article provides an account of the main scope for which the Internet has been used for various criminal activities traditionally associated with the organised crime rhetoric, first and foremost, cross-border trafficking activities. This study also discusses some current legal and policy approaches to deal with OCGs operating online. Originality/value – This contribution addresses an under-investigated research field and aims to foster a reflection on the opportunity to integrate Internet crime research, and even more Internet crime investigations, into the everyday routines of criminologists, analysts and law enforcement officers.

Knowledge management ecological approach: a cross-discipline case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 839-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Cheng ◽  
Samuel Leong
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Software Business ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

Purpose The growing needs of interdisciplinary research have been hindered by implementation difficulties because of factors such as the availability and distribution of related knowledge. Knowledge management could be a viable solution to address the problems of interdisciplinary research and further its synergic effect by optimizing the use of knowledge across different disciplines. A knowledge management ecological (KME) approach that facilitates the study of knowledge management in discourses between different disciplines was proposed and applied in a case study within an interdisciplinary environment comprising three disciplines: software development, software business and music education. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups of key informants to examine the knowledge management processes within the environment. Findings The findings reveal the details of knowledge management activities in each of the three disciplines, but the lack of collaboration between them limits the opportunity for a synergistic effect to benefit the cross-discipline environment. Originality/value This study shows how the KME approach can be used to deepen the interdisciplinary understanding of knowledge management within and between different disciplines.

Performance in neo-liberal doctorates: the making of academics

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-494
Author(s):  
Cynthia Courtois ◽  
Maude Plante ◽  
Pier-Luc Lajoie
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Performance Expectations ◽  
Academic Aspirations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to better understand how academics-in-the-making construe doctoral performance and the impacts of this construal on their positioning in relation to doctoral performance expectations. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on 25 semi-structured interviews with PhD students from Canadian, Dutch, Scottish and Australian business schools. Findings Based on Decoteau’s (2016) concept of reflexive habitus, this study highlights how doctoral students’ construal is influenced by their previous experiences and by expectations from other adjacent fields in which they simultaneously gravitate. This leads them to adopt a position oscillating between resistance and compliance in relation to their understanding of doctoral performance expectations promoted in the academic field. Research limitations/implications The concept of reflexivity, as understood by Decoteau (2016), is found to be pivotal when an individual integrates into a new field. Practical implications This study encourages business schools to review expectations regarding doctoral performance. These expectations should be clear, but they should also leave room for PhD students to preserve their academic aspirations. Originality/value It is beneficial to empirically clarify the influence of performance expectations in academia on the reflexivity of PhD students, as the majority of studies exploring this topic mainly leverage auto-ethnographic data.

Social capital and individual entrepreneurial orientation: innovativeness, proactivity, and risk-taking in an emerging economy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Silva Corrêa ◽  
Maciel M. Queiroz ◽  
Helena Belintani Shigaki
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Small Enterprise ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Restricted Use

PurposeThis paper investigates if and how entrepreneurs' social capital influences their individual entrepreneurial orientation attributes (innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking).Design/methodology/approachThe research method adopted is an exploratory multiple case study. The case chosen is that of an emerging and under-examined entrepreneur, the religious entrepreneur. The study investigates 20 pastors responsible for small enterprise-churches in Brazil.FindingsSocial capital influences individual entrepreneurial orientation, being characterized by a relative paradox. The networks must be dense enough to stimulate entrepreneurs' individual entrepreneurial orientation but not be so dense as to harm innovativeness, proactivity and risk-taking. Further, data show that individual entrepreneurial orientation influences social capital.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation relates to the semi-structured interviews' restricted use. A second limitation is associated with the recognition of churches only as productive enterprises.Practical implicationsThis article suggests the significance of incorporating both themes in entrepreneurial education and training programs. It also stresses the appropriateness of religious entrepreneurship as an empirical research field for business scholars.Originality/valueThe contributions are fivefold. First, the authors build exploratory theoretical propositions on the influence of social capital on individual entrepreneurial orientation. Second, they highlight the significance of dense networks for individual entrepreneurial orientation, expanding the literature that supports the relevance of cohesive networks solely to the construct's organizational dimension. Third, the authors suggest that a relative paradox may characterize individual entrepreneurial orientation. Fourth, the authors suggest the existence of recursion between both constructs. Finally, this study is one of the first to examine social capital and individual entrepreneurial orientation, considering innovativeness, proactivity, and risk-taking, which represents a neglected field in benchmarking studies.

What Pakistani doctoral students want? A qualitative exploration of their research experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syeda Hina Batool ◽  
Amna Farzand Ali ◽  
Muhammad Safdar
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

Purpose This study aims to investigate social sciences PhD scholars’ research experiences through a qualitative lens. Researchers explored the doctoral students’ research conceptions, supervision-related expectations, reasons to join PhD, key learning areas and advantages of PhD in this study. Education sector is rigorously seeking PhD faculty and simultaneously offering a number of research degree programs and scholarships to boom the research culture. The amount of time, energy, finance and dedication involved in it urges researchers to investigate this phenomenon holistically. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research approach, phenomenology (semi-structured interviews) is used to conduct this research, and interpretative phenomenological analysis technique is used to analyze the collected data. Findings Findings have been reported comprehensively through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Respondents had a number of expectations from supervisors and viewed this journey as challenging and at the same time beneficial for their professional and personal life. Originality/value This study is unique in nature, as it depicts research conceptions of doctoral students, benefits of PhD, challenges in pursuing PhD and supervision expectations from a developing country perspective. This study’s outcomes have impressions for policymakers, researchers and supervisors. The findings have insights for educators to produce more constructive researchers and scholars.

Bibliometric analysis of ecopreneurship using VOSviewer and RStudio Bibliometrix, 1989–2019

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa Guleria ◽  
Gurvinder Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Citation Network ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Publication Trends ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Citation Network Analysis

PurposeThis article offers a bibliometric analysis and explores the relationships among the documents on ecopreneurship by using relational techniques. The results highlight the publication trends; most cited documents, top contributing authors, countries and institutions with highest productivity and most contributing journals to the research field.Design/methodology/approachInitially, 216 documents were retrieved from the Thompson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection database with three document types: articles, review and book review. All the documents were considered for the analysis. Then VOSviewer and bibliometric analysis using R with an inbuilt utility Biblioshiny were used together for co-word analysis, co-citation network analysis, generating collaboration networks and also generating a unique three-field plot to analyze the evolution of a research field.FindingsThe results highlight the publication trends: most cited documents, top contributing authors, countries and institutions with highest productivity and most contributing journals to the research field. The network analysis of co-authorship, co-citation, keyword co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling reveals most prominent relationships between authors, documents, co-cited references, sources and countries for the available documents on the research field.Research limitations/implicationsThe study helps not only in expansion of knowledgebase on the research topic but also in understanding the evolution of the ecopreneurship to provide research support further in this area.Originality/valueEcopreneurship is an emerging field of research connecting ecology and entrepreneurship together, making it a potential research area. The contributions made to this research field from 1989 to 2019 serve as a core for conducting this analysis. The study is an effort to help in coordinating research network across countries, authors and affiliating universities.

Mapping and visualization: selected examples of international research networks

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska ◽  
Nataliia Morze ◽  
Olena Kuzminska ◽  
Piet Kommers
Keyword(s):  
International Research ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Research ◽  
Ict Tools ◽  
Network Project

Purpose This paper aims to describe the popular trends and methods and ICT tools used for mapping and visualization of scientific domains as a research methodology which is attracting more and more interest from scientific information and science studies professionals. Science mapping or bibliometric mapping is a spatial representation of how disciplines, fields, specialties and individual documents or authors. The researchers analysed Bibexel, Pajek, VOSViewer, programmes used for processing and visualization of bibliographic and bibliometric data, within the framework of the implementation of IRNet research network project and activities and presented several examples of visualisation. Design/methodology/approach Among the main indicators of research effectiveness – bibliometric indicators – is a powerful information tool to support the development of science. Practical research methods were prepared using the programs: Bibexel (metadata analyses), program Pajek: graph editing and visualization of the graph structure of co-authorship – using the method of Kamada-Kawai and VOSviewer: a computer program for creating maps based on network data and for visualizing and exploring these maps. The main features of VOSviewer can be summarized for creating maps based on network data, visualizing and exploring maps. Findings The cited references and keywords are used to analyse in particular the intellectual base used by the research field or to analyse documents that cite the same references. Originality/value The authors of the paper, who are researchers of the European IRNet project and international research network, described and analysed certain bibliographic results of these activities using methods of mapping and visualization of scientific domains.

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