Library and information science and the digital humanities

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tibor Koltay

Purpose – Library and information science (LIS) and the digital humanities are both interested in studying recorded information and often share institutional frameworks. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond outlining these similarities by examining the perceived and real strengths and weaknesses of both disciplines. Design/methodology/approach – Epistemologies and methods of both disciplines are analysed, principally in the light of the growing importance of data-intensive research, taking into consideration that there is a tension about the academic status of these disciplines. Findings – Epistemologies and methods of both disciplines are analysed, principally in the light of the growing importance of data-intensive research, taking into consideration that there is a tension about the academic status of these disciplines. Originality/value – The paper intends to be an add-on to the recent discussions and the evolving body of knowledge about the relationship of these disciplines with the hope of indicating a possible new direction in the development of LIS.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Muhammad Anwar ◽  
Tang Zhiwei

Purpose The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between social media and libraries in terms of marketing. The present research is to find out the factors and impact as well as the issues related to libraries and marketing using social media. This study will give massive information regarding social media use for the marketing of library sources and services. Design/methodology/approach This study so far has been taken into account to review all the related literature of social media and library marketing. All the related literature studies were reviewed according to the suggested objectives of the study. Findings The present study reveals after reviewing literature that there is a great impact of social media on libraries. The literature shows that social media is the biggest change in the twenty-firstst century for library professionals and librarians. The reviewed literature studies have discovered that the libraries are facing too many challenges and issues to the adoption of social media for the marketing of library sources and services. The collected and analyzed works of the literature indicated that social media would be the best tool to promote library sources and services. Research limitations/implications This research or study can serve the LIS professionals and librarians in the field of library and information science and librarianships that they are looking for the adoption and application of social media in the marketing of library sources and services to the targeted customers. Practical implications This research or study can serve the LIS professionals and Librarians in the field of library and information science and librarianships that they are looking for the adoption and application of social media in the marketing of library sources and services to the targeted customers. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first among those researches that is to disclose the close relationship between social media and libraries in terms of marketing of library sources and services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-161
Author(s):  
Fangli Su ◽  
Yin Zhang ◽  
Zachary Immel

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the structure, patterns and themes of interdisciplinary collaborations in the digital humanities (DH) research through the application of social network analysis and visualization tools.Design/methodology/approachThe sample includes articles containing DH research in the Web of Science Core Collection as of December 2018. First, co-occurrence data representing collaborations among disciplinary were extracted from the subject category. Second, the descriptive statistics, network indicators and interdisciplinary communities were calculated. Third, the research topics of different interdisciplinary collaboration communities based on system keywords, author keywords, title and abstracts were detected.FindingsThe findings reveal that while the scope of disciplines involved in DH research is broad and evolving over time, most interdisciplinary collaborations are concentrated among several disciplines, including computer science, library and information science, linguistics and literature. The study further uncovers some communities based on closely collaborating disciplines and the evolving nature of such interdisciplinary collaboration communities over time. To better understand the close collaboration ties, the study traces and analyzes the research topics and themes of the interdisciplinary communities. Finally, the implications of the findings for DH research are discussed.Originality/valueThis study applied various informetric methods and tools to reveal the collaboration structure, patterns and themes among disciplinaries in DH research.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 644-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Stenstrom

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the decision-making practices of public library managers in the context of interpersonal influence and evidence-based information sources, and to investigate the relationship between models of evidence-based practice and interpersonal influence in the decision-making process of public library managers. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through short audio blog posts participants made about their everyday decisions and coded considering the facets of three existing evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) models as well as the facets of interpersonal influence. Findings – The findings show that public library CEOs decision-making behaviours reflect the use of a variety of practices from analytical to intuitive as is expected of managers in any sector; however, a stronger reliance on gathering objective information may be present than in other sectors. Seeking multiple sources of information and a tendency towards rationalism may indicate a more sophisticated approach to decision making, but be less indicative of the practices employed more broadly. A possible outcome of these tendencies may result in discordance with external partners and collaborators. Practical implications – The findings from this study may inform the work of associations, library and information science (LIS) educators, and library managers in developing strategic directions and instructional strategies within their organisations. It is also the first study to jointly examine models of interpersonal influence and evidence-based decision-making practices in any field. Originality/value – While the study of the decision-making practices of various groups is growing, little previous research has been conducted with public library managers, and none has been undertaken in Canada.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Sin Howe Tan ◽  
Yuen Onn Choong ◽  
I-Chi Chen

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between perception of service quality, student satisfaction, switching barriers on behavioural intentions among private higher education institutions (HEIs) with self-accreditation status in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA total of 388 valid questionnaires were collected via a self-administered questionnaire from the undergraduate students of private HEIs with self-accreditation status in Malaysia. PLS-SEM has been employed for hypotheses testing.FindingsThe results show that student perceived service quality is positively influence student satisfaction and student behavioural intentions, particularly the positive word-of-mouth (WOM). The relationship of student perceived service quality and student behavioural intentions is fully mediated by student satisfaction. However, there is no mediating effect found for the switching barriers on the relationship between student satisfaction and behavioural intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings are only generalizable to the private HEI with self-accreditation status in Malaysia. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge in the areas of service quality, satisfaction, switching barriers and behavioural intentions. These findings provide valuable insight to the private universities management and policymakers to improve existing policies and practices in order to formulate effective strategies to attract potential new students and retain the existing students through the delivery of high-quality services.Originality/valueThis study's findings have reconfirmed that the causal relationship of perceived service quality-satisfaction-behavioural intentions model. Switching barriers has treated as the mediator which received less attention in the context of private higher education sector. Thus, this study broadens the exiting body of knowledge and advances the understanding of how switching barriers play a crucial role by influencing students' behavioural intention, particular WOM.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (2(104)) ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
Tibor Koltay

Purpose/thesis: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the similarities and differences between the epistemologies of information science and the digital humanities in the light of the turns of information science. Approach/methods: Numerous viewpoints, discernible from the literature, related to the epistemo­logies of the two disciplines have been analysed and compared. Results and conclusions: Despite differences in their disciplinary backgrounds, information scien­ce and the digital humanities have much in common. As serious self-reflection is needed for both disciplines, they may benefit from analysing the achievements and deficiencies of the each other. Research limitations: Both epistemologies are in forming, so only a snapshot could be taken on their present reflection. Originality/value: The paper intends to be an add-on to the body of knowledge about the epistemo­logies information science, the digital humanities and the relationship between them.


IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110541
Author(s):  
Emilia C Bell ◽  
Mary Anne Kennan

This narrative review pursues an understanding of the relationship of libraries to the concepts of soft power and public and cultural diplomacy. The cross-disciplinary nature of the study required that the search approach include literature from both the International Relations and Library and Information Science disciplines. The analysed literature reveals three key gaps. First, research explicitly addressing the topic of ‘libraries and soft power’ is scarce. Second, the little Library and Information Science literature that addresses libraries and soft power rarely considers contemporary discourse. Third, the literature often has an implicit liberal institutionalist perspective, overlooking negative or hegemonic aspects of soft power. Given that soft power is considered increasingly relevant for representing national interests, understanding libraries’ roles and impact in international relations is significant and warrants further research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
María-Luisa Alvite-Díez ◽  
Leticia Barrionuevo

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the relevance of heritage collections and the convergence of methodologies and standards traditionally linked to Library and Information Science (LIS) in the development of digital humanities (DH) research in Spain.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a systematic review of scientific publications that are representative of DH in Spain and were published between 2013 and 2018. The analysis considered doctoral theses, journal articles and conference papers.FindingsThe results highlight the synergies between documentary heritage, LIS and DH. However, it appears that there is a scarcity of scientific literature to support the confluence of LIS and DH and a limited formal connection between heritage institutions and the areas of academia that reuse and enrich these source collections.Research limitations/implicationsThe review of representative scholarly DH publications was mainly based on the metadata that describe the content of articles, thesis and conference papers. This work relies on the thematic indexing (descriptors and keywords) of the analysed documents but their level of quality and consistency is very diverse.Originality/valueThe topic of the study has not been explored before and this work could contribute to the international debate on the interrelation and complementarity between LIS and DH. In addition, this paper shows the contribution that standards and documentary methodologies make to projects in which technology is applied to humanities disciplines. The authors propose that there is an urgent need to strengthen the “scientific relationships” between heritage institutions, as well as enhancing links between the academic field of DH and LIS in order to improve teaching and research strategies in conjunction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-476
Author(s):  
Danielle Lee

Purpose This paper aims to assess the predictive power of authorship properties determined at the time of publishing conference papers on future citations of conference papers in computer and information science. Design/methodology/approach This study examined 21 factors – related to all authors and to the first author – as potentially predictive of citation counts. Specifically, the study assessed properties of author's academic performance, degree of collaboration and topological properties of their research collaboration networks. Findings The results of comparing all authors with first authors indicate that the all author-related factors have a significantly higher power for explaining conference paper citation counts than the first author-related factors. Moreover, among the all author-related factors, the degree centrality before the target paper made the largest contribution. Originality/value This is one of the first attempts to focus on the relationship of author characteristics to conference papers. This is also one of only a few studies to expand prior research, which limited its bibliometric foci to journal articles, to conference papers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciaran B. Trace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that researchers in the information disciplines should embrace ethnomethodology as a way of forming deeper insights into the relationship between people and recorded knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – The paper introduces the core concepts of ethnomethodology as a means of articulating what this perspective brings to the understanding of the way that society is accomplished. A selection of key studies are then examined to highlight important ethnomethodological findings about the particular relationship of documents to human actions and interactions. Findings – Ethnomethodology highlights the fact that people transform their experiences, and the experiences of others, into documents whose status as an objective object help to justify people’s actions and inferences. Documents, as written accounts, also serve to make peoples’ actions meaningful to themselves and to others. At the same time, ethnomethodology draws attention to the fact that any correct reading of these documents relies partly on an understanding of the tacit ideologies that undergird people’s sense-making and that are used in order to make decisions and get work done. Originality/value – This conceptual framework contributes to the information disciplines by bringing to the fore certain understandings about the social organization of document work, and the attendant social arrangements they reveal. The paper also outlines, from a methodological perspective, how information science researchers can use ethnomethodology as an investigative stance to further their knowledge of the role of documents in everyday life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Carabellese ◽  
Michael J. Proeve ◽  
Rachel M. Roberts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of two distinct variants of dispositional shame (internal and external shame) with collaborative, purpose-driven aspects of the patient–provider relationship (working alliance) and patient satisfaction. The aim of this research was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the relevance of dispositional shame in a general healthcare population. Design/methodology/approach In total, 127 community members (mean age 25.9 years) who reported that they had regularly seen a GP over the past year were recruited at an Australian university. Participants were asked to reflect on their relationship with their GP, and completed instruments assessing various domains of shame, as well as working alliance and patient satisfaction. Findings Non-parametric correlations were examined to determine the direction and strength of relationships, as well as conducting mediation analyses where applicable. Small, negative correlations were evident between external shame and working alliance. Both external and internal shame measures were also negatively correlated with patient satisfaction. Finally, the relationship of external shame to patient satisfaction was partially mediated by working alliance. Practical implications Both the reported quality of patient–provider working alliance, and level of patient satisfaction are related to levels of dispositional shame in patients, and working alliance may act as a mediator for this relationship. Originality/value The findings from this preliminary study suggest that internal and external shame are important factors to consider in the provision of medical care to maximise the quality of patient experience and working alliance.


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