Dublin Core
Title
From library anxiety to mobile
Internet use
Internet use
Creator
Robert Ebo Hinson
Description
As is often the case, this issue deals with a variety of
aspects of information development in a variety of
countries – from library anxiety in the Sudan to mobile
Internet use in China.
The first paper deals with a country, the Sudan,
which has featured only rarely in our pages over the
years. ‘Sudanese library anxiety constructs’, by
K.A. Abusin of the Sudan University of Science and
Technology, and A.N. Zainab and Noor Harun Abdul
Karim of the University of Malaya, reports on a study
that explored library anxiety amongst Sudanese
university students and identified the contributing
factors. These factors were identified using diary
information collected from third year undergraduate
students. The analysis of diary entries revealed eight
library constructs, which were collectively named
‘Sudanese Library Anxiety Construct’. The eight constructs comprised affective and cognitive barriers and
negative perceptions towards the academic library
environment, library staff, peers, library services,
library collections and library regulations. The results
show that a high proportion of Sudanese university
students experience feelings of fear and anxiety when
using the library to write their first research paper.
We remain in Africa with the second paper,
‘Internet browsing behavior: a case study of executive
postgraduate students in Ghana’, by Robert Ebo
Hinson of the University of Ghana Business School.
The paper examines the motivation for Internet
browsing amongst Executive MBA students at the
School. The study revealed that students browse the
Internet for social, academic and professional purposes.
Their social use includes sending and receiving
email, socializing through Facebook, chatting and
making new friends. Academic motivations for
browsing include research, getting access to academic journal databases, interacting with lecturers
and supervisors, registering for professional courses
and obtaining information on specific courses of
study. Professionally, students browse the Internet
to obtain trade information, interact with clients,
check on conference alerts, and access databases of
clients. In general, the students browse the Internet
because of its perceived usefulness in providing quick
and accessible information, its convenience and as a
communication tool.
We move to Asia, and a completely different topic,
with the next paper, ‘The effect of ICT on political
development: a qualitative study of Iran’, by Ali
Pirannejad of the University of Tehran. Twenty-six
government officials and policy makers and 31 ordinary
citizens of Tehran were interviewed to investigate
how ICT affects political development. The results
were grouped into five categories: political empowerment and public control, as two factors which affect
the political development of people; and capacity
building, public service and transparency, as three
elements which affect political development in
government. The study found that ICTs influence the
political development of people through empowerment and public control, which help them to monitor
their government. The paper concludes with some
ideas for further research.
The next paper takes us to the other side of the
world with another change of subject. In ‘The potential of e-reserves for the Main Library, University of
the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad’, Rabia
Ramlogan and Jennifer Papin-Ramcharan (deceased),
of the University of the West Indies, outline the factors to be taken into account by the library in looking
to implement an e-reserves service. Background
preparation involved a survey of the literature and
current library practices to assess the benefits and
challenges of e-reserves, while other factors considered included increased access to local content and
local copyright legislation. The implementation of the
e-reserves pilot is discussed, followed by the pilot’s
preliminary findings and lessons learned from the
pilot experience. The paper ends with recommendations
aimed at moving the project forward, giventhe service’s
importance regarding increased availability and
accessibility of core teaching materials
aspects of information development in a variety of
countries – from library anxiety in the Sudan to mobile
Internet use in China.
The first paper deals with a country, the Sudan,
which has featured only rarely in our pages over the
years. ‘Sudanese library anxiety constructs’, by
K.A. Abusin of the Sudan University of Science and
Technology, and A.N. Zainab and Noor Harun Abdul
Karim of the University of Malaya, reports on a study
that explored library anxiety amongst Sudanese
university students and identified the contributing
factors. These factors were identified using diary
information collected from third year undergraduate
students. The analysis of diary entries revealed eight
library constructs, which were collectively named
‘Sudanese Library Anxiety Construct’. The eight constructs comprised affective and cognitive barriers and
negative perceptions towards the academic library
environment, library staff, peers, library services,
library collections and library regulations. The results
show that a high proportion of Sudanese university
students experience feelings of fear and anxiety when
using the library to write their first research paper.
We remain in Africa with the second paper,
‘Internet browsing behavior: a case study of executive
postgraduate students in Ghana’, by Robert Ebo
Hinson of the University of Ghana Business School.
The paper examines the motivation for Internet
browsing amongst Executive MBA students at the
School. The study revealed that students browse the
Internet for social, academic and professional purposes.
Their social use includes sending and receiving
email, socializing through Facebook, chatting and
making new friends. Academic motivations for
browsing include research, getting access to academic journal databases, interacting with lecturers
and supervisors, registering for professional courses
and obtaining information on specific courses of
study. Professionally, students browse the Internet
to obtain trade information, interact with clients,
check on conference alerts, and access databases of
clients. In general, the students browse the Internet
because of its perceived usefulness in providing quick
and accessible information, its convenience and as a
communication tool.
We move to Asia, and a completely different topic,
with the next paper, ‘The effect of ICT on political
development: a qualitative study of Iran’, by Ali
Pirannejad of the University of Tehran. Twenty-six
government officials and policy makers and 31 ordinary
citizens of Tehran were interviewed to investigate
how ICT affects political development. The results
were grouped into five categories: political empowerment and public control, as two factors which affect
the political development of people; and capacity
building, public service and transparency, as three
elements which affect political development in
government. The study found that ICTs influence the
political development of people through empowerment and public control, which help them to monitor
their government. The paper concludes with some
ideas for further research.
The next paper takes us to the other side of the
world with another change of subject. In ‘The potential of e-reserves for the Main Library, University of
the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad’, Rabia
Ramlogan and Jennifer Papin-Ramcharan (deceased),
of the University of the West Indies, outline the factors to be taken into account by the library in looking
to implement an e-reserves service. Background
preparation involved a survey of the literature and
current library practices to assess the benefits and
challenges of e-reserves, while other factors considered included increased access to local content and
local copyright legislation. The implementation of the
e-reserves pilot is discussed, followed by the pilot’s
preliminary findings and lessons learned from the
pilot experience. The paper ends with recommendations
aimed at moving the project forward, giventhe service’s
importance regarding increased availability and
accessibility of core teaching materials
Publisher
Reprints and permission:
Date
2011
Source
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0266666911414378
Language
English