Purpose This study investigates user satisfaction with library services and staff behavior at the University Library in Bangladesh, focusing on how staff behavior mediates the relationship between library services, resources and overall user satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a quantitative survey method, collecting data from library users through a structured questionnaire. The survey evaluates user satisfaction with the library’s collections, facilities, environment, services, marketing strategies and staff behavior. Findings The majority of users expressed satisfaction with the library’s physical collections, reference and circulation services, library catalog and staff competence and attitude. Marketing strategies and the overall quality of library services received positive ratings, with users giving an average satisfaction score of 7 out of 10. However, users raised concerns regarding the library’s seating capacity, internet access and printing and photocopying services. The findings also indicate that staff behavior and skills significantly mediate user satisfaction by influencing perceptions of library resources, environment and services. Practical implications To improve user satisfaction, the study recommends enhancing the library’s academic and research collections, upgrading internet speed with Wi-Fi access, and addressing infrastructure-related issues such as seating and printing facilities. The findings emphasize the need for regular staff training to ensure effective interaction with users and optimal service delivery. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by identifying the mediating role of staff behavior in enhancing user satisfaction in academic libraries. The findings provide practical recommendations for improving library services and ensuring user satisfaction, particularly in resource-constrained environments like the university.

Purpose This study examines user perceptions of the Knimbus and MyLOFT mobile applications, which provide off-campus access to library-subscribed electronic resources. By leveraging sentiment analysis and topic modeling, the research identifies key user concerns and preferences, classifying them into interesting, popular and critical themes. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a mixed-methods approach using Appbot to analyze 603 user reviews of Knimbus and MyLOFT. Combining sentiment analysis, topic modeling and word cloud visualization, the methodology identifies key user concerns and strengths, offering comparative insights into app performance and guiding targeted improvements. Findings Results indicate that MyLOFT received more reviews and a higher percentage of positive sentiment than Knimbus, particularly for ease of use and content accessibility. However, MyLOFT users frequently reported app crashes, while Knimbus users struggled with login issues and complex navigation. Both apps faced criticism regarding download limitations and remote access stability. A structured rating system prioritizes critical concerns, highlighting login failures, app crashes and content accessibility as high-priority areas for improvement. Originality/value This study is among the first to systematically analyze user perspectives on remote-access library apps using sentiment analysis and topic modeling. It provides a structured framework for assessing user satisfaction and offers actionable insights for app developers and academic institutions to enhance mobile-based electronic resource access.

Purpose This study shows how AI improves the transcription, indexing and searchability of historical documents by utilizing AI-driven Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), Named Entity Recognition (NER), machine learning-based classification and transformer-based retrieval models. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a computational archival science approach to analyze missionary records in Malabar by combining machine learning-based text recognition, natural language processing (NLP), document classification and AI-powered retrieval models. Findings The findings show that AI and ML significantly improve the speed, performance and efficiency of archival digitization. OCR achieves up to 97.5% performance for modern printed texts, while HTR models exceed 92.5% for structured handwriting, demonstrating the efficacy of deep learning in text recognition. NER models successfully extract missionary names (91.3% F1-score) and locations (90.0% F1-score), whereas classification models such as Random Forest achieve the performance of 89.3% when categorizing archival documents, and bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT)-based search engines scoring 93.5% Precision@10 and 91.2% Recall@10, demonstrating their superior ability to retrieve relevant archival records. Precision@10 means that out of the top ten retrieved results, 93.5% are relevant, while Recall@10 indicates that 91.2% of all relevant results were found within the top ten retrieved results. Originality/value This study presents a novel integration of AI and machine learning for the systematic extraction, classification and retrieval of historical missionary records, bridging the gap between historical preservation and computational intelligence.

Purpose Objective: The objective of the research was to evaluate the performance of the summarization algorithms utilized by Ask.com, Bing, Google and Yahoo. Design/methodology/approach This study evaluated the summarization algorithms employed by search engines. In this regard, a set of 30 search terms was carefully constructed using schema ontology. These terms were subsequently employed to interrogate the selected search engines. A random selection of three results from each set of ten retrieved results was then extracted for thorough evaluation. The evaluation process involved quantifying the degree of relevance deviation between the search snippets and the corresponding full-text results. This analysis served to effectively measure the effectiveness of the search engines’ summarization algorithms. Findings The research findings indicated a substantial discrepancy between the relevance of search snippets and the corresponding full-text search results. Furthermore, the findings underscored notable differences among the summarization algorithms utilized by Ask.com, Bing, Google and Yahoo. Additionally, the study found that the abstracting quality of Ask.com, Bing, Google and Yahoo was 43.4, 57.2, 51.8 and 47.8%, respectively. Practical implications Users are recommended to employ Bing and Google for conducting search queries. The developers of Ask.com and Yahoo are urged to refine their summarization algorithms. Originality/value This study constitutes the first-ever attempt to assess the summarization capabilities of Ask.com, Bing, Google and Yahoo.

Purpose Information literacy (IL) has been identified as a significant educational outcome. The first quarter of the 21st century has had a great impact on IL instructions and students’ academic performance (AP). However, there is limited evidence about the strength of this connection between IL and AP. This meta-analysis examined the literature on IL and AP of students. Design/methodology/approach The PRISMA updated guidelines were followed and 23 relevant studies fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis. Across the 23 publications included in the assessment, 22,054 research participants were collectively involved in the corresponding research studies. The Q test was significant (p < 0.05), and the I2 stayed within 97.70%. Hence, a random effect model was employed. Begg & Mazumdar tests of Kendall’s value is (−0.03) and p-value is (0.85), indicating no evidence of correlation between publication bias and study size. Findings This analysis revealed a moderate positive relationship between IL and AP according to the combined effect size value of r = 0.33 (p < 0.001). We further performed subgroup analyses (on the basis of geographical locations and publication periods) to investigate whether the effect size differed on the basis of subgroups. The relationship demonstrated higher strength in “other countries” (r = 0.39, CI = 0.25–0.53) when compared to the USA studies (r = 0.24, CI = 0.07–0.40). Similarly, studies published between 2008 and 2018 revealed a pooled correlation (r = 0.38, CI = 0.25–0.51) as compared to studies published between 2019 and 2024 (r = 0.25, CI = 0.30–0.45). Originality/value Overall, all these relationships revealed a medium magnitude of relationship, which suggests that there may be other important factors contributing to the AP of student. It means other important factors also contribute to the AP of students, including IL, cognitive and psychological, learning and teaching environment, socio-economic, technological, curriculum integration, institutional support and digital access.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived, minimum acceptable, and desired service quality of School Libraries in terms of the Affect of Service, Information Control, and as a Place using a unique LibQUAL+® Urdu-translated version. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey research method and an instrument tool were used to conduct this study. The already available Urdu-translated version (translated for university library users) was content-validated and reliability-checked on 9th and 10th-grade students through two phases of pilot testing, content validation, and incorporation of suggestions. Then, for the final study, data were collected from 28 public and private sector school students in seven Tehsils of Sargodha District using equal-sized stratified convenience sampling. Findings Descriptive statistics show that the perceived service quality in Private and Public Schools exceeds the middle value of 4.5 on the 9-point Likert-type scale. However, students’ minimum acceptable and desired service quality are higher than the perceived quality in the Affect of Service, and Information Control categories. Library as a Place, however, scored higher than the minimum acceptable service quality. Inferential statistics reveal that male respondents rate the library quality significantly higher than female respondents. The results also indicate that the minimum acceptable level of library quality reported by government school respondents is significantly higher than that of private school students. Male respondents have reported significantly higher expectations than female respondents. Originality/value This study is the first to use the LibQUAL+® tool’s Urdu language version to investigate the libraries’ School Libraries service quality in Pakistan.

Purpose Digital transformation is increasingly significant in modern museums. While the process of museum digital transformation cannot yet be evaluated based on a unified standard. This study establishes and applies a measurement system to assess digitisation performance in museums. Design/methodology/approach A measurement system was established using content analysis of policy texts. The Delphi survey was conducted with experts, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to determine indicator weights. Finally, an empirical study was performed, and the digital transformation performance was ranked using the technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). Findings Chinese museums performed well in digital management, infrastructure, services and communication. However, technology, resources, external operations, and products require improvement. Museums demonstrated a stronger focus on internal digital transformation, highlighting opportunities for advancement in external operations. Research limitations/implications This study applied a digital transformation evaluation system to Chinese museums using a limited sample size. To test the generalisability of the system, future applications are planned in museums in other countries and regions and in cultural sectors such as libraries and cultural tourism enterprises. Practical implications The evaluation system was tested on 13 Chinese museums. The study ranked their transformation performances and analysed key challenges. Museum professionals could identify and overcome these limitations. Studies should extend the system to other cultural heritage sectors. Originality/value This study establishes an evaluation system for the digital transformation of museums from a policy perspective, a methodology currently lacking in the literature.

Emerald Publishing is committed to the realization of a research and publishing environment built upon transparency, accessibility, and integrity.Accordingly, we have signed the Declaration to #DefendResearch, which aligns with our core values and long-standing mission to contribute to positive change in research and society more broadly. Support for academic freedomDuring this time of geopolitical instability, research and higher education face unprecedented challenges.In the United States, recent executive orders are disrupting research, education, and library programs, removing federally funded initiatives that support diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as green energy, climate, health, and other research domains.These measures have led to the termination of critical research grants and created uncertainty for researchers, faculty, librarians, and others who carry out and rely upon the benefits of research itself.