Innovative Information Services Research Articles

How to design innovative information services at the library?

Purpose The subject of the paper is innovative information services. The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential sources of innovation in library information services and point out how they can be used to improve the overall service quality. Design/methodology/approach In the first stage, literature analysis and critique was used to establish the state of research in the field of innovative solutions and select the main sources of innovation in services. Next, a systematic search of the subject literature and network resources was carried out according to the selected criteria to find the examples of innovative commercial services, particularly in the information sector. Findings Libraries, like all customer-oriented service organizations, must innovate and continually evolve to better meet the needs of their audience. It seems that in libraries, the basis of innovation and building a competitive advantage over other institutions may primarily be the thoughtful design of services in the spirit of the assumptions of the experience economy. Innovative ideas based on in-depth knowledge of user needs are less dependent on financial conditions and more on the creativity and enthusiasm of library staff. Research limitations/implications This paper is a conceptual work presenting the issue of innovation from the perspective adopted by the author. The paper does not aim to fulfill the subject but to show some interesting aspects of this issue and help initiate discussions on innovation in libraries from the perspective of phenomena present on the commercial information services market. This approach, which has not yet been adapted in library science, may show some new aspects and lead to new conclusions. This is a literature review type of paper that is not based on empirical research and it has not yet been tested in practice; however, the author believes that it can provide a valuable framework for designing and implementing innovative services in libraries. The presented process is a preliminary proposal that can and should be modified in the future based on further scientific reflection and examples of implementations in libraries. Practical implications The results can be widely used in practice as a framework for designing innovative services in libraries. The paper, based on subject literature, proposes a process of designing innovative information services that can and should be tested in practice. Social implications The paper can help initiate the debate on the need to implement innovative solutions in library services. Originality/value The issue of innovation in library services has not yet been widely discussed in library and information science journals from the perspective proposed by the author. This paper presents a specific approach to library innovation based on the observation of the certain phenomena on the commercial market, which opens the door to new reflections.

Documentation and Information Science: On Some Forgotten Origins of the French Contribution

PURPOSE/THESIS: This paper presents a review of the French contribution to the epistemology and theory of documentation and information science. It is focused on the authors, theories, and practices that have been neglected, or forgotten by French information specialists. An attempt was made to assess their contribution and influence on information science and the theory of the document. APPROACH/METHODS: The author focused on the analysis of the literature either printed or available as online texts, and proceedings of the ISKO-France conference held in Paris in 2017. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The review of the French contribution to the epistemology and theory of documentation and information science is carried out according to a triple chronological perspective. The first one goes back in time, as far as the contribution to the development of knowledge organization methods and theories of Enlightenment French philosophers’ and Gabriel Naudé. The second period covers relatively recent history, from the nineteenth to the twentieth century with the birth of the francophone document theoreticians such as the philosopher Auguste Comte and his Broad System of Ordering, and later Suzanne Briet’s view of a document as something (potentially anything) made into a document, offering the view that the word “document” should be used in a technical sense within information science to denote anything regarded as signifying something. The third period is represented by the thriving activities of what we call in France the forerunners among whom I have focused on the specific position of Eric De Grolier for his role in defining and expanding Ranganathan’s categories as well as that of Jean-Claude Gardin, their contribution and their impact on information science with a special focus on knowledge organization. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The theme of the 4th International Scientific Conference on Information Science in the Age of Change: Innovative Information Services from which this paper is derived implies that speakers would give a state of the art on Innovative Information Service. However, I would like to suggest that talking about the European tradition of information science underpinning the innovation in information services would be worthwhile. It is because this tradition played a central role in developing the connection between modernism and information science, especially in relation to schemes for bibliography and documentation that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century. The impact of the French tradition and its modernism in documentation and information theory is tremendous, but I chose only a few of these authors, mostly those understudied, because I find it surprising that there is so little reference to them in more recent work.

Przyszłość bibliotek i biblioteki przyszłości, czyli trendy kształtujące innowacyjne usługi biblioteczno-informacyjne w bibliotekach akademickich

The future of libraries and the libraries of the future — new trends shaping innovative library and information services in academic librariesThe development of libraries and their services depends on technological development, the users’ needs and socioeconomic conditions. Innovative libraries as the pioneers in implementing cutting-edge solutions lead the way in showing the direction of changes. The innovations implemented by libraries are aresponse to global trends, changing needs and users’ expectations. The article presents an overview of factors and phenomena which inspire libraries to use cutting-edge solutions and create new initiatives that will define the roles and responsibilities of the libraries of the future re­garding research libraries, with particular reference to academic libraries. The analyses were based on the research institutions and libraries’ reports which define the trends and recommendations in shaping the structures and tasks of the innovative libraries. The main document of this type is the report prepared by Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT defining the library of the future as an open and interactive library of knowledge which create aglobal network. The analyzed docu­ments describe the research tasks of libraries and highlight the development of research and aca­demic libraries’ responsibilities towards transforming libraries into cultural centres. The documents also emphasize the libraries’ social role not only in the research and academic community, but also at the local and national levels.

The smart library project

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the phenomenon of smart libraries, which began in the 2000s, alongside the development of computer technology, digital storage the internet and human–computer interactions. The smart library is a system of library and information services developed to support research and training activity. This paper describes the need to introduce innovative library and information services at universities through users’ personal accounts.Design/methodology/approachAn analysis of more than 200 publications mainly written by foreign scientists was conducted, given the dearth of Russian literature on the smart library and its services. The analysis revealed that in Western countries, the term smart library represents a wide range of meanings – from the understanding that it is a typical type of networking to assumptions about the total services provided by libraries in an urban environment.FindingsThe paper presents a review of both classical library services and those that are focused on the needs of modern education and science.Research limitations/implicationsThe research results may be the best limited to university libraries.Practical implicationsThe research results have practical use in the Library and Publishing Complex of the Siberian Federal University. Consequently, a new library information environment has been developed and integrated into the university’s information space.Social implicationsThe research results have social use in Siberian Federal University. The personal account can be regarded as a functioning system of interaction and information exchange among the automated systems of the Library and Publishing Complex, automated learning management system and integrated educational environment.Originality/valueThis paper presents a certain set of technical solutions and some services available through personal accounts.

Inovação em serviços de informação: uma análise bibliométrica da produção científica

Este artigo tem como objetivo mapear a produção científica sobre inovação em serviços de informação, com foco em bibliotecas, levando em conta a importância do tema no contexto da inovação. Este estudo utiliza como método a análise bibliométrica relacionada a itens como publicações, periódicos de publicação, citações, entre outros, com buscas na base de dados Web of Science. Quanto aos resultados da pesquisa pode-se constatar que os periódicos que mais publicam sobre inovação em serviços de informação são respectivamente Library Journal, College & Research Libraries Journal of Academic Librarianship. Ressalta-se que, dos dez artigos mais citados, a maioria (oito artigos) trata de estudos exploratórios e dois artigos tratam de estudos teóricos, sendo que seis destes foram aplicados em bibliotecas universitárias. Entre os contextos de análise abordados, destacam-se os estudos sobre variáveis estruturais das bibliotecas em relação à inovação, ambiente econômico, perfil de liderança, capacidade para assumir riscos, TIC enquanto facilitadores da inovação, melhores práticas para inovar e a importância da difusão da inovação em bibliotecas. Como considerações finais pode-se constatar que cada estudo analisa uma vertente da inovação, sendo que nenhum dos estudos pode, isoladamente, fornecer uma direção definitiva de como melhorar a inovação em serviços de informação. Entretanto, em conjunto esses estudos podem fornecer diretrizes para criação ou reestruturação de um serviço de informação inovador.

Integrating Library, Archives, and Museum Collections in an Open Source Information Management System: A Case Study at Glenstone

AbstractIn 2012, Glenstone began searching for information management systems for the library, archives, and museum collections. After evaluating different proprietary products designed for individual departmental needs, Glenstone decided to adopt CollectiveAccess, a customizable open-source system designed to be interoperable across departments. By creating linked relationships between record entities, CollectiveAccess formed a seamless, integrated discovery platform for users. This article presents the librarian’s role and responsibilities in collaborating with the database development team, Whirl-i-Gig, and internal Glenstone departments to prepare for the museum’s innovative and unique information services platform.

Development and application of information sharing platform of municipal public hospitals

This paper introduced the design ideas and general information of Shanghai in building theHospital-Link Project. Thanks to innovative information technology and service model, it achieved real-time connectivity and clinical information sharing between the 38 municipal hospitals, which enables the general reform of such hospitals citywide. Key words: Information technology; Public hospital; Connectivity; Information sharing

Innovative information service development: meeting the information needs of an interdisciplinary, cross-sector research complex

Question: How can a team of health sciences librarians effectively meet the diverse needs of a new research complex?

Information needs and information seeking behavior of parliamentarians in South Africa

Parliamentarians have an incessant need for timely, authoritative, and current information because of the enormous social responsibility bestowed on them by the electorates or society. A strong information accessibility that empowers them to fulfill this responsibility effectively is therefore very significant. Essentially and traditionally, parliamentary libraries are expected to provide legislators with most of the information they need. The study aimed at determining the information sources, service and systems used in South Africa by the parliamentarians, and also to investigate the role of the parliamentary libraries in the information provision process. A survey was conducted by use of questionnaires targeting all parliamentarians in South Africa and a response rate of 23% (167) was received. This study has revealed that parliamentary libraries are underutilized because parliamentarians use other equally competing information sources largely accessed through the internet. Further, South Africa has enormous information sources and services that legislators can access and exploit and the use of electronic sources of information is growing rapidly, almost reaching the level of use of print sources. Unexpectedly, oral sources of information are used less. Parliamentary libraries have a potential to offer a variety of services to parliamentarians, yet they are not well-utilized, perhaps because of reasons such as poor marketing and innovative information services. Wilson's model on information seeking has been extended by a new model proposing and explaining information-seeking strategies popular to parliamentarians in South Africa.

The Study on Value-Added Information Service Modes Based on the Sci-Tech Novelty Search

The sci-tech novelty search is a kind of information consulting service, based on the manual and computer retrieval, using the method of comprehensive and contrast analysis, providing the objective facts for the novelty and advancement evaluation of research project approval, sci-tech achievement appraisal, patent application, technology consulting and other innovation activities. The sci-tech novelty search institutions have rich information resources, human resources, customer resources and brand resources to carry out innovative value-added information service. In this paper, we select some value-added information service modes which are suitable to carry out by the novelty search institutes, and make the contrastive analysis between traditional novelty search service and innovative value-added information service. Therefore we make some constructive suggestions for the sci-tech novelty search institutions to increase competitive intelligence service, specific information service, intelligence reporting service, and foreign enterprise credit investigation service basing on the traditional novelty search service.

Incentive for Peer-to-Peer Information Sharing in Avaaj Otalo

In a recent effort to facilitate the agricultural development in rural India, an innovative voice-based information service, Avaaj Otalo (voice porch), was launched by UC Berkeley, Stanford, IBM, and Development Support Center (DSC) in Gujarat, India. In this voice-based forum, participating farmers can raise questions, interact with others, and post answers to the existing list of questions. To understand the peer-to-peer interactions in this novel social media, we construct a stylized model in which a set of heterogeneous farmers are endowed with their initial production capabilities and can post questions in the Avaaj Otalo forum for help. A representative expert is hired by DSC to regularly monitor the forum and provide answers to the farmers' questions, but may be non-responsive sometimes due to the limited capacity. A knowledgeable core user (farmer) can choose to be silent or responsive, and is allowed to strategically determine the informativeness of her answers.We show that in equilibrium the core user never provides answers that are more informative than the expert's, irrespective of her ex ante knowledge level. Redesigning or restructuring the Avaaj Otalo forum does not help eliminate this inefficient information provision. We also examine various tools DSC can use to influence the Avaaj Otalo's effectiveness. First, hiring more staff to frequently monitor the forum turns out to be detrimental for the peer-to-peer interactions. Second, improving the expert's knowledge has a non-trivial impact on the peer-to-peer information sharing. The competition on information sharing between DSC and the core user features strategic complementarity sometimes but strategic substitution at other times. Third, charging for Avaaj Otalo usage may discourage uninformative answers, but it could also discourage the core user from sharing information with other farmers.

Multi-channel management: an exploratory study of current practices

While web services have enabled seamless interoperability among heterogeneous IT implementations for multiple channels, innovative information and business services may further advance multi-channel integration. In investigating current practices of multi-channel management as a prerequisite for developing proper services, this paper may prepare the ground for such endeavours. It provides a literature review as well as insights from interviews with practitioners from top and middle management in major firms operating multiple channels in Austria. We discuss competitive advantages as well as challenges to be faced when establishing multiple distribution channels, e.g., by adding a mobile channel to an existing brick-and-mortar store, and outline measures of coordinating and integrating multiple channels. It can be shown, that multi-channel practice considerably differs between industries. Multi-channel integration activities, in particular, so far only play a minor role, but constitute a promising field of research in the forthcoming decade.

Hyper Media News: a fully automated platform for large scale analysis, production and distribution of multimodal news content

This paper describes Hyper Media News (HMNews), a system for the automated aggregation and consumption of information streams from digital television and the Internet. TV newscasts are automatically segmented, annotated and indexed. Such information is then integrated with those available from Internet blogs, newspapers and press agencies. The end result is a set of innovative information services that supplies retrieval, recommendation and browsing of multi-modal news items across different production paradigms, ranging from traditional professional media, e.g. television and press, to new user-centric media platforms such as social networking sites, internet forums and blogs.

Lessons inferred from NFC mobiquitous innovative information service

In this article, we first overview NFC proof-of-concept and pilot projects which were developed in MBDS innovation group since the inception of the NFC standard in 2004 under partnership and contracts from industry partners and the French Ministry of Industry. We give a generic NFC multi-modal development framework to ease NFC development inspired by our data base know how. We then infer some architectural lessons and introduce a CS research on formal interaction layer to handle mobiquitous systems (ASTRA project). We finally outline an area of Economic research concerning mobiquitous virtual cash along with a discussion on expected business models.

Innovative Agricultural Information Services by ICTProjects in India

In recent years farmers attitude to access to agricultural information have been changed because of very fast networking of information and communication technology. Especially rural marketing exploring in a new ways as farmers access to market information. Various projects have been developed that integrate ICTs into the dissemination of agricultural information to farmers. This paper discusses a number of innovative projects that utilize ICTs in delivering information to farmers, focusing its analysis on mobile telephony, internet kiosks, like ITC e choupal, Tata kisan kedras etc. internet portals, which has become more widespread in recent years as a means of disseminating agricultural information to farmers and offers various means of providing agricultural information. The objective of the study to evaluate different ICT projects running in India and to provide an overview of the types of services and projects that are in existence or being designed to disseminate information to Indian farmers in a new ways. attempted to facilitate technology transfer in the agricultural sector. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are crucial in facilitating communication and access to information for agricultural and rural development. Since agriculture is the national priority sector, it is one of the potentially beneficial areas for the application of ICTs for economic transformation. Development of networks and use of low-cost ICTs enhance timely access to accurate and reliable information. It therefore calls for investment of part of the country's limited resources for ICT development. Information and communication technologies are making tremendous impact on the rural economy due to its wide application and appeal. It may seem paradoxical that modem lets associated with developed country markets and capital intensive methods of production, has any relevance for country like India where many millions of people lack in basic needs. Nevertheless, there are many efforts in India and other developing countries to demonstrate the concrete benefits of ICT for rural population and to carry out the same in a manner that makes economic sense. (Singh, Nirvikar, 2004). A large numbers of initiatives has been made and are being made in rural India, to deploy ICT as a developmental tool for creating awareness among fanners and rural artisans, and for

DEVELOPING AN INTELLIGENT RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM FOR A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN THAILAND

In Thailand, choosing a program of study for tertiary students is significant due to the associated future job opportunities. Many students have enrolled in course majors without receiving counseling or advices from appropriate authorities or university services. This could have potential mismatch between students’ aptitude, personal interest and capability, and the particular course being taken up. This may lead to low retention rate and failures. In order to improve and support the academic management processes, many universities in Thailand are developing innovative information systems and services with an aim to enhance efficiency and student relationship. Some of these initiatives are in the form of a Student Recommendation System (SRM). In Thailand, this university service is normally provided by professional counselors or advisors who have many years of experience within the organization or in the higher education sector. However, the success or appropriateness of such advice is entirely depending on expertise of the counselor and it is entirely human-driven. In addition, the process is also tedious and time consuming. This paper reports a study on an investigation of possible correlation between student historic data and their final results. Clustering techniques have been used with the aim to find structures and relationship within the data. Results from two clustering methods, k-means and TwoStep methods have been compared. This paper describes the development of the experiments, and the proposed Intelligent Recommendation System framework.

E-Maritime: A framework for knowledge exchange and development of innovative marine information services

The waterborne sectors in Europe employ more than 3 million people and generate a turnover representing more than 2% of the EU’s GDP. In order to maintain its leadership and competitiveness, Europe must take advantage of new market opportunities and address these challenges by means of focused research, development and innovation. In recent years, advances in information and communication technologies and growth of Earth surveillance capacity have created demand for new forms of maritime information that are increasingly driven by policy and governance addressing safety, security and sustainability. This is reflected in emergence of the IMO e-Navigation strategy and the more embracing European e-Maritime framework as the new themes governing marine information products and services. Such services require innovative integration of knowledge and skills spanning a range of sciences, technologies and information communication fields as well as co-operation across the specialist communities involved. This poses a challenge, namely; how to engage the marine and maritime stakeholder communities and how to enable the interaction needed to create the new high value market products and services. This paper explores the various issues involved and concludes how e-Maritime might offer itself as the enabling framework.

Reinventing academic libraries in Kenya

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review recent initiatives by academic libraries in Kenya aimed at reinventing, re‐engineering, and providing innovative information products and services to support learning and research activities or aspirations of their institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe review utilized literature surveys of currently published articles.FindingsThe review provides some answers to the various challenges facing academic libraries in Kenya in the process of providing adequate information services. The review also provides useful information on how academic libraries in developing countries including Kenya can withstand the ever‐changing information environment by adopting entrepreneurial approaches to manage information.Originality/valueThe paper reveals that academic libraries in Kenya are facing daunting challenges in their effort to provide knowledge to support learning and research activities in their institutions. These challenges include: changing information environment and media landscape, technological innovation, user expectations, and economical forces. This forces them to adopt innovative approaches to manage and deliver information products and services. These approaches include: building new learning resource centers or refurbishing existing academic libraries, creation and development of digital institutional repositories, providing technological systems, understanding the information audience, and innovative information products and services.

도서관 정보서비스 향상을 위한 기술의 RSS 응용 : 프랑스 사례를 중심으로

The new technology, RSS(Really Simple Syndication), allows people to send and receive a lot of up-to-date information by constant monitoring websites and databases for new information, without having to visit the site or database. The task for capturing and delivering various information influx via new digital channels as speedy as possible, is being discussed as a new form of service in the field of information service system nowadays. Given this situation, the RSS tool can be greatly useful in the gatekeeping task. This paper, by analyzing concrete cases in which RSS is actually employed in libraries and also newly applied to other diverse information services in France, expects to provide insightful ideas for developing innovative information services in other countries.

ENGLISH

The primary aim of any library is to provide timely and quality services to its users. Advent of new technologies have made it imperative for libraries to absorb, adopt, adapt, and to provide IT-based services to the users. Libraries are now providing customised web-based services at the users’ desktops. Users, particularly, scientists, who are engaged in time-bound research and development projects, need to be alerted about the nascent literature in their respective fields. Librarians are providing current awareness services to meet these requirements. A few libraries and many e-publishers are providing alert services to keep the users informed about the latest additions to their collections and other information relating to the users’ areas of interest. This paper describes the experiences in using the AutoLib library software and explains in brief the various innovative and useful web-based library and information services and the alert service being provided at the SERC library.