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Article
Publication date: 9 January 2017

Polona Vilar and Primož Južnič

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of attitudes displayed towards the Central Humanist Library (CHL) from the perspective of both undergraduate and graduate students…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of attitudes displayed towards the Central Humanist Library (CHL) from the perspective of both undergraduate and graduate students as well as librarians, specifically in light of the proposed relocation and merging of the library, which consists of 18 separate departments and is currently scattered across two locations. It is proposed that bringing all of the departments into a single building would enable a number of positive key changes, such as cost reduction (in terms of single premises), communication and cooperation between departments, as well as various other process and service improvements.

Design/methodology/approach

A number of different techniques were employed to obtain and analyse various sets of data, depending on the target group: student responses were obtained through web surveys, focus groups and interviews, with data being extracted and analysed through descriptive analysis; librarians’ responses were obtained through interviews, with data being extracted and an analysis driven through content analysis.

Findings

The CHL has traditionally been a place with a lack of space and a focus on traditional library services (i.e. loan of printed materials). Other more technological aspects of library and information services are fulfilled by nearby resources, including public libraries and alternative university libraries. It is also worth noting that there is a stark difference in the perceptions of the CHL between students of the Social Sciences and the more traditional Humanities. Responses from librarians pointed towards the fact that many feel reluctant towards change.

Research limitations/implications

As this study has only focused on three categories of end user, it should be noted that responses from faculty, researchers and doctoral students will be obtained in a separate research study, to enable a broader picture to be formed.

Practical implications

As this research focused on the present library and current information needs of the students within different study programmes, planning should not be based on the present situation, but rather take account of future predictions and needs. It is suggested, therefore, that the following is also undertaken to assist future projects and provide further insight: informing students and librarians of findings; systematic weeding; and, as noted above, further investigation of other stakeholders, e.g. researchers, doctoral students, faculty and management.

Originality/value

There is minimal information surrounding the attitudes of users and staff within the CHL – it is proposed that the findings of this study will assist in decisions regarding the renovation of newly acquired premises, and the subsequent relocation and reorganization of the existing library, staff, collections and services.

Details

Information and Learning Science, vol. 118 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2018

Polona Vilar and Vlasta Zabukovec

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between scientific disciplines (SDs) in Slovenia in research data literacy (RDL) and research data management (RDM) to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between scientific disciplines (SDs) in Slovenia in research data literacy (RDL) and research data management (RDM) to form recommendations regarding how to move things forward on the institutional and national level.

Design/methodology/approach

Purposive sample of active researchers was used from widest possible range of SD. Data were collected from April 21 to August 7, 2017, using 24-question online survey (5 demographic, 19 content questions (single/multiple choice and Likert scale type). Bivariate (ANOVA) and multivariate methods (clustering) were used.

Findings

The authors identified three perception-related and four behavior-related connections; this gave three clusters per area. First, perceptions – skeptical group, mainly social (SocS) and natural sciences (NatS): no clear RDM and ethical issues standpoints, do not agree that every university needs a data management plan (DMP). Careful group, again including mainly SocS and NatS: RDM is problematic and linked to ethical dilemmas, positive toward institutional DMPs. Convinced group, mainly from humanities (HUM), NatS, engineering (ENG) and medicine and health sciences (MedHeS): no problems regarding RDM, agrees this is an ethical question, is positive toward institutional DMP’s. Second, behaviors – sparse group, mainly from MedHeS, NatS and HUM, some agricultural scientists (AgS), and some SocS and ENG: do not tag data sets with metadata, do not use file-naming conventions/standards. Frequent group – many ENG, SocS, moderate numbers of NatS, very few AgS and only a few MedHeS and HUM: often use file-naming conventions/standards, version-control systems, have experience with public-domain data, are reluctant to use metadata with their RD. Slender group, mainly from AgS and NatS, moderate numbers of ENG, SocS and HUM, but no MedHeS: often use public-domain data, other three activities are rare.

Research limitations/implications

Research could be expanded to a wider population, include other stakeholders and use qualitative methods.

Practical implications

Results are useful for international comparisons but also give foundations and recommendations on institutional and national RDM and RDL policies, implementations, and how to bring academic libraries into the picture. Identified differences suggest that different educational, awareness-raising and participatory approaches are needed for each group.

Originality/value

The findings offer valuable insight into RDM and RDL of Slovenian scientists, which have not yet been investigated in Slovenia.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 75 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 December 2020

Stefan Dreisiebner, Anna Katharina Polzer, Lyn Robinson, Paul Libbrecht, Juan-José Boté-Vericad, Cristóbal Urbano, Thomas Mandl, Polona Vilar, Maja Žumer, Mate Juric, Franjo Pehar and Ivanka Stričević

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the rationale, technical framework, content creation workflow and evaluation for a multilingual massive open online course (MOOC) to…

2124

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the rationale, technical framework, content creation workflow and evaluation for a multilingual massive open online course (MOOC) to facilitate information literacy (IL) considering cultural aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

A good practice analysis built the basis for the technical and content framework. The evaluation approach consisted of three phases: first, the students were asked to fill out a short self-assessment questionnaire and a shortened adapted version of a standardized IL test. Second, they completed the full version of the IL MOOC. Third, they were asked to fill out the full version of a standardized IL test and a user experience questionnaire.

Findings

The results show that first the designed workflow was suitable in practice and led to the implementation of a full-grown MOOC. Second, the implementation itself provides implications for future projects developing multilingual educational resources. Third, the evaluation results show that participants achieved significantly higher results in a standardized IL test after attending the MOOC as mandatory coursework. Variations between the different student groups in the participating countries were observed. Fourth, self-motivation to complete the MOOC showed to be a challenge for students asked to attend the MOOC as nonmandatory out-of-classroom task. It seems that multilingual facilitation alone is not sufficient to increase active MOOC participation.

Originality/value

This paper presents an innovative approach of developing multilingual IL teaching resources and is one of the first works to evaluate the impact of an IL MOOC on learners' experience and learning outcomes in an international evaluation study.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 77 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2011

Polona Vilar and Maja Žumer

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an empirical study of information behaviour of young Slovenian researchers.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an empirical study of information behaviour of young Slovenian researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

Built on some well‐known models of scholarly information behaviour the study complements a previously conducted study of the same population, which focused on the aspects of user friendliness. This second study is an attempt to shape a more detailed picture of the investigated user group. Presented are types of scholarly information behaviour, enriched by some complementary issues regarding their behaviour as digital users.

Findings

The respondents were found to express many of the features of both digital scholars and other users of digital technology. Direct searching and power browsing are most often expressed searching behaviours; also common are probing and accessing. Collecting behaviour is mostly expressed through “squirrelling”, and sometimes gathering. Satisfaction with the system and with search results is very influential, but sometimes not decisive, for the user to stay with the system, since attention to the content of the results is also very strong.

Practical implications

The rationale for the study was that understanding users' information behaviour is crucial in the design of their information tools.

Originality/value

Scholarly information behaviour has been extensively studied in Western countries, however, studies of this nature are not so common in Slovenian scholarly literature. As such, this study is one of the first to tackle this issue.

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2002

Polona Vilar

The article describes the experiment that attempted to find out the extent to which English language influences the terminology of Slovenian library and information science. The…

388

Abstract

The article describes the experiment that attempted to find out the extent to which English language influences the terminology of Slovenian library and information science. The results of a stemming procedure of Slovenian texts from this area, published in 1998 and 1999, were inspected. Three corpora were inspected, of 15,000 words each. Instead of words appearing in articles, stems, which were a result of the stemming procedure, were inspected. The goal was to find the amount of stems of English origin and thus to estimate the influence of English. A limit of 3 per cent was set as a boundary between significant and non‐significant influence. The experiment found that English stems were strongly prevailing among all foreign origin stems. However, the amount of stems of English origin was 1.3 per cent, which was below the limit set as a significant influence.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 54 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 67 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 25 July 2008

Polona Vilar

649

Abstract

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 64 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 67 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Content available
430

Abstract

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 64 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Tjaša Jug and Polona Vilar

The purpose of this paper is to present an adapted form of a qualitative research method, focus group interview, for use with small children and demonstrate its use in a…

3086

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an adapted form of a qualitative research method, focus group interview, for use with small children and demonstrate its use in a small-scale study. Researchers often avoid direct study of children, and study them indirectly by asking adults. This was frequent before 1990s, but today, researchers increasingly discuss research with children rather than on children. Nevertheless, in research with young children it is not possible to use all research methods, therefore the authors modified and tested one. The additional research objectives, besides verification of methodology, were to determine the pre-school children’s attitudes to books, book-related places, reading.

Design/methodology/approach

The adaptation of the focus group interview involved merging the content questions of the research with a story and using a toy as the storyteller. This resembled storytelling and enabled the children to directly participate by talking to the animation toy instead of the researcher. The authors tested the method on a purposive sample of 13 pre-school children aged four and five in one public kindergarten.

Findings

Despite of the belief of some experts, who claim that focus group interview is not an appropriate method to explore habits or opinions of children, the authors found that adaptation of this method for the use with small children by means of storytelling and toy animation brings positive results because it enabled gathering data directly from the children. The content results show positive attitudes towards books and reading, differences in reading interests between boys and girls, daily exposure to books and reading, both in kindergarten and at home, and quite good knowledge of book-related places, especially libraries, somewhat less bookstores.

Research limitations/implications

Since this is only the first attempt to use this adapted methodological approach, it is necessary that the method is tested on different user groups and in different circumstances to further validate its suitability for this user group. Regarding the content of the study, the results cannot be generalized due to non-probability purposive sampling.

Originality/value

This is the first attempt to use the adapted methodological approach for researching young children. The research may serve as a beginning and incentive for further research in this area, since only high-quality results provide good modifications and adaptations of educational programmes and activities to ensure proper development of children’s reading competences and attitudes to books and reading.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 71 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

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