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To take full advantage of the unprecedented availability of information on networks and digital systems, professionals need to be comfortable finding information relevant to the tasks at hand. This study was conducted at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to investigate scientists’ personal information management (PIM) practices.

A qualitative research approach was used. Critical incidents were collected to probe information about PIM activities. The PIM-related critical incidents were gathered through extended conversations in the form of semi-structured interviews.

Extended conversations revealed that scientists were aware of the importance of information organization and management. They collected and received information from various sources regarding their tasks and saved part of the information for future use. Scientists organized saved information into named folders using the categories of projects, clients and planning. The files were updated by regular deletion and cleaning. Different strategies were used to retrieve the information. These included searching by keywords and file names, and browsing using the folder structure. Scientists have used various PIM tools. They reported that time pressure, information overload and anxiety due to information fragmentation were major challenges in PIM.

This study recommends a compilation of guidelines to assist scientists in the efficient management of personal information. As there are only a few studies currently available in the literature on scientists’ PIM, this study makes a valuable contribution to the relevant professional literature.

This paper reports the findings of a study of knowledge management courses included in the curriculum of academic disciplines of business, computing, and information. Based on a review of course descriptions selected from Web sites of universities in different countries, the paper describes levels of courses, curriculum areas and topics, and differences in emphasis in teaching knowledge management courses in different departments and schools. It highlights the multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum and suggests a collaborative approach in designing and conducting KM education programs for providing a balanced coverage.

Bibliographic applications require special software capabilities if they are to provide the flexibility necessary for creating textual databases. Many specialised computer programs have been developed to facilitate bibliographic information processing. Saffady's survey of selected software in 1984 and a more recent survey carried out by Bridge in 1991 list more than 26 bibliographic application packages in use in different information agencies. However, not many programs are suitable for managing bi‐lingual applications, particularly in the processing of data in Arabic. Ashoor, Aman, and Salem have discussed in detail the problems of absence of a unified code, limitations of data input and output, and other problems related to computer terminals which have affected the development of bi‐lingual software.

This paper reports the results of a comparative study of the suitability of DOBIS/LIBIS and MINISIS for library applications. Evaluation of the systems against locally developed criteria have indicated great potential for handling all major library functions including Arabisation. The study has shown that DOBIS/LIBIS scored higher in circulation and periodical control, while MINISIS scored higher in cataloguing and OPAC functions. Further, DOBIS/LIBIS' support services and MINISIS' documentation require considerable enhancements. The authors conclude that DOBIS/LIBIS seems to be more suitable for large academic libraries, with access to the mainframe computer and adequate data processing staff. MINISIS in the meantime, may be a better choice for special libraries and information centres interested in SDI, indexing services, etc. which want to use mini or microcomputers.

This study aims to investigate the perceptions of academics regarding the use and usefulness of academic social networks (ASNs) in the scholarly communication practices of faculty members in Kuwaiti Universities.

The study was conducted through a survey. In total, 100 faculty members from the disciplines of business administration, humanities and social sciences from three universities in Kuwait filled in an online questionnaire. The statistical feature of the Web-based tool was used for data analysis.

The results show that most faculty members are aware of the importance of ASNs. They perceive that these networks are useful, as more publications have become available, it has become easier for scholars to connect with colleagues who share similar research interests.

The study is descriptive and restricted to a specific country (Kuwait). It also only covered faculty members from three academic disciplines. Furthermore, the use of a questionnaire, while appropriate for descriptive research, restricted us from conducting probing designed to gain deeper insights regarding participants’ motivations and explanations for not realizing the potential of these networks.

Future research should expand the scope of this study to cover faculty members from other disciplines (e.g. science, engineering and medicine), while also including more universities from other countries in the Arabian Gulf region. Future research should also examine how academics’ information-finding practices are changing as a result of the availability of information sources through ASNs.

No similar study has been conducted previously in Kuwait. This study provided useful information regarding the use and perceptions of ASNs in the context of faculty members of Kuwaiti universities. This information is of interest to scholars, information providers and those who design such networks.

MARC records and online policy documents of selected libraries were reviewed to study the approaches taken by libraries worldwide to catalogue electronic journals. In general, libraries catalogue those electronic journals that are subscribed by them on priority basis. Most of them annotate the e‐journal to the print record, some prefer to catalogue them separately, while the majority of the libraries adopt both approaches. While most of the libraries studied prefer full record, cataloguing e‐journals separately with a brief record (at least containing MARC fields 245, 500, and 856) that identifies and locates the resource seems to be the best practice.

This paper provides functional performance data drawn from an analysis of the capabilities and functionality of three major library automation systems – HORIZON, INNOPAC and VTLS. The assessment was based on vendor input as well as on feedback from libraries of different types from different parts of the world. Objective criteria based on a numerical scoring scheme was used to assess system performance in six major functional areas: acquisition, cataloguing, circulation, public access catalogue, reference and information services and serials control. The functional performance data is expected to be useful for libraries looking for new systems as well as those already computerised and interested in enhancing their present systems. In addition, data on the extent of the utilisation of system capabilities by libraries should also be of interest to system vendors.

Reports results of a study of information needs in a utility company in Saudi Arabia. Selected technical and administrative staff were interviewed and the active involvement of the user group in the study was ensured by enlisting the support of the organization′s top management. The study also served to educate the company staff in the usefulness of information services. As a result of the study the previously traditional library service of the company was upgraded to a sophisticated information centre. The collections of technical and reference sources were increased and services expanded. A programme of user awareness was begun and a computerized information retrieval system established.

The aim of this paper is to look into projects undertaken to promote collaboration between LIS education programs in Southeast Asia.

The author surveys the efforts made by information studies programs to promote resource sharing.

An accreditation scheme is being implemented for improving the quality of education in LIS programs in Southeast Asian countries. A plan for developing a repository of learning objects is under development for facilitating sharing of teaching materials for improved LIS education. Faculty development is considered another important area of possible future collaboration in the region with possible involvement of international forums for improving LIS education.

The experiences reported in this paper will be an aid to anyone interested in implementing LIS into their educational facilities.

Terms drawn from DDC indexes and IEEE Web Thesaurus were merged with DDC hierarchies to build a taxonomy in the domain of computer science. When displayed as a directory structure using a shareware tool MyInfo, the resultant taxonomy appeared to be a promising tool for categorisation that can facilitate browsing of information resources in an electronic environment.