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The purpose of this paper is attracting attention to the use of information by mosque speechmakers (MSs) in the Islamic and Arabic world, specifically in Upper Egypt.

This study used a survey, which was conducted from September to November 2019. A structured questionnaire was designed in Arabic and distributed to the mosques that were chosen as a sample to represent all the mosques of Upper Egypt. The researcher sampled 5% (n = 421) of the total of 8,421 mosques in Upper Egypt.

The findings showed the majority of the MSs in Upper Egypt are to be older (from 36 to 60 years, educated [mostly with BA degrees]), married and with an average monthly income over LE 3,500. Almost all MSs were strongly looking for information to make specific/general research, to make a religious lecture and be aware of contemporary events. The most frequently used sources of information by MSs were biographies, books, mass media, references and the Web. Most of the MSs had been using information heavily. The highest percentage of them spent from 7 to 12 h a week searching for information. MSs preferred the use of printed sources of information to those non-print sources. Mobile apps, followed by the Web and information databases were the most significant technological tools used by MSs. MSs’ efficiency level of using English was good and a reasonable number of them indicated that they were not good at speaking other languages, such as French. The home/personal library and the special library were the most important types of libraries used by MSs. The unaffected role of the library to access information, followed by the use of foreign languages to access some sources of information, as well as the use of technology, were the most significant problems faced by MSs when searching for information.

This paper investigates the topic of MSs’ use of and access to information. This topic, unfortunately, has limited previous research, particularly in the Arabic and Islamic environment.

This paper provides valuable insight into the information behavior of a very significant client group, namely, MSs.

Being one of the very few studies conducted on these beneficiaries of information in the Arab and Islamic environment, this study is considered a unique one among several studies conducted in the area of the information-seeking behavior, especially with such a significant group of information users/seekers in such influencing environment in the world. The findings of this study may help in a better understanding of the information-seeking behavior of the MSs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use patterns and ownership of smartphone apps among students at the Department of Library and Information Science (DLIS) at the South Valley University (SVU), Egypt. This study may help faculty members and students, as well as DLISs in general and SVU’s DLIS, in particular, to understand the nature and purpose of such use.

This study used quantitative research methodology in the form of a survey, which was undertaken from February to March 2015. The survey instrument was a self-administrated questionnaire, with a response rate 82.7 per cent (441/533).

The findings of this study showed that smartphone users (82.7 per cent) at SVU’s DLIS tended to be junior females. Smartphone non-users (17.3 per cent) tended to be also young females but primarily sophomores. The highest percentage of smartphone users had been using smartphones for four to five years, and the largest number of students was described to be advanced users who heard first about these mobile devices through friends and the Web. Most users had 21 to 25 apps. Social apps were the most popular and included Facebook, e-mail and Twitter. For professional purposes, students used smartphones more for communication purposes than learning purposes. Apps related to educational purposes included Google Mobile, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia Mobile. Students perceived most apps to be easy to use and useful to them. There were a number of uses for socializing including messaging, following the news and playing games. Students had mainly positive attitudes towards apps with a few negative concerns. Almost all students confirmed that they trust most apps. Barriers related to the use of apps included training and lack of awareness. Further research may be needed to specify the relationship between the students’ use of these apps and their academic performance. The main tasks done on smartphone devices were mainly for socializing. Students indicated that popular tasks and activities, such as sending and receiving messages, following the news, making communications, making chat, making friends, finding specific information, finding general information, making discussion groups, playing games, completing class assignments, checking materials related to courses, doing business, seeking jobs, watching movies, listening to music and accessing library services are important tasks accomplished by them through the use of these devices. The current study indicated very positive attitudes towards the use of these apps. Student at least agree with the statement that smartphone apps allow for easy dissemination of information, provide too much information, increase the speed of finding information, help communication, convenient, secure, build confident and reduce paper use. However, a large number of students also at least agree with the statement that these apps are time consuming, intimidating, addictive, violate privacy, require high language and technical skills, harmful and frustrating. Almost all students confirmed that they are at least trustful in some apps, such as WhatsApp, e-mail, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Viber. A large number of smartphone users surveyed in this study have been described to make excessive usage of social apps, such as communication apps, messaging/texting apps and social networking sites, which were at the forefront of use. Additionally, a large number of them adopted these devices, especially for communication purposes. The most used apps were Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Viber. For professional purposes, students used smartphones more for communication purposes than learning purposes. However, some of the students were using some of apps related to educational purposes, such as Google mobile, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia mobile but not on a regular basis. Students perceived the use of e-mail app, Google mobile, Facebook app WhatsApp, Kik, Twitter, YouTube, Google maps, Viber, Line, Skype, Tango, Instagram, Flickr and Wikipedia mobile as at least fairly easy to them. Additionally, they perceived the use of e-mail app Google mobile, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Viber, Instagram, Wikipedia mobile, Google maps, Kik, Skype, Line, Tango and Flickr as at least fairly useful to them, especially for the purpose socialization more than learning.

This study focuses only on undergraduate library and information science students belonging to SVU’s DLIS, Egypt. Any findings and conclusions resulting from this study are limited in scope to only SVU’s DLIS’s undergraduate students. The study does not contain a significantly large sample of a population from across Egypt to draw meaningful widespread conclusions indicative of such a larger population.

This study provides valuable insight into the use pattern of smartphones among a very important client group. It may serve as useful input to researchers who are interested in the study of mobile internet technologies (MITs), particularly in the education society.

Being the first study of its kind about university students in Egypt, it is considered a pioneering and a unique study among studies conducted in the field of ICTs and MITs, especially with this category of information users.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived role of the mosque library in Upper Egypt as an Islamic information institution.

This study used a qualitative approach in the form of a structured interview, which was carried out between July and August of 2020. As possible, the researcher surveyed all mosques in Upper Egypt equipped with libraries (n = 57).

The most important collections of the mosque library were found to be books, rare books, Qur’anic interpretations, jurisprudential volumes, hadiths of the Prophet, biographies, orientalist books, references, manuscripts and bibliographies. The services provided are developing awareness, lending, indexing and abstracting. The activities practiced are hosting school students to visit the library, holding educational seminars and hosting scholars and thinkers. The lack of specialized classification schemes in organizing Islamic subjects, lack of financial allocations, failure to update collections and lack of digital technology were found to be significant challenges faced by mosque libraries in Upper Egypt.

The role of the mosque library extended to enhance the religious background of the worshipers and provide them with different and appropriate sources of information, not only regarding the Islamic religion but also regarding knowledge and other topics.

The purpose of this study is to determine the potential for research collaboration amongst Egyptian library and information science (LIS) faculty members.

An online survey was used, which ran from the beginning of June to the middle of July 2021.

Male respondents made up slightly more than half of the total, with ages ranging from 30s to 40s and the majority holding PhDs. According to all respondents, the most important reasons for collaborating on research authorship were “to gain more experience”, followed by “to gain more knowledge”. More than half of respondents rated the collaborative research as “Good”, with “Very Good” coming in second. Almost all respondents stated the most common types of collaboration amongst the respondents were “a research paper”, “a case study”, “a review” and “a book chapter”. All faculty members stated that challenges such as “The research collaborator does not contribute equally to the same motivation” and “The research collaborator does not do what is expected of him/her to complete the research” were at the very least significant to the respondents.

The findings of this study have significant implications for higher education research and publishing in Egypt, particularly in terms of encouraging collaborative research amongst Egyptian researchers, particularly in the field of LIS.

This is nearly the first study of the kind in the Arab and Egyptian contexts. This study is described as a pioneer amongst the studies concerned with this topic that were conducted in the field of joint authorship, especially at the local and regional levels, because this study is one of the few studies on partnership and research cooperation amongst Egyptian faculty members in the field of LIS.

The key purpose of this study is to investigate the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among farmers in Qena Governorate of Upper Egypt farmers' use of ICTs in Qena Governorate, one of Upper Egypt's largest agricultural governorates.

A semi-structured questionnaire survey, as well as some personal interviews, was used to collect detailed information about farmers' use or non-use of ICTs. The study's participants included 131 farmers.

Respondents were mostly males who were married and had an average level of education and age. The majority of respondents had 26–30 years of work experience. The majority of them used ICTs for 4–6 h per day. All respondents used ICTs to learn about new agricultural products, increase land productivity, gather market information and learn about livestock. Mobile phones, social media and the internet were identified as the most useful and simple-to-use technologies by all respondents. Illiteracy, a lack of knowledge and awareness and the cost of CITs were discovered to have an impact on respondents' use of information.

The significance of this study stems from the hotly debated topic of the need to use technology tools in agriculture, whether for agricultural work or communication with others. ICTs provide a variety of new ways to communicate and exchange information and knowledge.

This study aims to explore the potential use of infographics as a technology-based information dissemination tool in Egyptian public university libraries.

A quantitative approach was used in the form of a survey conducted in February 202. The survey tool was a self-administrated questionnaire. The study sample consisted of valid responses from 231 library staff. Of this number, 173 (74.9%) were infographics users, and 58 (25.1%) were infographics users.

Infographics users tended to be males between 31 and 45 years of age, mostly BA holders, librarians, with work experience ranging from 11 to 25 years. On the other hand, infographics nonusers tended to be also males between 31 and 45 years of age, mostly BA holders, librarians, with work experience ranging from 11 to 25 years. The majority of library staff used infographics mainly to provide information about the library's map, news, services, events, contact, working hours, policies and activities, to provide guidance, instructions on the library use, explain its classification scheme and provide statistical data. The largest number of library staff indicated that their use of informational infographics ranged from “Completely used” to “Most used”, followed by statistical infographics and timeline infographics The use of informational infographics and statistical infographics described to be at least fairly easy to them. In addition, the use of timeline infographics, statistical infographics and informational infographics has also been described to at least fairly useful to them. A very large number of infographics users indicated that these means are attractive, effective, persuasive, focused, easy to embed, easy to read, artistic, easy to track, highly digestible data, easily shareable, easily rememberable, informative and understandable. About two-thirds of infographics users showed that they provided infographics through a computer-based format, followed by both printed and computer-based formats, and printed format. Barriers, such as lack of awareness of infographics, lack of knowledge about infographics, lack of time needed and lack of necessary technical skills, have been described as the greatest barriers to the use of infographics by library staff.

This study is one of the very few studies concerned with the potential role of using infographics in Egyptian public university libraries, which relates to the presentation of information in the library environment.

The purpose of this study is to identify the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of Syrian refugees displaced to Egypt.

Qualitative data in the form of three focus groups were collected from 37 Syrian refugees who have displaced to Egypt and are concentrated mainly in Greater Cairo. In-depth interviews were conducted in September 2016.

Data collected about the demography of Syrian refugees revealed that they tend to be men, slightly more than half, mostly with no formal education, with an average age in the mid-30’s, labelled as low-income persons and mostly single. Findings also showed that much of the information needed by Syrian refugees was described as realistic and real, but some was less clearly defined. All Syrian refugees’ information needs are strongly linked to their daily tasks. The majority of Syrian refugees reported that their priority information need was to be aware of the situation in their home country, followed by issues related to their states of the diaspora that they are passing through, such as services provided to their children, shelter and aid in general, as well as rights and obligations related to their refugee status. They also showed that they need information to help get the right or any appropriate work in the host country (Egypt). The study showed that many Syrian refugees were seeking information that meets their basic daily needs. It also showed that the information-seeking behaviour profile of a very large number of Syrian refugees was to prefer informal sources to formal sources to meet everyday problems, as well as troubles challenged by them. A very large number of Syrian refugees revealed that the verbal communication with friends and families were identified as the most popular informal sources of information sought. The study revealed that most of the Syrian refugees were able to use a variety of technologies for the purpose of communication with others, especially mobile phones, being the most key communication devices followed by almost all of them. The use of assisting technologies and devices, such as the computer and the internet and its vast applications proved to be meaningful by Syrian refugees. Other assisting technologies are also heavily used by Syrian refugees, particularly social media, including social networking sites and many other mobile applications. In addition, Syrian refugees have also relied on other technologies and tools to meet their information needs, including television and satellite channels, especially Arabic, which are widely distributed in the Arab environment. Because of some difficulties related to education and awareness, a number of Syrian refugees were not using any type of library. Syrian refugees have met several problems and challenges in accessing information. Such problem may make it difficult to find basic services, make informed decisions and stay in communication with families. Such problems have also a significant impact on their seeking and using information. Finding appropriate work to get money to secure housing, psychological burdens suffered concerning the image of being refugees, emotional distress, lack of accessing some basic services such as education and transportation, lack of financial resources, lack of time, lack of motivation and cultural and social barriers, were significant to Syrian refugees when seeking information. In spite of these challenges and problems met by Syrian refugees, a good number of them wished to improve their image as refugees and to improve their disastrous situation. Based on the review of the existing literature, as well as the findings of this study, further research is needed to understand information needs and information dissemination among Syrian refugees fled to Egypt and how they perceive, select, use, access and evaluate sources of information. Proper strategies should be designed towards the use of traditional and commonly used information dissemination channels among these refugees, such as cultural performances and group discussions. Research is also needed on the impact of illiteracy on the use of information by this category of information users. Owing to the fragile role played by different types of libraries in meeting the information needs of refugees, further research is seriously needed in this regard. In addition, appropriate services should be provided to refugees.

This study focuses only on Syrian refugees displaced to Egypt. It does not cover any other refugees inside or outside Egypt, although they significantly exist in Egypt, such as Palestinians, Sudanese, Iraqis, Yemenis, Africans and many other nationals. Any conclusions resulting from this study are limited to only Syrian refugees hosted by Egypt.

This study tries to investigate the Syrian refugees’ information needs and behaviours in terms of their thoughts, motivations, attitudes, preferences and challenges met by them in their search of information. It tries to look at the factors and characteristics that affect this search. Any results from this study may generate interest and create awareness of the information needs of refugees among advocates who are interested in such groups of information users.

This study attempted to identify a significant gap in identifying the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of Syrian refugees displaced to Egypt. It is the first study of its type to address, in a systematic way, this disadvantaged group resettled and hosted by Egypt. Syrian refugees displaced to Egypt have become a matter of major concern that should be addressed and met by serious academic researchers, as well as by official authorities. The literature on the topic of this research revealed that further research is still needed to be undertaken on such group of information users, as there is a very limited research conducted on this topic in developing and Arab countries, including Egypt, particularly among academic library and information professionals.

The purpose of this study is to explore the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in COVID-19 isolation hospitals.

A sample of 91 physicians serving in Egyptian isolation hospitals answered the study questionnaire.

Demographically, more than half of respondents were males. Over one-third of them are holding Doctor of Medicine (M.D), followed by one-third holding Master of Medicine (MMed). Respondents' age ranged from 30 to 60 years. Internal medicine is the most common specialty, accounting for nearly half of all physicians, followed by chest medicine and intensive care medicine. The information-seeking behavior of these three groups in their regular work is believed to be different, but since all of the participants are working in COVID-19 isolation hospitals, they should have the same information resources, Internet access and the same needs relevant to COVID-19 in order to make accurate clinical decisions. The physicians used traditional and electronic information sources to fulfill their information needs, the most important of which were to make a specific research, find an answer to a specific case, and deliver a medical lecture. Colleagues, coworkers, nurses and pharmacists were the most important channels pursued by Egyptian physicians to obtain information.

This study is the first study that focuses on investigating the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in isolation hospitals. Any findings resulted from this study may serve as a noteworthy reference that may be useful to the Egyptian health sector, experts, researchers, as well as policymakers in establishing strategic decisions for making the understating much better.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0350

The key purpose of this study is to explore digital information literacy (DIL) possessed by South Valley University (SVU) library and information professionals. It also tries to identify the various types of DIL and find constraints affecting the related skills and competencies of those professionals.

A quantitative research methodology was adopted in the form of a survey, which was undertaken from February to March 2016. As stated by Kerlinger (1986), the survey research is a useful instrument for educational fact-finding, and a means by which much information can be acquired from the study’s population. The survey instrument was a self-administrated questionnaire, which was adopted for data collection. A pilot questionnaire was first sent to a small random sample of the respondents, with feedback being used to fine-tune the final questionnaire. The targeted population of this study included library and information professionals (n = 127) belonging to SVU libraries that spread over three provinces/campuses: the Qena campus (number of libraries = 22), the Luxor campus (n = 3) and the Hurghada campus (n = 2). The library and information professionals are described to be librarians, library assistants and library directors. Of 127 questionnaires, 101 (79.5%) responses were received. To collect data, the study used a questionnaire, which has six sections reflecting the research objectives of the study.

The findings showed that over two-thirds of SVU library and information professionals are males, and almost one-third are females. Majority respondents are aged between 26 and 40 years, and most possessed bachelor’s degrees, of which nearly two-thirds held library science degrees. Regarding the respondents’ professional profile, the study also showed that majority were librarians, followed by library assistants and library managers, and nearly half had 10 years of experience, followed by those who have work experience of 6-7 years. This study showed that there is a significant relationship between some of the respondents’ demographic characteristics (age and education) and their DIL. The respondents’ gender had no effect on their DIL. The study also showed that there is a significant relationship between all the respondents’ professional characteristics, particularly their discipline, followed by job title, work experience and DIL. Regarding the level of respondents’ knowledge of the types of computers, many showed that their knowledge of using mobile devices, followed by PCs, workstations, portable media players/digital audio player and personal digital assistant was, at the least, high. The respondents’ knowledge of other types ranged between moderate to non-proficient. A large number of the respondents showed that their proficiency in using output devices, followed by input devices, processing devices, storage devices and communication devices was also, at the least, high. While the largest number of the respondents showed that their proficiency in using application software was, at least, high, the largest number of them showed that their proficiency in using system software was moderate. Regarding the respondents’ knowledge-based competencies, as well as skills-based competencies, especially when these competencies related to the integration of ICTs into the library work, this study showed that such kind of competencies possessed by SVU library and information professionals ranged between competent and somewhat competent. Regarding the challenges affecting the respondents’ acquiring skills and related competencies, the study revealed that the lack of funds, training, physical facilities, connection to the internet, subscribing to e-databases, lack of time as well as challenges related to SVU library system regulations, were significant to them. Other challenges such as the lack of incorporating and exploiting the new technologies and products into library integrated systems educators’ services, as well as challenges related to psychological barriers, lack of current curricula in the area of ICTs and a shortage of experienced LIS counselors, were also significant to them. This study reached conclusions that the SVU library and information professionals should be qualified and get adapted to ICTs and related competencies. They need to be provided with sufficient training to update their knowledge regarding the use and integration of technology in their library work.

This study investigates DIL among library and information professionals at SVU, an Egyptian university. Any findings and conclusions resulted from this study are limited in scope to only the library professionals of this university. Such a topic has limited previous research. The size and homogeneity of the sample limit the generalizability of this study.

The study aims to investigate DIL acquired by SVU library and information professionals. The potential results of this study would be useful for library schools, library associations and other pertinent authorities for the planning of training programs and courses. The findings may also be helpful for library educators to develop curricula that meet the needs of library and information professionals.

This study is one of the few studies conducted on this topic in Egypt. The literature on the topic of this research revealed that extensive research has been undertaken on DIL in higher education in developed countries, but very limited research has been conducted on this topic in Egypt and similar developing countries, particularly among academic library and information professionals. No definition for the concept of DIL has yet been produced, and many Egyptian academic institutions define this concept based on their own needs depending on existing models.

The key purpose of this study is to gain an insight into the quality of the scholarly publishing and refereeing system used by Emerald’s Library and Information Science (LIS) journals from the perspectives of the Arab authors who are publishing in this wide-ranging database. It also tries to provide helpful guidance for authors to fit their authorship for publication.

Of the total 3,846 papers published in Emerald’s LIS journals in the past five years (the beginning of 2011 to the end of 2015), there were only 81 papers (research/technical/conceptual papers and case studies only) authored by Arabs, representing 2.11 per cent of the whole productivity in the discipline of the LIS in Emerald in this period. Corresponding authors (mostly first authors) (n = 73) were contacted to answer the questionnaire of the study. Five of those 73 authors could not be reached because of the lack of validity of their e-mails. Out of the remaining authors (n = 68), 47 returned their valid questionnaires, representing 69.1 per cent of the total number of the Arab authors.

This study revealed that the Arab male authors dominated (78.7 per cent) the publishing in Emerald’s LIS journals in the past five years. Two-thirds of the Arab authors are aged between 36 to 45 years (mostly males with doctoral degrees), followed by those authors (17 per cent) who are aged between 46 to 50 years (mostly males with doctoral degrees) and by those authors (12.8 per cent) aged between 31 to 35 years (all are males and half of them hold a doctorate). The study also found that there was a direct proportionality between the Arab authors’ research experience with the history of publishing in Emerald’s LIS journals because the more research experience they have, the greater the number of their research history of publishing in Emerald. Assistant Professors (44.7 per cent) were found to be the group most frequently publishing in Emeralds’ LIS journals with research experience ranging between 11 and 20 years (mainly with a publishing history of five years), followed by lectures with research experience ranging between 1 and 20 years (mostly with a publishing history of five years) and then associate professors with research experience ranging between 11 and 20 years (mostly with a publishing history of ten years). The findings also found that most Arab authors (80.9 per cent) publishing in Emerald’s LIS journals preferred the sole or single authorship. The co-authorship or co-authored works were not much preferred by many of them. A large number (87.2 per cent) of the Arab authors, who are mainly described as experts and advanced authors in using the Emerald refereeing system, see this system, at least, as good. Regarding the reasons/factors to submit articles to Emerald’s LIS journals, this study revealed that the availability of papers in electronic formats, the journal’s impact factor, the association with the research area, the academic coverage of the journal, abstracting and indexing services, the availability in hard copy, the speed of reviewing, the size of readership, the ease of acceptance and the standing of the editorial board were the most significant reasons and factors to submit articles papers for publication in Emerald. The Arab authors in this study have shown considerable positive attitude and perceptions towards the publishing in Emerald’s LIS journals because all of them, at least, agree that publishing in Emerald can increase the speed of finding information and reduce the use of papers. A very large number of them also showed that such publishing may also help create a wider spread, build confidence, be convenient, secure credibility and be objective. Compared to their positive attitude and perceptions towards the publishing in Emerald’s LIS journals, Arab authors had little negative feelings about the publishing in these journals. A few of them (8.5 per cent) have shown a considerable concern about the time it takes in reviewing their articles because they reported that such publishing requires a long time for the peer review process, and it also needs long communications with the editorial staff; this may affect negatively on the time of the research topic. Not being their first language, a few Arab authors (8.5 per cent) have also shown a considerable concern about the use of English being the publishing language in Emerald, as it requires certain skills needed not only to publish their articles but also to deal with the Emerald system and communicate with editorial staff. Overall, this small percentage did not affect the rest of the authors who described their concerns about this obstacle as modest to some extent. Although there is a lot of enthusiasm for publication in Emerald showed by the Arab authors, there have been also some concerns expressed by them towards that goal. A modest number of the Arab authors suggested that the lack of language skills needed for publishing in Emerald, followed by the lack of patience needed to wait for issuing papers, the technical problems related to the system and its interface and the lack of technical skills needed for publishing, as well as the time needed to be online, were significant to them when looking to publish in Emerald.

The paper investigates the quality of the scholarly publishing and refereeing system used in Emerald’s LIS journals from the perspectives of Arab authors who are publishing in this wide-ranging database. Such topic, to date, has limited previous research, as well as the limited size of the representation of the Arab authors in Emerald’s LIS journals in the past five years, which is due logically to the lack of their research and scientific contributions in this database during this period. Future research could focus on varied contexts or samples, such as other different disciplines and nationalities.

The paper provides valuable insight into the perception about the Emerald’s peer review quality by a very significant client group – academic researchers representing 22 Arab countries.

This study is to be the first one of its kind conducted by one of the Arab authors who has published in Emerald’s LIS journals. Being one of the few studies about the scholarly communication/productivity/collaboration of Arab authors in these journals, this study considers a pioneer one among many studies conducted in scholarly communication, especially with Arab authors.