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The present study aimed to investigate the perceptions of academic administrators of the characteristics and strategies of a boundary-spanner leader.

For this purpose, the authors adopted a qualitative approach and a descriptive phenomenology method. The participants of the study consisted of academic administrators in the public universities, and research institutions in Iran, of whom 17 academic administrators were selected as participants of the study purposefully and based on the criterion of having at least 4 years of management experience. To collect the data, the authors conducted semistructured interviews and performed a Colaizzi content analysis for data analysis.

The findings showed that perceptions of academic administrators of the characteristics and strategies of a boundary-spanner leader can be classified into six main categories; cognitive skills, relationship skills, professional skills, boundaries management strategies, common boundaries creation strategy and new boundaries discovery strategy.

This study builds upon the existing literature on boundary-spanning leaders in higher education through a new cultural context and lens. Because research to date has privileged institutional contexts predominantly in the USA and the United Kingdom, this study contributes an additional understanding of boundary-spanning leadership in Iranian higher educational contexts. This study also provides a common foundation and shared framework from which cross-national collaborations may be examined and further cultivated.

This study examines Iran-US migrants' use of the most popular messaging application in Iran—Telegram—and shows how they use it to manage their migration information practices.

This study took a qualitative observation approach. Over the course of six months, over 80 h of observations were conducted on Iran-US migration-related settings within Telegram.

This work identifies the information practices that emerge as users seek and share information related to Iran-US migration. Telegram plays a vital role across the immigration stages, predominantly in the pre-migration stage. This work also shows how the constraints and features of Telegram influence users' information sharing and seeking practices.

The findings support the implication that a social media platform that provides multiple ways to interact is likely to better support niche or unanticipated uses.

This study is the first of its kind to explore Iranian Immigrants information practices in the US. The immigration information practices observed during this study represent a valuable example of end-user appropriation within extraordinary constraints, which may be of use in other information-seeking contexts where dedicated or bespoke tools are impractical or ill-advised.

This paper aims to draw a roadmap for the presence of Iranian academic libraries in the cloud infrastructure.

This research attends an applied-development one that is a part of developmental research due to its conceptual expansion, foresight and roadmap for the presence of cloud-based academic libraries and finally, becoming cloud libraries. Because of providing a roadmap template, the presence of academic digital libraries in the cloud and becoming a cloud library is applied research. Because of providing a roadmap template, academic digital libraries’ presence in the cloud and becoming a cloud library is one of the applied research areas. The statistical population of this research includes all Iranian digital academic libraries. There were 64 digital libraries out of which 59 libraries participated in completing the questionnaire.

Preliminary results from used Delphi method’s first round which was considered by 59 experts were identified typically and descriptive after appropriate component classification and editing. After identifying these factors, each of the roadmap levels in the third stage and the degree of relevance approved by the experts were reviewed and the most critical and relevant factors were identified as key components of the roadmap for the presence of cloud-based academic libraries and becoming cloud libraries. At this stage, they were selected as 24 factors, including seven factors for the first layer, eight factors for the second layer and nine factors for the third layer.

By introducing a roadmap for the presence of academic digital libraries in the cloud context, they will promote more and better interaction between academic libraries to offer services to users anytime and anywhere.

Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (Irandoc) undertaken activities to improve and expand Academic and Research Libraries (ARLs). However, it is necessary to identify demands, challenges and solutions for Irandoc to improve and extend activities of these libraries.

In this study, documents of Science & Technology Information System (STIS) commission analyzed in order to investigate the most important steps taken by Irandoc. The results of this part of research used to conduct interviews with administrators and experts in four groups including thirteen ARL managers, four middle and upper level managers at Irandoc, two deputies in Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT), and four experts in this field. Therefore, the present study was qualitative with content analysis approach. The credibility of the research findings promoted by a peer debriefing and member checking methods.

The results showed that strengthening of STIS commission, reinforced Irandoc's authoritative duties in MSRT, establishing a network of ARLs, promoting Irandoc's relationship with ARLs, institutional mapping among organizations in the field of libraries and information, updating of Irandoc's policies and statutes regarding ARLs, completing library statistics and information, standardizing, monitoring and evaluating ARLs, developing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programs, and future study of ARLs were among the most important operational and executive strategies for improving and expanding ARLs' activities.

Organizational structure of the relationship among MSRT, Irandoc, ARLs and the types of services and resources ARLs provide in six levels, as well as conceptual model of Irandoc's position in this field presented.

One of the important processes for success or failure of strategic plans in academic libraries is identifying different dimensions and factors affecting library activities and services. However, more previous studies focusing on strategic planning processes and few research have explored perspectives of academic library managers in factors affecting designed strategic plans. This article aims to identify the common factors affecting the strategic plans in Iranian academic libraries.

After adopting a qualitative survey design, 28 Iranian academic library managers were interviewed. Purposive snowball sampling method was used to select the libraries’ managers, and the data analysis was done using the thematic analysis method by MAXQDA 10.

The study revealed three main themes including personal, professional and organizational factors that effect on academic libraries’ strategic plans. Users' expectations and librarians' personality characteristics were identified as two sub-themes for personal factors. In term of professional factors, scientific achievement of libraries and communication skills are the most important factors. Academicals factors, managerial factors and budget alignment are most important organizational factors that affect the Iranian academic libraries’ strategic plans.

Iranian academic libraries use different approaches for developing their strategic plans. However, by revealing the common affecting factors by academic library managers, the study provides an opportunity for better controlling the academic libraries' strategic plans progresses.

As a result of the so-called information explosion, it is very important for researchers, faculty members and students to access scientific and research information, which highlights the importance of designing university websites. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate Iranian state university websites using the Web quality evaluation method (WebQEM).

The research method was a combination of a descriptive survey and Delphi technique. The research population included 100 Iranian state university websites. Data collection was done using the checklists prepared by WebQEM. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and analysis statistics (Spearman rank-difference correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis.

The results indicated that Iranian state university websites met the four main criteria considered in WebQEM; reliability (mean = 0.67), efficiency (mean = 0.66) and functionality (mean = 0.62) were in a “good” condition, and usability was in a “middle” condition (mean = 0.59). Also, the findings showed that 60 per cent of the websites were in a good condition and 37 per cent were in a middle condition. In conclusion, Iranian state university websites were found to be in a “good” condition (mean = 0.63). Also, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad was ranked in the first place (score = 0.822). The hypothesis that there was a very weak correlation between Iranian state university ranking and Iranian state university websites ranking was confirmed (with the correlation of 0.22).

The paper includes implications for the development of user interface of academic websites. This paper fills a part of the gap in terms of an urgent need for research on how university websites can be standardized. If university websites have significant and necessary standard factors (i.e. ISO 9126-1), students may succeed in academic information retrieval. Using the results of this research can help university website designers to fix weaknesses for active participation in these websites.

This study has evaluated Iranian state university websites using WebQEM.

The present study aims to investigate the reasons for the gap between academic education and the required skills of the labor market in Iran.

For this purpose, the authors adopted a thematic analysis method. The participants in the study were connoisseurs from universities and research institutes in Iran, who were selected with purposeful sampling methods of snowball type. To collect the data, the authors used a semi-structured interview and performed a thematic analysis for data analysis.

The findings showed that the views and perceptions of the connoisseurs participating in the study about the reasons for the gap between academic education and the skills required in the labor market in Iran can be classified into four main themes including lack of attention to labor market needs in the academic curricula, lack of attention to practical and entrepreneurial skills in the academic curricula, the weak link between universities and industry and society, and shortage of academic resources and equipment in some academic disciplines.

The present study had three implications. First, the human capital theory, the social closure theory, the positional conflict theory and the labor market segmentation theory are more compatible with the labor market of Iranian graduates, compared to other theories of the labor market. Second, the lack of coordination between academic education and the required skills in the labor market has weakened the Iranian economy. Third, the absence of practical and entrepreneurial skills in academic graduates has led to increased unemployment in Iranian society.

The aim of this paper is to prepare and propose a job description for and identify the organizational position of systems librarians in university libraries in Iran.

The required data were collected in two ways: literature review and survey of opinions. The respondents completed a questionnaire designed by the researchers in order to specify the skills, duties, characteristics and other qualifications of the librarians in Iranian university libraries. The material covered by the questionnaire was extracted from the existing cultural and organizational structure systems librarianship texts and their recruitment advertisements. Differences between Iranian university libraries and those of developed nations are noted. The research population included all administrators and supervisors of information sections in university libraries of Iran.

It was found that in Iran information sciences librarians require assistance from computer experts, since the IT training programme on offer does not meet the required standard. This has resulted in a reduced ability to perform their duties adequately, prompting the proposed survey for the purpose of producing a revised job description.

Based on the findings of this research, a job description is formulated for systems librarians in Iranian university libraries. The job description thus presented includes: responsibilities, skills, job features, factors, tools of work, condition of work environment, intellectual capabilities required, body posture, and required technologies.

The survey is unique in that the focus is on an Iranian systems librarian's job description based on requirements resulting from the opinions expressed by the managers and the librarians of the Iranian university libraries. Its structure therefore corresponds to the occupations widespread in Iran.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on “brain drain,” or emigration of educated and skilled individuals to the USA from one Southwest Asian nation, Iran, which has experienced fundamental social changes since the early 1970s. The author examines the profile of the educated Iranian emigrants particularly in the last two decades, internal and external socio‐economic and political forces and processes that have facilitated emigration, and costs and benefits for both sending and receiving countries.

Building on earlier world‐system and dependency theories the author traces the roots of center‐periphery relations that have triggered emigration, and applies David Harvey's analysis of the new phase of globalization (post‐Fordist flexible production) to distinguish the emigration dynamics of Iran's educated individuals during the 1950‐1980 period from those of the last three decades (since the 1979 Iranian revolution).

The findings indicate that while in the former period (1950‐1980) educated Iranians emigrated to further their education and sharpen their skills as sojourners, with the expectation that they will return to Iran and serve their nation, emigrants in the latter period (1980‐present) are guided by a new culture of the post‐Fordist globalization phase that thrives on the mobility of a highly skilled and educated global labour force that can be promptly and efficiently utilized wherever there is a demand. Similar to some other nationalities, the post‐Fordist educated Iranian emigrants are no longer constrained by the nationalist sentiments of the previous period. Rather, they have developed an “internationalist national identity” that allows them to respond to the demands of a global market while still maintaining their Iranian cultural identity.

This is an original research based on documentation and personal interviews of a non‐random sample of Iranian students at the University of Iowa.

The study aims to survey information-seeking behavior of the Iranian medical faculty members and to identify the reasons and obstacles of their usage via the internet, scientific databases and online social networks.

In this cross-sectional study, a structured questionnaire used to collect data. The research population includes faculty members of four faculties of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, including health, nursing – midwifery, paramedicine and rehabilitation. SPSS software was used to analyze data in descriptive and analytical levels.

Low internet speed, network traffic and lack of time were the main barriers and difficulties. Gender was significantly related with familiarity with databases, problems and barriers to accessing information, barriers to using social network, as well as purpose and motivation of using social network. Search for educational and research resources and use of social network to increase their general information were the main goals of participants to using the internet and databases. A negative significant relationship was observed between usage of social network with age (r = −0.204, P = 0.047) and experience (r = −0.239, P = 0.019).

The usage of faculty members of various digital resources is growing ever more. This study examines the use of faculty members of the internet, scientific databases and online social networks simultaneously.