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From an architectonic point of view, the identity of Iranian houses has become more enriched itself throughout history. Primarily, during the Qajardynasty (1785-1925)as a consequence of the social, political, and economical changes which took place, there was a turning point from traditional architectural construction to the modernism principals of construction. In this regard, this studyaims toexplore the importance of the compatibility of the termidentity of architecture in the transformation age (a period which led tothe turning point in the history of Iranian architecture) bydescriptive (including comparative and co-relational methods) and explanative-analytical methods.

By evaluating the spatial characteristics of TraditionalIranian Houses (TIH), the study has developed a method of assessingthe architectural identity of the Qajar era. It alsointroduceda Top-down and Bottom-up processing method as the two main factors in shapingthe identityofan architectural style. By comparing both the objective and subjective indicators of shapingthe identity of TIH, the study also revealed that, in transitioning from the traditional construction to modern, the physical characteristics of the houses might change considerably, whilst lifestyles will not change at the same speed.

Hospitality has been an evident characteristic of Iranian society since ancient times. This chapter discusses the meaning of hospitality from the perspective of the cultural and traditional beliefs present in Iranian literature, religious beliefs, and food customs and deliveries. Reviewing the history of hospitality in Iran yields considerable evidence that this tradition dates to ancient times. This chapter shows that Iranian hospitality has been overlooked in research and suggests that exploring diverse aspects of it can aid tourism practitioners identify areas with potential and improve quality of service in its delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear image of the information architecture used in the Encyclopedia of Iranian Architectural History (EIAH) and to show how it was crafted to meet the need for accessibility, expressiveness and interoperability.

In order to assess the level of interoperability in the system, two essential concepts of the system are identified and traced in every level of the three‐layer information architecture. Federated repositories are studied for the level of accessibility that they can offer. Knowledge representation level, mediator level and the semantic portal are studied for expressiveness capabilities.

EIAH information architecture is capable of establishing links among resources available in the information pools connected to the system by using EIAH metadata application profile (EMAP). Different modules in this architecture, which are localized for the Persian language, can work on similar environments for other languages, for example Arabic.

EIAH is the first example of a digital encyclopedia for the history of Iranian architecture, which is basically different from other digital encyclopedias in the way that it offers information to users. EIAH is aimed at domain experts and provides them not with pre‐written and quality articles but with a wide range of resources and documents relative to what they are seeking.

This article aims to analyze the Iranian and American national cultures and to discuss the implications of cultural differences for communication/negotiation styles.

First, the concept of culture is framed and an integrative model of cultural analysis is constructed. Then, building on the extant literature and secondary data, the various traits of American and Iranian national cultures are analyzed and the implications for communication/negotiation are discussed.

It is found that Iran and America portray dissimilar and somewhat opposed cultural orientations that might create substantial obstacles to their bilateral communications/negotiations. Recommendations for more effective communications/negotiations are provided and avenues for future research are pointed out.

Both Iran and the USA are diverse societies and obviously cannot be considered as monolithic cultures. Moreover, any generalization about the national culture is inherently approximate and does not take into account the intra‐country variations. Another major limitation of this study is that it considers culture as static and unchangeable, however, every culture is in constant transformation.

By bringing insights into the American and Iranian cultures, this study provides a better understanding of cross cultural differences and thus it may lead to effective bilateral communications/negotiations.

While this paper provides valuable insights into the Iranian‐American communication patterns, its main originality resides in offering a cross cultural approach to understanding international affairs. Moreover, the results can be extrapolated to other similar situations when Eastern/Islamic and Western cultures are involved.

Knowledge sharing is very important in non-profit organizations such as academic institutes and universities. This research is a laudable attempt in this vital area to collaborate, refine and advance knowledge production endeavours in universities. The purpose of this study is to formulate a theoretical framework to investigate the non-monetary factors that encourage knowledge-sharing behaviour among postgraduate students.

A field survey was conducted among postgraduate students in Iranian public universities to obtain empirical evidence. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the collected data.

The results revealed that knowledge-sharing behaviour is influenced by humility, interpersonal trust, reputation, self-efficacy and enjoyment of helping others.

Most of the prior studies focussed on rewards and monetary incentive factors to encourage knowledge sharing, whereas this paper examines the non-monetary factors that increase the willingness to share knowledge.

Iranian history, with roots in the oldest civilizations in western Asia, has provided significant heritage, both tangible and intangible, allowing the country to be considered as a major cultural tourism destination for both nationals and foreigners. The focus on Iranian history and heritage aims to confirm the country’s potential for attracting international tourists, while a negative image prevails abroad of a radical theocratic regime with a hostile internal political environment, alongside the instable geopolitical situation of the region. However, the changing political situation, now more secure and safe, allows an attempt to remove these prejudices, which may be achieved through the promotion of heritage and cultural tourism.

Iran has significant potential for an international tourism industry based on culture and heritage. However, the rich fusion of Persian and Islamic cultures that distinguishes Iran from the rest of the Middle East is not easily promoted for tourism internationally, mainly as a result of successive American and European attempts at forcing Iran's isolation since 1979. Given that Japan was a significant inbound and outbound market for Iranian tourism in the 1980s and is a close trading partner of the group of countries aligned against Iran at present, this chapter focuses on the recent development of the Iranian inbound tourism industry with the history and current status of the Japan–Iran tourism connection.

To record and evaluate the impact of the American contribution to Iranian librarianship education.

Describes how American support created modern librarianship in Iran, thanks to a range of initiatives such as the American development foundations and programs, and the Fulbright Program, which helped the country to renovate its higher education. Reviews the advantages and disadvantages of the American model of education for librarianship, which was implemented by a number of Iranian universities. This paper also describes how American library educators were influential in the creation of some major professional library organizations such as the Tehran Book Processing Centre (TEBROC), the Iranian Documentation Centre (IRANDOC) and the Iranian Library Association (ILA).

Concludes that, despite the fact that modern librarianship in Iran came to life after the Second World War due to American assistance, the major shortcomings of the American model of library education in Iran led to lack of creativity in Iranian students, lack of independent research capability, and lack of integration between what students learned and what the Iranian library profession actually needed.

Establishes the context of influence behind the growth of Iranian library science education, which can inform further research on such cultural impacts.

Since many other countries have based LIS education on an American model, they may find some similarities in the discussions in this paper with their own case.

This paper documents an important period of growth and development in the history of Iranian librarianship.

Iran’s influence on a number of cultural, political, and economic areas including religion and philosophy, literature, science and education, as well as statecraft is surveyed. The chapter also discusses how successive Iranian empires contributed to the growth of world trade and commerce. It is shown that Iran has had a great impact on the world throughout its long history and that its prominent role in contributing to the human heritage stands in sharp contrast to its isolation today, which is construed as a historical anomaly.

One of the causes of the Iranian revolution of 1978–1979 was that the Iranian government had serious administrative deficiencies. Amir Taheri, a well-known Iranian journalist, wrote in the mid-1978 that public disturbances were “due to an accumulation of discontent with tight control, over-centralization, lack of sufficient open debate and a general feeling that corruption and inefficiency together with arrogance have struck the bureaucracy.”¹ These administrative problems were not new. An important scholarly examination of the Iranian political system in the early1970s concluded that the “problems of governance in Iran are profound. Inefficiency is their hallmark….”²