Search results

Reports an investigation into the information needs and information‐seeking behaviour of Members of Parliament in Ghana’s legislature. It concludes that a better understanding of this question is fundamental to the achievements of their job objectives. Includes the questionnaire used in the survey.

Traces the relationship between democracy and access to information among parliamentarians. Investigates the South African parliamentary situation concerning information‐seeking patterns among parliamentarians, as well as their ability to trace information sources. The paper concludes that democracy can only be sustained if information is freely available, and utilised to its fullest potential by the legislators so as to be enabled to actively participate in all the parliamentary functions.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) in Bangladesh. It aimed at determining the information sources, preferred information format, frequency of seeking information and access to information and communication technology and online information services by the MPs. The study also intended to assess the role of parliament library for satisfying the information needs of the MPs.

A survey method was adopted for data collection; the respondents were interviewed by the researchers with the guidance of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was read out for the respondents and filled up by the interviewers based on the answers they received. Fifty MPs were selected for the study using simple random sampling. The data were analysed with the help of weighted mean.

The study found that the MPs mainly seek information to make a parliamentary request/inquiry, to make a speech and to make a decision. The most important sources of information were minutes of sessions, mass media, personal letters and information networks; and they preferred printed formats rather than online documents. The result also showed that only a few MPs were aware of the information services provided by the parliament library and were satisfied with the services they received.

There has been no study carried out on the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of MPs in Bangladesh prior to this research. The study will help the policymakers to improve the library services for MPs in Bangladesh.

The main purpose of this paper is to lighten a very big dark room of research regarding parliament and parliamentarians in the Arabic environment. The two researchers of this study tried to investigate the information seeking behavior of Members of the Kuwaiti Parliament (MKPs) in terms of their thoughts, perceptions, attitudes, motivations, techniques, preferences, ways, tools and problems encountered by them towards accessing information.

The authors employed a questionnaire, with a response rate 42 percent.

The study found that MKPs were mainly seeking information to make a parliamentary request/inquiry, to make a speech, and to make a decision. The study showed that the most important sources of information MKPs were seeking for were minutes of sessions, mass media, personal letters and information networks. It was also found that MKPs preferred printed formats, with a very good use of the internet and computers. This study showed MKPs' confirmation of using the English language, beside the use of the Arabic language, as the most dominating foreign language used to access information. The study found that consultants, secretaries and colleagues were the most important assistants of information to MKPs. The currency of information, the limited nature of the library's role to deliver information, and the use of technology tools were the most significant problems encountered by MKPs when they were seeking information.

The paper investigates the topic of parliamentarians' use of information, and as such highlights a topic that has limited previous research.

The paper provides valuable insight into the information behavior of a very important client group.

Being the first study in the Arab world concerned with the issue and topic of information seeking behavior and needs of Arab parliamentarians, it is considered a pioneering and unique study among many studies conducted in the field of both information access and information seeking, especially with this category of information users.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the information needs of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Delhi. It aims to provide a study of information sources used by them. It also includes the library use by MLAs, their awareness about various library services, and deals with the problems/hindrances faced by MLAs during the process of information seeking.

The study was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire and semi‐structured interview schedule. The respondents marked their response on a graphic scale which was converted into a rating scale for obtaining the inferences. The analysis of data is done with the help of weighted mean. A histograph has been used to make the matter more understandable.

The results of this research show that only a few MLAs are aware about the usefulness of library/information services. They are dependant on non‐documentary sources of information. They are not fully satisfied with the present system of information gathering, where they have to devote more time and energy.

The present research is applied only to the information system available to the MLAs of Delhi. The findings can not be universalized to all the MLAs in the different states of India.

In the last part of this paper an outline for the proposed information system for the MLAs of Delhi has been provided. These suggestions will be useful to the policy maker when making an electronic based information system for the MLAs of Delhi.

There has been no study carried out on the information needs of MLAs in India prior to this research. The study will help the authorities to build/rebuild/improve the information system for MLAs in Delhi.

This paper aims to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of traditional leaders in the Shai Osudoku District of Ghana.

The case study methodology was used. An interview schedule was designed to elicit information from 12 chiefs from the Shai Traditional Council.

The findings of the study showed that traditional leaders sought information on issues that bordered on their community as well as information for their personal use. It also showed that they usually used informal sources such as the traditional council and their subjects but also exhibited similar information-seeking behaviour to that of professionals. They also used information dissemination or transfer methods that were in line with the oral culture of their traditional society. They had challenges in the use of information technology due to their low educational level, as well as challenges in having access to formal sources due to unavailability.

The study brought to light the challenges traditional leaders encountered in executing their roles. It was therefore recommended that government agencies collaborate with them to enhance their work.

Several studies have been conducted on information-seeking behaviour of different categories of people within different contexts. However, few studies have been conducted on the information-seeking behaviour of traditional leaders. This study thus sought to serve as a foundation research on the information-seeking behaviour of traditional leaders, with Shai Osudoku District of Ghana as the study area.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emerging technologies in the promotion of health and well-being at the urban, domestic and bodily scale, through the systematic examination of technologies such as physical sensing systems and physiological data monitoring, that are currently explored as drivers for achieving sustainable healthcare within a multi-scalar approach.

A comprehensive study of the various technologies associated with smart healthcare is provided, first investigating smart cities, physical sensing systems and geospatial data as potential enablers of public health. Then the discourse shifts towards exploring Smart Home technologies for healthcare, first reviewing strategies of enhancing the home environment with multisensory components, and then discussing the emergence of physiological monitoring devices and their interconnection with the domestic and urban environment.

While the implementation of Internet of Things, physical sensing systems and geospatial analytics in extracting and analyzing the multiple information layers of the urban, the domestic and the bodily environment, has been widely explored, there is little consideration on the transition from the domestic to the urban level, and while within each of the different scales, the need for a multi-componential approach is addressed, there is minimal effort towards its materialization.

The major contribution of this study therefore lies in laying the ground for further research towards a multi-scalar relational approach that views smart healthcare as a trajectory, binding the bodily, to the domestic and the urban fabric.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for analyzing the dynamics of innovations emanating from ICT‐based service encounters. Many innovations are based on the direct encounter between employees and customers, and the paper aims to extend the analysis of such encounters to ICT‐based encounters.

The paper discusses and merges different approaches in the existing literature and examines different modes of ICT‐based customer/employee interaction to construct a framework that will help understand how innovations are developed on the basis of a service encounter, which is ICT‐based.

The implementation of ICT in services contributes greatly to the innovation of services, but in order to better understand innovations in ICT‐based employee/customer interaction, a “service approach” is one of the important ways to move forward.

The service encounter approach offers a promising research avenue for understanding innovations from the ICT‐based service encounter. However, it needs to be adapted to the ICT‐based context and supplemented with additional approaches especially in the cases of ICT‐based services where the users also are producers.

The paper combines a service innovation approach with a service encounter approach and, furthermore, extends this combination to ICT‐based service encounters.

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the implementation of universal service funds (USF) with a view to closing the digital divide in Africa.

The paper adopts a qualitative approach that draws examples from various African countries supported by 25 interviews from key stakeholders with hands-on experience and roles that shape telecommunications policy in Africa and other developing countries.

The study's findings point out that institutional voids which characterize several African countries inhibit the effectiveness of USF in African countries. The authors identify several institutional and organisational factors and explain how they negatively affect the performance of USF. The authors find that in order to overcome these obstacles, there is a need for a clear redefinition of Universal Access and Service (UAS) policies, restructuring the governance of USF, encouraging cross-sectoral collaborations, and bottom-up initiatives to bridge the digital divide in African countries.

The paper contributes to the underexplored USF literature by shedding light on the role of institutional factors in determining the success of USF. The paper thus complements and provides a different perspective on promoting digital inclusion in Africa from the viewpoint of institutional voids, bringing new insights into the existing literature on how to deal with an intractable area of UAS policy and the wider digital divide debate in developing countries.

Service‐marketing literature has traditionally built upon the combination of low technology and high interaction between service providers and customers in service delivery. However, many service organisations have started to utilise high‐tech in their operations. More specifically, they are considering how to make their services available to a wide range of customers with the aid of technology. So far, only few empirically oriented studies on this trend can be found in service literature. In this article the topic is approached on the basis of both services marketing literature and an in‐depth analysis of two case studies. The empirical evidence was gathered from two Finnish financial organisations, an insurance company and a bank, both having utilised technology in their service production and delivery. The consequences of these choices are evaluated and compared with each other. We conclude with a framework for strategic decision making, which ties together the dimensions of service type, technology and encounter. On the basis of our empirical cases, we suggest that there are numerous strategic options between the ends of each continuum of the framework, and in addition to advanced technology, service providers need to pay explicit attention to social aspects. The lesson we learned calls for more customer orientation when planning high‐tech solutions in service operations, and taking a new attitude to segmentation.