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The library and information science (LIS) profession experienced drastic changes in its job requirements due to emerging digital scholarship trends, especially the growth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As a result, there is a discrepancy between the job market and the LIS curriculum. This study addresses this gap by looking into incorporating digital scholarship into the LIS school curricula in South Africa. This may have implications for other contexts as well, because digital scholarship is becoming pervasive.

The study adopted a constructivist paradigm using a qualitative approach and a multiple case study design. Primary data using semi-structured interviews were collected from 10 academics at LIS schools and 10 librarians from both academic and special research council libraries in South Africa.

The study revealed that LIS schools did not have content on digital scholarship such as research data management (RDM), digitisation, metadata standards, open access, institutional repositories and other related content. Stakeholders who needed to be consulted included librarians, information technology (IT) and information and communication technology (ICT) specialists, computer scientists, humanists, the South Africa Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and LIS professional bodies. There were gaps and redundancies in the curriculum as far as digital scholarship was concerned. Digital scholarship presented opportunities for librarians and academics to acquire emerging jobs and to collaborate more in the digital space.

The article advances knowledge on the importance of incorporating digital scholarship in the LIS curriculum in South Africa. Furthermore, it provides guidance regarding stakeholders to be consulted when incorporating content into the LIS curriculum with the intention of closing the gaps and curbing or removing discrepancies between job requirements and graduates’ skills and competencies.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize library and information science (LIS) as fragmenting discipline both historically and by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory about the organization of sciences and Fuchs’ (1993) theory about scientific change.

The study combines historical source analysis with conceptual and theoretical analysis for characterizing LIS. An attempt is made to empirically validate the distinction between LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.

The origin of fragmentation in LIS due the contributions of other disciplines can be traced in the 1960s and 1970s for solving the problems produced by the growth of scientific literature. Computer science and business established academic programs and started research relevant to LIS community focusing on information retrieval and bibliometrics. This has led to differing research interests between LIS and other disciplines concerning research topics and methods. LIS has been characterized as fragmented adhocracy as a whole, but we make a distinction between research topics LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.

The paper provides an elaborated historical perspective on the fragmentation of LIS in the pressure of other disciplines. It also characterizes LIS as discipline in a fresh way by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory.

The necessity for continuous advancement in library education and practice requires research collaboration among library professionals. This study aims to investigate research collaboration among lecturers in the department of library and information science (LIS) and librarians in university libraries in Nigeria.

A descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The quantitative study employed a close-ended questionnaire for data collection. The study covered all the librarians in academic libraries and lecturers in the department of LIS (LIS professionals) in public universities in Ekiti, Ondo and Osun States, Nigeria. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The criterion mean of 2.50–2.99 was used for the research questions.

It was found that librarians in academic libraries and lecturers in Nigeria rarely engage in research collaboration. The reasons for the research collaboration are to increase the quality of research in the library profession, make research in the library profession more in-depth and cross-fertilize ideas for generating novel insights.

It is the engagement of librarians in academic libraries and the lecturers in the LIS department in the exchange of knowledge at national and international levels through research collaboration that can enhance the quality of research that emanates from the library profession.

Promotion of the library profession requires the integrated effort of library professionals in academic libraries and lecturers in the department of LIS through research collaboration.

Promotion of the library profession requires the integrated effort of library professionals in academic libraries and lecturers in the department of LIS through research collaboration.

Continuous professional development (CPD) plays a crucial role in the library workplace by equipping library and information science (LIS) professionals with the skills and technical knowledge to bridge the theory-praxis gap, assuring that library practitioners and their organisations continue to innovate and stay successful and tailored to the requirement of their users. The aim of the study was to investigate the channels of CPD for LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Also, it explored the motivations and barriers related to the LIS professionals’ CPD.

The study adopted a quantitative research design followed by the survey research method. The study population included LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Data was gathered from 177 respondents via the census sampling method.

LIS professionals engaged in CPD activities through multiple channels. Intrinsic factors primarily governed the motivation for CPD. Similarly, time and finance were significant challenges for LIS CPD. Lastly, most libraries were headed by in-charge librarians (non-professionals). De-professionalisation, or the deliberate de-skilling of professional roles, threatens the basis upon which librarians establish their credibility as professionals.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first of its kind from the perspective of a developing country, adding to the CPD literature in academic libraries.

This study aims to assess the scholarly communication competence of Zambian library and information science (LIS) professionals by evaluating their awareness, knowledge and practices regarding scholarly publication.

Applying a quantitative research approach, the study used a specially designed questionnaire. Responses from 57 professionals across universities and colleges in Zambia were gathered using convenience sampling. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation calculations and t-values and p-values to understand respondents’ perceptions and knowledge of scholarly communication and publication.

The findings revealed significant gaps in respondents’ knowledge and awareness, particularly regarding predatory journals, journal selection factors, open-access models, publication challenges, reference management software (RMS) usage and research obstacles. The study underscored the necessity for increased training and capacity-building initiatives among Zambian LIS professionals to enhance their scholarly communication competence.

This research contributed to the field by highlighting deficiencies in scholarly communication awareness among Zambian LIS professionals. It emphasised the need for targeted interventions, awareness programs and educational support to improve academic literacy and scholarly publication practices. Additionally, the study suggested future research avenues, such as longitudinal studies and strategies for enhancing RMS adoption, to advance scholarly practices among Zambian professionals further.

The use of mobile technologies and learning devices has been increasing in every field of life, and library and information sciences are no exception. This study aims to explore the perceptions of library and information science (LIS) students regarding mobile learning (m-learning) along with their primary purposes, social media applications, advantages, disadvantages, barriers, impact and overall satisfaction with using these devices.

A survey method was used, and data was collected from the students of 12 library schools in Pakistan for a total sample of 250 students.

Their main purposes of usage, their needs, advantages, disadvantages, barriers, impacts and the level of overall satisfaction were also identified. The inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) also identified the difference of opinion on the basis of gender, programs, types and number of m-learning devices. Overall, the findings highlight the need for academic libraries to give mobile access (launching mobile applications) to better use library services. To ensure this, libraries must keep an eye on new advances in mobile technology, researchers’ needs and related electronic library services and observe how these services are being used.

Theoretical and practical implications have been highlighted to understand the perceptions of LIS students about m-learning devices.

The mobile library service providers and management need to improve their services by offering services that fit the diverse needs of their users and should know how to attract modern library users.

Many librarians are asked questions about copyright and intellectual property. They may be expected to advise on copyright or provide copyright education as part of their duties. Others may be “voluntold” to take on copyright, which may come as an unexpected addition to their workload. This case study provides suggestions for librarians to increase their copyright knowledge and create copyright education programs.

This case study showcases two copyright education programs created by a librarian in a college and another in a university. The librarians collaborated to learn more about the state of copyright education within academic libraries and explore their commonalities and differences. This case study introduces two copyright education programs and summarizes the state of copyright education within library and information science (LIS) and academic libraries.

The following themes within the two copyright education programs were identified through a case study: the complexity of copyright, the engagement (or lack thereof) across a college or university, the necessity of including copyright in information literacy instruction and the calls for professional development with copyright.

This case study covers two differing institutions so its conclusions may not be applicable to all libraries or educational settings.

Many individuals who are in disciplines or occupations that regularly work with copyright may generate ideas for creating and providing continuing education within their organizations.

Library or education professionals can use the case study’s conclusions to inform and support their ongoing work with teaching and learning about copyright and intellectual property. By doing so, they can better support their students, faculty and institutions.

Although the challenges associated with big data are increasing, the question of the most suitable big data analytics (BDA) platform in libraries is always significant. The purpose of this study is to propose a solution to this problem.

The current study identifies relevant literature and provides a review of big data adoption in libraries. It also presents a step-by-step guide for the development of a BDA platform using the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem. To test the system, an analysis of library big data using Apache Pig, which is a tool from the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem, was performed. It establishes the effectiveness of Apache Hadoop Ecosystem as a powerful BDA solution in libraries.

It can be inferred from the literature that libraries and librarians have not taken the possibility of big data services in libraries very seriously. Also, the literature suggests that there is no significant effort made to establish any BDA architecture in libraries. This study establishes the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem as a possible solution for delivering BDA services in libraries.

The present work suggests adapting the idea of providing various big data services in a library by developing a BDA platform, for instance, providing assistance to the researchers in understanding the big data, cleaning and curation of big data by skilled and experienced data managers and providing the infrastructural support to store, process, manage, analyze and visualize the big data.

The study concludes that Apache Hadoops’ Hadoop Distributed File System and MapReduce components significantly reduce the complexities of big data storage and processing, respectively, and Apache Pig, using Pig Latin scripting language, is very efficient in processing big data and responding to queries with a quick response time.

According to the study, there are significantly fewer efforts made to analyze big data from libraries. Furthermore, it has been discovered that acceptance of the Apache Hadoop Ecosystem as a solution to big data problems in libraries are not widely discussed in the literature, although Apache Hadoop is regarded as one of the best frameworks for big data handling.

This chapter identifies the five new roles that are critical to establishing and sustaining a knowledge preservation and curation practice. For each role, the authors describe fundamental responsibilities and competencies. Two of the roles support knowledge preservation, including business knowledge analyst and specialized knowledge preservationist. Three of the roles support knowledge curation including business interlocutor/translator, knowledge curator, and knowledge asset developer. Each role faces peculiar challenges in a dynamic and chaotic knowledge economy.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the conditions that affect the absorptive capacity (AC) of knowledge, discover its consequences and design an AC paradigm pattern in public academic libraries. To do so, AC was investigated at the levels of individual and organizational learning.

In this paper, to answer the three major questions of this qualitative-survey study, the views of 24 experts were examined using an in-depth semi-structured interview and grounded theory strategy. The data were collected using a nonrandom combined targeted sampling procedure (targeted and snowball) and analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) approach and utilizing MAX Qualitative Data Analysis (MAXQDA) software.

Throughout the grounded analytic stages, 121 open codes were identified. These were distributed around the AC axial category in academic libraries in terms of individual and organizational learning. The 33 axial concepts were then categorized into 16 selective general categories. The paradigm pattern was initially designed to explore the relationships between causal, intervening, strategies, context and consequences conditions. The transition from academic libraries to learning organizations, their increased functional value and the development of their innovation were identified as the consequences of AC development.

This qualitative research is the first in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) to support AC both theoretically and empirically in terms of learning in academic libraries. This study thus not only addresses a key research gap in LIS but also provides significant insights and direction to interested librarians and researchers.