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The purpose of this study is to examine shifts in the volume and complexity of reference questions received at a small liberal arts college following the implementation of a Web-scale discovery service.

Researchers used the Warner model of reference classification to review and classify reference questions from the academic year prior to the implementation of EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) and the academic year following EDS implementation to evaluate the change in volume of questions and complexity.

Research findings are significant as they document a 34 per cent decline in overall volume of reference activity following the integration of a Web-scale discovery service into the research process. Notably, the question category rated as the highest level of reference complexity (level IV) registered an 18.5 per cent increase in volume, post-EDS implementation. Question levels I-III all saw declines in volume ranging from 45 to 14 per cent.

Limitations of the study relate to multiple librarians having recorded questions as they were received by reference services and, as a result, some variation in transaction description should be expected. The concurrent deployment of a Web-scale discovery service and an integrated link resolver made delineation of the respective impact of each tool difficult.

Libraries contemplating the integration of a Web-scale discovery service into the research process will be able to use the research analysis to contemplate service redesign in advance of discovery implementation. The research results support additional training of reference personnel to service higher levels of in-depth inquiries. A redesign of reference services incorporating a tiered reference model using proactive chat with referrals to library faculty for in-depth research consultations is recommended.

After a literature review of relevant research, the researchers discovered few similar studies. As a result, this analysis will be of significant value to the library profession.

Based on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, I hypothesize how Heinz von Foerster's theory can be an orientation model for the epistemological problem of complexity. I have chosen this study to demonstrate complexity as an epistemological problem. This is because the question of how order arises - the core problem of complexity - is an epistemological question for which Heinz von Foerster developed an epistemology of self-organization. I do not present new research because HvF already had the complex organization of systems in mind. Rather, I build a critical approach to complexity on the research and work on operational epistemology in HvF.

This article aims to provide an orientation for a philosophical and epistemological understanding of complexity through a reading of Heinz von Foerster's operational theory. The article attempts to establish complexity as an epistemological phenomenon through the following method: (1) a conceptual description of the science of complexity based on the turn to thermodynamic time, (2) a genealogy of complexity going back to the systemic method, and (3) Heinz von Foerster's cybernetic approach to self-organization.

Based on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, the conclusion is drawn that complexity as a description is based on language games.

The results present complexity not as an object of science, but as a description that stands for the understanding of complex description.

The hypothesis that complexity is a question of description or observation, i.e. of description for what language serves, has enormous social implications, in that the description of complexes and the recognition of their orders (patterns) cannot be left to algorithmic governmentality, but must be carried out by a social agency.

HvF's operational epistemology can serve as an epistemological model for critical complexity theory.

The aim of this study was to appraise the delivery of information communication technology (ICT) projects and identify key determinants for stakeholder integration.

Given that empirically, little was known about stakeholder integration in the ICT sector and its influence or effect on project delivery; qualitative method was used. Forty-seven semi-structured interviews were carried out to derive senior project practitioners and policymakers' constructs of stakeholder integration and infrastructure performance improvement of ICT projects. The verification and validation of the proposed assessment tool were achieved through the use of focus group discussion.

As established in this research study, there is a need for project delivery teams to evaluate the level of stakeholder integration, the formulation of a project business case, the project processes and issues of compliance and regulation in ICT projects. What is evident in the findings of the study is that the management model adopted for the stakeholders in the Kenyan ICT sector ought to make communication the fulcrum of their engagement.

The inferences made herein are critical in contributing to knowledge regarding the ICT infrastructure project management terrain in developing countries. There is evidence in the study to conclude that the concept of stakeholder management and integration has implications for the sustainability of ICT projects. One of the issues that predominantly featured in the research was the input of stakeholder integration in terms of project sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the questions received via chat reference at a Canadian university library.

A qualitative analysis using coding of chat transcripts and a quantitative analysis of the length of chat interactions were used in this study.

The author determined that the types of questions received changed slightly during the pandemic due to the new library services offered. The complexity level of questions did not change significantly nor did the presence of instruction. The length of individual chat interactions and the total amount of time spent on chat increased, most likely due to the extended hours of the service and the number of patron questions present in one interaction.

This is the first study to investigate the potential impact of the pandemic on virtual reference services at a university library. The findings could lead to practical implications for libraries who need to close their in-person reference desk or need to respond to building closures.

This study aims to develop a scale to measure the cloud provider’s performance and it investigates the factors that impact that performance from the users’ perspective.

This paper proposes a research framework, develops hypotheses and conducts a survey to test the framework.

The results from both ordinary least square regression and structural equation modeling analyzes indicate that information technology complexity negatively and significantly affects users’ perception of the cloud computing providers’ performance. Additionally, the trust in the supervisor significantly enhances the otherwise insignificant positive relationship between providers’ cybersecurity capability and users’ perception of their providers’ performance.

The research makes important contributions to the cloud computing literature, as it measures users’ perception of the cloud computing provider’s performance and links it with cybersecurity, technical complexity and incorporates both the trust in the client firm’s supervisor and the strength of cybersecurity offered by cloud computing provider.

The focus of this study was on successful, small, rapidly growing firms and on people who manage (entrepreneurs/ CEOs) or help manage (interventionists/consultants) these firms. Investigates the structural (complexity, formalization and centralization) changes that occur in firms as they move from the start‐up stage to the growth stage of development. One reason these structural changes were examined was that rapid growth often strains organizations′ existing structures and, in turn, threatens their very existence. Further, little empirical information exists about structural changes in small, growing firms. Using a sample of Inc. 500 firms, finds support for the hypotheses that organizations in their growth stage will exhibit greater complexity, greater formalization, and less centralization than in their start‐up stage.

A transport innovation has been examined through canvassing opinion from a large sample of long distance travellers. The findings proved that there was no evidence to support adopter categories in respect of the high speed train. Respondents rated the attribute “relative advantage” as being extremely relevant, whilst “trialability”, “compatibility”, “observability” and “complexity” were not particularly relevant.

Canada's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI) uses an operating model that is unusual in government. It is created to enable cross‐boundary capability and capacity building and learning. Some consider it a model for other federal science initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of leadership – and its relationship to perceived effectiveness – in this complex network of counter‐terrorism communities, where parts of the network are functioning better than others. At a more academic level, it explores whether complexity theory can inform leadership theory.

This qualitative, empirical study uses phenomenography and elements of ethnography as methodologies. Data are gathered through interviews and observation.

CRTI personnel refer to their initiative as a counter‐terrorism network of communities. The leader of each community works – without positional authority – with participants from many organizations and locations. The paper reveals qualitatively different ways of understanding leadership. Even though CRTI groups have much in common, participants' ways of understanding that work vary greatly. Some understand their work environments as complex systems rather than as traditional government structures; this way of understanding is associated with perceptions of effectiveness. This finding can change the ways in which science and technology professionals make sense of their work in complex, trans‐disciplinary fields such as counter‐terrorism and global warming.

This qualitative, empirical research complements and supports some of the conceptual work about leadership and learning in complex environments.

Teleworkers need to use information and communication technology (ICT) to communicate and collaborate with their team members, however, when new and complicated information systems should be used, this can lead to stress. Receiving adequate information and emotional support from team members could reduce the stress caused by technological complexity and subsequent work and occupational strains.

Participants (N = 400) teleworked at least half of their working hours and were employed in organizations with a minimum of 250 employees. Data from the online survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results demonstrate that aspects of informational and emotional communication contribute to perceived social support from team members, with emotional communication explaining more variance. Stress from technological complexity is mitigated by both supportive team communication and the extent of telework. Perceived stress from technological complexity, however, still increases work and occupational strains.

The findings emphasize the importance of supportive internal communication to foster a collaborative telework environment. Practitioners in internal communication need to encourage teleworkers to help each other with adequate information and provide also emotional support to overcome the negative effects of complex ICT.

The study shows that supportive communication among team members is important for teleworkers to reduce work and occupational strains, especially when facing difficulties with complex ICT.

The purpose of this study is to investigate why users turn to the university library’s reference desk and whether librarians make use of the opportunity to conduct reference interviews to disclose any unexpressed information needs.

This paper presents the results from a qualitative exploration study where interactions between librarians and users were observed in authentic situations at the reference desk and analyzed using a modified version of Radford and Connaway’s (2013) categorization of inquiries.

Most inquiries were seemingly easy to answer and pertained to collections and procedures in the library. Lending out desk supplies accounted for a high proportion of the activity. Only a small number of requests were subject-oriented and reference interview techniques were only used in 5% of the recorded inquiries. This means that the users’ information needs were not probed in the vast majority of the interactions.

The study is exploratory and mirrors the activity that takes place in one specific library. The low number of reference interview techniques used may indicate a lack of interest in users’ information needs, which signifies a risk of the reference desk being reduced to an arena for instrumental and superficial interaction between librarians and users.

This study illustrates current developments in work at a physical library desk. Few recent studies address face-to-face interactions between librarians and users.