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Knowledge organization (KO) content is central to educational programs of library and information science (LIS) and information and knowledge management (KM) programs. The components of information and KO have similar philosophies, theories, approaches, strategies and tools. LIS education programs have strong traditions of teaching KO. Fresh emphasis is noted on metadata, data mining, info-maps, knowledge maps, taxonomy, ontologies and other strategies for organizing an organization’s explicit and tacit knowledge. This paper aims to analyze how LIS schools have responded to the needs of developing competencies related to information and KO among its graduates.

This study analyzed the curricula of LIS accredited schools and leading schools in selected regions of the world based on the course titles presented on their websites.

This analysis provided an overall picture of the coverage of KO courses in LIS programs of 68 selected schools located in Southeast Asia, the Europe and accredited schools of North America.

The paper is limited to the treatment of KO in 68 selected programs of LIS education.

Library and information education programs may benefit from the findings for incorporating needed content in KO coursework.

The study is ground-breaking as it addresses the needs of development of KO competencies among LIS professionals from the perspective of findings of a systematic study of the curricula of 68 schools.

A study was conducted to assess the potential of six library and information education programs in preparing manpower for the digital environment. The situation of six schools in the member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council has been analyzed by collecting data from the schools heads and 49 faculty members, focusing on: curricular changes; faculty size and its research and publication record; hardware equipment and software packages available for instruction; use of digital resources such as databases, online services, and electronic utilities for instruction; and availability of periodicals, books, and electronic resources for instructional activity. This study has brought forth a number of crucial issues related to these factors. Unless these schools take significant developmental or remedial initiatives, they cannot fare well in coping with the changes wrought by the digital imperatives.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the conduct of information operations in Kuwait. One of the top executives or managers from each of the 39 companies, which volunteered to participate in the study, was interviewed. Participant input was sought on a carefully designed questionnaire, containing 19 questions, covering the scatter of information operations. It was noted that most of these companies were engaged in a number of activities for determining user needs and collecting, organising, servicing, packaging, searching and retrieving information from formal and structured information sources. Against this backdrop, the absence of any information unit or professional was quite significant. Little activity was also noted in the use of Web technology and Internet utilities. Another finding, worthy of the attention of the policy makers, was related to little activity in the organisation, control and use of the internal information sources of these companies.

Examines the extent of coverage and nature of courses relating to information policy in the curricula of 48 library and information study programmes in North America and in three Asian countries (Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia). Reviews the curricula work by defining 11 categories conceived as an information policy framework. Finds that some categories have little or no coverage in the curricula. Schools in North America offering doctoral degrees had a much better coverage.

The purpose of this study was to analyse Internet use and related issues among the health care professionals at the Health Sciences Centre of Kuwait University. A questionnaire was administered to all the 180 faculty members in HSC. The response rate was 76.6 per cent. The extent and patterns of their use of the Internet for 12 applications were analysed. The current level of skills was examined and perceptions for improving them were explored. Also, the impact of the Internet on professional and personal development was explored. Problems related to access and use were also investigated. It was found that the Internet had become a vital instrument for research, information, and communication in the lives of these professionals. Respondents wished to be further empowered through rigorous training and the alleviation of problems that inhibited their Internet use.

This paper aims to explore the organizational arrangements and employment policies and practices of 30 Kuwait corporate companies in five selected IT operations of system development, software applications, database management, networking, and web applications.

For the purpose of data collection, key human resource managers of these companies were interviewed. It was investigated what organizational placement had been practiced in these companies and who were the IT professionals in terms of their education, professional background, and other significant affiliations. Issues related to employer perceptions about the preparedness of these professionals and the problems they had faced in their employment were specifically addressed. These companies were conveniently organized into three categories for having distinct organizational policies.

It was noted that the practices greatly varied. Outsourcing was widely practiced for web applications, system development, and database management. A majority of employers showed dissatisfaction with the quality of local graduates and demanded a number of remedial measures from different quarters in order to ameliorate the problems they faced.

The findings have relevance for the executives and IT managers of Kuwaiti corporate companies for critical assessment of their human resource.

Provides information on the organizational arrangements and employment policies and practices of several Kuwaiti companies.

Reports results of a study of information needs in a utility company in Saudi Arabia. Selected technical and administrative staff were interviewed and the active involvement of the user group in the study was ensured by enlisting the support of the organization′s top management. The study also served to educate the company staff in the usefulness of information services. As a result of the study the previously traditional library service of the company was upgraded to a sophisticated information centre. The collections of technical and reference sources were increased and services expanded. A programme of user awareness was begun and a computerized information retrieval system established.

The existing situation of library and information infrastructure in Arab countries is examined. Six factors studied were: status of the national library, state of the art of national bibliographic control, availability of indexing and abstracting services, state of inter‐library co‐operation, existing networking connections, and applications of modern technology. The information was gathered by reviewing the relevant literature and by administering a questionnaire to selected resource persons in the relevant countries. Information collected from 15 countries revealed some inherent shortcomings in the infrastructures of these countries which impede any efforts towards networking and resource sharing.

Special libraries are undergoing some fundamental changes which require redefinition of the competencies of information professionals. The contextual variables necessitate identification of competencies in relation to the peculiarities of a situation. Some methodological improvements were also attempted to arrive at a reliable body of knowledge and skill competencies. Fifty top and middle managers of the ten largest special libraries in Malaysia were interviewed to validate competencies by using a scale indicative of the perceived extent of importance of each competency. The validated competencies have been presented in the following six areas: foundation, cataloguing, circulation, information service, collection development and serial control. Capabilities to relate information facility to the organizational mission and profile, managerial competence, effective exploitation of information technology, subject expertise, and a great deal of emphasis on service aspect figure as the most important arsenal for the future information professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information literacy capabilities of Kuwaiti police officers by focusing on computing and information skills and perceived value of information sources. The study is designed to test the hypothesis that there existed significant differences in information literacy capabilities based on three personal characteristics.

A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted of 211 police officers enrolled in a training program; 60 percent responses were received and analyzed using SPSS package.

It was found that generally the Kuwaiti police officers had weak computing and information capabilities. They were generally poor in searching skills. It was further found that departmental affiliation exhibited significant differences for computing and information skills.

The study is the first of its type in this region and has significant value in making it clear that appropriate programs of training are needed for the development of information and computing skills among Kuwaiti police officers.