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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have implemented preventive measures that may negatively affect the physical and mental health of older adults. This study aims to investigate the changes in life satisfaction, depressive symptoms and quality-of-life (QoL) of older adults during the post-COVID-19 pandemic in Oman.

A prospective four-week follow-up study was conducted in one health-care center in Muscat, Oman. Convenience sampling was used, and the recruitment was from November 2021 to October 2022, with 38 participants aged 60–81, of whom 36 completed the study. The study evaluated changes in psychological well-being over time and analyzed gender differences.

The study revealed a positive impact of the preventive measures on the QoL (F = 3.08, p = 0.032) and a reduction in depressive symptoms (F = 3.09, p = 0.045). However, there was no significant change in life satisfaction (F = 1.90, p = 0.165). In particular, older women reported decreased depression (F = 5.31, p = 0.006), while older men reported improved QoL (F = 4.27, p = 0.025).

Few studies have reported on the well-being issues of older adults in Oman during the pandemic. Thus, the findings of this study can contribute to the international understanding of the impact of pandemics on the well-being of older adults in Oman and help health-care professionals tailor health-care programs for older adults in the community setting.

This study provides valuable insights into the well-being of older adults in Oman during the pandemic. Understanding the effects of long-term health hazards is crucial for developing community-level intervention plans and strategies for older adults in the community setting.

In this paper, I argue that English could be of more relevance to the Arabian Gulf if we conceptualized it as an educational forum for familiarizing students with socio-linguistic conventions relating to a wide variety of text types and for sharpening their critical awareness of the political implications of the uses of English. I make my case against the backdrop of a particular local context in the Arabian Gulf: the current BA programme in English at the College of Arts and Social Science, Sultan Qaboos University, the Sultanate of Oman. I maintain that the programme is predicated upon conceiving of English as a field (or rather fields) of knowledge, as academic disciplines of English literature, linguistics and translation, each with its own sets of concepts and frames of reference. As such, the programme both falls short of being fully theoretically coherent and fails to take into account the recent educational developments in Oman. Drawing upon the theoretical construct of discourse, I propose an outline of an alternative BA programme in English that revolves around the uses of English and their political implications.

Leveraging the mindfulness theory and the social exchange theory, this study examines the influence of perceived leader mindfulness (PLM) on turnover intentions (TOI) of non-family employees (NFEs) working in family firms. The study investigates whether the above relationship is mediated by employee perceptions of leader–member exchange quality (LMX quality) and their affective commitment (AC).

A conceptual framework is proposed that hypothesizes inverse relationship between PLM and TOI, which is posited to be mediated by both LMX quality and AC. The hypotheses are tested through survey data collected from 254 NFEs working in various family-owned businesses in Malaysia. The data analyzed through partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results indicate that PLM has a positive influence on both LMX quality and AC. Moreover, PLM has a strong negative affect on TOI. In terms of results of mediation analysis, it appears that two mediation hypotheses out of four are significant, that is mediating effect of AC between PLM and TOI and LMX quality between PLM and AC. However, the mediating role of LMX quality between PLM and TOI and the sequential mediation hypotheses were both non-significant.

The findings of the study imply is that to ensure retention of qualified and talented NFEs, mindfulness of family firm leaders plays a significant role in ensuring lower TOI. Furthermore, such a goal is better achieved by ensuring that such employees are supported through leadership that leads to their development of better LMX quality and AC towards the organization. The study however is limited, as other potential exogenous variables that may influence TOI were not considered.

Losing employees that join a firm and acquire valuable skills and experience is a significant concern for family firms that are known for discriminating between employees related to the owners and outsiders. This study presents evidence for owners and managers of family firms that by focusing on mindful behavior and working towards developing better LMX quality and AC of NFEs, the organization can reduce TOI of such employees.

This study contributes to the under-researched and fragmented literature on relationships between PLM among NFEs and TOI of such individuals working in family firms. Moreover, this appears to be the first study that investigates mediating roles of and LMX quality and AC among NFEs in the above relationship.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the status, challenges and impacts of the Arab international book fairs, with particular focus on the Muscat Book Fair. This study proposes a framework to assist in the design and organisation of future Arab book fairs.

The study used a variety of methods to obtain data, including questionnaires, site visits (both regional and international), observations and interviews. A literature review was also undertaken which helped determine major worldwide issues related to aspects of book fairs and the publishing industry, focusing on Arab book fairs.

Arab international book fairs remain relatively traditional, however, there are several examples of innovative improvements in some states. Reading habits and literacy trends were found to be influenced by dominant socio-cultural factors, emphasising religion and children’s literature. This seems to have a reverse effect on the publishing industry. Results also revealed a number of disadvantages related to economic downturns and political instability. Despite continuous expansion, Arab book fairs still suffer from various obstacles which affect the publishing industry’s growth. There are other obstacles that they face which are directly associated with distribution and marketing as well as violations of intellectual property laws.

This study proposes a framework for future improvement of the Muscat Book Fair. It discusses the engagement of local cultural institutions, non-profit community and academic organisations, as well as private sector organisations. These will leverage value and help keep abreast of international developments in book fairs/publishing. It is hoped that the proposed framework will be beneficial to those running book fairs at a regional level, and to countries with developing economies.

There have been no previous empirical studies investigating book fairs in the Arab states. This study adds to the currently scarce body of literature related to book fairs and the publishing industry.

This paper aims to investigate the perceptions of Omani citizens toward the use of social media by the government for participatory and interactive relationships. More precisely, the descriptive nature of the study resides in its ability to explain how social media users regard the current status and levels of presence, transparency, engagement, responsiveness and trust about the current use of social media by the Omani Government.

A quantitative approach was used to collect data. This was done via a self-administered questionnaire from a return sample of 1,769 citizens drawn from different places in Oman. These citizens were considered as well-informed and regular active users of social media. The reviewed literature provided a basis for the construct of the questionnaire.

The overall results indicated modest levels of agreement in all of the investigated factors. The neutral findings suggest that there is a level of uncertainty among the respondents regarding how the government is determining the potential of social media for participatory and interactive relationships. Findings in this study advocate the outcomes of the recent Arab Social Media Report, plus the few relevant studies included in the literature, which nearly stated that although there is a growing use of social media among citizens, governments are failing to take full advantage of social media. Governments are also failing to engage citizens to design and deliver more efficient and collaborative services, per this study’s findings.

The findings call for the importance of strategically framing the use of participatory social media by the government. In a broader sense, the findings of this study are beneficial to all contexts that share similar political and socio-economic philosophy, especially the Arab states and most of the developing countries. The findings provide insights for governments in need of developing social media strategies to promote more collaborative and interactive governance.

The study aids in understanding the views of citizens who are the current major players in a highly technology-driven environment. This environment is found to be transforming the relationship between citizens and governments. The study adds knowledge to the currently scarce body of literature dealing with issues pertaining to citizen–government relationships in social media in the Arab states, and similar contexts in developing countries. Its findings may provide valuable insights for policy makers to leverage collaborative relationships between governments and citizens.

The Sultan Qaboos University admitted its first students in 1986; this was an impressive achievement considering that very few schools existed in Oman 20 years ago. Since coming to power in 1970 Sultan Qaboos bin Said has led the renaissance in Oman in all aspects of life and this is probably most easily recognised in the area of education.

This paper aims to extend the use of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to faculty acceptance of e-books at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the Sultanate of Oman. Electronic books (e-books) are becoming increasingly important in society in general and among academic faculty, concomitant with the growth of portable electronic devices that facilitate the reading of e-books.

The effects of language and personal characteristics (gender, age and field of study) in relation to perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use and usage of e-books for academic work among respondents are examined using data derived from a survey of 332 faculty members at SQU.

Findings were that participants who perceived that electronic books were easier to use also tended to be those who used them more; younger male faculty whose first language was Arabic tended to have higher levels of usage than females, older faculty or faculty whose first language was not Arabic. Faculty in the social sciences and the life and health sciences tended to have lower levels of usage behaviour than those in the arts and humanities, business or law or physical sciences or engineering.

Implications are that e-book acceptance among faculty at SQU is similar to that of faculty in Western universities and that the TAM is a relatively good predictor of e-book usage regardless of geographical location.

The value of the present study is that identification of factors affecting scholars’ e-book usage behaviours may provide library managers with a better understanding of the way in which they can support faculty. Further, by focusing on e-book adoption by faculty in a non-Western country, results of the research help to fill a gap on an under-researched population.

The phenomenon of social withdrawal, known as the hikikomori-like idiom of distress (HLID), has been reported in many countries. This study aimed to explore profiles of Omanis who have HLID.

A cross-sectional online survey of 673 out of 1,529 Omanis identified with HLID using the Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) score of 42+.

Two profile groups were determined through cluster analysis according to socio-demographic and HQ-25 outcomes. Subjects in cluster 1 (n = 168, 24.9%) are significantly younger (p < 0.001) and more educated (p = 0.019), spend more time online (p < 0.001) and are living alone (p < 0.001) than subjects in cluster 2 (n = 505, 75.1%). More subjects in cluster 1 had a past mental illness (p = 0.037) but less previous childhood physical/emotional abuse (p = 0.029) than subjects in cluster 2. In contrast, subjects in cluster 2 had a low lack of socialization (p < 0.001), less active isolation (p < 0.001) and total HQ-25 scores (p < 0.001) than cluster 1. Subjects in Cluster 1 have more serious social withdrawal issues than those in Cluster 2, especially on a lack of socialization and isolation.

One limitation that might influence the results of this online study was that information was collected via self-report, and a cross-sectional design limits its results because it cannot assess causal inference. This study has contributed valuably to exploring different profile groups of HDLD, especially in the Arabian Gulf. The authors’ findings facilitate the development by creating innovative interventions strategically tackling different hikikomori groups.

While social withdrawal characterized by HLID has been reported proliferating in different parts of the world, little research has been forthcoming from Arabian Gulf countries. These findings suggest that there are two orthogonal clusters of HLID among Omanis. This study provides a foundation for further research on HLID, which has recently been reported in different parts of the world.

This study investigates whether prolonged durations of work from home (WFH) leads to workplace ostracism (WO), and whether such relationship is moderated by perceived organizational support (POS). The context of this research is based on the post-COVID-19 pandemic period, when most organizations have either recalled their employees back to their physical workplaces, or in other cases employees are relegated to continued WFH or to a hybrid model that combines both in-office and remote work. The importance of this study is the spotlight it brings to employees who feel ostracized from their workplace due the continued practice of WFH.

A conceptual model is developed, by leveraging the conservation of resources (COR) theory. The hypotheses are tested by using cross-sectional survey data collected from 240 employees working in various organizations in the Sultanate of Oman from both public and private sectors. The data are analyzed using R Core Team software.

The findings of the study reveal that WFH does not have any direct impact on WO. However, when POS is applied as moderator, the results indicate that at low levels of POS, the relationship between WFH and WO becomes significant, but not at moderate to high levels of POS.

This study provides insights into how the phenomenon of WFH is likely to influence perceptions of employees in terms of feeling excluded from the organization by being asked to continue to work remotely, while many of their colleagues have returned to their prepandemic workplaces. The implications of the findings are relevant to the growing literature on employee experiences in the realm of emerging work models being introduced by organizations. Among the limitations of this study is the fact that there may be missing mediators that link WFH with WO, and the possibility that such a study if replicated in other cultural contexts may yield different results.

This study presents evidence to managers on leveraging the power of organizational support to ensure that negative emotions among employees such as WO are mitigated.

This appears to be among the first studies that attempts to provide insights into employee perceptions about WO in the postpandemic period, especially with regards to the emerging work arrangements that are primarily based on WFH that are being widely adopted by many organizations around the world. The results of this study provide useful information about how WFH and POS come together to influence emotions of individuals who have been longing to get back to their normal workplace once the social distancing guidelines of the pandemic were lifted.

As the internet has become the biggest virtual library of digital libraries and publishers have become the e‐agents of online knowledge, large integrated online databases have been developed. On the other hand, most libraries put their library systems on their parent organizations' server to facilitate direct use by end‐users of the sytem to which libraries subscribe. With such a transformation, information services such as the SDI have been changed, becoming e‐type services using e‐mail to inform readers and databases' indexes when matching users' interests as reflected by searching subjects. Moreover, users themselves find from these e‐sources, specifically e‐journals, the most important, up‐to‐date sources of information where they can browse and retrieve the contents from their desktop connection through the organization's servers. The current study aims to explore the following: how far do researchers at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) use e‐journals and databases available at the University libraries? The paper also seeks to explore whether researchers are knowledgeable about these services and choose to use them.

To determine the respondents' experience with the main e‐journals features as related to alert services and whether or not they are using them, as well as the level of their usage, a questionnaire was adopted from the Stanford E‐Journal User Survey and modified to fit the purposes of the research. The questionnaire was then distributed to 100 SQU faculty members who were relatively familiar with electronic journals and the alert services available through the databases to which SQU libraries subscribed and its system on the local area network.

The results indicate that 50 percent of researchers depend on the University libraries' subscriptions, while only 19 researchers subscribe personally to e‐journals related to their field for free access to full‐text articles published in these journals. According to those who have not yet subscribed to new e‐journal functions (basically an alerting service), they would rather use general purpose search engines such as Google and Yahoo! This group of respondents suffers from numerous, irrelevant, and uninteresting results.

The study provides a comprehensive overview of researchers' perspectives towards the use of e‐journals and e‐services provided by Sultan Qaboos University.