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This study aims to determine the requirements and find out the challenges for the use of digital library services for rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo province. The research questions of the study are: What are the requirements for the use of digital library services in rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality? What are the challenges of accessing digital library services in rural areas?

Data was analysed thematically and deductively in this study, as researcher required to accomplish the purpose of the study through consistent structure (Zalaghi and Khazaei, 2016). In deductive analysis, the researcher starts with a set of categories, which are then used to categorize and organize data (Bertram and Christiansen, 2020). The researcher got familiar with data from the interviewing process and when transcribing data from audio tape. The transcription process was done for the coding purposes. Coding allows the researcher to simplify and focus on specific characteristics of data.

The study findings advocate for the establishment of digital libraries in rural areas. The library authorities are challenged to adapt digital ways of information provision. Since librarians have been providing digital content in libraries for use on users’ laptops and other gadgets, this implies that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has been lagging behind in finding innovative ways to provide information, especially in rural areas. To successfully keep libraries as sources of information, transformative measures have to be taken, and where possible, revisit the policies and keep drifting with the societal changes. The library authorities have to delve into new ways of providing LIS to the communities. Unquestionably, information and communication technologies have penetrated our societies and became a way of life. In addition, there are unlimited benefits which can be derived from digital technologies, especially given the lack of physical libraries in rural areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the academic research is original and has not been published anywhere before.

The aim of this article is to map the use of AI in the user experience (UX) design process. Disrupting the UX process by introducing novel digital tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve efficiency and accuracy, while creating more innovative and creative solutions. Thus, understanding how AI can be leveraged for UX has important research and practical implications.

This article builds on a systematic literature review approach and aims to understand how AI is used in UX design today, as well as uncover some prominent themes for future research. Through a process of selection and filtering, 46 research articles are analysed, with findings synthesized based on a user-centred design and development process.

The authors’ analysis shows how AI is leveraged in the UX design process at different key areas. Namely, these include understanding the context of use, uncovering user requirements, aiding solution design, and evaluating design, and for assisting development of solutions. The authors also highlight the ways in which AI is changing the UX design process through illustrative examples.

While there is increased interest in the use of AI in organizations, there is still limited work on how AI can be introduced into processes that depend heavily on human creativity and input. Thus, the authors show the ways in which AI can enhance such activities and assume tasks that have been typically performed by humans.

The evolution from emerging technologies to smart libraries is thoroughly analyzed thematically and bibliometrically in this research study, spanning 2013 through 2022. Finding and analyzing the significant changes, patterns and trends in the subject as they are represented in academic papers is the goal of this research.

Using bibliometric methodologies, this study gathered and examined a large corpus of research papers, conference papers and related material from several academic databases.

Starting with Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data (BD), Augmentation Reality/Virtual Reality and Blockchain Technology (BT), the study discusses the advent of new technologies and their effects on libraries. Using bibliometric analysis, this study looks at the evolution of publications over time, the geographic distribution of research and the most active institutions and writers in the area. A thematic analysis is also carried out to pinpoint the critical areas of study and trends in emerging technologies and smart libraries. Some emerging themes are information retrieval, personalized recommendations, intelligent data analytics, connected library spaces, real-time information access, augmented reality/virtual reality applications in libraries and strategies, digital literacy and inclusivity.

This study offers a thorough overview of the research environment by combining bibliometric and thematic analysis, illustrating the development of theories and concepts during the last ten years. The results of this study helps in understanding the trends and future research directions in emerging technologies and smart libraries. This study is an excellent source of information for academics, practitioners and policymakers involved in developing and applying cutting-edge technology in library environments.

Starting from the status quo, the paper outlines perspectives and challenges for the connection and interlinking of digitised and digital archival data. The following topics are addressed: Where are fields of action and what are the means of archives? Which functional and technical requirements are to be considered, and what is the role of portal infrastructures linking together various different institutions?

Considering needs of users and general framework conditions, the paper examines new approaches emerging in Germany. It outlines recent projects and considerations aiming to improve services and visibility of archives within the national data infrastructure in Germany.

Cross-connections are no new phenomenon, but change their appearance significantly in a digital context. In this respect, both smaller and bigger archives profit from participation in larger digital networks. Furthermore, archives need to keep in mind to reflect the quality of their digital (meta)data regularly and to offer or join systems that functionally and technically support cross-connection and interlinking of data.

The paper endeavours to show the importance of digital cross-connections and the role of portal infrastructures for visibility, online-distribution and use of digital archival metadata and data.

This research aims to develop and test a model for measuring end-user satisfaction (EUS) in a practical manner and then statistically verify its reliability and validity.

A comprehensive list of attributes using extensive literature review, focus group and brainstorming meetings were used to create a set of attributes for the model. These attributes were then used in a survey among the end-users (N = 687) of seven case studies with different characteristics (type, size and location) to assess the reliability and validity of the model. The statistical methods included reliability tests (Cronbach's alpha), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and correlation analysis), canonical discriminant analysis (CDA), item response theory (IRT) and model specification tests.

EUS must be quantified before determining a project's overall performance. The analysis of repeatability and consistency (reliability and validity) performed on case studies (data collected from the end-users) strongly suggests that the EUS model is robust for a range of project types.

Although many studies have proposed customer satisfaction models in the project success context, research on quantitative measurement tools is scarce. The paper departs from past research and develops and validates a new EUS model independent of project characteristics (while the study's limitations are acknowledged).

Taking a co-creation perspective and integrating knowledge-based and resource-based perspectives, the authors examine the role of customer participation in organizational performance and project success. The authors also investigate the mediating role of knowledge integration and the moderating role of requirement risk for these relationships in uncertain contexts.

The authors undertook two studies. The first study was carried out in 2018 in which the authors drew on survey data from 150 information technology (IT) sector employees and examined the mediating role of knowledge integration in the relationship of customer participation with organizational performance and project success. In the second study undertaken in 2020, the authors drew on data from 92 IT and telecom sector employees and examined the moderating role of requirement risk in the relationship between customer participation and knowledge integration. Study 2 was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic when employees were largely working from home and were more sensitive to risks and uncertainty about the scope and system requirements. Both studies were survey-based, and analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling.

The authors’ two-study examination indicated that knowledge integration positively mediates the relationship of customer participation with organizational performance and project success during the co-creation process. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that when requirement risks are high, customer participation relationship with knowledge integration is weaker.

The authors show that integrating customer knowledge is critical to project success and organizational performance. By identifying risk uncertainties and environmental contingencies, the authors highlight the constraints of customer participation for knowledge integration, organizational performance and project success. The authors provide some key study findings based on survey data obtained from project teams during two periods (normal and pandemic).

Traditional case-adaptation methods have poor accuracy, low efficiency and limited applicability, which cannot meet the needs of knowledge users. To address the shortcomings of the existing research in the industry, this paper proposes a case-adaptation optimization algorithm to support the effective application of tacit knowledge resources.

The attribute simplification algorithm based on the forward search strategy in the neighborhood decision information system is implemented to realize the vertical dimensionality reduction of the case base, and the fuzzy C-mean (FCM) clustering algorithm based on the simulated annealing genetic algorithm (SAGA) is implemented to compress the case base horizontally with multiple decision classes. Then, the subspace K-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm is used to induce the decision rules for the set of adapted cases to complete the optimization of the adaptation model.

The findings suggest the rapid enrichment of data, information and tacit knowledge in the field of practice has led to low efficiency and low utilization of knowledge dissemination, and this algorithm can effectively alleviate the problems of users falling into “knowledge disorientation” in the era of the knowledge economy.

This study provides a model with case knowledge that meets users’ needs, thereby effectively improving the application of the tacit knowledge in the explicit case base and the problem-solving efficiency of knowledge users.

The adaptation model can serve as a stable and efficient prediction model to make predictions for the effects of the many logistics and e-commerce enterprises' plans.

This study designs a multi-decision class case-adaptation optimization study based on forward attribute selection strategy-neighborhood rough sets (FASS-NRS) and simulated annealing genetic algorithm-fuzzy C-means (SAGA-FCM) for tacit knowledgeable exogenous cases. By effectively organizing and adjusting tacit knowledge resources, knowledge service organizations can maintain their competitive advantages. The algorithm models established in this study develop theoretical directions for a multi-decision class case-adaptation optimization study of tacit knowledge.

This study aims to analyze the facilities managers’ involvement over the project life cycle phases (PLP), based on theoretical knowledge, consensus from empirical assessment of facilities managers and consultants’ practices.

A literature review was undertaken to determine the different tasks that facilities managers typically handle, identify project phases and their underlying activities in which facilities managers would be involved. This was followed by targeting a group of consultants to build a consensus, upon the identified involvement of facilities managers, over the PLP, while measuring the level of involvement from a representative group of facilities managers in Saudi Arabia. A matching between the perceptions and practice has been performed to serve as recommendations for future research on improving the practice in Saudi Arabia.

The involvement of facilities managers in the PLP is relatively low, according to the consultants’ perceptions. Consultants perceive that facilities managers should be involved in more professional activities, which would ultimately improve projects’ delivery to clients.

The involvement of facilities managers over the PLP ensures effective delivery of projects and reduces the multiplicity of challenges at the operation and maintenance phase. The viewing of facility managers’ involvement adds to the effectiveness of their role within the building industry.

This paper investigates the consultants’ perception of the involvement venues for facility managers to perform activities which are evaluated to be “mandatory,” “advantageous” or “not necessary.” The study reflects the state of facilities management practice, and the consensus of consultants toward the role of the facility managers through the PLP.

This paper explores optimal service resource management strategy, a continuous challenge for health information service to enhance service performance, optimise service resource utilisation and deliver interactive health information service.

An adaptive optimal service resource management strategy was developed considering a value co-creation model in health information service with a focus on collaborative and interactive with users. The deep reinforcement learning algorithm was embedded in the Internet of Things (IoT)-based health information service system (I-HISS) to allocate service resources by controlling service provision and service adaptation based on user engagement behaviour. The simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the significance of the proposed algorithm under different user reactions to the health information service.

The results indicate that the proposed service resource management strategy, considering user co-creation in the service delivery, process improved both the service provider’s business revenue and users' individual benefits.

The findings may facilitate the design and implementation of health information services that can achieve a high user service experience with low service operation costs.

This study is amongst the first to propose a service resource management model in I-HISS, considering the value co-creation of the user in the service-dominant logic. The novel artificial intelligence algorithm is developed using the deep reinforcement learning method to learn the adaptive service resource management strategy. The results emphasise user engagement in the health information service process.

Globally, there is a growing proportion of disabled people as a result of different circumstances. This growth generates attention and leads to ways to integrate the affected population into society. Addressing such disability and integration is particularly important at buildings level, enabling and expanding the scope of activities for people with disabilities (PWDs). The rising number of PWDs and the need to integrate them into society create a need for action to improve their living condition and integration into society. This study aims to examine the issue of accessibility for PWDs in higher education facilities in Qatar.

Addressing accessibility at buildings level is particularly important in higher education because it enables inclusion in training and education and increases the potential for productive engagement in society. The study aims to develop an objective tool to assess and measure accessibility in educational institutions. Five selected buildings were examined and evaluated at Qatar University based on proximity, multi-use, vertical and horizontal circulation availability. The survey respondents were randomly selected. An existing assessment method was used in surveying respondents, including those with and without disabilities.

A comparative study was conducted to explore the discrepancy between facility users with and without disability, indicating the gap in existing tools.

The developed tool generates the same outcome when conducted by different assessors, indicating the level of compliance and percentage met as a benefit, not a focus. It allows professionals and non-professionals with minimal experience to conduct the assessment.