Evaluating Electronic Reference Services

The idea of ​​the project is to create a website (www.refdelivery.com) that aims to provide a reference service in six university libraries: (6 October University Library for Modern Sciences and Arts MSA - Khartoum Applied College Library - Omar Al-Mukhtar University Library in Al-Bayda City - Palestine University Library Technical attendance - Benghazi University Library - Faculty of Computers and Information Library, Fayoum University) in order to respond to reference inquiries for library users, including students, faculty members, and graduate students. In addition, the service in its early stages is provided free of charge until the site is developed and updated, and it reaches an advanced stage that provides everything required, based on studying the needs of the beneficiaries and interconnecting with other office sites, and companies that facilitate access to various electronic databases that allow access to them, and benefit from various sources, In addition to implementing various advanced workshops. The project monitored identifying the number of beneficiaries who logged in to the site and their categories, the volume of reference inquiries answered, identifying the most frequently asked topics, identifying the most requested categories of reference questions, the number of times electronic materials were downloaded, and the extent to which beneficiaries used the service and evaluated it. Among the most prominent results: The project recommended several recommendations, including: Urging those in charge of libraries to provide reference services that focus on providing information, answering reference questions that search for specific facts, in addition to providing guidance services, and calling on other university libraries to strengthen the partnership between them and create a unified platform. To provide a unified digital reference service, which will be a destination for researchers and scholars in all fields of human knowledge, and to create comprehensive awareness to introduce all categories of beneficiaries to the services provided by the library, most notably the reference service, while clarifying its major role in serving beneficiaries and scientific research. Within a period of less than a month since the site was made available on the Internet, approximately 39 beneficiaries were responded to, as a test broadcast of the site, and a response to reference inquiries, whether by providing the required sources or directing them to the platforms that most help them in obtaining them.

The article takes its starting point in new trends and paradigm shifts in scholarly research methods and discusses how research libraries must act in relation to this. Various innovative initiatives at the Library of the Aarhus School of Business (LASB) are described, especially within the areas of electronic dissemination and presentation. A line of projects on development of a software for the sharing of knowledge are in focus, a “metro map” used for navigating the electronic information resources made available in the Learning Resource Centre, at the Aarhus School of Business (ASB). This software is the result of exchange of knowledge between professional departments at ASB and a software company. The LASB is positive towards and will continue working with this method. Finally, the investment in future library services is discussed and a tangible offer is put into perspective: electronic reference services.

Fifteen years ago, the choices for mediated electronic reference services were few, and the hardware requirements straightforward. Libraries that provided any online service usually subscribed to one or two online vendors, such as DIALOG and BRS, and accessed these using a dumb terminal at 300-baud. Issues of service at that time revolved around free vs. fee arguments and whether or not any reference librarian had the innate skills to become a good searcher. With the advent of ready reference searching at the desk, public terminals for OCLC and other utilities, end-user products like Knowledge Index, videodiscs, CD-ROMs, electronic full-text, OPACs, regional and national networks, and hypermedia, the electronic world has become an intricately complex array of service possibilities.

Evaluating a monolingual multinational digital library by using usability: An exploratory approach from a developing country

This paper examines the curricula of library and information science schools in Nigeria with a view to determining the ICT content of the reference services courses offered by these schools. The curricula of three universities as well as the National Universities Commission (NUC) minimum standards for university library and information science schools and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) minimum standards for polytechnic library and information science schools provided the needed data. The result shows that while there are ICT courses in the library and information science curricula, there is no ICT content in the reference courses taught in both the universities and the polytechnics.Keywords: reference service, ICT, curriculum, library and information science schools, electronic reference service The Information Technologist Vol. 3(1) 2006: 27-35

This study seeks to explore and report international business students’ perceptions and expectations of electronic library services at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. A total of 143 international business students on campus volunteered to fill out a survey. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics such as t‐tests and correlation. A significant portion of international business students has no prior experience with electronic library services in their home countries. Moreover, about a half of international business students go to libraries other than the Business and Economics Library, partly because they provide better environment for study. Although electronic resources are available without the constraint of location, providing reference services for those who do not use the Business and Economics Library becomes a challenge. Virtual reference is an excellent tool, but most international business students do not see it as an important library service. Based on the results, implications for information literacy and virtual reference service are discussed.

This study investigated users satisfaction on the use of electronic information resources and services in MTN Net libraries in ABU & UNIBEN. Two objectives and one null hypotheses were formulated and tested with respect to the users’ satisfaction on electronic information resources and services in MTN Net libraries in ABU & UNIBEN. Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total number of 273 registered library users from the 2 MTN Net libraries were drawn as sample size. A questionnaire was used to collect data for this study. The data collected were presented and analyzed using Frequency distribution tables, percentages and histograms, while the hypothesis was tested using T-test.. The levels of satisfaction with the electronic resources and services provided in the ABU and UNIBEN MTN Net Libraries were not significantly different. The study concluded that electronic information resources are vital and are the backbone of any dynamic collection, most of the electronic information resources such are full text databases, electronic books are not publicly available free of charge and they are expensive, and they offer creative possibilities for expanding access as well as changing learning behavior and academic research in Universities. Lastly, management of the MTN Net Libraries should conduct user studies annually in order to have feedback from users on how well the library is meeting their information needs. The results of the survey should be published in any journal in the University.

In countries with limited digital capabilities such as Morocco, the adoption of electronic services faces significant challenges owing to limited awareness and prevalent apprehension among the local population. Existing pharmacy services predominantly rely on manual processes, which cause inconvenience for the community. To address this issue and cater to the needs of the community, a comprehensive survey was conducted that involved 41 residents. The survey findings not only provide insights into the needs of the community but also serve as a foundation for tailoring electronic services to this specific demographic. Considering the survey results, we further introduced “MoulPharmacy”, an accessible online platform designed to streamline the purchase of over-the-counter medications. The main goal of “MoulPharmacy” is to bridge the gap between consumers and local pharmacies by providing a user-friendly interface for seamless medication procurement. This platform enables local citizens to order medications effortlessly, with the added convenience of doorstep delivery. To understand the perceptions and potential adoption factors of “MoulPharmacy” in countries with limited digital capabilities, we conducted a user study with 20 Moroccan citizens to explore aspects such as website aesthetics, ease of use, and the overall purchasing process. A synthesis of the results of both the survey and the user study, reveals that this research contributes to a nuanced understanding of the unique requirements of citizens in countries with digital challenges. “MoulPharmacy” not only addresses practical challenges faced by residents but also sets a precedent for future developments in online pharmacy-related platforms designed for countries with limited digital capabilities. This research establishes essential design principles that can guide the creation of tailored solutions, by examining the specific requirements of this demographic, which fosters the adoption of electronic services in resource-constrained settings.

This study aims to investigate the connection between Surakarta's Tokopedia e-commerce customers' e-satisfaction and e-service quality. With the goal of learning how Surakarta Tokopedia's e-service quality affects customers' propensity to make repeat purchases. In order to discuss how e-trust and e-satisfaction impact Tokopedia online buyers situated in Surakarta. To examine how Tokopedia e-commerce consumers in Surakarta are affected by e-trust on their intention to repurchase. To investigate how e-satisfaction influences Surakarta Tokopedia e-commerce customers' propensity to purchase more. The demographic utilized consists of Surakarta Tokopedia e-commerce consumers. However, the sample consists of 160 respondents who utilize Surakarta's Tokopedia e-commerce platform. Electronic Satisfaction is significantly contributed by Electronic Service Quality, from this result. There is a correlation between electronic satisfaction and electronic belief. From a significant and optimal technique with statistics, the enemy of electronic services contributes to shopping intentions. There is a significant contribution between shopping intentions and electronic satisfaction. Consumers who are satisfied with online services will contribute to shopping potential. Satisfaction from electronic services plays a role as a mediator between intentions and service quality in shopping. Its contribution with statistics is very significant. Strong relationship with electronic belief and E-Satisfaction substantiates the validity of the seventh hypothesis.

The rapid development of e-commerce has greatly promoted the popularization of electronic payment methods in China. The electronic payment service of online banking solves the problem of online transaction payment in the early stage of e-commerce development. After the rise of third-party Internet-guaranteed payment services, the problem of mutual trust in online shopping was solved in a breakthrough way, and the electronic payment service model was continuously innovated, and the electronic payment service scene was rapidly expanded and popularized. In this process, the relationship between third-party payment service providers and online banking has evolved from cooperation to competition, and has been developing in the contradiction between competition and cooperation. At the same time, the third-party payment model has brought great challenges to financial supervision. Based on the respective interests of the main participants in the electronic payment market, this paper applies game theory and its Nash equilibrium theory to analyze the optimal strategy choices of the participating entities in the electronic payment market, and gives their respective development strategies.

BackgroundMedical referral is the transfer of a patient’s care from one physician to another upon request. This process involves multiple steps that require provider-to-provider and provider-to-patient communication. In Taiwan, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) has implemented a national medical referral (NMR) system, which encourages physicians to refer their patients to different health care facilities to reduce unnecessary hospital visits and the financial stress on the national health insurance. However, the NHIA’s NMR system is a government-based electronic medical referral service, and its referral data access and exchange are limited to authorized clinical professionals using their national health smart cards over the NHIA virtual private network. Therefore, this system lacks scalability and flexibility and cannot establish trusting relationships among patients, family doctors, and specialists.ObjectiveTo eliminate the existing restrictions of the NHIA’s NMR system, this study developed a scalable, flexible, and blockchain-enabled framework that leverages the NHIA’s NMR referral data to build an alliance-based medical referral service connecting health care facilities.MethodsWe developed a blockchain-enabled framework that can integrate patient referral data from the NHIA’s NMR system with electronic medical record (EMR) and electronic health record (EHR) data of hospitals and community-based clinics to establish an alliance-based medical referral service serving patients, clinics, and hospitals and improve the trust in relationships and transaction security. We also developed a blockchain-enabled personal health record decentralized app (DApp) based on our blockchain-enabled framework for patients to acquire their EMR and EHR data; DApp access logs were collected to assess patients’ behavior and investigate the acceptance of our personal authorization-controlled framework.ResultsThe constructed iWellChain Framework was installed in an affiliated teaching hospital and four collaborative clinics. The framework renders all medical referral processes automatic and paperless and facilitates efficient NHIA reimbursements. In addition, the blockchain-enabled iWellChain DApp was distributed for patients to access and control their EMR and EHR data. Analysis of 3 months (September to December 2018) of access logs revealed that patients were highly interested in acquiring health data, especially those of laboratory test reports.ConclusionsThis study is a pioneer of blockchain applications for medical referral services, and the constructed framework and DApp have been applied practically in clinical settings. The iWellChain Framework has the scalability to deploy a blockchain environment effectively for health care facilities; the iWellChain DApp has potential for use with more patient-centered applications to collaborate with the industry and facilitate its adoption.

Sintering of niobium with additions of transition metals : U.U. Gomes et al (U.F.R.N., Natal(RN), Brazil)

It has become a common phenomenon in these days; a lot of Bangladeshi people are relaying on using online banking services and it has gained much credibility. For capturing market, focusing and attracting the potential clients and keeping prevailing clients, there are many initiatives are being taken by many financial and banking organizations. As the electronic banking customers heavily rely on internet base banking services that influence the banking policy makers to take more electronic banking services promoting initiative for current and potential customers in competitive banking market in Bangladesh. There is no significant research oriented work has not been yet, in Bangladesh though clients reliance and customer confident in online services are integrated part of internet banking. The statistical evidence may play an identical implication for retaining customer’s trust on electronic banking services in Bangladesh. A total of 250 respondents have been chosen from different government-owned and public banks following convenient sampling technique. While exploratory analysis has been used to fit the right items for each construct, structural modeling technique has been applied to assess the relationship between and among the constructs. From this revision it is observed that online services in the commercial banking sectors in Bangladesh have an impact towards loyalty of the customers. The research findings will be useful to the commercial banks of Bangladesh. Clients, bankers, managers, researchers, academicians will definitely be benefited from the present study.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effective behaviors of reference librarians during the chat reference interview, with particular emphasis given to whether the service users would feel more satisfied when librarians adopt the behaviors recommended in the revised “RUSA Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Services Providers.” The data analyzed for this study consisted of 422 chat reference transaction transcripts and corresponding user surveys obtained from a public library system that participated in a nationwide chat reference consortium. In six of the ten behavioral types observed, the users perceived the service as more satisfying when librarians demonstrated the behaviors suggested in the revised guidelines than when they did not. Five of these behaviors—receptive and cordial listening, searching information sources with or for the patrons, providing information sources, asking patrons whether the question was answered completely, and asking patrons to return when they need further assistance—were revealed as strong predictors of user satisfaction. These findings demonstrated that the RUSA behaviors are effective in increasing user satisfaction, suggesting that the guidelines can continue to be used as an effective tool for both staff training and service assessment in chat reference services. This report concludes with recommendations for further improvement of the guidelines and agendas for future research.

Describes the origin, development and evolution of Nebrask@ Online, a computer‐based electronic information and communication service, created by the Nebraska Library Commission. The 1991 Nebraska Information Partnerships Conference led to new alliances involving the Library Commission and the creation of this online service. Describes experiences in operating an online service and options considered for network development. A public/private partnership emerged as the model for network management services for access to Nebraska state government information.