ABSTRACT As the amount of published literature continues to grow at a rapid pace, researchers are increasingly using evidence synthesis methodologies, such as systematic reviews. Well conducted systematic reviews support evidence-based decision-making by synthesizing the known literature on a topic into a single article. A key component of systematic reviews, compared to narrative literature reviews or surveys of the literature, is that the methods should be reported in a way that is transparent and reproducible. In this scoping review, the authors investigate the prevalence and quality of systematic reviews in industrial engineering, as a subgroup analysis of a previously conducted scoping review of multiple engineering disciplines. The literature search was conducted in the databases Compendex, Inspec, and ERIC and retrieved 8,957 articles after removing duplicates, with 886 ultimately included. The results show the number of published systematic reviews in industrial engineering has been increasing, especially over the last five years, and there is global representation in authorship. However, the quality of reporting of the included systematic reviews is low and suggests researchers struggle with reproducibility and transparency. Recommendations are made for how industrial engineering researchers, journal editors, and librarians can collaborate to improve the quality of industrial engineering systematic reviews.

ABSTRACT Academic librarians, as liaison or subject specialists, bring varying disciplinary knowledge and experience to their instruction and research roles. This inquiry invited librarians at public Canadian universities to participate in a survey on how confident they are in providing chemistry instruction and research support. Forty-eight of sixty-four librarians (75 percent) completed the instrument between November 2023 and January 2024. Follow-up focus groups asked the eight participants to comment on the survey results and respond to semi-structured questions. Survey results and focus group transcripts were analyzed for emergent themes: (1) the importance of background, expertise, and experiences; (2) librarians’ confidence levels; (3) the challenge of being stretched too thin with additional responsibilities and tasks; (4) the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence; and (5) strategies to remain current with disciplinary pedagogy, scholarship, and research. This study sheds light on the importance of liaison librarians’ disciplinary and subject knowledge, expertise, and experience when partnering with faculty, staff, and students.

ABSTRACT To identify any existing connections between the maker movement within libraries and evidence-based practice (EBP), a custom web-based survey was developed to target two populations: EBP and maker movement professionals. EBP professionals were asked about any experiences with the maker movement (processes such as 3D printing, sewing, and design). Professionals within the maker movement, primarily libraries, were asked about the use of an evidence-based approach for their service model(s). Investigators used descriptive statistical analysis to review responses. From 27 EBP respondents, a majority indicated support for the integration of maker learning into curricula. Of the 26 maker respondents, about half indicated that they had not learned about EBP prior to this survey, yet a majority responded “yes” or “definitely yes” when asked if EBP offers learning opportunities to the maker movement. While only 9% reported that their maker service model was created based on research, a majority of maker professionals indicated that more evidence-based approaches could bring constructive growth to service models. Survey results show there is potential to build connections between these fields; while they may appear to exist on opposite sides of the professional and educational spectrum, there is literature that expresses overlap.

ABSTRACT There is a rapidly increasing amount of scientific information being produced daily, and researchers have acknowledged the significant issues with being able to stay on top of new and emerging research. Literature reviews serve several purposes to combat this: 1) to synthesize research, 2) to critically evaluate it and 3) to provide recommendations. Evidence based systematic searching was initially developed in the medical field, grounded in the knowledge that while there was an importance to having an expert opinion, the best medical advice was based on the accumulation of results from multiple experiments. Engineering has long been borrowing from the review methodology, but this has been happening on a one-off basis, with little to no formal structure to the adaptations. Working with a cross disciplinary team of engineering and health librarians, at institutions across Canada, this paper seeks to contextualize knowledge synthesis for non-health librarians, provide fundamental information on engineering and health databases for reproducible searching, their capabilities and limitations, and open a conversation around working toward a rigorous new methodology applicable in cross disciplinary engineering contexts.

ABSTRACT Journals in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) can serve as indicators for the growth of literature in every field of knowledge and understanding. This investigation collects and computes information technology (IT) related bibliographic datasets from the past 12 years (2012–2023) that were indexed in the Web of Science. Bibliometric methods were employed to analyze this data. The findings show that the Average number of Citations per Total Publications and Average number of Citations per Total Cited Publications were the greatest in the year 2012 (30.71 and 36.40, respectively). The extracted data indicates that the United States had the largest number of total publications (7,837) and total citations (180,288). It was followed by China, the UK, India, and Australia, which have been among the top five leading countries. Interestingly, when reviewing the publishing by organization metrics, China’s Wuhan University ranks number one, followed by the University of South Africa. Scientometrics from Springer was found to be the most published journal with 1,373 total publications and 27,241 total citations in the information technology (IT) literature. Among the top 10 authors, M. Thelwall holds the most publications (119) with total citations (3,582) and h-index (33). It is anticipated that this study will aid librarians and IT industry experts in their future efforts to expand this approach.

ABSTRACT Cancer has been considered a complex and multifaceted disease, and research in this field has grown rapidly in recent decades. Bibliometric and scientometric studies can be used to analyze such research activities and identify trends, hot topics, and key players. This study uses a scientometric approach to examine bibliometric and scientometric research on cancer and its related areas from 1989 to 2023, approaching data from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The study finds that the number of publications in this field has increased steadily, with the most significant growth occurring in the past decade. China and the USA are the leading countries in publication output, followed by Italy. The top journals in this field include Frontier in Oncology, and the most prolific author is Shearwood McClelland of the USA. Thematic evolution reveals that the top research hotspots in this field include artificial intelligence, photodynamic therapy, and immunotherapy. The study finds that bibliometric and scientometric research on cancer and its related areas is growing. Librarians can use the identified trends to focus on collection development and research assistance. The findings also highlight the need for librarians to ensure their resources cater to researchers worldwide, including materials and databases.

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyze the scholarly productivity of Benguet State University (BSU) Research Journals to inform the university research and library policies. Using bibliometric analysis tools, the paper identified the development of research trends, faculty collaboration, and field performance as indicators of scholarly productivity. The findings confirm the potential of bibliometric analysis tools in determining the emerging research and academic fields to inform university research priorities and policies. It also helps the library to align acquisition and access services toward supporting the university research needs.

ABSTRACT Advanced technology has brought tremendous changes in our daily lives; academic libraries are changing agents of modern technologies and experimenting with innovations for library operations. Open Source Library System (OSLS) is a computer software with free source code and a license that permits users to use, change, redistribute and improve according to their needs. The study uses a quantitative survey approach with 45 questions and a Likert-type scale. A random sample approach was used to collect data from the academic librarians in Pakistan. A survey was designed in Google Forms and shared with n = 300 librarians via personal e-mails, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp to reach a diverse community of librarians in Pakistan. N = 282 questionnaires returned with 94.33%. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 26. The result shows that the adoption rate of OSLS is still in its infancy and is slowing for many reasons, like lack of technical equipment, inadequate funds, lack of IT skills, digital resilience of Librarians and interest of stakeholders. The present study will pave the way for practitioner librarians, research scholars, stakeholders and policymakers in Pakistan and beyond.

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this research was to identify misinformation and other related online falsehoods i.e. dis-malinformation, fake news, rumor spreading in social media in Bangladesh associated with their threat and impact on human lives. Using a qualitative approach, the author randomly selected around 26 cases that happened in Bangladesh over the last 15 years. Both primary and secondary information resources (online and print newspapers, news archives, websites, blogs, TV channels, various social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, etc.; a series of conversations with journalists) were considered to collect the cases that were spreading as misinformation. The cases were then categorized into various aspects such as political, health, religious, social, crime, and entertainment. A number of research papers were browsed in Google, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar, and the newspaper was also scanned to find out the associated effects of each case on our society. Findings showed in Bangladesh, the adverse ramifications of such misinformation were in religious and political aspects resulting social insecurity to loss of life also. Moreover, health misinformation has led people to decline health measures and practice unproven treatments which would be a great threat to public health.

ABSTRACT The study is all about using e-books by scientists in research institutes in India. To identify gender-wise usage of e-books by scientists, to understand the purchase and usage of e-books and e-resources, to observe the way of access and usage to e-books, to understand the frequency of the usage of e-books, to detect the type of problems faced by scientists while accessing e-books and to know the reasons for not attending the training program/orientation on using e-resources. The questionnaire method was used to gather the data. An entire 860 questionnaires were distributed, and 700 filled questionnaires were received, with a response rate of 81.39%. The study results show that the maximum number of respondents are male (59.15%) scientists, and 65.7% of RRI scientists use to purchase and use e-books. A maximum number of scientists access e-books purchased by their research institute. 52.8% of scientists feel that many e-books could be more beneficial for their research. More than 50% of scientists feel they need no training to access e-books. It is very clear from the study that research institute libraries must subscribe to e-books useful to their scientists.