ABSTRACT The study investigates the awareness and use of persistent identifiers (PIDs) by academic librarians in Zimbabwe’s research data repositories. PIDs are essential in ensuring the discoverability, accessibility, and citability of research data. However, little is known about the level of awareness and use of these tools among academic librarians in Zimbabwe. A sequential mixed methods approach was employed, beginning with a questionnaire administered to scholarly communication librarians who were purposively selected. Quantitative data from the questionnaires provided an overview of the current landscape regarding PIDs in Zimbabwean higher education institutions. This informed the design of a focus group discussion which allowed for a deeper exploration of the themes identified in the survey, facilitating an understanding of the challenges of using PIDs within universities. The findings indicated that although the librarians were aware of PIDs, no institution has an institutional research data repository in the country. Challenges that were faced in integrating PIDs include lack of expertise, unclear policies, and infrastructure costs. The study will be significant in informing policy development, capacity-building initiatives, and creating guidelines for integrating PIDs into research workflows.

ABSTRACT Over the past Twenty Years, digital payment systems (DPS) have evolved significantly, transitioning from early e-payment infrastructures to AI-driven, blockchain-integrated ecosystems shaped by technological innovation, regulatory frameworks, and socio-economic drivers. This study analyzes 871 Scopus-indexed articles using bibliometric and thematic methods to map how DPS research priorities have progressed across regions and themes. Leading contributors include institutions such as Bina Nusantara University and Wuhan University of Technology, with China, India, and the USA dominating scholarship due to large-scale fintech ecosystems and proactive regulatory initiatives, while Africa and South America remain underrepresented owing to structural and policy barriers. Key themes include security, fintech adoption, financial inclusion, and regulatory harmonization, yet gaps persist in standardization and interdisciplinary approaches. Using SPAR-4, TCCM, and ADO frameworks, the study highlights the need for comparative policy research and empirically grounded studies on blockchain, AI, and regulatory convergence. By moving beyond descriptive bibliometric mapping to interpretive insights, the study provides a roadmap for policymakers, researchers, librarians, publishers, and fintech innovators to strengthen secure, efficient, and inclusive DPS ecosystems aligned with global economic and social development.

ABSTRACT The study examined Nigerian Library and Information Science (LIS) academics participating in professional networking/collaboration on research and scholarly publishing during COVID-19 (November 2019 to December 2021). Quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted and data were collected through a review of recent articles in scientific journals; the broader public domain of media, newspapers, and blogs; and databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. An open-ended survey in form of interviews was conducted for LIS academics. The results revealed that 66.6% of the respondents that took part in the study participated in networking/collaboration in research and scholarly publishing during COVID-19. Networking/collaboration has impacted research and scholarly publishing in terms of making data available for sharing by research and increasing Open Access, thereby making more content open and available to researchers. There are now available datasets or data banks that researchers can access to harvest relevant data for their research. There are more published reference texts in LIS that are outcomes of networking and collaboration by LIS academics. Local/local networking/collaboration was more prevalent than local/foreign networking and collaboration among Nigerian LIS academics. The challenges LIS academics encountered in networking and collaboration during the pandemic ranged, for example, from lack of support, inadequate funds, reluctance to participate, limited ability to engage one-on-one or in a group using video instead of chat, and informal meet-ups, to social interaction, poor connectivity, power failure, and fear of uncertainty.

ABSTRACT This paper provides a comprehensive review of empirical studies on the information needs and seeking behavior of prison inmates in Africa. The review aims to identify key themes concerning inmates’ information needs, sources of information, and barriers to access, with a view to enhancing information services in correctional facilities. A systematic search of literature published between 2006 and 2024 was conducted, limited to peer-reviewed studies written in English. The review reveals a pronounced research imbalance, with most studies concentrated in Nigeria, underscoring the need for broader regional representation. Findings indicate that inmates primarily seek information on legal rights, health, education, and rehabilitation but face significant obstacles such as inadequate infrastructure, limited resources, and restrictive prison policies. The study concludes that ensuring equitable access to information is essential for supporting rehabilitation, lifelong learning, and successful reintegration of inmates into society.

ABSTRACT The GOI declared a draft of its VI Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP). Significant points of the policy are “open science” and “one nation and one subscription” (ONOS). The GOI will negotiate with journal publishers to provide access to all citizens of India. The paper discusses India’s contribution also growth in open access under gold, hybrid gold, bronze and green. The study reveals that between 2018 and 2022, the Indian research output has increased by 8.72% per annum. The study further reveals that authors are more inclined to publish either gold OA or hybrid OA than bronze OA or Green OA. Discuss the various needs like Increasing subscription costs, Flat Budgets of Libraries, High Article Processing Charges (APC), etc. The study highlights the advantages of ONOS like Institutionalization, economic, Centralized Monitoring, Negotiation of National Licenses, and Promote Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials; Describes the steps undertaken by the GOI in the first phase to implement the ONOS; Explains that a “Request for Proposal” has been sent to 70 publishers for 13,770 institutes from 2023 to 2026; Discusses the challenges to implementing the ONOS in India, which has 1.4 billion citizens. The challenges include the need for a suitable repository, the lack of a quality review system, etc. The study suggests measures to address these challenges to make the concept of ONOS a reality. The study concludes that the GOI and other players must work together to address these challenges and ensure that the concept of ONOS becomes a reality.

ABSTRACT This study investigates LIS scholars’ awareness of and attitudes toward predatory journals in Nigeria, aiming to understand motivations, awareness levels, and barriers to publishing within reputable journals. The study employs a cross sectional survey design, with data collected from Nigerian LIS scholars through a structured questionnaire. The study adopts descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between familiarity with indexing databases and awareness of predatory journal characteristics. Findings reveal that while Nigerian LIS scholars recognize basic indicators of reputable journals, such as indexing in databases like Scopus, their understanding of specific predatory journal characteristics, including solicitation tactics, remains limited. Scholars perceive lower rejection rates, and faster review processes as advantages of predatory journals, which may influence their attitudes toward journal selection. Scholars also report financial and institutional constraints as major challenges in accessing high indexed journals, which may push them toward predatory outlets as more accessible options. The study concludes that limited awareness may increase LIS scholars’ susceptibility to predatory publishing practices.

ABSTRACT In response to rising subscription costs, academic libraries and library consortia continue to adjust journal subscriptions to limit spending and maximize value from journal packages. Facing increasing costs for their Elsevier ScienceDirect bundled subscription, the 60 libraries of the State University of New York (SUNY) System restructured their large package in favor of a smaller curated list of titles and adopted a data informed approach to assess the new package. SUNY used Unsub and other data analysis tools to drive a data-informed journal package restructuring and reduction. This article presents a three-year review of the work of this unbundling and assessment project. Based on the experience of other consortia, the authors expected an increase in usage of subscription alternatives such as open access content, interlibrary loan, post-termination access requests, and individual article purchases. Preliminary review showed usage of Elsevier content initially dropped 50% after unbundling and then increased annually at a marginal rate. While consortia staff attempted to use a data-informed approach to evaluate titles for yearly subscription reviews and yearly package adjustments, this approach was not sustainable post-unbundling. After allaying initial concerns regarding a reduction in subscribed journal titles, continual yearly review of usage data became less important than the stability of the curated package.

ABSTRACT Forecasting future citations based on trends in A.I. publications in libraries is essential for understanding the long-term impact of academic research. This study evaluates how well historical citation data from 2003 to 2023 can predict future citation patterns and compares the effectiveness of various forecasting models. The analysis includes traditional time series models like ARIMA and Exponential Smoothing, as well as machine learning techniques such as Linear Regression, Decision Tree Regression, Random Forest Regression, and Gradient Boosting Regression. ARIMA and Exponential Smoothing are chosen for their robustness in handling historical trends, while machine learning models are applied to capture complex, nonlinear relationships. The study assesses model performance using metrics such as Mean Squared Error (MSE) and R-squared values, identifying the most accurate models for forecasting. The findings reveal that Exponential Smoothing provides reliable forecasts of future citations, while Random Forest Regression demonstrates superior performance among machine learning techniques. Additionally, linear regression models predict citation and publication trends effectively, though they may benefit from more sophisticated approaches for greater accuracy. This research offers valuable insights for researchers, institutions, and policymakers, helping them anticipate the future impact of academic publications and guiding strategic decisions in research and funding.

ABSTRACT The following article provides a brief overview on the current state of institutional archival practices of social media content and explores some of the key challenges the field continues to face. Social media use has developed into the leading means of human communication in the world, with billions of people utilizing multiple platforms on a daily basis to both document their individual lives and forge digital communities around various interests. Users generate exorbitant amounts of ephemeral content in the form of text, photos, videos and more across multiple platforms which are, by design, unarchivable. As a result, libraries, archives, and other cultural preservation institutions have struggled to find the proper technological tools to capture the sheer amount of data being generated, while also grappling with a variety of methodological, ethical and legal questions that the practice raises. All the while, the amount of social media data containing potentially important cultural heritage artifacts of our time continues to grow and remain at risk of being forever lost, altered or altogether erased. This article looks at several notable examples of major social media data loss that have already taken place in recent history and examines one of the largest institutional attempts to preserve social media thus far in the Library of Congress’ Twitter Archive. By exploring some of the key challenges that arose during this attempt which ultimately grounded the project, this article aims to better understand what continues to keep the practice of social media archiving at bay, and what large scale changes might be necessary to make any further progress in the field.

ABSTRACT There is trauma in how Indigenous knowledge collections in libraries are managed. This paper seeks to understand the tikanga Māori context of Indigenous knowledges management in library collection policies. A review of selected library policies from five major AotearoaNew Zealand libraries regarding collection development, tikanga Māori integration and specifically Māori collection content will be explored using a modified Mead’s Tikanga Test (of 2003). From this analysis will be inferred the ways in which the various library policies negate or affirm tikanga Māori. This will be followed by a brief introduction to the model Ngā Matatiki Mātauranga for culturally safe management of Indigenous collections to be integrated into collection policies. This paper will draw from a Māori perspective, in Aotearoa-New Zealand. The testing of library policies from five major libraries will drive the findings to represent the state of Indigenous collection policy in Aotearoa and how best for Māori to distinguish our futures in libraries.