The Invisible Web Weblog

The recent issue of the International Journal of Information Management, includes the following research papers: On the motivating impact of price and online recommendations at the point of online purchase, The cognitive selection framework for knowledge acquisition strategies in virtual communities, Knowledge management and communication in Brazilian agricultural research: An integrated procedural approach, The intellectual development of the technology acceptance model: A co-citation analysis, The scope of external information-seeking under uncertainty: An individual-level study Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and farmers’ decision-making across the agricultural supply chain, Understanding the dynamics of users’ belief in software application adoption, Enterprise Information Portals in support of business process, design teams and collaborative commerce performance.

I have written an article entitled “Personal and Social Digital Heritage: From Creation to Conservation” which has been published here .

In a brief note in IBNA , I explained how the Internet resources are, at the same time, so ephemeral and so stable. I also described some of the reasons that contribute to making such a dynamic and paradoxical context.

I have written a brief note in the recent issue of Atf magazine entitled “Internet Hidden and Obvious Paradoxes”. In this note I explained 16 paradoxes in the online environment. For example, we have to deal with the increasing information overload and information scarcity at the same time, the scarceness which has happened as a result of too much information. Because we have to spend plenty of time to find useful information in a huge pool of useless and irrelevant data. To read the full text of this note, please follow this link .

The news of my book is available on both IBNA (Iranian Book News Agency) and LISNA (Library and Information Science News Agency) websites.

My new book entitled "Basics of Academic Writing" was published. The book, which is in Persian, includes 75000 words in 263 pages and 9 chapters as follows: 1. An Introduction to Paper Writing (Basic Concepts and Definitions) 2. Principles of Academic Approach in Writing (e.g. Authenticity) 3. General Structure of Scientific Papers 4. Main Features of a Good Paper (100 Features in 20 Categories) 5. Research Originality (Avoiding Plagiarism) 6. Practice in Writing (e.g. Free Writing and etc.) 7. Evaluation Criteria to Select a Journal 8. Paper Submission and Addressing Referees’ Comments 9. Dissertation and Thesis Writing (Including 100 Hints)

Over the last 24 hours I have been proofreading the first fourth chapters of a book that I have been writing over the last two years, of course, not constantly. Now the book is in its final stages and I am doing its final works. I need a few more days to finish the proofreading. Now, this is the early hours of October, and hopefully, the book will come out before the end of this month.

I have written a column in Atf Magazine entitled “The Top 20 Pioneer Research Areas in the Current LIS Studies”. To read the column, please follow this link .

I recently published a paper entitled “100 Hints in Thesis Writing” which summarizes the basic principles and advices for people who are writing a master dissertation or a PhD thesis. The paper is a summary of the handout that I have written for the workshops I run on this issue. I also have already delivered a presentation about this in February 2009 . Of course, I know several books have already been published on this issue; however, this paper can be used as a ready reference checklist for students who prefer having a brief guideline. The paper is in Persian. If you like to read it, please send me an email to have a copy of that.

Recently, I have written a paper entitled “Real Libraries, Real Users and Real Problems”. In this paper, I explained the importance of context and contextual elements in LIS research. The full text is available here .

The following paper was published recently: Mansourian, Y. (2010), Evolving perceptions of LIS students about their discipline: An action research with inquiry-based learning approach, Library Review , Vol. 59, No. 3, PP. 185 - 197.

I recently wrote a paper, “Researchers’ Hopes and Doubts to Qualitative Approach in their Research Process” which summarizes my opinion about the ups and downs that we usually face in a research journey . In this paper I explored the strengths and weaknesses of this approach in the early, middle and final stages of research projects. The bibliographic information of the paper is as follows: Mansourian, Y. (2010). Researchers’ Hopes and Doubts to Qualitative Approach in their Research Process, Kolliyat, No 147, PP. 60-66.

The Electronic Library published its first issue in 2010. This issue includes several papers in various topics including: problem-based learning supported by digital archives, supply chain management model for digital libraries, challenges and opportunities of e-governments, intra-disciplinary differences in reading behaviour of scientists, Web 2.0 features in university library web sites, computer literacy skills of librarians, public relations in university libraries, perceptions of LIS professionals regarding use of digital library databases, use of electronic information resources and facilities by humanities scholars, perception and usage of e-resources and the internet by academics, online risks obstructing safe internet access for students, and application of social capital theory to university web sites.

I published a Persian article about the essential characteristics of a good research paper. In this article, I describe 20 elements/sections that research papers usually have. For each element, I introduced at least one functionality and five features, which all together include 100 characteristics. These main 20 elements/sections are: originality, title, abstract, keywords, introduction, problem statement, aims and objectives, research questions, literature review, research site, methodology, research tools, research population, limits and limitations, results/findings, discussion/conclusion, further research, acknowledgement, references/bibliography and appendices. If you want to have a copy of the paper, please email me.

Recently, I published a paper in Persian entitled “100 Fundamental Issues in LIS”. In this paper I decided to illustrate an overall picture of LIS, firstly as a profession and secondly as an academic discipline. The paper identifies 10 major categories which include the main LIS’s basics and boundaries. Then, each category has been divided into 10 subcategories. The main categories are: Theoretical Basics of LIS, Interdisciplinary Nature of LIS, Librarians’ Missions and Aims, Various Types of Libraries, Anticipated Functions and Desirable Features of Library Buildings, Work Areas for LIS Graduates, Roads Ahead of LIS Profession, Distinctive Features of LIS among other Disciplines, Required Skills and Competencies of Successful Librarians, and Examples of LIS Progress in Iran.

The following papers were published recently: Mansourian, Y., Ford, N., Webber, S., Madden, A. (2008). An integrative model of "information visibility" and "information seeking" on the web, Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 402 - 417 Mansourian, Y. (2008). Keeping a learning diary to enhance researchers' understanding of and users' skills in web searching, Library Review, Vol. 57, No. 9, pp. 690 – 699.

Recently I have published an article in Persian which is basically a viewpoint rather than a research paper. The title is: “100 Features of a Good Academic Library” and it was published in Ketab-e Mah-e Kolliyat (No. 126). This paper is based on my general idea and experience in LIS subject as a librarian and LIS lecturer during the recent years. I have organized the contents in 10 sections and each section consists of 10 sub-sections in a Likert scale. In the best situation a library’s score will be 500. I do not claim these features are comprehensive or can be considered as a framework. I only say these criteria can be taken into account for evaluation of academic libraries in general and for identification of areas for further improvement accordingly.

The following paper was published recently: Mansourian, Y. (2008). Web search efficacy: definition and implementation, Aslib Proceedings , Vol. 60, No. 4, pp. 349-363. Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to report a number of factors that are perceived by web users as influential elements in their search procedure. The paper introduces a new conceptual measure called “web search efficacy” (hereafter WSE) to evaluate the performance of searches mainly based on users' perceptions. Design/methodology/approach – A rich dataset of a wider study was inductively re-explored to identify different categories that are perceived influential by web users on the final outcome of their searches. A selective review of the literature was carried out to discover to what extent previous research supports the findings of the current study. Findings – The analysis of the dataset led to the identification of five categories of influential factors. Within each group different factors have been recognize...

I recently published a paper in Shirazeh entitled “ Evaluation Criteria to Assess the Breadth and Quality of Services in Public Libraries ”. Shirazeh is an online newsletter published in Persian by the Iran National Library and covers various aspects of library and information science in Iran. In the first issue of this newsletter, I had an interview talking about my ten years career in LIS and how I became a librarian.

My recent paper entitled "Exploratory nature of, and uncertainty tolerance in, qualitative research" was published in New Library World, Vol. 109 No. 5/6, 2008, pp. 273-286. The abstract is as follows: Purpose – This paper seeks to depict an overall picture of an exploratory research journey to exemplify how qualitative studies on little understood phenomena can be done successfully. The paper aims to show how the author adopted an appropriate approach and an apposite methodology to cope with the uncertainty, stress and ambiguity arising during exploratory research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper was developed based on a reflective and narrative approach by the author to highlight the pivotal milestones of the reported research. The paper narrates how the research naturally evolved through seven stages including origination, orientation, exploration, elucidation, consolidation, reflection and culmination. Findings – Dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity is inevitabl...