Search results

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) are becoming increasingly popular as professional networking. These communities support and shape professional development, especially in countries with limited opportunities and constrain like time and distance. This study throws light on the role of VCoP and its impact on the continuous professional development (CPD) of librarians in Pakistan.

This study is carried out with qualitative research methods to understand effects of VCoP on CPD. With a thematic content analysis on the email conversations of a library and information science (LIS) Yahoo mailing group “plagpk”, the impact of virtual communities (VCs) on librarians' professional development in Pakistan over the past 20 years was analyzed.

This study demonstrates that VCs contribute to professional learning, problem-solving, knowledge creation, professional awareness and identity creation in the LIS field. Further, this study contributes a model to explain the formal and informal professional development for individuals and groups through VCoP engagement.

It is hoped that this study will help the librarian community create, get involved in the VCoP for personal, professional development consciously and create an impact in the profession. The finding of this study is generalizable to any social sciences or humanities professionals VCoPs.

This is one of the first studies in the LIS field to analysis the impact of VCs on the professional development of the librarians.

This study aims to map the “Desktop Research” (DR) output in Pakistan, as part of the growing field of research globally. It also ascertains the productive institutions and prolific authors along with their collaboration patterns.

Bibliometric techniques were used to quantitatively analyze the DR published in Pakistan. The publications from 1981 to 2021 were retrieved from Scopus. A total of 1,802 publications were retrieved and used for analysis.

Results indicated an unpredictable increase in DR output from approximately 100 to 400 records during the past five years. The year 2020 was most productive in DR research showing the excess use of secondary data by researchers in COVID-19. The focus of researchers towards DR was consistently rising. Medical journals were found to publish DR extensively. Majority of the publications were contributed by collaborative work and researchers of the USA were found as the most collaborative with Pakistani authors. Publications of single category journals, open access journals and international collaboration get more citations.

The results of the analysis rely only on a single database, Scopus, for retrieving the publication data.

The study has practical implications for the policymakers and higher education development organizations to introduce the DR as a course in academic schools.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to review DR in the context of Pakistan through bibliometric analysis. This comprehensive overview provides a better understanding of the development of the field and possible practice implications.

ChatGPT is a new development in this technological era. This artificial intelligence-based tool responds to individuals’ queries and produces the requested content within seconds. Therefore, it is becoming popular among academics, the research community and library professionals. This study aims to test (through personal interaction with the tool) the authenticity of the ChatGPT’s produced records. Another objective of the research is to check the relevance between the individuals’ queries and the tool’s results. The research also intends to identify the challenges in retrieving information through ChatGPT.

The five researchers from different countries and organizations experienced ChatGPT by asking questions on more than 70 subjects. The responses were recorded in Notepad and converted into MS Excel and MS Access to standardize and analyze the data. The investigators consulted 11 reputed databases/sources, including Web of Science and Scopus, to assess the authenticity of the data retrieved through ChatGPT.

The findings confirmed that over 90% of results produced by ChatGPT were fake (the information did not exist in the literature). Similarly, the study sheds light on the discrepancies, such as irrelevant and incomplete information in the data generated by ChatGPT.

This is a unique study that shares the findings based on the different regions’ researchers’ personal experiences with ChatGPT. The researchers covered different subject areas (above 70) while asking questions to ChatGPT. The paper shares implications for researchers, students, faculty members, academic/research organizations and policymakers.

This study aims to analyse the literature published on ChatGPT and generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) available through Scopus to identify the top countries, institutions, authors, journals and titles in terms of publishing and citations in the area.The research also intends to determine the collaborative trends among countries and authors as well as top-used keywords on the topic identified from the analysed literature.

The researchers searched the Scopus database to collect and assess the literature on the topic. The paper used six applications such as Biblioshiny, VosViewer, Python, MS Access and Excel and Endnote to collect and analyse the literature.

It is found that European countries such as the USA, the UK and Germany took the lead in terms of publishing and impact in the area but the USA stood first with 90 publications and 1,720 citations in this connection. Likewise, the organization “Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen” scored the top position regarding publishing, but Open AI remained on top for getting the highest citations (1,384). Apropos, the author “Choi, Y” produced the highest number of publications. The research also shares the collaborative patterns, top journals and publications in the area, as well as the top-used keywords on the topic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that shares a bibliometric analysis of literature published on GPT and ChatGPT. The research not only fills the research gap on the topic but also shares implications for relevant stakeholders and future research directions for future researchers.

The paper aims to systematically collect and review the literature on work from home (WFH) and libraries. Another objective of the review is to identify the services professionals offered while WFH, tools used, challenges and opportunities in this connection.

The study consulted four databases, namely, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts, to collect and review the literature on the topic. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline was used to select the eligible studies for this review. A total of 27 studies out of 1,571 were considered eligible for the study. The authors also consulted Boynton and Greenhalgh (2004) guide for assessing the quality of the reviewed research. All types of studies and except books were selected for the review. However, the researchers did not apply the time limitation.

The research identified that libraries provided various services, including Mystery Box, live chat and 24-hour service, using different tools, including MS Teams, Zoom and Google Meet, while WFH. The study shared different challenges and opportunities identified from the reviewed literature, for libraries.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review conducted to systematically collect and review the literature produced on WFH in terms of libraries regarding offered services, tools used to serve the users, challenges and opportunities. The review filled the literature gap and shared implications for library professionals and related stakeholders.

This study aimed to develop and validate a list of core technology competencies for systems librarian in Pakistan.

Survey method was used to conduct this investigation. A structured questionnaire, consisting of 52 competency statements categorized into six core technology areas, was developed based on an extensive literature review, experts’ scrutiny and pilot testing. The administration of the survey questionnaire was done though online environments such as related listservs and Facebook pages. The received 62 responses were imported into statistical package for social sciences and analyzed by computing means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation and t-test.

The results indicated six core technology areas where competencies of systems librarians needed to be developed, namely, basic computing, programming and Web publishing, computer networks, cloud computing, database management systems and information systems. The respondents validated 50 statements with an average mean score more than three. Only two statements received mean scores less than three. The results also indicated higher consistency of these statements as the value of Cronbach’s alpha was 0.973.

This research attempted to identify and validate core technology competencies needed for systems librarians in Pakistan. It neither attempted to determine the weightage each competency should have if it was to be included in curriculum nor it intended to identify a detailed content for each core technology competency. In Pakistan, System librarians develop their knowledge and skills with the specialized computer subject by studying on their own, attending training workshops and on job experience. It is therefore worth mentioning here that the knowledge of the needed competencies may be limited.

Library and information science schools need to consider these competencies in developing and designing information curriculum with regard to management of library systems. This set of competencies help academicians in designing need-based curricula and training programs for existing and prospect system librarians in Pakistan.

This study would be a worthwhile contribution to the literature on competencies of information professionals especially systems librarians as no such study appeared providing pragmatic, evidenced and field-based insights toward proposed research area.

The purpose of this study is to provide quantitative information on the growth of Islamic finance literature. The study focused on publishing trends, countries producing research on Islamic finance, key authors, major contributing organizations, authorship patterns, keywords and articles with the highest citations.

Bibliometric analysis is applied to analyse the growth and publishing trends in Islamic finance literature. The Web of Science (WoS) database was used to extract bibliometric data covering the period 1939–2019 for Islamic finance literature.

The study finds that Islamic finance research has gained remarkable momentum in the literature. However, such growth is largely manifested in Malaysia because of a conducive atmosphere for this type of research. Interestingly, the study finds that the three most productive journals are located in the UK and Malaysia, while Professor M. Kabir Hassan from the University of New Orleans, the USA appears to head the list of authors with 23 publications on Islamic finance.

This study provides up-to-date literature on the current state of Islamic finance in the world; as a result, it supports the development of policies by the Islamic finance industry. The findings of the study also serve as a reference point for Islamic finance training and educational institutions.

Islamic finance is an emerging financial discipline; as such, there is a need for more awareness of this financial system in the world. Muslim-majority countries, especially Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan and Bahrain, have to include Islamic finance in their curriculum and establish research institutions and research journals. In addition, Arabic language journals should be indexed in WoS and/or Scopus to provide a high-quality publication platform. This study provides a more comprehensive bibliometric analysis on the growth of Islamic finance literature (1939–2019) in the WoS database; most of the prior studies have covered relatively few areas of focus and a lower range of years in some cases.

This study aims to provide quantitative information on the research trends of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS).

The study used bibliometric analysis to determine the research trends in IPSAS literature. The method was applied to papers indexed in the Scopus database to analyze the growth and publication trends of the selected papers. The research team rigorously compiled a list of keywords relevant to IPSAS after consultation with the principal researcher. The study did not apply document type, year or language filter. The search query resulted in 475 documents. The study used MS Access, Excel and Biblioshiny software for the data analysis and visualization.

The acceptance and application of IPSAS by many countries and UN system organizations have led to the rise in IPSAS literature globally. The study finds the USA to be the most productive country, with Italy, Spain and the UK as second, third and fourth, respectively. Similarly, the University of Zaragoza has produced the most publications in the field, followed by the University of Salerno and Ghent University.

This study provides the current state of IPSAS research globally; as a result, it supports the development of policies by the users of this standards. This information can inform the development or revision of public sector accounting policies and standards.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that provides a bibliometric analysis of the growth and publication trends of IPSAS literature. The findings in this study uncover different areas of IPSAS research productivity globally.

This study aims to investigate the research productivity of library and information science (LIS) authors affiliated with the 22 countries of the Arab League. It also identifies the top countries, organizations, authors, journals, natures of collaboration, and frequently used keywords in LIS research in the Arab world.

Bibliometric methods were used to evaluate the research performance of the authors affiliated with library organizations in the Arab region. The Elsevier Scopus database was selected for data retrieval. A comprehensive search strategy was adopted to retrieve 863 publications contributed by LIS authors affiliated with the Arab countries. VOS viewer, Biblioshiny, BiblioAnalyitics, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel were used for data visualization and analysis.

This paper presents the dynamics and the state of the LIS research in the Arab region published between 1951 and 2021. The results of the study have highlighted an upward trend in the growth of the publications, especially in the past four years. The largest number of studies were published in the year 2020. The country-wise analysis ranked Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as the top LIS research producing countries with five and four researchers, respectively. The Kuwait University, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University were the three most productive organizations. Academic libraries, social media, bibliometrics, information-seeking behavior, information literacy and knowledge management were identified as the major areas of interest for the researchers. Internet and open access were topics that had gained recent popularity, while the digital library, research data management, green librarianship, link data, cloud computing, library leadership, library automation and artificial intelligence were identified as areas requiring further attention. Furthermore, the single-author pattern was found to be the most preferred pattern.

The findings of this study would help prospective researchers in choosing the neglected areas of research that require further investigation. They would also help policymakers in identifying factors that need more attention and allocation of research funds.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric study that presents a holistic picture of the LIS research in the Arab region.

This study aims to investigate the impact of transformational leadership on the innovation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through employee voice behaviors. Drawing from the upper echelon theory, it is hypothesized that employee voice is the mediating mechanism through which transformational leadership affects the process and product innovation in SMEs.

Data was collected from 169 SMEs of Pakistan through an online self-administered questionnaire. The proposed hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings confirm that transformational leadership positively affects both process and product innovation in SMEs and employee voice behavior mediates between these relationships.

This research contributes to both theoretical and practical domains by providing evidence that encouraging employees to raise their voice positively impacts product and process innovation and transformational leadership is a potential organizational factor to shape employee voice and process and product innovation. To the best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the mediating role of employee voice between transformational leadership and process and product innovation in SMEs and developing country’s context.