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The paper's purpose is to study the effects of enhancing the awareness of the power of information among adolescents by developing a “social information section” in the library.

During the experiment the library's structure was modified to include a “social information section” that presented information on subjects relevant to the students such as: adolescence, family relationships, drugs, sex, disabilities and death. The “social information section” included books, newspapers and access to the internet as well as talks and lectures on the subjects covered in the section. The study combines quantitative and qualitative methods: questionnaires, interviews and observations.

Findings show that the exposure of students to information relevant to their social needs in a novel way heightened their awareness of the importance of using information in managing their life.

This study presents an innovative example of a creative new approach to the traditional library model that can heighten the awareness to the power of information which is one of the fundamental needs of individual empowerment in the information society.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce readers to the social and ethnical dimensions of information science.

The paper provides a literature survey on the concept of information science and its history. It describes the different developments involved in the development of information science as a research field. It present various definitions and domains of the field that represent different stages of information science evolution.

This paper presents an updated image of information science as a research field that takes into consideration a user centered approach and social and ethical issues that are involved in the information processes.

The paper describes the contribution of information science to social and ethical aspects of the information age such as: individual empowerment, education toward information awareness, information needs, the problem of decision making, manipulation of search result on the web and the role of the information professionals in diminishing digital divide.

This paper attempts to recognize the informational needs of women who suffer from intimate partner violence (IPV). It then presents a model of a web site that may answer to these needs.

First, the paper defines the phases women suffering from IPV go through. This is done by surveying the literature that describes the stages these women experience. In order to clarify the proposed model, the paper then describe our own set of phases based on the above literature. Once the phases mentioned above are understood, the needs of these women become evident, thus allowing us to define and specify them. The model of the web site is then described and the paper shows how it relates to the various aforementioned needs.

The web site would offer a variety of information, such as: names of organizations that offer support, chats, and forums that provide emotional support and advice from women who experienced abuse in the past as well as from professionals.

Security issues of this model need to be researched before applying it to use, as they are beyond the scope of this paper. Such issues should include techniques for erasing the user's traces and for keeping out “unwelcome visitors.”

This model, if applied, may greatly aid women suffering from IPV, as it would provide them with the emotional support and technical information they need in order to make important decisions regarding their situation. Information, if utilized, may give these women the ability to control their fate and actively improve their quality of life.

The purpose of the study is to identify current trends in library and information science (LIS) education related to the user‐centred approach adopted by libraries and information professionals in response to the advent of the internet.

Course descriptions of 30 LIS departments around the world were analyzed based on Wilson's map of information science that proposes five basic foundations fields: information content, information systems, people, organizations, and policy. The analysis focused on the user‐centred people field and on the interactions between this field and the other four fields proposed by the model. Course descriptions found in the departments' web sites were analyzed using the content analysis method and eight categories were revealed in the analysis that represent the different interactions between the fields.

Findings show that LIS departments have been successful in infusing the traditional information‐related curricula with a user‐centred approach but they have yet to develop areas of study that strengthen the students' social skills.

The data collection method limited the scope of the study. By restricting the data collection to course descriptions as advertised in the departments' web sites the study could only analyze the departments' intent and not their actual work in the field.

The study recommends the implementation of courses dealing with social or personal skills.

The current study aims to review the emerging trends as revealed in masters' theses and doctoral dissertations written over the past five years (2002‐2006) in information science departments worldwide, and to examine how social and ethical issues are reflected in these research projects.

The ProQuest digital dissertations database was used to identify the studies, and studies conducted in the Department of Information Science at Bar‐Ilan University in Israel during the same years were also added to the sample. To locate these projects studies, all studies that received the subject classification of “library science” “information science” or both during those years in the ProQuest digital dissertations system were retrieved yet only studies conducted in departments of information science were included in the sample. The dissertations and theses retrieved were divided into nine categories.

A clear trend can be identified in masters' theses and doctoral dissertations research conducted over the past five years in departments of information science worldwide. The social aspects of information are moving into the spotlight. It appears that the user and his/her ability to sift through the vast sea of information will be the primary research focus in the twenty‐first century.

The paper presents the current trends in research in the field of information science. The findings will be relevant for researchers and curriculum planners in information science.

Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL in Hebrew) is an information and referral service dedicated to serving the needs of citizens by providing easy access to information about citizenship rights and obligations. Many people turn to the offices of SHIL either for help or to volunteer as advisors. This study seeks to examine the information seeking behavior of SHIL volunteers supplying information services to citizens.

The theoretical foundations of the study are based on two existing models of information searching related to everyday life problems, Foster's non‐linear model of information seeking behavior and Bates's berry‐picking approach. This research employs a qualitative method. A total of 35 advisors in different SHIL branches were interviewed and the content of the interviews was analyzed, mapped and organized into categories by using concepts and terms revealed in the data.

Findings show that volunteers at SHIL search information in a way that integrates the two models mentioned above, the berry‐picking model and the non‐linear model. In addition, findings point to difficulties that the advisors face in solving problems of the clients. These difficulties are connected with the different aspects relating to the flow of information both within and outside the organization and with organizational and administrative aspects at SHIL.

The information seeking behavior of volunteers acting as providers of information services has yet to be investigated at length and the understanding of their information behavior can be of value, since volunteering carries great importance in a democracy.

The paper's aim is to point out trends in scholarly communication – both some of the main advantages and the yet unsolved problems that technology – swift communication lines, digitalization and the web – brought into one of the most important activities of academic life: the reading – writing – publishing cycle.

The different stages, which eventually give birth to a scientific paper, are described here as thinking – (experimenting) – reading – writing – publishing, and analyzed from handwritten to print to digital texts, with an emphasis on the revolutionary changes that scholarly publishing is experiencing.

Thanks to computerization, hypertext and the web, academic life enjoys swift and effortless communication, ease of writing, rapid publishing, almost unlimited access, but there are several uncalled for developments as well.

The new technologies lack a convenient way of writing‐while‐reading, enhance plagiarism, eliminate traditional archiving methods without offering a satisfactory new substitute (presently) and give rise to a call for a revised way of citation, together with new ways of archiving and storing.

The main goals of this study are identifying the information needs of new North American immigrants to Israel and to ascertain which channels of information are used by the immigrants before and after immigration to try to satisfy their information needs.

A qualitative research approach was used for this study. Qualitative interviews were implemented as the primary strategy for data with the application of the grounded theory method for analysis.

General information needs categories included: housing, schooling, health, banking and finances, drivers licenses, government‐related issues, legal issues and practical information. Personal information needs related to problems of “split” or prior immigration, changing over professional licenses, starting a business, children with special needs, and alternative medicine. Many of these needs were satisfied either prior to immigration or during the absorption process while others were left open leaving the immigrants with gaps in their knowledge, feelings of uncertainty and, at times, anxiety. During the preparations for immigration the greatest source of information came from the internet. After immigration, during the absorption process, word‐of‐mouth and personal contacts (social networks) were the main sources for the immigrants to satisfy their information needs.

Additional research regarding immigration and immigrants from all different backgrounds is needed. Such research will help us learn more about other specific group's information needs and information seeking behavior.

By learning and studying the information needs of immigrant's governments and immigration organizations can have a better understanding of how to assist immigrants have a successful integration into their new society.

Prospective immigrants, governments and immigration organizations can gain a deeper understanding of immigrant information needs and the channels used to satisfy those needs.

This paper aims to examine information and communication science, knowledge and power in relation to a TV “docu‐fiction”. In particular, it will look at the decision‐making processes of individuals and groups.

Core information behaviour such as selection and evaluation are examined.

Some concepts from the fields of information or communication studies are critically examined, e.g. “gatekeeper” or “classification” and re‐analysed in a TV and multi‐channel broadcasting environment.

Positive conclusions show the possible impact of expanding information culture, competence and selection skills, whereby attention is paid to the ethical consequences of information mise en scène.

The obvious, popular and close example of the RTBF “docu‐fiction” can be a model to re‐think and reflect many information programmes and narratives.

This paper sets out to offer a holistic perception of the information ecology in which disadvantaged communities of the so‐called third world operate with a view to contribute to overcoming its limitations in a more effective way.

The authors briefly review the major social, economic and cultural characteristics of disadvantaged communities that balance the common place trust in the power of modern information products and infrastructures. Based upon a number of field studies the notion of information needs is reconsidered and combined with concerns for information literacy, social autonomy and the role of indigenous knowledge. The authors then present a number of examples of innovative approaches to the delivery of information services that may support the role of information centers and libraries as change catalyst from within the communities rather than mere providers of ready made information.

To this end, information professionals have to be educated in order to become change agents and consider this role as essential for their practice to be rewarding for themselves and more importantly for the people they serve. There are numerous examples of information services and information professionals who make a difference in the life of their communities against the most severe circumstances. This however requires a radical shift in their value system and operation.

The authors hope that the paper will encourage information professionals and in first place those who educate them to give social responsibility toward disadvantaged communities the same emphasis and priority as alignment with the latest technological artifact or excellence in observance of standards.