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Intellectual assets are strategic resources that libraries can use to add value to services, but their intangible attributes make them hard to evaluate. An exploratory case study used document analysis, interviews and a questionnaire to develop and test indicators of intellectual assets and related performance measures at three university libraries in Thailand. The study demonstrated the feasibility of applying an intellectual capital perspective and a scorecard process model to design a workable system for evaluating library intangibles, particularly where libraries have a pre-existing interest in knowledge management and a culture of assessment.

In today's knowledge-based economies, appropriate Knowledge Management (KM) has proved a strategic management tool to survive and thrive in the ever-changing global market. Therefore, increasingly, all types of organisations including tertiary institutions are adopting KM. This paper focuses on university libraries and presents the partial findings of a study carried out to investigate and explore KM practices in Southern African Development Community (SADC) university libraries. A structured questionnaire was used to carry out the study. The study revealed the main reasons for practicing KM to improve library services: to improve library services and productivity, produce more with less, avoid duplication of efforts and leverage existing knowledge. The major challenges were identified as constant budget decline, lack of incentives, inadequate staff training and expertise, a lack KM strategy, insufficient information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and a lack of knowledge sharing culture. Finally, the paper puts forward some recommendations and a framework for KM implementation in university/academic libraries.

The most important aim of the research is to evaluate and analyse the quality level of services of four different university libraries which are located in the North Khorasan province in Iran. The statistical populations included various students from different branches and they were chosen as samples. For collecting data, the survey method was applied; meanwhile, data collection tool, specific questionnaire were used since that each of the four components for quality estimation of services was calculated using LibQUAL tool. The mean total services for university libraries of North Khorasan were negative in terms of service fitness gap, which means that libraries were not capable of satisfying the minimum anticipation of their users. Interestingly, for all library services, gap was negative too. In other words, libraries are far from rewarding the expectations of students associated with the most desirable (maximum) level of services.

The objective of the study is to examine the librarians’ attitude towards knowledge sharing including its concept, potential benefits, communication channels, and influencing factors that may motivate or hinder knowledge sharing practices in academic libraries in India. A questionnaire was used for data collection, 91 LIS professionals from Indian academic libraries were surveyed. In addition, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted. The findings of the study show that understanding of knowledge sharing concepts among librarians is varied though most of them perceived knowledge sharing as “dissemination or exchange of knowledge (explicit and tacit) from one individual to another individual or group of people”. Moreover, librarians have a positive attitude towards knowledge sharing and believe that knowledge sharing improves the learning process and individual competencies as well as enhance the efficiency of library operations and services. Furthermore, email was found as the most preferred communication channel because of its accessibility, convenience, and personal warmness. Conspicuously, public recognition, rewards, knowledge self-efficacy and develop relations with colleagues were identified as key motivators and on the contrary, lack of trust, personal animosity, technological support and nepotism were found to be the major barriers for knowledge sharing practices. The findings of this study may be useful to the university authorities in India in designing and implementing an all-inclusive knowledge sharing strategy for LIS professionals.

Internet of Things (IoT) is going to create many changes in libraries. However, its application in libraries requires the use of various infrastructures. This paper aims to determine IoT infrastructures in academic libraries and examine them in Iranian academic libraries. This is a descriptive survey with two qualitative and quantitative approaches. The statistical population consists of 15 central libraries of state universities of Tehran in 2018. The infrastructures needed to apply this technology in libraries were extracted through an in-depth study method and based on which a researcher-made questionnaire was designed and its reliability and validity were confirmed. The questions were answered in three parts by managers, library staffs, and IT specialists Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and SPSS software. A total of 4 infrastructures and 42 components were obtained for IoT in libraries. The results showed that the studied libraries, having 60.53% of the required infrastructures are in moderate condition. Technical, financial, legal and human resource infrastructures, respectively, with an average score of 64.85%, 63.7%, 71.23%, and 64.7% are also in moderate condition. The studied libraries are in moderate condition in terms of the required infrastructures for using IoT and are still far from ideal. It is suggested that the identified weaknesses and shortcomings will be addressed by managers and authorities in order to provide the basis for using this technology.

This study examines the motivators of academic librarians that helped them achieve their tasks efficiently. It also investigates the implications of Maslow’s theory of needs in managing an academic environment. The study followed a qualitative method using a survey. Therefore, the population of this research consisted of the academic librarians in 9 college libraries at Kuwait University. The data was collected and analyzed. Findings showed noticeably that employees in Kuwait University libraries perceived a fair level of satisfaction and motivation within their libraries in all the five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Results of the study might be useful to those in the library field interested in motivation, academic librarians, and managers in the academic environment. Besides, the study adds to the literature in the management of information organization field, as no previous studies on this topic were located.

The key feature in the development of any organization is knowledge sharing among its employees. There are various factors that motivate people to share their knowledge and managing its flow assists in its dissemination. The aim of this study is to investigate which intrinsic or extrinsic factors motivate librarians to share knowledge in the workplace. To be more specific, a research project was conducted in April 2008 which was based on a questionnaire instrument and semi-structured interviews. The participants were 34 librarians working in four academic and college libraries in Greece. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS software. Apart from the descriptive statistics, a set of Spearman's correlations were used in order to check any connection between the values under research. The findings revealed that librarians appeared to value more intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation for sharing knowledge. The mean values showed that the main factors motivating librarians to share knowledge was the fact that it was important for them to do so (6.59) and because they could benefit from other colleagues, by sharing knowledge (6.35). Of less importance was the fact that it might help them get promoted (2.24). The Spearman's correlations were performed in order to test any relationship between any of the four general knowledge sharing attitudes and the factors of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. One example is that of the attitude "When I have knowledge that might be relevant for others in the library, I do what I can to make it available to them" and the intrinsic motivation factor "I enjoy doing so" (rs=0,479, N=34, p<0.01, two-tailed). The results of this study suggest that librarians acknowledge the importance of the role of intrinsic motivation in knowledge sharing and thatteam-based culture can benefit the success of knowledge sharing initiatives within libraries.

12 semi-structured interviews with faculty members of the University of Tartu have been conducted in order to start generating a grounded theory about the academic library's communication with different patrons. What is the meaning of the academic library for faculty members and how they perceive the issue of availability of reading materials proposed for students are the main research questions discussed in this paper. Additionally, some attention has been paid at current alternatives of making compulsory reading materials available for students.

This paper discusses the models of teaching information literacy at the University of Tartu. The library offers two general e-learning courses: Fundamentals of information literacy as an optional subject for baccalaureus and master's students and Introduction to information research as an elective subject for doctoral students. Based on the basic course, subject librarians offer discipline-specific online courses which are taught as a part of some subjects and are compulsory for students.

Quality in academic libraries is a multi-dimensional construct. Quality management and quality assurance is part of measuring performance excellence. Libraries are services. To improve service quality, stakeholders' needs and expectations should be monitored and measured, shortfalls should be identified and addressed.

Some basic principles are common to all measurements, but quality metrics will focus on the unique nature and factors that could affect quality of academic library services. Measuring quality includes the resources, resource delivery, the service environment, the management and staff, and the different stakeholders. In the digital environment, the academic library also moves from collection to connection, with new demands and performance indicators. Both quantitative and qualitative measurements are required to evaluate the overall performance of the library. The ultimate goal of measurement is improving the "fitness for purpose" of the library.

As Research Support is becoming an increasingly topical issue within academic libraries in the UK, this paper examines two different surveys that Loughborough University Library undertook to assess the effectiveness of its research support. The first was a benchmarking survey amongst 1994 Group universities, which produced quantitative data to enable the Library to identify its relative strengths and weaknesses and plan for the future. The second was a more inward looking survey which examined the information needs of a sample of research centres. This produced a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both methods and how the results were carried forward into operational plans.

In the last 10 years there have been big changes in the Portuguese academic libraries services as in other academic libraries over the world. These changes include the adoption of automatic catalogues and the electronic access to bibliographic data bases and scientific journals in full text. Nowadays physical and digital sources are together. Professors, students and researchers are able to access simultaneous to a great amount of quality information pay and open access. The Portuguese Government has been investing to improve the access to the production of knowledge so as to develop the country. It is important to know the return on the investments in university libraries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of the electronic sources in the Portuguese academic libraries.

This paper describes an ongoing project to assess:

- The use of electronic scientific information and the correlation to the scientific production of the Portuguese academic community according to standard performance measures indicators and bibliometrics data.

- The economic value of these library services. In order to estimate in monetary terms the value of these services for end-users we use the contingent valuation method (CVM). This study reports the results of a qualitative e-survey of academic community.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the use of electronic information resources by graduate students at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Fifty-nine graduate students affiliated with four Departments of Education voluntarily participated in the study. A specifically designed questionnaire was administered to gather information about the awareness of resources, the frequency of use, the kind of information sources preferred by students, the main reasons for using the resources, the perceived effectiveness of the searches, the factors encouraging their use and the major obstacles in terms of using them effectively. In addition, the authors sought information on the ways students identify the sources they use, the level of training they have received in using the services and their training needs. Results showed that the vast majority of the participants used Internet search engines rather than specialized databases and full-text resources. It is quite interesting, that nearly half of the respondents (49.1%) had never used ERIC, the fundamental resource of education literature. Only 6.8% became familiar with electronic resources by attending the library training programs. The main problem associated with the non-use of resources was lack of adequate searching skills. The above findings suggest limited use of electronic resources by graduate students, mainly due to absence of basic skills. In order to exploit the full potential of electronic information, university library should undertake a more active role in informing, promoting, and educating the members of the academic community.

This paper investigates the factors that influence the value for the users of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on (Biblioteca do Conhecimento Online). In order to be able to estimate this value in monetary terms we used the contingent valuation method based on a willingness to pay scenario. Data was collected through an e-survey sent to the whole Portuguese academic users. The main aims of this study are: (i) to investigate how the Portuguese academic community values b-on; (ii) to investigate the set of factors that determine whether the user is willing to pay the b-on services which allows us to estimate the demand function of b-on services. In order to achieve these objectives we use several regression analysis techniques – linear probability model (LPM), Logit and Probit models. The results show that the demand for b-on services is quite sensitive to the «price», frequency of use, whether the user knew previously b-on or not, the type of the user and the scientific area of the user.

As academic librarians increasingly embrace the core value and challenge of engaging in research and scholarly work, and as senior library administrators continue to adopt evidence-based decision making, staff research knowledge and skills must be constantly and systematically developed and augmented. However, descriptive data on current competencies and competency gaps are not widely reported, nor are methodologies for capturing and articulating deeper insights into attitudes and perspectives. This paper describes the outcomes of a pilot project to shed light on the current levels of research knowledge, experience, interests, competencies, and learning needs of academic librarians employed by the University of Alberta Libraries, which serves faculty, staff, and students at one of the major research institutions in Canada. The longer-term goal is to build capacity, at both the institutional and the professional.

The paper identified the databases that constitute the electronic scholarly communication of academic libraries in Nigeria. The study employed survey method and online questionnaire was sent to serials and ICT librarians. The major findings were that most libraries in Nigeria depend on open access for information. Problems of access to information were identified as follows: Epileptic power supply, lack of awareness of available journal, Lack of internet connectivity and subscription rate.