Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, to the rural libraries we go! - a systematic literature review

Indicators for Modernising the LIS Internship: Evidences from a systematic literature review

This systematic literature review was conducted to analyse the existing literature on the internship programme in library and information science (LIS) education. The review was guided by the RAMESES (Realist and Meta-Narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards) method. The data source was Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In addition to the three main phases of the review process, mainly identification, screening, and eligibility, data abstraction and analysis are also reported. Findings reveal that studies on LIS internship have focused on satisfaction, educational benefits, educational setting, programme design and roles of the stakeholders involved in internship programmes. Modernising the LIS Internship programme requires a focus on the design of the programme structure with an emphasis on the learning outcomes relating to career readiness. Collaborative learning, service-learning and personal objectives are found to be beneficial. However, there is also an increasing demand for needs of the stakeholders and not just the student-centred learning. Further works into the assessment of the learning outcomes is recommended by the literature.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Their Part towards Sustainable Community Development

Background: Alternative healthcare, community development, social justice, and education are all areas where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly being recognised or promoted, but these efforts are hampered by government inefficiency and resource constraints. However, the statement of non-profit organisations is more complicated than simply comparing them to the government, as they may also suffer from a lack of resources and ineffective management, just like the government. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and impact of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) towards Sustainable Community Development in and to identify the challenges these organisations face. Method: Throughout this investigation, a wide range of sources from academic journals, reports, and even company websites were consulted to gather data. This article includes data on the number of NGOs in Malaysia, which can help us obtain a better sense of the sector. To find out just how rapidly these non-profits are expanding, the project’s goal is to track their progress. A systematic literature review method was used to screen the retrieved articles from three online databases. Findings: Eight articles have been chosen for further analysis in this study. In total, four challenges and four recommendations have been identified. Conclusions: To that end, this article offers some suggestions for improving already-existing non-profit organisations so that they serve the community as a whole.

Unveiling the research pattern and trends in library service quality studies: A meta-narrative review

‘Service Quality’ and its influence in Library and Information Science discipline are spectacular when studied intensively. In this study, researchers adopted the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards review method and introduced a novel Initialization, Conceptualization, Actualisation) (ICA) framework for meta-narrative studies. This method would act as a boon particularly to the existing methods of conducting meta-narrative studies in social sciences in general and library sciences in particular. A total of 49 research articles were selected from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases, covering a span of 5 years, that is, 2015–2019, published in the domain of library service quality. An extensive in-depth analysis of selected publications was carried out under seven categories (i.e. library, library services, quality, ServQUAL, LibQUAL+, user satisfaction and users’ expectations), which were generated using the VOS-Viewer software and ‘Review Tags’ (manually generated using OneNote). The seven categories further identify a total of 27 sub-categories. The quantitative findings revealed that all the 49 reviewed publications were published in 27 journals. All the journals have been indexed in the Scopus database, whereas 15 journals containing the remaining 22 publications are indexed in both WoS and Scopus databases. This study unfolds a transverse trend in library service quality. It would be beneficial for the library managers to sustain libraries’ service quality and set a benchmark in the said field.

Exploring barriers and possible actions suggested in rural libraries for information society: Perspectives from library practitioners in Malaysia

This study aims to explore the barriers when developing information societies and to suggest possible actions for rural libraries to participate in information societies, tailored to the needs of Malaysian rural libraries. This study employed a three-round Delphi technique; including a face-to- face interview in the first round, followed by two rounds of close-ended survey questions presented in a Likert-type scale format distributed to a selected group of leaders with experience in rural library planning and strategies. It reveals how funding, library infrastructures, information communication technology, local content resources, and human resources adversely affected rural libraries in the development of an information society. Based on the recommendation elicited for the five categories, this study suggests possible actions that provide practical guidance on the actions to be taken by the rural libraries in developing an information society.