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Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the actual information usage habits of faculty and staff at **** versus librarians perceptions and opinions. Methods: A prevalidated pilot tested survey will be conducted of the faculty and staff of the ***** College of Medicine and ****College of Pharmacy. The survey will examine what are the most useful resources, specifically databases and journals, for their research and work. The results of the survey will be compared to the library's current collection and the research results will help serve as a basis for future collection development decisions. Library staff will also be surveyed to allow for a comparison between library staff perceptions and actual utility of the collection.

Digitalisation is one of the greatest transformations in modern times and has impacted organisations, industry structures and the society as a whole. It provides new opportunities for fashion firms to interact with different stakeholders and has altered the way firms operate in foreign markets. Based on in-depth interviews with managers of Swedish high-end fashion firms, the aim of the study was to explore what impact digitalisation has on managers’ perceived psychic distance in their international operations. In particular, how managers use digital technologies to obtain and interpret information about supply and demand conditions in foreign markets was examined. The empirical findings indicate that digital technologies are essential for firms today, as they have increased information availability, enhanced information usage and improved interactive communication. This, in turn, leads to a reduction of managers’ perceived psychic distance.

IT is a well-integrated function within most companies and its importance grows bigger by the day. With new solutions and concepts being introduced continuously it is important to be aware of the ever-changing possibilities found within IT. One of these changes is the concept of Industrie 4.0 which poses as a revolutionary way to do business by connecting the real world with the virtual one to a greater extent than what is done today. Research has shown that there are many possible benefits of implementing Industrie 4.0 and also Smart Factory, such as improved inventory control and faster reaction time. Since these concepts are quite new, no real definition exists and the congruence between the academic and business world is not always at the same level, and therefore the first steps are not yet defined. Therefore, this study tried to reduce the gap between these two worlds by offering concrete recommendations of what needs to be done to be able to apply Industrie 4.0 in the real world at Scania CV AB and Scania IT. Scania CV AB posed as a case company to find out where to start on the road to become smart. Currently there are many functions using the services of Scania IT, but exactly how the systems are used is not known by Scania IT. To be able to provide the necessary services for the various functions of Scania CV AB and start the road of becoming smart, Scania IT needs to know how the systems are used and what information that is currently missing. A formulated strategy of Scania, as a whole, is to be able to collect and analyse information in order to have a more Intuitive Presence and Predictable Future, two words meaning that more proactive work can be conducted and more autonomous decisions can be made. To be able to fulfil this vision, knowledge about the needed information must be acquired by Scania IT. With focus on the information connected to the material flow before the material reaches the assembly lines found at Scania CV AB the purpose of this study was to identify and analyse information and actions needed in the material flow from a user perspective, to become Intuitive and Predictable as part of the concept Industrie 4.0. A set of research objectives were formulated as a guide for the study. By first identifying, with the help of the first research objective, the information input and output for the functions at Scania CV AB connected to the material flow, with a base in the functions planning material, it was identified that at different production sites different standards of working exist, but also differences in the IT usage and system configurations was found.  The second research objective focused on what information should be available for production and material planning according to a literature review and this was later compared with the findings at Scania, which composed the third research objective. As it turned out, Scania uses the correct set of basic information such as forecasting, production plan, and calculations of gross demand, along with information regarding costs, lead times, and inventory. However, how to use the information is not standardized and the users of the IT systems perceived the information as hard to find and difficult to interpret. The fourth research objective focused on the concept of Industrie 4.0 and Smart Factories by studying literature, an external company and the ideas that Scania CV AB have, to see what must be done before a Digital Factory can be created. The recommendations for Scania IT were based on the result on the analyses and they can be summarized by the need of further standardization of information and information usage to be able to start the road of becoming Smart and take one step closer to the concepts of Smart Factory and Industrie 4.0.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of academic libraries in providing services to culturally diverse student populations. In this study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the culturally diverse students of the Technikon Witwatersrand were analysed. The study also tried to establish whether there are differences in information needs and information-seeking behaviour of various cultural groups. The empirical investigation was conducted by means of focus group interviews and a questionnaire survey on a sample of undergraduate students of the Technikon Witwatersrand. There were assumptions that African students have limited experience in using the academic library, have no computer and information handling skills and might have language difficulties. Therefore, the expectation was that African students might have problems in the use of the academic library. However, the results of the empirical study show that English and Afrikaans speaking students are experiencing more problems than African students. / Information Science / M.Inf.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of academic libraries in providing services to culturally diverse student populations. In this study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the culturally diverse students of the Technikon Witwatersrand were analysed. The study also tried to establish whether there are differences in information needs and information-seeking behaviour of various cultural groups. The empirical investigation was conducted by means of focus group interviews and a questionnaire survey on a sample of undergraduate students of the Technikon Witwatersrand. There were assumptions that African students have limited experience in using the academic library, have no computer and information handling skills and might have language difficulties. Therefore, the expectation was that African students might have problems in the use of the academic library. However, the results of the empirical study show that English and Afrikaans speaking students are experiencing more problems than African students. / Information Science / M.Inf.