Abstract not available

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

As academic libraries continue to evolve as service organizations, they should focus on their users. This calls for a better understanding of the specific needs of library users in order to provide the appropriate type and level of service that meets those needs. The overriding goal will be user satisfaction. In this study, a survey was used to determine the levels of satisfaction of post-graduate education students with library services at the University of Transkei. A questionnaire was administered to 100 post-graduate education students registered in 1998 of which 57 responded. The most important finding that emerged from the analysis of the responses was that the majority of the respondents were in general satisfied with the library services offered at UNITRA. However, dissatisfaction was expressed by at least twenty percent of respondents with noise levels, opening hours, lack of photocopiers, the accuracy of the library catalogue, materials being in their correct place, inefficient staff and interloans. It was found that respondents were reluctant to commit themselves to expressing high levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Suggestions made by respondents included computerization and the need for staff training. Recommendations based on the findings were then made followed by suggestions for further research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of electronic databases by masters students in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus. The study tried to establish which electronic databases masters students used and how frequently they were used. In addition, the study investigated what the students used the electronic databases for and what problems they encountered while using these databases. A set of recommendations based on the findings were identified. The study population consisted of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences (HDSS) masters students. A total of 139 masters students responded, which was a response rate of 68%. The approach undertaken by the researcher was triangulation where both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The instrument that the researcher employed as the quantitative method of data collection was the questionnaire and a focus group was used as the qualitative method of data collection. The quantitative data was analysed using SPSS and the qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis. A pre-test of the questionnaire for the study was done on six registered masters students in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus (UKZNP) in order to identify any unclear issues in the questionnaire. The outcome of the study revealed that a majority of HDSS masters students at UKZNP did use the electronic databases. A number of problems were experienced when using the databases. The top three databases used by the masters students were EbscoHost , followed by SABINET and then ProQuest. Masters students mentioned some benefits of using the electronic databases. Students revealed that they became aware of the library databases from a variety of sources such as lecturers, friends and orientation programmes. There were other non-library databases that masters students used besides the library electronic databases. A majority of 75.2% of the students were satisfied with the library service. / Thesis (M.Info.Studs.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The aim of this study was to investigate the Web-based information behaviour of high school learners in Oshana Region in Namibia. The study also considerd the challenges faced by learners when searching the Web for information. For many years in the history of library and information services, print-based information had been the main source of information. However, since the emergence of the Internet and its rapid development, the Internet has provided an almost unlimited pool of Web-based resources, thus becoming a powerful source of information. The Web is now established as the main medium for the wide dissemination of information across the Internet. Within the academic context learners throughout the world are able to retrieve seemingly endless volumes of information across all disciplines and from all over the globe. It is therefore important to study the behavior of young people in relation to Web-based information because it is today one of their most important sources of knowledge. The findings of this study could assist in curriculum design, especially with regard to Basic Information Science (a subject offered in schools in Namibia), which incorporates information literacy and information-seeking skills development. In addition the study provides some insight into the information and computer literacy levels of learners and proposes ways of responding to these, thus assisting in further developing these important literacies. The study was guided by Wilson’s (1999) model of information behaviour. The model attempts to describe an information-seeking activity and suggests relationships among stages in information-seeking behaviour. The study has adopted a quantitative approach as its methodology. Data from a total of 160 respondents was collected using a questionnaire that consisted of both open ended and closed questions. The study’s research questions investigate how, where and when do Grade 12 learners access the Internet, for what purposes do Grade 12 learners use the Web when looking for information, how do Grade 12 learners search for information on the Web, what are the Web information searching skills of Grade 12 learners, what sources of information on the Web do Grade 12 learners use, how do Grade 12 learners evaluate and use information found on the Web, and what are the challenges faced by Grade 12 learners when searching the Web for information. The survey concentrated on Matric learners (grade 12) from Mweshipandeka HS and Gabriel Taapopi SSS in the Oshana region of Namibia. The results were analysed using SPSS as a tool for data analysis. An interpretation of the findings of this study shows that learners Web-searching skills are inadequate. Overall, there was a high level of familiarity with various Web-information sources such as search engines, although users limited themselves mainly to a few sources such as the search engines Google and Yahoo and the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Learners were not aware of Google's limitations and of the existence of academic, often library-funded, information sources such as databases and electronic journals. The present study found strong indications that grade 12 learners lack information-evaluation skills as well as acknowledgement skills and that they are not aware of what constitutes plagiarism. This appears to be a result of poor training in schools. However, the status of learner’s access to the Internet is good. Both schools involved in this study provide learners with physical access to the Internet. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-02T11:16:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014Bitstream added on 2014-12-02T11:21:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000799766.pdf: 970445 bytes, checksum: 24e0b02edbfba64d99a510140148eec1 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Os conceitos de Estudos de Usuários, sua discussão e difusão por meio do ensino, é a temática desta tese para tornar evidente como eles são identificados e analisados pelos docentes que lecionam a disciplina de estudos de usuários nos cursos de Biblioteconomia das universidades brasileiras. Por meio deles, saber como estão sendo trabalhados, em sala de aula, os seus diálogos com outras áreas e com os teóricos que permeiam a produção científica, no contexto do ensino de Biblioteconomia. Tem o objetivo de identificar e analisar esses conceitos e, como eles são percebidos, expostos, assimilados e reproduzidos na prática docente. Mostra um panorama nacional representado por aqueles cursos que participaram da pesquisa com o intuito de repensar e averiguar como a temática se desenvolve no âmbito da Ciência da Informação. Alguns pesquisadores fortaleceram o suporte teórico fundamentador dos estudos na área da Ciência da Informação, pelas abordagens descritas, preferencialmente, por Brenda Dervin, Ellis, Wilson, Khulthau, Choo, Araújo, Figueiredo e Ferreira; na leitura de capítulos de livros, de artigos de periódicos, além de dissertações de mestrado e de teses de doutorado sobre o tema, e que nos situaram o estado da arte acerca do objeto de estudo. Definimos como percurso metodológico a análise de conteúdo, segundo Bardin, realizando pesquisa descritiva qualitativa. Foi solicitado aos docentes, em apreço, inicialmente os planos de ensino da disciplina com seus diversos componentes e, no segundo momento, o questionário. Este dividido em duas partes, sendo uma com a caracterização do docente e, a outra, com nove questões abertas sobre o ensino. Foi aplicado o pré-teste do questionário, quando se constatou a necessidade de modificação de algumas indagações, refeitas de imediato. Os planos de ensino foram examinados, conjuntamente, com as respostas dos questionários e, a partir dos conceitos emitidos pelos... / The concepts of user studies, their discussion and dissemination through teaching is the subject matter approached in this thesis to make clear how they are identified and analyzed by the professors who teach this discipline in Librarianship courses in Brazilian universities. Through them, to know how they are being worked on in the classroom, their dialogues with other areas and with the theoreticians who permeate the scientific production in the context of librarianship teaching. It aims to identify and analyze these concepts and how they are perceived, exposed, assimilated and reproduced in the teaching practice. It shows a national panorama represented by those courses that participated in the survey with the intention of rethinking and examining how the issue has been developed within Information Science. Some researchers have strengthened underlying theoretical support of studies in the field of Information Science, the approaches described, preferably by Brenda Dervin, Ellis, Wilson, Khulthau, Choo, Araújo, Figueiredo and Ferreira; in the reading of book chapters , journal articles and dissertations as well as doctoral theses on the subject , which stood in the state of art in the object of study . We define as a methodological approach the content analysis according to Bardin, conducting a qualitative descriptive research. It was required to the teachers in question, initially, plans to teach the subject with its various components and secondly, the questionnaire. The latter was divided into two parts, being one of them with the characterization of the teacher and the other one with nine open questions on teaching issues. It was assigned a pretest of the questionnaire when it was found to be necessary to modify some questions, immediately redone. The lesson plans were examined, together with the responses of the questionnaires and from the concepts expressed by the professors, as the constituent items of the...

Orientador: Oswaldo Francisco de Almeida Júnior / Banca: Carlos Alberto Ávila Araújo / Banca: Lídia Eugênia Cavalcante / Banca: Sueli Bortolin / Banca: Regina Célia Baptista Belluzzo / Resumo: Os conceitos de Estudos de Usuários, sua discussão e difusão por meio do ensino, é a temática desta tese para tornar evidente como eles são identificados e analisados pelos docentes que lecionam a disciplina de estudos de usuários nos cursos de Biblioteconomia das universidades brasileiras. Por meio deles, saber como estão sendo trabalhados, em sala de aula, os seus diálogos com outras áreas e com os teóricos que permeiam a produção científica, no contexto do ensino de Biblioteconomia. Tem o objetivo de identificar e analisar esses conceitos e, como eles são percebidos, expostos, assimilados e reproduzidos na prática docente. Mostra um panorama nacional representado por aqueles cursos que participaram da pesquisa com o intuito de repensar e averiguar como a temática se desenvolve no âmbito da Ciência da Informação. Alguns pesquisadores fortaleceram o suporte teórico fundamentador dos estudos na área da Ciência da Informação, pelas abordagens descritas, preferencialmente, por Brenda Dervin, Ellis, Wilson, Khulthau, Choo, Araújo, Figueiredo e Ferreira; na leitura de capítulos de livros, de artigos de periódicos, além de dissertações de mestrado e de teses de doutorado sobre o tema, e que nos situaram o estado da arte acerca do objeto de estudo. Definimos como percurso metodológico a análise de conteúdo, segundo Bardin, realizando pesquisa descritiva qualitativa. Foi solicitado aos docentes, em apreço, inicialmente os planos de ensino da disciplina com seus diversos componentes e, no segundo momento, o questionário. Este dividido em duas partes, sendo uma com a caracterização do docente e, a outra, com nove questões abertas sobre o ensino. Foi aplicado o pré-teste do questionário, quando se constatou a necessidade de modificação de algumas indagações, refeitas de imediato. Os planos de ensino foram examinados, conjuntamente, com as respostas dos questionários e, a partir dos conceitos emitidos pelos... / Abstract: The concepts of user studies, their discussion and dissemination through teaching is the subject matter approached in this thesis to make clear how they are identified and analyzed by the professors who teach this discipline in Librarianship courses in Brazilian universities. Through them, to know how they are being worked on in the classroom, their dialogues with other areas and with the theoreticians who permeate the scientific production in the context of librarianship teaching. It aims to identify and analyze these concepts and how they are perceived, exposed, assimilated and reproduced in the teaching practice. It shows a national panorama represented by those courses that participated in the survey with the intention of rethinking and examining how the issue has been developed within Information Science. Some researchers have strengthened underlying theoretical support of studies in the field of Information Science, the approaches described, preferably by Brenda Dervin, Ellis, Wilson, Khulthau, Choo, Araújo, Figueiredo and Ferreira; in the reading of book chapters , journal articles and dissertations as well as doctoral theses on the subject , which stood in the state of art in the object of study . We define as a methodological approach the content analysis according to Bardin, conducting a qualitative descriptive research. It was required to the teachers in question, initially, plans to teach the subject with its various components and secondly, the questionnaire. The latter was divided into two parts, being one of them with the characterization of the teacher and the other one with nine open questions on teaching issues. It was assigned a pretest of the questionnaire when it was found to be necessary to modify some questions, immediately redone. The lesson plans were examined, together with the responses of the questionnaires and from the concepts expressed by the professors, as the constituent items of the... / Doutor

State digital libraries are manifestations of the diffusion of technology that has provided both access to and delivery of digital content. Whether the content is being accessed and used equitably in K-12 schools has not been assessed. Determining patterns of the diffusion of use across socioeconomic groups in K-12 schools may help measure the success of existing efforts to provide equitable access and use of digital content, and help guide policies and implementation to more effectively address remaining disparities. This study examined use of the Connecticut Digital Library (ICONN) in K-12 schools in Connecticut by determining annual patterns of use per school/district over a four-year period, using transaction log search statistics. The data were analyzed in the paradigm that Rogers (2003) describes as the first and second dimensions of the consequences of an innovation - the overall growth and the equality of the diffusion to individuals within an intended audience --- in this case, students in K-12 schools. Data were compared by school district and the established socioeconomic District Reference Groups (DRGs) defined by the Connecticut State Board of Education. At the time of this study, ICONN used aggregate data (total searches) for K-12 schools, but did not have relevant data on diffusion within the public schools in Connecticut related to district or DRGs.

"The purpose of this paper is to define the value, functions, and use of a central library today as the writer understands it; to describe the historical development of the Madison Elementary Library; and to analyze specific examples and uses of a central library in the writer's own classroom showing how instruction was improved by means of a wider variety of materials used to meet the individual needs of one group of pupils"--Introduction. / "June, 1951." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Robert C. Moon, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-39).