Trends in Information Management

Library and Information Science

University of Kashmir

ISSN: 0973-4163

Time and again, libraries are facing existential threats. It may not be inappropriate to say that libraries were initially reluctant to embrace Information and Communication Technology (ICT), especially in the Asian sub-continent. However,the way ICT intruded into our lives, libraries were left with no choice except to embrace ICT, which otherwise had posed an existential threat to libraries, especially with the advent of e-content. Questions were also being raised on the true contribution of an institutional library to an institution’s academic and research activities following the decline in library readership. These sub-institutions were dubbed lax by the respective institutional administration, resulting in downsizing and curtailment in the library budget. The waning library budgets and the escalating subscription costs have once more posed a challenge to institutional libraries, whereby libraries cannot subscribe to enough resources for their clientele and pose themselves as a rich and resourceful library. Thereon, the monopoly commercial publishers enjoy over subscription pricing of research journals has rendered libraries ineffective, posing an existential threat to libraries. Accordingly, the undergoing conceptual framework revolves around how libraries can survive this existential threat and overthrow commercial publishers’ hegemony.

India’s school libraries have evolved significantly alongside the nation’s educational progress. Initially, school libraries suffered from poor infrastructure, limited resources, and underuse. However, as education gained prominence, the role of school libraries expanded, becoming essential to the learning environment for both teachers and students. The primary objectives of school libraries in India are to foster a love for reading, enhance research skills, support the curriculum with relevant materials, and encourage independent learning. By providing access to a wide range of books, periodicals, and digital resources, school libraries create an environment conducive to learning and intellectual growth. This paper examines the evolution, current role, current status and challenges of school libraries in India, emphasizing their critical role in the educational system. The paper highlights the need for increased investment, improved staffing, and a cohesive national policy to address these challenges. To sum up, school libraries in India are crucial for enhancing educational quality. Continued efforts are needed to ensure all students, regardless of location, have access to well-equipped and well-managed libraries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore and analyse the discussed topics and sentiments expressed by individuals in their tweets related to the Russia Ukraine War. Methodology: The Tweet Archiver was used to retrieve the data regarding the Russia-Ukraine war from August 30 to September 30, 2022. During this specified timeframe, a total of 49994 Tweets were retrieved for analysis. A comprehensive analysis of data was performed by employing Python and its libraries. Topic analysis was carried out using BERTopic. The VADER library was used for sentiment analysis. Findings: The study found ten predominant topics around which the discussions revolved. The most prevalent topic with the highest number of tweets is “NATO’s Involvement in Russia-Ukraine Conflict”, followed by “Geopolitical Tensions and Energy Politics in China, India, Russia, and Ukraine”. Moreover, the sentiment analysis demonstrated that the majority of tweets reflect negative sentiments, while the least emulate positive sentiments. However, a good number of tweets assumed a neutral standpoint towards the war. The geographical distribution of tweets highlights that tweets were poured in from 124 countries across the globe, with a significant contribution from the USA. Originality: The study illustrates the sentiments and the topics of discussion regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, gains some insights into overall public communication about the war, and complements the existing literature.

Purpose: The present study evaluates the retrieval performance of three search engines, i.e., Google, Yahoo, and Bing, using four evaluation parameters: precision, recall, duplicate links, and comprehensiveness in nursing. Methodology: The three popular search engines in health sciences, i.e., Google, Yahoo, and Bing, were selected for evaluation. Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science was used to extract the queries in the nursing field. Findings: Bing achieves the highest total mean precision. However, Google has the highest overall mean relative recall and number of results. The overall mean precision, duplicate links, and number of hits of select search engines are highest for three-word queries. However, overall relative recall is equal for all the query intents. Furthermore, Yahoo retrieves a maximum number of duplicate links. Research implications: The study will be helpful for researchers and healthcare professionals to understand the retrieval efficiency of Google, Yahoo, and Bing in seeking answers to queries in the field of nursing. Search engines’ retrieval effectiveness determines the users’ precise health decision-making capability. The study offers the best platform for executing different query structures across select search engines to achieve desired results without losing key results. The results may also prove helpful to search engine companies for improving the retrieval efficiency of their services in the area of health sciences in general and nursing in particular. Originality: Several performance schemes have been employed to evaluate the retrieval effectiveness of search engines. Nevertheless, users may not know which search engine is best for retrieving relevant information from the Internet in nursing. The study highlights the retrieval effectiveness of generally used search engines in nursing.

Decision Making is a core facet of our lives. When the situation necessitates to swiftly adapt to varied, dynamic, and often unpredictable circumstances, situational decision making is germane. Sports provides one of the prime areas to comprehend decision making processes. To win, a sportsperson has to assess the competitor’s move, detect crucial signals and implement the correct response within a matter of seconds, and, recognizing the intentions and decisiveness of the competitor, assessing one’s own against the opponent’s resources and talents, are all critical components of sound situational decision-making. This narrative review aims to delineate insights on situational decision making, specifically highlighting its importance in the field of sports, where decisions are made under uncertain conditions with time constraints.