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This article aims to evaluate Iranology CD-ROM databases using survey method. Data were collected using a researcher-developed checklist which is composed of four main criteria namely storage, search and retrieval, software design, and indexing. The study sampled all Iranology CD-ROMs recorded by the Iranian High Council of Informatics (IHCI). As a result, 35 CD-ROMs were identified for final evaluation. It was found that the most critical point of Iranology CD-ROMs which its defined indices have been less observed by the softwares is related to criterion "search and retrieval", while the most observed indices belonged to criterion "software design". Findings of this study may assist related bodies improve the status of information flow especially in the field of tourism as this resource has a variety of information about different aspects of Iranian history, literature, art and cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at evaluating and comparing search features of Web metasearch engines (MSEs). To do this, a total of 64 MSEs were identified and examined on the basis of first observations. However after examining them, about 70% of these MSEs were discarded and 19 cases, which were free of charge, accessible and compatible with the research objectives were kept for further analysis. A researcher-made checklist, composed of 50 items under five search engines' general criteria (search operators, restrictors, result presentation, search help options and others) was used for data collection. It was found that AND, Phrase, Number of results per page, Keeping query searched, and Help were features that have been fully included in all 19 MSEs, while the features Anchor search and Size have been neglected by the MSEs examined. It should be also added that features Truncation, Keywords in title, URL, and Brief text have been highly supported by 18 cases (94.7%). The features Date, Cached, and Also try were observed only in one case (5.3%). It is suggested that the checklist used in this study be restructured for studying search features of Web search engines, digital libraries and other Internet search tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research aims to assess the performance of libraries at the Islamic Azad University, Sciences and Research Branch (IAUSRB) through gap analysis. To do this, a researcher-developed questionnaire which is based on available standards and quality assessment tools including ACRL standards, LibQUAL and ISO 11620, and some criteria included in the related literature was designed and distributed among users of IAUSRB libraries. Five service quality categories, were included in the questionnaire: "Environment, equipment and physical facilities", "Public services", "Non-book materials", "Staff (librarians and their co-workers)", and "Information literacy and user education". Based on research findings, the most expected library services prioritized by users are "operation time" (mean = 4.2300), "staff" (mean = 4.1461), and "circulation" (mean = 4.1208), while the least expected library services which are of lower importance from users' perspective are "press" (mean = 3.9734) and "audiovisual materials" (mean = 3.8796). The findings also indicate that services offered by the libraries surveyed had a relatively quality performance and average success (perceived quality is 2.9635≈50%). In other words, such a finding emphasizes an average performance of IAUSRB libraries. In addition, confirming five research hypotheses concerning gap analysis, there was a significant difference between expected quality of five service categories and their perceived quality based on users' viewpoint. It was also realized that the categories with better performance or perceived quality from users' perspective are "staff" (mean = 3.2240), "information literacy and user education" (mean = 2.9998), and "environment, equipment and physical facilities" (mean = 2.9871), and the two libraries "Theology and Philosophy" (mean = 2.2639) and "Medical Engineering" (mean = 2.4507) have offered poor services than the other IAUSRB libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of evaluation studies examining web search tools is ranking algorithm area. Accepting the idea that different search tools do use different ranking algorithms, the present research aims to confirm such an idea using a statistical approach. To do this, five metasearch engines (MSEs) namely Ez2find, Dogpile, MetaCrawler, Info and WebCrawler along with their four common underlying single search engines (SEs) - Google, Yahoo!, Msn (currently called Windows Live Search) and Ask - have been applied. To conduct the research five queries have been utilized. For comparing ranking algorithms of these web search tools, statistical tests "Kruskal-Wallis" and "Tukey HSD" were utilized. The findings indicate and confirm that different search tools on the web make use of different ranking algorithms. In other words, this research supports findings of previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]