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Despite the growth in digital text collections, the ability to retrieve words or phrases with specific attributes is limited, for example, to retrieve words with a specific meaning within a specific section of a text. Many systems work with coarse bibliographic metadata. To enable fine-grained retrieval, it is necessary to encode texts with granular metadata. Sample texts were encoded with granular metadata. Five categories of metadata that can be used to capture additional data about texts were used, namely, morphological, syntactic, semantic, functional and bibliographic. A prototype was developed to parse the encoded texts and store the information in a database. The prototype was used to test the extent to which words or phrases with specific attributes could be retrieved. Retrieval on a detailed level was possible through the prototype. Retrieval using all five categories of metadata was demonstrated, as well as advanced searches using metadata from different categories in a single search. This article demonstrates that when granular metadata is used to encode texts, retrieval is improved. Relevant information can be selected, and irrelevant information can be excluded, even within a text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the concept of the NORDIC academic cooperation model (NorFa), in 1998-2000 Danish and international information scientists initiated a co-operative effort to build an education and research network among LIS institutions in South Africa. The paper reports the successful completion of the project, with 20 MA and Ph.D. students selected equally from the traditional "black" and "white" universities of the country. The participants coined their own name, DISSAnet, which stands for Development in Information Science in South Africa. It is intended that DISSAnet will continue to exist after the end of the project and that the network should function as a platform to support professional development and internationalisation in the LIS field. It is planned to arrange courses and seminars within the network and to make the ProLISSA conferences a regular, biannual regional event.

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Virtual reality has the potential to enhance a variety of real-world training and entertainment applications by creating the illusion that a user of virtual reality is physically present inside the digitally created environment. However, the use of tactile feedback to convey information about this environment is often lacking in VR applications. New methods for inducing a degree of tactile feedback in users are described, which induced the illusion of a tactile experience, referred to as pseudo-tactile feedback. These methods utilised shared properties between audio and tactile feedback that can be crossmodally mapped between the two modalities in the design of a virtual reality prototype for a qualitative usability study in order to test the effectiveness and underlying causes of such feedback in the total absence of any real-world tactile feedback. Results show that participants required believable audio stimuli that they could conceive as real-world textures as well a sense of hand-ownership to suspend disbelief and construct an internally consistent mental model of the virtual environment. This allowed them to conceive believable tactile sensations that result from interaction with virtual objects inside this environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose The Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria (UP), with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has, for the past six years, offered a fully funded specialized two-year coursework degree at Masters’ level in Information Technology (M.IT degree). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technological and teaching methodologies as well as the unique advantages and challenges of collaboration between four partner institutions on two continents as well as local industry partners and local and international academic and public libraries, in offering a blended learning program to students from six different countries.Design/methodology/approach The contribution is based on a pragmatic and reflective analysis of the success of the strategic partnerships formed during the M.IT program. The data-gathering instrument used was a questionnaire containing open-ended questions.Findings Analysis of the comments shows that it is evident that faculty still prefer face-to-face classes. Furthermore, to experience an effective online blended learning, the technology would have to improve. The complicated levels of partnerships were important to provide the necessary expertise for this broad-based program. Lecturers from industries and libraries brought different perspectives based on their day-to-day work and practical experience and, through this, a level of reality as opposed to the theory that can be learnt from textbooks.Originality/value This is a descriptive analysis of the program and feedback of co-workers that has not been reported before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the heuristic evaluations of five e-dictionaries according to the criteria developed by Ball and Bothma (2018). E-dictionaries are increasingly making use of modern information technology to create advanced information tools. It is necessary to ensure that these new products are still usable. Heuristic evaluation is a usability evaluation method used to evaluate the usability of a product.Design/methodology/approach Five e-dictionaries were evaluated through heuristic evaluation. This method requires an evaluator to evaluate a product by using a set of criteria or guidelines.Findings Various usability issues, as well as good features of e-dictionaries, could be identified through these evaluations, and are discussed under the categories of content, information architecture, navigation, access (searching and browsing), help, customisation and use of other innovative technologies.Originality/value Through the evaluations in this study, the criteria could be validated and an example of how the criteria can be used to evaluate e-dictionaries could be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify criteria according to which e-dictionaries can be evaluated. Information technology can be used to enhance e-dictionaries, but if not done carefully, information tools that completely overwhelm a user with irrelevant information can be developed. Criteria are necessary according to which e-dictionaries can be developed and evaluated to ensure tools that only provide relevant information on demand.Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to identify trends in lexicography and modern information technology. Previous usability studies were considered to identify key usability issues. The information was synthesised to identify a set of criteria.Findings It was found the e-dictionaries should be evaluated according to their content, information architecture, navigation, access (searching and browsing), help, customisation and use of other innovative technologies.Originality/value A comprehensive set of criteria has been identified that can be used to evaluate e-dictionaries and to guide lexicographers in the development of e-dictionaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Teaching students/library patrons twenty-first century literacies (such as information and library literacies) is important within a library setting. As such, finding an appropriate manner to teach these skills in a practical manner at tertiary level is important. As vehicles for constructivist learning, games provide a unique opportunity to teach these twenty-first century literacies in an engaging, practical, format. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an alternate reality game (ARG) to teach these literacies through gameplay.Design/methodology/approach An ARG was designed and developed where the core gameplay tasks taught and exercised twenty-first century literacies. The game, once completed, was then analysed as a case study to determine the effectiveness of the game-based approach to literacy learning.Findings Throughout the play of the game, players spent increasingly more time in the library, often using it as a common meeting point during play. Players reported that they learnt or exercised the skills that each game task focussed on, additionally noting that the game-based context made the process of learning and exercising these skills more enjoyable.Originality/value The findings suggest that the creation of games, whether real world or digital, may be useful in engaging students/patrons with twenty-first century literacies as well as with their local library. The documentation of a successful ARG to teach twenty-first century literacies provides a model for future research to follow when designing engaging library-oriented games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article offers information on the trends in transition from classical censorship to Internet censorship in several countries including Australia, Chile, and China. Topics discussed include the impact of censorship with Internet related resources of information and communication such as access to websites, email and social networking tools, negative trends such as Internet related privacy, blocking software, and positive trends such as trends in cyber actions against Internet censorship.

For the past twenty years phrases such as "stable information needs", "unstable information needs" or "information needs changing over time" are found in many contributions to information science. At first view these concepts seem to be easy and clearly understandable. However, after some considerations different questions arise: For which types of information need do we see that these needs are changing over time -- for all types, or only for certain types? How do information needs relate to changes in the world, or to changes in the human understanding of the world? We will show that "information need changing over time" is a very complex concept and only understandable if we distinguish between changes in the world, situation/context, user, types of information need and interpretation of data. Clarity of writing is essential in scientific writing and authors using the concept "information needs changing over time" or similar phrases should clearly define what they mean by the phrases to ensure that no ambiguity exists when readers interpret their writings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library leaders may not be fully equipped to deal with the demands and rigours of the digital age and its consumers. The advent of the internet, search engines and social media require a paradigm shift in the development of these leaders. Whilst much has been written about the required competencies, there seems to be no clear guiding principle on how the development should take place. The authors propose that the development of library leaders is a process, best illustrated through movement through Drotter's Leadership Pipeline. The importance of thinking preferences, based on Herrmann's Whole Brain Model, is highlighted and it is shown how these often clog development through this Pipeline. Utilising data from the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) assessments of the 120 participants in six of the Centre for African Library Leadership (CALL) development programmes, the authors show how the thinking preferences of these library leaders could enable or detract from their readiness to develop the appropriate competencies in the digital age. Recommendations are made on how best to overcome this to prepare library leaders to deal with the requirements of the digital age consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of Pretoria introduced a compulsory Information Literacy module to address the need for delivering motivated knowledgeable employees that embrace information and have the skills to find, select and use relevant information accurately, efficiently and effectively in an explosive information age. Low class attendance, an indication of unmotivated students, as well as the limited scholarly application of information literacy skills in consecutive academic years of study have been identified as possible barriers to the application of the desired skills. A collaborative action research project based on Whole Brain principles was introduced to motivate learners through innovative learning material in the module. A deeper understanding of the role of thinking preferences and thinking avoidances is essential in selecting a team that is responsible for the planning, design, development and delivery of learning opportunities and material. This article discusses the Whole Brain Model® as a mental model that underpins the successful collaboration of multidisciplinary teams and enhances innovative curriculum design that addresses alternative approaches to the teaching of Information Literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During 2000–2004 a project was undertaken to create a comprehensive and informative inventory of South African public and community libraries, the Public and Community libraries Inventory of South Africa (PaCLISA). The project was executed in two phases, initially under the guidance of the Libraries Working Group of the Print Industries Cluster Council (PICC). Phase 1 was carried out during 2000–2001 and funded by The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Foundation for library and Information Service Development (FLISD), through the National Library of South Africa. The Centre for Geo-Information Science of the University of Pretoria was contracted to carry out the project. In light of the response to Phase 1, a consultative process was followed to redesign the inventory questionnaire, after which Phase 2 was carried out during 2003–2004 as a project of the Department of Information Science and the Centre for Geo-Information Science of the University of Pretoria. Although the project was not an unqualified success, it was a valuable learning experience. The article provides an overview of the project with special emphasis on the lessons that have been learned and what these imply for future efforts to inventorise South Africa's public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an empirical assessment of knowledge management in law firms in Botswana. It employs survey research methodology and triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Data were collected mainly through a questionnaire administered to the 217 lawyers in all the law firms registered with the Botswana Law Society. The response rate was 64.5% (i.e. 140 returned copies of the questionnaire). Fifteen other lawyers were interviewed. The findings reveal that lawyers in Botswana are still grappling with the concept, requirements and implications of knowledge management. It was concluded that law firms in Botswana need to become proactive about knowledge management in law practice. The study recommended that lawyers in Botswana should consider talking to others in the legal community about knowledge management issues, attend meetings and workshops on knowledge management, invest time and money in creating bulletins boards, form alliances with international professional associations, and get connected to electronic forums that foster collaborative thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]