Information Development

E-government's capacity to reform public service delivery is hinged on critical factors from the demand side of e-government. The demand side of e-government is the element that drives users’ behaviors to adopt e-government services and understanding these factors is fundamental to driving the realization of e-government targets. This study thus examined the extent to which e-government information quality dimensions can stimulate the acceptance and utilization of e-government services. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used as the theoretical basis for this paper and the data congregated was evaluated with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) statistical software using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results have revealed that both effort expectancy and facilitating conditions significantly drive the intention to use and recommend the adoption of e-government services. Also, e-government information quality dimensions such as availability, objectivity, utility, confidentiality, and integrity were all found to positively drive the intention to use e-government services. Additionally, people's intention to use e-government was significant in driving the recommendation behavior of e-government services to others. The practical and research repercussions of these discoveries on the development and deployment of e-government-empowered services are deliberated.

Obtaining fact-checking skills is becoming crucial as information disorder turns into a major issue for societies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which students benefited from the fact-checking module within the news literacy (NL) training and what kind of fact-checking behavior they exhibited. The research was conducted with two different groups of university students for two years using a quasi-experimental design method. Following the training, the students conducted their fact-checking process by making more queries, mainly using news titles, and mostly clicking on news platforms. Although many of the students did not show high performance after the training, it was seen that training created a certain awareness about the verification platforms/tools. The study highlighted the importance of information literacy skills in NL training provided at the university level and the characteristics that distinguish information behaviors during fact-checking from those in other information search processes.

This study provides insights into the evolution and conceptual framework of research data management (RDM). It also investigates the role of libraries and librarians in offering data management services and the challenges they face in this regard. The study is qualitative in nature and based on an extensive literature review survey. The analysis of the reviewed literature reveals that the idea of RDM has emerged as a new addition to library research support services. The more recent literature clearly established the pivotal role of libraries and librarians in developing and managing RDM services. However, data sharing practices and the development of RDM services in libraries are more prevalent in developed countries. While these trends are still lacking among researchers and libraries in developing countries. Creating awareness among researchers about the benefits of data sharing is a challenging task for libraries. Furthermore, institutional commitment, collaboration, academic engagement, technological infrastructure development, lack of policies, funding, and storage, skills, and competencies required for librarians to offer RDM-based services are some of the other significant challenges highlighted in the literature. Certainly, RDM services are difficult and complicated; therefore, librarians need to master the skills of research data to offer library-based RDM services.

Training pilots is a long-lasting and important task for the aviation safety and proper operation of airlines. Evidence-Based Training (EBT) is proposed as one of the best alternatives for pilot training. This study identified the need of EBT in terms of non-technical performance training for pilots. The purpose of this paper is to identify the need to introduce a new training system, the EBT model, and to assess and verify its performance by operating airlines to assist in decision making by airlines considering the introduction of EBT. A total of 1003 people were subjected to the study, including 557 captains and 446 co-pilots of each model who responded to the survey conducted after EBT. Results of the survey were analyzed through multiple regression analysis to confirm the validity of this model, and the pilots who were trained were also satisfied with EBT. The results show that the training program information and the system quality have a positive effect on the satisfaction of the trainee and the enhancement of the trainee's perceived ability. The results of this research contribute a positive basis for EBT. The implication of this study is that the proper provision of training program and the better system could support the performance of training for pilots.

Information and communication technology developments that continue to occur have changed the way records are managed. Due to these changes, higher learning institutions in developing countries are adopting different electronic records management systems to increase accountability and efficiency. However, despite the adoption of these systems, the majority of records retrieved in most of these institutions are paper-based. In other words, the e-records systems that have been adopted by these institutions are not effectively utilised to support e-records management, which is one of the things that have been noted by this study that sought to examine the adoption and application of electronic records systems in Tanzania's higher learning institutions. Specifically, the study has examined types of e-records systems and factors affecting the effective adoption and application of e-records systems. To achieve this, a descriptive research design was employed by integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches. Whereas quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Product Service Solution (SPSS), qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Generally, the study reveals that various e-records management systems are used by higher learning institutions in Tanzania for purposes that are generally similar across the institutions. Moreover, the findings suggest that e-records management systems are not effectively used to support records management due to various human, organizational, technological, and regulatory factors. Therefore, to realize an effective transformation of records management from being paper-based to being electronic-based, various concerted efforts are needed. More specifically, multi-actor efforts between institutional management and records management practitioners are the fulcrum needed for the effective application of e-records systems.

Social media platforms do not usually demonstrate responsibilities for published content. In recent years, an increasing number of individuals are now serving as sources of information that sparks public concern as it is considered to have lack of online quality control mechanisms. These mechanisms include the credentials of authors and information editorial teams. This paper aims to identify and develop an Islamic information credibility scale to examine the reliability of Islamic postings on social media, by acquiring the experts’ views and agreement on the elements in the proposed model by leveraging the Fuzzy Delphi process. A total of 15 experts from academic and related stakeholders participated in the verification of items through the questionnaire instrument's 7-point linguistic scale by purposive sampling. Outcome of the study indicate that the appropriate criteria to evaluate the credibility of Islamic information on social media incline on the top four indicators, which are of the source of writing, accuracy, authority and authenticity of information. The result demonstrates the importance for referring to the source and content of information i.e., Quran and authentic hadith in the process to evaluate authentic Islamic information posting on social media, as opposed to the influence of the social environment. This study's value lies in its contribution to the conceptualization and development of new Islamic information credibility scale through the screening and selection process of Fuzzy Delphi method approach. In future research, this scale should be explored to test new media credibility, as an emerging and promising approach to identifying and evaluating Islamic new media credibility.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are among the profound tools to help the poor and marginalized rural smallholder farmers make a difference in their lives. This paper seeks to understand how the recent development of ICTs helps increase agricultural productivity and improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in Tanzania. We employed a fuzzy sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) technique to select the most relevant 24 literature from 2163 literature and analyze the drivers (conditions) that influence ICT use among the smallholder farmers, which in turn leads to increased agricultural productivity and improved farmers’ livelihoods (outcomes). In addition, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with some local smallholder farmers in Tanzania's same regions, as shown in the reviewed literature, to understand how ICTs worked in the field. Findings revealed that ICTs had been increasingly used for and directly linked with agricultural transformation, increased agricultural productivity and improved rural livelihoods in Tanzania in the past two decades. Smallholder farmers rely on ICT tools, particularly mobile phones and radios, to access agricultural-related information, which helps them increase agricultural productivity. The limited number of public extension service agents forces most smallholder farmers to opt for ICTs as an alternative source of agricultural information. In this case, the agricultural extension department from the ministry of agriculture should work closely with telecom, broadcasting companies and other stakeholders to strengthen and initiate more appropriate ICT infrastructure and services targeting the smallholder farmers.

Although video content includes many advantages over audio content in terms of information delivery, the latter is being continuously released into the market. Additionally, audio content is being consumed in repetitive daily work situations that require the continuous use of eyesight because such content transmits information by only using auditory stimuli. Therefore, this study examined how listening to audio content while performing simple repetitive tasks can affect the performance and perception of such tasks. Based on the findings, although the audio content type decreased the participants’ performance of the primary task, the difference was not statistically significant. Contrary to the effect on performance, the audio content lowered the fatigue and boredom of the primary task, while increasing satisfaction, enjoyment, and immersion. In particular, music, entertainment speech, and information speech had a significant effect on the participants’ work cognition, whereas autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) had no statistically significant effect.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the information needs of physicians and residents during the clinical decision-making. The research has been performed with phenomenological approach and using semi-structured interview based on critical incident technique with 28 physicians and residents of the educational health care centers of Birjand city South Khorasan province, Iran. The results showed that the information needs of physicians and residents were mostly related to diseases, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, disease follow-up, learning and self-updating, education and research. The information sources utilized were categorized into three main themes of human sources, electronic sources and print sources. The barriers against their information seeking were personal, organizational, technological, skill related, nature of information seeking, and barriers related to information sources. The present study provides a clear picture of the information needs, the information resources and the barriers to finding information for physicians and residents, therefore, the results of the present study can help medical libraries to improve their collection of resources and services to support the information needs of physicians and residents. It also paves the way for designers of information systems in creating systems that suit the needs of physicians in every stage of clinical decision-making and helps libraries in solving the challenges of finding information for physicians.

The study assessed the information literacy (IL), attitude towards research and research competence of Library and Information Science (LIS) undergraduates in South-West Nigeria universities. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A two-stage sampling technique was employed for the study to get a final sample of 401. Questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) were the instruments for the study. Out of 401 copies of the questionnaire, 392 were found usable, which constituted a 97% return rate. The data gathered were analysed with the aid of the SPSS by the use of frequency, percentage and correlation. Thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative data (FGD). The study found that the LIS undergraduates had poor IL, a mixed display of attitude towards research, and an acceptable level of research competence. Further, there was a significant relationship between IL and research competence of LIS undergraduates. The study recommends training on the acquisition of IL skills at the earlier levels of the LIS degree to help with research motivation and comprehension.

Archives have become acceptable evidence in the context of land restitution to prove events that occurred in the past during land dispossessions. However, some researchers contend that archives are not always available and accessible when restitution claimants seek them due to loss, restrictions and lack of intellectual control. The purpose of this study was to explore archives as a tool to support or hinder land restitution in South Africa. This qualitative study used snowball sampling to select participants from restitution claimants, while purposive sampling was used to select project officers at the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) and archivists at the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA), respectively. Data were collected through interviews. The key finding indicates that there are a large number of unresolved land claims to redress land dispossession injustices caused by missing records, language barriers, unclassified information and access restrictions. The study concludes by arguing that archives can empower the claimants if available and accessible, while, on the other hand, they can disempower the claimants if unavailable and inaccessible.

The ICT-income inequality relationship and the governance quality-income inequality nexus have been investigated in recent years. However, the moderating effect of ICT on the governance quality-income inequality linkage has been largely ignored. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines the moderating effect of ICT on the relationship between governance quality and income inequality for a panel of 42 sub-Saharan African economies over the period 1996–2020. To achieve this goal, the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique has been adopted. The results reveal that while ICT contributes to the improvement of income distribution, governance quality contributes to the exacerbation of income inequality. Interestingly, the results unveil that the promotion of E-governance could contribute to improve social welfare and reduce income inequality. Policy implications are given based on the findings of this study. For instance, institutional reforms must be conducted by considering ICT as an important factor to improve income distribution.

With the increasing use of social media and the frequent question of privacy invasion, this study aims to give an insight into young adult netizen's-citizens of the internet and people born into the digital era- perception of the existing surveillance culture surrounding social media today as studies and recent statistics have shown that young adults all over the world make up the greater percentage of social media users. While this paper is centered around privacy on social media and information capitalism as key theoretical frameworks that conceptualizes surveillance and participatory surveillance system, this study gives an exploratory understanding of netizens opinion on the issue as we investigate their awareness and perception of social media surveillance. Using a qualitative method, this study utilizes interviews with 35 university students between the ages of 18–25 as a primary source of data collection. Findings from this study show although netizens are aware of the surveillance culture on social media, they strongly believe that they are captives of social media surveillance. Participatory surveillance occurs amongst them only because they have little or no choice as surveillance is embedded in the digital world they choose to participate in. Lastly, participants believe that it is difficult to hold a faceless watcher accountable so they do not question the system.

Hermetic grain storage (HGS) bags are simple and appropriate to effectively protect stored grains against pests and aflatoxins in areas where effective facilities are lacking. This study assessed farmers’ knowledge and perceptions associated with current practices, awareness-facilitating agents, and HGS bags in interior southern Ghana. The main objective was to provide information that can be included in sensitization and awareness creation programs to increase adoption of HGS bags for sustainable production of grain crops, food security, income-generation, and livelihood improvement across farming communities in selected areas in southern Ghana. Therefore, 925 smallholder farmers were randomly selected and interviewed across three districts (or municipals), which included West Akim Municipal, Ayensuano District, and Suhum Municipal in southern Ghana, using a semi-structured questionnaire for data collection and analysis. The results showed that 95.24% of farmers were still using ineffective grain storage approaches to store grains. Average awareness level about HGS bags among farmers was ≤30%, whereas adoption of HGS bags was very low (4.76%). However, awareness and adoption were mostly observed in West Akim Municipal. Although awareness was significantly dependent on numerous demographic and farming factors, it had significant positive correlations with ‘female farmers’ and respondents’ age-range (36–50 years) only; it suggests that if these two factors are considered in sensitization programs, they will increase awareness about HGS bags. The most performing awareness-facilitating agent was the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, followed by famers’ neighbors. Nonetheless, farmers (who were aware of or adopted HGS bags) were facing challenges or limitations. Hence, the need for training smallholder farmers has been discussed.

A randomized survey experiment was used to investigate the influence of digital information treatment on the subjective attitudes of agricultural extension agents. The objective was to explore the influence and mechanism of the digital economy on agricultural extension performance. This paper sets up the digital economy as a counterfactual information treatment. The sample was split into two groups using group randomization according to the location and type of unit where the agricultural extension agents were stationed. When responding to questions about the issues encountered, the randomly chosen treatment participants were informed of the numerous changes and implications the digital economy would bring to agricultural extension. In contrast, the control group answered the same questions without receiving the treatment information. The empirical results indicate that digital information treatment significantly affected agricultural extension agents’ preferred choice of extension service supply. Also, the recognition of the impact of actions to innovate the service mode and enhance the service capability of agricultural extension agents was much enhanced by the use of digital information treatment. The type of units dispatched and the scale of production of service recipients have significant moderating effects. Digital information treatment has a greater influence on the attitude of specialists from universities and research institutes and those whose service recipients are small farmers. The paper highlights the important role of government in the development of the digital economy by actively providing digital public goods for agricultural extension services.

Based on 35 empirical studies, this study conducts a meta-analysis of the factors related to users’ adoption of mobile learning to obtain unified findings. The results showed that factors are correlated with adoption intention in the following order, from highest to lowest: performance expectancy, attitude, perceived enjoyment, learning autonomy, facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, self-management, social influence, and personal innovativeness. Cultural differences among countries/regions moderate the relationships between perceived enjoyment and adoption intention and self-management and adoption intention. This study proposes an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to provide references and ideas on how the use of mobile learning can be improved in the future.

This research aims to explore the digital marketing paradox in the context of a sustainable framework. It investigates the relationship between usability, customer behavior, and the sustainable digital performance of effective strategies, as well as the regulated usability of e-commerce as a digital platform (including ethics, regulations, and practices). A qualitative research design was employed to develop a sustainable digital framework for these industries. This was followed by a quantitative descriptive analysis to provide triangulated results. This research collected and analyzed primary and secondary data from four case studies. The data were sourced from multiple industries, focusing on the perspectives of marketing professionals. Primary data were gathered through interviews with marketing professionals from various sectors, while secondary data were obtained through literature reviews and sustainability reports. The empirical findings identified two key types of sustainable digital-influencing themes: internally-focused and externally-focused digital marketing drivers integrated within digital platforms. These drivers demonstrate how they leverage improvements in sustainability digital performance, including digital platform approaches and governance structures. The findings highlight an innovative digital marketing paradox integrated into digital platform approaches, which contributes a novel empirical perspective to enhancing the industry's decision-making processes for creating successful sustainability-focused digital performance, encompassing ethics, regulations, and best practices. This research represents one of the few attempts to explore the integration of digital marketing into digital platforms for improved sustainability digital performance by addressing effective strategies and regulatory challenges. Thus, this study contributes to both the theoretical and practical knowledge of digital platforms, especially within emerging economies such as Jordan.