S. Baruchson-arbib - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by S. Baruchson-arbib
Knowledge Management Research & Practice
This study examines the challenges and methods of knowledge management (KM) effectiveness assessm... more This study examines the challenges and methods of knowledge management (KM) effectiveness assessment in knowledge-intensive organisations. Specifically, the authors put the spotlight, for the first time, on KM professionals' perceptions regarding the examination of KM success that relies on non-financial indicators. The research was conducted with the participation of 21 KM experts through in-depth interviews and focus groups. The results reveal that many organisations do not carry out systematic and consistent KM measurements. Recognising the ever changing dynamics of organisations, the reasons behind the neglect of this evaluation are presented in the paper. As the challenges of the field and the KM effectiveness evaluation are of the lesser developed aspects of the discipline, the present study gives rise to significant innovations. Furthermore, it adopts the call to understand the added value of KM from a wider perspective than that which focuses pure financial metrics.
The International Review of Information Ethics, 2004
Recent studies have shown a growing tendency among students to commit plagiarism, especially from... more Recent studies have shown a growing tendency among students to commit plagiarism, especially from online information sources. This unpleasant phenomenon has a far- reaching impact on both the scientific world and the information society. The present study aimed to examine students' perceptions toward acts of plagiarism, in order to explore whether plagiarism from internet sources is perceived differently than plagiarism from printed sources. Findings of the present study indicate that students perceive plagiarism offences from online sources as significantly less dishonest than similar offences using printed sources. Possible implications of these findings are discussed and several conclusions are noted. Analysis of these findings from a broad perspective highlights the essential need to address ethical issues concerning uses of both online and offline information sources.
School Libraries Worldwide, 2000
The concept of bibliotherapy has been known since ancient times. Despite the concept's direct... more The concept of bibliotherapy has been known since ancient times. Despite the concept's direct connection to books and libraries and despite its potential as a means of support and aid, it has not attained a clear status in library science. The therapeutic nature of bibliotherapy does not allow its full application in libraries, but the author suggests focusing on the developmental aspect of bibliotherapy and defining it with a new term: supportive knowledge.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2005
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006
SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens’ Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic si... more SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens’ Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic site, where the sources of most of the external hits are result pages of general search engines. In this paper we analyzed these external hits with an emphasis on the specific queries submitted to the general search engines (e.g., Google and MSN).
Aslib Proceedings, 2012
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The compan... more Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.
The Israeli Citizen's Advice Bureau (SHIL - an acronym for its name in Hebrew: Sherut Yeutz ... more The Israeli Citizen's Advice Bureau (SHIL - an acronym for its name in Hebrew: Sherut Yeutz Laezrach) is charged with providing the public with information about rights, social benefits, government and public services and civil obligations. It does so using sixty centers throughout Israel, phone hotlines and a very active website (http://shil.info). The website began operations in 1994; has undergone a number of major upgrades, and currently is a comprehensive site providing information on the above-mentioned topics. The current site contains interfaces in four languages; it addresses both national and local audiences and topics, and has an active "backoffice" that facilitates constant updating of content. The topics are arranged in a hierarchical directory-like fashion. In addition the site has a very active forum, where the citizens' questions are answered by SHIL employees and volunteers.
Libri, 2011
In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of t... more In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of the Israeli public about public and governmental services and entitlements. This survey was conducted as part of a research project on public use of online information: usage analysis of the Israeli Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL) on the Web. The questionnaire was distributed in public places to a random selection of 437 Israeli citizens aged 18 and above, in the second half of 2008. Research assistants handed out the questionnaires and the participants filled in the surveys on the spot. If necessary the assistants provided help in the process. The questionnaire included questions on the information needs and major sources of information for fulfilling these needs. The respondents were mainly concerned about health, transportation and education related issues, but work relations were also of primary concern. The preferred sources of information were family and friends, followed by the Internet. There was very low awareness to the Israeli Citizen Advice Bureau-SHIL, that maintains physical offices throughout the country, telephone hotlines and an extensive Web site, and its aim is to provide citizen-related information. An interesting question that can be addressed in future research is the fact that while the SHIL service is relatively unpopular in Israel, respective Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABx) have much higher visibility and popularity in other countries. What are the dimensions of similarity and difference in the service and the populations served that might account for this difference?
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2007
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2002
... is a need for skilled librarians that are specialists in managing, retrieving, filtering, and... more ... is a need for skilled librarians that are specialists in managing, retrieving, filtering, and evaluating ... rather than a place begins to open up our thinking about the future roles of ... It investigated through a Delphi panel of experts, issues concerning the transition that the LIS profession ...
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2013
Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we we... more Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we were interested in users of online, citizen rights websites, such as the SHIL site ( http://shil.info ). Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. Surveys were undertaken to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL users and potential users unaware of the existence of the website. The surveys were administered to samples from three populations (current users of this site, previous users of the site, and users who filled in an offline questionnaire and were mostly unaware of the existence of the SHIL website). We report several interesting differences between the three groups, and suggest future work on analyzing the site, its users, the content it provides and the needs it serves.
Journal of Information Science, 2007
SHIL on the Web is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. It provides informatio... more SHIL on the Web is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. It provides information about rights, social benefits, government and public services and civil obligations. Activity on the site approaches 10,000 pages visited per day. It has interfaces in four languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English. Logfile analysis of the SHIL website revealed to our surprise that about 60.7% of the requests reaching SHIL from external sites (excluding requests from robots) are from general search engines (e.g. Google and MSN), and users reach a specific page on the site linked from the search results page. This finding seems to indicate that the site is not known well enough to the public. On the other hand the site is very active, thus it seems to serve Israeli citizens well, even without being a well known brand. In this paper we analyzed the external requests coming from search engines. The analysis is based on the 266,295 queries from search engines that reached SHIL during ...
Journal of Information Science, 2007
The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in... more The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in Israel according to two theoretical frameworks, the 'cost—benefit ratio' that focused on the quality of the information provided by the channel and the 'least effort principle' that focused on the accessibility of the channel. The study sought to identify which of the two parameters, quality of information or accessibility of the channel, was the decisive one when selecting an information channel. In order to further understand the underlying principle behind scholars' choice of information channels participants were asked about the obstacles they face when searching for information. Four obstacles were stipulated in the structured questionnaire: (1) cost; (2) distance, when the item can only be found at a distant location; (3) unfriendly interface; and (4) time that it takes to get hold of a copy of the desired item. Findings showed that, in general, participants...
Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 2000
Page 1. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and the Information Society Page 2. Pag... more Page 1. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and the Information Society Page 2. Page 3. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE This One 2URH-Z82-K6K3 Page 4. To Eric with love Page 5. SOCIAL INFORMATION ...
Next Generation Information Technologies and Systems, 2006
SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. This is a high traff... more SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic site, where the sources of most of the external hits are result pages of general search engines. In this paper we analyzed these external hits with an emphasis on the specific queries submitted to the general search engines (eg, Google and MSN). The findings provide an insight to the general interests of the Israeli web users related to citizens' information.
This paper is about studying citizens' information needs through a collection of different r... more This paper is about studying citizens' information needs through a collection of different research lenses. We were interested in users of online, citizen rights web sites, such as the SHIL (http://shil. info) site. Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. In order to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used, and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL, users and potential users unaware of the existence of the Website, were surveyed, using a trio of ...
Copyright of works published in School Libraries Worldwide is jointly held by the author(s) and b... more Copyright of works published in School Libraries Worldwide is jointly held by the author(s) and by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). The author(s) retain copyright of their works, but give permission to IASL to reprint their works in collections or other such documents published by or on behalf of IASL. Author(s) who give permission for their works to be reprinted elsewhere should inform the editor of School Libraries Worldwide and should ensure that the following statement
Public Library Quarterly, 1997
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the new self-help section in public libraries in Israel. The author... more ABSTRACT This paper discusses the new self-help section in public libraries in Israel. The author suggests expanding the activities of the public library by building a unique self-help section that will include practical social information as well as belles-lettres for support and encouragement. This new section will be organized by a new Social Information Scientist who will be aware of the social needs of the public as well as new information technologies. A survey conducted in Israel in 1994, made clear that there is an awareness of the need for a self-help section in most libraries. Some librarians (67.5%) have such a section but most of them do not have a special policy for choosing books. Almost 40% of the readers expressed interest in this new section, but there is a lot to be done yet in order to utilize the potential of such a section and meet the needs of the public.
Libri, 2000
Abstract In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of mem... more Abstract In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of the Israeli public about public and governmental services and entitlements. This survey was conducted as part of a research project on public use of online information: usage analysis of the Israeli Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL) on the Web. The questionnaire was distributed in public places to a random selection of 437 Israeli citizens aged 18 and above, in the second half of 2008. Research assistants handed out the questionnaires ...
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2014
ABSTRACT Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifical... more ABSTRACT Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we were interested in users of online, citizen rights websites, such as the SHIL site (http://shil.info). Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. Surveys were undertaken to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL users and potential users unaware of the existence of the website. The surveys were administered to samples from three populations (current users of this site, previous users of the site, and users who filled in an offline questionnaire and were mostly unaware of the existence of the SHIL website). We report several interesting differences between the three groups, and suggest future work on analyzing the site, its users, the content it provides and the needs it serves.
Knowledge Management Research & Practice
This study examines the challenges and methods of knowledge management (KM) effectiveness assessm... more This study examines the challenges and methods of knowledge management (KM) effectiveness assessment in knowledge-intensive organisations. Specifically, the authors put the spotlight, for the first time, on KM professionals' perceptions regarding the examination of KM success that relies on non-financial indicators. The research was conducted with the participation of 21 KM experts through in-depth interviews and focus groups. The results reveal that many organisations do not carry out systematic and consistent KM measurements. Recognising the ever changing dynamics of organisations, the reasons behind the neglect of this evaluation are presented in the paper. As the challenges of the field and the KM effectiveness evaluation are of the lesser developed aspects of the discipline, the present study gives rise to significant innovations. Furthermore, it adopts the call to understand the added value of KM from a wider perspective than that which focuses pure financial metrics.
The International Review of Information Ethics, 2004
Recent studies have shown a growing tendency among students to commit plagiarism, especially from... more Recent studies have shown a growing tendency among students to commit plagiarism, especially from online information sources. This unpleasant phenomenon has a far- reaching impact on both the scientific world and the information society. The present study aimed to examine students' perceptions toward acts of plagiarism, in order to explore whether plagiarism from internet sources is perceived differently than plagiarism from printed sources. Findings of the present study indicate that students perceive plagiarism offences from online sources as significantly less dishonest than similar offences using printed sources. Possible implications of these findings are discussed and several conclusions are noted. Analysis of these findings from a broad perspective highlights the essential need to address ethical issues concerning uses of both online and offline information sources.
School Libraries Worldwide, 2000
The concept of bibliotherapy has been known since ancient times. Despite the concept's direct... more The concept of bibliotherapy has been known since ancient times. Despite the concept's direct connection to books and libraries and despite its potential as a means of support and aid, it has not attained a clear status in library science. The therapeutic nature of bibliotherapy does not allow its full application in libraries, but the author suggests focusing on the developmental aspect of bibliotherapy and defining it with a new term: supportive knowledge.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2005
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006
SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens’ Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic si... more SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens’ Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic site, where the sources of most of the external hits are result pages of general search engines. In this paper we analyzed these external hits with an emphasis on the specific queries submitted to the general search engines (e.g., Google and MSN).
Aslib Proceedings, 2012
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The compan... more Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.
The Israeli Citizen's Advice Bureau (SHIL - an acronym for its name in Hebrew: Sherut Yeutz ... more The Israeli Citizen's Advice Bureau (SHIL - an acronym for its name in Hebrew: Sherut Yeutz Laezrach) is charged with providing the public with information about rights, social benefits, government and public services and civil obligations. It does so using sixty centers throughout Israel, phone hotlines and a very active website (http://shil.info). The website began operations in 1994; has undergone a number of major upgrades, and currently is a comprehensive site providing information on the above-mentioned topics. The current site contains interfaces in four languages; it addresses both national and local audiences and topics, and has an active "backoffice" that facilitates constant updating of content. The topics are arranged in a hierarchical directory-like fashion. In addition the site has a very active forum, where the citizens' questions are answered by SHIL employees and volunteers.
Libri, 2011
In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of t... more In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of the Israeli public about public and governmental services and entitlements. This survey was conducted as part of a research project on public use of online information: usage analysis of the Israeli Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL) on the Web. The questionnaire was distributed in public places to a random selection of 437 Israeli citizens aged 18 and above, in the second half of 2008. Research assistants handed out the questionnaires and the participants filled in the surveys on the spot. If necessary the assistants provided help in the process. The questionnaire included questions on the information needs and major sources of information for fulfilling these needs. The respondents were mainly concerned about health, transportation and education related issues, but work relations were also of primary concern. The preferred sources of information were family and friends, followed by the Internet. There was very low awareness to the Israeli Citizen Advice Bureau-SHIL, that maintains physical offices throughout the country, telephone hotlines and an extensive Web site, and its aim is to provide citizen-related information. An interesting question that can be addressed in future research is the fact that while the SHIL service is relatively unpopular in Israel, respective Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABx) have much higher visibility and popularity in other countries. What are the dimensions of similarity and difference in the service and the populations served that might account for this difference?
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2007
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2002
... is a need for skilled librarians that are specialists in managing, retrieving, filtering, and... more ... is a need for skilled librarians that are specialists in managing, retrieving, filtering, and evaluating ... rather than a place begins to open up our thinking about the future roles of ... It investigated through a Delphi panel of experts, issues concerning the transition that the LIS profession ...
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2013
Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we we... more Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we were interested in users of online, citizen rights websites, such as the SHIL site ( http://shil.info ). Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. Surveys were undertaken to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL users and potential users unaware of the existence of the website. The surveys were administered to samples from three populations (current users of this site, previous users of the site, and users who filled in an offline questionnaire and were mostly unaware of the existence of the SHIL website). We report several interesting differences between the three groups, and suggest future work on analyzing the site, its users, the content it provides and the needs it serves.
Journal of Information Science, 2007
SHIL on the Web is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. It provides informatio... more SHIL on the Web is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. It provides information about rights, social benefits, government and public services and civil obligations. Activity on the site approaches 10,000 pages visited per day. It has interfaces in four languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English. Logfile analysis of the SHIL website revealed to our surprise that about 60.7% of the requests reaching SHIL from external sites (excluding requests from robots) are from general search engines (e.g. Google and MSN), and users reach a specific page on the site linked from the search results page. This finding seems to indicate that the site is not known well enough to the public. On the other hand the site is very active, thus it seems to serve Israeli citizens well, even without being a well known brand. In this paper we analyzed the external requests coming from search engines. The analysis is based on the 266,295 queries from search engines that reached SHIL during ...
Journal of Information Science, 2007
The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in... more The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in Israel according to two theoretical frameworks, the 'cost—benefit ratio' that focused on the quality of the information provided by the channel and the 'least effort principle' that focused on the accessibility of the channel. The study sought to identify which of the two parameters, quality of information or accessibility of the channel, was the decisive one when selecting an information channel. In order to further understand the underlying principle behind scholars' choice of information channels participants were asked about the obstacles they face when searching for information. Four obstacles were stipulated in the structured questionnaire: (1) cost; (2) distance, when the item can only be found at a distant location; (3) unfriendly interface; and (4) time that it takes to get hold of a copy of the desired item. Findings showed that, in general, participants...
Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 2000
Page 1. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and the Information Society Page 2. Pag... more Page 1. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE Shifra Baruchson-Arbib and the Information Society Page 2. Page 3. SOCIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE This One 2URH-Z82-K6K3 Page 4. To Eric with love Page 5. SOCIAL INFORMATION ...
Next Generation Information Technologies and Systems, 2006
SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. This is a high traff... more SHIL on the Webp is the website of the Israeli Citizens' Advice Bureau. This is a high traffic site, where the sources of most of the external hits are result pages of general search engines. In this paper we analyzed these external hits with an emphasis on the specific queries submitted to the general search engines (eg, Google and MSN). The findings provide an insight to the general interests of the Israeli web users related to citizens' information.
This paper is about studying citizens' information needs through a collection of different r... more This paper is about studying citizens' information needs through a collection of different research lenses. We were interested in users of online, citizen rights web sites, such as the SHIL (http://shil. info) site. Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. In order to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used, and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL, users and potential users unaware of the existence of the Website, were surveyed, using a trio of ...
Copyright of works published in School Libraries Worldwide is jointly held by the author(s) and b... more Copyright of works published in School Libraries Worldwide is jointly held by the author(s) and by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). The author(s) retain copyright of their works, but give permission to IASL to reprint their works in collections or other such documents published by or on behalf of IASL. Author(s) who give permission for their works to be reprinted elsewhere should inform the editor of School Libraries Worldwide and should ensure that the following statement
Public Library Quarterly, 1997
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the new self-help section in public libraries in Israel. The author... more ABSTRACT This paper discusses the new self-help section in public libraries in Israel. The author suggests expanding the activities of the public library by building a unique self-help section that will include practical social information as well as belles-lettres for support and encouragement. This new section will be organized by a new Social Information Scientist who will be aware of the social needs of the public as well as new information technologies. A survey conducted in Israel in 1994, made clear that there is an awareness of the need for a self-help section in most libraries. Some librarians (67.5%) have such a section but most of them do not have a special policy for choosing books. Almost 40% of the readers expressed interest in this new section, but there is a lot to be done yet in order to utilize the potential of such a section and meet the needs of the public.
Libri, 2000
Abstract In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of mem... more Abstract In this paper we report the results of an offline survey of the information needs of members of the Israeli public about public and governmental services and entitlements. This survey was conducted as part of a research project on public use of online information: usage analysis of the Israeli Citizens Advice Bureau (SHIL) on the Web. The questionnaire was distributed in public places to a random selection of 437 Israeli citizens aged 18 and above, in the second half of 2008. Research assistants handed out the questionnaires ...
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2014
ABSTRACT Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifical... more ABSTRACT Day-to-day information needed by citizens can be sought in a variety of ways. Specifically, we were interested in users of online, citizen rights websites, such as the SHIL site (http://shil.info). Our results report findings from three parallel data collection efforts. Surveys were undertaken to gain a better understanding of how the SHIL website is used and to compare the information needs and information sources used by SHIL users and potential users unaware of the existence of the website. The surveys were administered to samples from three populations (current users of this site, previous users of the site, and users who filled in an offline questionnaire and were mostly unaware of the existence of the SHIL website). We report several interesting differences between the three groups, and suggest future work on analyzing the site, its users, the content it provides and the needs it serves.