Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a survey undertaken at Al Ain University of Science and Technology (AAU) to investigate and understand faculty awareness, use and perception of Open Access (OA) resources. Design/methodology/approach: – Using a Web-based survey questionnaire, data were collected from full-time faculty members teaching at AAU, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Findings: – The study found that faculty members possess a good knowledge and a positive perception of OA resources. They frequently use OA resources for teaching, learning and research activities. However, the findings indicate that female faculty members are more likely to use OA resources than male faculty members. Faculty members with a high level of awareness or use are found to have a highly positive perception of OA resources. Presenting research reports at conferences and seminars or publishing research papers is weakly associated with the level of awareness and use of OA resources. The study revealed no association between the faculty member and their use of OA resources. Research limitations/implications: – It is essential for scientific communities to understand the importance of OA resources and how to use them effectively in teaching, learning and research activities. Originality/value: – This kind of research is new to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in general and the UAE in particular. The findings of the study may help to improve the awareness and the use of OA resources among scientific communities not only in the Arab countries but also around the world.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze demographic differences in using knowledge creation tools among faculty members. It also attempts to identify the most knowledge creation tool used by the participants. The tools comprised of 13 items including data mining, metadata, classifications, expert profiling, Mashup and blogs. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through an online survey questionnaire. A total of 300 faculty members from 26 universities and colleges accredited by the UAE Ministry of High Education participated in the study. The t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test are used to validate the stated hypotheses. Findings: The study found personal knowledge management to be the most used knowledge creation tool among the faculty members, followed by authoring tools and templates. Findings of the study indicate statistically no significant difference in using knowledge creation tools with respect to gender, qualification, academic rank, teaching experience and institutional affiliation. These findings support the stated null hypotheses (H1, H3, H4, H6 and H8) and suggest that the use of knowledge creation tools is independent from these variables. However, the results showed statistically a significant age group difference, academic specialization and research experience in using knowledge creation tools. The findings reject the assumed hypotheses (H2, H5 and H7) and suggest the impact of these variables on the use of knowledge creation tools. Research limitations/implications: The paper is based on the data collected through a survey questionnaire. Future studies may combine quantitative and qualitative data collection methods for the purpose of comparison and in-depth analysis. Practical implications: Findings could be an important reference for knowledge management officers and knowledge intensive organizations and institutions to develop knowledge creation tools and promote usage among knowledge workers. Originality/value: The paper represents one of the very few empirical studies conducted on the use of knowledge creation tools. Findings of the study may contribute to the process of knowledge creation among faculty members and also to the improvement of knowledge management in the academic environment and other knowledge organizations.

The integration of the Internet has affected all functions of the library, particularly reference services. In the reference department, this integration has led to the utilisation of new tools and methods for providing information to library users. This study investigates the effect of the Internet on reference services in Malaysian academic libraries. The objective of the study was to find out how the integration of the Internet has affected reference professionals and services. The study also investigated respondents’ perceptions of the importance of the Internet in reference work. A total of 40 library professionals working in the reference department of nine Malaysian academic libraries participated in the study. Respondents felt that the Internet has contributed positively to reference work and has enhanced their effectiveness and efficiency. However, a majority of them disagreed that the Internet should completely replace traditional reference tools. Respondents also felt that reference librarians should possess good computing and Internet use skills for providing effective reference services.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to explore and measure the relative efficiency of the academic libraries within the GCC countries in terms of their abilities to transform their allocated resources into a specific level of outputs using a non-parametric frontier method – data envelopment analysis (DEA).Design/methodology/approach: – In order to estimate the overall efficiency score, as well as the technical and scale efficiency of the academic libraries within the GCC countries, online questionnaire is first addressed to academic libraries’ managers and directors. Second, three output measures – circulation, number of books added, and number of registered members and three input factors – number of books held, number of library staff, and the actual allocated budget are used in the analysis for the academic year 2010/2011. Third, the output-oriented version of DEA model is deployed to assess the performance and resource utilization efficiency of 11 academic libraries from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Findings: – Among the 11 academic libraries analyzed, five libraries are rated fully efficient whereas inefficiency of the other six libraries is attributed to pure technical inefficiency rather than scale inefficiency. The results also shed light on the area of improvement required for inefficient libraries.Research limitations/implications: – The sample is small due to the culture of high tendency toward secrecy and confidential in the GCC region. Moreover, follow-up research using panel data derived from GCC countries is required to investigate the impact of policy changes on libraries performance as an attempt to test and generalize the current results.Originality/value: – The paper is original in its application where the current study, as far as authors are aware, represents the first attempt to apply DEA approach for evaluating academic libraries performance in this part of the world.

Purpose: The purpose of this case study is to assess and compare the performance of an academic library, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on data collected from the library management system, usage reports of online databases, and monthly reports and archives to evaluate and assess library performance in managerial activities, collection development, collection treatment, collection circulation, usage of digital resources, quality control, reference services and information literacy activities. Frequency distributions and non-parametric tests were used in identifying differences and testing hypotheses.Findings: The study found that library performance before the COVID-19 pandemic outperformed library performance during the pandemic in collection development, collection treatment, collection circulation, access and use of digital resources, quality control and information literacy. On the other hand, the library demonstrated higher performance in managerial activities and reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic than that of before the pandemic period. Interestingly, the analysis of the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test revealed statistically no significant difference in the library performance before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results supported all the eight hypotheses stated in this study.Research limitations/implications: This is a case study based on data collected from an academic library in the UAE before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings may not be generalized and may differ if more data are analyzed from many academic libraries.Practical implications: COVID-19 pandemic is a turning point for library managers to increase the number of digital resources and services, to ensure that library staff are equipped with essential and up-to-date information and communication technology (ICT) skills and knowledge, to ensure that library users are equipped with essential and up-to-date information literacy skills and knowledge. These will enable them to satisfy users' information needs and ensure library operation in disasters and crisis periods.Originality/value: This is one of the few studies conducted in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to evaluate library performance before and during COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study could be an important reference in understanding how libraries responded to COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East. The results of the study may contribute to the provision of digital resources and services during the pandemic and disasters in the UAE and the Arab world.

According to official reports, the divorce rate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is very high. Such a high rate is attributed to many factors. This study investigates factors and causes leading to separation and divorce in Al Ain, UAE. The article uses a descriptive approach to analyze data collected from 114 participants, including 70 women and 44 men. Findings of the study indicated that family intervention is the main and most obvious factors causing divorces in the UAE, followed by the negligence of spouses. Surprisingly, age, educational level, and employment do not play a key role in divorce. Although the findings of the study cannot be generalized, this article highlights important implications for local authorities, educational institutions, and social activists in reducing the number of divorces in the UAE.