Research Articles (Information Science)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/976

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 363

The outlook of final-year students in information science on the world of work
Mearns, Martie A.; Bester, Elmi (AOSIS, 2025-12-01)
BACKGROUND : The principle of co-creation in curriculum design has become fundamental in recent times, necessitating the multiplicity of relevant voices to speak into curriculum design. These voices include those of the student, academics, professional and industry partners. OBJECTIVES : This research presents the perspectives of final-year undergraduate students on the world of work and the relevance of their academic preparation related to their imagined future. METHOD : Secondary data from a practical assessment using SenseMaker®, a distributed digital ethnographic methodology, were used, which collected micro-narratives from the students. Students self-analysed their narratives into a pre-designed quantitative framework. Further secondary data extracts were collected from an assessment in which students reflected on their skills gained, skills required and skills gap aligned to the potential careers that they can pursue with a qualification in information science. RESULTS : The results show a strong techno-centric view among students, a significant cluster that feels anxious about their immediate future and the future of work, and a potential understatement of wellbeing. CONCLUSION : This study shows the potential of using SenseMaker® to support distributed ethnography as an approach to bring the multiplicity of voices into curriculum design, as well as a rich narrative repository for professionals and industry who will be leading these new professionals as they enter the workplace. CONTRIBUTION : Soon-to-be graduates, employers and educational institutions gain insight into the relevance of the already developed curriculum, the experiences and skills development of students, their aspirations towards future expectations and their disposition towards their current and imagined realities.
Growing maturity and diversity of the knowledge management field in South Africa and beyond
Ribière, Vincent M.; Mearns, Martie A.; Enakrire, Rexwhite T. (AOSIS, 2025-12)
It is a great honour for us to serve as editors of this special South African Journal of Information Management (SAJIM) issue on the theme ‘Embedding Knowledge Management into Business Processes for Operational Excellence’. This theme formed the focus of the 2025 Knowledge Management South Africa (KMSA) Imbizo conference, held in Franschhoek from 25 August 2025 to 28 August 2025. This special issue brings together five articles that collectively illuminate the diverse ways in which knowledge management (KM) is embedded into business processes to advance operational excellence. The five articles’ contribution covers various organisational contexts, methodological approaches, and thematic foci, yet all converge on the importance of systematically integrating KM into practice.
Knowledge sharing in a remote working organisation
Soonderjee, Cherylene S.; Laughton, Paul (AOSIS, 2025-12-01)
BACKGROUND : With the increase in remote working environments since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, organisations were periodically forced to adopt remote working strategies. Moving to a remote working environment has several advantages and challenges. A challenge faced by most organisations is the adoption of a strategy that would emulate a face-to-face working environment as closely as possible. One crucial aspect in trying to achieve this has been the sharing of knowledge remotely, as knowledge sharing is easier to conduct face-to-face than in a remote working environment. OBJECTIVES : This study explored how knowledge is shared and retained in a remote working organisation. The study also identifies some of the benefits and barriers to knowledge sharing in remote working environments. METHOD : This qualitative study collected empirical data from seven semi-structured interviews with individuals who were part of a remote team from a research organisation. RESULTS : The study found that knowledge can be shared remotely using a combination of processes and technological tools such as online platforms (e.g. Microsoft Teams and SharePoint). It was also found that mentoring and collaboration should be implemented as knowledge-retention strategies. The building of trust through the socialisation of team members should be encouraged to promote knowledge sharing. The findings of this study add value with a focus on sharing knowledge in a remote working organisation to ultimately enhance or optimise knowledge sharing for this environment. CONCLUSION : Collaborative practices such as knowledge sharing can be significantly impacted by the nature of remote working. Strategic initiatives need to be thoughtfully implemented to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing, as the reliance on technology alone may not bring favourable results. CONTRIBUTION : This study adds findings and suggestions to a relatively new but important aspect of knowledge management and focuses on managing knowledge remotely where physical interaction is very limited.
The human dimension in the institutionalisation of enterprise content management
Venter, Hester Louisa; Mearns, Martie A. (AOSIS, 2025-12-01)
BACKGROUND : Enterprise content management (ECM) solutions should be fully institutionalised to achieve improved efficiency, effectiveness or productivity. An ethnographic study spanning 10 years revealed a fragmented view of human behaviour during the institutionalisation of ECM, which was triggered by an implementation at NamPower. OBJECTIVES : Inherent human dimensions observed during the implementation and institutionalisation process sparked discussions with project team members, peers and colleagues, discovering that observed behavioural patterns transcended single institutional boundaries, revealing a globally manifested phenomenon. Consequently, the study focused extensively on the failures of people’s issues in institutionalisation rather than on procedural or technological failures. METHOD : Data collection utilised an information management maturity instrument, gathering 108 responses and conducting a comparative analysis with 296 additional respondents to provide empirical data. This process included a critical analysis of human behaviour frameworks, serving as the theoretical foundation for conceptualising an interdisciplinary approach to human-centred ECM institutionalisation. RESULTS : Data collection highlighted areas for improvement, and the critical analysis of human behaviour frameworks led to a better understanding of the human ecological context in employees’ interactions with information. CONCLUSION : The results indicated involvement of various disciplines in ECM institutionalisation, perpetuating typical siloed approaches, resulting in a fragmented understanding of human behaviour. This paper discusses the complexity of the human ecological dimension and advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to ECM institutionalisation. CONTRIBUTION : Knowledge managers, with their deeper understanding of the human dimension, are ideally positioned to facilitate a systematic interdisciplinary approach to the institutionalisation of ECM, essential for achieving critical success.
Investigating the support of proprioception and visual guidance for menu selection in virtual reality
Ka, Kwan Sui Dave; Bosman, Isak de Villiers; Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel) (South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, 2025-12-22)
Virtual reality (VR) technology enhances spatial awareness in the virtual environment, yet current menu design research seldom explores how this can support interaction. This study investigates how proprioception, users’ sense of body position, can guide menu selection in immersive VR environments. A menu system was developed to test how users interact with menu items using non-visual senses, supported by visual cues. Across three usability sessions, participants engaged with the system, and their evolving behaviours were examined through performance metrics, observations, interviews, and focus groups. Thematic analysis revealed that while users can learn to use proprioceptive cues for menu selection, they rarely rely on them without visual guidance. Effective use requires systems that support spatial awareness and familiarity, allowing interactions to become intuitive and memorised over time. The study also identifies types of visual guidance linked to varying levels of familiarity with surrounding virtual objects. These findings contribute to VR interaction design by demonstrating how visual and proprioceptive cues affect user behaviour and support efficient, embodied menu selection.
The changing role of Nasionale Pers/Naspers : a South African industry giant
Klingenberg, Jana (Springer, 2025-12)
This article focuses on South Africa’s biggest publisher – Nasionale Pers/Naspers – whose goals at the time of their establishment in 1914 were strongly focused on cultural aspects. Throughout its history, the company maintained a strong nationalist focus, and close ties with the National Party government, which implemented apartheid in South Africa. The article investigates how this publisher became the large, multinational, influential company it is today, despite historic and economic challenges. Using Bourdieu’s concepts of culture and commerce, it also examines the cultural impact on the Afrikaans language and literature, and the shift from small-scale to large-scale production. In the current climate, Naspers and its imprints have evolved into a global company focused on world-wide impact. Publishing and the media constitute only a small aspect of its business operations, with the company prioritising profit-driven objectives. The changes at Naspers and its imprints reflect a diminishing emphasis on cultural intitiatives and a stronger emphasis on profitability.
What is left unshared : using a third space lens to explore information sharing behaviour within scrum in agile software development
Meyer, Anika; Fourie, Ina; Hansen, Preben (University of Boras, 2026-05-25)
INTRODUCTION : Examines information sharing and withholding within the scrum framework (an agile software development methodology) through a third space lens. Transparency is vital within scrum. However, in practice, transparency is limited; team members frequently negotiate what information to share and what to withhold. A third space lens can explore transparency according to rigid, formal scrum framework requirements versus how transparency is practised in real-world teamwork. It forms a middle zone (third space) where rigid structures (first space) and informal, lived realities (second space) intersect. Here, different viewpoints, discourse styles, knowledges are created. A third space lens can reveal how culture, context and relationships shape what information is shared, withheld, or negotiated. METHOD : Scoping literature review on information sharing in agile, scrum and software development literature and use of a third space lens, combined with findings from individual interviews from a use case to exemplify information withholding in scrum. ANALYSIS : Thematic analysis of literature and interview data. RESULTS : Information sharing and withholding are negotiated practices in scrum. Information withholding is often conscious, intentional personal or strategic decisions, indicating agency, power dynamics. CONCLUSION : Further research on practical implementations might inform information behaviour research in other contexts and information sharing practices in scrum.
New frontiers of electronic theses and dissertations
Schöpfel, Joachim; Boock, Michael; Rasuli, Behrooz; Van Wyk, Brenda (MDPI, 2025-03)
(1) Background: Since the 1990s, theses and dissertations—a key part of scientific communication—have evolved significantly with advances in information and communication technologies. (2) Methods: This study reviews 99 publications examining these changes, drawing insights from international conferences and empirical studies in the field. (3) Results: Historically, a major challenge in managing PhD theses has been the shift to electronic formats, resulting in the creation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). This shift involves four main tasks: adopting new digital formats, updating institutional workflows between departments, graduate schools, and academic libraries, implementing updated bibliographic standards (such as metadata and identifiers), and utilizing new tools and channels for distribution. With open science becoming a widespread research policy across many countries and institutions, ensuring open access for ETDs is an added challenge—though a substantial portion of ETD content remains restricted to institutional or library networks. Today, ETD management is on the brink of a new era, with advancements in data-driven science and artificial intelligence. (4) Conclusions: The development of ETDs varies significantly across different countries, regions, and institutions due to technological, organizational, and legal differences. It is essential for academic libraries and other stakeholders to address the challenges identified while considering these variations.
Redefining critical literacies and ethics in human–machine conversations in the emergent AI-human zone
Meyer, Anika; Holmner, Marlene Amanda; Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel) (University of Boras, 2026-03-20)
INTRODUCTION : The ‘Emergent Zone’ is a boundary space where humans and AI co-construct meaning, authorship, and responsibility in response to the transformative impact of conversational information retrieval systems. METHOD : Develop a conceptual framework by synthesising the information foraging theory, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and Kuhlthau’s Zones of Intervention, all grounded in LIS literature and expanded through critical AI perspectives. ANALYSIS : AI’s roles as forager, scaffolder, and intervener are illustrated by illustrative exemplum cases from library references, disinformation detection, and learning environments, revealing both efficiencies and profound challenges to agency and accountability. RESULTS : The framework underscores the urgent need for new critical literacies (e.g., prompt, interpretive, algorithmic, and ethical) and positions meta-literacy as an integrative foundation for LIS. CONCLUSION : The Emergent Zone advances scholarship on AI–human interaction, calling for new literacies and reimagined pedagogies and ethics in LIS, and proposes future research emphasising justice-oriented and cross-cultural approaches.
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as information tool for lexicographic information needs
Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel); Gouws, Rufus H. (Bureau of the WAT, 2025-11-04)
ENGLISH : The focus of this paper is on GenAI, chatbots and some implications for lexicography and dictionary use. The use of GenAI as an information tool to provide information to end-users (readers) who have a specific information need when reading a text is discussed. GenAI could previously provide content similar to that of a dictionary but could not provide contextualised answers. This has changed and most chatbots now have two modes, a "search" mode and a "thinking/ reasoning mode", i.e., it is able to argue logically about its different proposed meanings in context and tends to offer a solution. This feature is discussed at the hand of examples, and it seems as if the chatbots can now provide correct contextual meaning and logically motivate the choice of meaning in context, based on their critical analysis and thinking skills although it still "hallucinates" if it has no answer. Hereafter, the role of dictionaries and lexicographers in an AI-enhanced world is discussed. The traditional assignment of dictionaries to document the status and history of a language remains a very important function and needs to be encouraged, especially in environments with limited language resources. However, exploring new commercial ventures, incorporating latest technologies, would be essential to the future of the discipline and industry. AFRIKAANS : Hierdie artikel fokus op GenKI, kletsbotte en sommige implikasies daarvan vir leksikografie en woordeboekgebruik. Die gebruik van GenKI as 'n inligtingswerktuig wat inligting moet verskaf aan eindgebruikers (lesers) met spesifieke inligtingsbehoeftes wanneer hulle 'n teks lees, word bespreek. GenKI kon vroeër inhoud vergelykbaar met dié van 'n woordeboek verskaf, maar kon nie gekontekstualiseerde antwoorde verskaf nie. Dit het verander en die meeste kletsbotte het tans twee modi, naamlik 'n "soekmodus" en 'n "dink/redeneermodus". Hulle kan hulle verskillende betekenisvoorstelle logies binne die gepaste konteks beredeneer en neig om 'n oplossing aan te bied. Hierdie kenmerk word aan die hand van voor-beelde bespreek, en dit lyk asof kletsbotte nou korrekte kontekstuele betekenis kan verskaf en die keuse logies binne die konteks kan motiveer, gebaseer op hulle kritiese analise en denkvaardighede, alhoewel hulle steeds "hallusineer" as hulle nie 'n antwoord het nie. Hierna word die rol van woordeboeke en leksikograwe in 'n KI-versterkte wêreld bespreek. Die tradisionele opdrag van woordeboeke om die status en geskiedenis van 'n taal te dokumenteer, is steeds 'n belangrike funksie wat aangemoedig moet word, veral in omgewings met beperkte taalhulpbronne. Die verkenning van nuwe kommersiële ondernemings, insluitend die nuutste tegnologieë, is egter noodsaaklik vir die toekoms van die dissipline en die industrie.
Librarians to the rescue! An LIS-associated workflow model for the rescue of research data at risk
Patterson, Louise; Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel); Van Deventer, Martha Johanna (Unisa Press, 2025-10)
This study presents a data rescue workflow model and explores the potential roles and responsibilities of the library and information services (LIS) sector in rescuing at-risk data. The methodology was multifaceted, consisting of three distinct phases of data collection and analysis. First, content analysis was conducted on 15 purposively selected data rescue publications to identify key activities that are integral to the data rescue process. This phase resulted in the creation of an initial data rescue workflow model. Second, feedback was obtained from six experienced researchers at a South African research institute, chosen from a sample of criterion-based researchers, after they reviewed the initial model. This feedback was used to revise the model. Third, additional feedback on both the initial and revised models was gathered during a mini focus group session with three purposively selected LIS experts at the same research institute. This feedback was used to refine the model and develop a final recommended data rescue workflow model, which is presented in this study. The recommended model outlines the crucial stages, activities, and outputs of data rescue in a chronological sequence. The study’s outcomes provide new insights into data rescue and the involvement of LIS professionals, highlighting how various LIS experts can contribute to data rescue projects.
The future of academic writing in the age of generative AI
Holmner, Marlene Amanda; Hirsh, Sandra Goldstein; Meyer, Anika; Mierzecka, Anna; Rorissa, Abebe (Wiley, 2025-10)
The evolution of AI tools, such as ChatGPT and SciTE AI, has impacted academic writing by improving research output and simplifying tasks such as idea generation, drafting, and editing. While these tools offer benefits, such as supporting non-English speaking individuals and persons with disabilities, they increase concerns regarding academic integrity, critical thinking, and creativity. A dependence on GenAI can negatively impact cognitive engagement and the growth of critical analysis and problem-solving capacities. Furthermore, AI-generated content blurs the lines between originality and authorship, emphasizing ethical concerns about plagiarism and intellectual property. This panel will discuss ways educational institutions can address these issues by developing comprehensive guidelines to support transparency and accountability in ethical AI use. The potential of AI to improve accessibility should be considered along with concerns over equitable access, as not all individuals have the same opportunities to access high-quality AI tools. Balancing AI's benefits with risks is indispensable for its responsible integration into academic environments.
Narratives of transformation in South African publishing in the 1990s
Le Roux, Elizabeth (Taylor and Francis, 2025-05-22)
Publishing is a particularly important sector to examine when considering issues of cultural change and reconstruction, because it speaks to and seeks to represent the varied identities of the society in which it operates. This paper examines the state of the South African publishing industry in the 1990s, a time of transition and change, as well as crisis due to declines in textbook and library budgets. At a time when prevalent discourses included terms like transition, transparency, inclusivity, diversity, nation building, redemption and reconciliation, framed as a collective vision for the country, the paper considers the discourse of transformation as it relates to publishing and reading. Using articles in newspapers and journals, government and trade reports, as well as internal planning and mission documents from the publishers themselves, in this paper I assess various kinds of transformation, including the aims of both redressing the inequalities of the past, and developing a shared and more inclusive culture.
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as information tool for lexicographic information needs
Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel); Gouws, Rufus H. (Bureau of the WAT, 2025)
ENGLISH : The focus of this paper is on GenAI, chatbots and some implications for lexicography and dictionary use. The use of GenAI as an information tool to provide information to end-users (readers) who have a specific information need when reading a text is discussed. GenAI could previously provide content similar to that of a dictionary but could not provide contextualised answers. This has changed and most chatbots now have two modes, a "search" mode and a "thinking/ reasoning mode", i.e., it is able to argue logically about its different proposed meanings in context and tends to offer a solution. This feature is discussed at the hand of examples, and it seems as if the chatbots can now provide correct contextual meaning and logically motivate the choice of meaning in context, based on their critical analysis and thinking skills although it still "hallucinates" if it has no answer. Hereafter, the role of dictionaries and lexicographers in an AI-enhanced world is discussed. The traditional assignment of dictionaries to document the status and history of a language remains a very important function and needs to be encouraged, especially in environments with limited language resources. However, exploring new commercial ventures, incorporating latest technologies, would be essential to the future of the discipline and industry.
An investigation into the feasibility of using virtual environments as an induction method in SHIP® therapy
Malan, Adolf Weich; Bosman, Isak de Villiers; Bothma, T.J.D. (Theodorus Jan Daniel) (South African Computer Society, 2025-06)
Virtual reality contributes to the successful treatment of patients by assisting those who have difficulty with the process of imagining the required visual images needed during psychotherapy. SHIP® is a form of psychotherapy that suggests that spontaneous healing is a natural tendency that emerges from within a person. It identifies certain activator images as essential pathways for accessing unconscious trauma material that needs healing. The purpose of this study was to examine whether virtual reality can be used as a medium to induce memories through the utilisation of neutral images based on the SHIP® Frame. Two groups of participants were gathered: one group underwent a traditional SHIP® session while the other group underwent the virtual induction with the aid of a head mounted display. A random clinical trial was used to determine the level of induction and identify the helpful aspects that contributed to the induction. The results indicated that virtual reality was able to assist as a cognitive stimulus as well as a cognitive proxy in the overall process of SHIP®.
Developing a knowledge sharing strategy for a South African IT consultancy
Swanepoel, Daniëlle; Laughton, Paul; Meyer, Anika (AOSIS, 2025-06-07)
BACKGROUND : Information technology (IT) consultants find themselves in a fast-paced, fast-changing environment where client satisfaction, project success and problem-solving are their greatest responsibilities. Because of the characteristics of this environment, there is a need in the IT consultancy industry for effective knowledge sharing, to assist their consultants to solve problems faster. OBJECTIVES : The focus of this study was therefore to create such a knowledge sharing strategy by investigating what would be included in a strategy, what the benefits of a knowledge sharing strategy is and what could hinder consultants from sharing their knowledge. METHOD : Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the consultants from the IT consultancy, with the intention to investigate their current knowledge sharing habits and needs, while literature was also consulted to determine the current practices within similar industries. RESULTS : The outcome of the data and literature analysed lead to the development of a knowledge sharing strategy for the IT consultancy where the research was conducted. CONCLUSION : In summary, this study concludes with the development of a customised knowledge sharing strategy, with the intention to increase the IT consultants’ ability to deliver better products and enhance their problem-solving abilities. CONTRIBUTION : This study contributed to the limited existing research on knowledge sharing within South African IT consultancies, thereby enhancing the field of Information Science. It has also granted IT consultancies with insight into how consultants share knowledge and what these consultants believe could be improved regarding knowledge sharing.
Editing My Mother’s Laughter : an interview
Le Roux, Elizabeth; Penfold, Tom (Routledge, 2025)
Ivan Vladislavić and Robert Berold spoke to Tom Penfold and Beth le Roux about the editorial and publishing process for the poetry collection, My Mother’s Laughter, by Chris van Wyk. The interview took place online, on 24 October 2023.
Probleemgebaseerde leer as 'n altematiewe metode in die onderrig van toegepaste taalkursusse op gevorderde vlak : 'n gevalstudie
Snyman, M.M.M. (Maria Magdalena Margaretha) (South African Association for Language Teaching, 2000-04)
In this case study the possibilities of problem-based learning (PBL) was investigated as an alternative teaching strategy in an applied language course. It was found that the students experienced the concept of PBL very positively. This impacted on their quality of learning. In their evaluation of the course they indicated that the course opened new employment opportunities and improved their self-image. Although critics of PBL maintain that less material are covered in a PBL course than in a traditional course, the findings of this study supports the hypothesis that in PBL "the material which is relevant to the 'problem' is generally dealt with in more depth than in a conventional course (Cawley 1991 :56). It was indicated that PBL had additional benefits like inherent motivational characteristics, increased class involvement, a better relationship between students and lecturer and an improvement in the communication skills of students. The author concludes with the suggestion that PBL would perhaps be best accommodated in South African universities by adopting a middle ground to retain benefits of the traditional curriculum while gaining some advantages of problem-based learning (Schwartz e.a. 1993:619).
Digital competencies among the greying population
Odu, Alice Olije; Van Wyk, Brenda (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2024)
Trends in emerging technologies, generative artificial intelligence and the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools necessitated certain skills for successful use. However, individuals, including greying, older adults find themselves at the periphery of the technological revolution. Their predicaments are caused by personal fears, unwillingness to use technologies, declining health conditions, disinterest, inability to transfer skills, competencies, and lack of knowledge and skills to use technologies. All these contribute to a gap referred to as the grey digital divide – a term referred to struggles older adults encounter in their digital technologies use. This inhibits access to vital information. Enhancing digital competence can support older adults to apply digital skills and knowledge in practical situations, which, in turn, can improve technology use and inclusiveness in the present technological era. This study used a scoping review where peer-reviewed articles were selected from databases. The literature revealed the need to build digital competencies among the greying population through sustainable digital literacy training, transferable skills, design of easy-to-use technologies suitable for older people with both cognitive and physical decline as well as policy for their digital inclusion.
Sensemaking and the potential future-focused curriculum for society 5.0 knowledge managers : a South African perspective
Mearns, Martie; Meyer, Anika; Holmner, Marlene Amanda; Marshall, Linda; Hattingh, Maria J. (Marie); Bester, Elmi (South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists , 2024-07-31)
When "quality being everyone’s business" coincides with the reality of a disruptive work environment, critical self-evaluation becomes an essential tool to ensure accountability. Academics who design curricula and their tuition offering have a certain degree of freedom in what and how they teach. However, academics need to be consciously discerning, yet inclusive, about the voices that should speak into curriculum design. This study operates from the principle of co-creation in curriculum design and acknowledges the multiplicity of relevant voices that speak into curriculum design. These voices are influenced by the past, present, and possibilities of the potential future. To remain relevant in the imagined future, this research identified the co-creators and curriculum design partners for the multidisciplinary field of knowledge management. The curricula of three related academic departments were analysed to determine knowledge management tuition linkages. These curricula were then compared with the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) level descriptors. Following on from this desktop analysis, Sensemaker®, a distributed digital ethnographic methodology was piloted that will be used to collect micronarratives from emergent curriculum co-creators. This article identifies gaps in current curricula, expresses expectations for future possibilities and highlights potential niche opportunities for knowledge management curriculum design.

Browse

Recent Submissions