Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study to investigate the changes in scholarly communication practices among a group of scholars in the UK and build upon the results that were published in a previous paper. Design/methodology/approach The study deployed a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of research in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and an introduction to the papers in the special issue. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative review of the previous research...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how various types of TREC data can be used to better understand relevance and serve as test-bed for exploring relevance. The author proposes that there are many interesting studies that can be performed on the TREC data collections that are not...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how different cognitive style groups use electronic journals via mobile devices, with an emphasis on the use of search mechanisms, the approaches to judge the relevance and to refine the results, the use of horizontal screens, and on the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adapt a repertory grid technique to investigate fiction readers’ attitudes and beliefs, with a specific focus on minority ethnic fiction. Design/methodology/approach – The study required participants ( n =36) to rate on a seven-point Likert scale a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion on the nature of research into people's information behaviour, and in particular the contribution of the phenomenological approach for the development of information solutions. Design/methodology/approach – The approach...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of personality (intellectual curiosity, conscientiousness and negative emotionality) and approach to studying (deep, strategic and surface) on students’ learning-related information behaviour in inquiry tasks....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the historical development of library and information science (LIS) teaching and research in the University of Sheffield's Information School since its founding in 1963. Design/methodology/approach – The history is based on published...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of cognitive style on navigating a large digital library of cultural heritage information; specifically, the paper focus on the wholist/analytic dimension as experienced in the field of educational informatics. The hypothesis is...