Description

 

Abstract.

 Language and culture are the largest obstacles that faces the technological dependencey in the Arab world. Arabic as a language is not technology friendly in terms of searching online or being supported by interpreted library systems. There is also little to no Arabic tools that facilities research as such equivalent of classification web, citation tools, and searching tools in Arabic. Lack of standardization and regulation in the Arabic academic research and publishing industry is another factor that the technology behind integrated library systems can not link the user with the information they are searching for.

In this study, we analysis the data collected at Qatar National Library between the period of November 2017 and November 2019 to identify the challenges faced while adapting technologies in the library. Research found a preference towards human interactions vs using technological tools and one to print over e-resouces and preexistance xxxxxxxIt was also found that lack of the Arabic language tools is a factor in the lack of usage along with preexistent

Keywords: Technology, Language, Culture, Library.

1. Introduction

The fourth industrial revolution has transformed the Middle East in a short amount of time over the past twenty years, which led to a cultural and a generational gap that affects the implementation of technologies in everyday lives. Children are more familiar with phones and tablets than books, and parents struggle using a compass on the phone or a self-checkout machine in the library.  Prior to adapting recent technologies in a library, one must consider all misconceptions people have on the functions of libraries and the role of librarians.

As the library has been open for two months, it was witnessed that culture and language are the main challenges in adapting technologies in libraries.

 

1. Related Work

While there is little research on how Arabs adapt technologies in or outside the library, there is research on the challenges of adapting the language itself into pre-existing technologies along with extensive research in multilingualism in libraries. The faculty of Information technology in UAE examine the challenges of Arabic language use on the interest which co-relate with the usage of Arabic data in OPAC. They state that the main obstacle is technologies and applications that is due to the representation style of the Arabic language and lack of morphological analyzers that can identify them. The education system is also identify as one of challenges as the Arabs teach technology degrees in English and therefore computer engineers create software in English supporting English. Another research is done by Jordan University Library examined the usage of classification web, an English tool used by cataloguers, criticized the absence of an Arabic interface and the need to translate the help guide to help the catalogers.

• Methodology

Qatar National Library had its soft opening in Novemebr 2017, two years ago. Since then data has been collected to better the library services. The data used for this study is the data from those past two years, between november 2017 to november 2019. Data analysised are data from Question point. The library records all the transactions that happen on the information desk, the first line of contact with the public into Question Point and receives all user-submitted inquiries on it as well. For tracking the interaction between users and collection, usage statistics were recorded by database providers along while the circulation data was exported from the library system, Sierra. We have specially investigated the usage and circulation of the self-development print and e-books along with the fiction section? Law?

Number of self help / Law  books in print vs circulation

Number of self help/ law  e-books on Overdrive/AlMeezan vs usage

Finally, the tools used by the library and their Arabic language support was taken into considration.

1. Findings

 

[Preference-reference] The preference for inquiring the library staff over searching for the answers on the library’s website or submitting the inquiry electronically is very apparent. In the past two years only 1175 patrons have submitting their inquires online verses the 24549 inquiries that have been inputted by the staff that answer it in person. The number indicates that while patrons are given the option to ask the librarian online and receive the answer in timely manners they prefer to come down to the library and speak to the staff. The library’s information desk often has long queues which is an emphasis on users’ preference to wait to interact with a staff over using other resources.

[Preference-Collection] Looking into the collection as well, it was noticed that the circulation of the print collection has circulated in 295% in 2018 alone while the Arabic collection on overdrive has circulated 200% in two years. To go indepth, looking at the usage and circulation data, [SELF HELP] [LAW]

[No arabic databases] A large factor that was came into the picture while looking into the print vs e-resources was he lack of Arabic electronic platforms. The library owns over 200 English databases but is only subscribed to less than 5 Arabic databases. ?? Looking further into it, it was witnessed that the databases with arabic interface were more used than english databases with arabic content like Overdrive. That is contributed to the lack of actual quality product in the market. Many database providers in the region had little to no IT support or were able to provide e-books without a platform for viewing. Add to that, the large amount of pirated Arabic books on the internet, that leds the few who prfer e-books into obtaining them illegally.

Examining the tools used in the libraries, it was evident that there is little to no Arabic support in the commonly used library softwares. There are many databses (EXAMPLE) that allow the information to be pulled from this (RESOURCE) and be displayed on encore however there is no Arabic equivalent that would do the same. Another example, is library systems. Most of which has poor support to the Arabic language. Creating reports on the system sierra for example would generate different numbers if you change the slightest search cretiria. To conduct a research for books that start with “al altaareef’ and those without one must be careful with their input.

Another challenge is that library of congress classification is not middle east friendly. Books on islam has little classification breakdown in LCC and books on history and politics has a lot of breakdown for the US but often has one for Asia.

[Education]

1. References

edia perception.

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