No abstract

Digital skills are necessary to work and manage electronic library infrastructures and services. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for assessing the level of digital skills among librarians at academic libraries in Jordan. It is also important to investigate the influence of digital skills on technology acceptance among librarians in Jordan. A questionnaire was developed and used to collect the required data from university libraries in Jordan. The results indicate a high level of digital skills among the librarians. The result also shows that financial issues are the main challenges that librarians face to obtain the required skills. Most importantly, the level of digital skills positively influences the librarians’ acceptance and use of technology in academic libraries in Jordan. It was noted that factors such as sex, age, experience, specialization, and library type had no effect on the results. Findings of this research will help to explore the skills and competencies needed by information professionals and act as a guideline for competency development and curriculum updates in Librarianship and Information Science schools at an international level.

This paper investigates how academic librarians perceive the role of social networks in enhancing the professional skills of library staff, and how they can be used to promote library services. It is based on case study design in real organizational settings, which are two academic libraries in Jordan, namely the University of Jordan library and Al-Balqaa’ Applied University library. The authors used questionnaires to collect the required data in order to investigate the perceptions of library staff in relation to social networks and how they used social networks to promote library services. The results indicate high awareness and extensive use of social networks for professional development. However, it appears that social networks were not fully exploited to promote library services. It was noted that “job title” (staff position) was the only factor that affected the results, while other factors such as gender, experience, frequency of use and age had no effect on the results. It is concluded that academic libraries in Jordan should make better use of social networks to promote library services.

In view of the increased importance of the Sustainable Development Goals and the limited number of public libraries in Jordan, it is important to investigate the role and practices of academic libraries in promoting knowledge and skills to support the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan. It is also important to explore the challenges that might hinder the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals. The results of this study support the fact that academic libraries can significantly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals ( M = 3.53) by providing access to relevant and up-to-date information ( M = 4.16) and giving training on information literacy ( M = 4.03). Access to information contributes to the quality of life of society ( M = 4.41). This article provides insights for academic librarians and decision-makers into disseminating measures for promoting knowledge and skills related to the Sustainable Development Goals among students and the public community in Jordan. The study recommends some relevant strategies, such as the collaboration of academic libraries with governmental and health institutions to support the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan.

Technological advancement has forced academic libraries to change their traditional services by adopting emerging technologies to respond to the changing information needs of their users, who are now more technologically inclined and prefer remote and timely access to scholarly information. Smart technologies are the recent trend in academic libraries. Smart technologies have the potential to enhance academic library services provision and also support the distance learning environment, especially now as higher education embraces online and distance learning. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the level of implementation of smart services at academic libraries and the challenges they face in developing and/or providing smart services. A questionnaire was developed to collect the required data from library staff ( N = 340) at academic libraries in Jordan, where (246) responded and completed the questionnaire. The results indicate a moderate level of implementation of smart services at academic libraries in Jordan ( M = 3.12). The result also shows that the challenges facing the libraries to implement and offer smart services was also moderate ( M = 3.57). Resistance to change was the main challenge libraries face in their attempt to embrace smart technology to offer smart services. Also, privacy and confidentiality appeared to be one of the top rated challenges libraries have to deal with when planning for smart services deployment. Moreover, financial-related issues, such as poor infrastructure and staff training were among the main challenges librarians face to develop/offer smart services. Most importantly, challenges negatively affect the level of smart services at academic libraries in Jordan. This paper provides insights for academic librarians and decision-makers in planning for the provision of smart services at their libraries. It highlights the main challenges that might hinder the implementation and provision of smart services.