PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing interoperability models in digital libraries and to introduce related projects in each model.Design/methodology/approachThe study starts from searching various databases with a combination of important keywords in the field, such as interoperability, digital library, meta‐searching and cross‐searching. The study follows up with describing related digital library projects in the field of technical interoperability. The projects are described under three main categories, Federated, Harvesting and Gathering.FindingsThe study shows that most of the studied projects are located in the USA and also most of the digital library projects use OAI protocol and the harvesting model in order to be technically interoperable. Also, the results of the study showed that the projects mostly paid attention to metadata interoperability and only a few mentioned full‐text interoperability issues.Originality/valueThe paper makes an original contribution of exploring an area (interoperability models in digital libraries), that is at the forefront of discussion in libraries worldwide.

Purpose-This paper aims to consider the most important criteria of e-book acquisition in academic libraries. The survey seeks these reasons on the basis of two aspects: e-book features for users and for information professionals or libraries. Moreover, restrictions on e-books acquisition are surveyed with regard to information professionals' attitude. Design/methodology/approach-The survey research method is used in this study with questionnaire and interview used for data gathering. The statistical population consisted of 60 information professionals working at state universities of metropolitan Tehran. Findings-The results show that high storage capacity and multimedia capability are the most important features in acquiring e-books on the basis of academic user needs. Also, the main criteria of acquiring e-books from the professionals' point of view of fostering their interests are: occupying little space, ease of selection and simultaneous circulation. Moreover, this study shows that the main restrictions of e-book acquisition are: hardware and software restrictions, the lack of a union catalog for Iranian e-books, low level of user familiarity, hackers and even eye-fatigue when reading. Originality/value-This study takes the form of unique research that surveys the e-book acquisition criteria in Iran on the basis of two aspects (user and library) with focus on information professionals' attitude, simultaneously. In addition, there has not been any research on e-books in Iran, and this study is the first.

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Purpose As many organizations and institutions in recent years are trying to update their hardware and software platforms toward using mobile technology, libraries and information centers as trustees and leaders of information management and information science need to be futurists in this area. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the status of using mobile-based services in the world’s top university libraries. Design/methodology/approach In this direct observation and quantitative research survey, the authors reviewed the status of using mobile-based services in the libraries of the world’s top universities. Findings The results showed that 84 percent of the libraries of the top 50 universities in the world have made their websites mobile-friendly and provide mobile-based services; however, only 30 percent of them have designed mobile library application. The findings of this study revealed that mobile phone services such as “Search catalog,” “Hour of library,” “Contact,” “Ask the librarian” and “News” in more than 50 percent of the libraries with mobile-based services has been used. While some services like “Services for disabled,” “Library card,” “Library Strategic Plan” and “Financial services” are less important to deliver on the mobile platform. Research limitations/implications The results of the current research are only limited to this environment. Furthermore limited access to all features of some mobile library applications is another limitation of this work. Also, failure to download some of the university apps from the usual App store due to the nationality of the researchers is other limitations of the study. The authors try to find more details of these apps with connecting to the librarians of this statistic society. Practical implications The research results indicated that the majority of libraries in the world’s top universities have moved toward designing and using mobile platform in their websites. This survey suggests that the academic libraries of developing countries in order to follow this trend are supposed to plug in most used services based on experience of academic libraries of top universities. Originality/value The research results indicated that the majority of libraries in the world’s top universities have moved toward designing and using mobile platform in their websites. This survey suggests that the Iranian academic libraries affiliated with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education are also trying to follow this trend in order to meet the users’ information needs.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the realm of literature about personalization of digital library services. This paper focuses on users’ unique needs and will identify different types of personalized services. Therefore, this study has identified different types of services personalization in the context of digital academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach In this research, the systematic review method has been used to obtain the relevant indicators of different types of personalization in the context of libraries. To explain basic indicators, a Delphi method has been used. The Delphi panel’s members consisted of 15 experts (faculty members, researchers, professional users and software designers). A purposeful sampling and the Delphi fulfillment process were performed in three rounds. After collecting data, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), inferential statistics (binomial distribution test) and the Kendall coordination coefficient were used to determine the consensus rate among experts. Findings A total of 103 indicators were extracted for different types of personalization through a systematic literature review. Of these, 90 indicators were considered significant in the experts’ view. Generally, content personalization, interactive personalization, collaborative personalization and information retrieval personalization are the main components of personalization types, each of which has its own indicators. Originality/value This study has dealt with the issue of what is personalized in the context of digital academic library. The findings should be helpful and effective in the development of a holistic view on personalization of services in digital libraries.