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Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between customers’ knowledge management and their loyalty to academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted by the descriptive-survey method. After determining the validity and the reliability of the questionnaire, 400 questionnaires were distributed among the undergraduate students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) by stratified sampling method. Finally, 373 questionnaires were considered as the basis for data analysis. Structural equation method was used for data analysis. Findings In this study, nine hypotheses were examined and tested. The results of the path analysis indicated that factors such as perceived value, knowledge about customer, satisfaction, perceived quality, knowledge for customer and knowledge about customer had the most to least impact on customer loyalty to academic libraries. In addition, this study highlighted the role of perceived value. Data analysis showed the important role of perceived value as an interface between customers’ knowledge management and its direct and indirect relationship with them. Practical implications Based on the findings of this study, it seems that the managers and the librarians of academic libraries need to consider the relationship between customers’ knowledge management and perceived quality, as well as the satisfaction of their customers to use the customer knowledge management capacities for developing their loyalty. Originality/value In this case, an effective step can be taken toward developing the knowledge management of users and ultimately encouraging them to show their loyalty to academic libraries and satisfying their information needs and providing the justification for the survival of these types of libraries.

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The success of any organization is highly dependent on choosing the right strategic orientation. The main objectives of the present study were to identify appropriate knowledge management strategies and their subsystems in the libraries of Iranian universities of medical science, and to examine their level of strategic alignment. The study population consisted of 55 managers and 225 librarians working at 33 central libraries in Iranian universities of medical science. In order to carry out the research, two questionnaires were initially designed to collect information about the dominant system strategies and knowledge management subsystems. Then, the means of the sum of the items that were planned for each strategy were calculated, the highest means in each group were considered as the basis for determining the dominant strategy, and the levels of alignment between the different strategies were assessed. The results showed that, with regard to the degree of dynamism, maintaining the status quo was the dominant strategy of the knowledge management system in the selected academic libraries, and with regard to the knowledge acquisition and identification subsystem, passive was the dominant strategy. Externalization was the dominant strategy related to the knowledge creation and transfer subsystem, and static was the dominant strategy related to the knowledge application subsystem. As for the level of alignment between the strategies, the results revealed that the strategic alignment is at an average level. Based on the findings, improving the existing conditions in these libraries requires a transition from traditional knowledge management approaches towards more modern approaches, as well as the selection of optimal implementation strategies for the knowledge management system and subsystems.

PurposeThe aim of this study is to examine the effect of organizational levers and information technology (IT) absorptive capacity on librarians' innovation.Design/methodology/approachThis survey-analytic study investigated the librarians who were working in the libraries of the medical sciences universities in Iran. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire distributed randomly among the members of the sample. The SEM and the LISREL software for data analysis were used.FindingsIt was found that the librarians' job autonomy and fairness of rewards had an effect on acquiring new knowledge and applying transformed knowledge. Although the results did not confirm the effect of the librarians' job autonomy on knowledge assimilation and transformation, they showed a direct and positive effect of fairness of rewards on knowledge assimilation and transformation. Furthermore, this study confirmed the effect of acquiring and applying new knowledge about the library IT on enhancing the librarians' innovation. The effect of knowledge assimilation and transformation, from the application of IT in libraries, on the librarians' innovation was not confirmed.Practical implicationsLearning about the effect of organizational levers on librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities, in terms of applying technologies, to create innovation is an important issue. This will elucidate the gaps of disregarding the effect of organizational levers and librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities on librarians' innovation, and will pave the way for better planning to achieve the libraries' innovative goals.Originality/valueThis is among the few articles that have helped to fill the existing theoretical and research gap in knowledge absorptive capacity in Library and Information Science (LIS). In addition, this article has made a valuable contribution to understanding the role of IT knowledge absorptive capacity as a mediator variable between the organizational levers and librarians' innovation.

The purpose of the present study was to identify and examine the factors that influence the library clients' impulsive behaviour in using resources and services in an academic library. A survey research on the students population of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran was designed. A researcherdeveloped questionnaire was used for data collection. After determining the validity and reliability of the research instrument, the questionnaire was distributed to 380 students based on a stratified random sampling procedure. Structural Equation Analysis, Path Analysis and the Linear Structural Relation (LISREL) software were used for data analysis. The results showed that (a) the time available to the students, and their interest in books and libraries, bring about surfing enjoyment and make the library a more enjoyable place for them; (b) individual features influence the students' tendency towards impulsive use; (c) environmental features of the library directly affect students' positive emotions and impulsive using behaviour, and indirectly affect it through their positive emotion; and (d) Surfing enjoyment had a direct effect on the students' positive emotion and their tendency towards the impulsive use of the library resources and services. The direct relationship between the students' positive emotion and their tendency towards impulsive use was not confirmed. However, the results of the path analysis showed a direct and significant effect of the positive emotion on the impulsive use of the library resources and services in the selected population.

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