PurposeThe recent spate of eminence received by the MOOCs (massive open online courses) from media to academia is revolutionary in higher education. MOOCs are a disruptive technological innovation which offers open learning with the aid of the internet and delivered by the faculty of reputed institutions, globally. Since Coursera being one such significant platform, its exploration would display the broader picture of MOOCs. As a result, studying it from various dynamics has been the motive of the current endeavour.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative study of the collected data was applied with help of descriptive research methodology to measure the contribution of the top six countries namely US, China, Japan, Germany, India and UK. All these six countries were selected on the basis of GDP (harvested from official website World Bank – data.worldbank.org/ to Coursera––an online platform providing MOOCs. The involvement of these selected countries was gauged (from the official website of Coursera https://www.coursera.org/) in terms of number, type of contributing institutions, number of courses offered by those institutions, type of courses offered, number of instructors and instructor gender ratio.FindingsThe findings reveal that the United States (US) is the top contributor in terms of partner institutes (97), courses (Specialization courses – 1,267 and degree courses– 40) and number of instructors (1,290). Interestingly, it was also observed that universities are the major contributor institutes in all six studied countries. Most of the institutes provide specialization courses while a very few provide degree courses. A large number of instructors are involved for imparting these courses online. Instructor gender ratio on average is 2:1 (male: female). It was also observed that there is usually a specific common time of starting courses on Coursera.Originality/valueOnline platforms are the main delivery points for MOOCs; therefore, vibrancy and articulacy of such platforms make this innovation a success, and examining such a platform which exhibits such characteristics would present an overall picture of its functionality, development, evolution and future expansion of the innovation (MOOCs).
Purpose In the present era, research data is a concern for researchers, as they are trying to find new ways to communicate their research findings and conclusions to other researchers in order to increase visibility and credibility. BRICS nations are fast emerging economies and contribute significantly in research output. This study makes an effort to analyze and explore the role of BRICS nations towards open access research data repository registered with Registry of Research Data Repositories. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from re3data repository, and the search was limited to BRICS nations. The data were further analyzed and tabulated as per set parameters, namely, country-wise distribution, types of contents, subject coverage and language diversity. Findings The findings depict that in terms of strength, India has the highest number of data repositories, thereby achieved the first rank among BRICS nations, and South Africa has the least number of data repositories, whereas in terms of content type and subject coverage, India again is leading among BRICS nations. The English language is used by repositories as the main language of the interface. Practical implications The study helps to understand the development of research data repositories by BRICS nations. The study is further beneficial to researchers, as Registry of Research Data Repository provides a single platform to access repositories from various disciplines. Readily available data saves time, money and efforts of researchers and helps the researcher in completing their research activity in a very short span of time. Originality/value The paper has investigated open access data repositories of BRICS nation that has not been attempted earlier. This gives readers comprehensive overview of research data repositories developed in fast emerging economies of the global. The paper can be very helpful for information managers, OA promoters and education and research policy makers to devise plans and policy bearing in mind the evolving research channels in emerging economies.
Purpose -Web based knowledge management systems have opened new arrays in the present web based world. Because of innumerable features, they have become the first hand choice of every organization. The objective of this paper is to propose a web based knowledge management system for university libraries that will support the creation, organization, storage, dissemination and utilization of the institution's digital knowledge assets. The paper also aims to illustrate the requirements of a web based knowledge management system (WBKMS) for university libraries along with their key advantages. Design/methodology/approach -Existing web based knowledge management systems were surveyed and a model framework was developed keeping in view the prevailing loopholes in the present systems. Findings -The study evolves into a model web based knowledge management system catering for the needs of the users in the present bit and byte world. Research limitations/implications -Further research can be conducted into designing web based knowledge management systems keeping in view the needs and behavior of the users they serve. Deep log analysis of the academically endeavored web based systems can be carried out for working out a better and productive WBKMS. Practical implications -The outcome of the research will improve staff professionalism and will help in achieving coordination with other libraries and library users. Knowledge innovation in a web-based environment will help in the creation of better and enlightened knowledge based society. Originality/value -The technologies discussed will help in achieving satisfaction levels both on the part of users as well as library professionals. The whole behavior of seeking information and knowledge will change because of generation, sharing and management of information and knowledge in a virtual mode. Such systems will help organizations strategically when their branches are located in different geographical locations and this will give a platform to the members/employees to share best practices, problems, customer interactions, and prevent reinvention of the wheel.
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