TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of contextual factors on the adoption and development of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) programmes in the Arab Gulf States
AU - Alsalmi, Jamal Mattar
AU - Liew, Chern Li
AU - Chawner, Brenda
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from research that explored the influence of contextual factors on the adoption and development of Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) programmes in the Arab Gulf States. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of five groups of stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of ETD programmes. The groups were postgraduate students, academic staff, library managers, system administrators, and postgraduate officers from five Gulf States universities. In addition, an online survey was conducted with 309 participants in order to test and explore, in a larger sample, the issues identified in the interviews. Findings – Research participants identified three levels of factors; contextual, institutional, and personal. In addition, they highlighted that contextual factors have an influence on institutional factors. These contextual factors include misunderstanding of plagiarism, strong economy, recencey of research programmes, and younger societies. For example, due to the recencey of postgraduate programmes in the Arab Gulf States, some of the theses and dissertations are low in quality and quantity. The Arab Gulf States have strong economies and this helped to provide the necessary technological infrastructure needed for adopting ETD programmes. Since the Gulf societies are quite young they are more likely to adopt new technologies. In addition, people at these states appear to have a weak understanding of plagiarism issues and thus they have more concerns about these issues. Originality/value – This paper provides insights about the factors influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Arab Gulf States.
AB - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from research that explored the influence of contextual factors on the adoption and development of Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) programmes in the Arab Gulf States. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of five groups of stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of ETD programmes. The groups were postgraduate students, academic staff, library managers, system administrators, and postgraduate officers from five Gulf States universities. In addition, an online survey was conducted with 309 participants in order to test and explore, in a larger sample, the issues identified in the interviews. Findings – Research participants identified three levels of factors; contextual, institutional, and personal. In addition, they highlighted that contextual factors have an influence on institutional factors. These contextual factors include misunderstanding of plagiarism, strong economy, recencey of research programmes, and younger societies. For example, due to the recencey of postgraduate programmes in the Arab Gulf States, some of the theses and dissertations are low in quality and quantity. The Arab Gulf States have strong economies and this helped to provide the necessary technological infrastructure needed for adopting ETD programmes. Since the Gulf societies are quite young they are more likely to adopt new technologies. In addition, people at these states appear to have a weak understanding of plagiarism issues and thus they have more concerns about these issues. Originality/value – This paper provides insights about the factors influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Arab Gulf States.
KW - Adoption of ETD programmes
KW - Contextual factors
KW - Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) programmes
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U2 - 10.1108/LM-09-2013-0088
DO - 10.1108/LM-09-2013-0088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84942417225
SN - 0143-5124
VL - 35
SP - 355
EP - 363
JO - Library Management
JF - Library Management
IS - 4-5
M1 - A355
ER -