Bibliographic Citation

“Added value of information and information systems: a conceptual

approach.” 18 April 2007 <http://www.emeraldinsight.com_Insight_ViewContentServlet
_contentType=Article&Filename=_published_emeraldfulltextarticle_pdf_0291000802 >.

Scope
The scope of this article is well stated because there is the introduction in this article and the
information also divided into several topics (Introduction, pg 132). The aspect of scope will
be discussed in this review such below:

 Breadth
In this article, Added value of information and information systems: a conceptual approach,
was written base on the realisation that in two professions with information and knowledge as
the subject of interest library and information services it must be an added value to serve the
public. It explains on the other purposes of information and knowledge in information
services besides providing individual with needed information. This article contains an
explanation in several parts of information systems and information added value services. It
offers conceptual approaches to fully utilise the purpose of information systems and
information.

 Depth
It is published to provide conceptual approaches and suggestions on how to provide added
value services from the work processes in library and information professions. It explains
where it comes from which are from reproduction, exchange, transfer, refinement, analysis,
interpretation, synthesis and regeneration of information. Every topic in this article was
discussed in detailed to ensure the audience will understand on what they want to express. In
terms of information systems, information and knowledge point of view, it is well defined to
put on the understanding to the reader before they get into further in the article, and then the
discussion on how to exploit processes in information to produce added value services.
  Time
This article unfortunately is not available in the internet on free basis; it is only available in
Emerald Extra. The information in the article is considered updated and we can see that it
somehow can be useful for information centre and library. It is however in my opinion,
depends on the technology that available in the market near future where it relates and effects
the outcomes and processes of the information system and information. This means this
article actually is limited to certain time period where technology is concern. If we look at
this article, some of it is practically practice in the library and information centre.

 Format
This is an academic paper and there are citations and bibliographies available in the article. It
is also follow the standard format on writing a paper. It has brief explanation of abstract,
purpose, design, findings, research limitations, practical implications, originality, keywords
and paper type. The format is direct where it has introduction, explanation of contents and
conclusion. It is available in electronic format via Emerald and also hard copy format in the
Library Review Journal.

Contents
This article can be categorized as conceptual paper because it was written based on research
and evaluation of related literature and then takes conceptual approaches to discuss different
values of information and IR systems. This contains original information and it is easily links
to other resources through the hypertext links provided. This article can be considered as an
integral resource it is very useful in applying information systems analysis and the practice of
information retrieval. Specific aspect related to content will be discussed as follows:

 Accuracy
This article is wholly theoretical and conceptual and I presume that the author is trying to
provide reader with an understanding on the field of information and knowledge in context
with information system. However, the topic was well focused on added value of information
and information system based on the author research and references from related topics from
other authors in the same field of interest. In my opinion, there are credibility in the writing.
  Authoritativeness
The authors, Rahmatollah Fattahi from Department of Library and Information Science,
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran and Ebrahim Afshar from Department of Library and
Information Science, Isfahan University, Iran. Fattahi and Afshar is an author of several
papers in information and knowledge management. This article is a debut appearance by the
author in the Emerald. Since, the subject is also very current and the article was recently
published, no other references were made to this article

Library Review aims to provide an international communication link between researchers,

educators and library professionals in academic, public, company and other libraries by
publishing papers which have been reviewed by the Editor and one or more reviewers,
double-blind.

There are twelve references used by the author when presenting the article. Since this issue is
at the awakening stage, the author did not refer to one particular source but rather from
different sources to capture different angles of perspectives on the issue.

 Target Audience
The target audience of this article is magnanimous in size. This theoretical article is of course
useful for the people involved in academics like tertiary students, academic professionals,
information system analyst and information management professionals. The audience could
also be directed towards in the industries that act communication-service providers and any
organizations than needs unified communications. The knowledge and exposure gathered
from this article could be an awakening process for information management professionals
and systems development professionals.

Other
The article was written in a simple language resulting in the high level understandability.
With that approach, the author can well reach the masses to read his article. There was no
new model introduced and only a manifestation and extension of a theory presented in this
article. The authors focus on the subject matter where the value of information and
information systems in resource centre can improve. The level of explanation is high to
provide reader with greater understanding on information and knowledge before further
explanation on other topics. It is well written and organized based on the fact that both
authors are no strangers in the field of information and knowledge management and the way
they presented the issues are from top to down

I think that this is a very good article; the topic was well chosen given the fact that the issue
on conceptual approaches on added value in information and information systems is a very
current and interesting subject since development and improvement should not be taken
lightly and must continuously produced.. It is about the right time that we actually identify
the need and start assessing on the issue. This is an interesting topic since in my opinion
technologies play their part on added value where information can be exploits in information
systems point of view. Especially, with the current surging influx of various technical gadgets
that provides tremendous improvement.

However, to show more understanding while presenting findings and fact, papers can be
presented with graphs, figures and tables but in my opinion, by relating to this particular
paper, I think it is irrelevant because the design and methods on findings solution is merely
reviews on related and previous papers and also discussions. It has only one table to show
different functions of information systems and their capabilities.

This article provide me with clear picture of how important information are and how vital to
manage and preserve information plus the added value that we can generate. It also provide
clear view on important the role of information systems play it part in achieving the objective
of the research and predictions on global changes in information systems as we know
technology are rapidly developed over the world.

My suggestions, to add more depth and better findings, I would suggest that instead of only
considering information and knowledge and also information systems field generally, the
author can also discuss more on information systems analysis such as SDLC in conjunction
with information management and design point of view.

I would recommend this article to information management professionals and systems

developers and providers so that we can see revolutionary change in our ways of valuing
information. I hope that we can exploit fully the technologies available around us to make it
as an advantage to provide more to information user. The computer experts and systems
developer should first consider what can be served other that merely information to the user
so that information can be used effectively and somewhat added extra use for them. It can be
done by working closely with information professionals such as librarian and CIO of the
organizations when everyone play their part, added value service can no longer an issues in
this field

This article make me realize that it is not just how we far we can study information systems
analysis, but how well we adapt the importance of what we can serve user of information and
study to find what serve them better and what more we can give them other than the basic
needs as added value service. This is by measuring time saved, determining actual monetary
savings or gains and providing qualitative, anecdotal evidence of value. While in my opinion,
in class we are thought on how to manage systems development to produce one good systems
and user study or case are studied as part of development phases, but it should be focused
more on that area rather than focusing on the other phases.