S.M. Zabed Ahmed

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Information Science & Library Management, Faculty Member

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I have been teaching in the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka since October 1995. My research interests revolve around human use of electronic information products and services. I am particularly interested in exploring the factors affecting end-users’ searching of information retrieval (IR) systems and in adopting a user-centred approach in designing user interfaces. My current research also includes digital libraries, bibliometrics/informetrics, service quality assurance and impact assessment of rural information provisions.
My recent publications have appeared in IFLA Journal [UK], Annals of Library and Information Studies [India], Information Development [UK], Performance Measurement and Metrics [UK], New Library World [UK], The Electronic Library [UK], Library and Information Research [UK], Journal of Librarianship and Information Science [UK] and Journal of Information Science [UK].
Address: Room-1016, Arts Building, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

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Books by S.M. Zabed Ahmed

Use of Bostick’s Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) in a developing country perspective

Preference of Bangladesh university students for searching the library catalogue: OPAC or discovery tool?

Academic use of smart phones by university students: a developing country perspective

User-centred Design of Web-based Interfaces to Bibliographic Databases

This book reports results of a research study into the usefulness of a user-centred approach for ... more This book reports results of a research study into the usefulness of a user-centred approach for designing information retrieval interfaces. The main objective of the research was to examine the usability of an existing Web-based IR system in order to design a user-centred prototype Web IR interface. A series of usability experiments was carried out with the Web of Science interface. A set of search tasks was obtained from a user survey and was used in the experiments. A heuristic evaluation was also carried out to find out the usability problems in the interface. The results of both the usability testing and the heuristic evaluations served as a baseline for designing a prototype Web interface. A summative evaluation of the prototype interface showed that both novice and experienced users improved their search performance. Comparative analysis with the earlier usability studies also showed significant improvements in performance and satisfaction with the prototype. These results show that user-centred methods can yield better interface design for IR systems.

Papers by S.M. Zabed Ahmed

A study of users ’ performance and

This paper reports on an empirical study of users ’ perform-ance and satisfaction with the Web of... more This paper reports on an empirical study of users ’ perform-ance and satisfaction with the Web of Science interface. Two different search groups (novice and experienced) partici-pated in the study. They carried out seven search tasks and their performance was recorded through transaction logging and computer screen recording. Data were captured on the time taken, search terms used, success score and error rates. After completion of search tasks, they completed a ques-tionnaire on their satisfaction with the interface. The performance data showed that overall experienced users performed better than the novice group. Differences were significant in success score and error rates between the groups. Performance differences also existed on factors such as gender and previous online search training. Experienced female searchers performed best in terms of success score and error rates whereas the novice male group performed worst. Untrained users were more successful and made fewer errors ...

Nutrition Literature of Bangladesh: A Bibliometric Study

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 2008

This paper presents the results of a bibliometric analysis of nutrition literature of Bangladesh.... more This paper presents the results of a bibliometric analysis of nutrition literature of Bangladesh. A list of periodical articles on various aspects of nutrition research of Bangladesh published during 1972 - 2006 was compiled for analysis. A total of 636 articles by 998 authors were identified. The articles were published in 100 local and foreign journals. The five-yearly distribution of nutrition literature shows that there is a rapid growth of nutrition literature from 1987 onwards. Lotka’s law is found to be applicable to nutrition literature of Bangladesh. Bradford-Zipf distribution also appears to be applicable to the literature.

A comparison of novices' initial performance, learnability and memorability with a web based IR interface

This paper reports on an empirical study of novices’ searching with a web-based IR interface. Two... more This paper reports on an empirical study of novices’ searching with a web-based IR interface. Two different novice groups took part in this study. The NP group took part in the initial performance experiment. The NLM group took part in two different tests. The first test measured their learnability with the interface after a brief “hands-on” training. The second test was run four weeks after the learning in order to assess their memorability of search skills. Novices’ performance across all experiments was measured in terms of time taken to complete search tasks, search terms used, error rates, and success of the tasks performed. Their subjective satisfaction with the interface was also measured at the end of all tests. The results of the study showed that novices could readily perform simple search tasks. Novices’ performance improved significantly when a brief “hands-on” training was provided. Their subjective satisfaction with the interface also improved after the training. Howev...

Lotka's law and authorship distribution in nutrition research in Bangladesh

Annals of Library and Information Studies, 2009

This paper examines the validity of Lotka's law to authorship distribution in the field of nu... more This paper examines the validity of Lotka's law to authorship distribution in the field of nutrition research in Bangladesh. A list of periodical articles on various aspects of nutrition research in Bangladesh published during 1972-2006 was compiled for analysis. Using "full productivity" of authorship, a total of 998 personal author names were identified. Lotka's law was tested using both generalized and modified forms and Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit tests were applied. The results suggest that author productivity distribution predicted in Lotka's generalized inverse square law is not applicable to nutrition research of Bangladesh. Using least-squares excluding high productive authors and maximum likelihood methods, Lotka's law is found to be applicable to nutrition research of Bangladesh.

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A Human Factors Experiment With Students’ Google Searching

This paper reports on a human factors experiment with students’ Google searching. Two different s... more This paper reports on a human factors experiment with students’ Google searching. Two different student groups (novice and experienced) volunteered in this study. They carried out five search tasks and their performance was recorded through a computer screen recording application. Data was captured on the time taken, error rates and success score. After completion of search tasks, they all completed a questionnaire on their satisfaction with Google. The performance data showed that overall experienced students performed better. Differences were significant across all performance measures between groups. Students held neither highly positive nor highly negative perceptions about Google. Experienced students were significantly more satisfied with Google than the naive group. The findings could be used to redesign the present Google search engine.

A user-centered design of a web-based interface to bibliographic databases

This thesis reports results of a research study into the usefulness of a user-centred approach fo... more This thesis reports results of a research study into the usefulness of a user-centred approach for designing information retrieval interfaces. The main objective of the research was to examine the usability of an existing Web-based IR system in order to design a user-centred prototype Web interface. This research used the Web of Science available at http: //wos. mimas. ac. uk. A series of usability experiments was carried out with the Web of Science. The first experiment was carried out using both novice and experienced users to see their performance and satisfaction with the interface. A set of search tasks was obtained from a user survey and was used in the study. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the time taken to complete the tasks, and the number of different search terms used between the two search groups. Novice users were significantly more satisfied with the interface than the experienced group. However, the experienced group was significantly...

The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of rural dwellers

IFLA Journal, 2012

Reviews research studies on the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of rural dwel... more Reviews research studies on the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of rural dwellers in developed and developing countries. The analysis suggests that the information needs of rural communities from all countries are very similar, although rural communities they do vary from region to region and from country to country depending on socio-economic conditions. These needs are mostly related to the daily life of rural dwellers.

Library and Information Science Literature in Bangladesh: A Bibliometric Study

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 1998

Presents the results of a statistical analysis of the papers on various aspects of library and in... more Presents the results of a statistical analysis of the papers on various aspects of library and information science (LIS) emanated from Bangladesh during 1966-1997. The analysis is based on a list of papers compiled to show the growth and size of the LIS literature in Bangladesh, patterns of their distribution by subjects within the field of librarianship, characteristics of the contributing periodicals, language of publication, authorship patterns, and geographic distribution of the periodicals. The results of the study showed that, during 1966-1997, a total of 308 articles, authored by 116 library professionals were published in various periodicals with the highest number (256, 83.11%) in Bangladesh, followed by India (21, 6.82%). All these papers were published in some 37 periodicals originating from 14 countries. About 92% of the articles were credited to the single authorship; only 25 articles were co-authored. Problems in library research in Bangladesh have also been discussed,...

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A bibliometric analysis of diarrhoeal disease in Bangladesh

Library Automation in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects

Computerisation of Libraries in Bangladesh

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 1970

Researchers' awareness about plagiarism and impact of plagiarism detection tools - does awareness effect the actions towards preventing plagiarism?

Purpose This paper aims to analyse researchers’ awareness about plagiarism and impact of plagiari... more Purpose This paper aims to analyse researchers’ awareness about plagiarism and impact of plagiarism detection tools on the actions that they take to prevent plagiarism. It also employs a structural model that examines whether awareness of plagiarism and anti-plagiarism tools have any significant effect on the actions taken by the researchers to avoid plagiarism. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was distributed to researchers at a large public university in Bangladesh. The survey accumulated 184 valid responses. Descriptive statistics were obtained to assess researchers’ awareness about plagiarism and impact of plagiarism detection tools and the actions taken by them. The reasons that may cause plagiarism were also identified. The awareness of the availability of the anti-plagiarism software that was being used by the university and its actual use by the researchers was gathered through the survey. Non-parametric Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted ...

How far are the public university libraries in Bangladesh meeting students' expectations? – An analysis of service quality through LibQUAL+ core items

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which the major public university l... more PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which the major public university libraries in Bangladesh are meeting students' service expectations through analyzing LibQUAL+ core items.Design/methodology/approachThe survey data were obtained from students using a paper version of the questionnaire consisting of LibQUAL+ core 22 service items at four top-ranked public universities in Bangladesh. Students rated the items on three service levels each using a nine-point scale: Minimum level, Desired level and Perceived Level. Descriptive statistics, i.e. mean and SD were obtained and service adequacy gap (SAG) scores between perceived and minimum levels were computed to see whether the libraries are meeting students' minimum expectation. Non-parametric Wilcoxon sign rank test was conducted to examine the differences between minimum and perceived scores. Finally, Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted to see the effect of students' demographic va...

A bibliometric analysis of diarrhoeal disease research in Bangladesh

Annals of Library and Information Studies, 2011

Quantitative analysis is carried out to identify the literature growth, authorship pattern, colla... more Quantitative analysis is carried out to identify the literature growth, authorship pattern, collaboration and journal distribution on diarrhoeal disease research in Bangladesh based on data obtained from PubMed , Web of Science and Scopus databases. Well-established bibliometric laws, such as Lotka’s law and Bradford’s law are employed to further explore the characteristics of diarrhoeal literature. Bradford-Zipf distribution is applied to determine the core journals on diarrhoeal disease research in Bangladesh. Moreover, a comparison was made to determine the strength of diarrhoeal research in Bangladesh using h-index on bibliographic data from Scopus . The result shows increasing R&D activities on diarrhoeal research in Bangladesh. Lotka’s law and Bradford distribution do not apply to diarrhoeal disease research in Bangladesh. The h-index count indicates that Bangladesh tops the diarrhoeal research impact list in South Asia region.

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A User-Centred Design Methodology for Ensuring Usability of IR Interfaces

... In: Nielsen, J., and Mack, RL, eds. Usability Inspection Methods. New York: John Wiley, 25-62... more

ICT Infrastructure and Access to Online Services: Determining the Factors Affecting Faculty Satisfaction with University-Subscribed Resources

INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION & LIBRARY REVIEW, 2020

This paper examines the current status of IT facilities, access to online resources in the univer... more This paper examines the current status of IT facilities, access to online resources in the universities and the level of faculty satisfaction with university subscribed e-resources in Bangladesh. It employed two structured questionnaires for collecting data. The first questionnaire was sent to the library heads to obtain data about the current IT facilities, access to the online resources and the constraints faced by them in accessing e-resources. The second questionnaire was distributed to faculty member at public and private universities to assess their satisfaction and the difficulties that they encountered while accessing university’s online resources. Descriptive statistics were obtained with regard to university IT facilities, access to digital resources and the difficulties faced by the university libraries. Nonparametric statistical tests, such as Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis were carried out to identify the significant differences between and among faculty groups. Finall...

Use of Bostick’s Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) in a developing country perspective

Preference of Bangladesh university students for searching the library catalogue: OPAC or discovery tool?

Academic use of smart phones by university students: a developing country perspective

User-centred Design of Web-based Interfaces to Bibliographic Databases

A study of users ’ performance and

Nutrition Literature of Bangladesh: A Bibliometric Study

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 2008

A comparison of novices' initial performance, learnability and memorability with a web based IR interface

Lotka's law and authorship distribution in nutrition research in Bangladesh

Annals of Library and Information Studies, 2009

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A Human Factors Experiment With Students’ Google Searching

A user-centered design of a web-based interface to bibliographic databases

The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of rural dwellers

IFLA Journal, 2012

Library and Information Science Literature in Bangladesh: A Bibliometric Study

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 1998

Download

A bibliometric analysis of diarrhoeal disease in Bangladesh

Library Automation in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects

Computerisation of Libraries in Bangladesh

Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 1970

Researchers' awareness about plagiarism and impact of plagiarism detection tools - does awareness effect the actions towards preventing plagiarism?

How far are the public university libraries in Bangladesh meeting students' expectations? – An analysis of service quality through LibQUAL+ core items

A bibliometric analysis of diarrhoeal disease research in Bangladesh

Annals of Library and Information Studies, 2011

Download

A User-Centred Design Methodology for Ensuring Usability of IR Interfaces

... In: Nielsen, J., and Mack, RL, eds. Usability Inspection Methods. New York: John Wiley, 25-62... more

ICT Infrastructure and Access to Online Services: Determining the Factors Affecting Faculty Satisfaction with University-Subscribed Resources

INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION & LIBRARY REVIEW, 2020

Demographics and perceived computer skill levels as predictors of faculty awareness and use of electronic information resources

Digital Library Perspectives, 2020

Purpose-The main aim of this paper is to examine the role of demographics and self-reported compu... more Purpose-The main aim of this paper is to examine the role of demographics and self-reported computer skill levels as predictors of e-resources awareness and use by faculty members working at various public and private universities in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach-An online survey was conducted at public and private universities in Bangladesh. A total of 757 faculty members from 48 universities across the country responded to the survey. The data were analyzed using various descriptive statistics, i.e. frequencies and percentages and non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to see the differences in levels of awareness among faculty members in terms of university type, gender, age, designation, specialization and computer proficiency levels. An ordinal regression model was used to predict the role of demographics and computer skill levels on faculty awareness levels. Finally, correlation coefficient was measured to see the relationships between fa...

Early career academics’ understanding of library language

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the understanding of library terminol... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the understanding of library terminologies by early career faculty members in a newly established rural university setting at the south coast of Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach A campus-wide survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire consisted of demographic questions and 35 multiple-choice questions on library terminologies. The multiple-choice questions asked faculty members to select the correct answer from a set of five answers. Findings The findings indicate that early career university teachers lack adequate understanding of library terms; in fact, many of them either gave incorrect answers or was unsure about the term. It was found that faculty members had relatively better understandings of commonly used library terminologies, but they had real difficulties comprehending computer and technology-related terms. Significant differences were observed for some of the terms in case of their age, designa...

Usability testing for an open-source integrated library system

The Electronic Library

Purpose The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the usability of the Koha OPAC from a use... more Purpose The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the usability of the Koha OPAC from a user perspective. Design/methodology/approach A series of usability tests with Koha were carried out at a private university in Bangladesh. Both experienced and novice users participated in these tests. Experienced users participated only once, whereas novices took part in three successive sessions. At first, novices’ initial performance was recorded. Then, they performed the same tasks after a short training tutorial. Novices again participated in the retention experiment with the same tasks after four weeks. A set of seven tasks was given to the users to see their performance in terms of time taken, number of errors made and success scores. Performance data were captured through a computer screen recording software, and satisfaction scores were obtained using a modified version of Questionnaire on User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS). Comparisons of performance and satisfaction with Koha OP...

Information Skills of Librarians Working at Public Universities in Bangladesh: A Task-Based Analysis of Pre- and Post-Training Performance Scores

International Information & Library Review

Abstract The main aim of this paper is to empirically examine the information skills of public un... more Abstract The main aim of this paper is to empirically examine the information skills of public university librarians and whether attending a short training on navigation to e-resources results in improvements in their knowledge base. A group of 33 librarians working at different public university libraries participated in this study. They were participants in a 90-min long training program on navigation to e-resources conducted at University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. The survey questionnaire, consisted of 12 information tasks, was distributed and answered before the training. The same tasks were repeated at the end of the training session to see the improvement of information skills. It was found that librarians did not have adequate knowledge of information skills; in fact, a major proportion of university librarians demonstrated inappropriate and insufficient knowledge before the training. The training helped improve their performance score significantly in six out of 12 tasks. The study concluded that the provision of systematic and regular training will improve the skills of librarians and it will positively affect their service outcomes.

S.M. Zabed Ahmed

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