Iranian Journal of Information Processing and Management

Iranian Journal of Information Processing and Management

Determining the Influencing Factors Affecting the Indigenous Knowledge Care and the Willingness of Researchers and Users to Share and Transfer Indigenous Knowledge: a case study of ResearchGate

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Sahar Anbaraki 1
ساناز پوروشسب 2
sanaz Rahrovani 3
1 PhD in Knowledge & Information Science; ?; Director of the Program, Budget and Statistics Department of Agricultural Research & Education Center of Bushehr Province; Bushehr
2 PhD Candidate in Knowledge & Information Science; Shiraz University; Shiraz,
3 Postdoctoral Researcher in Knowledge & Information Science; ?; Isfahan University; Isfahan
10.22034/jipm.2025.2049016.1891
Abstract
Social networks, as communication platforms enabling information and knowledge exchange, contribute to promoting awareness, facilitating civic activities, and improving learning. This research, examines the perspectives of researchers active on ResearchGate in the field of indigenous knowledge to identify factors hindering and encouraging the preservation of indigenous knowledge and users' willingness to share and transfer this knowledge.
This applied research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative study, purposeful and data-driven sampling was used to gather insights from researchers. In the first part, 12 researchers with a higher research interest score on ResearchGate in the fields of (indigenous language, traditional and indigenous architecture, visual arts, and indigenous handicrafts) were selected. Semi-structured interviews based on the conceptual framework of Liu and Lipscomb (2024) were designed and conducted online. For the second part of the interview, a protocol for in-depth interviews was indirectly designed. The common findings obtained from the review of texts and in-depth interviews were prepared as a checklist and confirmed by the same 12 researchers. Then, a closed-ended questionnaire was designed, whose items were based on users' willingness to share and transfer indigenous knowledge as a strategy for its preservation. After validating the questionnaire's reliability and validity, it was distributed online, and 233 users responded.
The findings revealed that among the statements regarding relationship, responsibility, and respect, responsibility had higher priority with a weighting of 0.47 compared to the other two statements. "Interaction and personal experiences of authors with indigenous communities and directly observing the impact of their actions" had the highest relative frequency (14.624) among the encouraging factors, while "incorrect prejudices of the general public and lack of support and cooperation from the indigenous community" had the highest relative frequency (18.5) as the most significant hindering factor. All users in the field of "indigenous handicrafts (carpet weaving, various types of sewing, various types of metalwork)" showed a willingness to share and transfer indigenous knowledge. However, users in the field of "traditional and indigenous architecture" showed the lowest willingness (92.64%). In terms of the sharing method, a larger number of users preferred direct (person-to-person) sharing (26.60). Also, in the knowledge transfer method, master-apprentice knowledge transfer scored higher than storytelling (51.07%).
Given the importance of indigenous knowledge in Iran, managers and policymakers need to pay more attention to encouraging factors and controlling hindering factors as much as possible. The innovation of this study lies in focusing on the intersection of indigenous knowledge and modern technologies (social networks such as ResearchGate) and determining the cultural, social, economic, and technological factors related to these in Iran. This research is conducted for the first time by examining in detail and studying the perspectives of indigenous researchers and users in Iran, and even determining the common ground between both groups. Furthermore, this study is a pioneer in measuring the willingness of Iranian users to share and transfer indigenous knowledge in order to care for it.
Keywords
Indigenous Knowledge Care, Social Networks, Knowledge Sharing, Knowledge Transfer, Indigenous Knowledge
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  • Receive Date 26 December 2024
  • Revise Date 19 April 2025
  • Accept Date 28 May 2025