Determining the Possibility of Using a Decision Support System to Assist in Selecting Information Resource Providers in the National Library and Documentation Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a Fuzzy Analysis Approach

The choice of information sources is considered to be one of the biggest challenges for libraries after the invention of printing. In addition to the printing industry, another technology that highlighted the challenges of libraries and information centers in selecting information resources was the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The main purpose of this study is to determine the possibility of using a decision support system based on MCDM fuzzy technique to select information resource providers in the National Library and Documentation Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a fuzzy analysis approach. The studied sample in this research are the librarians of the National Library and Documentation Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data collection tools in this study are the study of documents and books, interviews and web-based questionnaires. The method used in this research is fuzzy analysis method which includes the use of AHP and TOPSIS techniques. The AHP method was used to prioritize the supplier selection criteria and the TOPSIS method was used to rank the suppliers. According to the findings, in order to prioritize the selection criteria, human reference resources have a preference of ۰.۵۴۲۹۲۸%, journals have a preference of ۰.۲۳۹۵۰%, reference sources of science and technology have a preference of ۰.۱۴۷۶۲% and audiovisual materials have a preference of ۰۶۰۳۰ ۰%. It can be concluded according to the criteria under study that human reference resources are the best choice, then journals, science and technology reference and finally audio-visual materials. In order to prioritize the suppliers' criteria according to the findings that were measured by AHP technique, the results were obtained as follows: ۱- Final price, ۲- History in terms of background and interaction with the library, ۳- Timely delivery of resources, ۴- Delivery of resources in the library, ۵- Delivery of main resources, ۶- Accepting credit orders, ۷- Instructions related to the library, ۸- Ability to carry out major orders, ۹- Financial capacity, ۱۰- Interest rates. In addition, for supplier ranking, which was measured by TOPSIS technique, the final results were obtained as follows: ۱- Ketab Abi Gallery, ۲ Ameh Company. ۳- Khadamat Ketab Company, ۴- Shahr ketab Company, ۵- Representative of Mcgraw Hill Company, ۶- Sepehr Book Company, ۷- Jahan Adib Company, ۸- Avand Company. ۹- Saal Company, ۱۰- Nashr Vije Company. In addition, among the other findings of this research, are the findings related to the Rasa system, which has two parts related to the Rasa system: ۱- Viewing the database. ۲- Web services, which have the ability to exchange information from Rasa to system and from system to Rasa; and based on previous experiences with Rasa systems, it can be concluded that it is possible to integrate a decision support system in the form of an analytical database based on the findings of this study to the Rasa system.

Keywords:

۱- Selection of information resources , ۲- Fuzzy MCDM technique , ۳- ATP technique , ۴- Decision support system , ۵- Rasa system