UDIS as a smart champion for information services

Abstract

UDIS (University Department of Information Science) is an artificial robot developed by academics in the Department of Information Science (DIS). This robot provides information services to students, academics, and any other information seekers especially the services offered by the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa (Unisa). Unisa is a comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODeL) university that accommodates more than 400 000 thousand students. This is an online university there is no physical interaction between the academics and students. The DIS is one of the biggest library schools in the country which enroll many students. Academics turn to spend a lot of time responding to students’ queries sent via emails and in learning management systems and that reduces tuition time. This development was informed by the expert system and artificial intelligence model which entails four components: non-expert users (students); user interface; rules engine; knowledge-based; and knowledge from experts (academics). This enabled academics to design the system that entailed the most relevant answers related to the DIS offerings, administration, registration, tuition, research, and many more. Centralised information has a great potential to enhance collaboration and open access for Library and Information Science schools. Keywords: University Department of Information Science, Unisa, Information seekers, students, academics