Investigating factors required, difficulties and challenges for IranDoc in promoting and extending activities in MSRT institutes' libraries

The Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc), like some international organizations, engages in activities aimed at improving and expanding university and research libraries. Key actions of IranDoc include managing, supporting, and guiding interlibrary cooperation, facilitating access to information resources (theses), and designing various information systems to support the services and activities of these libraries. However, examining domestic research and utilizing international experiences can highlight the main concerns and issues faced by these libraries, justifying IranDoc's direction in these matters. This study was conducted with the aim of identifying and extracting the necessary components, challenges, and difficulties facing IranDoc in improving and expanding the activities of libraries under the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT), as well as proposing solutions to overcome these challenges. Another objective of the study was to outline a conceptual model of IranDoc's role in enhancing and expanding the activities of these libraries. To this end, a review of domestic research identified the main concerns and issues faced by university and research libraries in Iran. Additionally, an examination of foreign studies revealed that forming a network of university and research libraries is the most important strategy for improving and expanding the activities of these libraries in national and international contexts. Furthermore, documents from the Science and Technology Information System Commission were reviewed to consider the national experiences of this commission. The results obtained from domestic and foreign research, along with the examination of commission documents, were used to conduct discussions with managers and experts in four groups. The four groups included 13 managers from university and research libraries (in Tehran), 4 mid-level and senior managers from IranDoc (related to libraries), 2 deputies from the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT), and 4 influential individuals in the field of national academic information systems. Therefore, this study was qualitative and conducted with a content analysis approach. In the content analysis section, the perspectives of managers in the four groups were examined alongside 48 minutes from the Science and Technology Information System Commission. The credibility of the research findings was strengthened through detailed and