*3.2.1 Determining the necessity of a systematic review*

Identifying the needs for the systematic review is the first step in the planning phase. The demand for researchers to thoroughly and objectively summarize the information already available about a phenomenon gives rise to the need for a systematic review. Even though there is ongoing study on the roles, advantages, and difficulties of IoT-based smart libraries. To our knowledge, no systematic review has, however, summarized these research results and offered a thorough overview of the research and practice on this subject.

**Figure 2.** *Systematic review phases.*

*A Systematic Review on IoT-Based Smart Technologies for Seat Occupancy and Reservation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113329*

#### *3.2.2 Creating a categorization framework*

The creation of the research review procedure, which serves as a foundation for understanding the current theoretical and practical perspectives on the subject, is the second step of the planning stage. The review protocol for this study details the procedures followed to conduct a particular systematic review. To prevent researcher bias, a predetermined protocol is required. Without a procedure, for instance, the choice of certain studies or the analysis may be influenced by researcher expectations. IoT is used in many different professions. Henceforth, it was required to review only the research data that were currently available and relevant to the issue covered by the study.

The following procedure was followed:

The study-related basic search phrases were compiled into a list. These key phrases were derived from the research topic of the study. IoT-Based seat occupancy and reservation, seat reservation, seat occupancy, and seat monitoring in the context of smart libraries were the keywords.

This process incorporated the identification and comparison of different smart library seat occupancy, monitoring, and reservation systems and their weaknesses. It helped the researcher to discover about the current operations on seat occupancy and reservation systems in SA libraries and the gaps that still need to be filled. To discover, compare, and characterize current investigations in the SLSRS, this study examined 14 articles published between 2016 and 2022.

#### *3.2.3 Formulating research questions*

A systematic review's third planning phase, which is also regarded as being one of the most important, is defining the research questions [41]. When it is able to respond to the research questions, a systematic review succeeds in its objectives [42]. The following research questions were put out for this systematic review study:


#### *3.2.4 Formulating research methodologies*

The fourth phase of planning is the definition of article selection techniques. The goal of article selection strategies is to locate the primary studies that directly address the research issue. Although they may be improved during the search process, techniques for article selection should be determined upon during the protocol definition to lessen the probability of bias [40]. An integrated search approach was used in this step to cover both a thorough automated search of several internet databases and a manual examination of the chosen articles.

The online databases considered for this systematic review are ACM, Emerald, IEEE, Science Direct, Springer, Taylor and Francis. Additionally, appropriate filtering procedures were applied for each selected database to limit the research findings and reduce duplication [49]. The broad manual review technique was used for the manual review, which comprised examining each research article's title and abstract first [50] before reading the complete text of the papers that were chosen to be excluded.

The backward snowball method was utilized to find items that were missed by the earlier techniques in addition to the extensive automated search and manual assessment. To find new publications, this method used a reference rundown [51]. The first step in the backward snowballing technique was to check the reference list and eliminate any papers that did not meet the important research requirements, including language, peerreview status, publication year, and type of publication. The remaining papers were then included in the study after the duplicate articles had been eliminated.

To be included in this research, research studies, research articles and papers were included or excluded in terms of the criteria listed as follows in **Figure 3**. The chosen studies had to meet all inclusion criteria, with none of the exclusion criteria having been met. These criteria make ensuring that the literature taken into account in the systematic review is pertinent to the study, which helps to provide conclusions that are more precise, impartial, and meaningful. These criteria lower the possibility of bias and errors if they are established and applied correctly. Applying eligibility criteria consistently prevents irrelevant studies from being included in reviews, which can result in conflicting findings.

## **3.3 Execution phase**

The planning phase's tactics were applied during the execution phase to choose pertinent articles for the study. The process of a systematic review execution protocol consists of the following steps: identifying a trustworthy data source for the research questions; conducting a search strategy; conducting the study process; choosing

## *A Systematic Review on IoT-Based Smart Technologies for Seat Occupancy and Reservation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113329*

pertinent primary studies (using inclusion and exclusion criteria); evaluating the quality of the studies; and extracting the data, respectively entailing the following. The rigor of adhering to a pre-established procedure and specific search technique, according to Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic [47], makes systematic review an effective method. Although Watson admits that effectiveness is crucial in research, he also contends that efficiency is vital. He claims that effectiveness is attained through "synthesizing the literature and revealing the depth of knowledge on an area's critical key concepts and the relationships between these concepts" ([48], p. 185). The main procedures used in the study are described below:

The next sections outline how each step of SLR was carried out to fulfill the set objectives of this study. **Figure 4** Provides a summary of the application of the SLR steps.

#### *Step 1: identifying data sources*

Using Google Scholar as the primary search engine and relying on well-known academic publishers like ACM, Emerald, IEEE, Science Direct, Springer, Taylor and Francis (listed in **Figure 5**), the researcher investigated the benefits, limitations, potential developments and challenges using the search string of "IoT-Based seat occupancy and reservation, seat reservation, and seat monitoring in the context of smart libraries."

#### *Step 2: Search strategy*

Utilizing specific search phrases from well-known literature in the field of study is the first step in the continual process of identifying search terms [41]. When all of the well-known articles have been located using the aforementioned guidelines, the process is complete. The study's chosen databases include sophisticated search capabilities that let users combine pertinent search terms. The study-related basic

**Figure 4.**

*Summary of the application of the SLR steps.*

search phrases were compiled into a list. The following search terms were discovered in this research study: "IoT-Based seat occupancy" OR "IoT-Based seat reservation' OR "seat reservation "OR "smart library seat occupancy "OR "seat monitoring" OR "Seat occupancy" AND "benefits" OR "advantages" AND "methodologies" AND "functionality" (**Table 2**).

*Step 3: Study process*

This process incorporated the identification and comparison of different smart library seat occupancy, monitoring and reservation systems and their weaknesses. It helped the researcher to discover the nature of the current operations on seat occupancy and reservation systems in SA libraries and the gaps that still need to be filled. To discover, compare and characterize current investigations in the IoT-SLSRS, this study examined articles published between 2016 and 2022. To improve the research outcomes, filtering technologies were used when searching the web databases [44].


#### **Table 2.** *Review search results with search strings.*

#### *A Systematic Review on IoT-Based Smart Technologies for Seat Occupancy and Reservation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113329*

Several filters were used in this study, including those for the research area (CS, CSI informatics, and IT), year of publication (2016 to 2022), document type (journal articles, conference papers), and language (English).

*Step 4: Choosing pertinent primary studies (using inclusion and exclusion criteria)*

To ensure that only pertinent papers and other printed sources were used in this study, sources were selected by means of the following broad guidelines, whilst inclusion and exclusion criteria were also identified:


## *Step 5: Evaluating the quality of the studies*

The quality score was utilized in this study to examine whether there was a relationship between the primary study's findings and the study's quality. The study also looked at whether certain particular quality parameters, such as sample size and validation method, were linked to the main finding of the study. To reduce bias and increase the validity of the systematic review, it is crucial to evaluate the quality of the primary relevant studies after choosing them. As a result, quality standards were applied to the 14 remaining items. To make sure that study concepts and methodologies were honored, the chosen studies were evaluated in terms of scientific diligence, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness. The conclusions were examined to determine whether they were focused, unique, relevant, and helpful for upcoming scholars, professionals, and businesses. To provide important and worthwhile contributions to the scholarly community, these requirements were crucial. The chosen studies were grouped based on their primary study objectives, approaches, contributions, and outcomes. This category aids in locating, extracting, classifying, and synthesizing data in response to research questions. The current review chapter

was conducted from March 3rd, 2023, to July 30th, 2023, in accordance with the planning phase's specified research procedure. In the initial search using the specified keywords, 983 articles were found. The final 14 research articles satisfied the quality evaluation criteria after completing all the filtering methods described in this stage.

The ultimate number of papers chosen for the current review study is shown in **Table 3**. Particularly, 983 distinct articles were found based on the initial search procedure (keywords). Filters were used to restrict the number of articles to 576. The next step was a manual review by the researchers to find any papers not pertinent to the study. The researchers concentrated on papers that were closely connected to the subject of this research, both conceptual and empirical, during this approach. 510 articles were thus dropped, while 66 were kept as a result. The researchers then read the entire paper, focusing on particular criteria such the aims, the research questions, the description of the data that was gathered, the methodology employed, the approach used to analyze the data, and the presentation of the findings. After reading the complete articles, another 54 were eliminated because they were deemed unimportant, leaving only 12. Then, using the backward snowball method, 8 more articles were added, bringing the total to 20 articles. Finally, 6 papers were eliminated following a review based on the quality evaluation criteria, bringing the total number of publications for analysis down to 14.
