Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of Mlis Curricula Taught In Pakistani Library And Information Science Schools With Higher Education Commission Curriculum, Muhammad Tufail Khan, Khalid Mahmood

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare Pakistani LIS schools curricula with Higher Education Commission designed curriculum for LIS schools in Pakistan. The paper identified the most common course titles and the most unique course titles taught in Pakistani LIS schools.

Design/methodology/approach – The author requested to the responsible focal persons of the LIS schools in Pakistan through personal phone calls and emails and collects the data through email and personal visits of LIS schools. Findings–The paper finds gaps of LIS schools curricula’s, most common course titles and the most unique titles.

Practical implications–The paper …

Exploiting The Values Of Indigenous Knowledge In Attaining Sustainable Development In Nigeria: The Place Of The Library, Omawumi O. Makinde, Oludare A. Shorunke Mr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Since independence Nigeria has been making concerted efforts towards the attainment of sustainable development under the aegis of various development programs, but little success has been achieved, since development is based only on the utilization of the western systems of knowledge. This paper therefore explores ways of achieving sustainable development by harnessing the untapped benefit embedded in the indigenous knowledge systems. Indigenous knowledge which we see as the knowledge systems held by traditional communities and is based on their experience and adaptation to a local culture and environment is relevant for development especially in agriculture, medicine, crafts, theatre, natural resources …

Job Satisfaction Among Librarians In The Universities Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: A Survey, Amjid Khan, Dr. Shamshad Ahmed

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this study was to measure the job satisfaction of library professionals serving in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Spector’s Job Satisfaction (JSS) scale was used to examine the job satisfaction of respondents’. A total of 49 responses were collected and analyzed. The result shows that although library professionals working in these institutions were slightly satisfied with their nature of work, they were dissatisfied with supervision, benefits, promotion. Revision of service structure, promotion policies, improvement in academic qualification and advance training were suggested by the researchers.

Scientometric Analysis Of Contributions To The Journal College And Research Libraries (1997-2011), Ghouse Modin N. Mamdapur, Iqbalahmad U. Rajgoli Dr., Aasia Kausar G. Mamdapur Mrs

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In this study an attempt is made to investigate the scholarly communications in College & Research Libraries journal during the period of 1997-2011 and to study the key dimensions of its publication trends. For the analysis of the study 15 volumes containing 90 issues have been taken up for evaluation. Necessary bibliometric measures are applied to analyse different publication parameters. It is found that, contributions of articles to each volume of College & Research Libraries is nearly consistent and on an average 32 articles have been published every year. Single authored articles are found to be the highest followed by …

Alternative Funding Models For Nigerian Academic Libraries., Chuma Opara Nnadozie

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This desk research involved review of available literature on funding of Nigerian Academic Libraries (NALs). The aim was to ascertain the existing sources of funds for these libraries, re-appraise the available funding strategies and provide practicable alternatives. Findings show that the surfeit of ideas, captured in literature, has not positively changed the sorry financial state of academic libraries in Nigeria. As a result, these libraries still rely on sporadic but insufficient financial allocations from their parent institutions and periodic disbursements from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET-Fund). Whereas receipts from these traditional sources have remained inadequate, the policy-makers and managers …

Health Information Seeking Behavior (Hisb): A Study Of A Developing Country, Vahideh Zarea Gavgani, Elham Qeisari, Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the ways that people find health information in Iran, as a developing country, and also to identify how they evaluate the roles of public libraries in providing their users with health information.

The setting of the study is public libraries of Qazvin City of Iran. The four main public libraries in different areas of the city were selected for research. Sample size of this study was 200(n=200). To collect data a structured questionnaire was used. Data were summarized using frequency (%) for qualitative variables. The Chi -Square tests were …

Bio-Bibliometric Study Of Dr. Khalid Mahmood’S Contributions To Lis Field In Pakistan, Muhammad Qayyum, Mirza Muhammad Naseer

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents bio-bibliometric analysis of the contributions of Dr. Khalid Mahmood in the field of Library and Information Science through his publications. The analysis includes geographical and year wise distribution of publications; collaboration for publication; publications by type; language and journal preferences for the publication; and coverage of different subject areas. Results of the study indicate that Dr. Khalid Mahmood is a prolific writer in the field of library and information science. He contributed 115 items including 99 articles, six books, eight conference papers and two papers in newsletters till December 31, 2011. Research work by Dr. Khalid Mahmood …

Web Search Behaviour Of Postgraduate Students At Sokoine University Of Agriculture, Tanzania, Alfred Said Sife

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A study was conducted on the Web search behaviour of postgraduates at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Specifically, the study sought to understand the search characteristics of postgraduates, reasons for using the Web, usage of various web features, web search skills and problems faced while using the Web. The study population comprised of all postgraduates pursuing masters and doctoral programmes at SUA. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire that were distributed randomly and they were analyzed using SPSS. The findings indicate that most postgraduates were experienced Web users and they accessed the Internet mostly through their own modems. Most students relied …

An Assessment Of Information Needs And Characteristics Of Users Of Oyo State Public Library, Nigeria, Shuaib Agboola Olarongbe, Olusegun Samuel Adepoju Mr., Hawwa Bolanle Akanbi-Ademolake Mrs., Taiye Austin Pedro Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Information is a resource that is naturally needed in all human endeavors. One can readily infer that information is indispensable in human life, hence a basic human need, which has an over-riding significance to all and sundry. Meanwhile, no country in the world can progress without providing free public library services to the citizens. However, this study is an examination of the information needs and characteristics of users of Oyo State Public Library, Nigeria. It investigates what constitutes the information needs of the library users, what services and resources are available in the library to meet their needs, what are …

Acknowledgement Patterns In Annals Of Library And Information Studies 1999-2012, Gurjeet Kaur Rattan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present paper analyses the acknowledgements appearing in the research articles and short communications in Annals of Library and Information Studies covering the period 1999-2012. The acknowledgements included in this journal are further analysed in order to find out frequency of their occurrence, types, number of acknowledgements per paper, highly acknowledged individuals, and so on. The results show that slightly more than 20% of communications contain acknowledgements and an average acknowledgement per item is 1.49. The acknowledgements are of composite nature comprising of moral support, technical support, access to facilities, financial support and Peer Interactive Communication type. The most common …

Evaluation Of Provision And Support For Disabled Students In Libraries Of Special Education Professional Degree Awarding Institutions (Dais) And Rehabilitation Centers (Rcs)., Humara Bano Dr., Syed Rahmatullah Shah, Aisha Masud Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study presents census data of provision and support for students with special needs (usually known as disabled students) in libraries of special education professional degree awarding institutions (DAIs) and rehabilitation centers (RCs) acting in Lahore. Questionnaire was used as research instrument in this quantitative study. Provisions and supports in libraries of DAIs and RCs were illustrated on graphs covering overall students with disabilities and different disability areas – physical impairments, hearing impairments, and visual impairments. Non-parametric tests were used for data analysis. Analysis of collected data confirmed that there was no association or relationship between provisions and supports for …

Management As Sine Qua Non To Productivity In Any Organisations, A Study Of Public Libraries In Niger State, Nigeria., Olatokunbo C. Okiki

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examimed effective management as the basic and indispensable condition that must be met for enhanced productivity in any organisations with specific reference to public libraries in Niger State, Nigeria. Survey research design was used for the study . Total enumeration technique was used to cover all the 77 librarians that were found in the five public libraries in Niger State used for the study. The libraries used for the study are those located in: Minna, Kotangora, Bida, Lapai and New Bussa. The data gathered were analysed with simple descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages. Part of the …

Motivational Preferences Of Lis Professionals In University Libraries Of Pakistan, Nosheen Fatima Wairrach

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper analyzes the opinion of LIS professionals about their motivational preferences on work place in Pakistani Universities. Questionnaire survey was used as data gathering instrument. The main objective of study is to explore the preferred motivators of LIS professionals and the relevancy of Herzberg Hygiene-Motivational theory to Pakistani context. The findings reveal that the respondents most preferred motivators are: opportunity to learn new skills and groom, opportunity for career development, having authority and responsibility, sense of fulfillment and communication. The least preferred motivators for LIS professionals are: culture of innovation and creativity, job security, participative management, employee welfare policies …

Practices In Library Staff Development: A Case Study Of Pakistan Academy For Rural Development (Pard) Library, Muhammad Arif Khan, Haroon Idrees Phd, Muhammad Mudassir Khan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study has been conducted to judge and document the initiatives taken for staff development at the library of Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (PARD) to enhance the performance of its employees for effective service delivery. This study also documents the visible change in professional improvement of library staff before and after such initiatives. The paper describes each initiative with explanation and practically applied examples showing its output and results.

This is an observational study where the data was collected through personal interviews, table-talks with employees, and annual Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs)of the subjects. Current and retrospective staff of PARD …

An Assessment Of The Information Dissemination Channels Used By The Zimbabwe Women’S Resource Centre And Network In The Provision Of Hiv/Aids Information To Women., Nancy Nhendodzashe, Collen Nhendo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In light of a high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among women in Zimbabwe, this study sought to assess the extent to which the Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) was effective in disseminating HIV/AIDS information to combat the pandemic among women. Literature reviewed that in as much as information was crucial in the fight against HIV/AIDS; there are other strategies that should be employed in combating HIV/AIDS to complement information dissemination activities such as economic empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality. The evaluation research design was used to accomplish the research objectives. The population of the study consisted …

A Semiotic Interpretation Of Sense-Making In Information Seeking, Zao Liu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Sense-making in information seeking process is one of the major information seeking models. Questions have been raised about information seekers’ ambiguous needs and focus-shifting tendency relative to sense-making. This paper tackles this problem by reviewing two related approaches and suggesting an alternative interpretation from the semiotic point of view. The author argues that information seeking is often interactive, dynamic, and infinite just as the relationships between sign, object and interpretant posited in Peirce’s semiotics. The implication of this paper is to alert information seekers about this potential endless information seeking process and come to terms with their search results which …

The Use Of Icts In The Public Lbraries: A Case Study Of Oyo State Library Board, Ibadan, Nigeria, Olanike Oladunni Olaniyi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study attempts to investigate the efforts of the Oyo State Library Board in the use of ICTs among its users and staff. The study appraises the library services in the state to highlight the library services development to the populace of the state. The survey research method was adopted and questionnaire was used to collect data from 110 library users and 20 library staff within the headquarter library. The instrument contained three sections with thirty-five questions. The findings of the study reveal that despite the fact that the level of ICT literacy among the users and staff is relatively …

Change Management In The Information Age: Approaches Of Academic Library Administrators In Pakistani Universities’ Libraries, Sidra Shan, Maqsood A. Shaheen

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigates the understanding of senior/head librarians towards change management, what areas they consider most important for change, how they are managing the change in work place in context of information technology, acquisition of new resources, negotiating change among top and bottom level management and skill development, The study involves the supervisor librarians of fifteen public sector university libraries of Islamabad (capital of Pakistan) and Rawalpindi region as a sample and data were gathered by questionnaire, based on quantitative research method.

Designing Effective In-Service Training For Librarians In Pakistan, Arif Khan, Muhammad Rafiq

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the perception of Library & Information Science (LIS) community about professional training, training agencies and training methodologies. The study provides an analysis of development/enhancement of library practices and its relation with competencies acquired through professional trainings. It also focuses to describe the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of capacity building measures of professional library training as well as to identify loopholes of such trainings in the Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach – The research design for this study is survey. Data collected through online questionnaire using www.kwiksurvey.com from Pakistani working librarians. Some information …

Development Of A Taxonomy For Key Terms In Mathematics Education And Its Use In A Digital Repository, Pedro Gómez, María C. Cañadas Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Although mathematics education is a young discipline, it has developed rapidly over the last 40 years. During this time, the community of mathematics education researchers, teachers’ trainers, and mathematics teachers has produced a large quantity of literature published in books, journals, and conference proceedings and on Internet, among other sources. Yet there is currently no taxonomy of key terms for the systematic classification of the documents in this discipline. In this article, we present the procedure by which we constructed a taxonomy for Funes, a digital repository of documents in mathematics education. We establish the conceptual framework on which the …

Practice Makes Perfect? A Retrospective Look At A Community Of Practice, Ramirose Ilene Attebury, Robert Perret, Jeremy Kenyon, Deborah Green

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Communities of practice have been touted in the organizational literature as an effective form of professional development in the workplace. When the University of Idaho Library faculty created one in the fall of 2008, they hoped the group would enhance new librarians’ understanding of publication requirements and research methods. Although the community seemed healthy during its first year, problems arose in subsequent years that led to its decline. Seeking to understand the nature of this decline, the authors conducted a survey and initiated a focus group discussion of former members. Analysis of data led the authors to identify three themes …

Publication Pattern Of Scientists Of Physical Research Laboratory (Prl), Ahmedabad, India, Nishtha Anilkumar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is an institute of national repute and is being funded by Department of Space (Government of India). However, a bibliometric study measuring its research output has not been carried out yet. The present study is a step in that direction and tries to find the publication pattern of research carried out in the institute. The period covered is 1997 to 2006. The study aims to quantify the publication output of researchers at the institute, to study the productivity of scientists in PRL and to determine whether it conforms to the Lotka’s Law. It tries to discern …

Measuring Dhaka University Students’ Internet Use Behavior Of The Department Of Information Science And Library Management, Md. Maidul Islam

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This research has been conducted of the undergraduate students in the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A survey questionnaire was developed and used to collect data on students’ demographics, internet use behavior and purposes of internet use in the Department of Information Science and Library Management. The obtained input data were then evaluated using SPSS and the findings have been interpreted. The results showed that students prefer electronic media to printed media in seeking information and they use the Internet mostly to do homework and prepare for their lessons. The students find the quality …

Knowledge-Sharing Behavior In Dairy Sector Of Pakistan, Syed Rahmatullah Shah, Khalid Mahmood Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is about knowledge sharing behavior in dairy sector. Two-hundred middle managers (with professional qualifications) from five industrial units in Pakistan were selected for study. Fifty-seven managers participated in the study (29 percent of the sample). Research model and hypotheses were based on behavioral theories, i.e., TRA, TPB, and TAM. Data were collected through a questionnaire using Likert scale. Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlation coefficients and structural equation model among different variables tested hypotheses of the research modal. The study proved that attitude, intention, and behavior had accepted mutual positive direct effects for knowledge sharing in dairy sector. Conversely, subjective …

Scientometric Dimension Of Research Productivity Of A Leading Private University In India, Dillip K. Swain, Dr. Bijayalaxmi Rautaray, Dr. Chandrakanta Swain

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines the research productivity of KIIT University, Odisha, India in regard to 361 papers indexed in Scopus from the year 2000 to till February, 2013. The study attempts to measure authorship pattern, degree of collaboration, Year wise distribution of articles and corresponding citations, domain wise distribution of articles, ranking of authors, ranking of highly cited papers, collaborating countries and such other parameters. The study finds that the major chunk of research is contributed by three joint authors and the trend of collaborative research is rightly at its peak. The study further reveals that authors of this University have …

Ict And Internet Literacy Skills For Accessing To E-Resources Available Under N-List Programme : A Case Study Of College Library Users Of Barak Valley, South Assam, Manoj Kumar Sinha, Sucheta Bhattacharjee, Sudip Bhattacharjee

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study has been undertaken with a view to know the scenario of N-LIST Programme implementation and status of the ICT and Internet literacy skills amongst the College Library Users who have been mainly drawn from the ten selected college libraries of Barak Valley of South Assam to access E- Resources available under N-LIST Resources. The present work was carried out during January to May 2012. For that purpose, survey method was adopted, which comprises of administration of questionnaire, observation of the participants, and interview of some of the participants for knowing the opinion of the respondents in respect …

Patrolling The Web For Pirated Content, Iram Zehra Mirza, Shahina Islam

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study is an attempt to get the insights on attitudes and behavior of people in the changing media landscape. The study highlights the online piracy of videos, games, movies, slides, mash-ups etc and addresses the impact that piracy is laying upon on the mindsets of users who are indulged in such activity. The study also signifies the reasons behind piracy, the frequency of doing so, modes of accessing, and likelihood of discontinuing the same. The study is one of its kinds which can be used as a means of awareness against the mass infringement cases which can help in …

Application Of Marketing Strategies And Mix To Digital Information Services (Dis): Nigerian University Libraries Perspectives, Alice A. Bamigbola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: This paper aims at identifying the available digital information products/services (DIS) and marketing strategies employ for these services in Nigerian Universities.

Design/methodology/approach: Case study research approach was explored. The university libraries websites were analysed, email and telephone interviews were conducted with the System Librarians in charge of DIS.

Findings – The DIS in university libraries in Nigeria are on the increase compared with what it was three years ago. The available DIS are CD-ROM, Internet Search, open access institutional repositories (OAIR), E-resources, E-books, E-journals, Online Reference Services, and computer laboratory. The marketing strategies employ for DIS by …

Usability Analysis Of Homepage Of Websites Of National Libraries In Asia, Paramjeet K. Walia, Monika Gupta

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper aims to study the usability features of selected national libraries’ websites of Asia with regard to their general features of website, URL, window title, date and time, navigation, content, search and graphic and animation. A usability evaluation checklist was designed on the basis of guidelines given by Neilson and NIC (National Informative Centre) which was grouped into eight major criteria. After evaluating the homepage of selected websites under study it was found that the National Library of Japan is at rank number one among 23 national libraries of Asia and National Library of Maldives at the bottom rank. …

Open Access Literature Productivity Of Physics: A Doaj Perspective, Aswathy S, Gopikuttan A

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The World Wide Web has introduced new vistas for scholarly publishing which can be accessed online via internet. DOAJ is the most accepted and authoritative list of scholarly, peer-reviewed, fully Open Access journals. This study aims to analyze the contribution of open access literature in the subject physics through DOAJ. Directory of Open Access Journals covers literature contribution of a wide variety of subjects, countries and also different languages. Study analyses Indian contribution to DOAJ, institution-wise categorization, language-wise distribution.