Digital Commons Network^™

Fee-Based Services As Source Of Funding For Public University Libraries In Ghana - A Survey, Michael Ahenkorah-Marfo, Raymond Osei-Boadu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ABSTRACT

Academic libraries have a crucial role to play in the achievement of the goals of their parent institutions. However, public universities in Ghana have generally not been financing their libraries to the quantum that has been recommended by the Universities Rationalization Committee in Ghana. Public university libraries have experienced dwindling budgetary allocations which hover around 3% of the total universities’ annual budget. Responses received from a survey on sale of some aspect of their services as a possible source of additional income indicated that it exists only in one of the university libraries. Respondents posited that it is a …

Public Libraries In Jaffna District, Sri Lanka - Challenges, Kalpana Chandrasekar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Establishment of public libraries is regarded as one of the essential amenities of the local or central government of a nation since they enhance the idea of free and equal access to information and offers their collections and services to all members of the community. This study revealed the present status of the public libraries in the Jaffna District. Apart from the Jaffna Public Library, which is managed by the Jaffna Municipal Council and provide services to the whole Jaffna District, presently there are 03 Urban Council libraries, 13 Pradeshiya Sabha libraries and 907 Community Center libraries, which cater the …

Glaucoma Research: A Scientometric Study Of Indian Publications Output, 2002-11, Brij Mohan Gupta, Adarsh Bala

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Objectives: Analyses the Indian publications output in glaucoma research during 2002-11 on several parameters including contribution & citation impact of top most productive countries, India’s overall contribution, its growth pattern and citation impact, the share of international collaboration in India’s overall research output, contribution of leading countries and identification of leading foreign collaborating partners, Indian contribution & impact of different types of glaucoma, glaucoma research by sub-fields and glaucoma research output by different population age groups, productivity and impact of leading Indian institutions and authors and pattern of communication of Indian output in most productive journals.

Methods: The Scopus Citation …

Determining Information Literacy Competency Of Faculty Members And Post Graduate Medical And Para Medical Students In Using Medical Information Resources, Hakimeh Hazrati, Vahideh Zarea Gavgani, Naser Ghornanian

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Introduction: Information literacy(IL) is a set of abilities requiring individuals to identify when information is needed and have the competency to locate, evaluate, and use efficiently the required information. The very aim of this study is to recognize to what extend the medical and paramedical post graduate students and faculty members are able to use the variety of information resources. The study was done in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (Iran) from October to December 2012. Methods and Materials: This study used the descriptive analytical method. The participants of this study were 80 faculty members and 80 postgraduate …

Cosmology Research In India: A Scientometric Study, Bidyarthi Dutta Dr., Durga Sankar Rath Prof.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The scientometric study of 1198 articles on Cosmology research in Indiaspanning over the years 1999 to 2012 downloaded from Web of Science has been executed in this paper. The study analyses literature growth trends, which reveals a uniform growth of literature over the said time span with a little droop in the year 2010. It also examines collaborations with different countries worldwide. The authorship pattern, document types involved and active Indian institutions co-coordinating research in this subject area have also been studied.Bradford law of scattering was employed to identify the core journals and Lotka’s law was employed to study the …

Cloud Computing Applications In Indian Central University Libraries: A Study Of Librarians` Use, Mayank Yuvaraj

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The main purpose of this paper is to explore how librarians in Indian Central Universities are using Cloud Computing tools into their daily library services and works. A structured questionnaire was designed & personally distributed as well as mailed to 407 respondents. Responses show that librarians are heavily reliant on cloud computing tools and majority of them are using various devices and want to imply the same to improve library services. Economics, delivery models and service layers and the user`s preference of cloud computing are the core drivers of this phenomena. However, majority of the librarians showed their concern over …

Journal Bibliometric Analysis: A Case Study On Internet Research, Dr. Dillip K. Swain

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper aims to evaluate the pattern of publications of Internet Research (IR) from 2008 to 2012 and to reveal the research influence of this journal from the citing and cited references of the papers through appropriate bibliometric measures. The study analyses five volumes of Internet Research from the year 2008 to 2012. Citations to each of the published articles are explored through Google Scholar for assessing average impact of individual paper. Citation record for measurement of impact factor and immediacy index was extracted from Scopus. It is found that the average length of articles published in IR is …

Application Of Information And Communication Technology (Ict): A Comparative Analysis Of Male And Female Academics In Africa, Samuel Owusu-Ansah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study aims to investigate or verify whether gender affects the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities among academics. The study used a survey approach that involved questionnaires to solicit data from 154 academics. For the past few years, an assortment of ICT facilities such as computers, laptops, projectors, printers and many others have been available to academics for accessibility and use in collaboration, teacher-student communication, online assignment, research, teaching and learning.

Using the t-test analysis, access rates and use of ICT among male and female academics was observed to be insignificant. Again, the findings revealed a significant …

Studies In Family Planning Journal (2003 To 2009): A Bibliometric Study, Oluremi Adenike Abiolu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigates a bibliometric analysis of Studies in Family Planning journal from 2004 to 2009. It identified major areas of research focus, research design used, authorship patterns, affiliation of authors, citation patterns, continents of research focus and geographical distribution of authors. Findings revealed that family planning and sexual and reproductive health were key subjects of research. Surveys were mostly used for data collection. Authors tilted towards collaboration. Most authors were affiliated to universities. Also, the most cited information source was journal. Most of the articles were on developing countries and most authors were domiciled in developed countries with USA …

Critical Thinking Impact On Faculty Members ‘Information Seeking Behavior In Iau Babol Branch, Safie Tahmasebi Limoni, Mitra Ghiasi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose : The aims of this study is to specify faculty members’critical thinking of Islamic Azad University – Babol and its impact on their information seeking behavior.

methodology: Research method is descriptive – survey and the tool used in this study is two questionnaires, including California critical thinking, form B and information seeking behavior. The statistical population consists of 120 faculty board members of Babol Islamic Azad University. The Sampling method was systematic categorical random.

findings: There is no significant relationship between The faculty members’ critical thinking and their Information behavior seeking. There is no significant relationship …

A Study On Utilization Of Information And Communication Technology By The Users Of University Libraries In Tamilnadu, India, Selva Kumar P, Selva Kumar P, Thandava Moorthy K

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Academic libraries in the modern era are developing in every aspect of the information management processes with the help of increasing and innovative utility of modern technologies. The use of Information Communication Technology (I CT) in academic libraries helps both the library staff and the users in many ways in terms of accuracy, time, labor, space, and money to some extent. Generally, I CT deals with all the uses of digital technology, which already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations for using information. The study conducted to investigate how university students and teachers communicate using various communication media and …

University Library Web Sites In Kerala As Marketing Tools: An Evaluation, Suresh Kumar Pk

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

University libraries are undergoing a major metamorphisms consequent to the development of Information Communication Technology. Digital as a medium for marketing is likely to dominate in this decade due to the fact that digital became the predominant channel for accessing content. Many of the university libraries are now trying to use their websites for distributing documents and selling images and full texts online. Web marketing strategy aims to help the university library optimize the use of its information products and services. So it is indispensable to study the importance of library websites and to explore the reality and potential …

Impact Of Ict On Social Science Faculty Members’ Information Usage Pattern At Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Rubina Bhatti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

This study explores the growing effect of information and communication technology on information usage pattern of the faculty members of Social Science at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan. The findings show that Internet has become a significance source for the faculty members and researchers as they use internet for education purposes, research work and updating knowledge. Google, Yahoo and MSN are widely used search engines and majority of the respondents’ don’t use the Excite, Snake, Kapok and Alta vista. Faculty members frequently use Science Direct to seek relevant information for their research. The problems include that Internet facility, digitized materials …

Library Resources, Services And Information Seeking Behaviour In Changing Ict Environment: A Literature Review, Jayadev H. Kadli,, B. D. Kumbar, Professor & Chairman

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Literature Review enables us to gain a comprehensive overview and summary of the available information on a particular topic. Literature reviews are generally more useful to all practitioners than any one individual piece of research because they allow one piece of research to be viewed within the wider context of others. We see in this article how and why literature reviews are such an essential tool for every researcher. The reasons of undertaking a literature review is also been introduced. Emphasis has been placed on the literature review of library resources, services and information seeking behavior w.r.t ICT environment. This …

User Education In Federal University Libraries: A Study Of Trends And Developments In Nigeria, Michael Onuchukwu Okoye

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The paper aims at investigating how user education is organized, coordinated and implemented in South East Nigeria Federal University Libraries. It also addresses the challenges encountered by academic librarians in the process and itemizes the strategies for enhancing user education.

Methodology: Survey method was adopted and the instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. Population of the study was twenty-six and. twenty-six copies of the instrument were administered. All the copies were returned and were found usable. Descriptive statistics involving frequencies, percentages and mean scores were used for data analysis

Findings: Only one university library did …

Fund Allocation As A Correllate Of Sustainability Of Departmental Libraries In Nigerian Universities, Abdulganiy Okanla Ahmed, Kenneth Ivo Ngozi Nwalo Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Universities in Nigeria and the world over are engines of growth and development. They are increasingly recognised to have a broader role in the social, economic, technological and manpower development of a nation. In fact, the universities serve as the main source of supply of skilled manpower needed in the various sectors of the nation. The National Policy on Education (2004) acknowledges that university education shall make optimum contribution to national development by intensifying and diversifying its programme for the development of high level manpower within the context of the needs of the nation.

The library has a great role …

S&T Publications Output Of India: A Scientometric Analyses Of Publications Output, 1996-2011, B M. Gupta, Adarsh Bala, Avinash Kshitig

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study analyses India’s performance in science and technology (S&T), using publications data and different quantitative and qualitative measures. Its focuses on India’s global publication share, growth rate, citation quality, international collaborative publications share, its publication share and distribution in various broad and narrow subjects using 15 years data from the Scopus international multidisciplinary database. The study suggests the need to increase the pace of Indian scientific research and also improve its quality compared with other developed and developing countries. It also suggests the need for India to build up its scientific capacity, competence and knowledge base to help bridging …

Access To Digital Libraries For Disadvantaged Users, Silke Higgins

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Digital libraries, designed to serve people and their information needs in the same way as traditional libraries, present distinct advantages over brick and mortar facilities: elimination of physical boundaries, round-the-clock access to information, multiple access points, networking abilities, and extended search functions. As a result, they should be especially well-suited for the disadvantaged. However, minorities, those affected by lower income and education status, persons living in rural areas, the physically disabled, and developing countries as a whole consistently suffer from a lack of accessibility to digital libraries. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and relevance of digital libraries currently in place …

Use Of Electronic Resources By Distance Students In Nigeria: The Case Of The National Open University, Lagos And Ibadan Study Centers, Omoike Adenike Damilola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study assessed factors affecting use of electronic information resources by distance learning students using the National Open University, Lagos and lbadan Study centers as a case study. Survey method was used for the study. The sampling method adopted for the purpose of this study was the simple random sampling techniques. The sampled respondents were drawn from the total population of 12,500 students at the Lagos and lbadan study centers. However 2% of the population from each study centers was used as the sample size. A structured questionnaire was developed and administered to elicit information from the respondents. A total …

Functions Of Interpersonal Communication In Rendering Reference Services In Two University Libraries In Nigeria, Philip Usman Akor, Julie Nkechi Udensi Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the functions of interpersonal communication in rendering reference services in two university libraries in Nigeria. They are the federal University of Technology Minna, and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai. The aim was to find out the extent to which interpersonal communication affect provision of reference services in the two university libraries. The survey research method was employed. Questionnaires are the main instrument for data collection. Face to face interview was used to verify the information given in the questionnaire. Frequency, tables, percentages is the main statistical tools used for data analysis. Results of the analysis showed …

World Cataract Research: A Scientometric Analysis Of Publications Output During 2002-11, Brij Mohan Gupta, Adarsh Bala, Avinash Kshitig

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Objectives: The study analyses the global publications output in cataract research during 2002-11 on several parameters including contribution & citation impact of top 15 most productive countries, different types of cataract research, research output by different population age groups, subject-wise break-up of research output, relatedness of various diseases to cataract research, research contribution and impact of top 15 institutions and authors and productivity of the top 20 journals.

Methods: The Scopus Citation Database has been used to retrieve the data for 10 years (2002-11) by searching the keywords “cataract” in the combined Title, Abstract and Keywords field.

Results: The world …

Students’ Perception Of Digital Library Services: A Case Study Of International Islamic University, Malaysia., Amina Adamu Bagudu, Hauwa Sadiq

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The major purpose of this research was to examine the perception of students towards digital library services in the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM). Survey method was used for the study. A sample size of 164 post-graduate students from the faculty of engineering was selected through random sample. Questionnaire was used to collect data. The analysis of the data revealed high level of awareness and utilization of DC among respondents. The respondents also showed positive attitude towards the IIUM DC. Suggestions aimed at to improving the IIUM digital library services were also provided

Human Resources, User Education Marketing Strategy, And Students’ Use Of Library Services In Some Nigerian Federal Universities, Susan Umeozor

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study was conducted to assess the distribution of librarians by university, gender, years of experience and qualification and to determine the influence of user education marketing strategy on students’ use of libraries in four Nigerian Universities. Ex-post-facto design was used for the study and the instruments for data collection were two researcher-developed questionnaires, one for the librarians and the other for the students. Data obtained were analyzed using independent t-test statistics. Results indicated that all the universities investigated are gender sensitive in their employment; both sexes are almost equally represented. The librarians are well experienced staff since 92% of …

Study Of Information Seeking Behavior And Library Use Pattern Of Researchers In The Banasthali University, A.K. Pareek, Madan S. Rana

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study was undertaken to determine the information seeking behavior and library use by research scholars at the Banasthali University. The overall purpose of the study was to determine what their information requirements and also determine their awareness of library services available to them. The study collected data on the information requirements of researchers. Data were gathered from 100 researchers out of 150 through open and closed questionnaire. Findings indicate that guidance in the use of library resources and services is necessary to help researchers meet some of their information requirements.

Keywords: Information seeking behavior; Library resources; e-resources; Inter-Library Loan …

Role Of Library And Information Centres In Disaster Management, Pardeep Rattan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present paper highlights the importance of library and information centres in managing a disaster or any emergency. The main thrust of the paper is to explore the possible roles that the library professionals may assume in case of disasters besides their regular or routine jobs. The concept of disaster management, types of man- made and natural disasters have also been discussed in detail. The paper discusses library professionals’ role in managing the emergencies for the local community in particular and for the library and information centres in general. Various components of information and communication technology helpful in the reduction …

A Comparative Study Of Users’ Experiences With Microsoft Windows Vista And Windows Xp: A Case Study Of University Of Ibadan, Ugwunwa Chinyere Esse

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Through the past two decades, Human Computer Interactions emerged as a focal area of computer science research and development. Human Computer Interaction is about designing computer systems that support people so that they can carry out their activities productively and safely. And this has a role in playing in the design and development of all kinds of system. Although advances in technology tend to drive advances in field, technology needs to be usable as well as functional. According to Terry Winogard (1990)” Except for special things like computer games, people don’t use computer because they want to use computer, they …

A Survey Of The Use Of Electronic Resources In Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Rachael Oyeranti Oyedapo, Reuben Abiodun Ojo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper discussed the impact of electronic information resources as an enabler of research activities in Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to survey the opinions of the researchers who are the regular users of the library under study.

The study showed various electronic information resources available and the degree of its utilization by the researchers and postgraduate students. There is a significant influence of level of availability of electronic information resources on utilization [F(3,79) = 10,337, P<0.05]. The study also revealed that only 6.0% of respondents use e-resources frequently thus, the usage of e-resources is still very low in the university community. Consequently, it was recommended that the library should organize teaching of information literacy skills through user education programmes.

Present Status Of Library Cooperation, Networking, And Resource Sharing In Bangladesh: Web-Based Library Cooperation For Access To World-Wide Information, Mirza Mohd. Rezaul Islam

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Libraries have been cooperating and collaborating on collection building and resource sharing for many years. The cooperation was based on inter-library loan and preparation and publication of union catalogue. But the ways of cooperation in building resources and access to information resources was not easy and effective. Library cooperation for access to information resources was limited to the formation of networking among the libraries having homogeneous interest. Like many other countries,Bangladeshalso formed networks of libraries of different disciplines of knowledge, which could not sustain due to lack of appropriate communication system. To ascertain the status of collection of information resources, …

Empowering Rural Women Through Information Provision: The Strategic Roles Of The Library., Scholastica C. Ukwoma, Ezii Njoku

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Information is crucial to all human endeavors, therefore it is necessary that required information is provided to all categories of people. This has been the call by many organizations, including libraries, which have also laid more emphasis on access to information. The federal government of Nigeria announced a seven point agenda aimed at achieving the development of the nation. One of the items in the agenda centers on agriculture and food security, which should be a priority for any developing nation. Agriculture not only feeds the teeming population, but it also enhances economic growth and development.

Rural women inNigeriaare predominantly …

Visibility Index Of Social Science Research: A Scientometric Dimension Of Emerging Trends, Bipin Bihari Sethi, Krushna Chandra Panda

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Visualizing into social science research, the present study examines the trend in social science research out put, degree of collaboration in research, extent of authors’ productivity, growth pattern of literature and far-reaching productive regions at length. The central theme of the approach resultantly discovers and indicates the current research process and status at global scenario. Finally, the study shows the researchers participation in research and development, and research out put have set the pace vertically as determining a modern convenience of 21^st century, causes encouragement to novice researchers. Summarizing the consequences of the study it is discovered that, single …