Evaluation of factors determining the development and progress of library and information science in different Pakistani universities

Abstract

Purpose

The field of library and information sciences (LIS) is crucial to our educational system. Across the globe, the LIS systems operate at varying levels and rates of efficiency. One of the developing nations is Pakistan, which has LIS systems in all of its colleges, universities and schools. This multimethod study aims to identify and quantify elements that are detrimental to LIS progress as well as evaluate the faculty and infrastructure profiles of universities that offer LIS undergraduate and graduate level programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from the study's participants, who were mainly LIS professionals and faculty at 17 different universities, using survey questionnaires and in-person interviews. This study used a descriptive survey methodology, gathering information through a Google Survey and filling it out with a premade survey proforma. The survey responses were examined using content analysis. The development of LIS instructional and scholarly output is influenced by a variety of factors, which were investigated using a generalized linear model (GLM). To determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in opinion between faculty members and working professionals, as well as between men and women, the outcomes of an independent sample t-test were examined.

Findings

According to our data, the factors that have the biggest impact on the caliber and output of LIS research are “poor writing skills” (3.43), “lack of journal publication fees” (3.51) and “lack of research skills” (3.78). The top GLM model identified poor writing skills, a lack of publication fees and a lack of research expertise as bottleneck characteristics for producing high-quality LIS research. The aforementioned factors were 3.62, 2.41 and 2.19 times more significant than the average factor, respectively, to put it another way.

Originality/value

This study’s analysis revealed that there is no real distinction between the two groups' viewpoints. The results of this study can be applied to problems and challenges associated with LIS education in Pakistani educational institutions.

Citation

Shah, S.H., Pei, L. and Chen, T. (2023), "Evaluation of factors determining the development and progress of library and information science in different Pakistani universities", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-10-2022-0232