Search results

This paper of this study is to attempt to explore the status of collection in agricultural libraries of Northern India and assess the magnitude of impact of the advent of electronic information resources (EIRs) on the contemporary acquisition.

While adhering to the survey method, the questionnaire was used as a data collection tool to collect data from university librarians. Telephonic interaction and e-mail correspondence were also used to clear doubts, remove ambiguities and obtain data of higher significance from the respondents.

The majority of the agricultural libraries in Northern India have a sound collection of information resources in the print form, which may continue to act as a source of attraction for users in the future for a long time to come. Yet, the acquisition of information resources in the print form across the studied libraries continues at routine pace, and as such the advent of e-resources seems to have not yet laid any prominent impact on acquisition of resources in print form. E-Books have not yet been fully incorporated into the library collection and that e-journal collection “CeRA” (Consortium for Electronic Resources in Agriculture) seems to gratify the needs of users of these libraries, as no additional e-journals are seen to be subscribed to at present.

Only seven agricultural libraries have been taken as a sample. Moreover, the work is confined to only two aspects, i.e. current status and the impact of EIRs on acquisition of information resources. Other aspects like those of collection development, storage and accommodation, preservation, library functionality and library services need to also be studied.

This is first work of its nature in Northern India with agricultural libraries as their domain. The findings will help the librarians and the library advisory committees decide on logical grounds about the proportion at which the print and electronic forms of information resources need to be acquired.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the change(s) brought about by the advent of electronic information resources in the overall collection development process across agricultural libraries of northern India.

A survey was conducted in 2015 by using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. The investigator also interacted with the librarians through telephone and also availed the e-mail service for required correspondence.

There is a major change in the identification, selection and acquisition procedures across agricultural libraries of northern India, as the majority of these libraries are seen to adhere to an onsite demo of products and services, as the publishers/vendors to set online trial for ample of time before any decision is taken. The libraries are also seen to take advantage of e-mail correspondence to identify, select and acquire best possible information products against utmost economical costs. The responsibility of identifying and selecting the required items devolves mainly with scientists/subject experts, whereas the requisitions of students and suggestions of library staff are comparatively taken as lesser cognisance, while executing this job Library advisory committee is the most prominent authority responsible for final approval of the purchase of e-resources, while “Heads of Divisions” also play a considerable role in this regard.

Only seven agricultural libraries have been taken as a sample. Moreover, the work is confined to only four aspects, i.e. the identification, selection and acquisition procedures adopted and the authorities responsible for carrying out the job. Other aspects like that of adoption of proper collection development; policy and the criteria used for selection; and acquisition of information also need to be studied. Similar studies need to be conducted in other parts of India and also across libraries of other domains of knowledge.

This is a first work of its nature in northern India with its domain as agricultural libraries. The findings will help the librarians and the library advisory committees to decide on logical grounds about the identification, selection and acquisition procedures adopted at present and look forward for bringing about the uniformity and improvement in the process and make changes in the policy to make room for efficient acquisition of information resources.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the frequency at which the users of agricultural libraries of Northern India tend to use the e-resources and explore the time they invest on average in a day in using e-resources. An effort has also been made to examine the state wise, university wise and user category wise tendency w.r.t. the frequency at which they use e-resources and the average time in a day they spend on their use.

A survey was adopted to conduct the study and a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The investigator also interacted with the librarians through telephone and also resorted to the e-mail communication to substantiate the responses and seek certain clarifications thereof. Statistical Package for Social Science was used to analyse the data on an empirical basis. χ² test was used to derive an association between the variables and test the level of significance thereof.

It is found that the users of North Indian agricultural libraries have got a great tendency to use e-resources as majority of them are seen to use them “daily” and “2-3 times a week”. They prove to be voracious, prudent and sensible users in the sense that they spend 2 hrs in a day, 1 hr in a day and even 3 hrs in a day on usage of e-resources and thus go at par with the use pattern recorded in other domains of knowledge across India. No remarkable difference is witnessed among different categories of users w.r.t. frequency of use and the time spend on use of e-resources.

This study has been conducted on e-resources only. Response to a similar set of questions need to be collected from the same library users to consolidate the facts about the print form of information and thus carryout a comparative study.

This is first work of its nature in Northern India with domain as agricultural libraries. The outcome of the study will enable the librarians to judiciously decide about the proportion at which the two formats of information resources need to be acquired and the facilities the libraries need to create for adequate, smooth and reliable access to two formats of information.

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of advent of electronic information resources on “academic and carrier related core aspects of user performance”.

Seven sampled agricultural universities across northern India were surveyed personally by the investigator for collecting data about the questions under investigation through a structured questionnaire. The response of the users for each statement under investigation was collected with simple “Yes”/“No” option. The investigator also resorted to the telephonic and e-mail communication to collect prompt response and had a personal interaction with respondents to substantiate the collected responses and remove any ambiguity thereof.

It is found that the majority of respondents are of the opinion that due to advent of e-resources the users’ interest in studies has enhanced (62.90 per cent) and that the e-resources have played a significant role in timely completion/submission of their study related assignments (74.30 per cent). It is also evident that a good proportion of respondents agree that the advent of e-resources has laid a positive impact on performance of users in “academic examinations” (50.80 per cent), “competitive examinations” (52.80 per cent), and the “interviews” (46.18 per cent) they face. Statistically, it is also verified that the performance of users with respect to five aspects investigated in this study is significantly associated with advent of e-resources (p < 0.01), whereas it does not show any association with one aspect i.e. “timely completion of an academic degree”.

The findings are based on mere opinion of users and need to be verified by devising a well-articulated methodology for verification of the user performance related facts both in print and electronic eras, independent of the users’ opinion.

The findings of this study shall prompt the budget allocating authorities of the libraries to reformulate their fund allocation policies. Findings of this study shall act as logical basis to enhance budget for improving the volume of e-resources. These also emphasize the fact that a provision of recurring fund needs to be created for facilitating single window based anytime anywhere access to the available e-information base, which may include annual subscription charges for availing (i) proxy software services for remote access and (ii) federated search engine for single window searching.

This is first work of its nature in northern Indian agricultural libraries. The findings will be useful for the authorities to decide about the degree of importance the libraries need to endorse with the procurement of information resources in electronic form. The study will really inspire the researchers and librarians to conduct similar studies in other specific domains of knowledge and come out with significant findings and suggestions.

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most popular places, gadgets, searching tools and techniques adopted by users of Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (DYSPUH & F), Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, while searching electronic information resources (EIRs).

A survey was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire used as a data collection tool.

It is found that department/office chamber (42 per cent), hostel (29 per cent) and home (26 per cent) prove to be the most popular places of access. Majority of users use laptops to access and read EIRs. Among all popular platforms, users of DYSPUH & F library prefer to use “search engines”, and “Google” proves to be the number one search engine. Majority of users search the information through “title” followed by “keywords/subject terms”. The users are not yet well-versed with most of the advanced search techniques, as less than half of them are able to use only Boolean operators, and less than 10 per cent of them claim to know other search techniques. Majority of users have learnt to use information search and retrieval skills through self-study.

Only one agricultural university of northern India was surveyed; hence, the results cannot be generalised for the entire northern region of the country.

The findings will help the library authorities to see what are the prime areas of concern so far as the search discourse and accessibility of e-resources is concerned.

No such survey has been conducted in the University till date.

Continuous professional development (CPD) plays a crucial role in the library workplace by equipping library and information science (LIS) professionals with the skills and technical knowledge to bridge the theory-praxis gap, assuring that library practitioners and their organisations continue to innovate and stay successful and tailored to the requirement of their users. The aim of the study was to investigate the channels of CPD for LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Also, it explored the motivations and barriers related to the LIS professionals’ CPD.

The study adopted a quantitative research design followed by the survey research method. The study population included LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Data was gathered from 177 respondents via the census sampling method.

LIS professionals engaged in CPD activities through multiple channels. Intrinsic factors primarily governed the motivation for CPD. Similarly, time and finance were significant challenges for LIS CPD. Lastly, most libraries were headed by in-charge librarians (non-professionals). De-professionalisation, or the deliberate de-skilling of professional roles, threatens the basis upon which librarians establish their credibility as professionals.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first of its kind from the perspective of a developing country, adding to the CPD literature in academic libraries.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

This paper attempts to understand how the interaction of natural disasters and human behaviour during wartime led to famines in three regions under imperial control around the Indian Ocean. The socio-economic structure of these regions had been increasingly differentiated over the period of imperial rule, with large proportions of their populations relying on agricultural labour for their subsistence.

Before the war, food crises in each of the regions had been met by the private importation of grain from national or overseas surplus regions: the grain had been made available through a range of systems, the most complex of which was the Bengal Famine Code in which the able-bodied had to work before receiving money to buy food in the market.

During the Second World War, the loss of control of normal sources of imported grain, the destruction of shipping in the Indian Ocean (by both sides) and the military demands on internal transport systems prevented the use of traditional famine responses when natural events affected grain supply in each of the regions. These circumstances drew the governments into attempts to control their own grain markets.

The food crises raised complex ethical and practical issues for the governments charged with their solution. The most significant of these was that the British Government could have attempted to ship wheat to Bengal but, having lost naval control of the Indian Ocean in 1942 and needing warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1943 chose to ignore the needs of the people of Bengal, focussing instead on winning the war.

In each of the regions governments allowed/encouraged the balkanisation of the grain supply – at times down to the sub-district level – which at times served to produce waste and corruption, and opened the way for black markets as various groups (inside and outside government ranks) manipulated the local supply.

People were affected in different ways by the changes brought about by the war: some benefitted if their role was important to the war-effort; others suffered. The effect of this was multiplied by the way each government ‘solved’ its financial problems by – in essence – printing money.

Because of the natural events of the period, there would have been food crises in these regions without World War II, but decisions made in the light of wartime exigencies and opportunities turned crises into famines, causing the loss of millions of lives.