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This study aims to examine the status, explores the hurdles and identifies the prospects for developing a union catalogue of university libraries in Lahore, Pakistan.

Following a quantitative research approach, a questionnaire was developed from literature and authors’ experience. After ensuring its validity and reliability, data were collected from librarians after the census. A total of 105 librarians were approached, of whom 73 (71%) responded to the survey.

University libraries in Lahore are well organized, have adequate collections and information technology-literate staff, are well automated, have good internet connections, are equipped with integrated software, follow cataloguing rules and MARC standards; however, the absence of standardized software, lack of funds, absence of uniform policy, professional workload and absence of standardized vocabulary are significant challenges. Private-sector librarians reported facing more challenges. Librarians consider all prospects vital for developing a union catalogue. These prospects include the availability of relevant information, incentives to librarians, coordination with librarians, a realization that sharing is caring, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan taking initiative and librarians’ training.

University librarians in Lahore are ready to cooperate with the development of a union catalogue; however, they seek support from higher authorities, professional library associations and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind that examines the status, explores the hurdles and identifies the prospects for developing a union catalogue of university libraries in Lahore. It would lead to the development of a union catalogue of university libraries in Pakistan.

This paper aims to inform noncataloguers about the current and historical significance of both machine readable cataloguing (MARC) records and traditional cataloguing as well as introduce them to current struggles to modernize.

The approach of this column is to break-down what may appear to be a crisis in the modernization of library cataloguing and metadata by placing the issues in their historical context and considering existing technologies in a user-friendly manner.

MARC-based cataloguing is well-established, robust and widely used in many library applications. It is not easily replaced and attempts to do so have had very slow progress. Although change is expected in the future, it may lay with solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

Although there are many papers discussing the merits of traditional cataloguing and the need for new methods and standards, few are written from a nontechnical point of view and for noncataloguers or those not working in systems departments. This column's intended audience is all library workers with an emphasis on those who are not familiar with MARC.

In order to estimate the value of semi-automated subject indexing in operative library catalogues, the study aimed to investigate five different automated implementations of an open source software package on a large set of Swedish union catalogue metadata records, with Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) as the target classification system. It also aimed to contribute to the body of research on aboutness and related challenges in automated subject indexing and evaluation.

On a sample of over 230,000 records with close to 12,000 distinct DDC classes, an open source tool Annif, developed by the National Library of Finland, was applied in the following implementations: lexical algorithm, support vector classifier, fastText, Omikuji Bonsai and an ensemble approach combing the former four. A qualitative study involving two senior catalogue librarians and three students of library and information studies was also conducted to investigate the value and inter-rater agreement of automatically assigned classes, on a sample of 60 records.

The best results were achieved using the ensemble approach that achieved 66.82% accuracy on the three-digit DDC classification task. The qualitative study confirmed earlier studies reporting low inter-rater agreement but also pointed to the potential value of automatically assigned classes as additional access points in information retrieval.

The paper presents an extensive study of automated classification in an operative library catalogue, accompanied by a qualitative study of automated classes. It demonstrates the value of applying semi-automated indexing in operative information retrieval systems.

The purpose of this column is to inform librarians and other information professionals about prompt engineering (PE) and to challenge them to consider how it relates to the work that they are doing and consider if it might enhance their current ability to serve users.

PE is a new job category in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence. Prompt engineers use various approaches to elicit the best possible outputs from large language module technologies such as ChatGPT. This column examines the various elements present in effective prompts and how the skills, knowledge and abilities relate to the work that librarians already do, where there are disruptions and how the field of library and information science may approach studying the emergence and effectiveness of PE in resolving information needs.

While PE shares many of the goals, procedures and skillsets that librarians already know and use, it is a disruption in information-seeking processes. It is a highly complex undertaking that requires a mix of knowledge, skills and abilities. If done well, PE will allow information seekers to achieve a whole new level of results both in terms of the information retrieved and the content that is produced based on that information.

Librarians are currently generally not considered to be prime candidates for PE positions. However, this column introduces the idea that many librarians already have the knowledge, skills, abilities and aptitude to do PE. This may be as prompt engineers or by integrating PE into their existing professional practice.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate enhancement of library performance by exploiting the potentials of disruptive innovations.

Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. The population of the study was 167 respondents, consisting of 83 professional and 84 para-professional librarians in the libraries of the public higher institutions in Ekiti and Ondo States, Nigeria. Total enumeration sampling technique was used for the study. Data were collected using the questionnaire. Descriptive statistical tools were used for data analysis.

It was found that disruptive innovation has influence on library operations, the extent of application of disruptive innovation in library operation is low, the extent of using the by-products of disruptive innovation in the libraries is low and the challenges facing the adoption of disruptive innovations in libraries include: high cost of acquiring technological infrastructure, high cost of training library personnel, high costs of internet, inadequate technical know-how and high costs of system maintenance and upgrades.

Libraries should embrace the influence of disruptive innovations in their operations and service delivery.

This study is novel, as it approaches library performance from the perspective of the disruptive innovation. Very few studies emanate from Africa in this area. Most of the previous narratives around disruptive innovation centred around the Western countries such USA, UK, France, Italy, etc., which maintain a lead in library innovation and development. The current study demonstrated that the performance of libraries in Nigeria is not immune from being boosted by disruptive innovations.

Internships are widely used as one of the best learning tools for professional practice. The purpose of this research paper is to comprehend to what extent the LIS interns become competent with practical tasks through this program, current facilities offered by the internship-offering institutions and their plan in this regard.

This study used a mixed-method approach. To examine LIS students’ practical experience, this study conducted a survey. Participants were 110 students having internship experience from the LIS bachelor’s degree offering universities of Bangladesh. For qualitative data, representatives of internship-offering institutions were interviewed.

Results indicate that there is a certain lack of coordination between theoretical knowledge with practical demonstrations. Some essential ICT-based tasks missed out from this program like library automation software (e.g. KOHA); online-based cataloging such as Machine Readable Cataloguing, Resource Description and Access; digital library software (Greenstone); Institutional Repository software (Dspace, EPrint, etc.); virtual library services; radio frequency identification, etc. which should be taken into consideration in internship modules. Including faculty members and practitioners is suggested for a model internship framework ensuring ever-advanced LIS education. There is no significant difference between interns’ gender with their satisfaction level.

The major limitation of this study is the absence of coverage of faculty perceptions regarding Internships. As in the higher education institution, the three stakeholder groups’ subsets, namely, faculty members, practitioners and students are parallelly important to take any initiative.

The input from interns will assist the industries in redesigning their modules in light of interns’ feedback to best prepare interns for the competitive job market.

Internship in LIS education is not a new research area; however, research attempts to show students’ experience along with organizations’ preparedness in offering internships is new in nature.

The purpose of this paper is to review an existing graphic novel collection in the curriculum materials center of an academic library. The review would result in a clear identity for the collection and guide the creation of revised collection development, management and cataloging processes.

The physical and bibliographic identities of each individual graphic novel were reviewed and compared with collection development tools.

The review revealed a mismatch between the physical and bibliographic markers applied to some graphic novels and inconsistencies in the assignment of items based on audience and literature type. At the completion of the project, 43% of the graphic novels were reassigned based on audience, literature type or both.

There is limited research about the collection challenges and needs of graphic novels in juvenile and curriculum materials collections within academic libraries. This research details the process used to evaluate the collection and create a physical and bibliographic identity that fits the needs of the library’s users.

The purpose of studying the impact of artificial intelligence text generators (AITGs) on libraries is to examine the effect of AITGs on the library landscape, including the services offered, the resources provided and the roles of library staff.

The current study examined how AITGs impact libraries. The researcher was able to comprehend the problem by critically analyzing and reviewing the pertinent published works, such as books, journals and articles.

This study concludes AITGs can assist libraries in streamlining operations, enhancing services and making collections more accessible. It is vital to highlight that AITGs are not intended to dissuade its users from visiting physical libraries or to replace them with virtual ones. Instead, they are a tool that can improve and supplement the services and resources provided by virtual libraries.

The study’s observations add to the corpus of information on AITGs in libraries and help users comprehend their technological foundations. Further empirical research is recommended on the effects of AITGs and their impact on libraries.

This paper aims to describe how one medical library implemented a new scheduling system, initiated data analysis and modified its regularly scheduled workshop program because of evidence-based decision-making. Academic libraries that struggle with workshop attendance may use this process as a model.

Workshop registration data analysis focused on registrants' affiliation, role and location, and how registrants learned of workshops. Workshop attendance data analysis focused on which workshops, days, times of the day and months had the highest attendance. The analysis led to changes in marketing and targeted scheduling of future workshops by the time of day, day of the week and month of the year.

Data collected for four years, fall 2018 – summer 2022 (12 semesters), shows a steady increase in the number of people attending library workshops. The increase in attendance and ROI experienced after the changes implemented at Ruth Lilly Medical Library (RLML) is significant as libraries often struggle with attendance, marketing and return on investment when offering ongoing educational workshops.

Many libraries offer ongoing workshops with low attendance. This article provides an example of how one library changed software and registration and implemented evidence-based decision-making related to scheduling which may have contributed to an increase in workshop attendance. Other academic libraries might consider adopting similar software and evidence-based decision-making to improve their library workshop service.

This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications organized thematically and detailing, study populations, results and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for academic library practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.

This article annotates 340 English-language periodical articles, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2022. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Elsevier SCOPUS and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Sources selected were published in 2022 and included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, subject terms, or author supplied keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations were made summarizing the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was then thematically categorized and organized for academic librarians to be able to skim and use the annotated bibliography efficiently.

The paper provides a brief description of 340 sources from 144 unique publications, and highlights publications that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions. Further analysis of the sources and authorship are provided.

The information is primarily of use to academic librarians, researchers, and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy published within 2022.