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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the East West University Library’s (EWUL’s) response to COVID-19 situation through their transformation to digital services. The paper tries to explain how these digital library services support the user community of East West University (EWU) in online teaching and access to information resources.

This paper describes the EWUL’s several digital services that are used to meet the needs of its user community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reflective practice approach has been undertaken for this study on the basis of the authors’ personal experiences working at an academic library. The authors used the reflective practice approach to assess the library’s practice during crisis situation, make the use of technological interventions in service providing and also to re-innovate the digital services for future.

During the pandemic, the library shifted all the possible physical or on-site services to digital services, i.e. online resource facilities and remote access to these, federated searching, Web online public access catalog, engaging users through social media, specialized knowledge space, online document delivery, article on request, information literacy training, virtual reference service, etc. The user engagement in all these services is also notable.

The nature of this study is limited to the COVID-19 pandemic and within a particular geographic location.

This paper has implications and possible applications for other university libraries in developing countries, which intends to transform their services into digital for ensuring better service quality for their respective user community.

This paper makes a valuable contribution to the literature on how a private university library of a developing country is responding to pandemics such as COVID-19.

The aim of this paper was to compare university students’ preferences for searching the library catalogue via the library’s Koha online public access catalogue (OPAC) or its discovery tool VuFind.

A total of 175 students responded to a questionnaire-based survey through which their demographic data, duration (years) of computer use and their self-reported levels of computer skills were obtained. Students were asked what interfaces they use for catalogue searching and to rate their opinion on the relevant interfaces on a seven-point Likert scale. Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted to statistically compare the differences between students’ demographic/individual characteristics and their ratings on the respective interfaces. For those students who used both systems, differences between their Likert ratings were assessed using a one-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test.

The results showed that there were no significant differences among students in terms of their ratings on either the OPAC or VuFind interfaces. Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated that significantly more students thought that VuFind was more usable than the Koha OPAC.

This is a pioneering study of the current use of the OPAC and discovery tools by university students and their preferences for searching catalogue information through these systems. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage researchers to conduct task-based usability studies with various cataloguing tools and this could yield new and improved interaction designs for library catalogue searching.

The core purpose of the study is to find the existing status of digital libraries (DLs) in university libraries of Bangladesh and to see whether university libraries of Bangladesh are ready to convert their traditional libraries into digital ones. Other purposes include: to explore the status of adoption of subscription-based e-resources among the university libraries in Bangladesh; to assess the level of information and communications technology skills of library and information science (LIS) professionals working in the university libraries; and to illustrate the government initiatives on digitization/DL development.

The current study used the mixed methods, i.e. qualitative and quantitative. A questionnaire was prepared to assess the existing status of DL systems in university libraries of Bangladesh and to meet other purposes of the study. The population of the study included the heads of the public and private university librarians in Bangladesh. Several phone contacts were made for this study. A good number of e-mail addresses of the librarians of public and private universities in Bangladesh were collected over the phone. The study was conducted from June 2012 to September 2012. Of the 50 identified respondents, the author received 30 completed questionnaires. The heads of 18 public universities and 11 private universities and one international university responded to this study. Two responses were received by post. Therefore, the response rate for the current study is 60 per cent.

As part of the government’s pledge to build “Digital Bangladesh”, several initiatives have been taken that are related to digitization, information development and developing repositories and e-services for citizens. However, not much initiative has been taken to develop nationwide DLs in Bangladesh. In terms of e-resource usage scenario, public university libraries are better in offering e-resources to its students and faculty members than private university libraries in Bangladesh. Finally, it turned out that the majority of the university libraries in Bangladesh are not ready to be digital. Lack of funds, lack of infrastructural support and lack of skilled LIS professionals are the main reasons hindering the development of DLs in the university libraries of Bangladesh.

This study will help DL researchers around the world in getting information on the status of DLs in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh, policymakers, university authorities and LIS professionals in Bangladesh will highly benefited from this research. No study to find DL readiness of the universities has so far been conducted.

The aim of this paper was to identify various institutional repository (IR) initiatives taken by Bangladeshi institutions, including identifying prospects, exploring strategies, and framing guideline for building IRs in Bangladesh.

The paper is a general review and counts the development of IR practices in Bangladesh. Other secondary sources, such as research reports, articles and internet, are used. Discussions were also held with staff members of some other libraries, who intended to establish IR in their respective institutions. Data were collected from different institutions, currently practicing IRs in Bangladesh, through personal visit and website.

The study explored the existing status of practicing IRs in Bangladesh and identified the trends at national and global level of IRs. Results showed that some institutions established their repositories in Bangladesh using DSpace, others used Greenstone and EPrints.

This paper provides basic information for beginners and helps in planning to build IR in their respective organizations in Bangladesh.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on library and information services (LIS) and how library professionals overcome the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic in the current reality.

This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Bangladesh’s LIS professionals. A structured online questionnaire was designed for the purpose of a quantitative survey. The respondents of this study were LIS professionals in all categories of libraries (e.g. academic libraries, public libraries, special libraries and national library) in Bangladesh. A total of 106 responses from LIS professionals in Bangladesh were received. This study analyzed qualitative data using Braun and Clark’s technique for thematic coding. Researchers interviewed librarians in two phases (during the COVID-19 pandemic and after COVID-19) about how libraries cope up with the COVID crisis. The descriptive findings were examined using diverse descriptive statistics (i.e. frequency numbers and percentages), and for examining the significant differences among demographics’ information regarding challenges faced by LIS professionals, Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted. The qualitative responses were carefully analyzed for familiarizing, coding and theme generation.

The result showed that most LIS professionals (i.e. 46.2% and 43.4%) had faced difficulties in accessing e-resources from home and had failed to maintain balance between work and personal life and to offer remote library services. The LIS professionals mostly used Facebook Messenger and Zoom to communicate with their colleagues and users. Furthermore, many LIS professionals (50.0%) secured their health and safety, adopted hygienic procedures at their workstations and provided virtual reference services. The qualitative findings show that though some libraries have faced challenges in providing online sources and services due to the absence of authority interest, budget scarcity and inadequate information and communication technology infrastructure, some libraries took the initiative to establish library institutional repository and make it available for users from home.

The present study only concentrated on the staff and their actions during and after the pandemic, which was mentioned as a limitation. It would be more effective if the study also considered the user’s viewpoint. The researchers hope that this study will help LIS professionals to support and provide digital and innovative service initiatives in their organization.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first of its kind study in Bangladesh where the staff of all types of libraries expressed their views on the problems they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps they took recently to overcome them.

While the usage of social media reviews has become increasingly popular in recent years, few studies in this context of Bangladesh have investigated its impact on restaurant visit intention. Therefore, this study aims to explain the role of attitude toward social media reviews in customers' restaurant visit intention from the perspective of Bangladesh. In doing so, predictors of attitude toward social media reviews were also ascertained and their indirect effects on restaurant visit intention were investigated.

A survey questionnaire was administered to 300 university students. A six-factor based measurement model was proposed, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in testing the hypotheses represented by the model. Furthermore, a focus group discussion with 12 respondents was also held to assess how negative reviews on social media affect the customers' restaurant visit intention.

This study reveals that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trustworthiness and information quality of social media reviews are positively related to attitude toward using positive social media reviews for choosing a restaurant. Furthermore, attitude toward positive social media reviews directly contributes to the intention to visit restaurants. Besides, attitude toward social media reviews fully mediates the relationship of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trustworthiness with restaurant visit intention, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between information quality and restaurant visit intention. Besides, results from focus group discussion revealed that customers typically trust negative reviews which reduce their intent to visit restaurants.

The samples chosen for this study belong only to a particular stratum of the population (students from a specific institution/university). Hence, the outcomes should be generalized with caution.

This study provides practical guidelines for the restaurant marketers to formulate improved strategic decisions by tracking the restaurant customers' attitudes, behavioral intentions, sentiments and share of voice on social media platforms. The results of this study will encourage the restaurant marketers to build sustainable relationships with influential food bloggers to spawn positive electronic word of mouth (e-WOM).

This is one of the first studies in Bangladesh that have covered up a timely and untouched research area, providing empirical evidence regarding the effects of attitude toward social media reviews on restaurant visit intent in the context of a South Asian country like Bangladesh.

The study aims to determine the extent of COVID-19’s impact on the libraries and information centers within Benguet. It identified the key differences in the effect of the pandemic on each type of library: public, special, school and academic. It recalled and documented the challenges faced by libraries and librarians. It determined which aspects of their library were affected and how they were modified in terms of their policies, personnel, physical space, services, collection, infodemic response and marketing.

The study used the qualitative descriptive method approach, specifically narrative research design and conducted online focus group discussions in which 14 librarians with managerial or supervisory functions participated. This method was used to explore the topic holistically by using qualitative inquiry. It best suited the purpose of fully understanding the experiences of libraries during the pandemic. The recorded online focus group discussions conducted through Zoom were reviewed and analyzed to identify key themes and responses from the participants. The themes identified from the thematic analysis were further validated with the participants through correspondence, chats or e-mails.

The findings showed that libraries were faced with challenges brought on by the lack of a written policy for the pandemic response, a lack of information communication and technology skills and resources, strict requirements on physical setup for pandemic compliance, budget cuts or realignments and delayed procurement, misinformation and users’ lack of awareness of the new services offered by the library.

The study focused on the pandemic experiences of libraries and information centers in Baguio-Benguet, which was hailed as a model for local pandemic response, through the lenses of librarians with supervisory roles or functions.

Libraries could reflect on their experiences in this pandemic to plan for future strategies that would be best implemented in situations where face-to-face services are not allowed.

This study presented various best practices from different library institutions that could be emulated in the future. Many of these are still relevant regardless library services are going back to normal.

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

Who knows what scholarly gems lie behind the iron doors of research library stacks in what used to be called “East” Germany? Today anyone with a network connection and a Web browser can know at least some of the answers, thanks to a major automation effort.

China's rise as a major player in world affairs has contributed significantly to the global interest in the study of Chinese language, society, and culture. Its emerging importance has also increased the need for China‐related library materials and information provision to China scholars and the general public in recent years. This paper seeks to trace the historical transformation and renewed interest in China studies and the growing demand placed on Asian or East Asian libraries that support China studies in the USA.

The paper is a general review of the issues and challenges facing libraries in the West, which serve Chinese scholars, with the increasing demand for China‐related library materials and information resources, as well as for delivery of such information resources.

The paper identifies the issues and challenges facing libraries in the West that serve China scholars. The importance of collection building in China studies, the role of Chinese studies librarians, professional support for East Asian studies librarians in North America, and the changing outlook of academic libraries is highlighted.

In a world that is increasingly more global, Asian or East Asian libraries must gain better understanding if the issues and best practices to effectively provide information service through collaboration and resource sharing with partners in Asia to achieve true global collections.

The paper presents possible measures that can be undertaken to bridge the difference between the East and West. Specifically, the paper addresses concerns libraries outside China encounter and proposes suggestions regarding resource sharing, balancing a Chinese collection in a networked environment, financial challenges, continuing education, and bibliographic control.