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The role of digital library resources (DLRs) in accelerating academic and research productivity has been acknowledged worldwide. The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the use of DLRs as a predictor of satisfaction and research productivity in the context of Pakistan to examine its impact on engineering research productivity.

Given the research objectives, the most suitable methodology for this study is survey. The tool used for gathering the research data on the frequency of usage, purpose, satisfaction level and impact of DLRs usage on research productivity was questionnaires.

The findings of this study showed that the frequency of use of DLRs and purposes of DLRs significantly contributed to the research students’ satisfaction and research productivity. In addition, a significant relationship was found between the predictors (DLRs purposes, DLRs frequency) and outcome variables (users’ satisfaction and research productivity). Thus, all five hypotheses are supported. The findings of this study further suggested the provision of information sources by university libraries to support research efforts and make a scientific knowledge-based society in the country. The findings are also significant for Higher Education Commission (HEC) authorities, university library administrators, Library and Information Science professionals/information providers to develop e-resources and formulate effective usage policies through which they could make effective use of DLRs.

The rationale of the present study is to fill the gap by empirically investigating the association of users’ satisfaction and research productivity with two dimensions of DLRs, namely, DLRs usage frequency and purposes of DLRs usage.

The purpose of this study is to suggest strategic-based measures for improving the current situation of academic law libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Using a survey method, this study attempted to explore a strategic-based measure for improving academic law libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data were collected from 43 respondents through semi-structured interviews, including library and information science professionals, academicians and administrative officers of the affiliation awarding institutions and principals of the law colleges.

Based on the interview findings, the study found that most of the law colleges do not pay attention towards the development of their institutional libraries. Outdated collections, scarcity of information and communication technologies and budgetary issues, inactive roles of regulating bodies and professional associations, limited roles of professional library staff, limited access to the Higher Education Commission digital library, absence of proper library setup and moral obligations and responsibilities of institutional administrations towards the development of academic law libraries were the main challenges.

The scope of this paper covers Constituent Law College of the University of Peshawar and its 18 affiliated law colleges (Total 19), and the geographical area is restricted to the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The scope of this paper can be extended to additional private and public sector universities in Pakistan, as well as abroad.

This study is the first of its kind in Pakistan which will help the stockholders of affiliated and affiliation granting institutions to improve the current situation of academic law libraries in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study presents a number of suggestions for the improvement of academic law libraries, which may be of value to the local institutions and developing countries with similar situations.

This study aims to investigate the annual financial management of university libraries in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan, and its relationship with Higher Education Commission (HEC) grants to examine libraries’ share.

Using survey methods, this study explores the annual budget allocation of well-established university libraries in the province of KPK in the past five years and its relationship with HEC grants to determine libraries’ shares. The survey followed a qualitative design based on an interview technique of data collection. The scope of this study covers all those public sector universities which are chartered by the Government of KPK, recognized by HEC, and eligible for HEC grants on annual basis. Based on this formulation, 15 public sector universities were selected for the survey.

The data analysis of the present study revealed that no specific norms are followed by the university administrations in allocating funds for libraries out of HEC annual grants. University libraries in the province either do not have funding polices or are administered by the concerned establishments where Library and Information Science professionals have no role in the financial management of libraries. The study also found that university administrations in KPK either do not provide sufficient share to libraries out of HEC grants or specify an inadequate share which is in violation of the clear instructions of HEC ordinance 2002, Section 10(h).

This study is the first of its kind in Pakistan as it provides an insight into how much budget is allocated for collection development in the university libraries, compares it with HEC grants to calculate libraries’ share in percentage and suggests to the HEC to encourage university administration to allocate sufficient budget for libraries to improve collection development, service provision, acquisition, selection and patronage.

The study aims to explore the factors which influence collection development and management in academic libraries. In libraries and information centres, collection development is considered an essential element of the information life cycle. Collection development and management activities do not emanate from a vacuum. Several factors have a direct bearing on the way in which collections are developed and managed in the academic libraries. These factors are bridges and barriers for effective collection development and management.

An extensive review of the available literature was made to conduct the study.

The study found that several factors have a direct bearing on the way in which collections are developed and managed in the academic libraries. These factors include goals of collection development and management policies and procedures, user needs, collection development policies (CDPs), collection development budgets, collection evaluation to determine the strength and weaknesses of various subjects in the collections, selection of reading materials, formats in which materials are selected, the issues of access versus ownership, cooperative collection development, resource-sharing programs and legal issues in collection development and management.

This study provides an overview of various factors that influence collection development activities in the academic libraries. It provides an insight for the selectors of library resources to take these factors into account for building effective collections in the academic libraries of Pakistan and abroad.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of academic law libraries’ use, collections and services among the faculty members of the University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Keeping in view the objectives of the study, a survey based on a well-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data about law libraries’ usage, collection and services from the faculty members of 19 law colleges, including Law College, University of Peshawar, and 18 affiliated law colleges situated in the different geographical location of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Results of the study indicate that most of the faculty members use law libraries for the issue and return of books and consult textbooks for their teaching and other academic activities. The overall results show the usage, collections and services of law libraries as somehow satisfactory.

The scope of this paper covers constituent college of the University of Peshawar and its 18 affiliated law colleges (Total 19), and the geographical area is restricted to the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The scope of this paper can be extended to additional private and public sector universities in Pakistan, as well as abroad.

There are number of studies on the usage, collections and different library services, but this study is the first of its kind in Pakistan, specifically focusing on academic law libraries at a provincial level. This study will pave way to fulfill the demands of law faculty members and legal practitioners teaching in the legal institution of Pakistan.

In part-I of this review series, research from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka was reviewed. The purpose of this paper which is part-II of the series, is to review management research from India and Pakistan over a 25-year period from 1990 to 2014.

A systematic review approach was adopted for this research. As a quality standard for inclusion, articles were restricted to journals rated A*, A, or B by the Australian Business Deans Council in 2013 and either Q1 or Q2 in the Scopus/Imago classification system. The divisions and interest groups of the Academy of Management were used as framework to organize the search results.

A total of 1,039 articles related to India (n = 930) and Pakistan (n = 112) emerged from the search process, with three articles being related to both countries. The research was published in 163 different journals that met the quality criteria. The period under review coincides with the advent of economic liberalization in India and this emerged as a major theme in the India-related research. Other context-specific insights for these two countries are also derived from an ecological and institutional theory perspective.

This research represents the first comprehensive and systematic review of management research in India and Pakistan. As in part-I, the unique review approach allows for strict adherence to a predetermined quality standard while including a wide variety of journals and research traditions.

In the past two decades, the problem of gender disparities in the use of internet has attracted a remarkable interest of researchers. Several studies revealed that female internet users were the disadvantaged group than males, because they had not the same access, experience and use frequency regarding the internet use. Moreover, the negative attitude of the society towards the females’ internet use also made them disadvantaged group. Prompted by these observations, this paper aims to examine gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society – in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Quantitative research design using a questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 20.0 by using descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings of this study, similar to previous studies, revealed differences among men and women. Majority of men possessed PCs and were more experienced than women. In addition, they were more skilled and faced problems of computer anxiety and distance with less intensity than women. In addition, women used internet mainly for social interaction, communication, entertainment and were more satisfied with some of the educational resources than men. However, men were more satisfied than women regarding the use of most educational internet resources and spent more time on these than women.

This is the first study in Pakistan that deals with gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society – in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The authors present a systematic literature review on microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) effect on poverty and how they can ensure their sustainability. The purpose of this article is to review the effect of MFIs on poverty in South Asian countries. The analysis and review of the selected corpus of literature also provide avenues for future research.

A total of 95 papers from 49 journals in 4 academic libraries and publishers were systematically studied and classified. The authors define the keywords and the inclusion/exclusion criteria for the identification of papers. The review includes an analysis of the selected papers that give insights about publications with respect to themes, number of themes covered in individual publications, nations, scope, methodology, number of methods used and publication trend.

The literature indicates the positive effect of microfinance on poverty but with a varying degree on various categories of poor. The relation between poverty and microfinance is, however, dependent on the nation under the scanner. While sustainability and outreach co-exist, their trade-off is still a matter of debate.

This is the first systematic literature review on MFIs’ effect on poverty in South Asian nations. Additionally, the authors discuss the literature on the trade-off between sustainability and outreach for MFIs.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of mission and vision in the process of state development. Using the case of Pakistan, it will be argued that state organizations do not develop and find the right direction without outlining a clear mission and vision which will be beneficial to all citizens, who are the real stakeholders.

Yin (2003) and Baxter and Jack (2008) argue that case study is an enriched method to explore a complex relationship. The complex relationship may be understood better by qualitative methods than quantitative. Following their suggestion, case study method will be adopted to understand the relationship between the mission and vision and state development. In this study, Pakistan will be used as a case. Moreover, the technique of historical analysis will be employed to understand this relationship. Historical analysis is important because the repercussions of current actions can only be evaluated in the future.

The paper shows the importance of “mission and vision” for state development. Using Pakistan as the case, it is argued that a state can lose its direction without having a clear mission and vision. It is further contended that it is not erection of institutions or verbal/written pronouncements and slogans, but a strong commitment to the mission and the vision brings the required change, which helps to develop a state. In the future research, the researcher can further examine the role of mission and vision in relation to state development.

The limitation of this study is that it has only focussed on the leadership and politics of Pakistan. In the future, a comparative study investigation may be useful.

The research is useful for political leaders, political scientists and public management researchers.

The research is unique and original that it evaluates the role of leadership and the development of the state from the perspective of mission and vision, which has not been done in the earlier research. Moreover, the paper elaborates the concept of state development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and critically review the existing literature on applications of Lean Methodology (LM) and Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) to improve resource utilization and patient experience in outpatient clinics. In doing, it is aimed to identify how to implement LM in outpatient clinics and discuss the advantages of integrating both lean and simulation tools towards achieving the desired outpatient clinics outcomes.

A theoretical background of LM and DES to define a proper implementation approach is developed. The search strategy of available literature on LM and DES used to improve outpatient clinic operations is discussed. Bibliometric analysis to identify patterns in the literature including trends, associated frameworks, DES software used, and objective and solutions implemented are presented. Next, an analysis of the identified work offering critical insights to improve the implementation of LM and DES in outpatient clinics is presented.

Critical analysis of the literature on LM and DES reveals three main obstacles hindering the successful implementation of LM and DES. To address the obstacles, a framework that integrates DES with LM has been recommended and proposed. The paper provides an example of such a framework and identifies the role of LM and DES towards improving the performance of their implementation in outpatient clinics.

This study provides a critical review and analysis of the existing implementation of LM and DES. The current roadblocks hindering LM and DES from achieving their expected potential has been identified. In addition, this study demonstrates how LM with DES combined to achieve the desired outpatient clinic objectives.