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The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of electronic information resources use and satisfaction with university‐paid resources by the faculty members in eight public universities in Bangladesh.

An online questionnaire was used to assess the contemporary use of, and satisfaction with, university subscribed electronic resources by the faculty members. The major constraints faced by them in accessing online resources were also identified. To analyze the influence of demographic characteristics on overall satisfaction with e‐resources, Mann‐Whitney and Kruskal‐Wallis tests were carried out. The constraints faced by the faculty members were tested in relation to their opinions on overall satisfaction using chi‐square tests.

The results showed that faculty members are not generally satisfied with the current level of university subscribed e‐resources. They identified limited number of titles, limited access to back issues, difficulty in finding information, inability to access from home, limited access to computers and slow download speed as major constraints. These constraints do affect e‐resources use in the public universities. However, these constraints are mainly related to the poor IT infrastructure and limited access to e‐resources, which may also lead to other constraints such as an unwillingness to use the resources regularly and consequently low satisfaction with such resources.

This is the first time an effort has been made to assess the use of university‐paid online information resources by the academic community in Bangladesh. This study could be used to assess faculty needs for electronic resources which may also lead to a more dynamic interaction with such resources.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the current status of public universities in Bangladesh in terms of library resources and services, IT infrastructure and training requirements for the establishment of a centralized, networked electronic library for the universities in the country.

A survey was conducted in March-April 2012 to ascertain the level of library automation practices, access to online resources and IT facilities utilized by the public universities in Bangladesh. The survey questionnaire was distributed through post and emails directed to the university librarians. The librarians were also asked to identify the type of IT-related training they had and the type of training they require.

The survey results indicate that there are insufficiencies in library resources, automation practices, access to online resources and IT facilities in the universities. Although the use of computer and network technologies in older universities is reasonably high; newer universities are lagging far behind in the latest technology applications. The results also suggest significant training needs by the librarians across all areas of electronic information processing.

This is the first time an attempt has been made to assess the readiness of the public universities in Bangladesh for implementing IT-based information services. The paper also proposed a framework for implementing an integrated electronic library for the universities in the country to offer them better access to a wide range of online resources and services.

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a survey conducted in two specialized public universities in Bangladesh to assess students' electronic information resources use and their satisfaction with university subscribed resources.

A structured questionnaire was used to assess the use of and satisfaction with university subscribed electronic resources by the students. The major problems faced by them in accessing online resources were also identified. In order to analyze the influence of students' demographic characteristics on overall satisfaction with university subscribed resources, Mann‐Whitney and Kruskal‐Wallis tests were carried out. The problems faced by the students were tested in relation to their opinion on overall satisfaction using chi‐square test.

The survey results showed that the students are not at all satisfied with the current level of university subscribed online resources. The students identified limited access to computers and slow download speed as major problems. These problems do affect electronic resources use by students in these universities. However, the problems are mainly related to poor ICT infrastructure which may also lead to other drawbacks such as unwillingness to use the resources regularly and thus low satisfaction with such resources.

This is the first time an attempt has been made to empirically assess the use of university subscribed online information resources by the students in Bangladesh.

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 purpose of this study is to investigate the developments in resource sharing in Latin America.

The approach is based on research carried out in a number of countries in Latin America financed and supported by a number of organizations, including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), The International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publication (INASP) and The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC).

Dominance of English language databases, publications and indexing has notably created a barrier for access and entry of Spanish language publications in Latin America. The consortia project encountered barriers of language and infrastructure, conflicts with trade barriers, the value of forming consortia and the values of literacy. Prospects of positive change were noted with engagement in electronic resources.

One of the very few studies of developments in resource sharing in Latin America with an excellent apparatus of Web sites and references.