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Fear of COVID-19 is one of the pivotal components that have generated higher levels of stress, obsessions and anxiety among the adult population, thus creating numerous mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to evaluate psychological well-being based on COVID-19-related fear, obsessions and anxiety during the pandemic situation.

The current study aimed to evaluate the relationship between COVID-19-related fear, obsessions, anxiety, stress and well-being among adult populations. Additionally, the aim was to see the impact of COVID-19-related fear, obsessions, anxiety and stress on well-being. This was a cross-sectional study based on nonclinical sample of (n = 250) adults; data was obtained via online questionnaire survey method and analysis was performed by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS-22).

The authors’ findings based on descriptive statistics showed that COVID-19-related fear and obsessions were positively associated with COVID anxiety and stress and negatively associated with well-being. COVID anxiety was positively associated with stress and negatively associated with well-being. Moreover, perceived stress is negatively associated with well-being. The results additionally provide the outcome/conclusion that COVID-related anxiety significantly negatively predicted the psychological well-being. Overall the model explained 24% of the variance in psychological well-being. Females scored significantly high in COVID-19-related anxiety and obsessions as compared to males.

A distinctive feature of this study is the understanding of COVID-19-related fear, obsessions, anxiety, stress and well-being among adult populations, and the findings are highlighting the need for psychological and social interventions for this specific population; therefore, immediate attention is needed by the clinical health professionals dealing with mental health issues.

There is a vital need to explore and develop psychological interventions aiming at the negative consequences being faced by the adult populations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending second wave that will expose individuals to various mental health issues evolving because of the health crisis.

Researchers’ competencies are directly related to the quality and effectiveness of the research they produce. However, training opportunities for education and conducting research seem to be limited for the growing research culture in Pakistan. The purpose of this study is to assess the research-related training needs of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) of Pakistan.

A quantitative research approach was used to conduct the study using a questionnaire. Non-random sampling technique was used to collect the data from the postgraduate (MPhil/MS and PhD) researchers enrolled in the two well renowned Pakistani Universities.

Results of the study confirmed that PGRs were interested in developing their skills in various areas of a research project such as topic selection, research design and use of data analysis software. Findings also highlighted that respondents were interested in learning reference management tools for citing and managing the sources of information in their research work.

This is the first study, which investigated the training needs assessment of PGRs enrolled in two major Pakistani universities. The results may help in designing training programs, promoting a conducive research culture in the country and improving the quality of research being produced. This study provided a framework likely to be beneficial for quality enhancement cells, universities and organizations in organizing effective research training and development programs for researchers of Pakistan.

Universities across the globe are spending an increasing amount of their budgets to offer web-based services to cater information need especially off-campus students. However, the success of web-based services depends on how well the target users are satisfied with the use of the web services. The purpose of this paper is to assess students’ satisfaction with the use of the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) web-based services.

Pilot tested questionnaire-based survey was administered to collect data from a sample of 388; selected through systematic sampling technique from the study’s population consisted of master level students belonged to 11 different academic departments of the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the AIOU from all over Pakistan.

Based on 318 useful questionnaires, response rate 82 percent, the results show that majority of the students were satisfied with the use of at the AIOU web-based services except for online mailing books tracking system, library web OPAC and web radio service. However, t-test analysis shows that no difference was found in the opinion of male and female respondents in terms of their satisfaction with the use of the web services. ANOVA results indicate that there was no significant difference depicted in satisfaction with the use of the web services among the respondents enrolled in different disciplines of the faculty. Similarly, no significant difference was found among different age groups. Moreover, the respondents belonging to all five provinces; Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gilgit Baltistan, and Federal Capital territory showed the same level of satisfaction with the use of the services. The results of regression analysis (R²=0.226) denote that both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly predicted, 22.6 percent, in students’ satisfaction with the use the web services.

The study provides valuable recommendations which may be helpful for web administration of the university to improve AIOU web-based services.

To the best knowledge, this is the first study conducted to investigate the satisfaction with the use of the university web-based services in distance education’s perspective of Pakistan.

The delivery of information services in higher education is increasingly relying on Web-based systems. The low adoption and underutilization of information systems have been major problems for developing countries such as Pakistan in terms of realizing their full benefits. This study aims to investigate factors affecting student use of Allama Iqbal Open University’s (AIOU) Web-based services by using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) from the perspective of Pakistani distance education.

This study has adopted quantitative research design with the UTAUT model as a theoretical framework. A self-completion structured questionnaire-based survey has been administered to 388 master’s level students, selected through systematic sampling from the target population. The response rate was 82 per cent (318). All statistical tests have been performed using IBM SPSS (version 20.0) and Process macro for SPSS.

Findings of the model’s hypotheses reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence are significant predictors of student behavioural intention to use AIOU Web-based services, whereas actual student use is dependent on facilitating conditions and student behavioural intention to use. The impact of moderating variables with respect to age, gender and experience did not influence the actual use of the Web services. However, the research model significantly measured (62.1 per cent) the actual use of AIOU Web-based services by the students.

This study is delimited to the UTAUT model to investigate the phenomena. Besides this, the context of the study is the voluntary instead of mandatory usage of Web services. A study conducted in mandatory settings, in which students are bound to use Web services, may have different results.

This is the first attempt to apply the UTAUT model to investigate the factors affecting student use of Web-based services from the perspective of distance education and the findings prove strong support for the model.

This multi-method study is aimed at assessing the quality and alignment of 11 Pakistani library and information science (LIS) master’s programs’ orientation, curricula and course contents, by comparing them with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Guidelines for Professional Library/Information Programs (2012).

The study is based on a documentary analysis and telephonic interviews with master’s programs’ coordinators of all LIS departments. The data were collected on the 11 master’s programs from three sources: programs’ web pages, prospectuses and curricula with detailed course contents. The principal researcher also conducted 11 structured telephonic and face-to-face interviews with master’s programs’ coordinators.

Findings of the study show that while there is some compliance with IFLA core elements, the courses are largely inclined toward the management and less toward the information communication technologies (ICTs) components. Generally, the courses are traditional in nature, indicating a problem of widespread reliance on outdated and some irrelevant contents that do not reflect the current needs of the changing environment.

The findings highlight the need of increased efforts for seeking alignment with international standards by redesigning and reorienting LIS curricula. Mission and vision statement, planning and evaluation are the areas that need to be focused on to ensure the future survival of academic programs.

This is the first study of its nature in Pakistan that will be beneficial for Pakistan and other developing countries in their curriculum review and development process and future programs orientation.

This paper intends to throw light on major challenges and opportunities the twenty‐first century has brought to librarianship due to the emerging academic culture, and growing use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Pakistan.

The content is based on the literature, personal communication with national and foreign peers, the writer's 25 years' experience, observation and research in the field of librarianship.

Libraries in developing countries are being significantly affected by the ongoing ICT developments from basic infrastructure to collections to services to needed human resources. All quarters of the community need vision and preparedness to turn challenges into opportunities, and instead of being chaotic make change that is productive for society and themselves. It appeared that the overall growth in librarianship is much better since the dawn of the twenty‐first century.

The new aspects discussed in the context of Pakistan may provide guidelines for future planning, and growth of professional and libraries. It is assumed that the situation is similar to other developing countries. So, the work will be useful in creating awareness among professionals of other countries.

The job market of library and information professionals has expanded from academic to industrial, special and business libraries. The unique nature of the organizations, their data and clientele demand a different set of competencies. The purpose of this study is to explore the competencies of information professionals from the perspectives of business employers – a comparatively new job place for the library and information management professionals.

Exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was used to meet objectives of this study in two phases. In the first phase, qualitative data was extracted from panel discussion. Themes were extracted from this qualitative data. In the second phase, a questionnaire was designed which was based on qualitative themes. The instrument contained the nine-point Likert type scale and was filled by the business and industry human resource managers. The quantitatively gathered data were analysed while using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 22.

The findings of this study indicate that work coordination, knowledge of intellectual property rights, online searching ability, leadership qualities, trustworthiness and background knowledge of the prospective organizations are the basic competencies required by the business employers.

This study will guide the students on which qualities they are required to obtain to qualify for jobs of information professionals in the current employment sector. Additionally, it will provide guidelines to the continuous education programme designers, prompting them to include in their trainings the vital qualities of candidates required by the current job market.

This is the maiden study that has explored the competencies of library and information management professionals through exploratory sequential mixed methods.

Since 2005, various public and private sector institutions have been offering a postgraduate degree in Library and Information Management (LIM) in Pakistan and a good number of professionals working in different sectors have got MPhil degree. However, locally, no study has been conducted to measure the impact of higher education on the job performance of information professionals (IPs) in any aspect. The purpose of this paper is to measure job performance of MPhil degree (18 years of education) holder IPs.

It is a quantitative study based on the theoretical framework of job performance comprised of its four constructs, i.e. task performance, contextual performance, counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and adaptive performance. An adopted self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from professionals who have graduated from any LIM schools of the Punjab province with at least one-year work experience after completion of MPhil degrees. For the purpose of the present study, demographic information like age, job experience and library context was also asked about to explore their impact on job performance.

Findings revealed that MPhil degree has a significant positive impact on the job performance of IPs. The professionals reported a significant positive change in their CWB regarding experience after getting a degree. Furthermore, results revealed that professionals were capable of technical skills but needed training regarding time management, teamwork and improving emotional intelligence.

This is the first study reported from Pakistan on the subject. The results of the study may help the LIM schools to review their MPhil programs for the desired results. It may also help organizations to encourage their personnel for higher education.

This study aims to explore the current and future employment opportunities for library and information science (LIS) graduates. It identifies future employers and emerging competitors in the information landscape. The strategies that may be used to respond to and capture the future job market are also presented for LIS schools in the light of the study findings.

The qualitative approach coupled with the interview technique was used for collecting insight into the phenomena. Face-to-face and telephonic semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 faculty members (professors, associate professors and assistant professors) from 8 LIS departments. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data to present the participants’ opinions regarding various aspects of the job market in the country.

It was found that the job market was still traditional (library) and would continue to be so for the next five to seven years. However, the findings also indicated the emergence of a non-traditional job market in the country. New job titles and functions relevant to the emerging job sector other than libraries in the information environment were noted.

Findings may have a direct impact on the future orientation, survival and sustainability of LIS programs in the country. The study may inform curriculum revision and updating efforts to make it more relevant and responsive to future needs.

This study aims to observe the coloring efficacy of coffee-based natural brown colorant for cotton dyeing under microwave (MW) treatment.

The colorant extracted in particular (neutral and acidic) media was stimulated by MW treatment up to 6 min. Dyeing variables were optimized and 2–10 g/100 mL of sustainable anchors (mordants) have been used to get colorfast shades.

It has been found that un-irradiated acidic extract (RE) containing 5% of table salt at 80 °C for 50 min has given high color yield onto MW-irradiated cotton fabric (RC = 2 min). The utilization of 2% of Fe, 10% of tannic acid and 10% of sodium potassium tartrate before bio-coloration, whereas 4% of Fe, 10% of tannic acid and 6% of sodium potassium tartrate after bio-coloration has given good color characteristics. In comparison the application of 6% of pomegranate and turmeric extracts before bio-coloration and 6% of pomegranate and 10% of turmeric extracts after bio-coloration have given good color characteristics. New bio-mordants can be added to get more new colorfast shades.

There is no research limitation for this work. New bio-mordants can be added to get more new colorfast shades.

This work has practical application for artisans, textile industry and handicrafts. It is concluded that colorant from coffee beans can be possible alternative of synthetic brown dyes and inclusion of MW rays for extraction and plant molecules as shade developers can make process more green.

Socially, it has good impact on eco-system and global community because the effluent load is not carcinogenic in nature.

The work is original and contains value-added product for textiles and other allied fields.