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This study aims to investigate the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on student’s learning primarily concentrating on the following factors: including availability, accessibility and user-ability of using ICT resources. This investigation will highlight the role of ICT in the pedagogical activities of students, especially in their learning.

A questionnaire was designed to comprehend the questions related to the objectives and a sample of 275 students through convenience sampling technique was selected that was enrolled in various degree programs of the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Primarily the descriptive analysis was made and data were presented in tabulated form. However, for inferential analysis, the Pearson correlation test was applied to determine the relationship among the dependent and independent variables including (availability, accessibility user-ability and student’s learning) and to test the hypotheses of the study.

The findings disclose that students at the University of the Punjab have access to various kinds of ICT applications and resources. Moreover, they have an adequate number of ICT equipment available for their use and they are familiar with various kinds of ICT applications and resources which they use in various educational tasks during their studies. A strong positive linear correlation exists between availability, accessibility and user-ability of using ICT resources and the student’s educational learning. This confirms that ICT plays a significant role in the student’s educational accomplishments. It helps students in searching, retrieving and consulting various types of information sources. It also helps them in completing their educational tasks in a quick manner. Students at all levels also see it as a matter of great importance to acquire ICT-related skills as this can help them to be more productive in their educational accomplishments.

This study concludes that availability, accessibility, adequacy and user ability to use the ICT resources positively impact students learning. Therefore, it is highly recommended for students to learn ICT-related skills and to make the best use of the different communication technologies in their pedagogical activities. Moreover, if academic institutions in Pakistan give more emphasis on developing ICT-based infrastructure and ICT skilled manpower then this can also bring fruitful results in the learning process of student’s educational endeavors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the evidence-based use patterns of Higher Education Commission (HEC) subscribed e-books databases by the academic community at institutions of higher education in Pakistan. The study also investigates the differences in usage based on points of access, scholarly disciplines and gender of users.

A transaction log analysis (TLA) method was used to explore the use patterns of HEC e-books databases at the University of the Punjab, utilizing the SAWMILL analytical software and MS Excel.

The results of the study showed that the use of e-books was at a growing stage at the university. Male boarding students of the university were more active users of e-books as compared to their female counterparts. The Central Library of the University of the Punjab, the Department of Zoology and the Institute of Communication Studies were the most frequently used access points for the e-book users, and the Faculties of Sciences, Life Sciences, Economics and Management Sciences had the most active e-book readers. Furthermore, it was found that the HEC e-books databases were only being used during the four months of summer vacations at the university.

The study provides only descriptive use frequencies rather than a deep log analysis of e-books usage.

This research provides important practical implications for examining the evidence-based use patterns of e-books databases' users at the higher educational level. The research suggests that HEC should maintain subscriptions of the most required e-books databases and that the information professionals should conduct orientations and information literacy programs to enhance the utilization of these subscribed databases among female boarder students and those faculties where they were being used less frequently.

The study is the second part of the first phase of a Ph.D. project. This is the first large scale study conducted in a developing country which reports the close to actual, approximate use patterns of e-books based on raw transaction logs of local cache servers at the higher academic level.

This paper aims to explore the emerging trends of e-government in Pakistan with an empirical investigation of the e-government websites and the services they provide to the citizens of Pakistan. It also investigates the level of development of these e-government websites in the Punjab Web portal. The governments in Asian countries, including Pakistan, have been struggling to switch their services from traditional on-spot services to online services. Focal points of the study are development level of e-government websites, available e-services and quality.

The e-government Web portal of Punjab province with 38 websites is center of attention in present study. Website’s content analysis method is used to study e-government websites (N = 38) from the Punjab Web portal. It used the “Four-Stage Development Model” for the four stages, namely, “publishing”, “interacting”, “transacting” and “transforming”, to study the phenomena.

The findings showed that most of the websites on the Web portal were at the first (publishing) and second (interacting) stage of development. For the provision of effective online services, websites need to be on the third (transacting) and fourth (transforming) stage. Only a few websites in the Punjab Web portal were the on transacting and transforming stages providing a mature level of services. In total, 40 different types of services are identified in 38 websites of Punjab e-government Web portal.

E-government, Web portals are developed to give citizens a single, easy access point to several departments’ websites and their services. This baseline study recommends to update e-government websites periodically and put more focus on technological and contextual features to enhance the accessibility and usability of the websites.

This is first empirical study of e-government websites to explore their services and examine existing level of website development in this region.

Modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) are transforming reference service (RS) from physical to virtual. The paper aims to explore the current status of ICT infrastructure necessary for delivering effective digital reference service (DRS) in university libraries of the Punjab.

This exploratory study used questionnaire survey method to probe the current status. The questionnaire was worded to achieve an official organizational response. For ensuring the content validity, comments from some well‐known LIS professionals were sought. In the light of experts' opinions, necessary modifications were made to the instrument. University libraries of the Punjab province (n=40) recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) were identified as targeted population. The questionnaire was distributed through post and e‐mail. The researchers were able to get questionnaires filled from 38 universities.

The findings reveal that the ICT infrastructure needed for designing and implementing an effective DRS in libraries is better than before but it needs further improvement. Many libraries also own general and reference collection in electronic format. Only a few libraries have started DRS while most of them are still using face to face channel for reference transactions.

This study is an attempt to fill a gap in the local literature on the topic and provides baseline information to design and implement DRS in academic libraries.

The findings will be helpful in designing better and more effective DRS systems in Pakistan as well as in other developing countries.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use patterns of scholarly e-journals by academics for teaching, research and keeping themselves up-to-date. The study also looks at differences in the use patterns across 12 disciplines.

A survey was conducted to explore academics’ use patterns of scholarly e-journals in 12 disciplines. The University of the Punjab was used for the sample population. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all regular and contractual academics of Lahore campuses of the University. After follow up, 457 questionnaires were received with a response rate of 54 per cent. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistics were used to analyse data.

The results showed that the academics made more frequent use of e-journals, online reference sources and discussion with colleagues for scholarly activities. E-journals were used predominantly for research-related activities rather than for teaching and instruction. Academics obtained e-journal articles primarily from open access sources, i.e. general search engines and Google Scholar as compared to subscribed and other sources of e-journal articles. Disciplinary differences were also found in academics’ use patterns of e-journals. However, academics showed just satisfactory skills regarding use of advanced searching techniques and evaluation of the quality of e-journals.

Findings will be helpful for information professionals to review their policies and practices in relation to e-journal services for academic community. The needs for e-literacy skills to use e-journals will also be identified and findings will be significant for information professionals in arranging information literacy instruction programmes for targeted disciplines.

Most of e-journals use studies focused on specific disciplines – Sciences, Life Sciences, Engineering and Technology and Social Sciences. This research study is valuable that investigated use patterns of e-journals across 12 different disciplines at the University of the Punjab.

This study aims to explore the evidence-based usage patterns of higher education commission (HEC) subscribed e-journal databases in the university digital library used by the scholarly community and the academics’ online searching behaviour at a higher education institution in Pakistan.

The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. Raw transaction log data were collected for quantitative analysis, and the interview technique was used for qualitative data collection and thematic analysis.

Log analysis revealed that HEC subscribed databases were used significantly, and among those, scholarly databases covering various subjects were more frequently used than subject-specific society-based databases. Furthermore, the users frequently accessed the needed e-journal articles through search engines like Google and Google Scholar, considering them sources of free material instead of the HEC subscribed databases.

It provides practical implications for examining the evidence-based use patterns of e-journal databases. It suggests the need for improving the access management of HEC databases, keeping in view the usage statistics and the demands of the scholars. The study may also help create market venues for the publishers of scholarly databases by offering attractive and economical packages for researchers of various disciplines in developing and underdeveloped countries. The study results also guide the information professionals to arrange orientation and information literacy programs to improve the searching behaviour of their less frequent users and enhance the utilization of these subscribed databases.

The study is part of a PhD project and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first such work in the context of a developing country like Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to measure service quality of academic libraries of a major university from students' perspectives and to determine libraries' own performance towards meeting users' expectations.

Research settings of the study were University of the Punjab's academic libraries, excluding the main library. A survey method was chosen as a method of investigation and a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire was used to explore users' desired and perceived service levels along a seven‐point Likert scale. The sample of the study was selected using stratified random sampling through proportional allocation.

The results revealed that users' expectations were high as compared to their perceptions, and a discrepancy was found between expectations and perceptions of all 22 SERVQUAL statements. The overall service quality and satisfaction of the university's libraries was found to be somewhat good. Users were satisfied with library staff's courteous and caring behavior. However, university librarians desperately need to take remedial actions to improve library staff's competency and physical facilities. Users preferred the “tangibles” dimension more than other dimensions.

This study is the first to measure the service quality of the university's academic libraries and is particularly significant for librarians and university administrators who wish to explore the strengths, weaknesses and threats of quality library services. The findings will assist them to review their service policies and take steps to improve service quality of a university's libraries.

Spatio-temporal variations in precipitation pattern of district Sargodha is one of the most significant researchable questions because of the massive reliance on rainfall for agricultural practice in the study area. The pattern of current rainfall in the study area is unexpectedly changed. The purpose of the present study is to examine the changing precipitation pattern and to link it with climate change.

The study was conducted by using rainfall data of the past 30 years collected from 8 meteorological stations around the study area. The averages of rainfall on monthly basis were temporally arranged, and the fluctuation trends were studied using GIS and statistics. The temporal data of rainfall were compared and contrasted with the precipitation normals of the study area from 1981to 2010. The rainfall deviation in the present study was calculated. The spatial pattern of rainfall was plotted by interpolating the eight points of Punjab around the study area for the first two decades, whereas the past decade was analysed by incorporating five more points of Tehsils in the existing eight. The spatial and statistical representation of data were examined by compare and contrast with the previous findings.

The rainfall in the study area showed remarkable changes in magnitude and spatiality. The rainfall in the district is on the rise, whereas the spatial pattern of rainfall is becoming more complex and anomalous in character. This paper provides convincing evidence about the impact of climate change on the magnitude and spatial patterns of precipitation in the study area.

It will be helpful for understanding the shifts in the rainfall pattern in future as well as for the preparation of response to the issue of climate change and its impacts.

The current manuscript, for the very first time, provided detailed insights about the precipitation pattern shifting during the last 30 years in district Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Furthermore, agricultural sector would likely get severally affected because of seasonal changes in climatic factors like rainfall and have strong food security implications. The current findings will be useful to manage the climate change-related issues in Pakistan and helpful for the policy makers to design a coping strategy for climate change impacts.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the Electronic Library Information Navigator (ELIN), the federated search product used by the University of the Punjab (PU) and other Higher Education Commission‐recognized institutions in Pakistan for the effective use of expensive electronic resources.

Two usability tests were conducted.

Overall, participants performed the required tasks and found ELIN to be a useful tool for searching. They did, however, have some technical limitations and faced difficulties with the choice of search options and were frustrated by the display of results. Full text availability and relevancy of subject results were mentioned as major problems. The majority of users did not complete the questions requesting suggestions for improvement of the web site.

This study provides a baseline for further user studies in higher education institutions. It is recommended that including audio might enhance search capabilities.

The purpose of the study is to determine the most preferred catalogue format – card catalogue or online public access catalogue (OPAC) for searching library material in Oriental languages, i.e. Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Sindhi and Pashto of the Central Library, University of the Punjab, Lahore. It also explores the users’ searching behaviour for finding the library material in Oriental languages.

A purposive sample of 100 respondents was chosen for this study. The questionnaire contained both close- and open-ended questions. SPSS (version 11.5) was used for quantitative analysis of data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for reaching conclusions. The qualitative data analysis software “X-Sight” was used for analysing the qualitative data.

The study highlights the importance of both types of catalogue. Many of the findings of the study related to the card catalogue and OPAC are surprising when compared to their general perceptions. It is important to note that the users perceived the card catalogue as more effective for searching the library material in Oriental languages. However, they also face many problems while using both types of catalogues.

It is the first study of its type in Pakistan that explored the users’ perceptions and behaviour of searching Oriental language material from the card catalogue and OPAC. The findings of the study are valuable for library management, not only at the Central Library of Punjab University but also for other libraries. These findings can help in making both card catalogue and OPAC more effective and user-centred. It will also assist them to improve weaknesses of both types of catalogues.

This study compares the users’ preferences for card catalogue and/or OPAC when searching Oriental language material. There are very few studies available on this subject and most of them are dated.