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Purpose – This paper aims to analyse features and functions of indigenously developed web‐based catalogues of academic, special and national libraries of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – The assessment of 16 OPACs is based on a 91‐item checklist developed with the help of previous studies conducted in other countries. Findings – The paper finds that indigenous web OPACs are at an initial stage of development and only offer basic facilities to their users. They do not offer facilities many OPACs in advanced countries already offer. Their shortcomings include the absence of MARC format and Z39.50 protocol, which are indispensable for shared cataloguing. A very few catalogues can accommodate non‐Roman scripts like Urdu and other local languages. Originality/value – The comparison of features and functions of web OPACs can be useful to understand the level of OPAC development in Pakistan. It can also be helpful for future improvements in this regard.
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Library web OPACs in Pakistan:
an overview
Khalid Mahmood
Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to analyse features and functions of indigenously developed web-based
catalogues of academic, special and national libraries of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach – The assessment of 16 OPACs is based on a 91-item checklist
developed with the help of previous studies conducted in other countries.
Findings – The paper finds that indigenous web OPACs are at an initial stage of development and
only offer basic facilities to their users. They do not offer facilities many OPACs in advanced countries
already offer. Their shortcomings include the absence of MARC format and Z39.50 protocol, which are
indispensable for shared cataloguing. A very few catalogues can accommodate non-Roman scripts like
Urdu and other local languages.
Originality/value The comparison of features and functions of web OPACs can be useful to
understand the level of OPAC development in Pakistan. It can also be helpful for future improvements
in this regard.
Keywords Online catalogues, Pakistan, Academic libraries, Special libraries, National libraries
Paper type General review
1. Introduction
The computerisation of libraries in Pakistan was started in the mid-1980s. Cataloguing
has always been a popular area for automation in Pakistan. Some libraries use
expensive imported software packages while others have developed their own in-house
programs. To provide users access to library collections online public access
catalogues (OPACs) have been developed that can be defined as computerised systems
to catalogue and organise materials in a library. OPACs have replaced card-based
catalogues in many libraries. With the advent of the twenty-first century, libraries in
Pakistan have developed web-based OPACs. These are an advanced generation of
traditional OPACs serving as a gateway to the resources, not only held by a particular
library, but also to the holdings of other linked libraries (Harmsen, 2000). The
important features of web-based OPACs are:
.Graphical user interface (GUI), which is typically thought of as a combination of
windows with pull-down or drop-down menus, icons and a pointing device such
as mouse or trackball to manipulate information.
.The usual features of traditional OPACs, such as storing bibliographic and
sometimes full-text databases; providing direct access to a library’s
bibliographic database by means of a terminal or PC; providing instructional
help; display of search results in readily understandable form; sometimes remote
access from the library’s location; information about community events;
providing links to circulation files, reference help etc.; providing searches
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0033-0337.htm
Library web
OPACs in
Pakistan
137
Received 30 September 2007
Revised 9 January 2008
Accepted 15 January 2008
Program: electronic library and
information systems
Vol. 42 No. 2, 2008
pp. 137-149
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0033-0337
DOI 10.1108/00330330810867693
through a variety of access points such as author, title, keyword, subject,
periodical title, series, class number, ISSN or ISBN, etc.
.The ability to use hypertext links to facilitate navigation through bibliographic
records.
.A move towards emulation of the appearance and search features similar to
those found in search engines.
.Linking to full text when available.
.Ability to help bring a convergence in searching of all electronic information
available through one interface, e.g. catalogues, CD-ROMS, internet sources etc.
(Babu and O’Brien, 2000).
According to Wells (2007):
The library OPAC has at least three distinct functions. First it acts as a bibliographic
database, an electronic version of the card catalogue that it replaced, acting as an index for
the user in search, for example, of a particular book. As a logical extension of this, the OPAC
increasingly also provides links to electronic texts, freeing the user from the necessity of
physically locating material on the library’s shelves. Second, it functions as a “portal” in a
way not dissimilar to a library homepage, providing links to non-bibliographical data, either
relating to users themselves information about overdue books, fines, etc. or to other
library information such as opening hours. In principle this portal function could be extended
indefinitely to connect to a variety of data considered to be of interest to library users. Third,
the OPAC functions as a promotional artefact, advertising the presence of the library and the
services it can provide, and at the same time making a statement of authority about the
communicative links that are supported and facilitated (p. 387).
Despite the abundance of literature on the topic of OPACs generally, there is no
documentation on library OPACs or web-based OPACs in Pakistan. This study was
conducted to assess the features and functions of indigenous web-based OPACs in the
libraries of Pakistan.
2. Methodology
The approach taken for data collection was to survey and analyse web-based catalogues
accessible via the internet in Pakistan. The first task was to find out indigenous library
OPACs on the internet. In the absence of an authorised web directory of such OPACs in
Pakistan the author depended mainly on the Google search engine to access websites of
local institutions. A list of universities and degree awarding institutions, published by
the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan on its website (www.hec.gov.pk/new/
main/ourinstitutes.htm), was also used. Once at the site, then access could be made to the
library pages and finally to the web-based OPAC of that particular institution.
Consequently, 16 web-based OPACs were accessed via the internet that were working
properly. These comprise the subjects of the study. As this study focused on the library
OPACs developed indigenously, one library, Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS), using American software, was not included in the study. Similarly, the
following 11 OPACs of Pakistani libraries that were available through the Library of
Congress Z39.50 Gateway (www.loc.gov/z3950/) were not included:
(1) Bahria University, Islamabad.
(2) Hailey College of Banking and Finance, University of the Punjab, Lahore.
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(3) Institute of Communication Technologies, Islamabad.
(4) Iqra University, Islamabad.
(5) Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore.
(6) Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro.
(7) National Library of Pakistan, Islamabad.
(8) National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore.
(9) National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Union Catalog.
(10) Planning Commission of Pakistan, Islamabad.
(11) Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST),
Islamabad.
Two other libraries, whose web servers remained down most of the time during data
collection, were also excluded. To examine the features and facilities of OPACs sample
searches were performed. The subjects of the study comprise 12 academic libraries,
three special libraries and one national library. The libraries belong to six big cities of
Pakistan, i.e. Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Multan. The
names of the institutions and the URLs of their web OPACs are given in Table I.
The next step was to decide on the items for evaluation and make up a checklist.
The author wished to adopt an evaluation checklist that was already familiar to, and
generally accepted by, library and information science professionals. Cherry (1998)
developed guidelines to evaluate OPAC display designs for web-based OPACs in
Canadian academic and public libraries. This checklist was limited to four aspects of
display design and covered labels, layout, text and instructional information. It is
worth saying that Cherry’s guidelines are the most popular and frequently applied
guidelines (e.g. Herrero-Solana and Moya-Anegon, 2001). This list, does, however, lack
some substantial features of web-based OPACs such as search types, search methods,
provision for exporting/downloading retrieved records, links to Z39.50 and external
e-sources. Babu and O’Brien (2000) developed a checklist more pertinent to the
functions and capabilities of present day web-based OPACs. The checklist covers
interface and searching capabilities such as search types, search strategies, access
points, display options, entry structure, external links, services/facilities, output
capabilities, and layout. Surprisingly, this checklist pays no attention to display
aspects such as labels, text, and instruction. With the merger of Cherry’s (1998) and
Babu and O’Brien’s (2000) checklists, Ibrahim (2005) reproduced a rather
comprehensive checklist useful for evaluating not only display designs, but also
features of web-based catalogues. With minor modifications this paper reports on the
use of Ibrahim’s (2005) checklist to assess the features of web OPACs of libraries in
Pakistan. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institution’s
(IFLA) (2005) guidelines for OPAC displays were also consulted in making a new
checklist. This checklist (given in Table II) includes 91 items categorised into ten areas.
A tick mark shows the existence of a particular feature in the catalogue.
3. Findings
It can be seen from the results shown in Table II that no indigenous Web OPAC has all
features and facilities that are provided by the catalogues in advanced countries. Of the
Library web
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139
No. Institution City Type Web OPAC URL
1 University of Central Punjab Lahore Academic library.ucp.edu.pk/online_catalouge.asp
2 Government College University Lahore Academic www.thetowertech.com/gculms/search.asp
3 National Library of Pakistan Islamabad National nlp.gov.pk/asp/Searchlarge.htm
4 University of the Punjab Lahore Academic www.qal.org.pk/QAL_Net.php
5 United Nations Reference Library at the National
University of Modern Languages
Islamabad Academic library.un.org.pk/isis/UN-Cat/form.htm
6 Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Academic bzu.edu.pk/library.asp
7 University of Agriculture Faisalabad Academic www.uaf.edu.pk/lib.htm
8 Pakistan Agricultural Research Council Islamabad Special www.parc.gov.pk/data/catalog/catalog.asp
9 National Rural Support Program, Institute of Rural
Management
Islamabad Special http://210.56.25.21:8080/index.jsp
10 Aga Khan University Karachi Academic www.aku.edu/akulibrary/bkjoursearch.asp
11 GIFT University Gujranwala Academic 202.147.170.2/search.php
12 Lahore School of Economics Lahore Academic www.lahoreschoolofeconomics.edu.pk/catalogue.
htm
13 Iqra University Islamabad Academic sic.iuic.net.pk/library/
14 Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute of Technology Karachi Academic http://library.kasbit.edu.pk/Booksearch.aspx
15 Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science
and Technology (SZABIST)
Karachi Academic zablis.szabist.edu.pk/
16 Pakistan Library Automation Group Lahore Special paklag.org/paklag/webopac/
Table I.
List of library web-based
OPACs in Pakistan
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WebOPACNo. 12345678910111213141516%
Search types and methods
Offers several types of searches such as simple (basic),
general, complex or advanced/expanded UUU U U UU 44
Has full search capability on conventional access points,
such as title, keyword, author, subject, class number,
ISBN, ISSN, etc. UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Provision for Boolean search UUU U U 31
Provision for truncation UUUUU 31
Provision for exact matching UUUUUUUU UUUUUU 88
Provision for phrase searching UUUUUUUU UU UUU 81
Provision for word adjacency/ proximity U6
Hypertext links in full bibliographic record display 0
Search limits and strategy
Displays search strategy UU UU 25
Provides examples under each type of search U6
Option for search history 0
Provision for comprehensive search limits such as year,
language, type of publication, location, publication
status, etc. UUU UU U 38
Facility for sorting records U6
Ranks output by relevance 0
Access points
Author UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Title UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Keyword UU UU U 31
Subject heading UUUUU UUUU UUU 75
Keyword in title UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Keyword in subject UUUUU UUUU UUU 75
Combined search such as author/title, author/keyword UUU U UU U UU 56
Class number UUUUU UU U U 56
ISBN/ISSN UUUUU UU 44
Series UU 13
(continued)
Table II.
Evaluation checklist of
web OPAC interfaces
Library web
OPACs in
Pakistan
141
WebOPACNo. 12345678910111213141516%
Barcode/accession number UUU U UU UU 50
Provides name authority control UU13
Provides subject authority control U6
Supports cross-references 0
Provision for the copy location UU UUU U U UUU 63
Bibliographic display
Provision for brief (short)/long bibliographic displays or
both U UUUUU UUU U U 69
Different display levels U UUUUU UUU U U 69
Limiting the number for the display of records (output
control) U6
Support for MARC formats 0
Provision for library structured format UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
Labelled format UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
Output/services/facilities/external links
Provision for exporting/downloading of retrieved
records 0
Provision for the transmission of retrieved records
through e-mail 0
Provision for storing retrieved records U6
Provision of next/previous UUUUUUUUUU UUUUU 94
Access to Z39.50 0
Links to external sources 0
Interface with the circulation system UUUUU31
Provision for options such as ILL, renewal, reservations,
etc. 0
Provision of online mailboxes for user comments or
suggestions 0
User assistance (instructional information)
Textual information simple, clear, free of typographical
errors UUUUUUUUUUUU UUU 94
(continued)
Table II.
PROG
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WebOPACNo. 12345678910111213141516%
Provision of online help UU13
Provision for procedural learning/training 0
User-friendly, requires little staff assistance UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Abbreviations avoided in textual information? UUUUUUUUUUUU UUU 94
Instructional information free of jargon UUUUUUUUUUUU UUU 94
Provide options to the user listed near both the top and
bottom of page UUUUUUUUUUUU UUU 94
Provide options clearly separated from the information UUUUUUUUUUUU UUU 94
Display system messages (such as error messages) by
using contrasting display features (e.g.) bolding, colour UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Layout
Instructions on the screen are simple, clear and inviting? UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Less use of technical jargon and codes UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Wording/terminology consistent UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Layout is left justified UUUUUUUUUUUUUUU 94
Search strategy is displayed near the top of the page? UU UU 25
Related fields in the bibliographic data grouped together
and separated from other data UUUUUUUUUU UUU 81
Highlighting techniques used (bolding, font size,
underline) UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Labels, text, and instructional information displayed in
consistent locations, formats throughout the display UUUUUUUUUUUUUU 88
Call number displayed closed to the top of the
bibliographic display UUUU U 31
Provision for drop-down or pull-down menu UUUUUUU U U UU 69
Labels
All variable fields labelled UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
All labels full words (not abbreviated) UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
All labels free of library jargon UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
Labels accurate, appropriate, meaningful UUUUUUUUUUUUU U 88
All labels located to the left of corresponding fields UUUUUU UUUUUU U 81
All labels are right justified UU U19
(continued)
Table II.
Library web
OPACs in
Pakistan
143
WebOPACNo. 12345678910111213141516%
All labels separated from corresponding fields by a
colon UUUUU 31
Holding information displayed in tabular format UUUUU UU 44
Other highlighting techniques used (e.g.) colour, bold UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Column labels located immediately above the column of
fields, i.e. no blank line UUUUUU UUU UUUU 81
Text
Text arranged logically with related fields (author,
added author) UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Holding location information included in the full display UUU U UUUU U UUU 75
Text vertically aligned and left justified UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Redundant/repeated text avoided UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU100
Call number display UUUUUUUUUUUUUU U 94
Circulation status information included in the full
display UUUUU31
Copies listed in recognisable order UU U UU 31
Provision of hypertext links in the record through:
Class number UU13
Authors UUU19
Title UUU19
Subjects U6
Holdings UU13
Location 0
General
Show in every display the name of the catalogue and the
owning library or other organisation UU U UUUUUU UUU 75
Has time out feature, if desired U6
Explains the contents and coverage in the OPAC 0
Provides log in/log off instruction, if desired UUU19
Provision to accommodate non-Roman scripts UU13
Total 52 50 54 48 59 44 42 41 51 48 41 41 30 42 36 53
% 57555953654846455653454533464058
Table II.
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91 features, 13 were not found in any Pakistani catalogue. The highest scoring OPAC
was that of the United Nations Reference Library at the National University of Modern
Languages, Islamabad that included 65 per cent of the tested features. This OPAC was
locally developed by using Unesco’s WWWISIS software (Buxton, 2006). Figure 1
shows a screenshot of the opening page of this OPAC.
The next best OPAC, having 59 per cent of the features, was developed by the
National Library of Pakistan and its homepage is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1.
The “best” web-based
OPAC in Pakistan
Figure 2.
Web-based OPAC of the
National Library of
Pakistan
Library web
OPACs in
Pakistan
145
The multilingual OPAC developed by the Pakistan Library Automation Group for
training and free distribution scored 58 per cent and its homepage is shown in Figure 3.
The pull-down menu of language options shows that Pushto, Sindhi and Urdu are
available as well as the default language of English.
3.1 Search types and methods
Simple, quick, general, and advanced searches are vital search features provided by
web-based OPACs. In this study it was found that all the OPACs provided search
facilities using conventional access points but only 44 per cent offered various other
levels of searching. Exact matching and phrase searching are very common but
Boolean and truncation facilities are rare. Only one OPAC offers proximity search
facilities. Hypertext links are not found in any of the OPACs surveyed.
3.2 Search limits and strategy
Provision for comprehensive search limits such as year, language, type of publication,
location, publication status, etc. is poor (38 per cent). Only 25 per cent of the OPACs
display the search strategy during searching. Provision of examples and record sorting
is found only in one OPAC each. No OPAC displays search history and record ranking
by relevance.
3.3 Access points
All surveyed catalogues offer author, title and keyword in title as access points for
searching. Other more popular access points include subject headings (75 per cent),
Figure 3.
Homepage of the
web-based OPAC of the
Pakistan Library
Automation Group
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keyword in subject (75 per cent), class number (56 per cent) and accession number (50
per cent). Combined search facility is provided by 56 per cent of the OPACs. The
poorest frequency is found to be in provision of name and subject authority control and
cross-references. Copy location information is provided in 63 per cent of the OPACs
surveyed.
3.4 Bibliographic display
Most of the OPACs display bibliographic records according to a locally structured
labelled format, and 69 per cent of the catalogues offer different display levels, i.e. short
and long. Only one catalogue offers output control, i.e. limiting the number for display
of records. It was surprisingly found that no catalogue was available following the
MARC standard.
3.5 Output, services, facilities and external links
Most of the surveyed catalogues (94 per cent) offer next/previous option for record
output. Only 31 per cent of the catalogues have an interface with the circulation
system. Only one OPAC provides a facility to store retrieved records. Facilities that are
completely non-existent in Pakistani OPACs include the export of retrieved records,
transmission of records through e-mail, access to Z39.50, links to external sources,
options for interlibrary loan, renewal, reservations, and provision of online mailboxes
for comments or suggestions.
3.6 User assistance (instructional information)
Most of the OPACs surveyed are simple, clear and free of typographical errors, and
have textual information on their user interfaces (94 per cent). There is consistency in
the surveyed catalogues to offer user-friendly interfaces, requiring limited staff
assistance, and free of jargon and abbreviations. On the other hand, they lack online
help or tutorials.
3.7 Layout, labels and text
Screen instructions of all OPACs are clear, free of jargon and consistent in wording.
Related fields are grouped together and highlighting techniques (colour, bold, italic,
etc.) are also used. Labels, text, and instructional information are displayed in
consistent locations and formats throughout the display. Labels in most of the
catalogues are also clear and user-friendly. Provision of hypertext links in records is
rare.
3.8 General points
Most of the catalogues (75 per cent) show in every display the name of the catalogue
and the owning library. Time out and log in/log out features are very rare. Only two
OPACs can accommodate non-Roman scripts, i.e. Urdu and other regional languages.
4. Conclusion
This study shows that libraries in Pakistan are at the initial stage of developing
web-based catalogues. Although the indigenous OPACs offer basic facilities, the
evaluation with an international checklist revealed their shortcomings and the
under-utilisation of services offered by the state-of-the-art web technology. It is
Library web
OPACs in
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147
interesting to note that many of the findings of the present study are similar to that of
another study conducted in India (Babu and Tamizhchelvan, 2003). The study
highlights the absence of MARC format and Z39.50 protocol, which are necessary for
shared cataloguing. Due to lack of training and awareness for librarians MARC
standards are not well-known in Pakistan. A more recent study of OPACs in Indian
academic libraries shows that bibliographic records now follow MARC standards
(Kapoor and Goyal, 2007). Provision of Urdu and other local scripts is a good sign in
the web-based OPAC but it is found only in a very small number of those surveyed. As
Pakistani libraries have local language collections in a reasonable size, the
accommodation of non-Roman scripts is indispensable for future OPACs. Providing
access to full-text internal and external resources is another feature that is not covered
in Pakistani catalogues. Use of web-based OPACs is an area in Pakistan that needs the
attention of the future library service providers as well as library and information
science researchers. Studies should be undertaken to assess the use behaviour of the
users of online catalogues. Their problems should be addressed in designing future
OPACs. Future designers will have to incorporate recent trends in library web-based
OPACs which include good relevance ranking, faceted navigation, search result
clustering, breadcrumb trails, federated search, visual search, spelling correction
facilities, browsing, entry vocabularies and recommender features (Antelman et al.,
2006; Breeding, 2007; Brisco, 2006). Library web-based OPACs in a developing country,
like Pakistan, are far behind the functional improvements of online catalogues which
Hildreth (1995) anticipated, i.e. natural language query expressions; automatic term
conversion/matching aids; closest, best-match retrieval; ranked retrieval output;
relevance feedback methods; hypertext, related-record searching and browsing;
integration of keywords; controlled vocabulary; classification-based search
approaches; and expanded coverage and scope.
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Corresponding author
Khalid Mahmood can be contacted at: khalid@dlis.pu.edu.pk
Library web
OPACs in
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... HEC digital library etc.), Search assistance while searching information on web OPAC remotely, provision of Library Web OPAC access on mobile devices (Joint, 2007) (e.g. mobile/tabs and other portable devices, global access and many more (Liu, 2010;Mahmood, 2008). ...
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This research aimed to investigate the current status and online services portfolio of web OPACs and barriers users’ face while searching information on web OPACs of public and private sector university libraries in Lahore. The inquirer adopted quantitative survey method and distributed self administrated (peer reviewed and pilot test) questionnaire among 425 library users who were selected using stratified convenient sampling technique. This study illustrated various types of service being offer and uncovered number of barriers and redundancies that users’ of public and private sector university libraries face while searching information remotely on web OPACs. This research study would benefit library administrators and web OPAC designers in the make web OPACs more effective.
... (Dinet, Favart, & Passerault, 2004) explored the impact and use of Boolean operators in information searching through OPAC. The results of the study sought out by analysing logs of transactions with OPAC. the study disclose that OPAC users do not used Boolean Operators frequently, the Boolean operator are used according to expertise of users during information search due to use of procedural language in them World Wide Web Online Public Access Catalogue (Web OPAC) (Mahmood, 2008) assessed that indigenously developed web OPAC of academic, special and national libraries of Pakistan in terms of facilities offered by these web OPACs. The functions and facilities such as: Links to resources, links to full text, help availability for searching, modern search methods in OPAC etc. the research were examined. ...
Article
A web online public access (OPAC) is an online interface of a library that allows users to make transactions online globally. This study aimed to explore the online library services offered by university libraries of Lahore, the level of user’s satisfaction with web OPACs and to compare the users’ satisfaction with web OPACs public and private sector university libraries in Lahore Punjab. The data was collected on self-developed and self-administrated peer reviewed questionnaire from 16 university library users via survey. The study revealed that both public and private sector university libraries provide basic and advance searching options, different types of search filters and Multifactor services, the t-test results at combined level factor found no significant different (sig=.000) in level of uses’ satisfaction with web OPACs of public and private sector university libraries of Lahore Punjab.
... ball is now open to information practitioners, and library 2.0 services need further improvement in technical thought to embrace this modern method of delivering services to provide access to information from everywhere. Mahmood (2008) illustrated that in Pakistan, computers have been started to use in libraries since the 1980s. The basic use of a computer at that time was to work on word processors and spreadsheets. ...
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Social Media (SM) provides a range of possibilities for libraries to provide services out from traditional ways and means as modern life has been influenced greatly and massively by the internet. Owing to the amazing advancement of services given through the internet, libraries and information centers have to change and perform efficiently to convene the information needs of modern users. Libraries must use the modern SM tools to enhance and thrive in this age of the internet. Currently, libraries are adopting these tools in their services to satisfy the information and research needs of the users. SM applications in libraries drive to convene the growing and varying prospects of library clients. This paper aims to investigate the use of SM to enhance library effectiveness in Pakistani libraries. The study is based on a survey that was administered through survey monkey. The data of 71 filled questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results show that 73.2% of respondents started using social media after 2008, and the top users are university libraries (53.52%). 76.1 % using Facebook, but 56.3 % believe in the usefulness of blogs/blogging. Professional networking (74.6%) is the main purpose of using SM, followed by the promotion of library services (69%). Three main challenges in using SM at libraries are 1) technical problems, 2) restrictions on using social media at the office; and 3) low internet connection.
... The growth of well-maintained websites is on the rise, but most of them only have a basic introduction to the library on university's home page. A number of them are striving hard to create web OPACs (Mahmood, 2008). ...
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This study was designed to investigate the history and administrative structure, financial management, collection, users and library staff of university libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study covered all those well-established public and private sector universities of the province which were chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and recognized by HEC (Public= 18 and Private = 9, Total 27 universities). The newly established universities which were housed in rented buildings and had no proper library facilities were excluded from the study. Data was collected from the library professionals of universities through structured questionnaire. Results of the study show that University of Peshawar was established following the birth of Pakistan in 1950 and is generally known the "mother of all universities". After independence in 1947 till 1995, the total number of universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both in public and private sectors were five which has now reached to 37. Centralized library system is the most dominating in all the private and majority of the public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Budgets are randomly allocated for collection which varies from millions to thousands. The collection of university libraries includes both traditional and electronic resources. However, access to most of the electronic resources is provided through HEC Digital Library. University libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa serve a wide range of users including graduates, post graduates, researchers, teaching community, administrative staff and to some extent the external users.
... The growth of well-maintained websites is on the rise, but most of them only have a basic introduction to the library on university's home page. A number of them are striving hard to create web OPACs (Mahmood, 2008). ...
Article
Full-text available
This study was designed to investigate the history and administrative structure, financial management, collection, users and library staff of university libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study covered all those well-established public and private sector universities of the province which were chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and recognized by HEC (Public= 18 and Private = 9, Total 27 universities). The newly established universities which were housed in rented buildings and had no proper library facilities were excluded from the study. Data was collected from the library professionals of universities through structured questionnaire. Results of the study show that University of Peshawar was established following the birth of Pakistan in 1950 and is generally known the “mother of all universities”. After independence in 1947 till 1995, the total number of universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both in public and private sectors were five which has now reached to 37. Centralized library system is the most dominating in all the private and majority of the public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Budgets are randomly allocated for collection which varies from millions to thousands. The collection of university libraries includes both traditional and electronic resources. However, access to most of the electronic resources is provided through HEC Digital Library. University libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa serve a wide range of users including graduates, post graduates, researchers, teaching community, administrative staff and to some extent the external users.
... The examples of such studies are being described one by one. Mahmood (2008) conducted a study on library web OPACs in Pakistan. The study revealed that indigenous Web OPACs were at an initial stage of development and offering basic facilities to their users. ...
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The purposes of the study are to identify marketing key features through content analysis of university library websites in Pakistan. Also compare the public and private sectors university library websites in terms of marketing activities. Similarly, expose marketing key features that lacks in public and private sector university library websites. Based on the adopted criteria, a checklist of marketing features was designed. A purposive sample of 53 main (Central) libraries websites of public and private sector universities having at least one marketing feature was selected for detailed analysis. The study reveals that the overall situation of university library websites in terms of marketing features is not good. However, public sector university library websites are comparatively better in this regard than the private sector. The results of the study help libraries to design and implement a strategic marketing plan that will ultimately create awareness about library resources and services via websites and help to improve the image of universities libraries in Pakistan. This study is new in Pakistan and fills the gap in the literature on the subject. Moreover, this study will support in developing library websites equipped with marketing features.
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The present study was conducted with an aim to determine the relationship between students’ information literacy skills and availability information resources in universities library of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. A survey research design was used to collect data from the participants. The population of this study were post-graduate students enrolled in public sector universities of AJ&K. A convenience sampling technique was used to collect the data. A statistical package for social sciences (SPSS-20) was used for the analysis of data. The descriptive statistics was used to determine percentage, frequency, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistic was used to determine relationship among variables. The results of the study revealed that a good number of information resources were available in university libraries but they were not properly utilized due to lack of information literacy skills (M=3.56). Lack of information literacy training and workshops were the main barriers faced by respondents while acquiring information literacy skills (M=3.56). Moreover, it was found that a statistical significant relationship (P= .000) exists between age of the respondents and their information literacy skills. Which shows that age of the respondents and information literacy skills were correlated with each other. The results of study also revealed that information literacy skills of respondents were correlated with age, gender, and availability of digital information resources. Further, the statistical value (P=. 218) indicated that level of degree and information literacy skills of respondents were not correlated.
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Library catalogs have represented stagnant technology for close to twenty years. Moving toward a next-generation catalog, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries purchased Endeca's Information Access Platform to give its users relevance-ranked keyword search results and to leverage the rich metadata trapped in the MARC record to enhance collection browsing. This paper discusses the new functionality that has been enabled, the implementation process and system architecture, assessment of the new catalog's performance, and future directions.
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Purpose – The paper seeks to provide a comparative analysis of the functionality of five web‐based OPACs available in Indian academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Same‐topic searches were carried out by three researchers on the web‐based OPACs of Libsys, VTLS's iPortal, NewGenLib, Troodon, and Alice for Windows, implemented in five academic libraries in India. Their functionality was compared using criteria selected from the literature on OPAC searching. Findings – The web‐based OPACs investigated offered a range of facilities for searching by author, title, control number and by keywords. Federated searching across several e‐collections was limited. Originality/value – This paper should be a useful source of information to librarians who are planning to introduce web‐based OPACs and also for software vendors who wish to improve the functionality of their products.
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Library online public access catalogues (OPACs) are auto-mated information retrieval systems that constitute the most readily available source of information for non-professional users. Web-based OPACs represent a huge step forward in the development of user interfaces for catalogues. The pre-sent study evaluates Latin American OPACs against a checklist for full bibliographic display in web-based OPACs, developed at the University of Toronto. The checklist contains four sections that cover the most important facets of the OPAC: 1) labels, 2) text, 3) instructional information, and 4) page layout. Finally, multivariate analysis methods are ap-plied to the results. Such techniques include 1) cluster analy-sis, 2) principal components analysis (PCA), and 3) multidi-mensional scaling (MDS).
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This paper combines findings from two assessments of full bibliographic displays in catalogs of academic libraries. The first assessment evaluated displays in twelve OPACs; the second evaluated displays in ten Web catalogs. Displays were evaluated against a checklist of desirable features derived from published display guidelines. Findings showed that, on average, displays in OPACs scored 58 percent and displays in Web catalogs scored 60 percent. We discuss some of the weaknesses identified by the assessments, focusing on those found in the majority of the displays evaluated.
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Purpose – To review the variety of software solutions available for putting CDS/ISIS databases on the internet. To help anyone considering which route to take. Design/methodology/approach – Briefly describes the characteristics, history, origin and availability of each package. Identifies the type of skills required to implement the package and the kind of application it is suited to. Covers CDS/ISIS Unix version, JavaISIS, IsisWWW, WWWISIS Versions 3 and 5, Genisis, IAH, WWW‐ISIS, and OpenIsis. Findings – There is no obvious single “best” solution. Several are free but may require more investment in acquiring the skills to install and configure them. The choice will depend on the user's experience with CDS/ISIS formatting language, HTML, programming languages, operating systems, open source software, and so on. Originality/value – There is detailed documentation available for most of these packages, but little previous guidance to help potential users to distinguish and choose between them.
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Describes the results of a research survey conducted at the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Madras, Chennai, India which examines features provided in online public access catalogues (OPACs) in Tamil Nadu. OPACs are recent developments in libraries in India in general and Tamil Nadu in particular. A review of the literature reveals that only a few studies on OPACs in India have been conducted and there is no comprehensive study about the OPACs in Tamil Nadu. A sample of 50 libraries in Tamil Nadu were selected at random, out of which 36 responded. The analysis of the data represents the state-of-the-art of the libraries in the summer of 2002. The major findings of the survey reveal emerging trends in OPAC.
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Purpose – This study has the aim of evaluating the compliance of bilingual Arabic scripts web‐based catalogues in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC). It also seeks to highlight some of the challenges facing the exchange of bibliographic records and resource sharing among Arabic script online public access catalogues (OPACs). Design/methodology/approach – Ten OPACs in the GCC countries accessible via the internet were surveyed. Modified guidelines of OPAC displays published in the literature were used for evaluating the Arabic script display in the surveyed web‐based OPACs. The study emphasizes the absence of a dominant model for the display of bibliographic data in the surveyed OPACs. There is inconsistency in label wording, access points provided in record default display, hyperlink to bibliographic elements, and data sequence. MARC format is not utilized in over two thirds of the surveyed catalogues, as well as the Z39.50 protocol. The study argues that the web‐based OPAC could play a landmark role in networking the catalogues of the GCC University libraries as a web‐based e‐union catalogue. Findings – OPACs have broadened the capacity of the academic library in recording, indexing, archiving, and organising its growth‐oriented collections. The advent of the internet into the library setting has also provided OPACs with powerful searching and retrieval capabilities at a one‐stop portal. Meanwhile, great efforts are currently being done to design and operate an Arabic version of OPAC to be compatible with agreed‐upon MARC standards. This challenge sparked strong interest in evaluating the compliance of the bilingual (Arabic/English) web‐based OPAC operated particularly by some GCC University libraries. Originality/value – Provides an evaluation of the compliance of bilingual Arabic scripts web‐based catalogues in the GCC.
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Web-OPACs not only offer simplified access to library holdings for end-users but also enable librarians to add value to their catalogue data. One feature which has become almost a standard for new library software is including links to full-text or multimedia documents corresponding to a particular citation. Other features which have not yet become common but will soon do so include: links to publishers, links to corporate sources, and links to journal titles. The latter usually provide tables of contents, and sometimes also offer direct access to full-text documents for subscribers. Online database providers have acknowledged these new possibilities, librarians soon will. So when migrating library software to new products or new releases, such issues should be observed.
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Web-based online public access catalogues (OPACs) began to appear in the late 1990s and many libraries are currently considering implementation. As catalogues, they demonstrate advances on traditional OPACs, especially in terms of remote access by users and their potential to integrate many document types and sources via a single interface. This paper considers some of the features and functions of Web OPAC interfaces. As yet, very little evaluation of systems and users has taken place and until more such literature appears, a general approach to products available is considered to be of value. Six popular Web OPAC interfaces in use in UK academic libraries (Talis, INNOPAC, WebCat, Voyager, GeoWeb and ALEPH) have been examined with an overview of the functions offered via those interfaces. A checklist has been developed as an indicator of the important features and functions offered.