Content Analysis of Special Library Websites: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Library website is like a mirror to the library it showcases its profile, activities , services, and
whole things about the library and its staff, Nowadays it’s an important thing in any kind of
libraries it may be an academic or public or special library. This paper tries to anal yze the
contents of eight special library websites located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Those libr aries are
Central Power Research Library (CPRI), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Indian Institut e
of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute
(IPIRTI), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), National
Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), National Centre for Biological Science (NCBS), Raman
Research Institute (RRI) Library.

Full text

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy
ManjunathaKS
AssistantLibrarian,AIMSInstituteofHigherEducation,
Peenya,Bengaluru,Karnataka560058Email:ksmanju983@gmail.com

Abstract
Library website is like a mirror to the library it showcases its profile, activities, services, and               
whole things about the library and its staff, Nowadays it’s an important thing in any kind of                
libraries it may be an academic or public or special library. This paper tries to analyze the                
contents of eight special library websites located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Those libraries are            
Central Power Research Library (CPRI), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Indian Institute           
of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute          
(IPIRTI), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), National         
Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), National Centre for Biological Science (NCBS), Raman         
ResearchInstitute(RRI)Library.
Keywords:LibraryWebsite,SpecialLibrary,CPRI,NCBS,NAL,RRI.
Introduction
The libraries which are attached to Research and Development (R&D) organizations is called            
special libraries, these serves specialized services to its specialized clients like scientist,           
researchers, etc. The developments in the field of internet and web technologies enable libraries             
to use web environment to provide their updated and new library services to its users. Internet               
changed the role of libraries from traditional to electronic services. Today most of the peoples              
around the world using internet for their study, business, entertainment and communication etc.            
Nowadays internet is become handy due to the smart phones era, now any one can access               
internet through the smart phones and other gadgets. So in this era of internet organizations              
understood the importance of website which is helpful to all and it reflect all the activities of the                 
organization. This is came into libraries also, most of the libraries have created their own library               
website it works like a mirror to the library and it showcases its profile, activities, resources,               
services,linkstovariouselectronicresourcesandotherthingsaboutthelibrary.
ReviewofLiterature
Prakash (2013) evaluated content of Central University Libraries Websites in India focusing on            
the information like features of the library websites, links to other information sources, online             
library services, and value added services and so on. Huizingh (2000) mentioned how little is              
known about Website design and presented a framework consisting of two parts: design and             
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page1

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

content. He used this framework to investigate how different groups of corporations use the             
Web. McGillis and Toms (2001) and Battleson, Booth, and Weintrop (2001) reported on            
usability studies of academic library Web sites. Kalra and Verma (2011) evaluated the library             
websites of selected institutions in India both quantitatively and qualitatively and reveal that            
there are many discrepancies and terminological issues and many effective techniques for           
websites evaluation which are followed at international level but are not being used in such              
studies in India. Vasishta (2013) studied the websites of technical university libraries to            
determine that libraries are effectively utilizing their websites to provide trouble free access to             
electronic journals available in the library. The study reveals that technical universities are trying             
to set up useful library websites but the library websites of most of the institutes seem to be at                  
primal stage. Shukla, and Tripathi (2010) made a comparative study of 20 central universities             
and institutes of national importance including IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs            
(Indian Institutes of Management) academic libraries from India using a method to evaluate            
Overall Website Performance Calculation (OWPC) and Criteriawise CWPC (Website        
PerformanceCalculation)oflibrarywebsites.

ObjectivesoftheStudy
Followingobjectiveshavebeensetforthestudy.
●Toassessthecontentofspeciallibrarywebsites.
●Toknowtheexistingfacilitiesprovidedinthewebsitesofspeciallibraries.
●Tofindouttheservicesandfacilitiesprovidedbythespeciallibraries.
●To assess the relevancy and quality of graphics which used in the special library             
websites.
Methodology
This study was conducted in two phases. In the phase one, a survey was conducted to prepare a                 
list of special libraries located in Bengaluru. In the absence of any directory of special libraries in                
India,informationwascollectedfromsearchinginweb.
In phase two related literature was reviewed and few good websites and articles were accessed to               
prepare checklist for analysis of the special library websites. The study is confined to evaluate              
thecontentof8speciallibrarieswebsitesviz.
SlNo.
InstituteName
LibraryWebsite
1
CentralPowerresearchInstitute(CPRI)
http://www.cpri.in/aboutus/d
epartmentsunits/libraryandi
nformationcentre.html
2
IndianInstituteofAstrophysics(IIA)
http://www.iiap.res.in/faciliti
es/library
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page2

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

3
IndianInstituteofHorticulturalResearch(IIHR)
http://www.iihr.res.in/service
slibrary
4
IndianPlywoodIndustriesResearchandTraining
Institute(IPIRTI)
http://ipirti.gov.in/library.htm
l
5
JawaharlalNehruCentreforAdvancedScientific
Research(JNCASR)
http://lib.jncasr.ac.in/homepa
ge/
6
NationalAerospaceLaboratories(NAL)
http://www.icast.org.in/index.
php
7
NationalCentreforBiologicalScience(NCBS)
https://www.ncbs.res.in/acad
emic/library
8
RamanResearchInstitute(RRI)
http://www.rri.res.in/library.h
tml

DataAnalysisandInterpretation
1. GeneralInformationavailableinwebsite
The General Information available in website includes about library, mission statement, working           
hours, membership, library rules, copyright, library staff, sitemap, sections, domain name,          
informationorganization,visitorcounteranddateofupdate.
Table–1:GeneralInformationavailableinwebsite
GENERAL
INFORMATION
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCAS
R
NAL
NCBS
RRI
AboutInstitution
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
AboutLibrary
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
MissionStatement
Y
N
Y
N
N
N
N
N
Working
Hours/Holidays
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Membership
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
LibraryRules
Y
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Copyright
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
LibraryStaff
N
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Sitemap/Floormap
Y
Y
N
Y
N
N
N
N
LibrarySections
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
N
Y
Copyrightholder
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Information
organization
B
B
B
B
C
C
B
C
Visitorcounter
Y
N
N
N
N
Y
N
N
DateofUpdate
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
N
Y=Yes,N=No,A=BestB=GoodC=Average
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page3

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

The Table  1 shows the General Information available on special library websites. All the library               
websites have the information about library, CPRI and IIHR only has provided the mission             
statement, and IIHR and IPIRTI has not provided the working hours, IIA is the only website not                
providedthecopyrightdetailsandCPRIandNALhasgivethevisitorcounter.
2. InformationAboutLibraryCollection
This will provides about the library collection details of the special libraries. Library collection             
includes books, periodicals, reports, theses, newspapers, conference proceedings, annual reports,         
monographs, patents and standards. Table 2 represents examines the availability of information           
aboutthelibrarycollectionsonthelibrarywebsitesofrespectivespeciallibraries.
Table–2:InformationaboutLibraryCollection
LIBRARY
COLLECTION
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCASR
NAL
NCBS
RRI
Books
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Periodicals
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Reference
Sources
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Reports
Y
N
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Theses
N
N
Y
N
N
N
Y
Y
NewsPapers
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Conference
proceedings
N
N
Y
N
N
N
N
N
Annual
Reports
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
N
ListofPrint
journals
N
N
N
Y
Y
N
N
N
Monographs
N
N
N
N
Y
N
N
N
Patents
N
N
N
N
N
Y
N
N
Standards
N
N
N
N
N
Y
N
N
Note:Y=YesN=No
Table 2 shows the all library websites have information on books, periodicals and reference             
sources, IIA, JNCASR and NAL do not provided the details of reports on website, where the               
others are provided. NCBS and RRI is the two are having the theses; NAL is the only library has                  
thepatentsandstandards.
3. InformationaboutLibraryServices
It describes the facilities provided by the library to their users. It includes circulation, reference,              
reprographic, abstracting, bibliographic, indexing, CAS, DDS, ILL, OPAC, and translation         
serviceetc.
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IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

Table–3:InformationaboutLibraryServices
LIBRARY
SERVICES
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCASR
NAL
NCBS
RRI
Circulation
Service
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Reference
Service
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Digital
Library
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Reprographic
Service
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Abstracting
Service
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Bibliographic
Service
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Indexing
Service
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Email
Queries
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
SMSQueries
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Database
service
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
CDRom
Service
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
CAS
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
DDS
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
ILL
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Translation
Y
N
N
N
N
Y
N
N
WebOPAC
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Alerting
Service
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Note:Y=YesN=No
Table 3 examines the services provided by the special libraries. All the libraries is providing              
circulation service, reference, digital library and reprographic service database service and Web           
OPAC, none of the library is providing abstracting and indexing services and SMS queries and              
alerting service to their users. Only two libraries are providing the translation service, IPIRTI is              
the only library not proving the CD Rom service.IIA and IIHR not providing the CAS while 50%                
ofthelibrariesprovidingDocumentDeliveryService(DDS).
 
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page5

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

4. AvailabilityofEResources
This fall under electronic resources available in the library those are in electronic format it may               
bebooks,journals,CDs,DVDs,electronicdatabase,institutionalrepositoryetc.
Table–4:AvailabilityofEResources
ERESOURCES
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCASR
NAL
NCBS
RRI
EBooks
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
EJournals
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
EDatabase
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
CDROM
Database
N
N
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
CDs
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Video
Cassettes
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
DVDs
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Institutional
Repository
N
Y
N
N
Y
Y
N
Y
NewArchive
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
N
Y
Note:Y=YesN=No
Table 4 examines the availability of electronic resources in the respective library. IIHR and             
IPIRTI not provided the details of the ebooks and rest of the libraries provided the same in                
website. IPIRTI website is not specified about the electronic resources available in the library.             
And none of the libraries provided the video cassettes and DVDs details. Only four out of eight                
librarieshaveinstitutionalrepository.
5. DomainandDisplayRecognition
DOMAIN&
DISPLAY
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCASR
NAL
NCBS
RRI
Domain
Name
.in
.res.in
.res.in
.in
.ac.in
.org.in
.res.in
.res.in
Graphics
B
C
B
C
C
B
B
B
Quality
B
B
B
B
C
C
B
B
Audio&
Video
Y
N
N
N
N
Y
N
Y
Background
Color
B
C
B
C
C
B
B
B
Note:Y=YesN=No,A=BestB=GoodC=Average
Table 5 gives the information about the domain name, graphics, quality, audiovideo and the             
colorofbackground.
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IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

6. Links,SearchandRetrievalInterface
This will indicates the links, search and retrieval interface in the library websites of eight special               
libraries.
Table–6:Links,SearchandRetrievalInterface
DIMENSION
CPRI
IIA
IIHR
IPIRTI
JNCASR
NAL
NCBS
RRI
Downloads
Y
N
N
N
N
N
Y
N
News
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
SuggestionBox
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
FAQs
N
N
Y
N
N
N
N
N
Images
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Contacts
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
LinkstoOther
SearchEngines
N
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Help
Y
N
N
N
Y
N
N
N
Feedback
Y
N
Y
N
N
N
N
Y
Note:Y=YesN=No
Table 6 shows the Links, Search and Retrieval Interface. CPRI and NCBS libraries provided             
downloads link, others which are not provided the same. Except RRI library website the others              
are provided the news link in the website. No one has the option of suggestion box in the                 
website, and only the IIHR has provided the FAQs. Except IIA all are give the contact details,                
CPRI and JNCASR given the help link and CPRI, IIHR and RRI has the feedback option in thir                 
respectivewebsite.
Findingsofthestudy
Themajorfindingsofthestudyareasfollows.
●The results shows that the all library websites are provided the about library, most of the               
libraries not given the mission statement, most of them are provided the working hours of              
the library in the website. And it clearly shows the most of the libraries are given the                
general information to the visitors of library website. And out of eight only four libraries              
areprovidedthedateofupdateofthelibrarywebsite.
●All libraries are provided the details of collection like books, periodicals, reference           
sources, reports, theses, and details about many other collections in the library. Only            
IPIRTI and JNCASR has given the print journal’s list, JNCASR also given the details of              
monographs in the library, and except NAL no other libraries are given the details of              
patents and standards. IIHR is the only library provided the conference proceedings           
details.
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page7

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

●The results of the study also shows that the all the library websites are having the               
information on library services. All libraries are providing circulation, reference, digital          
library, reprographic services to their users. And also have the details of Web OPAC,             
CAS, ILL, DDS and many other services. Except IIA all the libraries having a option of               
email queries and the same way there is no library having the option of SMS queries. All                
libraries having Web OPAC and no one is having alerting service. CPRI is the only              
libraryhasgiventhetranslationservicedetails.
●The study clearly shows except IIHR and IPIRTI all are provided the details of              
electronic books, except IPIRTI others are given the details of the electronic journals.            
Most importantly IPIRTI has not given the details of the electronic resources. And mainly             
no one has given the details regarding the collection of video cassettes and DVDs, IIA,              
JNCASRandRRIonlyprovidedthedetailsofinstitutionalrepository.
●The result also indicates that only CPRI and NCBS has given the downloads link, except              
RRI all are given the news link, nobody has provided the suggestion box in the website,               
IIHR is the only library website given the FAQs link, CPRI and JNCASR provided the              
help facility in their website, and CPRI, IIHR and RRI provided the feedback option in              
thelibrarywebsite.
RecommendationandConclusion
Based on the findings of the study in this section attempts to suggest some of the               
recommendations which are helpful to the library website creator or designer and also helpful to              
create more informative, interactive, and attractive library website. It will also useful to the users              
ofthelibrarywebsite.
●The half of the libraries websites are not provided the date of update, this shows the               
currencyofthecontentsavailableinthewebsite.
●Many websites are not given the membership details and library rules it should be             
availabletotheusers.
●Quality, graphics and background color of the website is average it should be improve to              
savetheeyesightoftheusers.
●Only two libraries are provided the list of printed journals it should be available in all               
librarywebsites.
●MakeprovisionforusingCDRom’sandDVD’sinthelibrary.
●Suggestion box, FAQ’s, help menu and feedback option should be available in all            
websites,itwillbeveryusefulforthenewcomersaswellasthefrequentlyvisitors.
The library website is as said in the beginning it’s a mirror to the library, it showcases all the                  
activities and services of the library. A good library website definitely attracts the users, so it               
should be more informative, interactive and attractive. This study examined the contents of all             
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page8

IJNGLT,May2016,Volume2Issue2
ContentAnalysisofSpecialLibraryWebsites:AnAnalyticalStudy

eight special library websites which are located in Bengaluru. The library website is an external              
service to the readers so in this digital world it’s more important to the user community as well                 
asthelibraryprofessionalsit’sanotherwaytocommunicatewiththeusers.
References
1. Vasishta, Seema., (2013) Dissemination of Electronic Journals: A Content Analysis of          
the Library Websites of Technical University Libraries in North India, Electronic          
Library
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,Vol.31(3),pp278289
2. Kalra Jaya and Verma R K., (2011) Evaluation Indicators of Library Websites of            
Selected Research Institutions in India, Annals of Library and Information Studies
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58(2),pp139150
3. Babu, V Nireekshana and Sunil, Adupa., (2008) Evaluation of Indian Institute of           
Technology Library Websites in India: A Study. PEARL  A Journal of Library and             
InformationScience
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,Vol.2(3).
4. Sampath Kumar, B T and Others (2009) Content Analysis of Indian Institute of            
Management Library Websites: An Analytical Study, 7
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th International CALIBER 2009,         
(INFLIBNET Centre, Ahmedabad), Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 2527 February,       
2009.
5. Chao, H. (2002) Assessing the quality of academic libraries on the Web: the development             
andtestingcriteria.Library&InformationScienceResearch,
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Vol.24,pp169–194
6. Gardner, Susan J., John Eric Juricek, and F. Grace Xu (2008) An Analysis of Academic              
Library Web Pages for Faculty, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 34(1), pp            
162
7. Jange, Suresh and Others (2006) Web content of library portals in Karnataka: role of             
Librarians in the internet world, 4

th International Convention CALIBER2006

,        
(INFLIBNETCentre,Ahmedabad),Gulbarga,24February,2006.
8. Vijayakumar, M., Kannappanavar, B.U., & Mestri, M. (2009) Content Analysis of Indian           
Institutes of Technology Libraries Web Portals: A Study, DESIDOC Journal of Library           
andInformationTechnology

,Vol.29(1),pp5763.
9. Websitesvisitedforanalysisfrom13March2016to26March2016.
10. http://www.cpri.in/aboutus/departmentsunits/libraryandinformationcentre.html
11. http://www.iiap.res.in/lib_collections
12. http://www.iihr.res.in/serviceslibrary
13. http://ipirti.gov.in/library.html
14. http://lib.jncasr.ac.in/homepage/
15. http://www.icast.org.in/index.php
16. https://www.ncbs.res.in/academic/library
17. http://www.rri.res.in/library.html
www.ijnglt.comInternationalJournalofNextGenerationLibraryandTechnologies(ISSN2395–5201)Page9