Farzana Shafique

Use of electronic information resources and facilities by humanities scholars

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the use of electronic information resources and facilities by humanities scholars at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey of faculty from arts and humanities departments at the University of the Punjab was conducted. In total, 62 faculty and research staff participated.Findings – The results correspond with previous studies conducted in other countries. The humanists still stick to the printed information sources but they pay good attention to electronic resources. Most of them have access to computer and internet at office and home. They are regular users of a variety of electronic technologies. Although faced with many problems, the humanists perceive that modern technology made their work easier.Research limitations/implications – The study is based only on the humanities faculty in a large university of Pakistan. The survey should be replicated on a larger sample for generalization.Practical...

Indicators of the Emerging Information Society in Pakistan

This paper reviews the transformation of Pakistans agricultural society into an information society and factors causing this transformation. Key indicators of emerging information society in Pakistan are analyzed with the help of literature search, website visits and personal communication with experts. The analysis reveals that many internal and external factors are causing this transformation such as declining natural resources and rapid growth in population and its needs, international debt and dictation by IMF and World Bank in each and every economic and political move. The picture captured through literature and website review reveals that Pakistans agricultural society is rapidly transforming into the information society. Key indicators for the emergence of the information society in Pakistan include e-government, IT policy, rapid growth of the IT and telecom sector, increased teledensity, Internet services, e-learning, e-health, e-commerce, etc.

Changing research scenario in Pakistan and demand for research qualified LIS professionals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the changing scenario of research in Pakistan and the status of demand and supply of library and information science (LIS) professionals with research qualifications to fill the leadership positions in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach – Government reports and websites were reviewed and telephonic contacts made with LIS faculty and senior librarians.Findings – The paper finds that research activities are rapidly increasing in Pakistan, while there is a wide gap between demand and supply of LIS professionals with research qualifications.Originality/value – The researchers have furnished some recommendations for filling the identified gap.

Why the Offline Are Offline: A Survey of Internet Use by Educated Pakistani Adults

The study reported here explored the reasons for the relatively limited use of the Internet among educated Pakistani adults. A fairly large sample of Internet nonusers from different cities of the Punjab Province with at least secondary school education participated in a survey. Some graduate students and cyber café owners were also interviewed. The results of this study are reported in the main body of this paper, indicating that a variety of cultural, educational, and economic factors are responsible for this state of affairs.

What do users prefer, card catalogue or OPAC?: A study of Punjab University Library

Purpose – 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. Design/methodology/approach – 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. Findings – 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...

How humanists use libraries: A survey of arts and humanities faculty at University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the library use pattern of humanities faculty members at University of the Punjab, Lahore.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted to get response from the targeted population which consisted of 90 teaching and research staff of humanities departments. The response rate was 69 percent.Findings – The study reveals that most of the respondents feel themselves good in library use skills, which is owing to their high frequency of library use, not to any formal training. They prefer to use the library themselves, rather than seeking help from the library staff. Respondents found the central library richer in collection than their departmental libraries. Most of respondents were visiting the library for using the reference material or for searching some specific information and they seldom seek help from the library staff. Resources and services/facilities available in the central library were professed to be better than their dep...

Scanning the information infrastructure of Pakistan

Purpose – This paper is part of a doctoral research which aimed at proposing a national information system for educational administrators in Pakistan. However, this paper only aims at identifying what an information system is composed of and does; defining the information infrastructure (i.e. libraries/information centers and networks) needed for the development of a national educational information system; identifying the nature and design of the information infrastructure in Pakistan; and ascertaining the problems and gaps existing in the information infrastructure of Pakistan and why they exist.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on review of the available literature. For the literature search, valid sources of published and unpublished information were consulted (i.e. books, journal articles, reports, conference/workshop proceedings, theses and dissertations).Findings – Many library/information centers and information networks are working in the educational domain of Pakistan. The positio...

How do educational administrators in Pakistan seek information? A survey

The study aims at probing the information seeking behavior of educational administrators in Pakistan. It also explores their administrative responsibilities for which they usually seek information, their use of the Internet, their preferences for format of reading material and language, etc. and the problems they face while seeking information. To achieve these objectives, a review of related literature, a questionnaire survey and personal interviews within Punjab province and Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan were carried out. In total, 297 (99 percent) responses were received and analyzed quantitatively. Recommendations and conclusions are also drawn in the light of findings of the study. The study reveals that educational administrators’ information needs and seeking behavior largely depend on the type of job and the level of decision making they are involved with. Most of the findings of the study correspond with the reviewed literature. The results of the study can be useful to design information services and facilities for educational administrators, not only in Pakistan but in other developing countries of the world as well.

Architecture of a Nation-Wide Educational Information System Infrastructure: A Systematic Review

This paper is the part of a doctoral research, which aimed at proposing a national information system for educational administrators in Pakistan. However, this paper only aims at identifying what an information system is composed of and does; and discussing different technical, institutional and social aspects of a nation-wide educational information system infrastructure. It is based on systematic review of the available literature, which has been interwoven around this research question; “Which technical and social aspects should be considered for designing the architecture of a national educational information system infrastructure?” For the literature search, valid sources of published and unpublished information were consulted (i.e., books, journal articles, reports, conference/workshop proceedings, theses and dissertations). Few classical old studies were also reviewed and cited in the paper. Moreover, some information systems existing in developed and developing countries of world were also reviewed (N = 23). This paper is the first one presenting the complete overview for the architecture of educational information system infrastructure particularly at national level. Such a review may help the designers of educational information system. The review of studies related to architecture of educational information system infrastructure reveals that a nation-wide educational information system should consider the following technical and social aspects related to its infrastructure, i.e., a) know the background; b) users and their needs; c) types of users; d) types of information needs; e) coverage; f) centralized or decentralized; g) services; h) organizational considerations; i) manpower requirement; and j) qualitative considerations.