Nosheen Fatima Warraich

Employability skills of LIS graduates in Pakistan: needs and expectations

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze the opinion of young and senior library and information science (LIS) professionals in Pakistan on LIS curricula and its relevance to market needs to enhance employability.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed research method was used to collect data from professionals through two questionnaires, focus group and personal experiences.Findings – The findings reveal that the LIS curriculum offered at the University of the Punjab (PU) is up to date and well designed but it is not fully meeting the needs of young graduates and employers. Both groups were dissatisfied with employability skills due to lack of implementation of LIS curricula and shortage of specialized faculty members at the time of data collection in May 2008. The employers complained of weak communication, practical and presentation skills. They expect graduates with more multidimensional and market oriented skills. However, the school takes a lead in introducing new curricula among the rest.Research limitat...

Perceptions of LIS professionals regarding use of Pakistan National Digital Library databases

Purpose – This study sets out to investigate the perceptions of LIS professionals regarding the usage and satisfaction of the Pakistani Higher Education Commission (HEC) National Digital Library (NDL) databases. The NDL Programme provides free access to electronic resources (30 full text databases including 24,000 peer reviewed online journals and e‐books) of world‐renowned publishers to public and private sector universities and non‐profitable research and development organizations, in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach – The study used a multi‐method approach. The data‐gathering techniques used for the study were an online survey, group interviews, and observation. A total of 75 people from 40 institutions responded to the survey.Findings – The findings reveal that younger professionals showed more interest in the use of databases. A majority of users accessed these databases through the HEC web site. The respondents were more satisfied with electronic journals and were least satisfied with e‐books. I...

Usability study of a federated search product at Punjab University

Purpose – 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.Design/methodology/approach – Two usability tests were conducted.Findings – 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.Originality/value – This study provides a baseline for further user studies in higher education institutions. It is recommended that including audio might enhance searc...

Library anxiety, library use and academic performance of undergraduate students in Pakistan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of library anxiety, which has received relatively little research attention in Pakistan, and its relationship with library use, academic performance (grade point average), gender and academic discipline among the undergraduate students. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a questionnaire from 725 fourth year undergraduate students of three different disciplines from three universities. The participation was voluntary. The data were processed using SPSS version 20. Findings A majority of the respondents (72.1 per cent) experienced a mild library anxiety. The factors: user education and user knowledge were the greatest sources of library anxiety. Findings revealed differences in library anxiety on the basis of gender and academic discipline. Library anxiety and academic performance had a significant negative relationship with each other. Originality/value This is the first study in Pakistan that addressed library anxiety and its relationship with library use, academic discipline and academic performance using a large group (N = 725) of undergraduate students.

Emotional Intelligence and Academic Anxieties: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT Emotional intelligence is an important area of psychology, which has gained acceptance in almost every academic discipline. It also seems to influence the various academic activities undertaken by students. This article, which is part of a larger study, reviews the literature on emotional intelligence, and its relationship with the academic and nonacademic characteristics of students with an emphasis on the significance of this relationship. This review shows that emotional intelligence of students is a key element for them while handling a stressful situation. It also illustrates that emotional intelligence can be supportive in managing library anxiety among students leading to better academic performance. This article will assist the academic librarians to recognize the role of emotional intelligence in library-related activities of the patrons. It is recommended that future research should give more attention to this area.

Status of Public Libraries in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to assess the status of public libraries located in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan, in terms of administrative setup, collection, staff, resources, and services. The article is derived from evidence obtained through a questionnaire-based survey carried out in December 2013. This survey was conducted for the preparation of “Directory of Public Library Project” a joint venture of Punjab Library Foundation and Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab. The survey found eleven public libraries in the District of Rawalpindi. Only three of these have professional staff. Overall, libraries have poor and outdated book collections that are not properly classified and cataloged. Information Communication Technology infrastructure exists in libraries with some exceptions. Most of the libraries are facing constraints (e.g., low number of hours, too small in size, and too many users for size of collections) that result in inadequate services. Most of the libraries are facing similar problems, which are being faced by other public libraries of Pakistan (e.g., shortage of professional staff, lack of modern facilities, and insufficient funds). Practical recommendations are made at the end of study.

The relationship between emotional intelligence, library anxiety, and academic achievement among the university students

Emotional intelligence has a strong link with academic anxieties. It is apparent from the published literature that a student with high emotional intelligence would face low academic anxiety and vice versa. Similarly, library anxiety, which is an academic anxiety, also affects students’ academic performance. Library anxiety of students may increase or decrease along with their ability to understand and manage their own emotions and those of others. However, there is a dearth of literature on the relationship between these two concepts. Data regarding these concepts were collected from university undergraduates. Findings established significant relationships between emotional intelligence, library anxiety and academic performance among the participants. This study has practical implications for academicians and professional librarians to deal with the library anxiety of students and their academic performance.

Keeping found things found: challenges and usefulness of personal information management among academicians

Purpose This study aims to investigate the usefulness and challenges of personal digital information management (PDIM) as perceived by engineering faculty members. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative research strategy based on survey design was used to collect data through structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was applied to obtain a representative sample from faculty members of University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Findings Findings indicate that faculty members understand the usefulness of PDIM practices for their teaching and learning. They opined that these practices improve their performance along with effective utilization of resources. PDIM practices save their time, energy and money. Nevertheless, they have to face challenges in managing their personal information in digital format including technology obsolescence, bulk of incoming emails, prediction of future value of information, information fragmentation and memory load in remembering the location of information. It is also noted that PDIM practices are equally useful for both male and female faculty members. However, female faculty members have to face more PDIM challenges than male faculty members. Practical implications Overall, findings of the study reveal that there are benefits of PDIM and it is useful for faculty members with certain challenges. This study identified five major challenges. All these challenges were from technological and cognitive psychology domain. It is noted that assessing future value of information plays important role in overall process of PDIM. Originality/value The present study would be valuable addition in literature and it would be helpful in devising information literacy instructions programs in academic libraries. This study would also helpful for improving quality services for teaching as required by Pakistan Engineering Council. Findings of this study would helpful for system engineers, software developers and system librarians in designing and developing personal information management systems in Pakistan.

Gauging the collection and services of public libraries in Pakistan

Purpose Public library’s core function is to meet the changing needs of challenging users by providing access to library collection and services. This study aims to explore the current status of public libraries’ collection, services, users, staff, physical facilities and IT infrastructure in Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistan. It further investigates the problems faced by these public libraries and puts forward practical solution. Design/methodology/approach This is a quantitative study based on questionnaire survey. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data. In total, 21 Library and Information Science graduates were employed to ensure the physical visit of all 176 public libraries in 36 districts of the province. Findings The findings revealed that with a few exceptions, public libraries were mostly in a poor condition. Absence of professional staff, out-dated collections, dilapidated library buildings and lack of IT infrastructure were the major issues prevailing in the libraries. Furthermore, little interest of political leadership and higher authorities is observed in the development of public library system. Practical implications This data will be helpful for policy and decision makers to plan and develop human resources, physical facilities and IT infrastructure in libraries. Findings may facilitate higher authorities for designing better services and strengthening public library system in the province. Originality/value This is a baseline study on public libraries’ status in the province. It aims to fill the gap by identifying total number of existing public libraries and exploring their current status along with the problems faced by these libraries.

Managing the Personnel in University Libraries: A Developing Country Perspective

Column Editors Notes Lets face it, these days leading and managing a library workforce is a complex task, as many competing factors influence the values, behaviors, and culture of library workplaces. This feature column, written by Nosheen Fatima Warraich and Kanwai Ameen, focuses on academic libraries in Pakistan, as the workplace setting; but the research also has implication for the management of library human resources in other contexts and in other countries. Reading this contribution caused me to think about the issues relating to human resource management in a broader global context. This article is a timely reminder that library workplaces are pretty much the same across the world—something I was reminded of recently when I spent some time at an academic library in Malaysia. Local context and issues are important in any consideration of library human resource challenges and opportunities with local factors (such as enterprise agreements, workforce composition, etc.) never far from the focus of library leaders. However, leaving aside local context, library workplaces are also impacted by global factors (including information and communications technologies, global economic conditions, etc.). More so than ever before, the challenges and opportunities playing out when it comes to leadership and management of library human resources, have many things in common. This feature column highlights this point well as it brings a nice mix of applied research and professional practice experience. Based on some large scale research, its findings may be helpful to library leaders in contexts beyond Pakistan. I am pleased to feature this contribution to help highlight the global nature of our practice of professional skills in librarianship and the leadership of library human resources. As always, I invite contributions to the column on topics broadly addressing themes or issues for library workers throughout their career lifecycle. Please submit articles for this column to the editor at vicki.williamson@usask.ca. Please mark the subject line of your submission “IILR contribution.” ABSTRACT This research aimed to investigate the issues relating to personnels management in university libraries of Pakistan. It specifically focused on recruitment, continuous professional development, performance evaluation, and maintenance of professional staff in university libraries. To meet the objectives of the study, a multi-method survey was conducted. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data from heads of the university libraries (N = 36). Twenty interviews were also conducted with purposively selected senior professionals from 16 institutes. This article provides a selected summary of a study carried out to complete the PhD degree.