AWARENESS AND USE OF WEB RESOURCES AND SERVICES AMONG THE FACULTY MEMBERS AND RESEARCHERS OF BANGALORE UNIVERSITY: A STUDY

Abstract

The integration of web technology has affected all functions of the library, particularly web-based library and information services. This study was conducted to assess the familiarity and usage of web-based library and information services among the faculty members and research scholars of Bangalore University. The investigators collected responses from 91 users of Bangalore University Library, through a structured questionnaire. The study basically reviews the use of web-based library services in eight service categories namely reference, acquisition, circulation, cataloguing, periodical, interlibrary loan and document delivery and miscellaneous services. Results of the study revealed that out of these categories most commonly used services were searching for the availability of a particular document online, access to online databases and electronic journals, electronic thesis & dissertations (ETDs), an online list of new arrivals and index to journal articles. It is observed from the study that the effective usage of web-based library and information services is not very significant and university library is lagging behind in providing online Inter-Library Loan services, electronic document delivery service and chat with library/ real-time services. The paper highlights the current state of web-based library and information services and suggests the new approaches for effective use of web-based library and information services.

KEYWORDS: Bangalore; Library and information services; University library; Web technology