A STUDY ON THE USER BEHAVIOUR WITH ONLINE LIBRARIES DURING COVID - 19 PANDEMIC PERIOD

Abstract

Libraries are the foundational institutions in wisdom civilisation of the human kind over the years. They have evolved with the scientific technology development and are now made available as digital libraries. These digital libraries are accessible to the citizens of the world borderless. This has revolutionised the way the libraries are accessed which keeps evolving. During the recent pandemic “Covid 19” the world went in for lockdown and people were idled in their homes and they use their spare time to enhancing their knowledge vistas. This study aimed at understanding the online library userÅs behaviour, preferences and experiences during Covid 19 period. It was conducted with a questionnaire circulated through online surveys. It was found that users have different perspectives and perceptions towards online libraries. The purpose to access the libraries are more for serious academic need which prompts to conclude that online library user behaviour, preferences and experiences are not inferior in quality compared to offline libraries. Unlike the typical academic library preferences, the users opt for multiple specialisation areas to read and acquire knowledge. The papers offers suggestions to make the online digital libraries effective such as integration of online libraries effectively with the offline libraries and offering services to the users of the offline libraries in the same modality of academic institutions.

Keywords: Online Library, Online Resources, Offline Library, Personnel Libraries, Free Library Resources, COVID19, User behaviour