Thesis - Rutgers, the State University. / Reproduced by University Microfilms, inc. Bibliography: leaves 65-67.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-218).

Thesis--University of Pittsburgh. / Bibliography: p. 124-130.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1981. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-218).

Thesis.

The development of information and communication technologies, and wide spread of the Internet and its associated technologies have brought about tremendous changes in the reference department of academic libraries, and in the attitudes and expectations of both information professionals and users. Many academic libraries across the globe have embraced Web technologies to fulfil users reference needs in a digital environment. This study aimed to investigate and analyse digital reference services (DRS) in university libraries in Pakistan. It focused on the nature and level of DRS, technologies used for the provision of the service, usage, staffing, marketing, funding, ICT infrastructure available for the service, and looked at the issues faced by academic libraries in implementing and managing the service. A mixed methods research approach combining both quantitative and qualitative methods was employed to achieve the aim and objectives of the study. The quantitative data for the study were collected through an online survey. A total of eighty five university libraries (both in public and private sectors) from all the four provinces, the federal capital and Azad Jammu & Kashmir participated in the survey. The quantitative data were supplemented by the qualitative data which were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the heads of fifteen leading university libraries. Findings suggest that DRS is at an early development stage in university libraries in Pakistan, with a small number of libraries offering the service. Most of the academic libraries which have implemented this cutting-edge service, are large libraries equipped with good human and technological resources. The libraries have mostly developed asynchronous digital reference systems by employing e-mail and web forms. The usage of the service is lower than that of in-person reference in academic libraries due to factors, such as libraries failure to effectively market the service, lack of ICT skills among users, lack of ICT facilities available for users. It was found that the libraries lack skilled and competent LIS professionals to staff the service. Factors contributing to the scarcity of skilled human resources in academic libraries include the lack of in-house training for DRS, shortage of continuing professional development courses in the country, and deficiencies in LIS curricula offered by the country s library schools. A number of issues which affect the implementation and management of DRS in academic libraries have been identified. They include: scarcity of competent human resources; access to appropriate digital resources; unavailability of suitable software for DRS; financial constraints; lack of ICT facilities; absence of a digital reference policy; lack of ICT application; paucity of resources; electricity supply; inadequate physical facilities; lack of local research and literature on DRS.

Public libraries place importance on information technology for the delivery of quality services. One aspect of quality services is knowing the usage in the electronic information resources (EIRs) among the users. This study was carried out to investigate the use of the EIRs at the Penang Public Library Corporation (PPLC). The findings revealed that EIRs services provided by PPLC are being regularly used by the users. It was noted that the younger group relied more on the EIRs. The most preferred EIRs were Internet (51.9%) and OPAC (43.2%). The preference of Internet was higher among school students with 25% users and college students with 17.2% users, whereas preference of OPAC was higher among the professional group with 30% users. It was determined also that most of the users who used Internet were for information searching. For OPAC, they seemed more likely to use title search in searching library materials and they learned to use the OPAC by themselves. The usage of other EIRs were less popular with Electronic Journals (19.1%), Online databases (16.0%) and CD-ROMs (7.4%). It is recommended that PPLC must strive aggressively to promote the less popular EIRs that are provided but seldom used by the library users. PPLC also needs to improve its training programme in order to help users to enhance the use of EIRs.

Longer version of the paper published in the printed conference proceedings / Public libraries place importance on information technology for the delivery of quality services. One aspect of quality services is knowing the usage in the electronic information resources (EIRs) among the users. This study was carried out to investigate the use of the EIRs at the Penang Public Library Corporation (PPLC). The findings revealed that EIRs services provided by PPLC are being regularly used by the users. It was noted that the younger group relied more on the EIRs. The most preferred EIRs were Internet (51.9%) and OPAC (43.2%). The preference of Internet was higher among school students with 25% users and college students with 17.2% users, whereas preference of OPAC was higher among the professional group with 30% users. It was determined also that most of the users who used Internet were for information searching. For OPAC, they seemed more likely to use title search in searching library materials and they learned to use the OPAC by themselves. The usage of other EIRs were less popular with Electronic Journals (19.1%), Online databases (16.0%) and CD-ROMs (7.4%). It is recommended that PPLC must strive aggressively to promote the less popular EIRs that are provided but seldom used by the library users. PPLC also needs to improve its training programme in order to help users to enhance the use of EIRs.

In this article I argue that the readersâ advisory service was a product of social forces operating in the context of early twentieth century capitalism. The work of French regulation theorists provides a framework for analyzing these forces using the concepts of regime of accumulation and mode of regulation. It suggests that American capitalism during this time was engaged in a process of defining a new mode of regulation capable of ensuring labor discipline and forging a market for consumer products among the public. The readersâ advisory service, in its efforts to develop a professional expertise for librarians, can be shown to be an experiment in contributing to the fulfillment of the needs imposed by the new mode of regulation. This experiment was conducted through the development of processes involving the legitimization of new ways of living, the â humanizationâ of books, the association of free time with the consumption of commodities, and the voluntary imposition of a system of discipline on patrons who availed themselves of the service.

Migration from the traditional to web-based library paradigm is usually accompanied by remodelling of many library core activities particularly those associated with user-centred services. In this capacity of the web-based service paradigm, many academic libraries have established networked environments within which many virtual-user communities are forming and growing. Understanding the virtual user's needs in these communities has become the first priority of networked libraries for designing, running and managing effective virtual reference services to meet the increasing expectations of the invisible users. To achieve this, the networked libraries strive to improve their quality of service by applying a wide range of such quality management approaches as quality function deployment (QFD) and LIBQUAL™. QFD initially stresses on driving continuous improvement of the user-oriented services towards end-user satisfaction. The paper attempts to incorporate the QFD to be integrated strategically in designing and managing e-information provision within networked library service environment. The UAE University Library is used as a case study, where the evidence-based librarianship (EBL) approach has been employed in three studies to identify user needs and acceptance of e-services. Based on these studies, the paper presents a model aimed at streamlining e-services for virtual users in ICT-rich learning environments.