An overview of Electronic Resources (E-Resources) of National Library, India and its implications

By-Deepshikha PathakLibrary and Information Assistant&Partha Sarathi DasAssistant Library and Information OfficerNational Library, India

Theme of the paper

The present paper mainly highlights the need of introduction of

electronic resources in the National Library, India, describes its

existing electronic resources, future plans and assess the frequency

of use of e-resources by the reader with respect to the use of Electronic

resources by the heterogonous users of the National Library and to

identity the barriers that hinders the use of e- resources.

Introduction

Information technology has left an incredible impact in our profession right from automating the library services to Collection Development Policy. In this context, The National Knowledge Commission in its qualitative and quantitative guidelines for Collection Development

states that “All libraries must maintain a well-rounded core collection, including reference material to satisfy the regular needs of its user community.

These may be supplemented through networks, e-resources, etc, to

achieve better qualitative and quantitative standards.” and “In the case of the

National Library and other national level libraries, the collections should be as comprehensive as possible.”

In compliance of the guidelines and feeling the pulse of heterogeneous users, National Library too has introduced the E-resources for its users.

Operational definitions used

Operational definitions used in the paper is :a. E-booksb. E-journalsc. E-Reference collectiond. Heterogeneous users of the National

Library

National Library and Modernization

To being with, the National Library has undergone developmental transformation in phase-wise manner. National Library has come a long way from serving its readers with traditional methods of giving readers’ service to modern day method of service, in the form of manual browsing of catalogue to web-opac catalogue.

Going with the modern day trend of Digital Library, we can proudly say that The National Library houses not only Rarest of the Rare Documents but also it has expanded its collection base to envelope Electronic Resources also. The advent of ICT has been a boon because it offers an opportunity to provide increasingly valuable and effective services for users and as such when one visits National Library, one can find oneself in the midst of Hybrid Library Environment.

Need for Hybrid Library Environment in the

National Library

Advancements in digital technology and increasing application of this technology in libraries have brought in a revolutionary paradigm shift in all types of libraries; National Library is not an exception.

The acquisition policy of the National Library seeks to integrate traditional print resources with electronic resources to provide seamless access to information resources which support blended learning.

As a public library, the National Library supports a heterogeneous user groups that ranges from students, scholars, researchers, teachers, professionals who uses these e-resources as their supplementary resource base in addition to their print resources.

E-Books Coverage

1. Cambridge University Press : 11152. Oxford University Press : 1,26,466 3. Project Muse : 19, 589 4. Springer : 5505. Taylor & Francis : 1100

6. Wiley Blackwell : 264

E-journal Coverage

1. Cambridge University Press : 398 2. Oxford University Press : 379 3. Indian Journals.Com : 359 4. J-Stor : 3606 5. Project Muse :759 6. Sage Journals :1263 7. Heinonline : Law Journal Library ; English Reports,

Full Reprint(1220-1867)

REFERENCE E-COLLECTION BOUQUET

Reference e-collection bouquet.doc

Survey : Objectives

Objectives : To know the awareness of e-resources among

the users of National Library To study the degree of utilization of e-journals

by the users of the National Library To determine the level of satisfaction of the

users of e-resources To measure the effectiveness of the e-resource

Survey : Methodology

To collect data, a questionnaire was designed with questions of

demographic characteristics, source of information, ease of Information

Retrieval computer skills, frequency of use, preference of e-resources,

awareness of e-resources and need of use-orientation programme.

Besides questionnaire method, observation and interview method were

also adopted.

Data Analysis

Awareness of E-Resources :

It is observed from the study that : about 54% of the users came to know about e-resources through National Library website

42% of the respondents gained access of the e-resources through our Library Officers & Staff members.

Contd…

Frequently used e-resources :

It is observed that the access of the e-resource collection is well

balanced in both their formats while E-reference collection need to be popularized among the users of National Library.

Contd…Frequency of use of e-resources :The frequency of e-resources used by the respondents as

revealed from the analysis is that : a. mostly daily (36%) ; b. several times a week (28%) ; c. once a week(20%) ; d. when they desire (16%).

However, most of the users are in the process of making e-

resources as their integral part of information source.

Contd..

Ease of Information Retrieval & User Education:

50% of the respondents are capable of finding their desired

information, while 50% of the users are facing difficulties of some sort

in retrieving their desired information. 62% of the respondents expressed their

desire to arrange some kind of User Education/ Orientation Programs by the National Library to increase their confidence in using these e-resources.

Contd…

Frequently Used E-Journals :

Jstor is often the mostly used e-journals, followed by Oxford University Press and then Cambridge University Press.

The rate of use of e-resources has been a

success on experimental base in the first phase.

Recommendations

The questionnaire has recorded some specific suggestions from our esteemed

users which could be considered by the National Library in decision making

process:

Some users feel that there is a need to increase the bandwidth so as to increase the speed of upload/download

Most of the users prefer that the facility of e-resource access should be open in Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays.

There should be necessary arrangements for resource sharing with libraries.

There should be a IT trained staff in the Main Reading Room for helping the users in case of difficulty.

Users have suggested introducing subscription of MLA International Bibliography, IEEE journals, Literature Online (LION) as a part of E-resource

Conclusion

Understanding today’s user’s need of information sources is no doubt a challenge and it poses a more challenge for heterogeneous users. There are plethora of information sources a users can use but the bottom line is that how Library and Information center can make themselves “User Technocracy Information Source”. National Library, where one can find the combination of heterogeneous readers as well as the concept of Hybrid Library has been able to prove itself as “User Technocracy Information Source” by way of introducing E-Resources in experimental phase and is reaping quite a success. It is pertinent to mention that E-resources are being provided by many Library and Information Centers across India, but the offering of E-resources by the National Library, itself provides a distinct benchmark as it the epitome of Traditional-cum-Digital Library.

As a part of continuous development and its endeavor to make National Library “User Technocracy Information Sources”, a separate E-resource Centre will soon be set up in the coming year. Let’s hope that the opening of this new E-

resource Center will be able to provide perspective reader’s service to its ever increasing

readers.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Prof. Swapan Chakravorty, Director-General, National Library for providing the

facilities and thankfully acknowledge Shri Asesh Kr Ghatak,

Library and Information Officer for critically going through the manuscript and all the Library Staff of Bhasa Bhavan

Reading Room, National Library for their assistance and support

in collecting the data.

THANK YOU