Ascertaining Information Needs And Library Use In Colleges With Special Reference To Barak Valley (South Assam) A Case Study. Dr Partha Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Dept of Mass Communication Assam Central University, Silchar, Assam Sonali Choudhury Biswas, Librarian, Radhamadhab.College, Silchar, Assam, India Abstract A College Library principally acquires materials that relate to the current college curriculum and are charged with the primary responsibility of serving the informational, educational, cultural and lifelong learning needs of its students and faculty.the planned development of a college library collection requires the application of a stated collection development policy which will best serve the patrons, and provide an organized and accessible collection of resources needed to meet the educational and instructional needs of the college and also provide a full complement of services that will anticipate, meet and stimulate the informational, educational, cultural, and lifelong learning needs of the college community. To ensure this, there is an urgent need to understand the complex process of information needs, which is a very vital link in the chain of operations in the collection development process, from information gathering to information dissemination. The study of the nature of information needs of the library users gives a clear idea of the use of collections of the library and to how to develop it further so as to satisfy their information needs. A careful identification, analysis and classification of the 'real' information needs of users (including all potential users and non users as well) is an essential basis for the planning, implementation and operation of library collection development and hence such user studies have become absolutely necessary to ascertain the needs and requirements of the users, which in turn will help in building a need-based collection in the library to meet the precise needs of the college community. The present study is one such in this direction which will highlight the information needs of the college fraternity including teachers and students and the results of the study are expected to help in planning and executing effective collection development of college libraries. Introduction One of the serious problems that exists today in the library is collection development. In this present age of Information Explosion, the trend is to acquire core quality collections satisfying the needs of the patrons. Collection development is a dynamic and continuous activity to develop a need-based, up-to-date and balanced collection fit to meet the document and information needs of the users. And the first step involved in the process is the analysis of the information needs of the users because in developing a good collection, the needs of the users will have to be taken into consideration. With the development of the quantitative techniques and the identification of the various parameters of the needs and the usage of documents, the collection development process is tending towards its optimal objectivity. Users needs for information and knowledge should govern the collection building activities. The aim should be to develop a needbased collection. Serious efforts should be made to assess users needs systematically so that the resultant collection meets their information requirements adequately. In this regard user studies and studies on collection use have been indispensable in evolving certain indicators which are quite useful in the building-up of collections in different library contexts. In an academic library, the main objective is to support the teaching, research and extension programmes of its parent organization, and its collection and services are to cater to the curricular and co-curricular needs of its clientele. A college library must be able to provide effective information sources necessary for teaching-learning process of the college, also providing information of the latest developments in the area of interest for the teachers and the students. Hence it is necessary to study their academic needs and requirements, so that the relevant information sources can be matched with their information needs and demands and a strong collection can be build in the library. The Present Study And Its Objectives The present study has been made to identify the information needs and demands of the library users of the colleges of Barak Valley and also to bring out the way the users make use of the collections of the library, the different approaches of users to information, their preference for the type and form of the documents and to relate them to the purpose for which information is sought. It also investigates the extent of time spent by the user in obtaining the required information with satisfaction. The channels and mediums used are also analyzed along with their dependence on the college library and different types of information sources, as well as use and benefit derived from internet and ICT. The present study is also done with the objective to get possible suggestions from them so as to improve the collections in college libraries and their services towards the users. www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 222
Methodology In the present study, a total of fourteen colleges have been selected to ascertain the information needs & library use of the selected colleges. The selection of the sample from these colleges has been done randomly. The selected colleges are as mentioned below : a) Gurucharan College. b) Cachar College. c) Womens College. d) Radha Madhab College. e) Janata College. f) M.C.D College. g) Karimganj College. h) S.S. College. i) Algapur College. j) N.C.College. k) Hailakandi Womens College. l) Silchar College of Education. m) Silchar Medical College. n) National Institute of Technology. The technique adopted in the present study is the questionnaire method. A questionnaire is essentially a skillful translation of the objectives into a set of questions, intended to be answered in writing. In this study, a total of one hundred and ten questionnaires were distributed randomly to the teachers and students of the fourteen selected colleges. Analysis Of Data And Findings The collection of data for the present study is being done by distributing a total of 110 questionnaires to the teachers of the 14 colleges chosen. Out of 110, 50 questionnaires were received back, duly filled in, which shows that the percentage of response is 45%. Category-wise distribution of the respondents reveals that out of 50 respondents,28 of them are lecturers(56%), which is followed by 20(40%) respondents who are students and only 2(4%) belonging to the category of Staff, who form the lowest group of respondents. Table 4.1 Category -wise classification of respondents: Category No. of responses Percentage of Response Lecturer 28 56 Students 20 40 Staff 2 4 The analysis and interpretation of data collected for the present study has resulted in a series of findings, which in turn serve as a basis for drawing the conclusions and suggestions and which indeed, is hopefully useful, for improving the library collections in the colleges of Barak Valley. The analysis and the findings are discussed below with each analyzed table, giving the responses of the users. Purpose of information search/need The information needs of college teachers and students vary distinctly depending upon the purpose for which they need information. The purpose may vary from simple classroom teaching/leraning to complete research works,to prepare for examinations or keeping up with the advances in their field. Hence to know about specific purpose of information search, respondents were asked to indicate or tick from among the 3 options as mentioned in the questionnaire. In addition, an extra option has also been provided in order to enable them to specify any other purpose for which they search information, other than the three as mentioned in the questionnaire. The analysis of the data is as shown in Table 4.2 which succeeds the discussion of the findings. Table 4.2 : Purpose of information search/need: For what purposes i) For teaching/learning purpose. 47 94 are you in need of ii) For writing an article/seminar 18 36 information paper. mostly? iii) For research activities. 12 24 www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 223
The data analyzed in this table shows the relevant purpose for which the users are in need of information. It indicates that majority of the college teachers and students need information for class lectures and assisting the students in giving references, thereby accounting for a high response of 94%. While they also need information for writing purpose and research activities, accounting for 36% and 24% responses, respectively. While some of them mentioned about some other purposes, in addition to the above mentioned ones - 1. Guiding students and giving specific information to them. 2. Curiosity and personal interest. 3. Attending Seminars and workshops. Use of Library Libraries are now recognized as important social institutions of any community where every individual can have access to every recorded knowledge. Libraries are endowed with the responsibility of meeting the educational needs of the users. To confirm the assumption, the libraries are indispensably required by the college faculty and students to fulfill their information needs, they were asked to mentioned their opinion on it. An alternative answer of YES or No were put in the questionnaire and the analysis of the answer may be tabularized as below : Table 4.3 : Necessity of Library & Library types: Sl No. Question Answers No. of responses % of responses 1. Do you think the i) Yes 50 100 library is a necessity to fulfill your information, needs? ii) No x x 2. If yes, which type of i) College library 38 76 Library do you use? ii) University 32 64 iii) District Library 10 20 iv) Special library 7 14 It is evident from the analysis of Table 4.2 that libraries are very much used by the teachers, thereby giving a 100% response. Libraries are indispensable for any teacher to fulfill his or her needs for relevant information and it is found that majority of them use college library (76%) and university Library (64%), while special library and public library are used, but only to a small extent by them. Some of the respondents also mentioned about their usage of other libraries : 1. Libraries outside Barak Valley. 2. National Library of Calcutta, NEHU Library, Delhi University Library, etc. Type of Services provided by the library: Use of a library and its utility to users is the primary objective of any library. And in order to meet this determined goal, libraries try their best to design, alter, evaluate and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of library collection, continuously so as to enable to serve their readers and fulfill their satisfaction. They also try to introduce different types of library services. In order to ascertain the different types of library services rendered in this region, respondents were asked to tick the appropriate ones from the available choices, given in the questionnaire. They were also given option to mention any other service other than the specified ones, in the questionnaires. Table 4.3 mentioned the different library services, as pointed out by the users. www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 224
Table 4.4. Types of Services Provided by the Libraries. Indicate the type i) Loan of books 39 78 of services provided ii) Inter-Library Loan 0 0 by the library. iii) Document Delivery 10 20 iv) Bibliographical details 8 16 v) References Services 35 70 vi) CAS/SDI 9 18 Thus it is found from the above analysis that loan of books is the most obvious services rendered in the libraries of Barak Valley while reference services is also quite common in most of the libraries. Documents delivery through photocopy and translation service is also indicated by some teachers and students thereby accounting for 20% of the response. But one most important drawback found in the libraries of this region is the absence of inter library loan facility, due to which many important information may be missed by them. Use of Library Catalogue: A library catalogue is an essential and important tool in library, which facilities the use of library materials. A library catalogue is one in which the list of documents and their contents are arranged in a reasonable way and according to a plan. The extent of use of library services depends greatly upon the quality of library catalogue. Hence it is very important that information can be easily extracted from a catalogue. In this regard, it was felt necessary to find out if the college library users of Barak Valley are able to use the catalogue without any difficulty. Their responses are mentioned in Table 4.4. Table 4.5: Use of Library Catalogue. Can you find (i) Yes 32 64 information from a library (ii) No 18 36 catalogue easily? The most obvious finding of the above analysis is that majority of the users are able to use the catalogue without much difficulty, thereby accounting for 64% of response, while 34% of them face minor problems while finding information from a Library Catalogue. Use of Journal Articles: Journals gives latest information and latest development in different fields. It helps the readers to keep track of current papers and to know what is being done by others and to get information about the works in progress or completed. To find out the use of journals articles by college academicians, an alternative option of YES or NO have been put against the question to ascertain if they need journals to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in their field. The analysis of the data are shown below : Table 4.6: Use of Journal Articles. Do you need journal (i) Yes 38 76 articles to keep abreast of the latest developments (ii) No 12 24 in your field? www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 225
The above table shows that journal articles are read by 76% of the respondents who feel that journals are very important for them to know about the latest developments in their field. Journals frequently consulted It is quite clear from the above analysis that journals are very much important for college library users to know about the latest developments in their field. To learn more about use of journals by college teachers and students, they were asked to cite the names of three journals in order of their preference which they frequently use. The analysis of the data has indicated the names of few journals as the most frequently used once by the users. Table 4.7 Journals frequently consulted. Sl No. Title of Journal Frequency 1. Economic and Political Weekly 35 2. Resonance 33 3. Science Reporter 33 4. Journal of American Chemical Society 30 5. Economic Review 30 6. Monthly review of the Indian Economy 28 7. University News 28 8. Sankhya 25 9. Publications from IIS, Bangalore 24 10. JICPR 23 11. Economic Survey 20 12. Yojana 20 13. Times 19 14. The Economy 17 15. RBI Monthly 16 16. Ariel 16 17. Management Account 16 18. Cost and Management Accounting 14 19. Nature 10 20. Indian Literature 8 21. Journal of Genetics 8 22. Mathematics Today 7 23. Journals of Applied Physics 6 24. Journals of Exptl. Biology 6 Keeping up with Current Developments: Information is required for both teaching and research purpose. Hence the teachers as well as students are required to keep track of what is being done in the field of their interest to get consolidated information on any specific topic, as required by them. Table 4.7 shows the different answers by the users to keep up with the current developments in their fields. Table 4.8: Keeping up with Current Developments. How do you keep (i) Scanning of current issue 23 46 abreast of current of journals developments (ii) Scanning of Abstracting & 12 24 in your field? Indexing journals. (iii)personal Communication 17 34 (iv)seminar & Conferences 12 24 www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 226
The analysis shows that journals seems to be the most common avenue for keeping up with advances in one s subject field. In addition to the above analysis, it may be mentioned that two or three of them mentioned about recent publications of text books for the same purpose. Adequacy of Collection: It is very important to know if the document collection in the libraries is sufficient to satisfy the requirements and needs of the users. College library users seek information for different purpose of study and teaching and use different types of literature for this purpose. They were asked to indicate if the collection in the library is adequate. The answers were subjected to analysis which is as shown in the table below. Table 4.9 : Adequacy of Collection. Do you find the i) Completely adequate 7 14 collection in your field, adequate in the library, to satisfy ii) Paritially 43 86 your information seeking? iii) Not at all 0 0 It shows that, a response rate as high as 86%, is of the opinion that the collection in libraries of South Assam is partially adequate. However, 14% feel that it is completely adequate but a strong positive aspect is that the teachers do not feel that the collection is completely inadequate in the libraries here, and is able to satisfy their needs, at least to some extent, if not to the fullest extent. Internet Connectivity Now a days Internet has become a wonderful communication tool for faster and instant communication and interaction amongst the academicians all over the world. To enquire about the internet connection in their Library, An alternative Yes or No was put in the Questionnaire and the analysis of the answer may be tabularized as below. Table 4.10: Internet Connectivity. Questions Answers No. of Responses % of Responses Do you have (i) Yes 40 80 internet connectivity (ii) No 10 20 in your Library? Thus the table shows that most of the libraries are having internet connections for the use of the readers there by given 80 % response whereas only 20% of the respondents are mentioning about the absence of internet in their libraries. Frequency of Internet Use: Internet is indeed very much essential for College Library users to satisfy their needs for information. Hence it is important to know the frequency of their use of internet. To ascertain the frequency of their use, users were asked to specify the exact frequency. The analysis is shown in table 4.10. Table 4.11: Frequency of Internet Use. Questions Answers No. of Responses % of Responses How frequently (i) Daily 19 38 do you use (ii) Weekly 20 40 internet? (iii) Fortnightly 8 16 (iv) Monthly 3 6 From the above table it is clear that majority of the users access internet weekly accounting for 40% response; they do not feel the necessity to use internet daily (38% response). And only 16% of them use internet fortnightly. www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 227
Computer / ICT training : The formal /informal training in computer/ict plays an important role in imparting / acquiring knowledge and skill to handle ICT gadgets for retrieving information. In this regard it was felt necessary to find out if the library users of Barak Valley have received any training on computer / ICT. Their responses are as mentioned below : Table 4.12: Computer / ICT training. Questions Answers No. of Responses % of Responses Have you (i) Yes 32 64 attended any (ii) No 18 36 computer/ ICT traning? The most obvious finding of the above analysis is that majority of the uses have attended some form of computer / ICT training, accounting for 64% response, while 36% of them have not yet done any computer / ICT training for making online searches of information in the Library. Access of INFLIBNET Website : Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) centre is an autonomous Inter- University (IUC) of UGC involved in creating infrastructure for sharing of Library and Information resources and services and also their transfer and access. The respondents were asked to answer if they access the INFLIBNET Website for their needs and studies. The analysis shows the following as given in the table below: Table 4.13: Access of INFLIBNET Website : Questions Answers No. of Responses % of Responses Are you (i) Yes 21 42 accessing the (ii) No 29 58 INFLIBNET Website for information? Thus the above finding reveals that the INFLIBNET Website is not very much accessed by the users responding for 42% of response while 58% of them say that they do not access the website at all. Use of Primary and Secondary Sources of Information: To find out the different sources of information consulted more often by the college community for different purposes of teaching-learning process, the respondents were asked to indicate the different sources they use regularly including monographs, text books, journals, research report, conference proceedings, etc. The analysis is shown as below: Table 4.14: Use of Primary and Secondary Sources of Information: Question Answer No of Responses % of Responses Which of the i) Monographs 0 0 following do you ii) Text Books 4 28 use as your prime iii) Journals 7 14 source of information iv) Research Report 4 8 for your teaching-learning v) Conference Proceedings 1 2 and research purposes? vi) Abstracts and Indexes 3 6 www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 228
In this case it is seen that the response is not comprehensive. Only 29 out of 50 teachers responded to this question to this question. And among them 28% of them use texts books followed by journals, which has received response of about 14%. It shows that text books and journals forms the basis of teaching and research activities of the teachers, thus gettinf the maximum response. Some Specified Suggestions : In the light of the suggestions by the users and findings of the survey, the following suggestions are mentioned which may improve the library services of the region. The analysis of the data indicates towards the following suggestions: a) In order to develop user-oriented information service, it is very important that adequate amount is allotted for purchase of books and journals and their selection should be according to the need and necessities of specific user group rather than simple mechanical suggestions of the library committee or authority. b) College Development Council should act in a more helpful way to alert and persuade the college libraries to utilize the UGC Grants. UGC Grants of funds in essential for the libraries to maintain a strong collection in the library, which is otherwise quite impossible with library s own fund. c) The colleges should take steps for appointment of highly qualified professional library personnel and non-professional library staff to manage the library well. It is important to give them good incentives so that they are motivated and serve the readers better. d) In order to make user oriented information service a reality, user education programmes are a must. Library user education and instruction programmes should be organized from time to time by the library staff, so that users become fully aware of the library. e) The libraries should provided more emphasis on reference service and bibliographical services including documentation services, SDI services, CAS for users of the library, with latest developments in individual field. It is seen that SDI and CAS are not much common in libraries of Barak Valley, which needs to be improved. f) Other suggestions which have been recorded after analysis of the data are: i. Subscription of periodicals and journals including International journals. ii. Computerised Services and Facilities. iii. Internet facility. iv. Strong Collections for every subject. v. Enough funds for strengthening collections in libraries. vi. Inflow of latest literature including text books and journals. vii. Well Catalogued and online searching facility of books. viii. Adequate/ trained/ motivated and well behaved library staff. ix. Properly located and well furnished library building. x. Reprographic facilities in all libraries. xi. Improvement of reference service. xii. Inter-Library loan facilities. xiii. Open-shelf system for all the documents. xiv. Separate reading room, comfortable furniture and congenial atmosphere. Conclusion The quality of a library is tested on the basis of its extent and mode of use. The maximum use of library resources leads to the fulfillment of library objectives, as the main purpose of acquiring and organizing documents lies in their use. And in order to derive the optimum use of the library collection, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the needs and requirements of the library users, so that the collection development policy and programme may be formulated accordingly. The present study is one in this direction which explicitly indicates the complex nature of the information needs and information sources of the user groups under study. The information presented in this survey has provided a sketch of the needs and information seeking behaviour of the teachers, students and staff in the colleges of South Assam. There is lower level of awareness of the existence of the variety of information sources leading to information incompetence. It further throws light on the need for making them aware of the different information channels, methodologies and developing strategies for making information delivery systems more electronically oriented. But before that, the first and foremost step needs to be taken, is the automation of the libraries in Barak Valley, so that they are able to provide access to electronic bibliographic finding aids and databases. One drawback as found in the libraries of Barak Valley is the absence of inter-library loan facility and resource sharing. Hence networking of the libraries is also a necessary step towards satisfying the user s needs. Thus it may be concluded that the information needs and information seeking behaviour of college academicians has certain special features and it is essential for the college libraries to understand these features so as provide them effective service and at the same time develop a need-based strong collection of documents for them. The present study has highlighted some important facts about professional interests, reading habits, their specific needs and requirements, along with possible suggestions to achieve substantial improvement over the existing situation in the colleges of Barak Valley and also to remove the shortcomings towards meeting the information needs www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 229
of the college community, which will definitely help to grow a better collection in libraries. References [1] Spiller,D.(2000).Providing Materials for Library Users. London: Library Association Publishing. [2] Dervin, B and Nilan,M. Information needs and uses. (Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. 21; 1986; pp 3 33). [3] Wilson, T.D. On user studies and information needs. (Journal of Documentation. 37; 1981; pp 3 15). [4] Prasher,R.G.(1993).Developing Library Collection New Delhi: Medallion Press. [5] Evans,Edward G(2000).Developing Library and Information Center Collections.colorado:Libraries Unlimited. www.borjournals.com Open Access Journals Blue Ocean Research Journals 230