This article reports the results of an analytical study conducted on the utilization of print resources in the degree college libraries in Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh.
Trang 1Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2
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UTILIZATION OF PRINT RESOURCES IN DEGREE COLLEGE LIBRARIES IN
VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT: AN
ANALYTICAL STUDY
Dr M Doraswamy
Professor/University Librarian, Department of Library and Information Science, University Library, Dravidian University, Andhra Pradesh, India
V Appalaswami Naidu
Librarian & Ph.D Research Scholar (PT),
Dr V.S Krishna Government Degree College (A), Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
ABSTRACT
This article reports the results of an analytical study conducted on the utilization
of print resources in the degree college libraries in Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh A questionnaire was distributed among 1485 students out of which 1100 respondents returned filled-in questionnaires at an overall response rate of 74% The results showed postgraduate students using print resources, reference books, competitive books, periodicals/magazines, dissertations/project reports and old question papers more in number as compared to undergraduate students In contrast, the undergraduate students were found using news papers more in number, compared
to postgraduate students Among other significant findings, arts students preferred using competitive books, dissertations/project reports and newspapers more in number than science students, whereas science students used reference books, periodicals/magazines and old question papers more in number as compared to arts students
Keywords: Print Resources, Usage pattern, PG Students, Arts Students, Science Students
Cite this Article: Dr M Doraswamy and V Appalaswami Naidu, Utilization of Print
Resources in Degree College Libraries in Visakhapatnam District: An Analytical
Study, International Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (2), 2020, pp 209–220
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2
Trang 21 INTRODUCTION
In general, Libraries perform the key task of dissemination of information and knowledge among large user groups by utilizing various resources, including textbooks, reference books, periodicals/magazines, theses/dissertations, newspapers, electronic resources among others In view of the evolution of newer and more dynamic education systems as a global phenomenon, user information are more varied and specialized now, thereby posing big challenges for the library communities Libraries are essentially repositories of a large number of valuable print and electronic resources that support information needs of users for teaching-learning and research as well In such a scenario, libraries empower users by making a number of resources available that help them save time and effort, thus enabling them to take well-informed decisions on optimum utilization of library resources The users search for newer ideas, unknown facts and specialized information through methodical scientific research becomes possible in modern libraries that offer multi-modal platforms of information-sharing and knowledge dissemination by leveraging Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) Hence, it is a common practice in any modern library to develop, maintain and share scholarly, academic and general information in many different print and electronic formats This trend of bringing a balanced mix of traditional and modern information and knowledge resources are even more profound in academic libraries found in degree colleges, polytechnics, universities, colleges of education etc In its most conventional wisdom, academic libraries primarily strive to provide various resources and information services so that the basic educational objectives of students as well as faculty is fulfilled
Academic libraries are regarded as ‘service institutions’ as user satisfaction rank as the most important mission Needless to say, such libraries largely seek to fulfill the information needs of students, faculty and researchers A college library lends critical support to the parent institution in the form of learning materials so that the established norms of education are attained through fulfillment of the learning needs of users
Degree College libraries supplement classroom teaching; promote scholarly orientation among students while supporting the faculty in exploiting their research potential The degree college libraries in India, both located in urban and rural areas have undergone a lot of transformation in recent times They promote the academic scholarly interests of various user groups by delivering a host of traditional and modern services through a mix of conventional wisdom and technology Today’s Degree college libraries do not limit themselves to the delivery of information, but also contribute to the overall development of personality and employability skills among students
However, in view of the changing paradigms of work as well as the dynamic nature of the information needs, periodic evaluation of library facilities and services is highly desirable to ensure their effective functioning As a time-tested tool, evaluation of the library information delivery processes ensures their sustainability and productivity The library facilities and services in a typical Degree college is best performed, either by applying a user perception-centered criterion through a survey of faculty and students or, by methods analyzing the circulation records, shelf availability studies, inter library loan statistics, citation studies and other house-keeping services This paper seeks to conduct a critical examination of user data
in select Degree colleges located in the territorial limits of Visakhapatnam city, which is analyzed to determine vital parameters like user satisfaction and usage levels in relation to the library resources Also, it is intended to use the distinct outcomes of the study to put forward suitable strategies and mechanism to effectively utilize their available library resources and services
Trang 32 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to observe the usage levels of different print resources such as text books, reference books, competitive books, periodicals/magazines, dissertations/project reports, old question papers and newspapers among postgraduate students
To recommend concrete suggestions and recommendations to the concerned authorities to improve the library resources based on the inputs collected from postgraduate students
3 HYPOTHESIS
The following hypothesis was formulated for testing:
There won’t be any significant difference in the usage levels between users of Government and Aided colleges; undergraduate and postgraduate students; and Arts and Science students with regard to different library print resources
4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study examines the information usage pattern among users in Degree college libraries in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh There are three categories of Degree colleges viz., Government, Aided and Un-aided colleges in Visakhapatnam The researcher has selected Government and Aided Colleges in first instance Out of the 12 Government and 8 aided Degree colleges in Visakhapatnam, the researcher has selected 3 government colleges and 3 aided colleges that offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the second instance
At present, there are 8123 (7427 UG students + 696 PG students) users in the above selected degree colleges Since the population is too large, a sample of 1485 (20% of the total population) UG students and 278 (40% of the total population) PG students has been drawn from the total population by simple random method However, the investigator received responses from 892 (60% of the sample) UG students and 208 (75% of the sample) PG students only
5 DATA ANALYSIS
After collecting the data from the users of degree colleges, the data is checked and analyzed
as per the objectives and hypotheses stated earlier Firstly, the data is recorded on data sheets and then fed manually into the computer Then, the data is tested with various statistical tools (Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test) by using the SPSS If the observed frequency is less than five in any cell of a row, then that row is merged with its adjacent row while calculating the chi-square value However, some of the calculations are done with the help of
a calculator The data has been presented in the form of tables in the following paragraphs
6 USAGE OF LIBRARY PRINT RESOURCES
The overall usage levels of various print resources, namely text books, reference books, competitive books, periodicals/magazines, dissertations/project reports, old question papers and newspapers by users and the ranking of degree colleges has been presented in the following paragraphs
The weightages of 4, 3, 2, and 1 are assigned to the responses of always, often, sometimes, rarely and never used, respectively The total weightages and mean weightages are calculated for each college A rank has been assigned to each college on the basis of the mean weightage of the user’s responses
Trang 46.1 Text books
The distribution of users according to the usage level of textbooks is shown in Table 1
Table 1 shows that majority of the users (48.82%) used textbooks always; 31 percent used often; 11.64 percent used sometimes; 5.73 percent used rarely; and the remaining 2.82 percent used never
Table 1 Distribution of users with regard to the usage level of text books Level of
usage
Total
(49.62)
275 (48.08)
436 (48.88)
101 (48.56)
217 (46.87)
320 (50.24)
537 (48.82)
(27.65)
195 (34.09)
281 (31.50)
60 (28.85)
145 (31.32)
196 (30.77)
341 (31.00) Sometimes 68
(12.88)
60 (10.49)
101 (11.32 )
27 (12.98)
56 (12.09)
72 (11.30)
128 (11.64)
(7.20)
25 (4.37)
48 (5.38)
15 (7.21)
27 (5.83)
36 (5.65)
63 (5.73)
(2.65)
17 (2.97)
26 (2.92)
05 (2.40)
18 (3.89)
13 (2.04)
31 (2.82)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 9.0832 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 1.9287 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 4.0536 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level
Based on χ² values shown in Table 1, no significant difference is found between the users
of government and aided colleges; undergraduate students and postgraduate students; and arts and science students in the level of usage of text books It is proved by the chi-square values, which are not significant at 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom
6.2 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Text Books
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage level of text books is shown in Table 2
Table 2: Ranking of colleges in terms of the usage level of textbooks S.No Name of the College Total Weightage Mean
As shown in Table 2 the users of Dr VSKGDC used the text books more than the other degree college library users, finishing in the first rank among colleges It is followed by the library users of AMALC, AVNC, STJCW, GDCN and VWGDC in second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth rank, respectively
Trang 56.3 Reference Books
The distribution of users according to the usage level of textbooks is shown in Table 3
Table 3: Distribution of users with regard to the usage level of reference books
Level of
usage
Total
(13.07)
87 (15.21)
106 (11.88)
50 (24.04)
54 (11.66)
102 (16.01)
156 (14.18)
(13.26 )
95 (16.61)
116 (13.01)
49 (23.56)
47 (10.15)
118 (18.53)
165 (15.00) Sometimes 112
(21.21)
123 (21.50)
200 (22.42)
35 (16.83)
92 (19.87)
143 (22.45)
235 (21.36)
(25.19)
114 (19.93)
217 (24.33)
30 (14.42)
121 (26.14)
126 (19.78)
247 (22.45)
(27.27)
153 (26.75)
253 (28.36)
44 (21.15)
149 (32.18)
148 (23.23)
297 (27.00)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 6.3641 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level χ² (UG – PG) : 43.1815 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level χ² (Arts – Science): 29.7132 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
Table 3 shows that 27.00% users never used reference books; 22.45 percent used rarely; 21.36 percent used sometimes; 15.00 percent used often; and the remaining 14.18 used always
Based on χ² values shown in Table 3, no significant difference is found between the users
of government and aided colleges in the usage of reference books It is proved by the chi-square value, which is not significant at 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom However, there is a significant difference between the undergraduate and postgraduate students in this regard This means that postgraduate students used reference books more as compared to the undergraduate students
It is also evident from Table 3 that there is a significant difference between arts and science students in the level of usage of reference books as evidenced by the chi-square value, which is significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom This means that science students used reference books more as compared to arts students
6.4 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Reference Books
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage levels of reference books is shown in table 4
Table 4: Ranking of Colleges in terms of the usage levels of reference books
S.No Name of the College Total Weightage Mean
Trang 6As shown in table 4, the users of STJCW used reference books better compared to other degree college library users making the college get the first rank It is followed by the users of
Dr VSKGDC, AMALC, GDCN, AVNC, and VWGDC in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively
6.5 Competitive Books
The distribution of users according to the usage level of competitive books is shown in Table
5
Table 5: Distribution of Users as per the usage of level of competitive books
Level of
usage
Total
(21.02)
144 (24.65)
186 (20.85)
66 (31.73)
108 (23.33)
144 (22.60)
252 (22.91)
(19.32)
104 (18.18)
158 (17.71)
48 (23.08)
69 (14.90)
137 (21.51)
206 (18.73) Sometimes 69
(13.07)
89 (15.56)
125 (14.02)
33 (15.86)
45 (9.72)
113 (17.74)
158 (14.36)
(21.40)
98 (17.13)
189 (21.19 )
22 (10.58)
97 (20.95)
114 (17.90)
211 (19.18)
(25.19)
140 (24.48)
234 (26.23)
39 (18.75)
144 (31.10)
129 (20.25)
273 (24.82)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 5.6173 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 25.4145 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 32.3345 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
The Table 5 shows that 24.82% users never used competitive books; 22.91 percent used always; 19.18 percent used rarely; 18.73 percent used often; and the remaining 14.36 percent used sometimes
Based on χ² values shown in Table 5, there is no significant difference between the users
of government and aided colleges in the level of usage of competitive books It is proved by the chi-square value, which is not significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom However, there is a significant difference in this regard between the undergraduate and postgraduate students This means that postgraduate students used competitive books more as compared to the undergraduate students
It is also evident from Table 5 that there is a significant difference between arts and science students in the level of usage of competitive books as evidenced by the chi-square value, which is significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom This means that arts students used competitive books more as compared to science students
6.6 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Competitive Books
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage level of competitive books is shown in table 6
Table 6: Ranking of Colleges as per the usage level of competitive books
S.No Name of the College Total
Weightage
Mean
Trang 73 Dr VSKGDC 632 2.01 3
As shown in table 6, the users of GDCN made more use of competitive books compared
to other college library users with the first rank among colleges The library users of other colleges i.e AMALC, Dr VSKGDC, AVNC, STJCW and VWGDC are placed in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively
6.7 Periodicals/Magazines
The distribution of users according to the usage level of periodical/magazines is shown in Table 7
Table 7: Distribution of users as per the usage level of periodicals/magazines
Level of
usage
Total
(28.41)
155 (27.10)
228 (25.56)
77 (37.02)
126 (27.21)
179 (28.10)
305 (27.73)
(21.78)
105 (18.35)
169 (18.95)
51 (24.52)
88 (19.01)
132 (20.72)
220 (20.00) Sometimes 101
(19.13)
72 (12.59 )
139 (15.58)
34 (16.35)
66 (14.25)
107 (16.80)
173 (15.73)
(12.12)
56 (9.79)
101 (11.32)
19 (9.13)
41 (8.86)
79 (12.40)
120 (10.91)
(18.56)
184 (32.17)
255 (28.59)
27 (12.98)
142 (30.67)
140 (21.98)
282 (25.64)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 30.4468 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 27.4345 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 12.5649 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
Table 7 shows that 27.73% users used periodicals/magazines always; 25.64 percent used never; 20.00 percent used often; 15.73 percent used sometimes; and the remaining 10.91 percent used rarely
Based on χ² values shown in Table 7, there are significant differences are found between the users of government and aided colleges; undergraduate students and postgraduate students; and arts and science students in the level of usage of periodicals/magazines It is proved by the chi-square values, which are significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom This means that the government college users used periodicals/magazines better than the users of aided colleges, while postgraduate students used them more compared to the undergraduate students Also, science students used the periodicals/magazines better than arts students
Trang 86.8 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Periodicals/Magazines
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage levels of periodicals/magazines is shown in table 8
Table 8: Ranking of Colleges in terms of usage levels of Periodicals /Magazines
S.No Name of the College Total
Weightage Mean Weightage Rank
As shown in table 8, the users of VWGDC used the periodicals/magazines more than the other degree college library users making the college get the first rank It is followed by the library users of GDCN, Dr VSKGDC, STJCW, AVNC and AMALC in second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively
6.9 Dissertations/Project Reports
The distribution of users according to the usage levels of dissertations/project reports is
shown in Table 9
Table 9: Distribution of users as per the usage level of dissertations/project reports
Level of
usage
Total
(3.22)
3 (0.52)
14 (1.57)
6 (2.88)
13 (2.81)
7 (1.10)
20 (1.82)
(6.06)
29 (5.07)
35 (3.92)
26 (12.50)
29 (6.26)
32 (5.02)
61 (5.55) Sometimes 47
(8.90)
72 (12.59)
46 (5.16)
73 (35.10)
43 (9.29)
76 (11.93)
119 (10.82)
(9.66)
97 (16.76)
70 (7.85)
78 (37.50)
65 (13.17)
87 (13.66)
148 (13.45)
(72.16)
371 (64.86)
727 (81.50)
25 (12.02)
317 (68.47)
435 (68.29)
752 (68.36)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 27.9146 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 393.0713 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 6.8296 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
Table 9 shows that majority of the users (68.36%) never used dissertations/ project reports; 13.45 percent used rarely; 10.82 percent used sometimes; 5.55 percent used often; and the remaining 1.82 percent used always
Based on χ² values in Table 9, there are significant differences between the users of government and aided colleges; undergraduate and postgraduate students; and arts and science students in the level of usage of dissertations/project reports It is proved by the chi-square values, which are significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom This means that government college users used dissertations/project reports more than the users of aided
Trang 9colleges, while postgraduate students used dissertations/project reports more than the undergraduate students Also, arts students used the dissertations/project reports better than the science students
6.10 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Dissertations/Project Reports
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage level of dissertations/project reports is shown in Table 10
Table 10: Ranking of Colleges as per the usage level of Dissertations/Project Reports
S.No Name of the College Total Weightage Mean
As shown in table 10, the users of GDCN used the dissertations/project reports more as compared to other degree college library users and got the first rank It is followed by the library users of AMALC, STJCW, VWGDC, AVNC and Dr.VSKGDC in second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively
6.11 Old Question Papers
The distribution of users according to the usage level of old question papers is shown in Table
11
Table 11: Distribution of users as per the usage level of old question papers
Level of
usage
Total
(4.55)
23 (4.02)
38 (4.26)
09 (4.33)
12 (2.59)
35 (5.50) 47 (4.27)
(15.15)
77 (13.46)
118 (13.23)
39 (18.75)
52 (11.23)
105 (16.48)
157 (14.27) Sometimes 214
(40.53)
233 (40.74)
361 (40.47)
86 (41.35)
176 (38.02)
271 (42.54)
447 (40.64)
(17.80)
102 (17.83)
153 (17.15)
43 (20.67)
64 (13.82)
132 (20.72)
196 (17.82)
(21.97)
137 (23.95)
222 (24.89)
31 (14.90)
159 (34.34)
94 (14.76)
253 (23.00)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 1.1977 D: 4 TV: 9.488 NS @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 12.1195 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 63.6988 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
Table 11 shows that 40.64% users used old question papers sometimes; 23.00 percent used never; 17.82 percent used rarely; 14.27 percent used often; and the remaining 4.27 percent used always
Trang 10Based on χ² values shown in Table 11, there is no significant difference between the users
of government and aided colleges in the level of usage of old question papers It is proved by the chi-square values, which is not significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom However, there is a significant difference between the undergraduate and postgraduate students in this regard This means that postgraduate students used old question papers more
as compared to the undergraduate students
It is also evident from Table 11 that there is a significant difference between the arts and science students in the level of usage of old question papers as evidenced by the chi-square value, which is significant at the 0.05 level with four degrees of freedom This means that science students used old question papers more as compared to arts students
6.12 Ranking of Colleges Vs Usage Level of Old Question Papers
The ranking of colleges in terms of the usage levels of old question papers is shown in Table
12
Table 12: Ranking of Colleges in terms of the usage levels of Old Question Papers
S.No Name of the College Total Weightage Mean Weightage Rank
As shown in table 12, the users of Dr VSKGDC used the old question papers more as compared to other degree college library users and got the first rank It is followed by the library users of AMALC, STJCW, VWGDC, AVNC and GDCN in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively
6.13 News Papers
The distribution of users according to the usage levels of news papers is shown in Table 13
Table 13: Distribution of users with regard to the usage level of News Papers
Level of
usage
Total
(40.34 )
148 (25.88)
314 (35.20)
47 (22.59)
182 (39.31)
179 (28.10)
361 (32.82)
(32.77)
243 (42.48)
328 (36.77)
88 (42.31)
150 (32.40)
266 (41.76)
416 (37.82) Sometimes 75
(14.20)
89 (15.56)
125 (14.01)
39 (18.75)
55 (11.88)
109 (17.11)
164 (14.91)
(6.44)
42 (7.34)
55 (6.17)
21 (10.10)
26 (5.61)
50 (7.85)
76 (6.91)
(6.25)
50 (8.74)
70 (7.85)
13 (6.25)
50 (10.80)
33 (5.18)
83 (7.55)
(100.00)
572 (100.00)
892 (100.00)
208 (100.00)
463 (100.00)
637 (100.00)
1100 (100.00) χ² (Govt.- Aided) : 27.2853 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (UG – PG) : 16.4134 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level
χ² (Arts – Science) : 34.5534 D: 4 TV: 9.488 Sig @ 0.05 Level