Librarians' opinions about library software: a survey of libraries in Lahore.

Purpose-The paper seeks to reveal the current status of software used in the libraries of Lahore, to explore the satisfaction level of the software users, and to find out their problems and suggestions.Design/methodology/approach-The paper reports a survey of automated libraries of Lahore comprising...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Electronic Library Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 766 - 778
Autores principales: Shafique F, Mahmood K
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Emerald Publishing Limited 2007
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=105986895&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 105986895
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        02640473
        2OJ
      jtl: Electronic Library
      issn: 02640473
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: 2007
      vid: 25
      iid: 6
      pid: 465
      pub: Emerald Publishing Limited
    artinfo:
      ui:
        105986895
        105986895
        2009773199
        10.1108/02640470710837182
        105986895
      ppf: 766
      ppct: 12
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Librarians' opinions about library software: a survey of libraries in Lahore.
      aug:
        au:
          Shafique F
          Mahmood K
        affil: Director, Al-A'khdar Educational Movement, Lahore, Pakistan; alakhdarem2001@yahoo.com
      sug:
        subj:
          Attitude to Computers Evaluation
          Librarians Pakistan
          Software Evaluation
          Analysis of Variance
          Library Automation
          Pakistan
          Questionnaires
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Human
      ab: Purpose-The paper seeks to reveal the current status of software used in the libraries of Lahore, to explore the satisfaction level of the software users, and to find out their problems and suggestions.Design/methodology/approach-The paper reports a survey of automated libraries of Lahore comprising academic (university, college, and school libraries), public and special libraries. Opinions were acquired from the whole population. The data collected were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, and conclusions were drawn along with recommendations.Findings-Most libraries purchased or developed software without any exchange of experience with each other. A variety of software was being used by the libraries of Lahore. No standard tool or directory was available for the selection and evaluation of software, nor was comprehensive literature written and published in a Pakistani scenario discussing the technical and practical aspects of library software. The Pakistani literature available on the topic is not up to date.Research limitations/implications-The research is limited to the automated libraries of Lahore and focuses on the comparison of software and determining librarians' opinions.Practical implications-The comparative analysis of software used in various libraries of Lahore made in this study and the opinions of the software users studied will be helpful for foreign and local vendors of library software. It will also provide guidelines for libraries in developing countries, which are planning to automate their services, in selecting and maintaining software that is most suitable to their needs.Originality/value-No comprehensive survey has been conducted at national or local level to reveal the current status of the software and related problems faced by Pakistani libraries. The current study, although focussing only on libraries in the city of Lahore, can be extrapolated to the country as a whole and should prove useful as an indication of how issues with library software can arise and be handled.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N