EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WEBSITES OF WEST BENGAL:

A STUDY FROM LIBRARIANS’ PERSPECTIVE

Scholar

SHARMILA BOSEGuide

PROF. NARENDRA LAHKAR

(Original: Evaluation of the University Websites of West Bengal with special reference to Library Web Page)

[ A Statement of Work Done Submitted for Ph. D Final Registration ]

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

GAUHATI UNIVERSITY, GUWAHATI-780114

OBJECTIVES

To examine the university library websites of West Bengal.

To gather information based on the structure and contents available in the University library websites;

To design a scale for evaluating content significance in the university library Websites;

To compare the library websites of the universities under study with the established evaluation criteria

RESEARCH PROBLEMS

•How to increase the content quality of the library

websites?

•How to make the library web page easily searchable?

•How to make the library home pages interactive?

•How to identify the various purposes for which the library

Web pages have been retrieved?

•To find out the level of web based library service

reflected in the under study library websites.

HYPOTHESES•The University library websites in West Bengal are

homogenous in structure and contents.

•Library websites are linked to the homepage.

•Library websites are not interactive.

Information provided in the library website is not

sufficient

METHODOLOGYSelf evaluative method has been adopted for the collection of primary

data, which includes the following:

•To observe and study the university library websites.

•Designing an evaluation criteria (Checklist)

•Evaluation of websites on the basis of the designed evaluation

criteria.

•Comparative study among the websites under study.

•Analysis and interpretation of data.

•To select one ideal library website (like website of OCLC, Website

of LC, etc.) for comparison.

UNIVERSITIES UNDER STUDY

ORGANIZATIONYEAR OF

ESTDUNIVERSITY URL

1 University of Calcutta (CU) 1857 http://www.caluniv.ac.in

2 Viswa Bharati University (VBU) 1921 http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in

3 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IITK) 1950 http:// iitkgp.ac.in

4 Jadavpur University (JU) 1955 http://www.jaduniv.edu.in

5 National Institute of Technology, Durgapur (NITD) 1960 http://www.nitdgp.ac.in

6 University of Burdwan (BU) 1960 http://buruniv.ac.in

7 University of Kalyani (KU) 1960 http://www.klyuniv.ac.in

8 Rabindra Bharati University 1962 http://www.rbu.ac.in

9 University of North Bengal (NBU) 1962 http://www.nbu.ac.in

10 Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya (BCKV) 1974 http://www.bckv.edu.in

11 Vidyasagar University (VU) 1981 http://vidyasagar.ac.in

12 Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) 1992 http://www.becs.ac.in

13 West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS) 1995 http://wbuafscl.ac.in

14 West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) 1999 http://www.nujs.edu

15 West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) 2001 http://www.wbut.ac.in

Arranged according to the year of establishment

LOCATION OF LIBRARY LINKUniv Library URL Navigation

(Homepage/ Popup)

CU http://www.caluniv.ac.in/libraries/library.html Homepage

VBU http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in/Library/Library.htm Popup

IITK http://www.library.iitkgp.ernet.in Homepage

JU http://www.jaduniv.edu.in/library.php Homepage

NITD http://www.nitdgp.ac.in/library/ Popup

BU http://buruniv.ac.in/ Popup

KU http://www.klyuniv.ac.in/library.html Popup

RBU http://www.rbu.ac.in/facilities.php?id=1 Popup

NBU http://www.nbu.ac.in Homepage

BCKV http://www.bckv.edu.in/bckv.php?page=1679091c5a880faf6fb5e6087eb1b2dc6

Homepage

VU http://vidyasagar.ac.in/Library/default.htm Popup

BESU http://www.becs.ac.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=165

Popup

WBUT http://www.wbut.ac.in/page.php?id=232# Popup

WBUAFS http://wbuafscl.ac.in/library/index.html Homepage

WBNUJS http://www.wix.com/nujskol/nujs-library Homepage

LOCATION OF LIBRARY LINK

The above table/figure reveals that 7 (47%) Universities has ‘Library Option in the homepage itself whereas 8 (53%) Universities have provided the Library link under the respective popup. Moreover, only IIT Kharagpur has the separate library website which opens in the new separate window/tab.

Location No of University

Homepage 7Pop-up 8

APPEARANCE OF THE WEBSITESAttractive Structured Dynamic

Hit Counter

Copyright

Yes 9 13 11 3 10NO 6 2 4 12 5

The table/figure reveals that 9 out of the 15 (60%) University websites are attractive and soothing to eyes. These don’t have any distracting element in the site. 13 (87%) universities have structured websites. 4 (27%) of the University website are found static while rest is all dynamic site. Only 3 (20%) of the University sites have ‘hit counter’ means which could mention the record of the no of users visiting the site. Except 5 (33%) all the universities has copyright date.

AVAILABILITY IN THE LIBRARY PAGEImages of Lib Multiple Web

PageContact Address

Staff Directory

YES 7 9 9 9NO 8 6 6 6

The above figure/table explains that out of 15 university library websites 7 (47%) has the images of their library in the site. Similarly 9 (60%) library sites has provided information in multiple pages whereas rest 6 (40%) sites are confined their information in a single page. 9 (60%) out of total library sites have provided their contact address for communication. Again 9 (60%) out of 15 have the staff directory of the library members in their respective sites.

RESOURCES FOUND IN THE LIBRARY SITETotal Collection Online

JournalsSubscribed e-

journalsE-Books

YES 13 9 9 6

NO 2 6 6 9

The table shows that 13 (87%) of the library sites reflect the total collection of the resources of the library. The table also explains that Only 9 (60%) out of 15 sites Subscribe e-journals and provided the facility of accessing it. Only 6 (40%) of the library sites have facilitate the availability of E-books on the page.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE LIBRARY SITENotice CAS New

ArrivalsInfo on various sections

Feedback

YES 1 3 2 1 2

NO 14 12 13 14 13

It is found in that only 1 (7%) university among 15 has the ‘notice’ column in the library page itself. Only 3 (20%) of the universities provide ‘Current Awareness Service (CAS)’. 2 (13%) of the universities among above all have the ‘new arrival’ column in its library page. Only 1 (7%) university provides information on the various sections of the library. Just 2 (13%) of the total university are interested to know the feedback from the users. Rest of the universities does not provide any of the above mentioned services.

LINKS IN THE LIBRARY SITEWeb Opac

Up to date & Working

Easy Navigation

Broken Hyperlink

Useful links

YES 11 12 10 1 2

NO 4 3 4 14 13

Here it reveals that library site of the 11 (73%) universities facilitate with web Opac service. 12 (80%) of the 15 sites are up to date and working. 10 (67%) sites are found easy while navigate. Only 1 (7%) university library site (WBUAFS) has one broken link. Only 2 (13%) of the total university library sites are providing various useful links like INFLIBNET, UGC, etc.

PLANNING OF CHAPTERISATIONThe study will be divided in six chapters including introduction and

conclusion, followed by bibliographical references and appendices

at the end.

•Introduction

•Review of Literature

•Universities and university websites of West Bengal

•Library Websites of the universities

•Evaluation of the websites based on existing criteria and

survey mode

•Conclusion

CONCLUSION

As the pilot study is over, now on the basis of the idea and

information gained from the study, the observation and study for

final output will be carried on. Though it is revealed that the rate

of availability of information is quite less in pilot study but more

extensive study will be made with the help of a new set of broad

evaluation checklist in my final preparation to get more and more

information on the websites under study. Then only a clear image

of the usefulness of the University library websites of West Bengal

could be obtained. More extensive related literature search will

also be carried out to get a clear idea about the work done in the

same field

EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WEBSITES OF WEST BENGAL:

A STUDY FROM LIBRARIANS’ PERSPECTIVE

(Original: Evaluation of the University Websites of West Bengal with special reference to Library Web Page)

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