Selective and Effective Strategic Collection Development Approach in Universities Libraries

Purpose: University libraries playing pivotal role in developing and delivering education among university community by providing authentic information resources in terms of books, magazines, academic research journals etc. Collection development policies adopted to select and purchase the library print and electronic resources which worked as a guide for decision making. The purpose of this study is to propose the collection development policy which will help the acquisition librarians in selecting, evaluating and purchasing the materials for academic/universities libraries. Methodology: The trends of collection development practices were identified through the intensive literature review. Then, the university libraries of Lahore were personally visited to understand their collection development policies and practices. Moreover, the acquisition librarians from outside of Lahore were contacted via phone call to understand and discuss the collection development process in their libraries. Findings: The study findings revealed that there is no systematic written policy for assessment, selection, evaluation and deselection of library material at the universities libraries of Pakistan. Even, the acquisition process of books in universities libraries vary from university to university and even province to province. However, the proposed collection development policy revealed that the automatic receiving of books and other library materials via gifts, donations, exchanging library materials, resource sharing, and subscribing memberships of other organizations will be helpful to enhance the library collection and also reduce the cost to purchase the library materials. The proposed steps for collection development will act as a segment of complete collection development policy and may work as a guide line of collection development procedure to the universities libraries. Originality/Value: The study is first attempt to draw holistic approach of collection development at national level and it will also provide guideline to select user centered resources and also beneficial in terms of saving finances by practicing the proposed steps for developing academic libraries collection

Proposed Integrated System for Library Services and Online Education: A Pakistani Perspective

Purpose: Education is the basic need of each community member and educational institutions play a vital role in the development of any community and country as a whole. Also, libraries plays significant role in educating people or fulfilling educational needs of the society members. COVID-19 pandemic affects all sectors of life including educational institutes. However, libraries play dramatic role in the delivery of electronic services like e-thesis, e-books, e-research articles and virtual reference. The proposed study will provide a step-by-step guideline to individual researchers, research organizations, educational assessments organizations, government departments and policy development departments to plan and execute such innovative projects for the betterment of the educational system in the country. Similarly, libraries will get benefit to engage officially in providing e-services to community members. Through this proposed proposal the researchers may be able to identify the current status of educational institutions and their libraries in Pakistan in terms of educational institutions\u27 and their libraries strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the delivery of online educational programs and e-services of libraries during COVID-19 pandemic or in such other accidental situations. Research Methodology: The proposed study will be conducted through Explanatory Sequential Mixed Method Research to meet study objectives. Practical Implications: The proposed study will help in identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to online educational programs and e-services of libraries. Also, propose suggestions to educational institutions and libraries on the basis of identified strengths and opportunities for their better utilization. Similarly, it will identify the issues like weaknesses and threats to online educational programs and libraries in universities and will propose strategies for covering such deficiencies for the smooth delivery of online education and library online services while utilizing the existing resources. Also, benchmarking other developed organizations and may introduce resource sharing modules among the different organizations to overcome less developed organizations\u27 deficiencies while utilizing developed organizations existing resources