Marketing of Library Services and Products through Social Media: An Evaluation

Social media has a great impact on information promotional activities by bringing tremendous changes in the field of marketing. Social networking applications help the users to possess interconnections among the community members and remix the library services and products to brand them visible in a broader way. This paper gives an overview of the concept of marketing of library services and products in the pretext of handiness of social networking technologies (SNT). The paper also discusses various social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Youtube, Flickr etc. An outline of how the social media may successfully be applied to enhance the effectiveness in marketing library services and products is observed. Relative merits and challenges with adoption of SNS are also examined

Open Source Software for Integrated Library System : Relative Appropriatness in the Indian Context

Libraries in all fields of human activity are involved in collection, preservation, management, and effective distribution of information that determines the quality of development in concerned sectors including that of higher education and research. Now information is flooding and along with that the recorded information to be managed; which necessitates automation of libraries to make the information stored in their collections useful and retrievable. Hitherto the cost of commercial packages for automation has prevented millions of libraries from using those tools. The recent emergence of Open Source Software has drastically reduced the cost of automation as well provided tools for new and innovative information services. The present research work focuses on comparative study of library automation packages with stress to appropriateness of Open Source Integrated Library Systems (OSILS) for countries like India. Study is based on a survey among library professionals from India using commercial and OSILS packages. The sample users belong to 601 libraries covering university, college, school, special and research libraries using any one of the integrated library systems. Packages covered is limited to the software /versions used in India. The survey found that features users of library automation packages consider are cost effectiveness, technical infrastructure, staff skills, software functionality and the availability of support, documentation and community. Study revealed that OSILS provides technological freedom and so is changing the landscape of library automation. Survey found Koha to be most popular in India. Suggests solutions to improve the situation. Few recommendations are provided to help libraries to choose suitable OSILS by understanding their advantages. Opines that being an attractive alternative to costly commercial package for any type of libraries OSILS, which is free to experiment and easy to use and customize for local requirements needs to be promoted in Indian libraries

Transition from Closed to Open: Case of Integrated Library Automation Software in India

Prior to Open Source Integrated Library Systems (OSILSs) availability, libraries found two alternatives to automate their housekeeping operations - either develop an exclusive in-house software system or purchase a commercial one. Commercial packages differ with each other on pricing and license agreements and function modules. Now, many libraries are shifting from such traditional proprietary automation systems where the cost of software is assumed to be a major concern, to free/open source system considering the flexibility and adaptability in using and customizing it to fit their local needs. The study evaluates the rate of adoption of OSILS in Indian libraries to understand the trend in comparison with proprietary systems available. Also examines attitude and perceptions of Indian library community towards adopting OSILS. The challenges confronted by the library community in adopting OSILS and the reasons for migrating to it are also examined. The study found Koha to be a favored OSILS option to which many Indian libraries are migrating. The study also found that acceptance of OSILS in higher education libraries in India is much higher than that of school and public library system where proprietary systems still dominate

Designing a Comprehensive Information System for Safeguarding the Cultural Heritage: Need for Adopting Architectural Models and Quality Standards

The cultural heritage of any region is an integral part of the life of the people there irrespective of their community, caste, religion, and the social and economic status. As man continues his journey forward from the position at which his forefathers left him conservation of heritage assets, especially knowledge embedded in them, is essential for future generations and sustainable development. The study discusses the need for developing and managing a comprehensive information system that can preserve, conserve and retrieve the knowledge related to heritage assets in a single platform. The requirement of adopting internationally accepted guidelines, policies, methods, and standards and practices for managing heritage information is important and it has economic, legal, and technological concerns. The paper emphasizes necessity of adopting suitable architectural models and quality standards to design information systems to safeguard cultural heritage assets

Role of Libraries in Enhancing the Research Visibility and Collaboration of Academics

Promoting collaboration among the academics can improve the quality and visibility of research at global level. This paper discusses publication strategies that can help to achieve maximum research visibility and enhance the chances of collaboration among the academic and research community. Also presents how research and publication marketing tools such as Researcher Identifiers and Profiles, Academic Social Networking Sites, Online Reference Management Tools, Blogging and Online Magazines, Personal or Institutional Websites and Open Repository System can support in disseminating the scholarly publications for its optimal visibility. Stresses the role of librarians in guiding the academic and research community to use publication marketing tools, which can improve the visibility of their research and help them to create collaborative network

Distinguish Yourself from Someone: Role of Researcher Profiles in the Academic Environment

This paper discusses the different types of researcher profile platforms used by the academic community, their advantages, and limitations. Awareness, usage, and application of researcher profiles for various utilities with reference to the faculties of the Central University of Kerala have also been examined in this paper. The study found that the majority of the faculty members have created at least one or other researcher profile; however, faculties from the Science discipline were found to be more familiar with the researcher profile system, whereas Humanities, Arts, and Social Science disciplines are not explored the facility efficaciously. The study suggests that irrespective of the discipline in which the faculty belongs, libraries have to play a vital role in educating the academic community on the importance of having a researcher profile to maximize their online reach

Electronic Resources of Libraries of First-Generation Indian Institute of Management (IIM): An Evaluative Analysis

As an essential component and one of the quality assessment measures, the availability of electronic resources is gaining significance in libraries, hence increasingly becoming part of the acquisition and collection-building activities. Libraries and information centres play a pivotal role in selecting, acquiring and providing effective access to electronic resources to its users under various categories to meet their academic and scholarly requirements. This paper analyses the availability and distribution of electronic resources among the selected libraries of the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) in India. Researchers have chosen six IIMs identified as first-generation libraries for analysing the holding of e-resources as part of its library services. The study compares various dimensions of electronic resources such as availability of different types of resources, its source of availability, mode of access and the customized services through specialized tools and collaborative networks. Researchers observed from the analysis that all the first-generation IIM libraries are part of IIM library consortia and are the major source of electronic resources rather than individual subscriptions and the majority of the libraries are providing customized services through specialized access tools. The findings and suggestions incorporated in this study may be useful for the library professionals and the administrators associated with the IIM libraries to further improve the management of their electronic resources

Conceptions of Indian LibSys Software Users on Open Source Integrated Library Management System

There are many Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) available for library automation in the market and are being instrumental in managing information and knowledge all over the world. Cost effectiveness and the availability of source code are the major rationalities for LIS professionals to adopt FOSS over the proprietary packages. Open Source Integrated Library Management System (OSILMS) is gaining widespread adoption in Indian libraries for the last two decades. The present study intends to evaluate the perceptions of Indian LibSys software users on the adoption of OSILMS and focuses to survey the level of agreement of LibSys software users on some selected statements related to the features and characteristics of OSILMS. Study also compares the impact, functional features and financial aspects of OSILMS with its commercial counterparts practised in Indian libraries. Online questionnaire method was used to collect the responses from the libraries in India using LibSys as their automation software. The study found that majority of the respondents positively agreed with most of the projected statements on the adeptness and rewards of OSILMS and a higher percentage of them expressed willingness to migrate to OSILMS

Knowledge Management and Electronic Theses and Dissertations in Libraries:Perils and Solutions in Indian Perspective

ICT is a great facilitator for Knowledge Management. ICT enables creation of digital repositories for sharing knowledge transcending many limitations. Digital Repository (DR) is one of the components of KM in Libraries. DR of in-house research is becoming a priority item in universities and research institutions. The paper highlights the major challenges in creating a DR of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) for university/research institution. Discusses the constraints on ETD initiatives and possible solutions. Suggests that LIS professionals should up problem-solving steps based on research in the area of KM in Libraries

Publication Trend in Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) : A Scientometric Approach

Scientometrics is an effective method to quantitatively analyse the productivity and progress of all forms of written communication. This study aims to examine the scientific research productivity on Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) during 1998-2019. Required data was collected from Scopus database. The year wise distribution of articles, relative growth rate, doubling time, collaboration coefficient, country and affiliation wise distribution, citation patterns etc., were analysed. Findings revealed that the highest numbers of articles were published in the year 2019 and lowest in 1998. In 2013, there was no single article. The highest contribution was countrywise Nigeria and institution wise University of Ibadan. Study also revealed the average citation per paper was 1.51. The paper 'Using Google Analytics for improving library website content and design: A case study' by Fang W. received a citation of 67 and ranked as the highly cited paper