The acquired and required competencies of Pakistani university librarians: Determining the job satisfaction, organizational commitment and training needs / Asad Khan

Modern innovations have enhanced the significance of competent, satisfied and committed workforce. However, these innovations have caused numerous potential challenges for university librarians. University librarians are expected to be highly competent, satisfied and committed employees to serve users in their information needs. However, previous researchers indicated that acquired skills of Pakistani university librarians are not matching with modern professional demands. This has given birth to numerous questions, such as ineffective performance, poor attitude of university librarians towards the attainment of required skills, negligence of professional values, compatibility between LIS curriculum and job market, perplexing levels of satisfaction and commitment of librarians, limited training opportunities due to undefined areas of required skills etc. Modern librarianship demands university librarians to achieve high level of skills under different areas such as emotional intelligence, cognitive abilities, leadership, communication, collection management and technology management. Thus, in the perspective of Pakistani university librarians, the current exploratory study examines; 1) association of acquired competencies with job satisfaction and organizational commitment; 2) difference between the acquired and required competencies that further prompted to training needs assessment. The present research study employed cross-sectional survey methodology involving 225 samples, randomly selected from the population of 540 Pakistani university librarians. The survey response rate was calculated as 82%. The UniLIBCQ, as structured questionnaire was utilized to collect data on acquired and required competencies, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of Pakistani university librarians. The psychometric properties of UniLIBCQ were established through Cronbach alpha and exploratory factor analysis

Information Seeking Behavior of postgraduate students in the University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Purpose: This study investigated the information-seeking behavior (ISB) of the research students in terms of information needs, sources, resources, barriers to information seeking, significance of the libraries towards the quality of research and factors motivating the use of libraries at the University of Peshawar. Design/Methodology/approach: This study used a quantitative approach, adopting a survey questionnaire method for data collection. The population of this study was composed of the Master, M.Phil. and PhD research students in the faculties of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Management Information Sciences at the University of Peshawar. The sample size was 300 research students selected conveniently. The study response rate was 85% and data were analyzed through SPSS (20 version). Key findings: The findings revealed that research students sought information to satisfy their information needs related to the identification and selection of the research problem, access to the current information, writing of the research proposal, article and theses. To fulfill their information needs, these researches indicated the use of different sources and resources. Regarding the sources, most of the research students preferred the research-related workshops and taking help from other researchers to fulfill their information needs. Furthermore, research students used the internet and online research databases to satisfy information needs. They also utilized research and information services provided by their libraries to retrieve the needed information. While seeking the needed information, research students have reported different barriers designating poor internet connectivity, ICT facilities and unavailability of study rooms in libraries as the major barriers. Reliable information sources and e-databases were the significant motivating factors for using/visiting library. Limitations of the study: This study has two major limitations; 1) as the sample was conveniently recruited, thus there is a possibility of sample bias and; 2) likewise this study was undertaken at the University of Peshawar, thus generalization of findings is limited to the study context. Practical implication(s): the findings might motivate librarians towards the restructuring of information literacy programs to enhance the current ISB of the research students. It may inform the authorities about the barriers faced by the research students in information seeking and thus stimulate them towards the up-gradation of Internet and ICT facilities in the university. Contribution to the knowledge: This study addressed the gap in the literature on ISB in the context University of Peshawar. It revealed factors that impede and/or augment researchers’ use of libraries. The insights may include the formulation of a stable information literacy program at the University of Peshawar to support research-based learning

Phenological Traits of Rice as Influenced by Seedling Age and Number of Seedling Per Hill under Temperate Region

The research study “phonological traits of rice crop as influenced by seedling age and number of seedling per hill in temperate zone” was conducted at Agricultural Research Institute (N) Mingora, Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, during summer 2014. Rice was transplanted at three different seedling ages 20, 25 and 30 days after sowing and with various number (1, 2 and 3) of seedlings hill-1. The experiment was conducted using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having four replications. Seedlings age were kept in main plot while number of seedlings hill-1 in sub plot. NPK was applied at the rate of 120:60:40 kg ha-1 respectively. Data was recorded on flag leaf area plant-1 (cm2), number of tillers hill-1, plant height (cm), panicle length (cm), number of primary branches panicle-1 and number of secondary branches panicle-1, All the parameters were significantly affected by seedlings age and number of seedlings hill-1. Maximum flag leaf area plant-1 (22.26 cm2) was observed at seedling age 25 days after sowing, more number of tillers hill-1 (17), higher plant height (100.16 cm), higher panicle length (29 cm), more number of primary and secondary branches panicle-1 (12, 37), Maximum flag leaf area plant-1 (22.47 cm2), more number of tillers hill-1 (18), higher plant height (100.27), higher panicle length (29 cm), more number of primary and secondary branches panicle-1 (12, 38). It was concluded on the basis of above results that phonology of rice crop influenced by seedling age and number of seedling hill-1under temperate region

Education and ethnic communities in Bangladesh; Why are so many of Bangladesh’s indigenous community students dropping out of education at an early stage? How can the diaconal concept of empowerment be used to mitigate this?

This study examines the phenomenon of student dropout from primary education in ethnic communities' areas in Bangladesh. School dropout is very common in different parts of the country; it is also prevalent in ethnic community areas in the country's territory. Therefore these issues of dropping out of schools need to be tackled, as dropping out of high school is a severe problem for the student's future. Dropout is an issue that affects individuals and has its overall effect on the community. Dropout students are defined as those who have entered into educational institutions but did not complete the study programme. In recent years, Bangladesh has an incredible primary enrolment rate, but the dropout rate at primary level education among ethnic community students is alarming and more acute. This study investigates the dropout reasons of ethnic students in the selected area and looks for potential solutions to this issue. Qualitative research was conducted where data were collected through interviews, and later on, data were analyzed following the thematic method. A semi structured interview was conducted with teachers to gather qualitative data concerning the dropout situation to find attributions for dropout behaviour and discover other possible factors that may play a role that had not previously been considered. The study revealed poverty, socio-economic status of families, religious and cultural complexity, the distance of schools, siblings' influences, and lack of awareness among parents as considered the most influential factors which are functioning dropout situation. This study also shed some light on the way outs of problems from a diakonal perspective