Open Access Moment in Pakistan

Manuscripts are known as the intellectual and cultural heritage of a nation. Pakistan is enriched with this treasure left by Muslims antecedents of the IndoPak Subcontinent. A number of institutional and personal libraries hold a good number of manuscripts; especially on Islamic subjects and Quran collections. It is important to highlight the hidden and neglected state of these manuscripts for further research. This paper seeks to reveal the previous and current status of the manuscripts in Pakistan. A broad picture of manuscripts in Pakistan will be presented through factual data (i.e., total number, languages, institutional/personal holdings, locations, age, writing styles and materials). Governmental and professional efforts, awareness programs, state of digitization and access issues will be highlighted. Recommendations are given for considerations

Open Access Moment in Pakistan

Manuscripts are known as the intellectual and cultural heritage of a nation. Pakistan is enriched with this treasure left by Muslims antecedents of the IndoPak Subcontinent. A number of institutional and personal libraries hold a good number of manuscripts; especially on Islamic subjects and Quran collections. It is important to highlight the hidden and neglected state of these manuscripts for further research. This paper seeks to reveal the previous and current status of the manuscripts in Pakistan. A broad picture of manuscripts in Pakistan will be presented through factual data (i.e., total number, languages, institutional/personal holdings, locations, age, writing styles and materials). Governmental and professional efforts, awareness programs, state of digitization and access issues will be highlighted. Recommendations are given for considerations

An Investigation of Conservation & Preservation Practices of Intellectual Heritage in Pakistan

This study is aimed to investigate the conservation, restoration and preservation state of manuscripts in Pakistan. The study was conducted on 13 selective institutions of Pakistan, holding MS collections. Through interviews and documentary research the conservation and preservation situations were inquired

Why collaborate? Factors Influencing in Crowdsourcing Ecosystems

Many organisations embrace crowdsourcing to enhance innovation, problem-solving and value creation. While crowdsourcing in the past has been limited to just one organisation, crowdsourcing can be enhanced through collaborative practices that include sharing resources and value exchange in a 'crowdsourcing ecosystem'. However, the factors that influence the emergence of a crowdsourcing ecosystem are not yet well understood. To better understand these factors, our paper focuses on the emergence phase of crowdsourcing ecosystems. We conducted a case study of not-for-profit sector collaborative crowdsourcing projects to identify the internal and external influencing factors. We identify four major categories – preparedness, challenges, scope, and risks, along with 23 sub-categories. We believe our findings might be helpful for scholars and practitioners regarding the effective design of collaborative initiatives for crowdsourcing

Screen-Reading Habits and Use of e-Resources of Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences’ students: A study of Postgraduate Students

The purpose of the study is to investigate reading preferences, habits, and attitudes of postgraduate students in the digital age. The survey method was employed to collect the data from a convenience sample of 500 graduate students from five departments of Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of the Punjab, Lahore-Pakistan. The results indicate a student’s preference to the e-reading although with various hurdles e.g. awareness of access to resources, trainings, remote access to resources, limited time of computer lab’s availability and electricity failure. Understanding student’s screen reading habits would enable the educationist, policy makers, technologist, and libraries to responds the needs and hazards to effective use of electronic resources

Should ChatGPT be Banned at Schools? Organizing Visions for Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education

Several sectors, including education, have experienced rapid growth in the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI). The emergence of generative AI (GAI) models, such as GPT-4, hold the potential to transform teaching and learning. However, GAI in education presents unique challenges and risks, such as potential violation of academic integrity, negative effects on critical thinking skills, and propagation of biases and inaccuracies. This study examines organizing vision functions in the digital world to explore the opportunities and threats posed by GAI, specifically ChatGPT, in education. By identifying the main actors contributing to the early development of organizing visions of ChatGPT in education, we aim to provide valuable insights into the shared visions concerning ChatGPT in education. Understanding these implications will be crucial for educational stakeholders and society at large as they navigate the complex challenges associated with GAI in education

Governing Actor Networks in an Emerging Crowdsourcing Ecosystem

Organisations harness the wisdom of community to solve problems or create new knowledge. Multiple organisations, diverse communities and multiple platforms are forming ecosystems to co-create value. We observe that Libraries, Archives, Galleries and Museums are forming collaborative crowdsourcing ecosystems to curate knowledge and create knowledge that ecosystem-wide stakeholders can use. However, despite the collaborative nature of crowdsourcing, various tensions arise among actors that hinder effective outcomes. Through a qualitative case study, we identify crowdsourcing actor networks and explore their tensions that hinder effective outcomes. We propose a strategic governance approach to foster crowdsourcing-based collaboration in a complex and dynamic ecosystem to create and capture value. This study presents a shift in the traditional schema of structured hierarchical governance of crowdsourcing projects to unstructured non-hierarchical governance of a multi-actor crowdsourcing ecosystem. The value propositions of crowdsourcing ecosystem actors networks are value co-creation, resource sharing, collective ownership, and mutual dependency

An Investigation of Conservation & Preservation Practices of Intellectual Heritage in Pakistan

This study is aimed to investigate the conservation, restoration and preservation state of manuscripts in Pakistan. The study was conducted on 13 selective institutions of Pakistan, holding MS collections. Through interviews and documentary research the conservation and preservation situations were inquired

Job Descriptions of Government Librarians in Pakistan

Libraries all over the world are facing diversified service challenges posed by a mix of traditional information seekers and Google generation’s call of technology features. These multi-facet demands and kinds of users’ community have increased the list of responsibilities and skills required by the librarians. Selection of right person for the right job is the greatest challenge for library administration. This includes two main elements; nature of job descriptions defined or advertised by the administration and the availability of required human resources in the market. Only the right mix of these two essentials can ensure the selection of appropriate personnel for the delivery of high quality services to the diversified user community. Specific job description is not well practiced in Pakistan especially in the government sector, which mostly results in the hiring of inappropriate personnel in the government libraries. No such study has been conducted to-date to find out the status of librarians’ job descriptions advertised by the government hiring agencies. Keeping this need in view, this study aims at reviewing the current library job descriptions in government sector; their strengths and weaknesses; characterized skills and qualifications needed by specific type of libraries in IT era. An analysis of 212 job ads published in selected newspapers and list-serves over a period of three years (2007 to 2010) was conducted to understand the current market trends. Personal interviews were also conducted for better understanding of the phenomena under study. Findings of the study can be directly useful for the government employers and library employees in Pakistan, students for career selection, LIS educationists for curriculum revision and researchers for further research. The study will also assist the government officials in inducting the right persons for challenging jobs in the libraries

OPEN ACCESS MOVEMENT IN PAKISTAN

Open Access iS a vital trend for developing countries like Pakistan. OpenAccess (OA) has made its place in 1r formation world like a blessing for scholarly community to learn, search, write and share freely and timely. In this paper an effort has been made to explore the Open Access efforts in Pakistan on existing OA sources and to make recommendations for further developments in this regard. Open Access movements have been started in Pakistan on personal or institutional levels. There is no single source in Pakistan which shed light on the mailability of open access sources, which results ignorance of their presence. If Government plays its due role, then OA in Pakistan would be able to bridge digital divid