Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
Winter 11-25-2020
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the benefits of open access resources for academic libraries with a special reference to an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has also highlighted the role of libraries and librarians in the provision of services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same way, the second purpose was to highlight the efforts of HEC and high ranked university libraries during a pandemic to cater to the needs of their users. The authors used two methods for completing this study, literature review and website analysis. The first two objectives were studied based on the literature review. The second method was the website’s analysis of major academic libraries of Pakistan to identify the steps taken during the pandemic to facilitate the users. The results of the study show that academic libraries used open access resources to support the research activities of their parent institute. The major purpose of using open access includes the fiscal constraints, time involved in getting the fee-based copies of journals and articles, budget cuts by parent institutes, and less involvement of authorities towards libraries. The website’s analysis shows that academic institutes were highlighting the open-access resources on their websites to fulfill users’ and researchers’ information needs with the resources they can access in homes or in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study helps to view the status of digital services offered by highly ranked university libraries in Pakistan in pandemic when physical services are closed. It also helps library administrations to use open access resources for the provision of services in emergencies when campus-based resources cannot be shared. The study was limited to the benefits of open access resources for academic libraries and in terms, university selection as only the top 5 university libraries were selected for review.