Utilization of e-resources by faculty members of Agricultural Universities: An analysis

Authors

Kulveen Kaur Dr, Punjabi University
Kiran Kathuria Dr, Punjabi UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Comments

Dear Editor,

Greetings!

I wish to take this as an opportunity to submit a paper “Utilization of e-resources by faculty members of Agricultural Universities: An analysis” for publication in an esteemed journal “Library Philosophy and Practice". The study focuses on agricultural libraries getting digital. The paper is an insight to find the use of e-resources by the faculty members of three oldest agricultural universities of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. More specifically, study focus on the frequency of use of e-resources, purpose of use and their preference with different e-resources. Besides paper also see the pattern of use of CAB Abstract, CeRA and Kishiprabha by the faculty members.

The manuscript is my own work and has not been submitted to any other journal for review.

Thanks and Regards

Dr. Kulveen Kaur

Assistant Librarian

Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha Library

Punjabi University

Abstract

Libraries have evolved manifold times with technology playing a great part in making learning more accessible. With growing accessibility of the Internet, huge impetus is on the global access of information resources. This paper discusses the utilization of e-resources by the faculty members. A survey of 134 faculty members of three oldest agricultural universities of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh was conducted. It was discovered that faculty members of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (HPAU), use e-books, e-journals, and e-databases ‘weekly’ whereas faculty members of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) ‘rarely’ use e-books and e-databases. The frequency of using e-resources ‘daily’ is quite low by the faculty members of all the three agricultural universities. Nearly 14 percent faculty members of HPAU are ‘unaware’ of the CAB Abstract and half of the faculty members of HAU ‘rarely use it. Almost 14 percent faculty members of PAU & HPAU and 20 percent HAU faculty members are though aware of the resource but do not use Krishiprabha. However, faculty members generously use e-resources for research and teaching, and reveal good interest in e-journals and e-databases.