looking at indian academic library websites: a content analysis approach
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Looking at Indian academic library websites: A content analysis approach
Vasantha Raju N.Librarian Govt. First Grade College Periyapatna [email protected]
&
Dr. N.S. Harinarayana Associate Professor Department o f Library and Information Science University of Mysore Mysore
6th International Conference on Webometrics, Informetrics and Scientometrics (WIS) & 11th COLLNET Meeting
October 19-22, 2010 Senate Hall
University of Mysore, Mysore
Introduction
Research questions
Earlier studies
Methodology
Sampling Unit of analysis Coding scheme Data coding and inter coder reliability
Results
Limitations of the study/future research
Presentation outline
Introduction
Media and gadgets are ubiquitous parts of everyday life
- Lee Rainie (PEW Internet & American Life
Project)
Research questions
• What content features are made available on the Indian academic library web sites?
• Are there any differences among library websites in terms of content features found in state, deemed, institutes of national importance and central university library websites?
Earlier studies Website type Research area Selected article(s) Geographical
orientation Research method
School library websites Content features Clyde (1996, 1999, 2004) Various countries
(two international web directories)
Content analysis (longitudinal analysis)
Jurkowski (2004) USA Content analysis
College library websites Content and structural features
Cohen & Still ( 1999) USA Content analysis
University library websites
Content features Still (2001) Australia, Canada, UK and USA
Content analysis
Content and structural features
Wood (2009) South Africa Content analysis
Art library websites Content and structural features
Michalec (2006) USA Content analysis
Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
Content features Detlor & Lewis (2006) USA Content analysis
Academic, public and special library websites
Content features Qutab & Mahmood (2009) Pakistan Content analysis
Management library websites (IIMs)
Content features Sampath Kumar, Prithiviraj, Sadashiv Naik & Reddy (2009)
India Content analysis
National library websites
Content features Haneef & Anjana Venugopal (2010)
Asian countries Content analysis
Methodology
• Data sampling:
The Universities Handbook -31st Edition (Association of Indian Universities) was used for constructing the data sample*
Based on the universities handbook each of the websites of the respective university was visited and identify the library web links*
After excluding some of the university websites from the study, the total population of data limited to 135 University library websites (78 state university library websites, 39 deemed university library websites, 10 institutes of national importance and 8 central university library websites).
• Unit of analysis :
Entire library website was considered as a the “unit of analysis” for the study
*web pages which had only a paragraph and few words of information were excluded from the study
Methodology
• Coding scheme design (coding sheet) :
Coding sheet for examining library website was developed based of the previous literature
The coding sheet was consisted 50 variables (content features) divided into five categories viz.,
Library general information (14 variables) library services information (9 variables) library resources (9 variables) web 2.0 features (6 variables) other content related features (12 variables)
• Data coding and intercoder reliability : Sampled data was coded from 20th April to 30th May 2009
Two independent coders (one the researcher himself (first author of the paper) and an M Phil student coded the data sample) to check the intercoder reliability.
The inter coder reliability was 85.62%, (15 % of the sample) which was above the acceptance level
Few example of the screenshot of sampled library websites
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/images/drowning.jpg
Content features of library websites
Library General Information
Mission/Vision statement/objectives
Hours of operations
Policies and procedures
a. Collection development policy
b. Borrowing policy and procedure (privileges)
c. Online access policy and procedures
Staff directory/Employee list
descriptions of Services,
Library rules
Information for visitor/visitor info
Annual reports/ statistics
Library map/floor map
News & Events or What’s New
Contact information (contact us)
Library feedback form/suggestion box
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
Library newsletter (blog, PDF file, DOC file, other file format)
Library services
Document delivery/Inter library loan request info
Link to my (personal) account
Book renewal information/form
Online course reserves
Ask a librarian (Online reference desk/assistance)
a. Reference assistance through telephone
b. Reference assistance through e-mail.
c. Reference assistance through online form
d. Live reference assistance/Instant message services
Availability of RSS feeds (Real Simple Syndication)newsfeed New arrival list/new acquisitions
Research assistance (help)
Online instructional tutorials/virtual guides
a Learn how to use the library
b. Citation style guides/ Citation management tools
c. Evaluating WWW resources and web sites.
d.Information literary skills
f. Legal and ethical use of information/plagiarism
g. Web search guides/tips
Library Resources
Subscribed Online bibliographic databases
Journal list (online/Off line)
Subscribed e-book collections
Online subject directories(pathfinders)
List of CD-ROM databases
Link to Online Public Access Catalogue(OPAC)
Link to other library OPAC(How many)
Unique Information/Special Collections
Link to govt. and local information
Web 2.0 features
RSS news feeds
Blogs
Wikis
Social networking sites (Face book, My Space, Orkut, twitter etc)
Podcasts
Social book marking and tagging feature etc
Other content related features
Book recommendations
Web master e-mail address
Link to librarians personal home page
Privacy statement
Library promotional materials
Library services for faculty
Book reviews and other web resources
Links to subject specialists
Remote access info
Information for disabled users
Job opportunities
Others (future plan, etc)
General library information in state (SU), deemed (DU), institute of national importance (INI) and central university (CU) library websites
Results-1
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
110.00%
SU DU INI CU
Percen
tage
Results-2Library service features in state (SU), deemed (DU), institute of national importance
(INI) and central university (CU) library websites*
ILL
Instructi
onal tutoria
ls
New arriva
l list
Ask a lib
raria
n
Research
assista
nce
Others
(news paper c
lippings,
photocopyin
g
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
SU DU INI CU
Percen
tage
*Only three websites (2 deemed university libraries and 1 institute of national importance library features chat reference service** There was no instructional materials on plagiarism, citation style guide, web search guides etc.
Results-3 Library resources in state (SU), deemed (DU), institute of national importance
(INI) and central university (CU) library websites
Links
to e-jo
urnals
links t
o databas
es
Online s
ubject g
uides
OPAC
Spec
ial co
llecti
ons
other
librar
y OPACs
E-books
Link t
o loca
l info
rmati
on
Others
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
SU DU INI CU
Percen
tage
Source: http://flickr.com
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
SU DU INI CU
Results-4 Web 2.0 features in state (SU), deemed (DU), institute of national importance
(INI) and central university (CU) library websites
Percen
tage
Results-5
other content features in state (SU), deemed (DU), institute of national importance (INI) and central university (CU) library websites
Book rec
ommendati
ons
Web
mas
ter e-m
ail ad
dress
Link t
o librar
ians pers
onal home pag
e
Privac
y stat
ement
Librar
y pro
motional mater
ials
Librar
y serv
ices f
or fac
ulty
Book rev
iews
Links
to su
bject sp
ecialist
s
Remote ac
cess
info
Inform
ation fo
r disa
bled use
rs
Job opportu
nities
Others
(futu
re plan
, etc)
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
SU DU INI CU
Overall results in a nutshell• Features like library services, contact information, opening hours,
staff directory, links to e-journals have found in more than 50.00% of the library websites.
• News & events, FAQs, comments, ILL, instructional tutorials, ask a librarian, link to online databases, web 2.0 features and some other important features were found in less than 50% of the library websites.
• This results showcase that Indian academic library websites have remained static in nature and represent web 1.0 phenomenon.
“Neanderthals of cyberspace” (Foerster, 1998 cited in Schweitzer, 2005).
What needs to be done to improve……….
• Improve the quality of website interface• Library systems need to look and function more like search engines,
i.e., Google and Yahoo, and Web services, i.e., Amazon.com, since these are familiar to users who are comfortable and confident in using them (Digital Information Seekers Report, 2010).
• Developing web design guidelines by ILA (Indian Library Association) or other stakeholders*
• Developing quality indicators for evaluating library websites• Conducting usability studies for creating users centered websites.• Training for library professionals longitudinally to keep pace with
changing information landscape. • Providing infrastructure and financial support for creating state of
the art facilities.
* Similar suggestions were made by Saima Quatab & Khalid Mahmood (2009) in their study on Pakistan library websites
Limitations of the study/future research
• This study was a snapshot of library websites in a given point of time. Thus some library websites might have changed now
• The study considered library website content features for analysis, design characteristics were not examined in this study
• Future research can be done on both content and design characteristics of the university library websites.
• Longitudinal content analysis of Indian library websites
• Examining the possibilities and implementation of other web genres (web 2.0 features) and mobile technologies for library services in Indian context
Thank You
?
Image courtesy : OCLC