Silicon Institute of Technology Libraries as Reflected in the Websites: A Study of the Homepages of Management Institutes Nrusingh Kumar Dash Silicon Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar dashnk@hotmail.com Dr. Jyotshna Sahoo Orissa State Museum

The Flow Introduction Methodology Observation & Findings Conclusions Further Readings

Introduction Emergence of web technology has forced the educational institutions to create websites as a means of outreach to their users. The World Wide Web has now become the learning partner of everyone starting from kindergarten student to research scholar and of course their teachers. The Internet being a medium of exchanging information with greater speed without any geographical and other barriers, institutions wishing to communicate their activities to their prospective clients are depending on it.

Introduction The sole function of any educational institution is to impart information regarding the courses offered, facilities, services they have, history & status of the institution, achievements and the list continues… Library being the knowledge centers and disseminators of information needs to be highlighted. It is said that in any educational institution teachers are head, students are the body and library is the heart. The purpose of this study is to analyse the library link of the Management Colleges of Orissa.

Methodology The scope of the present study is confined to the State of Orissa. The study is based on the websites of 64 institutes that are offering courses in management education. The lists of institutes were taken from the website. Each of the websites of the institutes were analysed using the pre-structured checklist to know the nature of link and coverage of information about the libraries in their websites. The data collected were analysed with the help of Microsoft Excel. Data analysis was done firstly by considering all the institutes and then for the institutes having exhaustive information about the libraries in their websites.

Observations & Findings The aim of the study is to make a thorough analysis of the information given in the homepages especially about the libraries of management institutes. Out of 64 institutes the websites of 14 institutes were not accessible (last checked 23.11.08). So data collected from 50 institutions were taken into account.

Observations & Findings Growth of management institutions The growth of Management Institutions in Orissa is quite impressive. The number of institutes offering management course were just 4 during 1980-1985 and the count has increased to 40 during 2003-2008 Year No of Institute Cumulative Percentage 1980-1985 4 6 1986-1990 3 7 5 1991-1996 14 11 1997-2002 10 24 16 2003-2008 40 64 63

Observations & Findings Source of Library Link There is no direct link to libraries in the majority of the institutions websites. 14% of the institutions are having direct link to the library homepage. Most of the institutes have cited library information under the link facility (around 38%), next under infrastructure (22%) and around 26% of the institutes display library information under other links like mission, education & research, services etc. Source of Link No of Institutes Direct 7 Facility 19 Infrastructure 11 Others 13 Total 50

Observations & Findings Special name given to the library Out of 50 institutions 5 have given special name to their libraries. Such as : Sl Institute Name of Library 1 RCM,BBSR Gyan Sagar 2 AWDI,ROURKELA Naba Krushna Chowdhury Library 3 UTKAL UNIVERSITY Parija Library 4 RCEM,BBSR PUSTAKALAYA 5 BERHAMPUR UNIVERSITY R.P. Padhi Library

Observations & Findings Library History This feature includes introduction about the libraries; general rules and policies etc. Around 42% of the institutions have given information on history of their respective libraries.

Observations & Findings Membership Details The details of membership procedures, information about fee structure, membership privileges and information about user categories are mentioned under membership details. The details of membership in the concerned institutions libraries are available in 20% of the institutions. Around 8% of the institutions have claimed to have membership with other libraries for resource sharing purpose.

Observations & Findings Library Automation The information about library automation is mentioned by 28% of the sampled institutions. Only few of the institutions have mentioned about the software packages used for library automation. Only a few institutions are providing Web-OPAC service.

Observations & Findings Library staffs Out of 50 institutions 12% of the institutions have mentioned about their staffing pattern. Very few institutions have given full information about the library staffs.

Observations & Findings Library collection & services 82% of the institutions have depicted about the collection systematically, 22% of the institutions a bit information about library, 54% of the institutions have mentioned about their E-Resources.

Institutions: Exhaustive library information Only 8 (16%) of the institutions have given exhaustive library information in their homepage. Only one institute has mentioned about the classification schedule being used for classifying documents. Web OPAC facility is provided by only one institute & is accessible outside the campus. Two of the institutes have mentioned the name of the library automation software being used. Five of the institutes have mentioned about the library staffs. Two have mentioned the e-mail id and mobile no of the staffs along with their educational qualification and designation. Six of the institutes have mentioned about the library rules and regulations, policies. Four of the institutes have mentioned about their E-Resources.

Institutions: Exhaustive library information Two of the institutes have mentioned about their library committee. Four of the institutes have static web page and four having dynamic web pages. One library has mentioned its future plans and prospects. E-Books facility has been given by one library to its users. Two of the institutes are having alumni and corporate membership facility with fees. One of the libraries allows outsiders to access the library with prior permission from the authority. One of the libraries is maintaining Departmental library along with the Central library. Two of the libraries have given subject-wise details of collection and details.

Conclusion From the above analysis it is well observed that the number of institutions providing direct link to library is remarkably less It has been observed that many institutions have given just one line information about their libraries in their homepages. Only two institutions have mentioned about the library software being used for library automation.

Conclusion The subject-wise details of collection are given by many institutions. The list of periodicals subscribed both print and e-journals are also not available in the majority of institutions. The coverage of information about the in-house operations of the libraries is poor in the websites.

Conclusion The availability of Web OPAC is a nightmare. Few institutions have given information about the library staffs. From among the few two have given the full details such as name, designation, email id , mobile no / extension no etc.

The Study was only to… ….examine the library link appeared in the parent institution’s webpage. The findings presented here are not meant to show what is being done is right or wrong, …………..it is only to focus on the library as it is reflected in the homepages.

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