1. EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WEBSITES OF WEST BENGAL: A STUDY FROM LIBRARIANS’ PERSPECTIVE Scholar SHARMILA BOSE Guide P ROF. NARENDRA LAHKAR (Original: Evaluation of the University Websites of West Bengal with special reference to Library Web Page) [ A Statement of Work Done Submitted for Ph. D Final Registration ] DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE GAUHATI UNIVERSITY, GUWAHATI-780114

2. OBJECTIVES  To examine the university library websites of West Bengal.  To gather information based on the structure and contents available in the University library websites;  To design a scale for evaluating content significance in the university library Websites;  To compare the library websites of the universities under study with the established evaluation criteria

3. RESEARCH PROBLEMS How to increase the content quality of the library websites? How to make the library web page easily searchable? How to make the library home pages interactive? How to identify the various purposes for which the library Web pages have been retrieved? To find out the level of web based library service reflected in the under study library websites.

4. HYPOTHESES The University library websites in West Bengal are homogenous in structure and contents. Library websites are linked to the homepage. Library websites are not interactive. Information provided in the library website is not sufficient

5. METHODOLOGY Self evaluative method has been adopted for the collection of primary data, which includes the following: To observe and study the university library websites. Designing an evaluation criteria (Checklist) Evaluation of websites on the basis of the designed evaluation criteria. Comparative study among the websites under study. Analysis and interpretation of data. To select one ideal library website (like website of OCLC, Website of LC, etc.) for comparison.

6. UNIVERSITIES UNDER STUDY ORGANIZATION YEAR OF ESTD UNIVERSITY URL 1 University of Calcutta (CU) 1857 http://www.caluniv.ac.in 2 Viswa Bharati University (VBU) 1921 http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in 3 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IITK) 1950 http:// iitkgp.ac.in 4 Jadavpur University (JU) 1955 http://www.jaduniv.edu.in 5 National Institute of Technology, Durgapur (NITD) 1960 http://www.nitdgp.ac.in 6 University of Burdwan (BU) 1960 http://buruniv.ac.in 7 University of Kalyani (KU) 1960 http://www.klyuniv.ac.in 8 Rabindra Bharati University 1962 http://www.rbu.ac.in 9 University of North Bengal (NBU) 1962 http://www.nbu.ac.in 10 Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya (BCKV) 1974 http://www.bckv.edu.in 11 Vidyasagar University (VU) 1981 http://vidyasagar.ac.in 12 Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) 1992 http://www.becs.ac.in 13 West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS) 1995 http://wbuafscl.ac.in 14 West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) 1999 http://www.nujs.edu 15 West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) 2001 http://www.wbut.ac.in Arranged according to the year of establishment

7. LOCATION OF LIBRARY LINK UnivLibrary URLNavigation (Homepage/ Popup) CU http://www.caluniv.ac.in/libraries/library.htmlHomepage VBU http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in/Library/Library.htmPopup IITK http://www.library.iitkgp.ernet.inHomepage JU http://www.jaduniv.edu.in/library.phpHomepage NITD http://www.nitdgp.ac.in/library/Popup BU http://buruniv.ac.in/Popup KU http://www.klyuniv.ac.in/library.htmlPopup RBU http://www.rbu.ac.in/facilities.php?id=1Popup NBU http://www.nbu.ac.inHomepage BCKV http://www.bckv.edu.in/bckv.php?page=1679091c5a880faf6 fb5e6087eb1b2dc6 Homepage VU http://vidyasagar.ac.in/Library/default.htmPopup BESU http://www.becs.ac.in/index.phphttp://www.becs.ac.in/index.php?option=com_content&vie w=article&id=94&Itemid=165 Popup WBUT http://www.wbut.ac.in/page.php?id=232#Popup WBUAFS http://wbuafscl.ac.in/library/index.htmlHomepage WBNUJS http://www.wix.com/nujskol/nujs-libraryHomepage

8. LOCATION OF LIBRARY LINK The above table/figure reveals that 7 (47%) Universities has ‘Library Option in the homepage itself whereas 8 (53%) Universities have provided the Library link under the respective popup. Moreover, only IIT Kharagpur has the separate library website which opens in the new separate window/tab. LocationNo of University Homepage7 Pop-up8

9. APPEARANCE OF THE WEBSITES AttractiveStructuredDynamic Hit Counter Copyright Yes91311310 NO624125 The table/figure reveals that 9 out of the 15 (60%) University websites are attractive and soothing to eyes. These don’t have any distracting element in the site. 13 (87%) universities have structured websites. 4 (27%) of the University website are found static while rest is all dynamic site. Only 3 (20%) of the University sites have ‘hit counter’ means which could mention the record of the no of users visiting the site. Except 5 (33%) all the universities has copyright date.

10. AVAILABILITY IN THE LIBRARY PAGE Images of LibMultiple Web Page Contact Address Staff Directory YES7999 NO8666 The above figure/table explains that out of 15 university library websites 7 (47%) has the images of their library in the site. Similarly 9 (60%) library sites has provided information in multiple pages whereas rest 6 (40%) sites are confined their information in a single page. 9 (60%) out of total library sites have provided their contact address for communication. Again 9 (60%) out of 15 have the staff directory of the library members in their respective sites.

11. RESOURCES FOUND IN THE LIBRARY SITE Total CollectionOnline Journals Subscribed e- journals E-Books YES 13 996 NO 2 669 The table shows that 13 (87%) of the library sites reflect the total collection of the resources of the library. The table also explains that Only 9 (60%) out of 15 sites Subscribe e-journals and provided the facility of accessing it. Only 6 (40%) of the library sites have facilitate the availability of E-books on the page.

12. SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE LIBRARY SITE NoticeCASNew Arrivals Info on various sections Feedback YES13212 NO1412131413 It is found in that only 1 (7%) university among 15 has the ‘notice’ column in the library page itself. Only 3 (20%) of the universities provide ‘Current Awareness Service (CAS)’. 2 (13%) of the universities among above all have the ‘new arrival’ column in its library page. Only 1 (7%) university provides information on the various sections of the library. Just 2 (13%) of the total university are interested to know the feedback from the users. Rest of the universities does not provide any of the above mentioned services.

13. LINKS IN THE LIBRARY SITE Web Opac Up to date & Working Easy Navigation Broken Hyperlink Useful links YES 1112 1012 NO 434 1413 Here it reveals that library site of the 11 (73%) universities facilitate with web Opac service. 12 (80%) of the 15 sites are up to date and working. 10 (67%) sites are found easy while navigate. Only 1 (7%) university library site (WBUAFS) has one broken link. Only 2 (13%) of the total university library sites are providing various useful links like INFLIBNET, UGC, etc.

14. PLANNING OF CHAPTERISATION The study will be divided in six chapters including introduction and conclusion, followed by bibliographical references and appendices at the end. Introduction Review of Literature Universities and university websites of West Bengal Library Websites of the universities Evaluation of the websites based on existing criteria and survey mode Conclusion

15. CONCLUSION As the pilot study is over, now on the basis of the idea and information gained from the study, the observation and study for final output will be carried on. Though it is revealed that the rate of availability of information is quite less in pilot study but more extensive study will be made with the help of a new set of broad evaluation checklist in my final preparation to get more and more information on the websites under study. Then only a clear image of the usefulness of the University library websites of West Bengal could be obtained. More extensive related literature search will also be carried out to get a clear idea about the work done in the same field

16. EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WEBSITES OF WEST BENGAL: A STUDY FROM LIBRARIANS’ PERSPECTIVE (Original: Evaluation of the University Websites of West Bengal with special reference to Library Web Page) Kindly provide your suggestions