PhD Thesis

Use of E-resources for Improving Scholarly Output and Academic Progress: Perceptions of Faculty Members and Researchers in Bangladesh

2025-11-05T00:00:00Z

Use of E-resources for Improving Scholarly Output and Academic Progress: Perceptions of Faculty Members and Researchers in Bangladesh Aktar, Sabrina Purpose: This study aims to explore the percep�ons of faculty members and researchers in public universi�es of Bangladesh about e-resource usage for scholarly output and academic progress. The specific objec�ves are to assess the current state of e-resource access and usage, percep�ons, and evalua�on of the Impact of e-resources on scholarly output and iden�fy the challenges. Methodology: The study used a quantitative research approach to analyze the perceptions and practices regarding e-resource usage of faculty members and research students in public universities in Bangladesh. Data were collected through two different semi-structured questionnaires for two distinct groups that were developed and refined with a pilot survey to ensure clarity and reliability. Clusters for faculty members and research students were selected using purposive sampling techniques to ensure representation across various disciplines and demographic groups from ten universities. The analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics, such as frequency, percentage, ANOVA, MANOVA, and correlation, to examine patterns, relationships, and perceptions of e-resource utilization. Ethical considerations, including informed consent and data confidentiality, were strictly followed to uphold the integrity of the research process. Findings: The study reveals that faculty members and research students at public universities in Bangladesh actively use e-resources for various academic and research purposes, with notable differences across disciplines and age groups. Faculty members frequently utilize ERs to write research articles, conduct project work, and prepare teaching materials, while research students rely on these resources primarily for thesis work and coursework. Science and Engineering disciplines demonstrate higher ER usage compared to Arts. Despite intermediate to advanced digital literacy among users, limited access to full-text documents, slow internet, and inadequate training hinders optimal usage. The respondent perceived the urgent need for improved infrastructure, targeted training, and increased access to vital databases as critical measures to enhance ER utilization and support academic progress. Conclusions: This research highlights the significant impact of ERs on the respondents of public universities in Bangladesh. Faculty members utilize these resources effectively, xxi enhancing their research output and productivity. However, research students show lower engagement, indicating a need for better access and support. The study also reveals disparities in ER usage across disciplines and demographic groups, emphasizing the importance of addressing these inequities. To maximize the benefits of ERs, universities should improve technological infrastructure, provide comprehensive training, and develop user-friendly support services. By focusing on these initiatives, institutions can strengthen the research capabilities of both faculty and students, fostering a dynamic academic culture for the entire university community. Originality/ Value: The perceptions in scholarly output and academic progress i.e. the insights and views of faculty members and researchers in Bangladesh regarding ERs is original in nature. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

A Study of Digital Preservation Practices in Selected University Libraries in Bangladesh

2025-11-05T00:00:00Z

A Study of Digital Preservation Practices in Selected University Libraries in Bangladesh Bhuiyan, Mohammad Shakaought Hossain Preserving the library materials and making them accessible to the scholars and general users is very important for the university libraries. Therefore, the researcher decided to study on digital preservation practices in selected university libraries in Bangladesh. The purpose of the study was to investigate the existing condition of digital preservation practices in selected university libraries in Bangladesh.The study used a quantitative research approach based on the research objectives, and questionnaires were made for the users for 15 selected universities in Bangladesh. Data were collected through two sets of structured questionnaires for two distinct groups that were developed and refined with a pilot survey to ensure clarity and reliability. The population and sample were covered by librarians/library administrators, and library users from the 15 selected university libraries. In this study, the researcher has taken a non-provability sampling approach and chosen the purposive sampling method. The researcher distributed a total of 700 structured questionnaires among the teachers, students, and researchers of the selected university libraries. Out of 700 questionnaires, a total of 433 filled questionnaires were received with a response rate of 61.85%. For this study, collected data were analyzed using the IBM® SPSS® Statistics Version software. Ethical considerations, including informed consent and data confidently, were strictly followed to uphold the integrity of the research process.The findings from this study revealed that university libraries in Bangladesh were significantly affected by the changes to the digital environment. Most university libraries face many challenges that hinder the effective implementation of digital preservation. The challenges include absence of established standards and policies, inadequate funding, copyright and intellectual property rights issues, lack of skilled manpower, staff training and development, technology problems, lack of collaboration efforts, machine dependency, metadata, lack of equipment, insufficient staff, poor technology infrastructure, technological obsolescence, congested workspace, etc. The study also provides several recommendations, including infrastructure and access, skilled manpower and training, allocating sufficient budget and resources, addressing legal issues, providing software for digital preservation, developing policies for digital preservation, providing sufficient training for staff, adopting international standards, enhancing facilities and tools, taking administrative actions, providing legal deposit of e-content, etc. The result of the study contributes to the field by providing a detailed analysis of digital preservation practices in the context of Bangladeshi university libraries. The findings offer valuable insights vi into the current state of digital preservation, the challenges faced by institutions, and user satisfaction with digital resources. The study's recommendations have practical implications for improving digital preservation strategies and can serve as a guide for other institutions facing similar challenges. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Total Quality Management (TQM) in Engineering and Technology University Libraries of Bangladesh

2025-11-05T00:00:00Z

Total Quality Management (TQM) in Engineering and Technology University Libraries of Bangladesh BEGUM, SULTANA Total Quality Management (TQM) is the integration of all functions and processes within an organization in order to achieve improvement of the quality of goods and services. The goal is to achieve user satisfaction based on a number of ideas. It means thinking about quality in terms of all functions of the enterprise and is a start-to-finish process that integrates interrelated functions at all levels. So, they need to provide quality product and services to their customer. The study aimed to determine the existing management techniques used in Engineering and Technology (E&T) University Libraries of Bangladesh, to find out the acquisition procedure, use of TQM techniques and tools in collection development process as a whole, to enquire about the use of management techniques in HRM in libraries and to use TQM techniques and tools in planning and evaluation of library services in E&T university libraries of Bangladesh. The university libraries globally tended to move towards the adoption of TQM including Bangladesh. Some (60%) E&T uuniversity libraries are now developing TQM and a few numbers (40%) of university libraries are in process to develop TQM. TQM has created opportunities for the E&T universities of Bangladesh whose library budget is comparatively less and cannot afford to purchase, maintain and upgrade proprietary management systems. vii The different methods have been used for collecting data as per the nature of the problems from the literature on the subject. It is quite evident that most of the general methods of techniques of social research, for example, interview, questionnaire, dairy, observation, etc. extensively used for collection of data from Engineering and Technology University libraries of Bangladesh, two types (librarian and the user) of questionnaires has been applied in this research. Five engineering and technology university libraries of Bangladesh were selected as a research site. The population of the study was comprised of the library professionals and users in five E&T university libraries of Bangladesh. All library professionals of five E&T university libraries is included in the sample. However, 100 users from each E&T university library are taken for user sample. The collected data has been analyzed by frequency count and percentage methods. Different types of charts, tables, graphs, and figures have been used to represent the findings from the Study. The study observed that the Engineering and Technology University libraries of Bangladesh (60%) were found automated and (40%) were semi automated. It is found KOHA Library Automation software (40%) was found to be most used software in the libraries under study. Most of the (80%) Engineering and Technology University libraries of Bangladesh prioritize automation of circulation activities through computer viii applications. Besides, barcode techniques are also used for both circulation activities and for stock verification purposes. RFID technology, a tool for checking the security of books, is not much popular among engineering and technology university libraries under study, since it is too costly. Only BUET library was found to be satisfied with the performance of RFID technology. INASP-PERI consortium was found to be the most popular library network and the libraries under study were found to be actively participating in library networks in order to share their resources. User's Suggestions, Publisher's Catalogue and Internet were found to be most preferred methods of book selection in the libraries under study. "User Education Programmes relating to the use of OPAC and Use of Internet resources is the most (80%) preferred user education program conducted by libraries under study. The study demonstrated facts about the satisfactory level from library users on various aspects of library. They have got opportunities for enhancement over mankind's advancement inside the span of their employment timing. In terms of users response on library services the study found that more than a large portion of the user respondents (65%) are satisfied with the physical facilities from both the librarians and also from the libraries, including reading rooms, internet labs, study environments, equipment, library timings, seating arrangements and so on. The users (40.8%) found the attitude of the staff good and most (64.6%) users also agree that the staff have a friendly and ix helpful attitude. The respondents (44%) are satisfied with library services. Users (34.8%) are also satisfied with the collection and (60.8%) are satisfied with the circulation of library services. Regarding TQM implementation, the BUET is the only library which has partially implemented TQM; all other libraries (80%) are lagging in this regard. However, that does not affect the library services in practice because they try to constantly manage and update the library services to meet the quality aspects and try to improve it continuously which is the whole idea behind Total Quality Management in Libraries. Based on the findings the study suggested the following steps need to be taken for implementation: All (100%) the libraries are government funded library, so it should be more quality conscious in all spheres of library activities similar to their counterparts. Since, few libraries (40%) are allocating budget based on information use pattern, so it should be strictly followed by all the other libraries. Budget allocation in the libraries for procuring different types of reading materials should be made in proportion to the extent of document use ascertained based on user study. In order to develop an appropriate library collection, CUET library should also formulate a written acquisition policy like its counterparts. DUET and KUET libraries have no library manual, so it needs to be established. BUET library should also select the books and x other library materials after physical evaluation of the same. Libraries are using users' suggestion, publisher's catalogue and through internet for book selection. They should also resort to other methods of book selection such as, book reviews, and reviewing periodicals for ensuring qualitative collection development. Literature obsolescence rate, determined based on information and literature use studies carried out by the libraries, should be taken into consideration while purchasing back volumes of journals at the time of establishing a library. In principle, majority (80%) of the libraries were found to be agreeing that revenue should be generated by the libraries, through marketing of LIS but no library was found to be generating revenue through the same. It is therefore suggested that the libraries should generate the funds by charging membership fees from outside members, by giving institutional membership to other institutions, by charging fees for compilation of bibliographies or references. Libraries should use the bar coding facility for circulation and for stock verification as it should not involve any extra payments. Number of computers should be increased according to the demand of the users so that the satisfaction level is higher by serving most number of students at once. Students are required to browse through internet for various academic purposes. So, the internet bandwidth must be improved for better quality services that support the smooth flow during the peak and the off-peak hours. All libraries except RUET used xi KOHA Library Automation Software. So, it must be implemented KOHA Library Automation Software in RUET library. OPAC system should be improved, so that users may be able to use online public access catalogue of the library by themselves. RFID technology is the one of the latest technology system, which is the most important TQM tool in the library for checking the security of books, is not much popular among Engineering and Technology University libraries under study. Only BUET library was found to be satisfied with the performance of RFID technology. It should be implemented by other libraries too. Libraries are found to be weeding out, obsolete and damaged books randomly. It is therefore suggested that libraries should resort to weeding process on regular basis so as to overcome the space constraints. BUET, CUET and DUET never follow any weeding policy, so it is very urgent to be developed. Statistical record is available in three libraries (except CUET and DUET). It must be strictly followed. Each library should have well trained LIS Professionals so that they can implement TQM techniques and tools more efficiently. Proficient and well-trained management system is needed. It is therefore recommended that at least on job-training for librarians and other staff may be made compulsory to keep them updated. Staff performance appraisal has prepared only BUET, CUET and KUET for assessing of their performance. It must be followed another two libraries. Users’ need survey has to be developed especially CUET and KUET for xii continuous development of library services. As, TQM describes a management approach to long-term success through user satisfaction, so it will be of interest to link the measurement of performance based on user needs, user expectations and user satisfaction in any future studies. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEADERSHIP QUALITY ON USER SATISFACTION: INVESTIGATING THE SITUATION OF SELECTED ACADEMIC LIBRARIES OF BANGLADESH

2025-11-05T00:00:00Z

IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEADERSHIP QUALITY ON USER SATISFACTION: INVESTIGATING THE SITUATION OF SELECTED ACADEMIC LIBRARIES OF BANGLADESH Islam, Md. Monirul The assessment of knowledge and leadership quality is crucial in ensuring the effectiveness of university library services, as these factors directly influence user satisfaction and the library performance. There are no specific efforts to evaluate how leadership quality and knowledge affect user pleasure. This study examined how library professionals' knowledge and leadership quality influence user satisfaction and identified variations and gaps in leadership quality across user and university categories. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was developed where knowledge competency, technical competency, negotiation skill, visionary, and responsiveness were used as independent variables and user satisfaction as the dependent variable. User and university types computed individual differences in leadership quality and adequacy, superiority, and realistic gaps in leadership quality by ANOVA. Several statistical methods supported sampling adequacy, reliability, validity, and fitness of the SEM model that attained specific objectives and hypotheses. The SEM approach was established as significant and indicated that leadership quality dimensions positively impact user satisfaction. The study found that technical competency (beta coefficient = 0.331, t-value= 2.21 and p-value < 0.027) and responsiveness (beta coefficient = 0.445, t-value = 3.954, p-value = < 0.000) dimensions have significant positive impacts on user satisfaction. ANOVA indicated that the users of private university libraries get significantly qualified leadership performance. The study recommended maintaining technical competency, emphasizing responsiveness approach, improving knowledge competency, increasing negotiation skill, enhancing visionary approach, reducing realistic gap in leadership quality. The authorities would be benefitted from this study in planning and executing library leadership performance to satisfy their users. More studies would be expected to make it a well accepted model that will prompt further research in academic libraries locally and globally. This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.