A STUDY ON AUTOMATION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SRI-LANKA

Abstract

The o b j e c t i v e s of t h i s study were to i d e n t i f y the p r o g r e s s made i n l i b r a r y automation and the g e n e r al problems b e h i n d the a u t o m a t i o n of U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r i e s in S r i - L a n k a . In o r d e r to i d e n t i f y the p r o g r e s s and the problems of a u t o m a t i o n the s u r v e y method was used. The p o p u l a t i o n of t h e s t u d y c o v e r e d a l l U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r i es and t h e i r branch l i b r a r i e s i n S r i - L a n k a . Q u e s t i o n n a i r es and f o l l o w up i n t e r v i e w s were used as the p r i m a r y data c o l l e c t i o n i n s t r u m e n t s . Out of the twenty l i b r a r i es responded seventy percent of l i b r a r i e s had s t a r t ed c o m p u t e r i z a t i o n . Survey revealed that c a t a l o g u i ng f u n c t i o n i s t h e most p o p u l a r f u n c t i o n i n c o m p u t e r i z a t i on and most of t h e l i b r a r i e s have u t i l i z e d CDS/ISIS software package f o r c o m p u t e r i z a t i o n of c a t a l o g u i n g f u n c t i o n. P r o g r e s s made i n d a t a i n p u t was a l s o i d e n t i f i e d . F i n a l ly the major problems i n hardware, p e r s o n n e l and software a r e a s were found. The study recommended s o l u t i o n s to overcome these problems to improve l i b r a r i e s f u n c t i o ns and s e r v i c e s to u s e r s.