Abstract:
The Library of the University of Colombo declared its digital presence by launching its first-ever
website in 2001. Since launching the website, the library has continued to develop content and
interactions with stakeholders. However, after 2013, no survey was conducted to investigate
whether the users were satisfied with the existing website contents and services. Moreover, the
recent economic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic led to reliance on digital interfaces to share and
retrieve information. In this regard, a pilot survey was carried out to explore the demand and
desire of the library users to examine the need for redesign the library website. Convenient
sampling technique was employed, and fifty (50) users were administered semi-structured
questionnaires using Google Form. Data extracted were descriptively analyzed using the Pearson
Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA. Majority (33.3%) of the students of the Faculty of Science
were using the library website more frequently than the students of other faculties. Respondents
revealed that the Training Guides (Mean=4.00; SD = ±0.926) and past-paper database
(Mean=3.96; SD = ±0.989) accessed via the library website were useful for their studies. Pearson
Chi-Square revealed a significant relationship of faculties with article requests (p=0.037) and
adequacy of website information for academic work (p=0.036). Similarly, year of study has a
significant relationship with Selective Dissemination of Information (p=0.048); usefulness of the
training guides (p=0.022); adequacy of research support (p=0.026); and meaningful organization
of information (p=0.003). Overall responses reveal that the library website is highly user-friendly
(Mean=3.90; SD = ±0.909). One-way ANOVA revealed a significant relationship between the
resourcefulness of the website and the respondents’ overall satisfaction with the information
received from the library website (p=0.021). Hence, the library website must be aligned with
users’ expectations. Despite the positive results discovered in this initial survey, the need for
updating the website was felt through a benchmark of other library interfaces. Therefore, FAQ
section and Chat bot are being suggested to assist the users.
