International Journal Advances in Social Science and Humanities
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Trends and Perspectives in Books Borrowing Preferences among
Civil Engineering Students at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
University Library (JNTUL), Kakinada, A.P. : A Case Study
K. Satyanarayana
1, M. Doraswamy
2*1. Ideal College of Arts & Sciences Kakinada, A.P. & Ph.D. Research Scholar (PT) Dravidian University.
2. University Librarian Department of Library and Information Science University Library, Dravidian
University Srinivasavanam, Kuppam-517426 Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
*Corresponding Author:M. Doraswamy
Abstract: This paper conducts a critical analysis of the books borrowed by Civil Engineering students of the enrolled Batches of the ACYs: 2017 & 2018 at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Library, Kakinada, and Andhra Pradesh. The analysis throws light on the different aspects such as number of books borrowed, authorship pattern of the borrowed books, chronology of the borrowed books, country-wide distribution of borrowed books, type of publisher, rank list of the publishers, rank list of the most- frequently borrowed titles. After analysis of each point, appropriate conclusions were drawn.
Keywords: Borrowed titles, MBA students, Circulation data, JNTU Library.
Article Received: 30 Jan. 2020 Revised: 19 Feb. 2020 Accepted: 23 Feb. 2020
Introduction
The first and foremost function of any library is the dissemination of information and circulation of documents. Especially in developing countries like India lending of documents serves as a yardstick for dissemination of information and knowledge. However, it has been corroborated that the circulation of books for home reading optimizes the use of the resources of a library.
Circulation of books helps to meet the information inquiries of the users of the library in their research, publication and instructional activities. The strength and weakness of any library can be assessed by its circulation of data. In our country the practice of lending books stood as vital parameter for tapping information by users.
Now it is inevitable to understand the rate and trend of issues, the characteristics of books that were circulated etc., to meet the need of the hour for acquisition of books. The augmentation of information in terms of quality and quantity, multifarious subjects of interest to users, increasing cost of books and limited economical resources are the factors compelling librarians to analyse the data
maintained in the records of the library for taking rational decisions. Hence, analysis of library circulation statistics is vital aspect to streamline the acquisition, collection development, financial allocation and for long term strategies and planning. Major circulation implies use, which in turn is a valid predictor of users needs. Hence, analyses of circulated documents reveal the type of books borrowed by the students and the number of books used by them.
The present investigation makes an attempt to study the nature and type of books borrowed by Civil Engineering Students of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Library, basing on the borrowing records. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) originally known as ‘College of Engineering, Vizagpatnam’ was established in the year 1946.
through an act of the AP legislature along with other institutions operating under the control of the then Director of Technical Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh. This university college offers five undergraduate programs and nine postgraduate programs in engineering, management and computer application. In addition to that, the university provides continuing education programmes to diploma and degree holders in engineering. A major attraction of the university is its central library which has 50,497 volumes, 259 national and international print journals, ASCE, ASME, IEEE Explore online journals, DELNET, NPTEL databases, Internet and Intranet facilities etc.
Objectives
The Specific Objectives of the Study Are
To determine the quantum of books borrowed by CE students during their period of study;
To understand the authorship pattern;
To analyze the chronological distribution of books borrowed by CE students;
To know the geographical distribution of borrowed books;
To prepare the rank list of most frequently borrowed books;
To prepare the rank list of publishers.
Hypotheses
The Following Hypotheses were
Formulated for Testing
Civil engineering students borrowed multi-authored books;
Male students borrowed more books than female students;
Civil engineering students prefer the latest books;
Students preferred Indian publications over others.
Scope and limitation
The present study seeks to conduct a critical analysis on the books borrowed by civil engineering students of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Library (JNTUL), Kakinada. It is restricted to only the books borrowed by civil engineering students of the enrolled Batches of the ACYs: 2017 & 2018. The present study limits itself to an analysis of data related to borrowed books, not any other means of consultation. In fact, data pertaining to the use of textbooks and reference books consulted in other areas of the library is excluded from the scope of the present study.
Methodology
At present, the JNTU library offers access to undergraduate and postgraduate students; faculty members and supporting staff. The researcher has selected post graduate students in the first instance. Broadly, the post graduate students come under M.Tech in various branches, MBA & MCA departments. However, the researcher has selected students from M.Tech in Civil Engineering only for the investigation and analysis in the second instance. The total sample consists of 160 civil engineering students, out of which the researcher could obtain the book borrowing data of 143 students based on their enrollment in the JNTU library. Out of 143 students, 112 are male students and 31 are female students.
Analysis
Gender-wise classification of borrowed books of CE students
The classification of borrowed books by postgraduate students of civil engineering according to their gender wise is displayed in
Table 1.
Table 1: Gender-wise classification of borrowed books by CE students
Sex Number Students of Number borrowed of books Percentage Average number of books borrowed per student
Male 112 2763 92.01 25
Female 31 240 7.99 8
Total 143 3003 100.00 21
Table 1 indicates that a majority of books (92.01%) in civil engineering were borrowed by male students for home reading purpose, whereas 8.99 percent of the books were
students borrowed 25 books during their period of study, while female students borrowed only 8 books on an average.
Number of Books Borrowed by CE Students
The distribution of M. Tech civil engineering students according to the number of books borrowed for their usage is shown in Table 2. Table 2 indicates that 26(18.18%) members of civil engineering students have borrowed
between 16-20 books for their usage; 24(16.78%) students borrowed between 11-15 books; 21(14.69%) students borrowed between 31-35 books; 18(12.59%) students borrowed between 26-30 books; 16(11.19%) students borrowed between 36-40 books; 13(9.09%) students borrowed between 21-25 books; 11(7.69%) students borrowed between 6-10 books; 8(5.59%) students borrowed between 1-5 books; and the remaining 6(4.20%) students borrowed 41 and above books.
Table 2: Distribution of M.Tech-CE students according to the number of books borrowed
S.No Number of books Number Students Percentage
1 1 – 5 8 5.59
2 6 – 10 11 7.69
3 11 – 15 24 16.78
4 16 – 20 26 18.18
5 21 – 25 13 9.09
6 26 – 30 18 12.59
7 31 – 35 21 14.69
8 36 – 40 16 11.19
9 41 and above 6 4.20
Total 143 100.00
Authorship Pattern of Borrowed books
by CE Students The distribution of books borrowed by CE students according to authorship pattern is
shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Distribution of books borrowed by CE students as per authorship pattern
S.No Author Borrowed Books
Number Percentage
1 Single 1291 42.99
2 Double 841 28.01
3 Three 503 16.75
4 More than three 368 12.25
Total 3003 100.00
Table 3 indicates that a majority of the books (42.99%) borrowed by civil engineering students are written by single authors; 28.01 percent of borrowed books are written by double authors; 16.75 percent of borrowed books are written by three authors; and the remaining 12.25 percent borrowed books are written by more than three authors. Hence, it can be concluded that a majority of the civil engineering students borrowed multi-authored books for their usage.
Chronological Distribution of Borrowed books by CE Students
The distribution of books borrowed by CE students according to the year of publication is shown in Table 4. Table 4 indicates that most of the books (42.99%) borrowed by civil engineering students were published between 2006 and 2010, whereas 33.07 percent of the
borrowed books were published between 2011 and 2015. 8.29 percent of the borrowed books were published after 2015; 5.59 percent of the borrowed books were published between 2001 and 2005; 4.86 percent of the borrowed books published between 1996 and 2000. 3.03 percent of the borrowed books were published between 1991 and 1995. 1.17 percent of the borrowed books were published between 1986 and 1990. 0.47 percent of the borrowed books were published between 1981 and 1985. 0.30 percent of the borrowed books were published between 1976 and 1980.
Table 4: Distribution of books borrowed by CE students according to the year of publication
S. No Year Books
Number Percentage
1 Before 1975 7 0.23
2 1976 – 1980 9 0.30
3 1981 – 1985 14 0.47
4 1986 – 1990 35 1.17
5 1991 – 1995 91 3.03
6 1996 – 2000 146 4.86
7 2001 – 2005 168 5.59
8 2006 – 2010 1291 42.99
9 2011 – 2015 993 33.07
10 After 2015 249 8.29
Total 3003 100.00
Country of Publication of Borrowed
books by CE Students The classification of borrowed books by CE students according to the country of
publication is shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Classification of borrowed books by CE students according to the country of publication
S.No Country Number Books Percentage Number Cumulative Percentage
1 India 1583 52.71 1583 52.71
2 U.S.A 468 15.58 2051 68.29
3 U.K 335 11.16 2386 79.45
4 Singapore 168 5.59 2554 85.04
5 Japan 161 5.36 2715 90.40
6 Russia 77 2.56 2792 92.96
7 Newzealand 69 2.30 2861 95.26
8 Germany 39 1.30 2900 96.56
9 Australia 29 0.97 2929 97.53
10 Netherlands 27 0.90 2956 98.43
11 Other countries 47 1.57 3003 100.00
Table 5 indicates that a majority of the books (52.71%) borrowed by civil engineering students for their usage was published in India. It is also evident from the table that 11.58 percent of books borrowed by civil engineering students originated from U.S.A.; 11.16 percent of the borrowed books originated from U.K.; 5.59 percent of the borrowed books were published in Singapore; 5.36 percent of the borrowed books were from Japan; 2.56 percent of the books originated from Russia; 2.30 percent of the borrowed books originated from New Zealand; 1.30 percent of the borrowed books originated from Germany; 0.97 percent of the borrowed
books originated from Australia; 0.90 percent of the borrowed books originated from Netherlands. The remaining 1.57 percent of the borrowed books was published in other countries. Hence, it can be concluded that more than half of the books borrowed by civil engineering students for their usage were Indian editions.
Type of Publishers of Borrowed books by CE Students
The distribution of books borrowed by CE students according to the type of publisher is shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Distribution of books borrowed by CE students according to the type of publisher
S.No Publisher Number Books Percentage
1 National 1583 52.71
2 International 1420 47.29
Total 3003 100.00
Table 6 indicates that most of the borrowed books (52.71%) used by CE students were published by national publishers and the
students tend to use a large number of books published by national publishers.
Publishers Wise Distribution of
Borrowed books by CE Students
The rank list of publishers as per the books borrowed by CE students is shown in Table 7.
Table 7: Publisher-wise distribution of borrowed books by CE students
S.No Name of the Publisher Rank No Used % No Cumulative %
1 Prentice Hall of India Private Limited 1 421 14.02 421 14.02
2 Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company
Limited 2 394 13.12 815 27.14
3 Mc-Graw Hill International Book Company 3 324 10.79 1139 37.93
4 New Age International Private Limited
Publishers 4 245 8.16 1384 46.09
5 Pearson Education Asia 5 209 6.96 1593 53.05
6 Narosa Publishing House 6 166 5.53 1759 58.58
7 John Wiley and Sons Incorporation 7 128 4.26 1887 62.84
8 S.Chand and Company Limited 8 91 3.03 1978 6587
9 Galgotia Publications Private Limited 9 89 2.96 2067 68.83
10 Dhanpat Rai 10 87 2.90 2154 71.73
11 Pergamon Press 11 69 2.30 2223 74.03
12 Khana Publishers 12 67 2.23 2290 76.26
13 Vikas Publishing House 13 58 1.93 2348 78.19
14 Oxford University Press 14 44 1.47 2392 79.66
15 Springer Publication 15 21 0.70 2413 80.36
16 Prentice Hall International 16 19 0.63 2432 80.99
17 BPB Publications 17 18 0.60 2450 81.59
18 Shorff Publishers and Distributors
Private Limited 18 13 0.43 2463 82.02
19 Techmedia 19 12 0.40 2475 82.42
20 Macmillan Publishing Company 20 11 0.37 2486 82.79
21 SciTech Publication (India) Private
Limited 20 11 0.37 2497 83.16
22 Harpper Collins Publishers 21 10 0.33 2507 83.49
23 Cambridge University Press 21 10 0.33 2517 83.82
28 5 publishers 9 times each 22 45 1.50 2562 85.32
34 6 publishers 8 times each 23 48 1.60 2610 86.92
42 8 publishers 7 times each 24 76 2.53 2686 89.45
51 9 publishers 6 times each 25 54 1.80 2740 91.25
62 11 publishers 5 times each 26 55 1.83 2795 93.08
78 16 publishers 4 times each 27 64 2.13 2859 95.21
96 18 publishers 3 times each 28 54 1.80 2913 97.01
118 22 publishers 2 times each 29 44 1.46 2957 98.47
164 46 publishers 1 time each 30 46 1.53 3003 100.00
It is evident from Table 7 that most of the books borrowed by CE students are published by ‘Prentice Hall of India Private Limited’ (14.02%) followed by ‘Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited’ (13.12%), ‘McGraw Hill International Book Company’ (10.79%), ‘New Age International Private Limited Publishers’ (8.16%), and ‘Pearson Education Asia’ (6.96%). The ‘Prentice Hall of India Private Limited’’ is the top ranked publisher in terms of the number of books published from amongst the borrowed books by CE students; while ‘Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited’, ‘McGraw Hill
International Book Company’, ‘New Age International Private Limited Publishers’, and ‘Pearson Education Asia’ are placed in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th ranks, respectively. In all, the above mentioned publishers have contributed to more than half of the books (53.05 %) borrowed by CE students for their usage.
Rank list of Most Frequently borrowed Titles in Civil Engineering
The rank list of most frequently borrowed titles by Civil engineering students is displayed in Table 8.
Table 8: Most frequently borrowed titles in Civil Engineering
S. No Name of the Publisher Rank Used Cumulative
1 Soil mechanics and foundations/B.C.
Punmia 1 89 2.96 89 2.96
2 Structural design and drawing: reinforced
concrete design/ N. Krishna Raju 2 86 2.86 175 5.82
3 Elements of water resources
engineering/K.N.Dugagl 3 85 2.83 260 8.65
4 Surface Irrigation Theory and
Practice/W.K.Walker and G.V.Skogerboe 4 81 2.70 341 11.35
5 Elements of environmental
engineering/K/N.Duggal 5 79 2.63 420 13.98
6 Irrigation Water Management/
D.K.Majumdar 6 75 2.50 495 16.48
7 Analysis of structures / V.N. Vazirani and
N.M.Retwani 7 67 2.23 562 18.71
8 Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation/
T.M.Lillesand and Kieffer 8 66 2.20 628 20.91
9 Environmental Impact Assessment/
R.L.Canter 9 64 2.13 692 23.04
10 Hydraulic Design of Stilling Basins and
Energy Dissipaters/ A.J.Peterka 10 62 2.06 754 25.10
11 Environmental Impact Assessment
Methodologies/ Y.Anjaneyulu and Valli
Manickam 11 61 2.03 815 27.13
12 Design of Small Dams, Water Resources/
US Bureau 12 55 1.83 870 28.96
13 Irrigation Engineering/ G.L.Asawa 13 54 1.80 924 30.76
14 Introduction to Geographic Information
Systems/ Kang Tsung Chang 14 51 1.70 975 32.46
15 Hydraulic Structures/ P.Novak and
C.Nalluri 15 48 1.60 1023 34.06
16 Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems/ Micheal N.Demers 16 44 1.47 1067 35.53
17 Remote Sensing of the Environment an
Earth Resource Perspective/John R.Jensen 17 43 1.43 1110 36.96
18 Water Resource Systems Planning and
Analysis/ D.P. Loucks 18 39 1.30 1149 38.26
19 Principles of Geographical Information Systems/ P.A. Burrough and
R.A.Mcdonnell 19 38 1.27 1187 39.53
20 Watershed Management/ ASCE 20 33 1.10 1220 40.63
21 Embarkment Dam and
Engineering/B.Singh and R.S. Varshney 21 31 1.03 1251 41.66
22 Steel structures /V.N.Vazirani and
M.M.Ratwani 22 29 0.96 1280 42.62
23 Groundwater Geophysics- A tool for
Hydrogeology/ K. Kirshc 23 26 0.87 1306 43.49
24 Flow through Open Channels/ K.G. Ranga
Raju 24 25 0.83 1331 44.32
25 Ground Water/ H.M. Raghunadh 25 24 0.80 1355 45.12
26 Watershed Management/ Madan Mohan
Das 26 21 0.70 1376 45.82
27 Introductory soil mechanics/ B.C. Punmia 26 21 0.70 1397 46.52
28 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing/ George
Joseph 27 20 0.67 1417 47.19
29 Water Resources Systems/ S. Vadula and
P.P.Majumdar 28 19 0.63 1436 47.82
30 Groundwater Hydrology/ D.K. Todd 29 18 0.60 1454 48.42
31 Open Channels Hydraulics/ V.T. Chow 29 18 0.60 1472 49.02
32 River Morphology/ R.J.Garde 30 17 0.57 1489 49.59
33 Elementary structural design and
drawing/D.Krishnamurthy 31 16 0.53 1505 50.12
34 Principles of River Engineering /
P.P.H.Jansen 31 16 0.53 1521 50.65
35 Elementary structural analysis/ Noris Charles Head, John Benson Wilbur and
Utku Senol 32 15 0.50 1536 51.15
36 Structural design and drawing (concrete
structures)/D/Krishnamurthy 33 14 0.47 1550 51.62
38 Hydrology/ S.N.Davis and R.I.M. Dewiest 34 13 0.43 1577 52.52
39 Drainage Engineering/ J.N. Luthin 34 13 0.43 1590 52.95
40 Environmental Impact Analysis
Handbook/ John G. Rauand and David C.
Wooten 35 12 0.40 1602 53.35
41 Basic civil and mechanical engineering/
G.Shanmugam and M.S. Palamichamy 35 12 0.40 1614 53.75
42 Coastal Hydraulics/ A.M.M.Wood and C.A.
Fleming 35 12 0.40 1626 54.15
43 Water Resources Systems Engineering/
W.A. Hall and J.A. Dracup 36 11 0.37 1637 54.52
44 Design of reinforced concrete structures/
P.Dayaratnam 36 11 0.37 1648 54.89
45 Programming methods in structural
design/ N.G.R. Iyengar and S.K.Gupta 36 11 0.37 1659 55.26
46 Design of Water Resource Systems/ Maass
et al 37 10 0.33 1669 55.59
47 Theory of structures/ R.S. Khurmi 37 10 0.33 1679 55.92
48 Elements of water resources
engineering/K.N.Dugagl 37 10 0.33 1689 56.25
49 Elements of environmental
engineering/K/N.Duggal 37 10 0.33 1699 56.58
50 Geographic Information Systems for Geoscientists: Modeling with GIS/ G.F.
Bonham Carter 37
10
0.33 1709 56.91
51 Text book of irrigation engineering and
hydraulic structures / R.K. Sharma 37 10 0.33 1719 57.24
62 11 books 9 times each 38 99 3.30 1818 60.54
78 16 books 8 times each 39 128 4.26 1946 64.80
99 21 books 7 times each 40 147 4.89 2093 69.69
124 25 books 6 times each 41 150 4.99 2243 74.68
153 29 books 5 times each 42 145 4.83 2388 79.51
186 33 books 4 times each 43 132 4.40 2520 83.91
234 48 books 3 times each 44 144 4.80 2664 88.71
289 55 books 2 times each 45 110 3.66 2774 92.37
518 229 books 1 time each 46 229 7.63 3003 100.00
It is evident from Table 8 that a total of 518 titles and 3003 volumes of books were borrowed by civil engineering students for their usage during their period of study. It is also evident from the present study that the book entitled, ‘Soil Mechanics and Foundations by B.C.Punmia was borrowed more number of times than any other book bagging the first rank amongst the books borrowed by CE students for their usage.
The books entitled, ‘Structural design and drawing: reinforced concrete design/ N. Krishna Raju’, ‘Elements of water resources engineering/K.N.Dugagl’, ‘Surface Irrigation Theory and Practice/W.K.Walker and G.V.Skogerboe’, and ‘Elements of environmental engineering/K/N.Duggal’ secured 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th ranks, respectively as per the number of times borrowed by students.
All these titles account for 13.98 percent of the total borrowing. Thus, it may be concluded that only a few titles have been borrowed more frequently by civil engineering students.
Conclusions and Recommendations
There are some conclusions that can be drawn from this data, which could be used to guide acquisition of new material. Civil Engineering students used an average of 21 books during their period of study. Male students used more than female students on average (25 vs. 8). Most books had a single authored and were published during the ten years preceding their study. 518 titles and 3003 volumes were borrowed during the year.Suggestions for Further Research
Studies of a similar nature could be carried out on the use of borrowed books by other departments of the college, and at other college Libraries. This would add authenticity and a basis for comparative analysis before drawing generalizations and conclusions for optimal use of library resources. Studies could also be undertaken on the use of books by faculty members and undergraduate students of this and other college libraries in Andhra Pradesh as well as other states in India.References
1.
Satyanarayana K, Doraswamy M (2019) Trends and Perspectives in Book Borrowing Preferences: A Case Study on MCA Students in JNTU Library, Kakinada, A.P. International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR), 6(3):53-61.2.
Kusuma Kumari K, Doraswamy M (2019) Users Perception on Library PrintedResources: A Survey on NAAC Accredited Degree Colleges in Vijayawada City. International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR), 6(2):592-299. 3. Venkatanarayana A, Doraswamy M (2013)
Trends and perspectives in user preferences Vis-à-vis used books: An analytical study of Civil Engineering. Indian Journal of Information, Library and Society, 44(3-4):144-158.
4. Doraswamy M, Kusumakumari K (2013) “Usage of print collection in Dravidian University Library: A case study. Professional Journal of Library and Information Studies, 3(1):31-40.
