NETWORKING OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE LIBRARIES AFFILIATED TO JNTU, KAKINADA IN ANDHRA PRADESH: A PROTOTYPE DESIGN BASED ON INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF FACULTY

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 17

NETWORKING OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE LIBRARIES AFFILIATED TO JNTU, KAKINADA IN

ANDHRA PRADESH: A PROTOTYPE DESIGN BASED ON INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR

OF FACULTY

Dr. B. R. Doraswamy Naick

Asst. Professor in Library and Information Science University College of engineering Kakinada JNT University Kakinada 533003 (A.P) INDIA.

Email:[email protected]

Abstract

Information as a concept bears a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception and representation.

Information is anything that can change a person‟s state of knowledge and physical representations of abstractions that can cause the change. It is evident that, relevant information increases knowledge, reduces uncertainly and is usable for the intended purpose. This paper is explain Networking of Engineering College Libraries Affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh: A Prototype Design based on Information Seeking Behaviour of Faculty

KEYWORDS: Information Seeking Behavior, Networking, Faculty, Library, Prototype Design, Academic community, information-seeking.

INTRODUCTION

Information is needed in all stages of human development. People need information for almost everything in their life. The human being is, thus considered as an „information- seeker‟. However, information-seeking can often be an expensive and time-consuming process. Much time could be required to sift through irrelevant items to locate the required information. As we know, for information to be of optimum use, it must possess the qualities such as relevance, accuracy, timeliness, currency, completeness, clarity and cost-effectiveness. Also, these are some of the qualities that an information-seeker will be looking for. Information-Seeking Behavior or „information behavior‟ as said frequently, has emerged and grown as a subject of academic research. Through the years, it has originated as the field of potential aid to the development of library and information services too. The world has witnessed its transition from information status to that of a subject for research at Doctoral and higher level further. In its developmental stage this field has led to a division between the needs of academic community in terms of theory

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 18 and practice. The pursuit of knowledge has been revolutionized, mainly through the vast expansion of information accessible via the networked systems. Increased knowledge of the information-seeking behaviors of social sciences and humanities faculties is crucial to meeting their information needs.

OBJECTIVES

 To trace the genesis, growth and development of Engineering Education in Andhra Pradesh

 To survey the Engineering College Libraries affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada in A.P.

 To identify the information needs and Information Seeking Behavior of engineering college faculty affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada.

 To offer suggestions for improvement of library services of JNTU Kakinada.

 To design and develop a prototype networking model for the engineering college libraries affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada.

HYPOTHESES

 The Growth and development of engineering education in A.P show linear trend.

 The libraries of engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada do not confirm the AICTE norms.

 There is no uniformity in the information needs and information seeking behavior of the sample engineering faculty.

 The sample faculties are not satisfied with the availability of resources in their respective college libraries.

 There is a feasibility to design and develop a prototype Networking model for Engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada.

LIMITATIONS

 The study limited to the faculty working in Engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada.

 The study is covers only engineering colleges affiliated to the JNTU, Kakinada, do not cover the students of colleges.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this study, questionnaire method was mainly used for collection of data. Two types of questionnaire were prepared for collection of data from the libraries and faculty members from their respective Engineering Colleges Affiliated to JNTU,Kakinada. was also Data collected from annual reports and other reference books needed for the study. the Data collected during the period from May 2008 to July 2009. There are 197 engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada. Fifty Engineering colleges have been selected for the study. The colleges selected for the study which have been established before 2002.

From each college 30 faculty members of various engineering subjects have been selected. In total 1500 faculty members have been considered for the study randomly

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 19 Table -1: District wise distribution of questionnaires and responses received

S.No. Name of the District Questionnaires

distributed Questionnaires

received Percentage

1 Srikakulam 3 3 100.00

2 Vizianagaram 4 4 100.00

3 Visakhapatnam 8 8 100.00

4 East Godavari 8 8 100.00

5 West Godavari 8 8 100.00

6 Krishna 5 5 100.00

7 Guntur 6 6 100.00

8 Prakasam 8 8 100.00

Total 50 50 100.00

Sample of Fifty Engineering College Libraries affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University were considered for the analysis purpose.

Table-1: shows distribution of questionnaires and responses received from the Librarians.

A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed in all affiliated engineering colleges and 50 questionnaires were receives with 100 per cent response rate.

Table-2: Distribution of Questionnaires and Responses received from Engineering Faculty

S.No. Name of the District

No. of Colleges

Number of

Questionnaire Distributed

Responded Percentage

1 Srikakulam 3 90 71 78.89

2 Vizianagaram 4 120 95 79.17

3 Visakhapatnam 8 240 185 77.08

4 East Godavari 8 240 194 80.83

5 West Godavari 8 240 188 78.33

6 Krishna 5 150 120 80.00

7 Guntur 6 180 139 77.22

8 Prakasam 8 240 193 80.42

Total 50 1500 1185 79.00

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 20 Tables-2: Shows that total of 50 engineering colleges Affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada and the entire faculty were considered for this study. Accordingly the questionnaires were distributed to all the 1185 teaching faculty responded and the response rate is 79 percent.

Table -3: Classification of Respondents by Designation

S. No. Name of the

District Professors Associate professors

Assistant

professors Total

1 Srikakulam 8

(0.68)

25 (2.11)

38 (3.21)

71 (5.99)

2 Vizianagaram 10

(0.84)

34 (2.87)

51 (4.30)

95 (8.02)

3 Visakhapatnam 27

(2.28)

62 (5.23)

96 (8.10)

185 (15.61)

4 East Godavari 28

(2.36)

59 (4.98)

107 (9.03)

194 (16.37)

5 West Godavari 28

(2.36)

57 (4.81)

103 (8.69)

188 (15.86)

6 Krishna 21

(1.77)

33 (2.78)

66 (5.57)

120 (10.13)

7 Guntur 22

(1.86) 48

(4.05) 69

(5.82) 139

(11.73)

8 Prakasam 29

(2.45)

65 (5.49)

99 (8.35)

193 (16.29)

Total 173 (14.60) 383 (32.32) 629 (53.08) 1185

(100.0)

Table-3: shows the three levels of faculty positions have been noticed in the survey, such as Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor. 53.08% of the Assistant Professors among the respondents and 32.32% are belongs to Associate Professor. Out of 1185 respondents, 14.60% are Professors. The Pie diagram (Figure 5.1) shows the strength of Assistant Professors are more.

(Figures in Parentheses indicates Percentages)

Figure 1: Classification of Respondents by Designation

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 21 Table 4: Classification of Respondents by Sex

Table-4: shows that 71.98% of the respondents (853) are male and the female community forms only 28.02% (332). It shows that the members play a major role in engineering colleges

Figure- 2: Classification of Respondents by Sex Name of the

District Male % Female % Total %

Srikakulam 51 71.83 20 28.17 71 5.99

Vizianagaram 67 70.53 28 29.47 95 8.02

Visakhapatnam 137 74.05 48 25.95 185 15.61 East Godavari 153 78.87 41 21.13 194 16.37 West Godavari 135 71.81 53 28.19 188 15.86

Krishna 79 65.83 41 34.17 120 10.13

Guntur 97 69.78 42 30.22 139 11.73

Prakasam 134 69.43 59 30.57 193 16.29

Total 853 71.98 332 28.02 1185 100.00

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 22 Table- 5: Classification of Respondents by Age

Name of the District

Below 30 Years

Between 31-40 Years

Between 41-50 Years

Between 51-60 Years

Above 60

Years Total Srikakulam 34

(47.89)

29 (40.85)

4 (05.63)

2 (02.82)

71 (5.99) Vizianagaram 25

(26.32)

28 (29.47)

15 (15.79)

19 (20.00)

8 (08.42)

95 (8.02) Visakhapatnam 44

(23.78)

42 (22.70)

51 (27.57)

32 (17.30)

16 (08.65)

185 (15.61) East Godavari 47

(24.23)

68 (35.05)

46 (23.71)

21 (10.82)

12 (06.19)

194 (16.37) West Godavari 18 (9.57) 103

(54.79) 35

(18.62) 23

(12.23) 9

(04.79) 188 (15.86)

Krishna 21

(17.50) 51

(42.50) 27

(22.50) 18

(15.00) 3

(02.50) 120 (10.13)

Guntur 27

(19.42)

77 (55.40)

17 (12.23)

16 (11.51)

2 (01.44)

139 (11.73)

Prakasam 45

(23.32)

76 (39.38)

42 (21.76)

23 (11.92)

7 (03.63)

193 (16.29)

Total 261

(22.03)

474 (40.00)

237 (20.00)

154 (13.00)

59 (4.98)

1185 (100.0) Table-5: reveals that, 40% of the samples are in the age group between 31-40 years, followed by 22.03%in the age group of below 30 years. In other words, about 20% of the total sample falls in the age group ranging from 41-50 years. A meager percentage of samples (4.98%) only fall under the age group of above 60 years

(Figures in Parentheses indicates Percentages)

Figure-3: Classifications of Respondents by Age

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 23 Motivational factors

A number of factors would motivate any information seeker and in this study a total of seven variables were identifies and analyzed. These factors might be influenced by the college‟s affiliation as well the designation of the respondents. Therefore, in this study, the impact of these factors was analyzed through five point scale and the same is analyzed in the Table- 6:

Table- 6: Motivation among Faculty Members

Description 1 2 3 4 5 WAM Rank

To prepare for class teaching

143 (12.07)

183 (15.44)

215 (18.14)

281 (23.71)

363 (30.63)

272.87 1

To guide the students/Research scholars

137 (11.56)

205 (17.30)

215 (18.14)

278 (23.46)

350 (29.54)

270.27 5

For participation in seminars/conference etc.

144 (12.15)

197 (16.62)

226 (19.07)

302 (25.49)

316 (26.67)

266.93 6

To increase promotional opportunities

157 (13.25)

184 (15.53)

228 (19.24)

286 (24.14)

330 (27.85)

266.87 7

To improve knowledge in scholarship

136 (11.48)

188 (15.86)

228 (19.24)

300 (25.32)

333 (28.10)

270.73 4

To write and publish papers

130 (10.97)

188 (15.86)

246 (20.76)

281 (23.71)

340 (28.69)

271.20 3

To set up question papers and related exam work

140 (11.81)

176 (14.85)

239 (20.17)

283 (23.88)

347 (29.28)

271.73 2

{1Non Motivator}

{2Weakest Motivator}

{3Average Motivator}

{4Fairly Motivator}

{5Strongest Motivator}

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 24 Table-6: presents the responses given to motivation among faculty members. It shows that the „strongly motivator‟ marked the highest for „to prepare for class teaching‟

(30.63%) and lowest for „for participation in seminars conference etc‟ (26.67%). The highest of 25.48% of respondents „fairly motivator‟ for „participation in seminars/conference etc‟ and lowest of (23.45%) were marked for „to guide the students/research scholars‟. Further the WAM values for the variables namely „to prepare for class teaching‟, „to setup question papers and related exam work‟, „to write and publish papers

Table-7: Use of Materials among Faculty Members

Type of Materials Often % Rarely % Not at all

% WAM Rank

Civil Engineering 285 24.05 423 35.70 477 40.25 427.00 9 Electrical Engineering 275 23.21 419 35.36 491 41.43 431.00 4 Mechanical Engineering 297 25.06 411 34.68 477 40.25 425.00 12 Electronics Engineering 275 23.21 419 35.36 491 41.43 431.00 4 Communication

Engineering 275 23.21 417 35.19 493 41.60 431.33 2 Computer-Science

Engineering 297 25.06 415 35.02 473 39.92 424.33 13

Physics 285 24.05 425 35.86 475 40.08 426.67 10

Chemistry 275 23.21 421 35.53 489 41.27 430.67 6

Mathematics 297 25.06 415 35.02 473 39.92 424.33 13

English 275 23.21 415 35.02 495 41.77 431.67 1

Humanities 275 23.21 420 35.44 490 41.35 430.83 5 Information Technology 294 24.81 415 35.02 476 40.17 425.33 11 Science and Technology 285 24.05 421 35.53 479 40.42 427.33 7 Bio-Technology 285 24.05 423 35.70 477 40.25 427.00 9 Environment Science 297 25.06 411 34.68 477 40.25 425.00 11 Water Resource 285 24.05 423 35.70 477 40.25 427.00 9 Spatial-Information

Technology 275 23.21 418 35.27 492 41.52 431.17 3 Pharmaceutical Sciences 297 25.06 411 34.68 477 40.25 425.00 12 Nano-science-technology 285 24.05 423 35.70 477 40.25 427.00 9 Applied Arts 285 24.05 425 35.86 475 40.08 426.67 10

Painting 297 25.06 411 34.68 477 40.25 425.00 12

Sculpture 285 24.05 422 35.61 478 40.34 427.17 8

Photography 275 23.21 419 35.36 491 41.43 431.00 4

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 25 Table- 8: Use of Materials among Faculty Members Vs District wise WAM value WAM- Weighted Arithmetic Mean} {R-Rank}

Table-8:shows the Weighted Arithmetic (WAM) values for the categories of materials referred by Faculty members who were working in engineering colleges.

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 26 Table-8:presents the WAM values along with rank order for the categories of materials referring by faculty. The majority of respondents referred by

Rank 1 English (431.67)

Rank 2 Communication Engineering (431.33) Rank 3 Spatial Information Technology (431.17)

Further, analysis has been made by District wise to gauge any difference among the faculties of various districts (Table 5.19). The three point scaling results, based on WAM values, the first three preferences by the respondents according to district wise are as follows:

Srikakulam

Rank 1 Civil Engineering (27.50)

Rank 1 Electronics Engineering (27.50)

Rank 1 Physics (27.50)

Vizianagaram

Rank 1 Applied Arts (35.33)

Rank 2 Bio-Technology (35.00)

Rank 3 Spatial Information Technology (34.83) Visakhapatnam

Rank 1 Electrical Engineering (67.67)

Rank 1 Chemistry (67.67)

Rank 1 Humanities (67.67)

East Godavari

Rank 1 Electrical Engineering (69.67) Rank 1 Communication Engineering (44.20)

West Godavari

Rank 1 Electrical Engineering (68.83) Rank 1 Communication Engineering (68.83)

Krishna

Rank 1 Civil Engineering (44.67)

Rank 1 Electrical Engineering (44.67) Rank 1 Electronics Engineering (44.67)

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 27 Guntur

Rank 1 Electrical Engineering (68.67) Rank 1 Mechanical Engineering (68.67) Rank 1 Communication Engineering (68.67) Prakasam

Rank 1 Mechanical Engineering (49.83) Rank 1 Computer Science Engineering (49.83)

Rank 1 Mathematics (49.83)

FINDINGS

 All the engineering colleges impart technical education, the academic and research need of the faculty would have been similar.

 The hypothesis is not proved to be valid in majority of the parameters taken into consideration to study of information seeking behaviour.

 The growth and development of engineering education in A.P show linear trend. The hypothesis is accepted. The hypothesis is found to be valid in most of the cases.

 There is no significant difference in the purpose of using library among these engineering colleges. In other words, there are proportions of faculty of all the engineering colleges affiliated to JNTUK. This hypothesis is found to be valid.

 No uniformity in the information need and information seeking behaviour among the responded Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors.

 Dependence on more than one channel to seek and collect information is crystal clear.

 There is a feasibility to design and develop a prototype networking model for engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU, Kakinada, have been proved and found valid.

A PROTOTYPE DESIGN JNTUK-LIBNET

There is a need for the networking of engineering college libraries in India in general and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada, in particular, as the concept and resource sharing is predominant in library services. Hence, it is an urgent need to network the library materials and resources on web. The ultimate way to perform this function is networking of library through internet. Therefore, at present there is no networking for engineering college libraries affiliated to JNTUK, hence it is proposed to develop a network system for affiliated engineering college libraries and is named as JNTUK-LIBNET. This is the main page of the JNTUK-LIBNET prototype design. It contains links for various services provided and shows the present expansion of JNTUK.

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IJODLS | Geetanjali Research Publication 28 Figure- 4: Home page of the JNTUK-LIBNET

By clicking the “online collection” in the main page (Fig-4), the(Fig-5:) will appear, which will display the online collections of materials available in the libraries of JNTUK- LIBNET.

Figure -5: Online collection page of the JNTUK-LIBNET

By clicking the “opac” in the main page (Fig-4), the (Fig -6:)will appear, which will display the login page for participating libraries in the JNTUK-LIBNET

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Figure 6: OPAC login page of JNTUK-LIBNET CONCLUSION AND RECEMENDATIONS

Library Networks Initiatives in India are still at a nascent stage of development. With the advent of the Internet and World Wide Web, Electronic Library Development in India begins with the goal of preservation of art, culture and heritage of the country. The electronic environment in the Indian context is a new concept that became a reality through projects funded by the government. In Indian scenario, the electronic resource programmes are in their initial stages and much needs have to be done to prepare a long term strategy to sustain these efforts and preserve the electronic resources for the future use. Electronic Library applications span widely disparate content types, values, origins, longevities and widely disparate user purposes and operating environments.

Libraries electronic or traditional exist to serve diverse purposes and constituencies. An electronic library deals with organization and access of a large information repository.

The key to an electronic library is not electronic of physical materials, but the organization of physical and electronic collection for better access. The organization provides coherence to a massive amount of shared knowledge, while the access provides convenient retrieval for a wide range of users distributed across a network..

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