IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in

SHOWCASING UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ON THE WEB: A COMPARATIVEAND INFORMETRICSTUDY OF THE WEBSITES OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN WEST BENGAL

SujanBandhu Chakraborty Asst. Librarian, Brainware Group of Institutions, 398, Ramkrishnapur, , – 700125 E-mail:[email protected], Phone: 9163278886

Solanki Chakraborty Librarian, Central Modern College of Education, 156, M.N.K Road, , Kolkata – 700036

ABSTRACT To meet the demand for effective information among the students community, the academic institutions are now developing dynamic websites to convey the facilities and infrastructures they have. This is very fruitful, not only for the current students of the institutions but also for the prospective future students who are planning to take admission in those institutions. Library is one of the integral parts of an academic institution. For any higher education institution library play a very important role to support the academics, research and development etc. This paper has attempted to evaluate the contents and accessibility features of library available in the websites of ten private universities in West Bengal. This study has been carried out from March 09, 2019 to April 09, 2019. For the evaluation of the websites certain criteria were set and at the end ranks were given based on the observations. It was observed that most of the private universities in West Bengal developed their university websites as a part of the minimum standard required. As a result the web presence of their libraries was not at all satisfactory in most of the cases. Some suggestions have been recommended based on the observations at the end for future improvements.

Keywords: Content analysis, web presence, library website, private university, West Bengal.

1. INTRODUCTION

Global education business is going through a change due to revolution in information especially in the field of World Wide Web (WWW) and information is one of the main pillars of education. Academic institutions are now providing in-depth information about the courses, facilities, and other resources they have through their institutional websites. Library is an integral part of an academic institution. Therefore, it is very much obvious that the academic institutions, especially higher education institutions, should

1 | P a g e International Journal of Next Generation Library and Technologies (ISSN 2395 – 5201)

IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal provide all the necessary information about their library on their institutional websites. A dedicated library website or web page on the university's website is a very effective tool for publicizing and showcasing library services.

The present study has made an attempt to do a comparative analysis of web presence of the private university libraries in West Bengal.

2. BACKGROUND

Information is emerging as one of the main competitive assets in present global education business. In fact, information is a key to drive business advantages. Therefore, proper and effective information in education is an inevitable demand. Being is a key provider of information, the library of an academic institution should have a dedicated website or webpage to provide the online services and information to the users.

In last ten years or so, ten private universities came into existence in West Bengal. These Universities are:

Table A: List of private universities in West Bengal with their year of establishment

Name of the Private Universities in West Bengal Year of Establishment 1. -[AU] 2014 2. Amity University (Kolkata)-[AUK] 2014 3. -[BWU] 2016 4. JIS University-[JISU] 2015 5. -[SSU] 2014 6. Sister Nivedita University-[SNU] 2018 7. St. Xavier University-[SXU] 2017 8. -[TIU] 2012 9. The -[TNU] 2015 10. University of Engineering and Management (Kolkata)-[UEMK] 2014

The present study is an exploration to find out how the above listed ten private universities are giving importance to their library and how they are providing effective information, links of various library services on their institutional websites.

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

SN Archana and SH Kabir (2010) evaluated the web presence of the engineering college libraries in Kerala. They found majority of the websites of engineering colleges in Kerala had least representation of their respective libraries.

A study by Kannappanavar, B.U., Jayaprakash and M MBachalapur (2011), analised the content of Engineering College Library Websites in Tumkur District, Karnataka. They found that Engineering College libraries were not maintaining a separate library website, and limited information was provided through their institution website.

PreedipBalaji B. and Vinit Kumar, (2011) assessed the use of web-technologies in delivering information services by technological universities in southern India as presented in library websites. The study found that the rate of dissemination of information services through web was satisfactory.

Wijayaratne, Anusha (2013) found that the university libraries had marked their presence gracefully in the cyberspace in Sri Lanka.

Savitha, K. S (2016) examined the contents of websites of libraries of Karnataka, India. The analysis revealed that a good number of universities provided general and basic information about their libraries in their respective websites. Majority of the universities offered access facility to their subscribed databases, OPAC etc.

Sandeep Kumar and Mahendra Singh Mir (2017) studied the web content of the library websites of Central Universities of Central India and they found that all four Central Universities had Web OPAC, access to digital library, database access, and plagiarism checking software, etc. on their library pages.

Soumya Singh Tomar, Mohammed Imtiaz Ahmed and Amarjit Kumar Singh (2018) found, in their study on National Law University libraries in India, that the universities had poor representation of their web- identity. They suggested that the universities required giving a thought on this regard.

A recent study by AnanyaDasgupta and Meghmala Gupta (2019) examined the library web presence of technical colleges of West Bengal through content analysis and they found that the websites are developed as a routine organizational matter, rather than a conscious process.

3 | P a g e International Journal of Next Generation Library and Technologies (ISSN 2395 – 5201)

IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

4. OBJECTIVES

The present study was initiated with the following objectives:

 To find out the amount of effective information given about their libraries by the private universities in West Bengal on their institutional website  To find out the content on library provided in the library page or website  To find out whether minimum basic information about the library were given or not  To do a comparative study of contents of library webpage or website  To evaluate the importance given on the web presence of the library on university website  To rank the universities based on the score on the criteria of evaluation

5. METHODOLOGY

At first, an in-depth search has been conducted using the websites of the private universities of West Bengal, available in UGC website during March09, 2019 to April 09, 2019.

Table B: List of private universities in West Bengal with their Website URL

University Website URL 1. Adamas University-[AU] www.adamasuniversity.ac.in 2. Amity University (Kolkata)-[AUK] www.amity.edu/Kolkata/ 3. Brainware University-[BWU] www.brainwareuniversity.ac.in/ 4. JIS University-[JISU] www.jisuniversity.ac.in/ 5. Seacom Skills University-[SSU] www.seacomskillsuniversity.org/ 6. Sister Nivedita University-[SNU] www.snuniv.ac.in/ 7. St. Xavier University-[SXU] www.sxuk.edu.in/ 8. Techno India University-[TIU] www.technoindiauniversity.ac.in/ 9. The Neotia University-[TNU] www.tnu.in/ 10. University of Engineering and Management www.uem.edu.in/uem-kolkata/ (Kolkata)-[UEMK]

To analyse the content and accessibility features of the library pages or site on the institutional websites of the private universities in West Bengal, the following criteria were set:  Availability of Library Webpage or Library website or Library section in a page in the websites of the Universities to access from outside of the campus.

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

 Availability of basic information about the Library in the library webpage/ university website on the internet. Under this category, some subcategories were framed such as, About the Library and Library Rules, Collections, Facilities, Services and Departments, Membership and Circulations, Library Management Software used, Library Layout, Annual Library Report.  Availability of WebOPAC in the library webpage/ university website on the internet.  Availability of link to access the online resources of the library in the university website.  Availability of information on Librarian, library staff members and web contact form to communicate with the library in the university website.  To rank the universities in terms of the web presence of their library. To compare and give rank to the universities a weight age or score has been given under each category to the universities and the availability of the features were marked with Y (Yes) and N (No) in the tables based on the findings.

6. SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This present study would help to understand the web presence of the libraries of the private universities in the state of West Bengal. As the study has been carried out during March 09, 2019 to April 09, 2019 therefore, analysis has been done on the basis of data collected in this period only. At present, the features of the websites of the said private universities may be or may not be changed.

This study did not analyze the quality of the websites. Therefore, there is a scope of a qualitative research of websites of the universities.

7. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

The websites of the private universities of West Bengal, available in UGC website during March 09, 2019 to April 09, 2019, are accessed to analysed the contents on library and features available on the library page/website. The finding has been categorized in six different sections and their subsections. The analysis of the findings is discussed below.

5 | P a g e International Journal of Next Generation Library and Technologies (ISSN 2395 – 5201)

IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

7.1 Availability of Library website or Library webpage in university websites on the Internet

Table 1: Availability of Library website or Library webpage A dedicated Menu Library as a sub- Dedicated No Site/ Page/ in the Homepage or section in a Library Section on Library a page on “Library” certain page in Website in the University in the University the University Total University available on Website on website on the website on the Score the internet Internet internet internet (Score 3) (Score 2) (Score 1) (Score 0) AU N N N Y 0 AUK N N Y - 1 BWU N Y N - 2 JISU N N N Y 0 SSU N N N Y 0 SNU N Y N - 2 SXU N Y N - 2 TIU N Y N - 2 TNU N Y N - 2 UEMK N N Y - 1

It is very clear from Table-1 that, none of the universities had a dedicated library website on the internet. Only 5(50%) universities have a dedicated menu in the homepage or a page on “Library” in the university website. A weightage was given to AUK and UEMK as in the homepage of UEMK website, a section, labeled as “Library”, a small description about the library and its collection, of IEM-UEM Group was given, not specifically of Kolkata campus and in case of AUK (www.amity.edu) main page, a brief description about Library was found which was not specifically for Kolkata campus.

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

7.2 Availability of basic information about the Library in the library webpage/ university website on the internet

Table 2: Availability of basic information about the Library

Information on

University Total Score

Collections

Circulations

Departments

Software used Software

Library LayoutLibrary

Membership and and Membership

Library Management Library Management

Facilities, Services and Services Facilities,

Annual Library Report Library Annual

Library and Library Rules Library Library and Score Score Score Score Score Score Score 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 AU N N N N N N N 0

AUK N N N N N N N 0

BWU Y Y Y Y Y N N 5

JISU N N N N N N N 0

SSU N N N N N N N 0

SNU Y N Y N N N N 2

SXU Y Y Y Y Y N Y 6

TIU Y Y N N N N N 2

TNU Y Y N N N N N 2

UEMK Y Y N N N N N 2 AUK posted a photo with a caption “Central Library” under Infrastructure section but no other information is available in their website, though some links to the libraries of the campuses other than Kolkata were available. When a search was made in their “http://www.amity.edu” website then a page was found on Central Library where the area of the library, brief information about collections on books

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal and journals and databases, a link to digital library were available. But no link to library was found in the webpage of Amity University Kolkata campus.

BWU and SXU provided a dedicated menu on Library at the homepage of the university website. Information on Services, Resources, Library Rules, Membership, links to e-journal, WebOPAC, Library Management Software, etc. were available. SXU provided latest annual report on library.

SNU provided a sub-menu on library under ‘Campus Life’ menu on the homepage of their university website. They provided a very brief description about their library, collections and services, but that information was insufficient.

UEMK, TIU and TNU provided very brief information on library and its collections, which is very insufficient for any user. In UEM website, a small description about the library of IEM-UEM Group was given but not specifically for Kolkata campus.

AU, JISU, SSU did not provide any link to their university library through the university website.

7.3 Availability of WebOPAC

Table 3: Availability of WebOPAC Link to WebOPAC available in the homepage/ in library website/ in a section Link to WebOPACNOT Total University under any page in the university website on available on the internet Score the internet Score 1 Score 0 AU N Y 0 AUK N Y 0 BWU Y - 1 JISU N Y 0 SSU N Y 0 SNU N Y 0 SXU Y - 1 TIU N Y 0 TNU N Y 0 UEMK N Y 0 From Table-3 it can be seen that, only two universities made WebOPAC link available for the users in their university website. Surprisingly, in case of all the other 8 universities no OPAC link was available on their university website.

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

7.4 Availability of link to access the online resources of the library

Table 4: Availability of link to access the e-resources of the library E-resource Links available in the homepage/ in library website/ in a section under any page in the university website on the internet

National Open Digital Total University E-journals/ Educational Library/ Other e- NOT Score Databases/ e- courseware Other resources available books (MOOCs) Digital Libraries Score 1 Score 1 Score 1 Score 1 Score 0 AU N N N N Y 0 AUK Y N N Y - 2

BWU Y N Y Y - 3

JISU N N N N Y 0

SSU N N N N Y 0

SNU N N N N Y 0

SXU Y N Y Y - 3

TIU N N N N Y 0

TNU N N N N Y 0

UEMK N N N N Y 0

Table-4 reveals that seven universities did not provide any link to the e-resources of their library at their homepage or library webpage. AUK provided a link “Amizone” at the homepage on their university website. There the users would get information about e-resources of the university. BWU and SXU very effectively provided the links to various e-resources.

7.5 Availability of information onLibrary staff members and social media presence

During the study it has been found that only Brainware University and Seacom Skills University provided information about the Librarians of their libraries. Brainware University mentioned the name and email- ids of their Librarian, Asst. Librarian and contact no. of library on their WebOPAC page. Seacom Skills University mentioned about their Librarian in the faculty profile segment in their website, but no contact

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal details of the library or library staff members was mentioned. Table-5 shows the result in the tabular form.

Table 5: Availability of information on Library staff members and social media presence of the library

Availability of Web-form for Availability information about Library to of Contact NOT Librarian and Library communicate/ number of Available Total University staff members, including Blog/ Social Library Score contact details Media presence

Score 1 Score 1 Score 1 Score 0 AU N N N Y 0 AUK N N N Y 0

BWU Y Y N - 2

JISU N N N Y 0

SSU Y N N - 1

SNU N N N Y 0

SXU N N N Y 0

TIU N N N Y 0

TNU N N N Y 0

UEMK N N N Y 0

Only 20% of the universities had provided information on Library staff members. Social media presence of all the university libraries was nil.

7.6 Ranking of the universities based on the scores in terms of the web presence of their library

Based on the above findings and analysis, an attempt was made to rank the 10 private universities in West Bengal. As the study has been pursued during March 09-April 09, 2019, therefore, the ranking of these universities were determined based on the scores given to them as per the criteria was set for the study.

10 | P a g e International Journal of Next Generation Library and Technologies (ISSN 2395 – 5201)

IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal

It is found that Brainware University ranked on the top while St. Xavier University placed at the second position based on the results. JIS and Adamas University did not score well and placed at the last position due to lack of information about their university library on their websites.

Table 6: Ranking of the universities based on the scores in Table 1-5

Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Total Overall University Score Score Score Score Score Score Rank

Adamas 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 University-[AU] Amity University 1 0 0 2 0 3 4 (Kolkata)-[AUK] Brainware 2 5 1 3 2 13 1 University[BWU] JIS University- 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 [JISU] Seacom Skills 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 University-[SSU] Sister Nivedita 2 2 0 0 0 4 3 University-[SNU] St. Xavier 2 6 1 3 0 12 2 University-[SXU] Techno India 2 2 0 0 0 4 3 University-[TIU] The Neotia 2 2 0 0 0 4 3 University-[TNU] University of Engineering and 1 2 0 0 0 3 4 Management (Kolkata)-[UEMK]

8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study revealed that most of the private universities in West Bengal developed their university websites as a part of the minimum standard required. As a result the web presence of their library was not at all satisfactory in most of the cases. Some of the universities tried to provide effective information on their libraries but need further improvements.

It is recommended to all the universities to develop a separate library website for the university library with links to useful resources to cater better library service not only for the users within the campus but

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IJNGLT, MAY 2019, VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 WWW.IJNGLT.COM

Showcasing university library on the web: a comparative and informetric study of the websites of private universities in West Bengal also for outside of the campus. All the private universities in West Bengal are relatively new and they are still in the developmental phase. Therefore, it can be expected that within few years the libraries of all these universities will come up with better features and technologies to serve the best to the users.

REFERENCE

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5. S.N. Archana & Kabir S, H. (2010). Web Presence of the Engineering College Libraries in Kerala: An Analysis of Content. Kelpro Bulletin, 14(1), 35-47. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263464273_web_presence_of_the_engineering_college _libraries_in_kerala_an_analysis_of_content

6. Savitha, K. S. (2016). Content analysis of deemed university library websites of Karnataka State: a study. International Journal of Digital Libraries, 6(1), 87-93. Retrieved March 21, 2019, from http://www.ijodls.in/uploads/3/6/0/3/3603729/767.pdf

7. Tomar, S. S., Ahmed, M. I., & Singh, A. K. (2018). Content analysis of Web presence of National Law University libraries in India. Library Philosophy and Practice. Retrieved March 23 , 2019, from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1725

8. Wijayaratne, A. (2013). Review of Web Presence of University Libraries of Sri Lanka. Journal of the Univ. Librarians Asso. of Sri Lanka, 17(1), 34-57. Retrieved March 21 , 2019, from https://jula.sljol.info/article/10.4038/jula.v17i1.6643/galley/5185/download/

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