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The purpose of this paper is to highlight roles and functions of university and special libraries in research and reveal the role these libraries and librarians in Pakistan. The library is a growing organism and librarianship is a dynamic profession. Advancement in professional knowledge and activities in developing countries like Pakistan are comparatively very slow. We need to equip our libraries with current information resources and prepare our professionals modern skills. The paper gives a brief account of the basic issues regarding quality library and librarianship in Pakistan, and suggests the possible measures for improvement. This paper finally advocates and targets the task of creating a new job title digital librarian to take care of digital libraries and to manage the digital information system. The paper will provide help to scientists, educators, working and future library professionals. This paper is the only evaluation of the roles and functions of university/special libraries and their librarians. The findings are useful for planners of LIS education at postgraduate level in Pakistan as well as in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to analyse features and functions of indigenously developed web-based catalogues of academic, special and national libraries of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach - The assessment of 16 OPACs is based on a 91-item checklist developed with the help of previous studies conducted in other countries. Findings - The paper finds that indigenous web OPACs are at an initial stage of development and only offer basic facilities to their users. They do not offer facilities many OPACs in advanced countries already offer. Their shortcomings include the absence of MARC format and Z39.50 protocol, which are indispensable for shared cataloguing. A very few catalogues can accommodate non-Roman scripts like Urdu and other local languages. Originality/value - The comparison of features and functions of web OPACs can be useful to understand the level of OPAC development in Pakistan. It can also be helpful for future improvements in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the facilities and problems related to the public sector college libraries of Punjab Province of Pakistan in terms of resources i.e. stock, staff, finance, buildings, furniture etc. It was a quantitative research based on survey method. Cluster sampling technique was used to collect data from college librarians. A structured questionnaire was sent to college librarians through postal mail with self addressed return envelope. 48 respondents out of 63 (76%) returned back-filled questionnaires. The data collected through questionnaire was statistically analyzed using frequency statistics. On the basis of analysis, results have been drawn. Findings revealed the library professionals opinions about problems faced by college libraries in Punjab Province of Pakistan. It has been found that college libraries are facing a lot of problems. They have not proper and purpose built library buildings. They are facing the problems of inadequate staff, lack of furniture, insufficient library material and improper shelving of library material etc. This paper makes recommendations that can help to solve the problems of college libraries especially in Punjab Province and generally in Pakistan. It will help library administrators in policy making and allocation of funds for college libraries. It will also help in improving college library service quality and as a result quality of education in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]