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The purpose of this study is to find out relationship between customer relationship management (CRM) practices and barriers in university libraries of Pakistan. The study also focused on CRM's barriers and its correlation with types of university, regions of university and gender. This study adopted correlational research design with survey method based on quantitative data collection. A structured and open-ended questionnaire was distributed among the head/in-charge librarians of universities libraries in Pakistan. The results have demonstrated that major barriers of CRM are financial resources/budget, qualified, experienced and trained staff, human resource satisfaction and motivation, information technology infrastructure, CRM knowledge and understanding by staff, library culture and collaboration, library users, and leadership commitment. Insignificant variations were found in the overall mean score of CRM barriers based on types of university, regions of university, and gender of the respondents. There is a strong negative (inverse) relationship exist among CRM practices and overall barriers as well as its four sub-facets, while three attributes having moderate negative relationship respectively. This study has numerous practical and theoretical contributions about CRM for academic libraries, especially those engaged in customer relationship management strategies, practices and implementation. The results enlighten library employees to be effective, proactive and successful performers for users' satisfaction, retention and loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collection management in libraries has evolved alongside the developments of the new technologies effecting libraries. As digital collections are increasingly becoming the preferred resources by remote library users, librarians are faced with the challenge of proving a seamless continuation of efficient accessibility to these digital collections over time. This study aims to explore librarians' understanding of the sustainability of digital collections, the criteria for its fulfilment, and their perspectives on the accrued benefits of the practice. The study employs a qualitative approach, with purposive sampling of 25 experienced librarians and library ICT personnel from three federal universities in Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups discussions were used in the data collection. Result reveals that the academic librarians are insightful about what it means by sustaining digital collections in their respective universities. The themes generated are the provision of access, digitization, preservation, task functions, and services. The criteria to be achieved for the sustainability of digital collections, includes skilled manpower, professional development, defined roles, ICT infrastructure, funding, and maintenance. The movement for sustaining digital collections in academic libraries in Nigeria will benefit the library's reputation, improve the services offered, aid in the preservation of the collections, promote resource sharing, and reduce time and cost. The study suggests that academic librarians need ongoing training to keep them abreast of the latest technology for crucial understanding in a bid to sustain their digital collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to examine the factors affecting library use amongst university students. Logistic regression analysis is applied on data collected using stratified random questionnaire-based interviews of 388 students of a public university in Malaysia. Results of the marginal effects indicate that students of Indian and other descent are more likely to use the library than their Malay cohorts. In addition, those who have attended library induction sessions, those who believe that the library provides a useful avenue for them to achieve their academic goals, and frequent online users are more likely to utilize the library than their cohorts, all else equal. Students in their third/fourth/final year of studies have a lower propensity for library visits than their second year counterparts, ceteris paribus. Meanwhile, factors such as gender, parental education, campus residence, field of study, and job status do not affect library utilization in a statistically significant manner. Based on these results, several observations are noted vis-à-vis the determinants of library use amongst university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 49-item modified version of Sharon L. Bostick's (1992) Library Anxiety Scale was tested among 367 undergraduate students drawn randomly from a population of 8,432 undergraduate students. The 49-item instrument was administered during classroom hours using a self-reported questionnaire. An 84% response rate was achieved resulting in 308 questionnaires that were returned and were found to be useful. The analysis of data was based on these 308 usable returns. Gender, nationality and bibliographic instruction were employed as independent variables to examine their effects on each of the five (5) library anxiety sub-scales: barriers with service providers, comfort with library services, affective barriers, cognitive barriers and comfort with library technology. The results of running independent sample t-tests on each of the five(5) sub-scales with gender as the independent variable was found to be statistically significant only on the "cognitive barriers " sub-scale, t (303) = 2.22, p < .05 between male students (M = 7.64, SD = 2.90) and female students (M = 8.42, SD = 2.79). The results of running independent sample t-tests on each of the five (5) library anxiety sub-scales with nationality as the independent variable was found to be statistically significant only on the "affective barriers" sub-scale, t (301) = 2.47, p <.05 between Malaysian students (M = 8.14, SD = 2.22) and non-Malaysians (M = 7.33, SD = 2.17). The results of running independent sample t-tests on each of the five (5) library anxiety sub-scales with bibliographic instruction as the independent variable were found to be not statistically significant on all of the five (5) library anxiety sub-scales, p > .05. A 2 X 2 factorial ANOVA was performed to test each of the main effects and interaction effects hypotheses. The results showed that there was a statistically significant interaction effect between gender and bibliographic instruction on the library anxiety sub-scales: (a) affective barriers, F (1, 295) = 5.21, p < .05; (b) comfort with library technology, F (1, 299) = 5.32, p < .05. Statistically significant interaction effects was also found between gender and nationality on the library anxiety sub-scales: (a) barriers with service providers, F (2, 294) = 3.85, p <.05; (b) affective barriers, F (2, 295) = 3.44, p < .05. No statistically significant interaction effects were found between nationality and bibliographic instruction on any of the five (5) library anxiety sub-scales, p > .05. Additionally, no statistically significant main effects were found for each of the independent variables (gender, nationality and bibliographic instruction) on any of the five library anxiety sub-scales, p > .05. Findings suggest that gender acted as a moderating variable for the independent variables nationality and bibliographic instruction. Hence, the variable gender moderates the relationship between the two independent variables (nationality and bibliographic instruction) with the library anxiety sub-scales: affective barriers, barriers with service providers and comfort with library technology. This study represents one of the first to have identified the variable gender as a moderator in explaining the variance in library anxiety among undergraduate library users in a Malaysian university library environment. More studies need to be carried out to identify not only moderators but mediators in the library anxiety phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the video browsing behavior of patrons of a Midwestern university library. The study reveals that patrons who are using video collections exhibited the same browsing behaviors as those dealing with print materials and web sites. It also reveals that most patrons showed frustration when it comes to choosing a video and one possible reason given was that they lack information that can help them decide which video to peruse.

The article proposes a model for developing a collection security management assessment instrument for university libraries. The model is made up of five elements that include collection security governance, operations and processes, people issues, physical and technical issues and the security culture in libraries. The model was tested in four university libraries in Nigeria and was shown to be reliable based on all five elements, with reliability values ranging from 0.7 to 0.9.

Sharon L Bostick's (1992) Library Anxiety Scale has been widely used to assess library anxiety among library users. Little psychometric effort was undertaken to assess the scale's psychometric properties in an environment where English is not the native language of the library users. This study was an attempt to cross-culturally validate the scale in a Malaysian university library environment where the population's native language is not English. A 49-item modified version of Bostick's (1992) Library Anxiety Scale was tested among 367 students drawn randomly from a population of 8,432 undergraduate students. The instruments were administered during classroom hours using a self-reported questionnaire. An 84% return rate was achieved in which the questionnaires that were returned were found to be usable. The findings revealed that a 5-factor solution was found which corresponded to the five factors as found by Bostick's (1992) pioneering psychometric effort on library anxiety. The factor "barriers with staff" explained the greatest proportion of variance in the library anxiety construct which is consistent with previous studies on library anxiety. The overall scale as well as each of the five sub-scales was submitted to an internal reliability assessment using Cronbach's internal reliability coefficient alpha. With the exception of the modified sub-scale "comfort with library technology" all the four sub-scales as well as the overall scale were found to have satisfied the 0.70 criteria as recommended by Nunnally and Bernstein (1994). As such the findings were found to be consistent with previous studies that found the scale to be valid as well as internally reliable. More psychometric efforts are needed before the scale can be said to be a useful instrument in assessing library anxiety among Malaysian university library users. A Malay version of Bostick's (1992) scale would have to be tested before any sound conclusions can be made about the scale's psychometric soundness and stability in an environment where English is not the native language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library anxiety is one of the psychological barriers that encounter students when they are performing a library task. This study explores library anxiety among 51 Sudanese university students using diary method for data collection. The finding indicates that library anxiety among Sudanese university students are manifested into five dimensions, namely; (a) Negative perceptions towards library environment, (b) Negative perceptions towards peer students, (c) Negative perceptions towards library staff, (d) Negative perceptions towards library services, and (e) Psychological barriers. Details of statements under the dimensions highlight the issues that are unique and not covered by previous studies in library anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a part of a quantitative study that aims to evaluate the library's performance by measuring the users' satisfaction with (a) library services, (b) infrastructure/place/space and (c) collection/information provided by an academic library in Malaysia. A self-developed questionnaire was used to gauge the respondents' opinions on their satisfaction level on the statements regarding the three dimensions. The instrument was distributed to a sample of 650 final year students from three faculties of the university. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of data using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions. A parametric test using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean satisfaction scores among the respondents from the three faculties. The results of the study revealed that on the average, the respondents were only quite satisfied with the library services, infrastructure/place/space, collection/information of the library as a whole. The respondents were relatively most satisfied with infrastructure/place/space (M= 3.41), followed by collection/information (M= 3.27), and library services to users (M= 3.18) in that order. The results also showed significant differences on the satisfaction on services, infrastructure/place/space, and libraries' collection/information among the respondents of the three faculties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents literature based historical review of Internet access in Kenyan university libraries since the first connectivity in the country in 1994. The literature is based on four major newspapers in Kenya that are reputed for tracking Internet growth and its integration in the country's institutions. These major newspapers are The Standard, Daily Nation, Kenya Times and East African. Despite the fact that the Internet is increasingly being adopted in most universities the world over, universities in Kenya are struggling to provide efficient internet access to students and staff because of several constraints such as costs, infrastructure, policy and poor management vision. The findings of this work identify several areas that need attention to enhance a wider adoption and use of the Internet by university libraries in Kenya. Moreover, there is a need for demonstrated interventions that will provide conditions that enhance individual employees' interaction, acceptability and use of the Internet. In addition, university libraries should equip their employees with the required levels of Internet-related knowledge and skills. From a practical perspective, the training offered to the staff should be designed to not only offer mastery of the skills, but also promote positive perceptions and appreciations of the technology. There is also need for libraries to identify appropriate proactive measures that can promote positive Internet response. Similarly, university libraries require clear drawn-up ICT policies specifying the envisioned role of both general and specific ICTs. Extending the service to library clients at a subsidized fee should supplement the recurrent expenditure incurred in the provision of the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an exploratory attempt to use a modified version of SERVPERF to assess user's satisfaction with the services provided by an ISO9000:2000 certified library at a private university in Malaysia where measuring performance would be an integral part to continuously improve quality of services. The services being measured are grouped as frontline, core and peripheral where staff and facilities interact with users directly and where user's opinions and expectations could be extracted. The clients are undergraduates and postgraduates who use these services and facilities. The results identify services deem important to users of the library as well as the problem areas which need improvements. A total of 274 students comprising 250 undergraduates and 24 postgraduates form the sample. The respondents' ratings range on average between 3.13 and 4.36 on a 5-point scale, implying that the library is performing at an above average level. From 59 service attributes, 2 are perceived as excellent, 20 attributes are considered good, 31 are average and 4 services are rated as poor. A total of 16 services are rated below 50%, which form the priority list of services given priority in the library's proposed action plan. The good and excellent services would continue to be monitored to maintain their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]