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The study aims to explore the researchers' satisfaction with digital library resources and services and how they improved the research culture in Pakistani universities. A descriptive survey method was employed to achieve objectives of this study. Using stratified random sampling, for this survey we selected 14 public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan with different disciplines. The study reveals that the respondents recognized the usefulness of e-databases, e-books, open access e-books, and open access e-journals, respectively, for their research needs. The respondents were satisfied with the authenticity of information, file formats, interface(s), and file downloading speed. They were dissatisfied, however, with the support of library staff to help them in the use of these resources and services. The findings of this study are valuable for university library authorities, policymakers, and LIS professionals, both in Pakistan as well as in other countries with the same resources and services. The results of this study will also be useful for academic libraries to provide effective information resources and services, and to meet the information needs of researchers on a priority basis. The findings suggest subscribing to e-resources and Information Literacy programs in order to maximize research scholars' success, and to enable them to contribute to the promotion of research endeavors in a developing country like Pakistan.

This study examined the use of electronic resources among academic scholars of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB), Punjab, Pakistan. A quantitative survey was found most convenient and useful for this study. The total population of the study was 169 research students in IUB. The response rate was 79% and 133 utilizable responses were coded and analyzed by using SPSS software. Results of the study showed that most of the researchers (61%) used electronic resources daily for many purposes and reasons. Most of them (57%) were "satisfied" with the usage of electronic resources. Learning, education, and research were the main purposes, and easy use and easy access to documents were the major reasons of using these resources. Lack of internet connection is the major problem faced by the respondents.

The "digital divide" refers to the gap between those people who have access to information and communication technologies (computer, cellphones, especially smart phones, digital hardware, software and internet) and those who don't. Literature show that digital divide has been explored extensively in different perspectives. The main objective of the current study is to look at the bibliometric examination of research output on the "Digital Divide" literature published in the Web of Science from 1999 to 2021, using bibliometric and visualization techniques. Initially, minimum number of 14 keywords occurrences are selected in which 70 keywords out of 5127 finalized. For the Keywords analysis VOS-viewer were used. Five keywords "Digital Divide", "Internet", "ICT", "Digital Inequalities" and "Digital Literacy" truly represent the nature of the current research. Finally, 2443 documents on "Digital Divide" indexed in the Web of Science database were analyzed, including Articles, Proceeding papers, Reviews, and book Chapters. Among all of them the most occurring document is Article (1632). For data analysis and bibliometric indicator extraction, the bibliometric method based on the R package, Excel, MS-Access, and VOS-viewer software packages were used. This study reveals the research work, productivity and publication of different authors on Digital Divide. Further, this work provided some pertinent information about the most productive countries, organizations, and authors, preferred types of researcher's sources and authorship collaboration in Digital Divide research as well as prominent research's citations and their use. Similarly, based on the data collected, the focus was on top-ranked publications. Leading countries, institutes, journals, articles, authorships, keywords, collaborative research networks, leading scholars, and keywords were all included in the analysis. Results show that the article "The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon" published in 2003 have the highest citation 546 published in the journal "Information Society". It reveals that most of the articles on "Digital Divide" included in the current study have reasonable citation because the least cited article among top 20 had 216 citations. Further, collaboration of two authors, closely followed by one, three and four authors has been found regarding the publications on"Digital Divide". Among top 20 most productive countries on "Digital Divide", USA is the most productive country with 780 documents, followed by England and Spain with 186 and 161 respectively. Similarly, when looking at the leading research institutions "Tilburg University" appeared one of the highest productive institute have "Tilburg University" leads the research institute list with 26 publications in this area. Most prolific author in this field is "Jams J", who published 23 articles. The highest bilateral collaboration has been observed between the United States and China. This study emphasis on the patterns of scholarly communication in the digital divide research. These trends would benefit scholars from a variety of fields by identifying the core areas, main authors, and core publications that produce this content. It also encourages scholars to do collaborative and multidisciplinary research on the digital divide in order to gain deep and practical knowledge.Leading countries, institutes, journals, articles, authorships, keywords, collaborative research networks, leading scholars, and a three-factor analysis of leading countries, institutions, and keywords were all highlighted in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to measure the information and communication technology (ICT) skills of library and information science professionals considering it as a predictor of enhanced library services. The study also finds out which ICT skill is the best predictor for better library services. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from librarians at university libraries in Punjab, Pakistan. Four constructs – computer skills, information storage skills, information retrieval skills and online utility software skills – were taken as the independent variables and a construct measuring library performance was taken as the dependent variable. After checking all assumptions, a multiple regression was run to predict the dependent variable from the independent variables. Further, comparison among the independent variables was made to check the level of contribution towards library performance. The regression model shows that the explanatory power of ICT skills for enhanced library services is slightly high, which indicates that a higher level of ICT competency among librarians is important for enhanced library services. Furthermore, the beta coefficient illustrates that the contribution of information retrieval skills towards enhanced library services was relatively high compared with the three other ICT skills. The study concludes that ICT skills are a prerequisite for better library services and the professional development of librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to achieve three objectives; 1) to investigate the usage and acceptability of e-databases and e-journals among the research scholars in selected universities of Pakistan, 2) to indicate the preferred information resource being used by researchers, and 3) to explore barriers faced by them when consulting these resources for research endeavors. Out of a total population of 4282, a sample of 1031 respondents from four major disciplines were used for the study. The research tool used in the collection of data was a closed ended questionnaire. Key findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents accessed e-databases and e-Journals "2-3 times" a week, and have widely accepted the "importance" of these resources in research activities. In addition, the respondents usually preferred to use electronic databases, e-books and ejournals (open access) over printed collection. Though, restrictions on e-resources, slow internet connection, students' awareness and training were the major obstacles in using e-resources effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to describe the information-seeking pattern of primary care doctors and to examine the present position of clinical information availability at remote government health facilities in the District of Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. The participants of this study were all the medical officers working in Basic Health Units (BHUs), Rural Health Centers (RHCs) and Tehsil Headquarters (THQs), as these doctors met the established criteria. Criteria included Health Facilities run under Executive District Officer (EDO) Health, Multan. A descriptive survey was conducted for data collection. A close ended questionnaire was developed after relevant literature review and also accessing the situation of the remote government health facilities in district Multan. Results of this study showed that doctors rarely have the access to the services of medical librarian and medical library. Seventy four (74%) respondents have no access to computer with an internet although the print format is the most preferred format for seeking clinical information among primary care doctors. The study summarized that doctor's information seeking encountered barriers such as non availability of medical librarian, medical library that hindered the fulfillment of information needs. KEYWORDS: Information Behavior, Information Seeking, Information Sources, Access to Information, Clinical Information, Doctors, Primary Care, Remote Government Health Facilities, Introduction: The role of information seeking has always played a very significant part in all kinds of jobs performed by doctors, whether it is treatment of a patient or overall [...]

The purpose of this study was to measure the job satisfaction of library professionals serving in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Spector's Job Satisfaction (JSS) scale was used to examine the job satisfaction of respondents'. A total of 49 responses were collected and analyzed. The result shows that although library professionals working in these institutions were slightly satisfied with their nature of work, they were dissatisfied with supervision, benefits, promotion. Revision of service structure, promotion policies, improvement in academic qualification and advance training were suggested by the researchers. Design/methodology/approach:-Online questionnaire was sent to library professionals through email in 2011. In the survey 49 respondents participated. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-19) for Windows version used for quantitative data analysis. Findings: - This study provides a complete picture along with statistical data regarding job satisfaction of library professionals with respect to Pakistan. The findings of this study are valuable for library professionals, library administrators and competent authorities of universities Pakistan to redesign librarian service structure, pay scale and other benefits. Research limitations/implications- The paper specifically focus on the LIS serving professionals' in the ten public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Practical implications: -The findings of this study can be utilized to evaluate the level of job satisfaction of library professionals serving in the universities of Pakistan. The statistical data are very useful and authentic source for planning to improve the status of library professionals serving in the country. Key words: - Job satisfaction, Library professionals, University librarians, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Paper Type: -Research type, Introduction Job is an important aspect of an individual's life, occupies a lot of personal time compared to any other single activity and provides the financial basis for a persons' [...]

Byline: Shamshad Ahmed Four Cs, namely colour, clarity, carat (weight) and cut, primarily determine the price of a gem. Neutron irradiation, gamma rays and electron beams can be used to enhance the colour and clarity of aquamarine, quartz, tourmaline, kunzite, topaz, pearls and, most importantly, diamonds. Imparting colour and clarity to these gems that are otherwise devoid of these attributes results in significant value addition. The enhanced gems may possess stable or unstable colours, depending on the nature of the colour centre produced. This paper reviews the processes of enhancement of topaz and diamonds with a special emphasis on neutron irradiation. In view of the radioactivity generated as a result of exposure to neutrons and the likelihood of undue exposure to radioactive gems, the safety aspects are discussed. From the commercial viewpoint, the aspect of detection of treated materials has been documented. A related technique, the process of enhancement of gems by gamma rays, has been described. The enhancement of gems by radiation (in synergy with heat) is a commercially viable technique and constitutes a peaceful application of nuclear technology. It has potential and future prospects in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states.

Like other disciplines, effective organizational culture (OC) in librarianship has not only improved job commitment and organizational performance but has equally restricted its traditional trends and reduced turnover practices. Though, no attentions have been made to explore the contribution of OC towards lifelong learning skills (LLLS) of university librarians. As a part of a larger PhD research, this study intends to examine the relationships between OC and LLLS in the context of university librarians in Pakistan. This study proposes a framework linking the dimensions of OC and LLLS in the study context. For this purpose, a quantitative research approach will be adopted involving a sample of LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Pakistan. The contribution of this study could be viewed from a theoretical as well as practical perspectives. From theoretical perspective, the findings of this study could be used to establish an empirical based framework of OC and LLLS, while from practical viewpoint, the study could assist the university libraries' stakeholders for the implementation of effective policies with respect to OC and LLLS of university librarians in Pakistan. Scholars from diverse setting can use the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]