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The present study aims to determine the impact of perceived information literacy (IL) skills on the research productivity of mathematics faculty members in Pakistan. The study explores their opinion of their ability to identify information needs and information sources. It also examines their perceived capability of constructing effective and efficient strategies for locating, accessing, evaluating, and applying the needed information legally and ethically. A structured questionnaire was developed based on the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy. Questionnaires were sent to 300 academicians from 36 public sector universities in the Punjab province of Pakistan through personal visits, e-mail, and postal service. After repeated follow-up calls, 185 filled questionnaires were received. The major findings of the study showed that the mathematics faculty members believed they had reasonable IL skills. The majority of them had published research articles in learned journals. The study revealed a positive impact of perceived IL skills on the research productivity of mathematics faculty members. IL instruction sessions designed for faculty may improve the research output of mathematics scholars in their respective universities.

This paper examines the issue of quality assurance (QA) in library and information science (LIS) education in Pakistan. It identifies the practices of quality assessment prevalent in Pakistani LIS schools and examines the perceptions of faculty members concerning the accreditation of LIS programs. A questionnaire sent to heads of departments and semi-structured interviews with faculty were employed to collect data. The findings of the study identify human, physical, procedural, and behavioral hindrances to imparting quality education. The study revealed a need for developing and implementing robust internal and external quality assurance mechanisms. The findings may lead to the development of policy guidelines for quality assurance in Pakistan and other countries with a similar context.

Information science profession is concerned with information user and every development in this field has been designed to make it easier for the user to access documents or information. The current study examined user studies to provide understanding about the users, growth in user studies, topics, and methods of user studies. A content analysis method has been adopted and empirical research articles produced by Pakistani authors during the period 2001–2016 have been examined. Out of 518 empirical articles, 185 user studies were selected for examining users, subject and methods. Growth in user studies research was lower from the period 2001 to 2008 but number of studies increased significantly after 2008. Dominant majority of user studies collected data from educational institutions. Academicians and students were the most frequently studied users. Bureaucrats, judges, and other officials have not been examined for elicitation of their needs in spite of the fact that libraries have been established with government departments and courts. In respect of research areas of user studies, information needs and seeking behavior, use and skills of internet and social media, use of electronic resources and satisfaction of users with library services constitute 90% of user studies research. With respect to use of research methodology, quantitative approach (78%) is popular in user studies followed by mixed methods (10%), qualitative (8%), and multimethod (4%). More than one method is used in 14% user studies research. In case of frequency of research methods, questionnaire (72%) is the dominant method followed by interview (14%). The current study is unique because it identified popular topics and methods in user studies research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]