Use of web technology in providing information services by south Indian technological universities as displayed on library websites
| Published date | 06 September 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831111174431 |
| Date | 06 September 2011 |
| Pages | 470-495 |
| Author | Preedip Balaji B.,Vinit Kumar |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Use of web technology in
providing information services by
south Indian technological
universities as displayed on
library websites
Preedip Balaji B.
Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute,
Bangalore, India, and
Vinit Kumar
Institute of Library and Information Science, Bundelkhand University,
Jhansi, India
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the present status of using new generation web technology,
social media and Web 2.0 features among the technological university library websites in south India.
It seeks to assess the library websites as a primary platform and one-stop portal for information
services and to examine how much library websites are effective in providing web-based information
services.
Design/methodology/approach – The library websites of the technological universities in south
India were evaluated on the basis of a relative weight checklist. The criteria for the checklist were
drawn on the basis of availability of websites for library, resource discovery tools, access to scholarly
content and Web 2.0 tools. The various issues and challenges in adapting new web technologies in the
academic environment are discussed.
Findings – Using the current web development technologies and deploying for mainstream web
information services is not widespread as web information services are yet to take off widely in
academic libraries. The majority of university libraries are found to be working in the conventional
library settings and the diffusion rate of web information services is relatively low.
Originality/value – As this is an assessment of the existing online information infrastructure
facilities of the engineering universities in south India, the awareness of web-based information
services, their viability, and service values can be enhanced. More emphasis to improve upon the
current learning, online educational facilities and benchmarking electronic information services for
sustainability is highlighted.
Keywords Web technology,Web information services, Web 2.0, Technological universities,
Academic librarywebsites, India, Websites, Libraryand information networks, Universities
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
1.1 Technical education in India
India as an emerging destination of knowledge economy is getting widely recognised
as a global hub for education and trade. Globalisation of innovation and
groundbreaking technologies are providing easier access to information resources in
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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LHT
29,3
470
Received October 2010
Revised March 2011
Accepted April 2011
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 29 No. 3, 2011
pp. 470-495
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378831111174431
enriching the learning experience. Unlike the past, the phenomenal growth of
information and communication technology (ICT) has impacted tremendously and the
world is rapidly shrinking as the learning communities are brought closer. The
globalisation vastly fosters global education by forging partnerships and facilitating
cultural exchanges across various countries in the information-driven global village.
The response of higher education to globalisation had been empirically eviden ced in
India from the pre-reform period 1980 to 1991 to post-reform period from 1991 to 2005.
Indian higher education has substantially grown after the liberalisation of higher
educational policies. The magnitude of change in annual average growth percentage is
visible from these factors – globalisation (67.97 per cent), economic growth (9.03 per
cent), and higher education\GDP (21.37 per cent). Although the outlay of the total
government expenditure during post-reform period was not proactive in the country
(1.63 per cent change), the total number of higher educational institutions had
increased dramatically owing to liberal education policies from being 5,932 to 13,985
with a (135.75 per cent) change (Selvam, 2010). Total number of universities in India
was 378, and the colleges 18,064 in 2007; enrolments had increased from 7,50,000 to
1,400,000 in 2007 and are continuing to grow exponentially as the government is
strategising on capacity expansion, inclusiveness, incentives and access to quality
education (Government of India, 2008, p. 22). Indo-US educational tie-ups are rising in
the recent years, with estimation that 120 educational partnerships between the US and
India were established so far (Kannan, 2010). As the gross domestic product (GDP) of
India is growing consistently during the post-liberalisation period with 6.07 percent in
2008, the rate of youth literacy had also grown gradually at 82.1 percent (World Bank,
2010).
During the last few decades, Indian technical education comprising of technology,
engineering, management, pharmaceutical, computing, and information technology
studies have expanded with government liberalising and allocating more funds to
ensure inclusivity. Moreover, encouraging public-private partnerships and upgrading
the technical education system in response to the demanding workforce for the fast
growing diverse industries is also on the rise. In continuing the strides to ensure the
economic development and progress, government of India is keen on establishing
more educational institutions to keep the gross enrolment ratio (GER) up. The
present GER is 45 hundred thousand in higher and technical education, which is
being expected to increase to 16 per cent in 2012, while the government has set the
target of 30 per cent increase by 2020 (www.aicte-india.org/expansion.htm). India
turns out to be having one of the largest technical education systems in the world,
with 1511 educational institutions. It had been found that the average intake was
365 per institute and the growth rate of academic output for the period from 2001 to
2006 was 20.3 per cent in degree level engineering education. As on 2006, two
prominent states in southern India, Andhra Pradesh (280) and Tamil Nadu (268)
were the top states to have more number of engineering institutions with an annual
sanctioned intake of 1,07,575 and 1,05,318 respectively (Banerjee and Muley, 2007,
pp. 7-43).
Due to the neo-liberal policies in the late 1970s to 1980s, the higher education was
led to rapid privatisation, expansion and subsequent entry of more private players in
the sector, started capitalising the education market potential. Nonetheless, setting up
of more technical institutions by government has been planned for strengthening
Use of web
technology
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