Application of ICT in Academic Libraries: A Study on Opinion and Problems by LIS Professionals

This study discusses about the opinion and problems by application of ICT in academic libraries among the library professionals in engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. The relevant data were collected from the library professionals of the self financing engineering institutions situated in Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. Out of 625 questionnaires distributed, 504 were responded. The response rate is 80.64%. It was found that for the most of the respondents, Lack of interest on the part of users and No support from administration in training library professionals are the major problems. The least preference was given for Fear of ICT applications.

Publications Trends in Atomic Physics: A Global Perspective

The present study involves analyzing the worldwide publication scenarios on Atomic Physics using Web of Science database for a period of 10 years from 2004-2013. The database contains 29402 publications in the field of atomic physics. The publications have reached the highest number in the year 2008 with maximum of 6099 publications and the average paper per year is 2940.2. The compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of these publications have decreased from 0.58 in the year 2005 to 0.33 in the year 2012. The average value of collaboration coefficient on atomic physics paper publication is 0.63. 94.40% of papers have the multi authorship whereas 5.60% of contributions have come from single authors. USA has contributed maximum number of publications and India stands 12th in terms of paper publications on this topic in this period. The most prolific author is Ye, P D who has contributed 39 articles whereas Fanciulli, M and Kobayashi, K, contributed 37 articles each. University of Tokyo, Japan is on top of the list of most contributed institutions with 470 publications followed by Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan with 376 publications and Osaka University, which is also from Japan with 354 publications.

Facebook as an Informal Tool for Learning: Exploring Perceptions of Greek LIS Undergraduate Students

Facebook use in higher education has been explored from different perspectives (i.e. academic institutions, teachers, students). This research aimed to investigate Greek Library and Information Science undergraduate students perceptions of Facebook use for educational purposes. A questionnaire was distributed online during the first two weeks of June 2015 to 278 undergraduate students studying Library and Information Science in Greece. 135 questionnaires were collected with an overall response rate 48.6%. It was found that students employ Facebook mainly for social interaction and communicate though they do recognize the educational potential of social networking sites. Academic institutions and teachers need to stay up-to-dated with the emergence of new Web 2.0 tools and use them when appropriate to meet their goals. This research contributes in providing a further insight into the way students employ social networking sites and thus, assist academic institutions in formulating their strategy and teachers in incorporating Facebook in delivering their courses.

Scientometric Analysis of Contributions to the Journal Interlending & Document Supply

Scientometric analysis of 315 research articles published in Interlending & Document Supply has been carried out. Ten Volumes of the journal containing 40 issues from 2005–2014 have been taken into consideration for the present study. The mean doubling time for the first five years (i.e. 2005 to 2009) is only (0.71) which is increased to (0.12) during the last five years (2010 to 2014) the study revealed that most of the papers 184 (58.4%) of papers were contributed by single authors. UK is the top producing country with 104 (33.0%) publications of the total output. The highest range being articles in the range of 11-20, 188 (59.6%).

MOOCs in India: Yet to Shine

Education has undergone an unprecedented change since ancient times. As a latest development Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are emerging all over the globe. Embracing students from diverse geographical areas, academic backgrounds, and professional pursuits is the essence of open learning. India is in fact second largest user country of MOOCs, following US being at number one. Recognizing the same, MOOCs gained momentum in India too. While some are run by private business houses, others are introduced by the Government so as to reach the unreachable target group, achieve desired literacy level, and sharpen the skills of youth in order to deal with unemployment and promote various other projects of India viz. Make in India etc. India has still a long way to go, they are likely to be operational like a storm only by year 2020.