Off-Campus Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions About Distance Library Support Services: A Case Study of Allama Iqbal Open University Libraries Network

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to assess distance learning students’ perceptions about location and physical set up of libraries, collections, resources, and services rendered at thirty-four regional campuses as well as main campus libraries network of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) all over Pakistan. During the spring semester of 2007, a questionnaire was mailed to 250 randomly selected students enrolled in eleven postgraduate programs throughout the country. The response rate was 61.2%, which was made up of 43.1% females and 56.9% males. A majority of the respondents were dissatisfied with the virtual reference services, online database facilities, interlibrary loan, library membership, and borrowing of library material from the AIOU libraries. They were satisfied with the location and physical setup of the libraries, the collections, and the resources of the libraries. The study revealed that most of the respondents used the libraries during workshops as well as for research purposes. The statistical analysis (t = 0.550, Sig. = 0.970) showed that there was no significant difference between the opinion of females and males. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 10.0.     

Information Seeking Anxiety: Background,Research, and Implications

This research aims to provide an analytic and critical review of research on information seeking anxiety (ISA) with a view to inform the information professionals, especially those engaged in information literacy instructions about the existing situation. This study established the background of the proposed phenomenon, provided integrated analysis of the available research, and discussed the theoretical and practical implications of ISA on information services, especially information literacy instruction. Although the results from previous studies were not comparable, directly due to varied geographical contexts and research methods, it was nevertheless possible to draw some common conclusions regarding the users’ anxiety related to information seeking tasks. This review overwhelmingly indicated the manifestation and prevalence of ISA among students in the digital environment. Some personal and academics variables of students appear to be correlated with ISA. The results of reviewed studies indicated the necessity for a need-based information literacy curriculum for alleviation of anxiety related to students’ information-seeking tasks.     

Pakistani University Library Web Sites: Features,Contents, and Maintenance Issues

ABSTRACT

This study explores the current status and features of Pakistan's academic library Web sites. A checklist describing features and content was prepared based on a review of the literature related to academic libraries’ Web sites. Then, all 85 library Web sites of Pakistani universities and degree-awarding institutions recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan were surveyed and analyzed using the checklist. Interviews with library professionals were conducted to learn more about the problems and issues with building and maintaining library Web sites. Results indicate that Pakistani academic library Web sites have effective features such as contrasting color schemes, easily readable text, minimal use of horizontal scrolling, and English-language text. Staff information, OPACs, and navigation features are also widely found on the Web sites. Features found less frequently include the use of Web 2.0 technologies, Web site aid tools, information about library buildings, and general library information. By offering information about the status of Pakistani academic library Web sites, the study can serve as a foundation for discussion between libraries and other parts of the university, as well as a benchmark for evaluating the progress of academic library Web sites in Pakistan     

Capturing the online academic reading process

Described here is a study of how students actively read electronic journal papers to prepare for classroom discussions. Eighteen students enrolled in a graduate course participated in this study; half of them read the documents privately, while the other half shared their readings. These readers were digitally monitored as they read, annotated, and shared the electronic (e-) documents over a course of several weeks during a semester. This monitoring yielded a comprehensive data bank of 60 e-documents (with 1923 markings), and 56 computer logs. Using semi-structured interviews, the reading, marking, and navigational activities of the participating readers were analyzed in detail. Under scrutiny were a range of activities that the subjects carried out. Analyses of the data revealed the types of markings that the users employ, and the ways in which those marking were placed. A derivation of the user-perceived functions of the marking structures was then carried out. The findings then lead to several implications for informing the design of reading and marking applications in digital libraries.     

Using think-aloud protocols and interviews in investigating writers’ composing processes: combining concurrent and retrospective data

Research comparing the use of retrospective interviews (RIs) and think-aloud protocols (TAPs) as two data sources of writers’ composing processes is almost nonexistent. Trying to address this research gap, the present study examined the data obtained from the task-specific RIs and TAPs about the composing processes of 30 second language (L2) writers. Each participant thought aloud by concurrently verbalizing thoughts while performing an argumentative writing task, and then was interviewed immediately after the think-aloud session about their composing processes. The RI and TAP data was analyzed and compared in terms of five aspects of L2 writers’ composing: pre-writing stage, while-writing planning, first language (L1) use, composing problems and problem-solving, and text reviewing and changing. Though the results generally indicate that concurrent verbalizations provide much richer data than RIs about L2 writers’ composing processes, RIs were found to be a valuable source for revealing the ‘why’ of such processes. Besides, the gap between the data provided by the two sources differed from one composing aspect to another. Recommendations for how to optimally combine and make use of the two data sources in writing process research are provided.     

Endophytes from medicinal plants and their potential for producing indole acetic acid,improving seed germination and mitigating oxidative stress

Medicinal plants have been used by marginal communities to treat various ailments. However, the potential of endophytes within these bio-prospective medicinal plants remains unknown. The present study elucidates the endophytic diversity of medicinal plants (Caralluma acutangula, Rhazya stricta, and Moringa peregrina) and the endophyte role in seed growth and oxidative stress. Various organs of medicinal plants yielded ten endophytes, which were identified as Phoma sp. (6 isolates), Alternaria sp. (2), Bipolaris sp. (1), and Cladosporium sp. (1) based on 18S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The culture filtrates (CFs; 25%, 50%, and 100% concentrations) from these endophytes were tested against the growth of normal and dwarf mutant rice lines. Endophytic CF exhibited dose-dependent growth stimulation and suppression effects. CF (100%) of Phoma sp. significantly increased rice seed germination and growth compared to controls and other endophytes. This growth-promoting effect was due to the presence of indole acetic acid in endophytic CF. The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed the highest indole acetic acid content ((54.31±0.21) μmol/L) in Bipolaris sp. In addition, the isolate of Bipolaris sp. exhibited significantly higher radical scavenging and anti-lipid peroxidation activity than the other isolates. Bipolaris sp. and Phoma sp. also exhibited significantly higher flavonoid and phenolic contents. The medicinal plants exhibited the presence of bio-prospective endophytic strains, which could be used for the improvement of crop growth and the mitigation of oxidative stresses.     

Politicization of bilateral aid and educational development in Pakistan

Increasing international cooperation and interdependence are important features of the contemporary globalized world. In the present age, foreign aid is a very peculiar type of transaction in the sense that its focus is to satisfy the objectives of the donor and the recipient, which are not always the same. This paper attempts to analyse the situation of US and British aid to Pakistan’s education sector. The role of international donors in the development of the education sector in Pakistan cannot be underestimated. They have been even more important for this developing country which has faced financial crises, particularly during the 1990s. These financial hardships faced by the country were mainly the outcome of the changed regional, political, as well as the geostrategic situation which also caused the change in the behaviour of international donors. It is especially true in the case of the USA and the UK where the aid to Pakistan was seriously affected by the changed situation in Afghanistan, political changes within the country, its nuclear programme and more recently the events of 9/11. This discussion reflects that the potential benefits of the aid were not reaped adequately due mainly to disruption and resumption of aid on the grounds of the geo‐political situation and strategic interests of donors.     

Contextualising Education in Pakistan,a White Paper: global/national articulations in education policy

This article contextualises Education in Pakistan, a White Paper (2007), an influential education policy paper in Pakistan. The focus is on the ways the White Paper constructs its own contexts as a complement to the policy solutions proffered. Here we recognise Seddon’s point about the discursive work of policy in constructing context. We focus on the way the White Paper constructs its political/ideological context and its global/national context. The White Paper works with the trope of a binary construction of Islam – fundamentalist or moderate – which rearticulates Orientalist Western constructions. The analysis of the construction of the global/national contexts demonstrates the framing of the policy by the Millennium Development Goals, and the Washington and post‐Washington consensus.     

Islamized Ideologies in the Pakistani Education System: The Need for Religious Literacy

This article focuses on the critical ideologies of the curriculum behind the religious education (Madrassa system) and modern education systems (public and private schools) in Pakistan. These systems use different types of curriculum and have faced many challenges in the past, particularly with regard to the curriculum itself. Both systems of education teach students to develop their personalities in favor of their own system and against the other system. Religion plays a central role in the formation of the students' personality through both systems. Thus, both systems need religious literacy for the better use of religion in Pakistani society.