Challenges of getting faculty status: Perception of university librarians in Pakistan

Abstract

Objective:To find out the university head librarians’ perceptions about the issues in getting faculty status.

Methodology:A qualitative research design was used to explore the issue through personal and telephonic interviews with 15 chief librarians of 18 university libraries located in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The textual data was content-analyzed and coded. The emerged themes and subthemes have been presented with the frequency of their occurrences. The findings have been supported by the selected quotations of the interviewees.

Findings:A majority of the librarians had vague understanding of the notion of faculty status. Almost all of them desired for granting faculty status to the university librarians. However, their opinion was divided on the prerequisites for faculty status. Most of them supported the same criteria for employment and promotion of faculty librarians, as is used in case of their teaching faculty counterparts. The study has identified that the main barriers in getting faculty status are the librarians themselves, lacking preparedness in terms of qualifications and research output.

Implications:The study brings into light both the possibilities of granting faculty status to the university librarians and barriers in this regard. Besides, the findings though extracted from a small number of respondents, may be of interest to other countries in the region.

Originality/value:This exploratory investigation identifies barriers in getting faculty status and is the first ever study on the subject in the local literature.

Conclusion:Faculty status will help in improving visibility, image and respect of librarians. Therefore, there is a need to prepare university librarians for faculty status, and to struggle for getting it.     

Toward a Model ILL and Document Delivery Automated System: A Case Study

SUMMARY

The state of Illinois funded a large scale Ariel project. This is a report of the project's successes and shortcomings. Although widely successful, additional training in the use of sophisticated hardware, primarily Minolta scanners, is needed. Data on sending and receiving is included.     

Electronic Interlibrary Loan Delivery with Ariel and ILLiad

SUMMARY

Ariel files are the starting point for electronic delivery of interlibrary loan articles through ILLiad, Virginia Tech's interlibrary loan system. Despite some advantages to electronic delivery of articles to their desktops, a large majority of ILL customers continue to prefer print on paper delivery rather than electronic delivery. This fact has implications for introducing additional electronic services. Correctly choosing what services to impose on library customers, and what services to offer as value-added options, is fundamental to maintaining the credibility of libraries during these times of rapid change.     

Between secularism/s: Islam and the institutionalisation of modern higher education in mid-nineteenth century British India

This paper problematises clean distinctions between secular and religious by tracing the history of modern higher education of Muslims in British colonial India. Grounded in the interpretive research tradition and with an empirical focus on the formative mid-nineteenth century, the article argues that relational notions between singular secularism and multiple secularisms best capture this historical trajectory. The institutional imaginary of colonialism constituted a significant milieu that, on the one hand, resulted in British policies in India that were at a tangent to similar developments in England at the time and, on the other, informed Muslim agency in its own institutionalisation of higher education. Muslim educational philosophy, politics and even theology were shaped in a concrete, historical, power-laden context. One of the consequences of this was a peculiar construction of ‘secularism’ in relation to Islam – again, related but at a tangent to the same notion in Europe. With a view on contemporary Pakistan, it is argued that such relational histories must be accounted for if policy and academic discourse is to move beyond largely stale and unhelpful binaries of Islam vs. Western modernity in religious education.     

Continuing Education (CE) of LIS Professionals: Need Analysis & Role of LIS Schools

Information explosion, development and applications of ICTs, changing dynamics of information users, and evolving trends in library and information services have promoted the discussion of continuing education (CE) in Library and Information Science (LIS) domain. ICTs are increasingly changing the landscape of libraries and challenging the traditional prevailing roles of LIS professionals. LIS professionals find it hard to remain in context in this technological era. They require the new set of skills and knowledge to address the challenges and issues of their professional life.The purpose of this study was to explore the opinions of LIS professionals to make an assessment about CE needs and the role of library schools to address these needs. The study opted sequential mixed methods of research. In first phase, an online survey was conducted to meet the objectives of the study. Data was collected by using a structured questionnaire. A total of 144 responses (70% male and 30% female) were received. In 2nd phase, a focus group was conducted to collect the qualitative data. The meta inferences were drawn on the basis of inferences of both QUAN and QUAL strands. The findings of the study revealed that respondents perceive a very active and instrumental role of LIS schools in their continuing education. Workshops, post-master certificate, and post-graduate diplomas were preferred formats of continuing education programs. The respondents preferred week long and 1–6 months long CE programs. In terms of the timings, weekends programs were most preferred. The respondents recommended that course instructor should be based on the contents of the course and a blend of teaching faculty and practitioners may be productive. The study also identified core areas of CE offerings.The findings of the study are helpful for LIS schools, professionals, trainers, funding bodies and policy makers. The study has the potential to bridge the gap by providing insight about the CE needs and recommend the concrete suggestions to act upon.     

Proposed information outreach programme in primary and secondary health care of Punjab,Pakistan

The study reported is part of Dr. Naeem's doctoral research, supervised by Professor Bhatti, with the objective to propose an information outreach programme for health care professionals working in rural areas of the Punjab province, Pakistan. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted involving 517 practitioners from across different health care facilities in the area. The goals of the outreach programme are identified on the basis of the findings regarding practitioners’ current usage and awareness of, as well as attitude and self‐efficacy towards using health information resources. The identification of these goals and their related activities, including logistical, promotional and educational, results in a model of the required inputs and investments to achieve both the short term, intermediate and long term results of the programme. F.J.     

巴基斯坦为何抛弃与美国结盟的外交政策

20世纪70年代前,巴基斯坦实行与美国结盟的外交政策,结果给巴基斯坦的政治、经济和对外关系造成了一系列的消极影响,特别是与美国结盟并不能保障巴基斯坦的国家安全。从70年代开始,巴基斯坦政府为了获得更大的外交活动空间,决定改变与美国结盟的外交政策,奉行新的不结盟政策。     

Claiming modernity through clothing: gender and education in Pakistani Muslim and Indian Hindu communities

Through focusing on forms of clothing, this article reveals how educated women from marginalized communities in Pakistan and India made differential claims to being modern. Our analysis of two ethnographic studies shows how the participants mobilized their subjectivities as modern and educated women through a distinction between ‘local modern’ and ‘local traditional’. In this article, our goal is not to define modernity, but instead to illuminate what it meant to be modern in both contexts. We integrate the narratives of young, rural Muslim women in Pakistan with those of young, rural Hindu women in India to disrupt the linear telling of the production of universal and homogenous modernity through education.     

Status of Public Libraries in Rawalpindi District,Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to assess the status of public libraries located in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan, in terms of administrative setup, collection, staff, resources, and services. The article is derived from evidence obtained through a questionnaire-based survey carried out in December 2013. This survey was conducted for the preparation of “Directory of Public Library Project” a joint venture of Punjab Library Foundation and Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab. The survey found eleven public libraries in the District of Rawalpindi. Only three of these have professional staff. Overall, libraries have poor and outdated book collections that are not properly classified and cataloged. Information Communication Technology infrastructure exists in libraries with some exceptions. Most of the libraries are facing constraints (e.g., low number of hours, too small in size, and too many users for size of collections) that result in inadequate services. Most of the libraries are facing similar problems, which are being faced by other public libraries of Pakistan (e.g., shortage of professional staff, lack of modern facilities, and insufficient funds). Practical recommendations are made at the end of study.     

巴基斯坦的“伊扎布特”组织研究

伊扎布特是一个国际性的宗教极端组织。在巴基斯坦1998年核试验后,该组织逐渐加强了在巴基斯坦的活动并组建了分部。在意识形态方面,该组织以伊斯兰教作为思想理论,以建立哈里发为目标。在组织方面,隐秘性是其特点。此外,采取多种手段招募成员。在其策略中,非常重视军人和其他精英阶层的作用。综合运用各种手段和工具为其宣传服务,尤其重视互联网的使用。