Automation and Digitization of BIISS Library

Challenges, Opportunities and Use of Digital Libraries in Higher Education and Research in Bangladesh 1st MEETBdREN SUMMIT 2015 15-16 March 2015 Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Presented by: Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Ph.D. University Librarian North South University Dhaka, Bangladesh

What is a Digital Library (DL) ? DL.org, DELOS, DL Researchers, Practitioners & Software Developer produced a Digital Library Reference Model which defines a digital library as : “A potentially virtual organization, that comprehensively collects, manages and preserves for the long depth of time rich digital content, and offers to its targeted user communities specialized functionality on that content, of defined quality and according to comprehensive codified policies.“ (Candela et.al, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_library) Google showed 191,000 results (0.34 seconds) on search term “Definition of Digital Library”

Strategy of Developing Digital Library in a country Two strategies are needed to develop DL in the country:

1. To digitize local contents, and 2.To devise options for accessing external resources 1. Digitizing Local Content: Types of Digital Resources area. Born digital: Content that is created in a digital format, b. Digitizing: Information that has been converted from physical medium, e.g. paper, film, rare sources etc. 2.

Accessing external resource/content: a. Subscription (access to external content) b. Free or Open Access (Local and external content) c. Agreement/Exchange (Local and external content)

Historical Background of DL in Bangladesh 1. Digitizing Local Content A. Customized Software: 2002: National Library and Archives digitized the District Records Collected from 1760-1900 onto 1000 DVDs. 2003: North South University (NSU) Library has been developing e-journals, e-books afterward e-theses, news-clippings full-text online Digital Repositories by using customized software in MySQL and PHP platform, developed by NSU Library personnel & Students of NSU.

Journal Articles Online Database (DL) of NSU

1. Digitizing Local Content A. Customized Software:

2008: Daffodil International University (DIU) developed Digital Repositories by procured software Bright Soft (Malaysia). 2014: Bangladesh Central Public Library created online Digital Repositories of 1169 books by using customized software. 2015: Bangladesh Secretariat Central Library is developing Digital Repositories of its all Govt. Circulars, Gazettes, Reports, etc. (3 lac pages) by using customized software.

B. Open Source Software 2005: ICDDR,B Library developed IR by Dspace 2007: BRAC University (BRACU) & Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Library developed Institutional Repositories (IR) by Dspace 2010: East West University (EWU) Library developed IR by Greenstone 2010-2014: Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST) Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) , Bangladesh University of Professional (BUP), Eastern University, (EU), Patuakhali Science & Technology University (PSTU) etc. developed IR by Dspace or Greenstone.

2. Accessing External Content (Subscription/Open Access)

2002: For the first time, NSU subscribed JSTOR, IEEE, ACM & 39 titles of other online Journals and BRAC University subscribed JSTOR in Bangladesh. (In that time, some publishers/aggregators were marketing their online journals offering free access, e.g. Ingenta, OUP, Informa etc.) 2003: IUB subscribed JSTOR, after that other libraries started subscription to online journals in the country.

Digital Library (DL) Education in Bangladesh 2004: North South University (NSU) Library offered “Certificate Course in Digital and Online Librarianship” and 150 library professionals & others completed this course till today, 2011: Dept. of Information Science & Library Management, University of Rajshahi introduced “Digital Library” course in Masters level, 2012: Dept. of Information Science & Library Management, University of Dhaka introduced “Digital Library System” course in Masters level.

Workshop/ Training on DL in Bangladesh 2004: NSU Library organized workshop on “Role of online resources in higher education & research”, after that many institutions and organizations organized training & workshop on DL , e.g. Bangladesh Associations of Librarians, Information Scientists and Documentalists (BALID), BRACU, EWU, DIU, ICDDRB, Library Association of Bangladesh etc.

HEQEP Projects on Automation & Digitization of Libraries in Bangladesh: 2010-2015 10 (Ten) projects on Library Automation and Digitization have been implemented/ implementing in Bangladesh. 1st Round: Four projects: 1. NSU Library, 2. KUET Library, 3. SUST Library & 4, BSMMU Library 2nd Round: Two projects: 1. BUET Library and 2, CVASU Library 3rd Round: Four projects,: 1. DU Library, 2. SAU Library, 3. RU Library and 4. BAU Library

Challenges of Digital Library (DL) in Bangladesh   

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Lack of Leadership (both in Individual & Professional Association) Lack of knowledge of decision makers about the benefits of DL Lack of skill manpower to develop DL Lack of fund to develop DL Selection/customization of DL software Lack of infrastructure Low speed of Internet Inadequate training facilities on DL Appraisal of digital content Legal aspects e.g. copyrights and licensing Insufficient budgets and skills manpower to sustain DL

Opportunities of Digital Library No physical boundary 2. Round the clock availability 3. Multiple access 4. A better-structured approach 5. Excellent facilities for information retrieval 6. Easier preservation and conservation 7. Economy of space required 8. Access facilities for other DL (networking) 9. Less cost (initial cost relatively expensive) 10. Easily accessible and save time 11. Lastly, Added value 1.

Level of Satisfaction and Expectation of Teachers & Students on Digital Resources Available in Some Public & Private Universities in Dhaka City Period of Survey: 9-11 March 2015 SURVEY RESULT

Method of User Survey Method: Structured Questionnaire Sample Size: 3 Public and 2 Private Universities in Dhaka City Number of Questionnaire Distributed: 175 (NSU: 75, DU: 30, BUET: 25, IUB: 25, SAU: 20)

Number of Questionnaire Received: 129 (NSU: 50, DU: 30, BUET: 16, IUB: 17, SAU: 16) Number of Digital Resources in Survey E-Journal Databases : 43 E-Book Databases: 12 N.B: North South University (NSU), Dhaka University (DU), Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University (SAU)

Respondents of Survey Questionnaire Total Population: 129 (3 Public & 2 Private Universities)

1. Teacher: 17.06 %

Student: 82.94%

2. Male: 59.68 %

Female: 40.31%

3. Age Group: 0-25 Y: 54.26% 36-45 Y: 10.85%

26-35 Y: 31.78% Above 45 Y: 3.10%

4. Qualification: HSC: 60.46% Masters:9.30%

Graduate: 23.25% Ph.D./M.Phil: 7.07%

1Q. Are you familiar with internet resources? Yes: 98.44% No: 1.55% 2Q. Did you use online digital resources? Yes: 96.12% No: 3.87% 3Q. How often use of online books? Frequently: 51.93% Seldom: 22.48% Rarely : 10.87% Never: 14.72% 4Q. How often use of online journals? Frequently: 27.20% Seldom: 27.90% Rarely : 15.50% Never: 19.37%

5Q. Purpose of Using Online Resources Purposes of Using Online Digital Resources (Total Population: 129)

No of Respondents

Rank

Prepare Assignment

71 (55%)

1st

Up-to-date yourself

65 (50%)

2nd

Writing research proposals, reports, articles etc.

62 (48%)

3rd

Internal or External Presentation

55 (42.6%)

4th

Primary research

50 (38.7%)

5th

Consulting, advising others

20 (15.5%)

6th

Teaching

16 (12.4%)

7th

7 (5.4%) 8th Any other (please specify) (Note: Low rank of using teaching purpose maybe because of 17% population was teachers only)

6Q. Problem of Using Online Resources Problems of Using Online Digital Resources (Total Population: 129)

No of Respondents

Rank

Slow Internet speed Number of computer is insufficient in the library Link does not work properly

59 (45.7%)

1st

42 (32.6%)

2nd

36 (27.9%)

3rd

Do not have remote access facilities Do not know how to browse and download resources

16 (12.4%)

4th

13 (10%)

5th

7 (5.4%)

6th

Any other (please specify)

7Q. Rank of Using Online Journals (Total Database : 43, Total population: 129) Name of Journal Database

No. of Respondents

Rank

Name of Journal Database

No. of Respondents

Rank

1. JSTOR

34 (26.3%)

1st

12. OARE

11

10th

2. Oxford Journals

33 (25.5%)

2nd

13. American Inst. of Physics

11

10th

3. Cambridge Journals

20 (15.5%)

3rd

14. Emerald

10

11th

4. IEEE

20 (15.5%)

3rd

15. Royal Society Journals

10

11th

5. Wiley Online Library

18 (13.9%)

4th

16. ASAB Engineering

8

12th

6. HINARI

16 (12.4%)

5th

17. APS Journals

8

12th

7. AGORA

15 (10.6%)

6th

18. Chochrane Library

6

13th

8. Taylor & Francis

15 (10.6%)

6th

19. EBSCO

6

13th

9. Annual Review

14 (10.4%)

7th

20. Nature Pub. Group

6

13th

10. ACM Digital Lib.

13 (10%)

8th

21.OSA Journals

6

13th

11. Springer

12 (9.5%)

9th

22. Symposium Journals

5

14th

N.B. Number of respondents on the rest 21 online journals databases are below 5 to nil. (Full List in Annex-I)

8Q. Rank of Using Online Books (Total Database : 12, Total population: 129) Name of Books Database

No. of Respondents

Rank

Name of Book s Database

7. Springer

No. of Respondents

Rank

16

7th

1. Oxford University Press

33 1st (25.5%)

2. McGraw Hill

32 2nd 8. Emerald E-book (24.8%) Series

13

8th

3. Pearson

27 3rd 9. Europa World (20.9%) Plus

9

9th

4. AGORA

23 4th (17.8%)

10. Agropedia

8

10th

5. HINARI

20 5th (15.5%)

11. OARE

7

11th

6. Taylor & Francis E-books

17 6th (13.15)

12. Project MUSE

5

12th

Level of Satisfaction 9Q. How much the existing online digital resources meet your Requirements? Level of Satisfaction

No. of Respondents

Rank

Meet the Requirements: 26-50 %

51 (39.53%)

1st

Meet the Requirements: 51-75% Meet the Requirements: 0-25%:

38 (29.45%)

2nd

30 (23.25%)

3rd

Meet the Requirements: Above 75%

10 (7.75%)

4th

10Q. Expectations of the Teachers & Students

1. More Computers in the Library 2. More Internet Speed 3. Wi-Fi Facilities 4. Training on Using Internet Resources 5. Link with other resources of Bangladeshi universities (i.e. Digital Libraries of Bangladeshi Universities in One Platform) 6. More Digital Resources, e.g. i. Worldwide astronomical and astrophysical research Journals (http://www.aanda.org/) ii. Elsevier journals

BdREN: BdREN is connected to several international research communities in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, via the Trans-Eurasia Information Network 3 (TEIN3) and Internet2. BdREN Members 31 public and 1 private (NSU) universities in Bangladesh as well as national and international research bodies. In total, the institutions have a student population of about 10,000 and over 5,00 faculty members and researchers.

DIGITAL LIBRARY IN BdREN MODEL UGC Governing Body (Trust)

BdREN Portal

BbREN Secretariat

Planning & Development Wing

UDL Consortium (Accessing from external digital resources)

Regional/ International Gateway External Liaison Body

Consulting, Training & Support Services Wing

Infrastructural Development Coordination Body Digital Library (Local Content) (Digitization of all resources availalabe in Bangladeshi Universities)

Negotiation Body

Promotional Body

(Subscription Price)

Red Color indicates new component of BdREN

Model of BdREN 1.Governing Body: This Policy Making Authority will be consisted of 1. UGC Chairman (Chair of the Body) 2. Government Policy Makers 3. Educationists 4. Scientists 5. IT Professionals 6. Librarians 7. Researchers 8. BdREN Secretariat (Member-Secretary) (Current name is BdREN Trust)

2. BdREN Secretariat: Office of the BdREN will be under the umbrella of UGC

3. Wings of BdREN A. Planning & Development Wing: i. Infrastructural planning & development of BdREN ii. Digitization of all valuable resources available in university libraries in Bangladesh without violating copy right act, iii. Develop a platform common for all digital resources of Bangladeshi universities and link it to the national, regional & international information super highway, iv. Expand the BdREN activities among the nation and gradually regional to international.

B. UDL Consortium Wing Governance: a. Coordinating Body: Policy making authority about consortium (already exist), b. Negotiation Body: Selecting resources and negotiating subscription price with the publishers or aggregators (already exist). This body will study of user satisfaction & expectation of digital resources, c. Promotional Body: It will arrange workshop, seminar, training, campaign (out reach) (with the help of BdREN training wing) for academicians, library professionals, researchers, students, and also liaison with national, regional & international consortia for getting access to more resources by signing of memorandum, agreement, exchange or free of cost.

C. Consulting,Training & Support Services Wing

a. Consulting: This wing will provide free consulting services to members for their ICT infrastructural development and digitization of local content , b. Training: This wing will arrange training on ICT and related area of BdREN activities for producing skills manpower & sustainability of development, c. Support Services: This wing will provide all kind of support services to members running the BdREN component smoothly.

Findings of Survey 1. 76.73 % respondents are meeting 26-50 % to above 75% requirements and 37.2% meets 51% to above 75% requirements by using the existing online journals & books of the university, 2. 78.3% respondents teachers and students are facing problem of having access to online resources because of slow internet speed and insufficient number of computers, 3. Usage of 50% online journals and books databases are from 3.8% to 26.3% but the rest of them are below 3.8% to 0%. However, more online journals and books databases are required for meeting demand of the respondents, e.g. Elsevier Journals, Worldwide astronomical and astrophysical research Journals etc.,

Findings of Survey 4. Training on Using Internet Resources are required, 5. Building BdREN portal to link with available resources (local & external contents) of all Bangladeshi universities (i.e. Digital Libraries of Bangladeshi Universities in One Platform), 6. The highest number of respondents are using online resources for preparing class assignment than up-to-date themselves, writing research proposal, prepare presentation, primary research, and lastly consulting and teaching purpose. (Note: Low rank of using teaching purpose maybe because of 17% population was teachers only)

Recommendations 1. HEQEP may set up an e-resources access centre like North South University Library with all modern facilities of using online digital resources in all public and private universities in the country, 2. UGC Digital Library (UDL) Consortium should subscribe more useful digital resources for enhancing quality of education and research of the teachers, researchers and students of the country, 3. Proposed “Planning and Development Wing” of BdREN should take initiative to develop Digital Library (digitize local content) with all valuable resources available in the Bangladeshi universities and bring them in platform common online (BdREN portal),

Recommendations 4. Proposed “Consulting, Training & Support Services Wing” of BdREN should arrange more training on ICT skills development and Information Literacy for teachers, researchers, librarians & officials of the universities, 5. Proposed “Liaison Body” of BdREN will communicate with regional and international academicians & researchers for building a common study & research platform with Bangladeshi academicians & researchers for exchanging their ideas. Their libraries may sign an agreement with Bangladeshi libraries for resources sharing to explore their information resources in study and research. 6. The Library Association of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Associations of Librarians, Information Scientists and Documentalists (BALID) should come forward to establish National Digital Library Platform for building digital Bangladesh.

Thank You Presented by: Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Ph.D. University Librarian North South University Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229 www.northouth.edu [email protected]

Annex-I

Rank of Using Online Journals (Total Database : 43) Name of Journal Database

No. of Respondents

Rank

Name of Journal Database

No. of Respondents

Rank

23. ACS Publication

5

14th

34. International Forestry Review

2

17th

24. Chicago Press Journal

5

14th

35. Liebert Online

2

17th

25. Acoustical Society of America

4

15th

36. Lyell Collection

2

17th

26. ASCE Library

4

15th

37. Optics InfoBase

2

17th

27. Edinburgh University Press Journals Online

4

15th

39. Royal College of Physicians

2

17th

28. IET Digital Library

4

15th

40. IOP Science

1

18th

29. American Astronomical Society

3

16th

41.Project Muse

1

18th

30. British Institute of Radiology Journals

3

16th

42. SPIE Digital Library

1

18th

31. De Gruyter

3

16th

43. Palgrave Mcmillan

0

19th

32. NRC Research Press

3

16th

33. The Policy Press

3

16th