Seminar paper presentation for CALIBER 2013

Library Services in Medical and

Paramedical Colleges of Assam :
Analytical Study

BY

Dalimi Devi
INTRODUCTION

Library is a service–oriented institute. It

fulfills information needs of the students
and contributed for the enhancement of
their knowledge. To fulfill the needs of the
students, college libraries provide a variety
of services to a wide range of user groups.
INTRODUCTION (Contd.)
• Although most college libraries share a
core set of services related to the
provision of documents and information,
each library defines the limits of its
service areas and its relative priorities
among them differently.
• Most library analysts agree that
achieving effectiveness in library services
is a basic responsibility of library
management. Library services are multi-
dimensional. So, Library Services must be
measured by a set of measures covering
the major library functions.
MEASURES FOR THE LIBRARY SERVICES
Success at various Library
activities
Over all User Success Overall satisfaction
Ease of use

Materials availability and use

Facilities and equipment availability and use

Information Services
NEED OF THE STUDY:

Medical colleges and institutes promote medical

education and research. The libraries of these colleges
and Institutes form the primary information support
system for achieving the objectives the parent
organizations have placed before them. However, these
libraries are facing the usual constraints like inadequate
funds, untrained and inadequate manpower, high
cost of resources, lack of integrated network at
regional and national level etc. A wide difference
persists between information support needed for
research and educational programmes, and the existing
library services. Libraries of some paramedical colleges
still struggling to find their feet in their state of
inception at the moment.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study has been conducted with the
following objectives:
 To collect and understand the indicators of
effectiveness of library services for a
college library.
 To apply the indicators of effectiveness to
assess the performance of medical and
paramedical college libraries.
 To assess the existing state of affairs of the
library in respect of its services, facilities
and general satisfaction of the students
regarding the library services in selected
Medical /Paramedical college libraries in
Assam.
 To suggest ways and means to improve the
existing library services to achieve user
satisfaction.
RESEARCH SITES:

There are various Health Science institutions in

Assam. The prominent among them are the three
Medical Colleges(Allopathic), three Medical Colleges
(Homeopathic), one Ayurvedic Medical college
situated in different regions of the state. Apart from
this there are five paramedical colleges (including one
govt. Nursing College) and three Pharmacy colleges
and one Dental college. The Table-1 that is given below
will highlight the year of establishment of the Medical
and Paramedical Colleges and their libraries.
RESEARCH SITES:
S Name of Estb Yr. Name of the Yr. of
N Medical/Paramedic Medical/Paramedic Estb.
al College al Library

1 Assam Medical 1947(3rd Assam Medical 1947

College, Dibrugarh Nov.) College Library
2 Guwahati Medical 1960 Guwahati Medical 1961
College, Guwahati College-Central
Lib.
3 Silchar Medical 1968 Central Library, 1969
College, Silchar Silchar Medical
College, Silchar
4 Govt. Ayurvedic 1948 Central Library,Govt 1948
College, Guwahati Ayurvedic College
5 Regional College of 1977 Library , Regional 1977
Nursing, Guwahati Nursing College
6 Army Institute of 2006 Army Institute of 2006(July
Nursing Nursing Library )
 RESEARCH SITES:
S Name of Estb Yr. Name of the Yr. of Estb.
N Medical/Paramedical Medical/Paramedical
College Library
7 Arya Nursing College, 2007 Arya Nursing College 2007
Guwahati Library
8 Down Town College of 2007 Harinarayan Dutta 2005
Nursing
(BSc Nursing & GNM) Baruah Central
Library
9 Down Town College of 2009 Harinarayan Dutta 2005
AlliedHealth Science
(MBA-Health Mng., Baruah Central
Bio-technology, Library
FoodNursing Devt.,
BSW, Paramedical-
BPT, BMLT,TEC,
Adv.ImagingTech.,Crit
ical Care, Blood Bank,
Radiology)
10 Institute of 1986 Pharmacy Institute 1986
Pharmacy, Guwahati Library
 RESEARCH SITES:

S Name of Estb Yr. Name of the Yr. of Estb.

N Medical/Paramedical Medical/Paramedical
College Library
11 Institute of 1960 Pharmacy Institute 1961
Pharmacy, Library
Dibrugarh
12 Institute of 1987 Pharmacy Institute 1987
Pharmacy, Silchar Library

13 Regional Dental 1982 Regional Dental 1982

college college library
14 College of 2007 CPMS Library 2007
Physiotherapy and
Medical
Sciences(CPMS),
Guwahati
RESEARCH SITES:
SN Name of Estb Yr. Name of the Yr. of Estb.
Medical/Paramedical Medical/Paramedical
College Library
15 Swahid Jadav Nath 1975 Central Library, 1975
Govt. Homeopathic Swahid Jadav Nath
Medical College Govt. Homeopathic
Hospital, Guwahati Medical College
Hospital
16 Dr. J.K. Saikia 1975 Central Library,Dr. 1975
Homeopathic J.K. Saikia
medical college, Homeopathic
Jorhat medical college
17 Assam 1968 Central Library, 1968
Homeopathic Assam
Medical College, Homeopathic
Nagaon Medical College
Table-1: The year of establishment of the Medical and Paramedical Colleges
and their libraries
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA:

Analysis of the sample:

Composition of the sample is one of the facets
usually discussed in a survey research like the
present one. The sample taken for data collection
should be indicative of the universe from where
the sample is drawn. For the current study, the
college students of Medical/Paramedical colleges
of Assam are form the universe. Owing to time
constraints, till now, the study could collect data
from 310 students from the Medical and a few
selected Paramedical Colleges of Assam.
GENDER WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DATA
In order to avoid any gender bias, efforts are made to
collect data from almost equally distributed samples. It
may be noted from Table-2 that the data are collected
from 162(52.25%) boys and 148 (47.75%) girls students.
Sl. No. Gender Numbers of Percentage
Users
1 Male 162 52.25%

2 Female 148 47.75%

Total 310 100.00

Table:2 Gender-wise Distribution of Data

GENDER WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DATA

Gender-wise distribution respondent

Female
48% Male
Male
Female
52%

Graph-1
COURSE –WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DATA
Table-3 below provides the data regarding distribution of students with regard
to their course of study.
Sl No Course Number of Percentage
Respondents
1 B.Sc. Nursing 102 32.90%
2 BAMS 53 17.09%
3 M.B.B.S. 100 32.32%
4 Homeopathic 53 17.09%
5 Dental 1 0.30%
6 Pharmacy 1 0.30%
Total 310 100.00%
FREQUENCY OF LIBRARY VISITS
The frequency of library visit by the users is usually
influenced by the factors such as collection, organization,
and maintenance of the library resources along with the
library resources, facilities and the library services. The
frequency of library visit and its utilization by the
respondents are presented in Table-4
Sl No Library Visit Number of Percentage
Respondents
1 Daily 160 51.81%
2 Twice in a week 23 7.41%
3 Three times in a 30 9.68%
week
4 Four times a week 29 9.36%
5 Five times a week 68 21.75%
Total 310 100.00%
FREQUENCY OF LIBRARY VISITS

As can be observed from the above table about half of

the students’ population claim to visit the library
everyday. It appears that the respondents have claimed
that they visit the library on daily basis. Where as
23(7.41%) of students visit twice a week and 30(9.68%)
visit the library three times a week,29(9.36%)of them
visited Four times a week , 68(21.75%) visited the
library five times a week.. The cumulative total of the
rows 2, 3 and 4 in the above table given an indication
that significant number of students (26.45%) use the
library rarely. Some measures need to be
taken immediately to improve upon this situation.
FREQUENCY OF LIBRARY VISITS

Frequency of library visits

Daily
Twice in a week
Three times a week
Four times a week
Five times a week

Graph-2
PURPOSE OF VISITING LIBRARY
In order to find out reasons for visiting the library, respondents are asked to
indicate their major purpose of visit on the day of the data collection. My
data shows that there are different purposes for which the users visit
libraries. They visit to borrow books to read, to browse electronic resources
and so on.
Sl Library Visit Number of Percentage
No Respondents
1 Study in the Library 115 37.09%
2 Borrowing books 110 35.48%
3 Read Newspaper 30 9.69%
4 Consult reference 20 6.45%
sources
5 Preparing research 20 6.45%
projects/articles
6 Read periodical articles 15 4.84%
Total 310 100.00
Table 5: Purpose of visit
PURPOSE OF VISITING THE LIBRARY

Large percentage of users on the day of questionnaire collection,

visited the library either for study(37.09%) or for borrowing books
(35.48%).This trend of course conforms to the normal expectations
. Usage of reference materials may have to be increased by some
means in the Paramedical college libraries as my study shows that
only 6.69% of the users visit the library for consulting the reference
books. Taking into account the cost of these materials we feel that
if the collection development policy has to be cost effective the
librarians and other stakeholders have to give importance for
improving the usage of reference collection.
Success of Library Visit:
Effectiveness can be measured by the success rate of the
users in finding the information. Respondent are asked about
their success on that day of their visit. They are asked the
question “What do you do in the library today?” The table
given below represents the different kinds of activities done
by the users along with their success rate.
 SUCCESS OF LIBRARY VISIT
SN Activity Not Successful Successful Responded

1 Studied 68 23.05% 227 76.95% 295 95.22%

2 Saw New books 121 43.37% 158 56.63% 279 90%

3 Asked Reference 124 44.13% 157 55.87% 281 90.64%

questions
4 Barrowed /Returned 114 42.86% 143 53.75% 266 85.80%
Books
5 Looked for books 97 34.28% 186 65.72% 283 91.25%
/periodicals
6 Others 107 40.99% 154 59% 261 84.19%

Table-6: Success rate

SUCCESS OF LIBRARY VISIT
It may be noted that comparatively a large number of
students 227(76.95%) are able to study successfully.
This shows that there is a pleasant atmosphere in the
libraries for studying. However, the unsuccessful
percentage (23.05%) is also significantly higher than
usual expectations. One of the major reasons found is
lack of sitting facility for studying within the library.
This might call for more spacious buildings for the
libraries/reading activity. Looking for books/periodicals
form the next successful activity with 65.72% score.
This also probably indicates that most of the libraries
are fairly well organized. Again the unsuccessful rate is
high for this activity also. This may be because of the
fact that some users are not aware about the
mechanism of library organization. It is found out that
the unsuccessful attempt was due of misplacement of
books also. In all other activities the unsuccessful rate
is significantly higher and immediate attention needs to
be taken by the librarians to combat the situation
TIME SPENT IN THE LIBRARY
Library being housed with wealth of knowledge, any amount
of time can be spent for a worthy cause. Sincere and serious
students normally spend more time in Libraries. Where as
others hardly spend time to meet their information
requirements. Users are asked to indicate the average time
spent by them on their each visit. The responses received are
analyzed from the data presented in table 7

Sl Time Spent in the Library Number of Percentage

No Respondents
1 One to two hours 160 51.11%
2 Less than one hour 91 29.24%
3 Two to three hours 38 12.96%
4 More than three hours 21 6.69%
5 Total 310 100.00%
Table-7: Time spent in the Library
TIME SPENT IN THE LIBRARY
As expected only 6.69% students spend their time about
three hours a day. As can be seen from the related
literature, this trend is because of the fact that our
education is not library oriented. Students are satisfied
with the class notes given by the teachers. However,
some medical students said that they do not have
sufficient time to visit libraries for longer hours as they
have tight academic schedule.
Time spent in the Library by the students

160
140
120
100
Number of
80
respondents
60
40
20
0
One to two Less than Two to More than
hours one hour three hours three hours
Time spent in the Library

Graph-3
EXTENT OF USE LIBRARY SERVICES

 Library is service – oriented institute. It fulfils information

needs of the students and contribute for the enhancement of
their knowledge. To fulfil the need of the students Medical
and Paramedical Libraries provide various services such as
reference services, photocopy services etc.
EXTENT OF USE LIBRARY SERVICES
S Library Services Highly Moderately Partially Not at all
N Useful useful useful useful
No. of No. of No. of No. of
Resp. % Resp. % Resp. % Resp. %
1 Current Awareness 117 37.74 46 14.84 56 18.06 10 3.2%
Services % %
2 Notification of newly 66 21.29 61 19.67 86 27.74 97 31.29
published research % % %
3 Periodical Services 167 53.87 74 23.87 51 16.45 18 5.80
% % % %
4 Reference Services 131 42.25 113 36.45 40 12.90 26 8.38
% % % %
5 Photocopying 105 33.87 76 24.52 79 25.48 50 16.12
% % % %
6 Text Book Services 206 66.45 52 16.77 40 12.90 12 3.87
% % %
Table 8: Extent of use of Library services
EXTENT OF USE LIBRARY SERVICES

 Table -8 depicts the various services that are rendered

to the student community in the college libraries, so
far as per the study is concerned, text book service is
the highly sought after service in medical and
paramedical college libraries (66.45%). Some services
are totally unknown to the users such as inter-library
loan, repackaging and condensation service,
abstracting & indexing service, standards information,
patent information etc. The teaching faculty and
librarian have to work together to encourage students
to use periodicals and internet for self-learning in
colleges.
SATISFACTION OF INFORMATION PROVIDED
 The importance of existence of libraries is to satisfy the
information needs of its user. It has to move with the time and
equip with modern technological gadgets to satisfy the needs of
the users.
Sl Satisfaction with the Numberof Percentage
No. information provided Respondents
in the Library
1 Partially satisfied 116 37.41%
2 Mostly satisfied 84 27.09%
3 Completely Satisfied 80 25.83%
4 Not at all Satisfied 30 9.57%
5 Total 310 100.00%
Table -9 : Satisfaction of Information provided
SATISFACTION OF INFORMATION PROVIDED

 Twenty-five percentage of students are completely

satisfied with the information provided in the library.
It can be observed from the study that 37.41% of them
have partially satisfied with the information provided
in the library. On the other hand there are some
dissatisfied users also. Medical/ Paramedical college
libraries in Assam must take some steps and have to
plan for better service.
SUGGESTION TO IMPROVE THE LIBRARY SERVICES
SlNo. Suggestion to improve Library Number of Percentage
Services Respondents
1 To computerize 97 31.29
Library(including internet
service, mobile learning etc.)
2 To increase the number of recent 84 27.09
books/journals
3 To develop infrastructure 65 21%
facilities
4 Library should be kept open for 31 10%
24 hours
5 Notification of newly published 33 10.62%
research
6 Total 310 100.00%
Table-10: Suggestion to improve the library services
SUGGESTION TO IMPROVE THE LIBRARY SERVICES
 Table 10 shows the suggestions made by the students to
improve library services. It is now an established fact that
computers can really enhance the speed and the efficiency of
services in libraries. This is evident from the fact that 31.29%
of the respondents have asked for the computerization of
libraries. One of the most important services that usually
found is circulation of books, as most of the students depend
on this facility, they (27.09%) have asked for the increase in
the number of books loaned out. Infrastructure facilities is
the common problem, that college libraries come across
often, as most of the paramedical college libraries placed in a
very small room or some time classrooms converted into the
library, this has to be stopped forthwith, hence 21% of
students have asked for improvement of infrastructure
facilities. Browsing room can be used to enhance to
technological information literacy skills of the
medical/paramedical college students.
CONCLUSION:
 The developments and changes that have happened (ing)
over the years in information profession is un believable.
But the underlying factor of satisfying information needs
of users is still the focus of attention of libraries. This
study found that college libraries are lagging behind
particularly in providing user specific information. It is
imperative thus that they must redesign their approach.
This study reemphasized that fact that the collection
development alone would not result in attracting
students to libraries. A college library is the best place to
acquire knowledge and spend valuable time for the users.
However, it is found from the study that a good number
of students spend not more than one to two hours a day
in libraries. This situation has to be improved and
libraries should attract them more. The suggestions
made by the students are valid and the appropriately for
taking those suggestions seriously, where the world is
becoming flat and global work-culture is the order of the
day.