1. Assignment
Topic: Academic Library; Heart of the Institution
Submitted to;
Md. Anwarul Islam
Lecturer
Department of Information Science & Library Management
University of Dhaka
Submitted by;
Rajib Hossain Khan
Roll no.: 38
3rd year 5th semester
Department of Information Science & Library Management
University of Dhaka
2. Academic Library; Heart of the Institution
Library is an important intellectual resource of the academic community. It helps to an
academic institution members for their ‘self development’ to fulfill the curriculum
requirements & to promote studies & research. The primary characteristic of a good academic
library is to make complete identification with its own institution. The main objective of
academic library is to function as an auxiliary to parent institution in carrying out its teaching
programme effectively.
Definition: A library attached to any educational institution is known as academic library.
According to Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary, academic libraries are, “those of universities,
polytechnics, colleges, schools, & all other institutions forming part of or associated with,
educational institutions”.
According to Online Dictionary for Library & Information Science academic library is, “A library
that is an integral part of a college, university, or other institution of postsecondary education,
administered to meet the information & research needs of its students, faculty, & staff”.
Types: In general the education system comprises of three divisions namely; School, College, &
University. Libraries attached to these academic institutions are also divided in the same way
as;
i. School library
ii. College library
iii. University library
University library is expected to cater to the varied needs of graduates, post-graduates,
research scholars & faculty members. As a result university library is only treated as the heart of
the academic institution.
University Library: For higher education the university library is the center of learning &
intellectual activity. Each university has a central library attached to it & may have many
constituent libraries attached to different teaching departments or the constituent colleges.
According to Hamlin, there are three functions of university library;
i. Conservation of knowledge
ii. Extension of knowledge (Research)
iii. Transmission of knowledge (Teaching)
3. Thus the university library is not merely a store house of books, yet it is a dynamic agency to
assists the scholars & researchers in carrying out their pursuits in the advancement of
knowledge by making use of documents in libraries.
Prime arguments behind the statement: Here we will present some arguments concerned
towards the consideration of ‘university library is the heart of the academic institution’.
1. The university library holds enormous amount of collection of books & periodicals which
are basic requirements of the students in preparing their assignments, presentations, &
notes.
2. The library holdings are arranged scientifically according to any standard classification
scheme which helps the students of different disciplines in locating their required
documents.
3. Cataloguing service provides the bibliographical & other relevant information of the
holdings which aids the user having any particular document being charged or reserved.
4. Reference activities solve the users problem that which kind of information source will
provide his/her required information & also serve the reference materials for use inside
the library.
5. Circulation department of the library lends documents to identified users which ensure
thorough scanning of the documents.
6. Access to online journals helps the researchers to absorb the newly generated idea in
his field of research.
7. Current awareness services make the students, faculty members, & researchers
conscious about the new trends in their field of specialization.
8. Though SDI is one form of CAS but it is designed to save the time of the researcher &
put every newly obtained document in front of them to justify their relevancy.
9. In this age of knowledge explosion indexing & abstracting services assists the user to
keep themselves in track of documents in their respective discipline.
10. Access to audio-visual materials amplifies the range of knowledge recording medium.
11. Library websites are playing a great role in terms of user orientation & customer
relations.
12. Collection of MS & PhD theses of the former prominent students guides the follower.
13. In case the library lacks any particular document then it offers inter library loan which
make sure that the user at least have not been deprived.
14. By sending an email users can get printed or electronic document delivery services
without visiting the library.
15. Digital repositories of the library promote 24-hours remote access.
16. Access to subject gateways is provided to help library users discover high quality
information on the internet in a quick & effective way.
4. 17. Libraries provide access to web based course materials to the learners & faculty
members & thus contribute to open learning.
18. Availability of bibliographic databases in electronic form on CD-ROM or online, offers
convenient, efficient & cost effective information retrieval.
Logical analysis of the arguments: Now we will analyze the above arguments on the basis of
some broad terms;
1. OPAC: OPAC provides access to the catalogue through a computer terminal. OPAC
allows searching the entire catalogue online, conveniently & quickly, using one or more
search criteria. One can for example, search by author, title, subject, keywords, call
number or one or more of these combined together. OPAC even shows the current
status of a book, whether it is loaned out, available on the shelf or lying elsewhere.
If a user searches any document by title, he may find the search result of relevant items
in the following form;
Title: Reader in the Academic Library
Author: Reynolds, Michael M.
Call number: 025 RER
Publisher: National Cash Register Co.
Year: 1970
Available at: Central Library
Details
Apart from searching, OPAC allows remote users to avail certain online services like
book reservations, loan request for postal loan, loan renewals, membership application,
address change, suggesting books, etc.
2. Online Journal: Now a day, academic institutions are encouraging the students to read
online journals & give the references of online journals in the class. As a result university
libraries are providing link to online journals through their website for remote &
multiple access. Users can access online journals through IP address. They can print &
5. CD-write the required online journal according to copyright act. Offline products such as
CD-ROM/DVD are also available in the library.
3. Virtual Reference Service: University libraries are now adopting asynchronous tools such
as email, subject gateways, FAQs, & electronic libraries & interactive tools like chat
rooms, virtual reference desk, & ask-me in order to provide virtual reference service.
Ask-a-librarian allows the user to click on ask-a-librarian link to send a formatted query
to the reference librarian. The reference librarian either provides an answer, link to
resources or link to subject expert. Interactive tools now allow a reference interview
online.
In some university libraries, a reference librarian is available online to chat with library
users for any query regarding library via instant message, which is possible due to
Meebo software.
4. CAS: University libraries are now compiling current awareness bulletins using predefined
search strategy & running on the database either on CD-ROM or online periodically &
getting the desired output.
5. SDI: Some university libraries are now providing SDI services by forming group email. For
example, those researchers, who are interested in ‘Library Automation’, can fill up a
web form & be a member of ‘Library Automation Group’. Their common email address
will be libraryautomation@yahoogroups.com . When library obtains any new
information on that particular topic then an email is sent to every member of the group
using the common email address.
6. Lending: Document lending through circulation desk by using barcode technology
ensures accuracy in issue, return, charging for over dues, user registration, renewal,
overdue notice, & reservation etc.
7. Website: Now-a-days, university libraries are maintaining website which inform the user
about the libraries opening hours, facilities, policies & rules, history, resources &
services etc. Other features of the library website are;
Catalog search
Advanced search
Category search
Online journal
Service category
Helpdesk
Circulation
Issue system
A large number of libraries now host their up-to-date holdings on their website & can be
searched on internet.
6. 8. Web-based Course material: A large number of web based course ware & teaching aids
are being developed to facilitate flexible open learning by many universities. As a result
university libraries have adopted such course materials for their clients.
9. Audio-visual materials: The new multimedia of audio CD, video CD (VCD), & digital video
disks (DVD), have the advantage of higher storage capacity, random access & longer life.
Many university libraries allow their members to borrow these.
10. Inter-Library Loan: Resource sharing through inter-library loan is a necessity for the
university libraries. It provides online access to the catalogue of other libraries database
which is crucial to inter library lending.
11. Electronic Theses & Dissertations: A large number of university libraries have converted
their theses & dissertation collection into digital format & have made it available on
internet for remote & multiple access.
12. Digital Collection: University libraries are now acquiring digital resources which hold
many advantages such as time & place convenience, ability to search directly on text,
ability to link to further reading material, & ability to disseminate & share information.
Dhaka University Library Perspective: Dhaka University library was established in 1921 as an
integral part of the Dhaka University. It is the oldest & largest library of the country. Since 1990
the library has been using computer in its operational activities. It was 1998 when Dhaka
University Library Automation Project was undertaken. As a part of this project GLAS software
was used for the automation of the library operation. Now-a-days, a new software is used for
automation under the DULAP project which is made by the local vendor. Students, faculty
members & researchers can search the library catalog online, through OPAC. Circulation, serial
controls are still running manually. In spite of some limitations, DU library is trying it’s best to
serve it’s users in the best possible way. Without the help of this library no researcher can
complete their research work. So I can claim that partly it is true that, ‘the DU library is the
heart of it’s parent body’.
