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This study examined the influence of gender on job satisfaction among university library professionals in Sri Lanka. Survey design was adopted for the study. The general objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of gender differences on the level of job satisfaction among the professional staff of the university libraries in Sri Lanka. Five parameters were considered. They were work, co-workers, compensation, promotion and supervision. The population of the study consisted of 125 library professionals of 15 universities under the University Grants Commission in Sri Lanka. All members of the population were given the opportunity to participate in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used as the main data collection instrument. The response rate was 64%. Cronbach's alpha values of all variables are above 0.6 (work: 0.764, co-workers: 0.864, compensation: 0.661, promotion: 0.614 and supervision: 0.963). The instrument used to measure each variable in the current study is reliable and all the items are positively correlated to one another. The mean of job satisfaction of all aspects: work; co-workers; compensation; promotion and supervision is higher in Females (0.9200, 0.8021, 0.6521, 0.6667, 0.7243) than males (0.7277, 0.6406, 0.5250, 0.3854,-0.0052). The results indicated that there is a significant difference of job satisfaction between male and female university library professionals only in the "supervision" parameter. The overall job satisfaction of both male and female (3.77) university library professionals is equal. However, equal treatment to both genders will help to achieve higher satisfaction levels. The findings of the study will be helpful for librarians and administrators to develop a motivated and productive workforce for organizational success.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a library website model. Further, the paper discusses a designer’s checklist and an evaluative instrument that were constructed based on the proposed model. Design/methodology/approach – The model was developed through a Delphi study that was participated by two panels of experts. The researcher communicated with the panel members via e-mail using two Delphi instruments designed out of two item pools that were developed based on the knowledge gained from surveying the literature, visiting the selected libraries and exploring the library websites. Then, a designer’s checklist and an evaluative instrument were derived from the proposed model through a series of brainstorming sessions. Findings – The proposed model consisted of altogether 140 items (60 web content elements and 80 web design features). The designer’s checklist comprises all 140 items, and the evaluative instrument comprises 60 content elements and 57 design features. Research limitations/implications – This study has developed an academic library website model and derived two instruments based on the proposed model. Further studies are needed to customize, particularly, the web content pillar of this conceptual model, to meet the specific needs of different types of libraries including public libraries, special libraries, school libraries, etc. Practical implications – The designer’s checklist and the evaluative instrument derived from the proposed model are useful tools for library professionals in designing, re-designing, maintaining and evaluating their library websites. The librarians may use these tools for both institutional and research purposes. Originality/value – The model and the two instruments proposed by this study are unique in focus, origin, content and presentation.

We were slow to explore the automation world as the custom software development entails substantial investment and the off the shelf software packages are either too costly or do not meet all the requirements. However, the several library automation projects have been embarked in recent years, as the librarians could not ignore the power of the library automation in order to meet up with the rest of the world in the trend of information management and dissemination. This paper reviews the success of the automation project of the library of the Open University of Sri Lanka with special focus on the automating the circulation of library materials using Alice for Windowsthe integrated library management software package.