‘Service Quality’ and its influence in Library and Information Science discipline are spectacular when studied intensively. In this study, researchers adopted the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards review method and introduced a novel Initialization, Conceptualization, Actualisation) (ICA) framework for meta-narrative studies. This method would act as a boon particularly to the existing methods of conducting meta-narrative studies in social sciences in general and library sciences in particular. A total of 49 research articles were selected from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases, covering a span of 5 years, that is, 2015–2019, published in the domain of library service quality. An extensive in-depth analysis of selected publications was carried out under seven categories (i.e. library, library services, quality, ServQUAL, LibQUAL+, user satisfaction and users’ expectations), which were generated using the VOS-Viewer software and ‘Review Tags’ (manually generated using OneNote). The seven categories further identify a total of 27 sub-categories. The quantitative findings revealed that all the 49 reviewed publications were published in 27 journals. All the journals have been indexed in the Scopus database, whereas 15 journals containing the remaining 22 publications are indexed in both WoS and Scopus databases. This study unfolds a transverse trend in library service quality. It would be beneficial for the library managers to sustain libraries’ service quality and set a benchmark in the said field.
In times of global health emergency and nation-wide lockdown due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the smooth functioning of the academic system has been poorly affected or suspended in India from the middle of March 2020. However, the entire operations of libraries are compensating with the applications of information and communication technologies (ICTs). In this chapter, the authors adopted the mixed-method approach, which brings out the methods, policies initiated by libraries in 'new normal', and to know the status of library operations during the lockdown. Authors mapped out the experiences of professionals during 'work from home'. Findings of the chapter show that the libraries are struggling to sustain their services to cater to the needs of the university students whose academics has been shoddily affected. Further, it reveals that majority of the respondents have adopted unique initiatives and precautionary measures in the 'new normal'. The librarians call themselves 'information warriors' which showed an optimistic attitude while struggling in an unprecedented situation.
Academic Social Networking Sites (ASNSs) like ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, etc., are created predominantly for scholars to set up their profiles, upload their scholarly publications, and convey among peers. The prime objectives of the present study are to explore their awareness and use of ASNS amongst the research scholars of science and social science discipline of a prestigious central university in north India, i.e., Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The survey method was employed, and a simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample by using a structured questionnaire administered to the sample population. Further, it explores its individual use across two dimensions i.e., “Collaborative Research” (CR) and “Information Sharing and Consumption” (ISC) with respect to the gender and discipline. Different hypotheses were framed which signify that there was a significant difference with respect to the gender and discipline across the dimension “CR” with p-value = 0.624 and 0.968, respectively. Moreover, there was again a significant difference with respect to the gender and discipline across the dimension “ISC” with p-value = 0.127 and 0.828, respectively. Further, there is a positive but weak correlation between the constructs CR and ISC, whereas weak to moderate association between their respective items. The implications of the present study would be helpful for regulatory bodies in recognizing the academic activities of the researchers with the use of possible metrics.
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