Philippine E-Journals

INITIATIVES IN ORGANIZING AND MANAGING ELECTRONIC RESOURCES IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES: A CASE STUDY

Abubakar S. Mama | Amer Hassan U. Sarangani

 

Abstract:

This research paper aims to describe, explore, and explain the various practices/ initiatives of the Mindanao State University librarians and library staff in organizing and managing the e-resources. Specifically, this paper deals with the step-by-step electronic processing of the e-resources by exploring the needed software that will automate the entire process. The selection of the e-resources is restricted to support and reflect the curricular offerings of the parent institution which entails the identification of the needed e-resources, strategizing methods and tools to manage the data at hand, and finally, creating access mechanisms for the usage and dissemination of the available e-resources. With this, the study purposively aims to answer the following problem statement: (1) to know what are the available e-resources in the university library and how many of these are already organized; (2) to identify what tools and software that are necessary needed to organize the e-resources; (3) to explore the step-by-step processes involved in the electronic processing of the e-resources; (4) to know the accessibility and visibility of the e-resources for the library clienteles; and finally (5) to assess the utilization and usage of the collection. From the findings, it was found out that there were 5,539 eBooks processed out of 12, 457. On the other hand, there were a total of 6, 865 theses and dissertation collections of the library, out of this numbers only 1,384 were successfully processed as E-resources. Moreover, there were five (5) identified software and hardware which are needed to the processes namely: Server Client Computers, Microsoft Office, PDF Merger, KOHA ILS, and the Calibre eBook Management System v2.77. The steps involve in the process of organizing E-resources were also included in this paper as well as the assessment of the usage of the E-resources by the library users. Finally, this paper is ought to be beneficial to LIS students and practitioners who are having difficulties in organizing and managing their E-resources and managing the data that are produced by the procedures and processes within the process. This paper might also serve as a model for other academic libraries to pattern the way they organize their electronic resources. This study is based on a case study approach, using descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory design to present the situation in the library. Moreover, a feedback-survey questionnaire was also distributed to fifty (50) students using purposive sampling to augment the obtained findings.