Digital Libraries and Institutional Repositories: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice Information Resources Management Association USA Published in the United States of America by IGI Global Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global) 701 E Chocolate Avenue Hershey PA, USA 17033 Tel: 717-533-8845 Fax: 717-533-8661 E-mail: cust@igi-global.com Web site: http://www.igi-global.com Copyright © 2020 by IGI Global All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only Inclusion of the names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Information Resources Management Association, editor Title: Digital libraries and institutional repositories : breakthroughs in research and practice / Information Resources Management Association editor Description: Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index | Summary: “Digital libraries and institutional repositories addresses new methods, practices, concepts, and techniques, as well as contemporary challenges and issues for libraries and university repositories that can be accessed electronically It also addresses the problems of usability and search optimization in digital libraries” Provided by publisher Identifiers: LCCN 2019042255 (print) | LCCN 2019042256 (ebook) | ISBN 9781799824633 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781799824640 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Digital libraries | Institutional repositories Classification: LCC ZA4080 D537 2020 (print) | LCC ZA4080 (ebook) | DDC 027 dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042255 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042256 British Cataloguing in Publication Data A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library The views expressed in this book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher For electronic access to this publication, please contact: eresources@igi-global.com. Editor-in-Chief Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, DBA Information Resources Management Association, USA Associate Editors Steve Clarke, University of Hull, UK Murray E Jennex, San Diego State University, USA Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko, University of Tampere, Finland Editorial Advisory Board Sherif Kamel, American University in Cairo, Egypt In Lee, Western Illinois University, USA Jerzy Kisielnicki, Warsaw University, Poland Amar Gupta, Arizona University, USA Craig van Slyke, University of Central Florida, USA John Wang, Montclair State University, USA Vishanth Weerakkody, Brunel University, UK List of Contributors Adebayo, Oyeronke / Covenant University, Nigeria 227, 393 Ahmed, Toufiq / Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan 532 Aidi, Nurafida / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Alteri, Suzan A / University of Florida, USA Aregbesola, Ayooluwa / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Bakare, Abdullahi A / Kwara State University, Nigeria 272 Beetseh, Kwaghga / University of Agriculture, Nigeria 202 Bhat, Nazir Ahmad / Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, India 566 Chaiyasoonthorn, Wornchanok / Faculty of Administration and Management, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand 185 Chemulwo, Monicah Jemeli / St Paul’s University, Kenya 305 Chigwada, Josiline Phiri / Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe 520 Chung, Ada Chi Wai / Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong 45 Colmenero-Ruiz, Maria-Jesús / Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain 166 Dhamdhere, Sangeeta N / Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, India 550 Dili, Noraisah / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Dinsmore, Chelsea S / University of Florida, USA Eyiolorunse, Toluwani / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Fagbohun, Michael Opeoluwa / Covenant University, Nigeria 227 García-Palvo, Francisco J / GRIAL Research Group, Department of Computer Science, Science Education Research Institute (IUCE), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain 423 González-Pérez, Laura Icela / Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Mexico 423 Hamzah, Umi Amneezatun / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Hawley, E Haven / University of Florida, USA Hoskins, Ruth / University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 454 Huang, Chen / Zhejiang University, China 67 Idachaba, Joy Asibi / University of Agriculture, Nigeria 202 Idiegbeyan-Ose, Jerome / Covenant University, Nigeria 356 Ifijeh, Goodluck / Covenant University, Nigeria 356, 393 Iglesias, Edward / Stephen F Austin State University, USA 59 Ilogho, Julie / Covenant University, Nigeria 356 Itsekor, Victoria / Covenant University, Nigeria 227 Iwu-James, Juliana / Covenant University, Nigeria 356 Izuagbe, Roland / Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria 393 Jefferson, Rebecca J W / University of Florida, USA Karmakar, Ranjan / Chakdaha College (Affiliated to University of Kalyani), Chakdaha, India 261 Kisar, Sailendra / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Kowalsky, Michelle / Rowan University, USA 99 Lihitkar, Ramdas / Government College of Science, India 550 Long, Xiao / Peking University Library, China 78 Mahan, David Ezekiel / National Veterinary Research Institute, Akure, Nigeria 383 Masrich, Fatin Amirah Amirah / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Minson, Valrie Ila / University of Florida, USA Muhammed, Malisa / Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia 441 Nwokocha, Nwanne Mary / Covenant University, Nigeria 227 Oguntayo, Sunday / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Okocha, Foluke / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Olawoyin, Olajumoke / Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria 393 Oswal, Sushil K / University of Washington, USA 123 Otike, Japhet / Moi University, Kenya 342 Owolabi, Sola / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Oye, Peter Olorunlake / National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Nigeria 383 Oyeniyi, David Ajibola / Federal University Technology Akure, Akure, Nigeria 383 Patel, Dimple / Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India 474 Pina, Pedro / Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal 291, 324 Rahman, Md Mukhlesur / Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan 532 Ramírez-Montoya, María-Soledad / Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Mexico 423 Rao, Madhava / ARAI, India 409 Rao, Yan / Wuhan University Library, China 24 Sahu, Mahendra Kumar / Gandhi Group of Institutions, Gunupur, India 216 Sharma, Chhaya / American Center, India 88 Shirahada, Kunio / Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan 532 Suksa-ngiam, Watanyoo / The Center for Information Systems and Technology (CISAT), Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA 185 Tapfuma, Mass / National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe & University of KawaZulu-Natal, South Africa 454 Taylor, Laurie N / University of Florida, USA Thakur, Deepti / Indian Institute of Advance Study, India 474 Upev, Michael Terver / University of Agriculture, Nigeria 202 Walker, Ben / University of Florida, USA Xue, Helen F / Zhejiang University, China 67 Yao, Boyue / Peking University Library, China 78 Yusuf, Felicia / Landmark University, Nigeria 142 Yuvaraj, Mayank / Central University of South Bihar, India 500 Zhang, Yaolei / Wuhan University Library, China 24 Table of Contents Preface xi Section Development and Digital Transformation Chapter Library Collaborative Networks Forging Scholarly Cyberinfrastructure and Radical Collaboration Laurie N Taylor, University of Florida, USA Suzan A Alteri, University of Florida, USA Valrie Ila Minson, University of Florida, USA Ben Walker, University of Florida, USA E Haven Hawley, University of Florida, USA Chelsea S Dinsmore, University of Florida, USA Rebecca J W Jefferson, University of Florida, USA Chapter The Construction and Development of Academic Library Digital Special Subject Databases 24 Yan Rao, Wuhan University Library, China Yaolei Zhang, Wuhan University Library, China Chapter Cost Issues in Digitalization and Preservation: A Case Study of a Small-Scale Music Library 45 Ada Chi Wai Chung, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Chapter Insourcing and Outsourcing of Library Technology 59 Edward Iglesias, Stephen F Austin State University, USA Chapter The China Academic Digital Associative Library (CADAL) 67 Chen Huang, Zhejiang University, China Helen F Xue, Zhejiang University, China Chapter The Construction and Development of the Academic Digital Library of Chinese Ancient Collections 78 Xiao Long, Peking University Library, China Boyue Yao, Peking University Library, China Chapter Digital Initiatives of the Indian Council of World Affairs’ Library 88 Chhaya Sharma, American Center, India Chapter Analysis of Initial Involvement of Librarians in the Online Virtual World of Second Life 99 Michelle Kowalsky, Rowan University, USA Section Digital Inclusion, Accessibility, and Usability Chapter Institutional, Legal, and Attitudinal Barriers to the Accessibility of University Digital Libraries: Implications for Retention of Disabled Students 123 Sushil K Oswal, University of Washington, USA Chapter 10 Demographics, Socio-Economic and Cognitive Skills as Barriers to Information Seeking in a Digital Library Environment 142 Felicia Yusuf, Landmark University, Nigeria Sola Owolabi, Landmark University, Nigeria Ayooluwa Aregbesola, Landmark University, Nigeria Sunday Oguntayo, Landmark University, Nigeria Foluke Okocha, Landmark University, Nigeria Toluwani Eyiolorunse, Landmark University, Nigeria Chapter 11 Discussion on Digital Inclusion Good Practices at Europe’s Libraries 166 Maria-Jesús Colmenero-Ruiz, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain Chapter 12 Users’ Acceptance of Online Literature Databases in a Thai University: A Test of UTAUT2 185 Wornchanok Chaiyasoonthorn, Faculty of Administration and Management, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand Watanyoo Suksa-ngiam, The Center for Information Systems and Technology (CISAT), Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA Chapter 13 Usability of Digital Resources: A Study of Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library University of Agriculture Makurdi 202 Michael Terver Upev, University of Agriculture, Nigeria Kwaghga Beetseh, University of Agriculture, Nigeria Joy Asibi Idachaba, University of Agriculture, Nigeria Chapter 14 Web-Scale Discovery Service in Academic Library Environment: A Birds Eye View 216 Mahendra Kumar Sahu, Gandhi Group of Institutions, Gunupur, India Chapter 15 Responsive Library Website Design and Adoption of Federated Search Tools for Library Services in Developing Countries 227 Michael Opeoluwa Fagbohun, Covenant University, Nigeria Nwanne Mary Nwokocha, Covenant University, Nigeria Victoria Itsekor, Covenant University, Nigeria Oyeronke Adebayo, Covenant University, Nigeria Section Digital Rights and Copyright Issues Chapter 16 Development and Management of Digital Libraries in the Regime of IPR Paradigm 261 Ranjan Karmakar, Chakdaha College (Affiliated to University of Kalyani), Chakdaha, India Chapter 17 Digital Libraries and Copyright of Intellectual Property: An Ethical Practice Management 272 Abdullahi A Bakare, Kwara State University, Nigeria Chapter 18 Copyright Issues in the Context of the Digital Library 291 Pedro Pina, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal Chapter 19 Managing Intellectual Property in Digital Libraries and Copyright Challenges 305 Monicah Jemeli Chemulwo, St Paul’s University, Kenya Chapter 20 Digital Libraries, Copyright Limitations, and Access for Purposes of Subsequent Academic Publishing: Still Standing on the Shoulders of Giants? 324 Pedro Pina, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal Chapter 21 Legal Considerations of Providing Information in Support of Distance Learning by Digital Libraries in Universities in Kenya 342 Japhet Otike, Moi University, Kenya Section Institutional Repositories Chapter 22 Management of Institutional Repositories (IR) in Developing Countries 356 Jerome Idiegbeyan-Ose, Covenant University, Nigeria Goodluck Ifijeh, Covenant University, Nigeria Juliana Iwu-James, Covenant University, Nigeria Julie Ilogho, Covenant University, Nigeria Chapter 23 Institutional Repositories in Universities in Nigeria: Desirability and Progress 383 Peter Olorunlake Oye, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Nigeria David Ajibola Oyeniyi, Federal University Technology Akure, Akure, Nigeria David Ezekiel Mahan, National Veterinary Research Institute, Akure, Nigeria Chapter 24 Institutional Repositories and Libraries in Nigeria: Interrogating the Nexus 393 Goodluck Ifijeh, Centre for Learning Resources, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria Oyeronke Adebayo, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria Roland Izuagbe, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria Olajumoke Olawoyin, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria Chapter 25 Use of Institutional Repository for Information Dissemination and Knowledge Management 409 Madhava Rao, ARAI, India Chapter 26 User Experience in Institutional Repositories: A Systematic Literature Review 423 Laura Icela González-Pérez, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Mexico María-Soledad Ramírez-Montoya, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Mexico Francisco J García-Palvo, GRIAL Research Group, Department of Computer Science, Science Education Research Institute (IUCE), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain Chapter 27 Students’ Acceptance to Self-Archive in Institutional Repositories towards a Unified View 441 Fatin Amirah Amirah Masrich, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Noraisah Dili, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Umi Amneezatun Hamzah, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Malisa Muhammed, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Nurafida Aidi, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Sailendra Kisar, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia Chapter 28 Visibility and Accessibility of Indigenous Knowledge on Open Access Institutional Repositories at Universities in Africa 454 Mass Tapfuma, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe & University of KawaZulu-Natal, South Africa Ruth Hoskins, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Section Open Access and Electronic Resources Chapter 29 Managing Open Access (OA) Scholarly Information Resources in a University 474 Dimple Patel, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India Deepti Thakur, Indian Institute of Advance Study, India Chapter 30 Impact of Discovery Layers on Accessing E-Resources in Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Central University of Bihar 500 Mayank Yuvaraj, Central University of South Bihar, India Chapter 31 Adoption of Open Source Software in Libraries in Developing Countries 520 Josiline Phiri Chigwada, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe Chapter 32 Value Co-Creation in Archival Resources: Exploring the Feature of National Archives of Bangladesh (NAB)’s Open Access Project 532 Md Mukhlesur Rahman, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan Toufiq Ahmed, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan Kunio Shirahada, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan Chapter 33 Commercial and Open Access Integrated Information Search Tools in Indian Libraries 550 Sangeeta N Dhamdhere, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, India Ramdas Lihitkar, Government College of Science, India Chapter 34 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers 566 Nazir Ahmad Bhat, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, India Index 575 Commercial and Open Access Integrated Information Search Tools in Indian Libraries UGC Infonet Digital Library Consortia (n d.) Retrieved from http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/econ/ Users are online So should be your library (n d.) Knimbus.com Retrieved from http://www.knimbus com/user/auth.do This research was previously published in E-Discovery Tools and Applications in Modern Libraries edited by Egbert de Smet and Sangeeta Dhamdhere, pages 41-55, copyright year 2016 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global) 565 566 Chapter 34 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers Nazir Ahmad Bhat Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, India ABSTRACT The main purpose of the study in hand was to assess the impact of advent of electronic information resources on some core aspects related to the research activity across agricultural libraries of Northern India Six aspects have been covered in this study Seven sampled universities were surveyed personally by the investigator for collecting data about the questions under investigation A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool Filled out questionnaires from 1,200 respondents were collected and processed with the help of SPSS statistical package The response of the users for each statement under investigation has been collected through a simple ‘Yes’/‘No’ option Chi squared test has been administered to work out the significance of association between the parameters under study and the user opinion thereof The majority of respondents are of the opinion that due to advent of e-resources and in view of the ICT developments the ‘literature survey’ (92.94%) and ‘problem identification’ (51.81%) has become easy and fast The ‘spirit to conduct more and more research’ has increased among respondents (86.62%) Moreover, this has also enabled the users to ‘complete’ (84.31%) and ‘publish’ (89.97%) their research work in a lesser time than required in print era A good percentage of respondents (46.26%) also agree that the ‘cross comparison of findings of one’s study with those of other studies has become easy and fast’ (46.26%) in electronic era INTRODUCTION It is not yet clear, whether the advent of electronic form of information has brought any economy in the phenomenon of information availability or not? On one hand the average cost is seen to increase at a fast pace, making it difficult to procure more and more e-resources (Ylotis, 2005) However, on the other hand the availability of information in electronic form has paved a way to use a single source by more DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2463-3.ch034 Copyright © 2020, IGI Global Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers than one user at a time across geographically distant areas New modes of acquiring information which allows purchase on an article-by-article or chapter-by-chapter basis have emerged (Chapman, 2004) The introduction of communication and computer technology has led to the emergence of information networks, where all participating libraries are interconnected electronically for exchange or sharing of their information and has lead to the establishment of “consortia” which has widened access to an unimaginable range of resources at a highly reduced cost (Singh, 2006) Searching the information has also improved as a large number of search engines, subject catalogs and directories, subject-based gateways, etc have emerged as means and aids to search more specific information and avoid any junk But at the same time the number of platforms available for hosting and communication of scholarly output is so huge that it is not humanly possible to know and search across all such platforms However, the concept of ‘Federated Search’ seem to have come with a remedy by evolving a series of ‘Federated Search Engines (FSEs)’ both as commercial and open source software The availability of information resources in electronic format and the advent of e-mailing facility have revolutionized the delivery of information We can deliver a piece of information available either as ‘digitally born electronic documents’ or ‘scanned copies of print material’ to a distant aspirant through e-mail against a highly negligible involvement of cost The digital library software like that of DSpace, Green Stone, Fedora, and the like can be used for maintaining a web operable digital library capable of providing access on anytime anywhere basis to registered library members subsequent to authentic access BACKGROUND The word research as an activity is a complex phenomenon comprising of identification of problem, survey of relevant literature available about the study, applying a suitable method to find a solution to a problem, arrival at the findings, cross comparison of one’s findings with those of others, etc It is also necessary to publish the research findings so as to bring one’s work into the notice of peer community to achieve both positive and negative comments The research activity as such involves a lot of time, money and effort The availability of the full text of previously conducted research works is inevitable for conducting research and thus plays a vital role in motivating or de-motivating the researchers in a specific domain of knowledge There is a wide spread notion that the advent of e-resources have laid a positive impact on most of the core aspects associated with the ‘research activity’ The study in hand is an attempt to work out the proportions of users who agree that the advent of e-resources has laid a positive impact on six of the core aspects related to the ‘research activity’ The study has been conducted with following research questions in mind: If the problem identification as a research activity has become easy or difficult?; Has the literature survey/review become faster, easier, economical and accurate than print era or not?; Whether the process of cross comparison of research findings has become more flexible and wider than print era or not?; Is there any impact of advent of e-resources on the spirit of researchers to conduct research?; Does it take more or lesser time to complete the research at hand?; and 567 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers If there is any impact of advent of electronic information resources on the time taken to publish a research work? Four out of seven states of northern India, viz Delhi, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Punjab have been selected randomly as a cluster for investigation Seven well established agricultural universities/deemed to be universities existing in the sampled out states have been considered for investigation These are: Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi; Chowdhury Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSKHPKV) Himachal Pradesh; Dr Y.S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (DYSPUH&F), Himachal Pradesh; Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science & Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-J), Jammu & Kashmir; Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science & Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K), Jammu & Kashmir; Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana (GADVASU), Punjab; and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Punjab Response of only three categories of users, viz Scientists (Faculty Members), PhD Scholars and Masters’ degree students has been collected and analysed to consolidate the facts and findings REVIEW OF LITERATURE The survey of available research indicates that not much work has been done in India about the individual aspectes of research under scope of this study The research studies bearing some relevance to the problem in hand have tried to explore the influence of advent of e-resources on research as a broad entity i.e on its quality or quantity The findings of a few studies related to impact of advent of e-resources and their online availability on anytime anywhere basis on quantity of research are reviewed as under: The findings of citation analysis carried out through three citation indices, namely Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) for 50 Indian universities reveal that due to availability of UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium the number of research articles produced during 2005-2009 as compared to 2000-2004 has increased by a proportion of more than 75% (Arora, Trivedi & Kembhavi, 2013, p 310) The high level of expenditure on research and use of e-resources are directly associated with success in research outcomes, number of papers published, citation impact, numbers of PhD awards, and research grants ascertained (Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, 2012; Research Information Network (RIN) & Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER), 2011) It is also clear that due to the advent and widespread availability & access of e-resources the opportunity for research publication of being cited has registered an overwhelming increase and the rate of collaborative research has also increased to a considerable magnitude with an encouraging growth in collaboration among scientists of developing countries like India with those of developed countries like USA, Australia, Germany, England, etc (Sagar, Kademani & Bhanumurthy, 2014) Akussah, Asante and Adu-Sarkodee (2015) are of the assumption that “the uptake of electronic resources is highly desirable to increase productivity of work, learning, teaching and research” in academic institutions The investigators are of the view that the enhanced level of awareness and satisfaction along with enhanced chances of use of preferred information are the main factors that leads to this positive impact 568 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers Dubicki (2015) explored that due to advent of e-resources the research works nowadays afford to frame a vast literature review related to their studies and also found that chances of counter citation of their research papers have enhanced The subjects of Medaille’s study (2010) shared their experience that availability of e-resources has resulted into an overwhelming improvement in their capacity to thinking about new horizons of research The findings of Clark (2013) indicate that ease of access, immediate gratification, and the ability to find the exact item in electronic environment are the main factors responsible for improvement in research quality and output.D’Couto and Rosenhan (2015) found that the advent of e-resources has enhanced the confidence of researchers and has enabled them to make required search attempts of their own In this regard they were found wise enough to know that they should not rely wholly on any search engine like that of Google, etc The study also discovered that availing library instruction and guidance from subject experts have a great positive impact on retrieval skills of researchers Though majority of researchers start their research on a public website or search engine, they are found unable to establish the credibility of information resources so ascertained (Mizrachi, 2010) Developing countries like that of India and Pakistan face some problems that disallow the EIRs to exhibit their full swing impact on the quantity and quality of research, which among others include (i) limited quantity of e-resources; (ii) limmitted access; (iii) inadequate IT infrastructure; (iv) low speed of the internet; (v) lack of knowledge among the users with regard to efficient use of advanced searching techniques; (vi) lack of remote or offcampus access to e-resources; (vii) electricity shortage or failure; and (viii) discouraging attitude of library staff, etc (Arif & Kanwal, 2009; Khan & Ahmed, 2013; Mirza & Mahmood, 2012) METHODOLOGY A survey was conducted across the universities under scope of present study during 2015, while using questionnaire as a data collection tool The response of the users against each statement under investigation has been recorded through simple ‘Yes/No’ option The investigator also resorted to the telephonic and e-mail communication for ascertaining timely response and also interacted personally with the respondents for clearing the doubts about the collected responses The population under study comprises of library users of seven selected universities Krejcie & Morgan Table was used to determine a standard sample, which worked out to 1200 users A total number of 1500 questionnaires were distributed among users, out of which 1275 users returned back the filled out questionnaires, making a response rate of 85% On minutely scrutinizing the questionnaires it was found that out of 1275 only 1200 questionnaires are worth consideration for analysis Even lesser number of users gave their response to individual queries, which is shown against each in the corresponding Table(s) The questionnaires were distributed well in proportion to the number of Scientists (Faculty Members) and Students enrolled in each University found at the time of distribution The number of respondents who returned the filled out questionnaires from each of the Universities under survey is presented in Figure Number of respondents shown against each University is a good representative sample for each University well in proportion to the total population of Scientists, PhD Scholars and Masters’ Degree Students The data, collected through the survey, has been processed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) In order to convert the data into meaningful information and draw necessary inferences on scientific grounds the data about each entity was codified into meaningful numerical and alphabetical codes The values were entered in the form of standardized codes to avoid misinterpretation 569 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers Figure University wise distribution of respondents (n=1200) and spelling errors Chi Squared Test has been administered to work out the significance of association between the parameters under study and the user opinion thereof DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION This section highlights the impact of EIRs on some important aspects related to research Subsequent to a thorough literature survey a few core research related aspects were identified and considered for study These include (i) ‘problem identification’, (ii) ‘literature survey/review’, (iii) ‘cross comparison of findings’, (iv) ‘spirit to conduct more and more research’, (v) ‘time taken to complete a research work’, and the (vi) time taken to publish a research work’ Response about six of these aspects was collected through simple’ ‘Yes/No’ option and is consolidated in Table The data is analysed and interpreted under respective sub-headings as follows: Problem Identification It is obvious from Table that the opinion of respondents regarding impact of EIRs on problem identification is equally divided, as 51.81% of them think that due to advent of e-resources problem identification has become easy; while 48.19% not think so This indicates that advent of EIRs has a slight impact on this research aspect Literature Survey/Review Table clearly shows that majority of the respondents (92.94%) are of the opinion that due to advent of e-resources the literature survey has become easy and fast This indicates that advent of e-resources has a highly significant impact on literature survey/review 570 Impact of Electronic Information Resources on the Mindset of Researchers Table User perception about impact of EIRs on research activities S No Statement (n)* Yes No χ2 df p-value (i) Problem identification has become easy and fast 1189 616 (51.81)* 573 (48.19) 0.853