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Libraries are institutions that provide access to a comprehensive collection of information and resources for educational, research, and recreational purposes. They serve as repositories of knowledge and offer numerous services to their communities. In this process, libraries play a paramount role in preserving and conserving library materials for future generations. The objectives of this paper were to investigate the significant Preservation and Conservation (PAC) initiatives of library materials from the ancient periods (3rd Century BC to 5th Century AD), the colonial period (1505 to 1948), and the post-independence period (1948 to date), to identify the gaps related to the current practices of PAC in Sri Lanka and to identify the issues related to PAC in Sri Lanka. This study focused on a qualitative research method. Relevant literature was found through secondary sources such as books, journal articles, conference papers, organizational reports and websites based on subject-related keywords. The Department of National Museums (DNM), Department of National Archives (DNA) and National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB) and Sri Lankan University Libraries (ULs), were purposively selected. The published year was not considered during the process, and priority was given to Sri Lankan and foreign-authored publications on PAC of library materials in Sri Lanka. Literature was analyzed based on above mentioned three time frames selected for the study. The study identified growing trends in PAC practices from ancient to post-independence periods. Even though some evidence goes back to King Vijaya's period (483 BC), official writing was started in 103-77 BC. Some writing materials, such as inscriptions, palm leaves, and golden plates, were used during this period. Later, in the colonial period, the Portuguese, Dutch and British developed writing materials and established positions such as Record keepers and Archivists. Then, in the post-independence period, the DNM, DNA, NLDSB and ULs were identified as pioneering organizations that led the task of preserving. It was identified gaps between the literatures and existing literature only identified palm leaves as a main library material to be conserved and preserved. The main issues derived from the analysis were a lack of financial allocations, policies, laws and regulations, training, and research related to the field. The study pointed out the need for a separate PAC unit to handle the preservation activities of library materials in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the research productivity of five state universities of Sri Lanka during 2015-2018, using scholarly output, citation impact and collaboration metrics of SciVal, and the contribution of the university libraries towards research excellence. Five multi-disciplinary state universities; University of Colombo (UoC), Kelaniya (UoK), Peradeniya (UoP), Ruhuna (UoR) and Sri Jayewardenepura (UoSJP) were selected as the sample. During the study period, 4723 publications and 3831 authors have been recorded, of which UoC and UoP records the highest numbers. UoR records the highest publications in top journal percentile and highest number of views (72) among the five universities. A total of 33104 citations are reported while UoP depicts the highest citation count (18322) as an individual university, while UoR records the highest h5-index (39). Highest Field Weighted Citation Impact (3.18) and the highest citations per publication (12.4) is recorded by UoP while the highest output in top citation percentile (32.5%) is recorded by UoR. UoR records the highest overall international collaboration (74.4) during the studied period and UoP records the highest academic/corporate collaboration (2.2). University libraries provide collections and conducive environments for researchers, training in searching for information, referencing styles and use of reference management software, plagiarism detection and they maintain Institutional Repositories. The study established that there is much scope for university libraries to expand the services to support research productivity and recommends that librarians should consider on more current support areas like research data management, measuring research impact, and digital curation in order to support their universities to achieve excellence in research productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to examine the prior school library experiences of new entrants in the field of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science and their pattern of information source usage. Data were gathered by performing a questionnaire-based survey among the study population (N=71) of all the new entrants to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science in 2020.The findings revealed that 93% of the students have been instructed by school teachers to refer additional reading material to complement classroom notes and almost all the students confirmed that they utilized the school library while studying for their GCE A/L exam. It was observed that 73% of the students had visited the school library once a week or few days a week. Regarding the availability of library facilities all the students stated that they had facilities to borrow books while 47% of them had facilities to borrow magazines too. Yet, only 32% of students reported that library catalogs were available in their school libraries. In addition, 90% of the respondents did not have computers as well as internet access in the school library. Findings further demonstrated that most of the students (98%) had borrowed books from the school library while only few students (13%) had used the catalog for information retrieval. It was interesting to note that 95% of the students perceived the need to refer additional material to complement their classroom notes. 95% of the respondents confirmed that other than the school library they gained subject-related material from tuition classes. Inevitably, all the respondents verified that they had an email account and 97% of them stated that they used social media. Moreover, 93% of students ascertained that they preferred to communicate with the library via digital media. This paper renders insight into the adequacy of prior school library usage by university new entrants which can be used as a baseline indicator in designing and planning library instructional programs for students. Library instructional programs could be planned to have more focus on areas (eg. Online catalogs, e-resources) that were revealed to be less experienced by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Budding literature across the world explores the antecedents of Information Professionals in historical societies while there is a paucity of knowledge on them in ancient Sri Lankan context. Therefore, the study attempts to explore the nature of history of Information Professionals in ancient Sri Lanka employing a qualitative approach through content analysis of primary sources such as inscriptions. The study brings to light a silhouette of professionals engaged in preserving information from the early historic period to the end of the Kandyan kingdom. These officials were mentioned as scribes, chief secretaries, registrars and record keepers such as Lapana, Kanapedika, Mahale, Muk-hi, Mukaveti, Sanhas Sivatta Nayinarun, and Sannissiwatte Kulaperumal. Most importantly, they were members of the Royal Council. Duties of these officers involved noting down the orders of the Kings, keeping copies in different formats for future reference, setting up inscriptions/manuscripts/charters, and being accountable for recording, attesting, publicizing and provision of access to the information. The research contributes to the literature on Information Science studies as well as historical literature, while it deepens existing knowledge by focusing on a new-fangled look at ancient primary sources. This novel information provides access to a new arena for further research on the history of Sri Lankan information preservation institutions such as lekamge and badageba etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slogan of 2030 Sustainable Development Goal is "Leave no one behind." Older adults, as a vulnerable population, require equal rights in order to achieve balanced sustainable development. However, compared to children and teens, this rising segment has been consistently overlooked in service provision. They deserve to have their later years spent wisely and effectively. A public library is one of the places where they can make good use of their free time. This study explores the services available to older persons through public libraries, as well as their perceptions of those services. This study focused on three public libraries (Colombo public library, Kotahena public library, and Susharitha public library) in Colombo Municipal Council and its older adult patrons. For this study, an exploratory research design was used. The American Library Association's "Guidelines for Library Services with 60+ Audience: Best Practices" were used to examine the four core service areas of collection, programs, facilities, and staff. Senior users believe that the collection and staff services suit their needs adequately, with few downsides when compared to the other two services - programs and facilities. According to the study, regular surveys on seniors, collaboration, awareness programs, voluntarism, and designated staff are suggested as ways to improve library services for senior adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees are one of the main assets in any organization. Public libraries are prominent social entities which provide information and services to local communities to enhance their knowledge and learning. In order to provide quality and commendable services to the public, employees serving in public libraries should be satisfied with their job. Therefore, the assessment of employee satisfaction with their job is essential for organizational development. The main purpose of this study was to examine whether Public Librarians working in the Kandy District of Sri Lanka were satisfied with their job in terms of five facets: job role, work supervision, promotion, salary and co-worker relationships. Further, this study explored problems militating against the Public Librarians' job satisfaction. A convenient sample of 27 librarians from public libraries in the Kandy District of Sri Lanka was selected for the study. Five focus group discussions using a semi structured interview guide were conducted. Interviews were analyzed using the thematic approach and content analysis. According to the findings, majority of the Public Librarians expressed satisfaction towards their job role and co-worker relationships where as most of them articulated negative opinions with regard to the facets of salary, promotion and work supervision. Based on the results, recommendations were exposed with a view to enhancing the level of job satisfaction among Public Librarians which will in turn contribute to the success of the public library sector in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the level of undergraduates' satisfaction and their perceptions towards library resources and services provided by the Science Library, University of Peradeniya. The survey research method was adopted to achieve the above objectives. A questionnaire was administered to 442 undergraduates of the Faculty of Science. 371 duly filled questionnaires were returned, were then analyzed. The findings revealed that more than 60% of the undergraduates visited the library daily and weekly, while more than 80% of them visited the library for multiple purposes. Regarding the available resources, the majority of the undergraduates were satisfied with the library book collection, periodicals and available magazines. Yet, only 39% and 32% of students reported that they were satisfied with e-resources and audiovisual materials available in the library respectively. Considering the library services, the majority of respondents were satisfied with lending, reference, referral and photocopying services. However, 11% of them were not satisfied, where as 13% of the students were not even aware of online services provided by the library. Further, the findings demonstrated that limited number of computers, unavailability of Wi-Fi facilities, unawareness of the library website, difficulties of accessing the Internet and searching research articles were the main reasons for students' dissatisfaction. However, the majority of the undergraduates praised the library staff for offering an impressive service. The results proved that undergraduates have positive perceptions towards the library and its services. Based on the findings, some suggestions were made to increase user satisfaction and to enhance the library resources and service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important measures used for evaluating the service quality of a library is a user satisfaction survey. The objectives of the study were to find out the purposes of using a library and to evaluate user satisfaction towards the library facilities, library staff, library services, library resources and library website of the Open University of Sri Lanka. The population of the study was the university staff and the students who registered in the library of the Colombo regional centre of the Open University of Sri Lanka. Total sample size was 357 inclusive of both university staff members and students. Purposive sampling technique was utilized to get a representative sample. Primary data were collected with the help of a survey using a structured questionnaire, designed specifically for the purpose. Analysis of primary data was done using frequency tables and basic descriptive statistics such as mean, median etc. To measure the validity and reliability of the statements that are used to measure the user satisfaction, Cronbach Alpha testing was used. User satisfaction was evaluated under 05 parameters, such as (a) Library facilities; (b) Library staff; (c) Library services; (d) Library resources and (e) Library Website and Information access. It was identified that the respondents used the library for different purposes. Study results indicated reading, searching library resources, using computers to access information, and borrowing and returning books as the major purposes of using the library. The results of the study also revealed that on average, the respondents were relatively most satisfied with the library staff and their performance and helpfulness, moderately satisfied with the available library services, satisfied with the library website and its facilities and generally satisfied with the library facilities and library resources as a whole. The results also indicated that overall library users are satisfied with the available library resources, services and facilities. But, the study could also identify that there were some areas that users were not much satisfied with, particularly, providing user awareness programs, training on information searching, dissemination of services or providing information through social network media like face book, twitter etc., improving Wi-Fi facilities, improving access to audio visual materials, increasing the availability of electronic databases and providing more online library services. Therefore it is important to conduct information literacy programmes and user awareness progammes in order to make library users aware about new library resources and services and to enhance their information literacy skills. Further, it is recommended that understanding the user information needs, fulfilling those needs and measuring their level of satisfaction on regular basis is essential in order to provide a better service and to establish the sustainability of libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical Officers (MOs) need to update their knowledge with diagnosis of diseases, current treatment modalities, guidelines on management etc. in order to provide a better service to the intended communities. The present study attempts to identify the information needs, perceived barriers and challenges of MOs attached to "Divisional Hospital Type-C" (DH Type-C) (rural) hospitals in Sri Lanka. This research was a descriptive study. A Self Administered Questionnaire was used as the data collection tool. The study population consists of MOs in DH Type-C Hospitals in Sri Lanka. Sample size was calculated using the Lwanga's and Lemeshow's formula. Accordingly, there were 400 MOs attached to the 192 DH Type-C. Study shows that information about diagnosis, drug, treatment and patient data were identified as highly important by rural MOs. Data suggested that a higher proportion of aged MOs needed medical information than did young MOs. Also, it can be seen that the main driving purposes of MOs? information needs were to be up to date; answering patients? and their families? questions, and to answer colleagues? questions and confirm opinion. Internet, medical blogs, medical devices and personal contacts with colleagues were most highly used as sources of information. Further, most MOs suggested that if the medical authority could develop a proper medical system to help MOs to continue with health education, that will be a fruitful activity for the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]