Search

Background: Library websites are important for marketing library services and providing access to electronic resources. Objectives: To determine the extent and quality of medical college (school) library websites in Pakistan, according to predetermined criteria. Methods: A checklist of 40 items was developed from the literature on academic library website evaluation as well as observation of known best practice. The checklist was used on the 45 medical college websites that fitted initial inclusion criteria. Results: Of the possible 114 candidates for inclusion, 52 institution websites contained no information about the library, 17 only provided minimum details, leaving 45 medical college library websites that could be included. Library websites lack uniformity, and most of the important features as only three library websites contained more than 20 items from the checklist. The Agha Khan University Medical College, Karachi library website contained the highest (27) number of items. Discussion: The findings indicate the design of medical college library websites is generally inadequate in Pakistan. The websites are not performing a useful role in communicating with faculty and students. The findings point to inadequate website design skills among librarians or the lack of co‐operation with professional website designers. Conclusions: Marketing of library services and good customer relations demand improvements in the information architecture of medical college library websites as well as continued maintenance of the content to ensure that it is up to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To know the rate and predictors for derecognition/demotion in HEC-indexed Y, and Z categories health science journals (HSJs) Methods: A list of HEC-indexed Y and Z categories HSJs was downloaded from the official website of HEC, Pakistan on 29 July 2019. General information like the type of publisher, specialty, sponsoring body, origin city, and sector (Armed Forces/Civilian) of the derecognized or demoted journals were noted. Fundamental issues like HEC's procedures were resolved using literature review, contacts to the affected journals, and peer-to-peer discussions. Results: Of 50 journals, 25 (50%) were found against each of the Y and Z categories. Fourteen (56% of the total) Y category journals faced adversity in the form of derecognition (n=5) or demotion (n=9). Whereas, the rate increased remarkably to 64% (n=16) in the Z category. Similarly, the high rate was noticed in specialty-specific journals (67.9%, n=19). A journal under private sponsorship had twofold more chance of the adversity (95% CI: 1.003-2.918, p=0.05) than public-sponsored journals (75 vs 50%, respectively). Most of the affected Z category journals (n=13, 81.3%) had their first registration with HEC before 2015. Conclusion: The policy of HEC for derecognition/demotion of HSJs needs extensive review to promote medical publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To identify competencies for medical librarians and get these validated from head librarians and employers. Methods The survey method was used. A structured questionnaire, listing 84 competency statements, covering eight areas, prepared after extensive literature review, expert scrutiny and pilot testing, using a 5-point Likert scale was distributed among the head librarians and chairpersons of library committees ( CLC) in 115 medical libraries. Results Sixty seven (58%) useable responses were received from head librarians and 63 (55%) from CLC. Of the 84 competency statements 83 were validated by the head librarians, 44 receiving four or higher mean score while the other 39 statements getting mean scores in the range of 3.97 and 3.06. The CLC validated 80 statements. Only 27 statements received four or higher mean score from CLC while the other 53 got mean scores in the range of 3.97 and 3.22. Conclusions Medical librarians are required to be well versed with all those competencies which are needed for general librarianship. In addition, they are expected to have adequate knowledge of health sciences environment including medical terminologies and concepts. Sound knowledge of some competencies specific for medical libraries is an additional requirement for library personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]