Outlook Change From Print to E-Resources: A Study of the Uses and Advantages of E-Resources on Print in the State Universities in Kerala, India

Review Of Literature

Review of related literature is necessary to empower the researcher to get an unmistakable understanding about the particular field of study. It helps the researcher to have an understanding into the tested methods, procedures and interpretations of similar studies conducted somewhere else. Some prominent studies related to e-resources are reviewed.

Library e-resources have evolved from the introduction of machine-readable cataloguing (MARC) and online public access catalogues (OPACs) in the late 1960s to CD-ROM databases in the late 1980s, to electronic journals, electronic books, online databases and Web-based ERs at the end of the twentieth century (Hawthorne,2008). South African universities, in particular, enjoy a high level of ICT integration and adequate ICT infrastructure. ERs serve as an integral part of research, teaching and academic activities. Although South African universities have invested vast amounts of money in the acquisition of ERs, there are questions about the efficiency and use of these resources. For example, Ashcroft (2011)observed that, while issues regarding the introduction of e-journals, such as raising user awareness, bundling, the proliferation of passwords and consortia purchase have been resolved, the situation regarding e-book provision is less stable.

Dattatraya T. Kalbande (2013) attempted to study the use of e- resources, its impact, and the places from which the users are accessing these resources. A survey among 108 faculty members was conducted at the Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, Rahuri (M.S). The result showed that the awareness about e-resources encourages users to use these resources at maximum. Users are accessing these resources from the department and home. The impact of e-resources was noticeable from the decrease in number of print resources in comparison to the increase in e-resources. The study was conducted through a structured questionnaire to elicit the opinion of the science research scholar, distributed among 100 research Scholars of different science departments, of out of which 80 dully filled questionnaires were received back giving an overall response rate of 80 per cent. The paper concludes that electronic resources have become an integral part of the information needs of research scholars at Karnatak University. Further, it finds that e-resources can be good substitutes for conventional resources. Finally emphasizes the suggestions given by the research scholar for improvement and better utilization of the library sources and services (Kumbar,Anuradha Kotabagi, Manohar & Lamani, 2014). Nazir Ahmad Bhat (2017) assessed the satisfaction level of users with regard to the following types of Electronic Information Resources (EIRs) relevant to agriculture and allied disciplines, viz. Indexing and Abstracting (I&A) Databases; e-Journals; e-Books; and e-Theses. Seven universities were surveyed using a questionnaire for collecting data. Anajoyce Samuel Katabalwa (2016) studied the use of electronic resource by the postgraduate students in the School of Education at the University of Dares Salaam. The study showed that most of the students are using e-resources for many purposes. The major difficulties faced in the use of electronic resources are power failure, inadequate bandwidth, slow speed, inability to access the resources from home, lack of training, lack of awareness, limited access to computers and difficulty in searching. Finally, the recommendations for improving the use of electronic journal resources are provided.