Internet Use Behaviour of the LIS Community in Pakistan

Information and communication technology (ICT) has brought radical and revolutionary changes in all walks of human life during the last three decades. It has played a vital role in the development of a global village. Libraries are also among those organisms which have been affected by ICT and a great deal of impact has been imposed in this field. Advanced countries are naturally ahead in this area like all others; nevertheless, the developing countries are also not far too behind in the use and implementation of these technologies. Internet has not only increased and fastened the communication, but it has also changed the approach, way of thinking and behaviour of human beings. It has both positive and negative effects on the human life at large. This paper examines the Internet access, emailing and instant messaging behaviour, web surfing and usage of online resources by different type of people relevant to library and information services in Pakistan. These different people range to faculty, library practitioners, library support staff with a master’s level education and graduate students of LIS. The paper also presents a brief picture of the time spent online by these people and the online available library tools used by them. The types of websites normally visited during office hours and messengers used for official cum personal communication have also been included in this paper