A Study of IT Infrastructure in Pakistani University Libraries

This study has investigated the status of hardware, software, networking and IT support available in university libraries of Pakistan. Survey method of research was employed to collect the data through a questionnaire survey. Fifty two out of 82 chief librarians/head librarians of central libraries of the public and private universities responded. The study concluded that except few, a vast majority the university libraries have computers and other peripherals; use of ‘free and open sources’ software increase in the university libraries; only few university libraries implement standard integrated library software, while the use of in-house developed library software is common; most of university libraries use ‘Internet Explorer’ as their search engine; fixed line telephone facility is available in most of the university libraries, while ‘fax’ is available in some of the university libraries; a vast majority of the university libraries have local area network (LAN), whereas wireless network is available in some of the university libraries; a vast majority of the university libraries receive IT support from their university’s IT Center/Computer Center, while some have their in-house support