A Study of Library Usage and Satisfaction by Social Scientists at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan

AbstractThe successful library services depend mainly on satisfaction level of its users with the relevant library collection, user-centric library services and library staffs' supportive attitude. This study is based on survey method using questionnaire. It aimed at studying the types of material used for meeting academic and research need, purposes of seeking information, respondent's satisfaction with library services, satisfaction with library collection, journals subscription, preferred format of information, problems faced during information search, satisfaction with the attitude of the library and opening hours of library. At the end the study furnished some recommendations to improve library usage frequency and satisfaction by the users.Keywords: Social scientist, library usage, satisfaction, library staff attitude, Bahauddin Zakariya University, MultanIntroductionLibrary is a vital agency to promote education and research by providing latest information and knowledge. The role and growth of information and knowledge is faster than before and even at acceleration. Information is needed in every field of life Kemp (1976) said that "indeed, information has been described as the fifth need of man ranking after air, water, food and shelter. " Chen and Hernon (1982) defined that information is all knowledge, ideas, fact, data and imaginative works of mind which are communicated normally and informally in any format. Information is defined as data used in planning, decision making and analysis of some program. It has a major role in man's routine activities; either it may be at home, school colleges, playground or work places. It is crucial to man's survival. It is like a stair to provide foot path to promote the research work (Uttor, 1999). Dervin (1986) presented the concept of information in a different way. According to her, "Information is seen as something constructed by human being". She has presented the six stages of information seeking behavior and further says that all these elements have much importance for research point of view. Without understanding the importance of this concept, the library cannot perform their task properly.Therefore every person demands different materials in different forms. The present age is of information technology and it also affects the nature of users and its needs. That is why with the passage of time different people demands different things in a different ways. The researchers have to face with information explosion, information pollution and exponential growth of information. Due to information bang, the researchers puzzle about the information needs, information sources and information access. With the effect of new information and digital technology, many researchers and scholars of the world have much interested to access the latest information. Every scholar is taking much interest in research field because of faster accessibility of the digital information (Khongtim, 2006). Here the library's role is very crucial, thus, the need to study the library usage and satisfaction of users with their libraries and information centers.The Research QuestionsThe basic purpose of the research is to obtain deeper understanding of the information needs of the faculty members of the Social Sciences. To obtain the above purposes, the study sought to find the answers of the following research questions:1. What sorts of information sources are being used by faculty members of Social Sciences at Bahauddin Zakariya Multan and for what purposes? 2. What is the satisfaction level of faculty members with library collection and other facilities provided by the departmental libraries of Social Sciences at Bahauddin Zakariya Multan? 3. What are the main problems faced by the Faculty Members while searching for their relevant information and using library services? Literature ReviewA study by Gamage (2006) analyzed the information needs of environmental scientists in universities in Srilanka. …