the statue of electronic publish :
Sargodha, Pakistan:2017; (Ph.D.(UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA ,DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
abstract :
Geological and geographical severe catastrophic changes have drawn attention of the world towards being secured and prepared to avoid any untoward disastrous incidents. The reasons of such disasters can be either natural or sometimes human created. History reveals that a number of libraries have also been destroyed due to natural and man-made disastrous happenings. In this regard, necessary security measures are the best defense to avoid any unwanted incident. Therefore, the safety of the library, its assets and the lives of the people in its domain are crucial liabilities of administration of library. The present study about disaster preparedness is an effort to attend this serious issue and find out the status of preparedness of libraries in this context. The study also aimed to prepare a practical plan to make our university libraries secure and safe from any unpleasant happening.
In this study, mixed method of research design was used. In the first phase, using semi-structured questionnaires, quantitative data was collected from all the central /main libraries of the HEC recognized universities of Punjab province to determine current status of disaster preparedness. The respondents of the study were chief librarians, library heads or in charge of university libraries in Punjab, Pakistan. A pre-reviewed and pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. Response rate of the study was 88.4%. In second phase, interviews were conducted with officials who were working in government departments, concerned with security and to safeguard the lives of people. Six departments participated in interview including a library professional. By using quantitative and qualitative research methodology the researcher succeeded to draw the real picture of the phenomena.
The results revealed that no research work was conducted on this topic. This is the first research at PhD level in Pakistan and will be fruitful for library professionals and other members of the society as well. Fire, earthquake and terrorism attacks are major perceived calamities, if university libraries have not prepared themselves with the necessary basic disaster measurers. This study has revealed that no library has standard disaster preparedness plan of action against any hazard. No such courses included in library academics and no efforts were made by the library association to make aware the library community in the province. The findings of the study indicated that head librarian is perceived responsible to plan and implement preparedness measures against disasters. The chief librarian can do this assignment by establishing a committee of library professionals, library users and rescue and security agency personnel. The interviewed experts showed their volunteer eagerness to
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extend their helping hands if any library professional would request them to train or need any guidance regarding the issue. The rescue experts concluded that all the library professionals and non-professionals should get such training, which makes them safe from disastrous situation. Library professionals should make their administration and people aware by conducting workshops and seminars. This study indicates that library professionals are reluctant to prepare themselves/ their libraries against disasters. They consider that disasters seldom happen. So, they did not feel to attend this issue as they think they can handle such situations without any formal precaution as per their self-confidence. Universities or other library institutions did not include disaster preparedness skills in library job description. So, library community, especially in universities, did not consider them liable to design or plan measures against disasters. This study provokes library professionals to move forward and feel the geological situation of the region and prepare themselves for any untoward incident as no disaster inform prior to happening.
This study recommends that main liability is on library administrative authorities to prepare such plans and implement them in libraries as well. Rescue and security agencies should be taken on board for training and guidance.
The study has practical implication for university libraries in particular, and for all types of libraries in general. This is the first study on this topic at PhD level in Pakistan. The study would not only make the stakeholders aware about the disaster preparedness but also yield a plan to safeguard the libraries and its heritage i.e., precious human lives, intellectual and nonintellectual assets. This study is limited to university libraries in the Punjab province only but the results can be generalized to all types of libraries in Pakistan.