Digital reference services in public university libraries in Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Khulna division

Abstract

The development of information and communication technologies, the availability of information online, and the wide spread of the internet have changed the trends of library services. On the other hand, the user’s attitudes towards the library change. The users want digitalized resources and online services. To serve information seekers, there is no other way than digital reference service. Digital Reference Service is the only way to give the right information to the right users at the right time. Digital Reference Service provides a user assistant when they want while sitting at home. University libraries are an important part and parcel of higher education, and the users of these libraries, such as students, faculty members, and researchers always involved in education. They will need any type of information or document at any time. To fulfill their requirement and to achieve their satisfaction, there is no alternative to Digital Reference Service (DRS). From this study, it is found that the mentality of library professionals has changed. They try hard to make the library digital and provide internet-based services. Public university libraries offer a large number of databases to meet the needs of users. Besides these, the university libraries offer online services like Current Awareness Service (CAS), Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI), institutional repositories, and so on. They faced some problems with providing DRS. This study provides some recommendations that will help them to run digital reference services smoothly.