User perception and use of OPAC: a comparison of three universities in the Punjab region of India

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the manner and purposes for which users search the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) in the University Libraries of India. The study is a comparative analysis of the use of OPAC in three universities located, in the Union Territory of Chandigarh and Punjab, a northern state of India.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire was developed, designed and distributed among 500 respondents in the three universities after conducting a suitable pilot study and pre‐testing the tools of investigation. There were 384 (76.8 per cent) respondents who returned the filled‐in questionnaires. The data, thus collected, were compiled, processed and analyzed with the aid of the SPSS package (version 14.0).FindingsUsers in all three universities were found to be in regular use of OPAC in the libraries. This usage frequency was despite the fact that the users had encountered a number of problems while doing this. Contrary to expectations, however, there is a great degree of similarity in the results obtained especially with regard to the various aspects examined in connection with the use of OPAC in three different libraries.Originality/valueOPAC has an important place in university libraries. The findings have strong policy implications in the fact that they will help the library community to improve the current OPAC facility usage in university libraries in India as well as in other developing countries.