Utilization of Databases in State Agricultural Universities of Jammu and Kashmir (India)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact and use of e-databases in State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) of Jammu & Kashmir because a huge amount is invested for the subscription, growth, and management of e-databases. The main purpose is to determine the objective of use of e-databases; and to find out their level of application, level of satisfaction, problems, and guidance/instructions in accessing of e- databases. To collect research data, questionnaire was administered randomly among 150 faculty members/scientists/Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) available in two state agricultural universities i.e SKUAST of Jammu, SKUAST of Kashmir and 103 filled in questionnaires were returned. Finally, the researcher selected 100 useable questionnaires for the analysis using statistical technique to derive the result. The study reveals that e-databases such as CABI, AGRIS, AGRICOLA and Vet -CDs were highly used among the faculty members. Most of the agricultural scientists from Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and veterinarians from Faculty of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry were satisfied with the available databases at their respective University. The study identifies the importance of e-databases and the role of user initiation program or information literacy awareness to enhance the usage of databases at two agricultural universities each of one is located in two divisions of the state of Jammu & Kashmir i.e Jammu division & Kashmir division. Keywords: Agricultural Scientists, Veterinarians, e-databases, SKUAST, SAUs, Animal Husbandry.