Use of electronic resources in business school libraries of an Indian state

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the prolific growth of electronic resources during the last decade. The standards and strategies are sought to access and organize the abundance of e‐resources and to ensure free flow of information to the user's community. This survey attempts to measure the quantum of e‐resources accessed in the academic ambience of Business School libraries in Orissa (India). Moreover, the study attempts to examine to what extent Electronic Information Services (EIS) are offered to users of Business School libraries in the State with an opinion pool of the librarians of the respective Business Schools. Furthermore, the study aims to highlight problems and constraints faced by the information professionals in accessing e‐resources and delivering electronic information services with some constructive suggestions and remedial measures for the ensuing bottle‐neck.Design/methodology/approachThe paper highlights the availability of e‐resources and critically examines the quantum of their use in Business School libraries of Orissa and the crucial role played by the information professionals in providing electronic information services to users through the findings based on responses from structured questionnaires. The SPSS package is used for analysis of data.FindingsThe paper arrives at the conclusion that the internet‐based e‐resources are being well used compared with CD‐ROM databases. Premier web search options like Google and Yahoo! are the most frequently used search engines, while the other searching options are less used. Availability of some key online databases are exclusively confined to only a selected few B‐School libraries of the State.Practical implicationsThe paper restricts the study exclusively to e‐resources as the type of material and the librarians of 25 major Business School libraries of Orissa (India) as the respondents in its scope of discussion.Originality/valueThe paper sheds some light on the use of e‐resources in Business School libraries of Orissa (India) with some constructive suggestions for the development of the platform of electronic resources and services.