Perceptions of South Asian LIS community towards open source software adoption in libraries

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Rafiq, Muhammad | Ameen, Kanwal

Affiliations: PhD Scholar, Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan | Chairperson, Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract: This study is intended to investigate the perceptions of South Asian LIS community towards open source software (OSS) adoption in libraries by adopting a quantitative research design. An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted to reach the geographically dispersed population in the vast region of South Asia. A Likert-type scale with 20 items was designed to collect data. A total of 190 responses were gathered from four countries, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-Test, and ANOVA were used to draw conclusions. Attention was given to two independent variables: organization type (public/private sector), and library type (academic/public/special). The overall results suggested that respondents had positive perceptions towards OSS adoption in libraries. However, the results of the t-Test and ANOVA indicated that ‘organization type’ and ‘library type’ were insignificant factors, as there were no significant differences of perceptions found among the respondents on the basis of ‘organization type’ or ‘library type’. This study is the first of its kind from a South Asian perspective. Its findings are useful for the LIS community, library system developers, software developers, technology administrators, and library administrators.

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120063

Journal: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 115-123, 2010