Are university libraries inBangladesh ready to be digital?

Nafiz Zaman ShuvaDepartment of Information Science and Library Management,

University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

AbstractPurpose – The core purpose of the study is to find the existing status of digital libraries (DLs) inuniversity libraries of Bangladesh and to see whether university libraries of Bangladesh are ready toconvert their traditional libraries into digital ones. Other purposes include: to explore the status ofadoption of subscription-based e-resources among the university libraries in Bangladesh; to assess thelevel of information and communications technology skills of library and information science (LIS)professionals working in the university libraries; and to illustrate the government initiatives ondigitization/DL development.Design/methodology/approach – The current study used the mixed methods, i.e. qualitative andquantitative. A questionnaire was prepared to assess the existing status of DL systems in universitylibraries of Bangladesh and to meet other purposes of the study. The population of the study includedthe heads of the public and private university librarians in Bangladesh. Several phone contacts weremade for this study. A good number of e-mail addresses of the librarians of public and privateuniversities in Bangladesh were collected over the phone. The study was conducted from June 2012 toSeptember 2012. Of the 50 identified respondents, the author received 30 completed questionnaires. Theheads of 18 public universities and 11 private universities and one international university responded tothis study. Two responses were received by post. Therefore, the response rate for the current study is 60per cent.Findings – As part of the government’s pledge to build “Digital Bangladesh”, several initiatives havebeen taken that are related to digitization, information development and developing repositories ande-services for citizens. However, not much initiative has been taken to develop nationwide DLs inBangladesh. In terms of e-resource usage scenario, public university libraries are better in offeringe-resources to its students and faculty members than private university libraries in Bangladesh. Finally,it turned out that the majority of the university libraries in Bangladesh are not ready to be digital. Lackof funds, lack of infrastructural support and lack of skilled LIS professionals are the main reasonshindering the development of DLs in the university libraries of Bangladesh.Originality/value – This study will help DL researchers around the world in getting information onthe status of DLs in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh, policymakers, university authoritiesand LIS professionals in Bangladesh will highly benefited from this research. No study to find DLreadiness of the universities has so far been conducted.

Keywords University libraries, Digital libraries in Bangladesh, Government initiatives, Professionalspreference of digital library software

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionThe term “Digital library” has become one of the most frequently used terms in thelibrary and information science (LIS) arena (Shuva, 2012). Different audiencesassociated with a digital library (DL) have different interpretations; they evaluate a DL

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/1065-075X.htm

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Received 8 April 2013Revised 14 July 2013Accepted 4 September 2013

OCLC Systems & Services:International digital libraryperspectivesVol. 30 No. 2, 2014pp. 108-131© Emerald Group Publishing Limited1065-075XDOI 10.1108/OCLC-04-2013-0010

differently and use different terminologies (UNESCO Institute for InformationTechnologies in Education (IITE), 2007, p. 17).

Borgman (2000) defined DLs as:

[…] a set of electronic resources and associated technical capabilities for creating, searching,and using information. In this sense they are an extension and enhancement of informationstorage and retrieval systems that manipulate digital data in any medium (text, images,sounds; static or dynamic images) and exist in distributed networks. The content of DLsincludes data, metadata that describe various aspects of the data (e.g. representation, creator,owner, reproduction rights), and metadata that consist of links or relationships to other data ormetadata, whether internal or external to the digital library (p. 42).

Arms (2001) views DLs as “managed collection of information, with associated services,where the information is stored in digital formats and accessible over a network”. TheUnited Nations Task Force on Digital Libraries offers the following definition of DLs:

Digital libraries are organized collections of information resources in digital or electronicformat along with the services designed to help users identify and use those collections. Digitallibraries promise to provide more effective information services than has been possible in thepast, by offering the following advantages: faster delivery, a wider audience, greateravailability, more timely information, more comprehensive (UNESCO, IITE, 2007, p. 17-18).

The Digital Library Federation developed a working definition of DLs. According toThe Digital Library Federation (1998),

Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, toselect, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, andensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily andeconomically available for use by a defined community or set of communities.

Drabenstott (1994), after analyzing over a dozen definitions, summarized the followingcommonalities in DL definitions (p. 9):

• The DL is not a single entity.• The DL requires technology to link the resources of many, many DLs and

information services.• Transparent-to-end-users are the linkages between the many DLs and

information services.• Universal access to DLs and information services is a goal.• Digital library collections are not limited to document surrogates; they extend to

digital artifacts that cannot be represented or distributed in printed formats.

Drabenstott (1994) found that “DL”, “electronic library”, “virtual library”, “librarywithout walls” and “bionic library” are used to refer to the library of the future. Tedd andLarge (2005), in their book, mentioned that the phrases “virtual library”, “library withoutwalls”, “electronic library”, “cyber library”, “cybrary” and “ebrary” are used by someauthors to describe the DL concept (p. 19). In Bangladesh, the terms “DL”, “electroniclibrary”, “virtual library” and “libraries without walls” are simultaneously used todescribe DL-related concepts.

Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign country on December 16, 1971after a nine-month war of liberation. It is one of the largest deltas of the world with a total

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area of 147,570 km2 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2009). With a uniquecommunal harmony, Bangladesh has a population of about 152.51 million, making it oneof the most densely populated countries of the world (Board of Investment Bangladesh(BOI), 2013).Access to education has recently increased. The literacy rate of thepopulation aged 7 years and over stands at 57.9 per cent at the national level comparedwith 51.9 per cent in 2005. In rural areas, the literacy rate in 2010 was 53.37 per centcompared with 46.7 per cent in 2005 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2010).Bangladesh plays a vital role in the international and regional forum, particularly in theUN, Commonwealth and South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The first university in Bangladesh, the University of Dhaka, was established in 1921.Bangladesh had no private university before 1992. The Bangladesh Governmentenacted the “Private University Act” in 1992. After the Private University Act, NorthSouth University (NSU) was founded. Necessary amendments to the Private UniversityAct were brought in 2000, and the Private University Act of 1992 was replaced by anewer one. To be granted under this Act, a private university had to have good libraryfacilities. Since 2000, quite a good number of private universities have been approved bythe government to offer academic degrees to a large number of students. Currently,Bangladesh has 34 public universities and 70 private universities.

Even though Bangladesh has made substantial improvements in telecommunicationsectors, particularly in mobile sectors after independence, the national information andcommunications technology (ICT) infrastructure has not reached a satisfactory level.Government organizations and organizations outside of metropolitan cities in particularhave lower ICT infrastructures. Access to computers and Internet facilities is still verylow. According to the Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES, 2010), by the BBS,only 3 per cent of the population has access to computer facilities and only 1.39 per centhas access to e-mail facilities (BBS, 2010). These statistics clearly depict the frustratingimage of ICT use at the national level; however, low ICT literacy is one of the mainreasons behind low access to ICT facilities. Academic institutions in Bangladesh areunable to ensure computer access to all its students and teachers, but the use of ICT inuniversities has increased since 2005. The University of Dhaka is one of the leaders inbringing ICT into its library in 1998 with support from United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP). The current government in Bangladesh is interested in investingon any project related to e-governance, e-commerce and e-services. Except for a fewsporadic investments on public libraries and the national library of Bangladesh, nomajor concentrations on DL development have been made. Recently, with support fromthe University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, some public universities areworking to build DL systems in their libraries. As a consequence, a good number ofuniversity libraries embarked on DL system development after 2010. The BangladeshGovernment is also trying to spread digital information services to the rural areas.

Purpose of the studyThe purpose of this study is to find the existing status of DLs in university librarieswithin Bangladesh and to see whether university libraries of Bangladesh are ready toconvert their traditional libraries into digital ones. Other purposes include the followingsix:

(1) To explore the status of adoption of subscription-based e-resources among theuniversity libraries in Bangladesh.

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(2) To assess the level of ICT skills of LIS professionals working in the universitylibraries.

(3) To illustrate the government initiatives on digitization/DL development.(4) To explore the preferences of DL software among the university librarians.(5) To find out the problems that impede the gradual development of DL systems in

university libraries of Bangladesh.(6) To offer recommendations to implement DL systems in Bangladesh.

Status of DLs in BangladeshThe use of computers in Bangladesh started in 1964 with the installation of IBM 1620model computers at the Atomic Energy Commission situated at Dhaka (BangladeshAssociation of Software and Information Services (BASIS), 2005); however, libraries inBangladesh started using computers only in the 1980s. The International Centre forDiarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) Library and the AgriculturalInformation Centre are considered pioneers in introducing automation activities inBangladesh (Khan, 1989). With the demands of users’ expectations for efficient, accurateand timely services, libraries in Bangladesh are quickly adopting technologicalinfrastructure. Quite a number of libraries introduced ICT facilities after the Internetbecome widespread in Bangladesh.

The Internet came to Bangladesh with Unix-to-Unix Copy e-mail beginning in 1993and Internet Protocol connectivity in 1996. In mid-June 1996, the Very Small ApertureTerminal (VSAT) base data circuit was commissioned for the first time in the country.Upon VSAT commissioning, Internet connectivity was established, and its serviceswere made available to the public. People in Bangladesh have seen a revolution inmobile technology during the early 1990s. At that time, City Cell offered mobile servicesto a limited number of people. From 1997 onward, this sector was opened to othercompanies as well; the number of mobile subscribers has substantially increased.Bangladesh currently has six mobile phone operators in the mobile telecommunicationindustry. As of April 2013, six mobile operators are offering mobile telephone services to97.4 million users (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Board (BTRC), 2013b).After the inception of mobile technology, the active Internet users in Bangladesh havedramatically increased. As of June 2013, the number of Internet subscribers inBangladesh is 35.63 million. Of them, 33.9 million are mobile Internet subscribers andabout a half million are Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)subscribers (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Board BTRC, 2013a).

The digitization/DL scenario in Bangladesh is not very good. The currentgovernment of Bangladesh pledged to convert Bangladesh into “Digital Bangladesh” by2021, which is the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh Independence. As part of thegovernment’s initiative to build “Digital Bangladesh”, several initiatives have beenundertaken that are related to digitization, such as establishing a national informationportal, funding DL projects, etc. Recently, a few public and private universities havedeveloped DL/institutional repositories (IR). The following universities are successfullyrunning the IR/DL system:

• BRAC University, one of the leading private universities in Bangladesh, issuccessfully running an IR using the open-source (OS) IR software “Dspace”(http://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/). It currently contains about 1,700 collections. BRAC is

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given the credit of introducing the OS library management system Koha intoBangladesh and is the pioneer in using Dspace at the university level.

• Daffodil International University, a private university, also uses Dspace and isaccessible through: http://library.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd.

• East West University, another leading private university, in Bangladesh built itsDL system using Greenstone. The East West University is the first to introducethe Greenstone DL software in Bangladesh, and is working as the country contactfor the Digital Library Network South Asia (DLNETSA). The East WestUniversity Digital Library is searchable through: http://123.200.11.14:8030/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi.

• Eastern University, another private university in Bangladesh, recently built its DLusing Greenstone with support from the East West University. The EasternUniversity library has hosted nine collections including theses, newsletters, video,audio and images. This DL can be accessed through: http://123.49.59.25:8081/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi.

• Independent University of Bangladesh has a digital repository. The repository isaccessible through: http://dir.iub.edu.bd:8081/.

• Islamic University of Technology at Dhaka is a subsidiary organ of theOrganization of the Islamic Conference, and built its DL system using Greenstone.Its DL is accessible through: http://lib.iutoic-dhaka.edu/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi.

• Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), with support from theHigher Education Enhancement Project (HEQEP) of the UGC of Bangladesh,instituted an IR (http://library.kuet.ac.bd:8001/jspui/) recently. Detailedinformation on the HEQEP project is given later in this paper.

• NSU, the first private university in Bangladesh, instituted its IR in 2003. NSU usesits own software to manage its IR.

• University of Dhaka, the largest and oldest public university in Bangladesh, set upan IR (http://repository.library.du.ac.bd/xmlui/) using Dspace in early 2013.Although library automation was instituted at the University of Dhaka in 1998with support from UNDP, it is quite late in setting up its IR containing theses,monographs, publications of faculty members, etc.

• Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is in its final stage ofsetting up the Dspace repository.

Other DLs outside of the academia include The Bangladesh Bureau of EducationalInformation and Statistics (BANBEIS), which built its DL (http://180.211.136.12:8030/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi) using Greenstone; and ICDDR,B built its IR(http://dspace.icddrb.org/dspace/) using Dspace.

Of the 88 universities, only 10 have built DLs/IRs. Use of OS-free DL/IR software isencouraging, and this trend is particularly good for a developing country likeBangladesh where libraries are continuously facing an acute shortage of funds.Electronic resources usage scenario. There are currently two electronic resourcesconsortiums in Bangladesh. The first electronic resources consortium is called“Bangladesh INASP-PERii Consortium (BIPC)” and was formed in 2007 by the

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Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS). A Memorandum of Understanding was signedin 2006 between the BAS and International Network for the Availability of the ScientificPublications (INASP) to form this consortium. BIPC is operated by a NationalCoordination Committee with the Director, BAS, as coordinator and all Primary ContactOfficers as members. BIPC formed an Advisory Committee headed by the President ofBAS with the heads of its institutions as members. In January 2007, Bangladesh startedsubscribing e-resources with support from INASP (Bangladesh Academy of Sciences(BAS), 2009).

Currently 18 public universities, 19 private universities and 17 other institutions andorganizations are members of the BIPC consortium. The membership growth of BIPC ispresented in the Figure 1.

As indicated in Figure 1, BIPC currently has 54 participating libraries. It is clear fromthe above figure that BIPC membership is increasing. About 50 per cent of publicuniversities and about 65 per cent of private universities have no access to e-resourcesoffered by BIPC, although it is expected that the newer private universities, recentlygranted approval from the UGC of Bangladesh, will soon be part of the BIPC.

BIPC is offering a number of e-resources to its participating libraries. The number ofresources offered over the years is illustrated in Figure 2:

As evident in Figure 2, BIPC is increasing its e-resources over the years. Although itoffered 41 resources in 2011, it is offering 39 resources to its users in 2012. Some trial

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Figure 1.BIPC membership growth

(2007-2012)

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No.

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Figure 2.BIPC resources

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basis access was discontinued in 2012. INASP presents the list of resources available fordeveloping countries, and the BIPC Coordination Committee selects the resourcesrequired by the participating libraries. Technical support to the participating libraries isoffered by BIPC. Very nominal fees are kept for in-country management andpromotional activities of BIPC from the contribution made by the participating libraries.It should be noted here that BIPC does not have access to some of the world’s mostrenowned scientific and business publishers, i.e. Emerald and Elsevier.

Considering the need for wide access to resources and to ensure quality research inthe universities in Bangladesh, the UGC of Bangladesh recently set up an e-resourcesconsortium called the UGC Digital Library (UDL). UDL is being formed by the UGC ofBangladesh with initial funding from the World Bank’s HEQEP. The major objectives ofthe UGC Digital Library, as enunciated in its official documents (University GrantsCommission (UGC) of Bangladesh (2012), include the following seven:

(1) provide access to high-quality and scholarly electronic resources to all memberuniversities at substantially lower rates of subscription;

(2) promote rapid and efficient access to online information to the users and topromote the use of ICT in teaching and learning in the member universities;

(3) promote interaction and interlibrary cooperation among the participatinguniversities;

(4) evaluate the usage of the subscribed resources regularly and to identify newresources that are required to be subscribed under the program;

(5) bring qualitative change in teaching, learning and research in the memberinstitutions;

(6) increase the research productivity of the institutions both in terms of quality andquantity of peer-reviewed publications; and

(7) organize training for the librarians, researchers and faculty members of theparticipating institutions to optimize the use of e-resources.

UDL is currently offering access to the ACM Digital Library, Emerald and JSTOR. Theuniversities participating in this consortium are getting subsidies for their access toexpensive e-resources. So far, 28 of 34 public universities and 6 private universities arepart of the UDL. The list of members of UDL is presented in Appendix 2. The consortiumauthority is now negotiating with e-book publishers to ensure access to e-books for theconsortium members.

Even private universities in Bangladesh charging high tuition fees have very littleinvestment in libraries and their resources. Except for a few leading private universities,the majority of the private universities are reluctant to invest in e-resources; they wouldrather invest in advertising to get more students each year. The students are willing tostudy in the private universities; however, they should check the respective universitylibraries and its resources before taking admission. Unless a university offers goodlibrary facilities, one cannot expect good education from that university.

Government plans and other initiativesThe current government of Bangladesh pledged to convert Bangladesh into “DigitalBangladesh” by 2021. As part of its “Digital Bangladesh” plan, several initiatives have

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been taken that are related to information development, digitization and the DL. Some ofthe initiatives relevant to information development, digitization and the DL are brieflydiscussed in the following sections.

National web portal. A very impressive program of the Bangladesh Government isthe creation of the National Web Portal of Bangladesh (www.bangladesh.gov.bd/),aiming to provide up-to-date information about government services through a one-stoponline portal. This portal provides information related to agriculture, education, marketprice of products, banking system, law, passport, health system, tourism, postal serviceinformation and government ministries and parliaments. Besides the informationoffered in the Bengali language, it has an interface in the English language for foreignersto gather information about Bangladesh.

Jatiyo e-Tathyakosh. Another notable project of the Bangladesh Government is thecreation of Jatiyo e-Tathyakosh (National Information Repository) (available atwww.infokosh.bangladesh.gov.bd) under the Access to Information (A2i) Program ofthe Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Jatiyo e-Tathyakosh contains a vast amount of information on Bangladesh and itspeople, agriculture, education, health, law and human rights, tourism and employment.It offers this information in text, audio, video and animation formats. The informationcontained in the Jatiyo e-Tathyakosh is accessible off-line. Since February 2013, around100,000 items are being hosted in IR, and more than one million people have visited therepository, with 350 supporting organizations participating in creating its content.

E-book project. Textbooks of primary- and secondary-level materials published bythe National Curriculum and Textbook Board are now available in an e-book format andaccessible through: www.ebook.gov.bd/. This project was developed with technicalassistance from the A2I of the PMO.

District web portals. 64 District Web Portals of Bangladesh launched in 2010 aimed atproviding citizen-necessary information on socioeconomic development, history andculture of each district of the country. In addition, as part of the District E-Service Centreset-up in November 2011, anyone can now submit complaints, seek information relatedto land enquiries, etc. using an online form available in the district portal. This portalwas designed and developed by the A2I Programme.

E-porcha. The Ministry of Land, District Administration and the A2I Programmejointly digitized records available at the record rooms of 64 districts in Bangladesh. Sofar, about one and a half million records have been digitized and made available online.About 45 million records will be digitized under this initiative. Citizens can now get acertified copy of their land records from the relevant office without any hassle.

Teacher’s content blog. To enhance the quality of education, the building ofmultimedia classrooms titled “Digital Content Development by Teachers” has beenundertaken by the Ministry of Education and the A2I Programme. So far, there are14,279 blog posts and 8,000 digital items available.

Higher education quality enhancement project. The HEQEP) was undertaken by theMinistry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh with theassistance of the World Bank. The UGC of Bangladesh is the implementing agency ofthe project (Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP), 2010). HEQEPcommissioned an investment study on DLs in 2010. The study reported that the use ofcomputer and network technologies in major public universities is higher than that innewer universities. All private universities are connected to the Internet; however,

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improvements are required in terms of bandwidth, campus network services andnumber of computers for public access in the universities. This study proposed theUGC–BdREN Digital Library Consortium for the universities in Bangladesh to offerbetter access to a wide range of electronic resources and services (Ahmed, 2010). HEQEPsupported several projects related to DLs and/or library automation. Brief informationon the granted projects is given below:

• Khulna University of Engineering Technology (KUET) has a project entitled“Enhancing Teaching and Research Capabilities though Library SystemAutomation” amounting to 15 million BDT. As part of this project, they havebrought different facilities and services in the libraries: Koha(http://library.kuet.ac.bd), Dspace (http://library.kuet.ac.bd:8001/jspui/) andVufind (http://library.kuet.ac.bd/vufind/). A computer laboratory named theDigital Library Access Center, equipped with 35 computers, was established.Servers, desktops computers, projectors, barcode printers, barcode scanners, labelprinters, photo-identification card printers, digital photocopiers, CCTV camerasand other relevant materials were purchased as part of this project.

• Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) also received HEQEPfunding. The project was titled “Enrichment of BSMMU Central Library”, andwas given funds in 2010 for two years with a one-year extension. By December2013, they will establish a full-fledged DL system.

• Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) received a two and a halfyear project grant amounting to 47.2 million BDT in January 2011 for the projectentitled “Total Computerization of SUST”. The general objectives of the projectare:– total computerization of SUST with complete e-governance to develop a

unified digital campus;– expansion of computer network within SUST (fiber optic network and WiFi

network);– library automation through a DL management system and e-content

management system; and– to develop the technology in a way so that it can be transferred to other

universities in Bangladesh.

So far, Koha has been installed under this project. The university is planning to developa DL system soon.

• Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has a project titled“Digitalization of Central Library of BUET” worth around 35 million BDT. Thisproject commenced in April 2012 and is expected to be completed by March 2014.Specific objectives of the sub-project, as mentioned in the project document, are:– development of software;– digitalization of resources;– expanding the network system;– development of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems;– introducing an air conditioning system;

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– building security systems; and– arrangements for training.

• Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU) received grant money for “Establishment ofIT Network and Digital Library in Sylhet Agricultural University” amounting to10.4 million BDT. The project commenced in April 2012 and is expected to becompleted by March 2014. The specific objectives of the project are:– to establish an information technology (IT) network within the SAU campus

(fiber optic backbone and WiFi network);– to upgrade the existing classroom facilities by setting up laptop and

multimedia projectors with Internet access;– to build a DL; and– development of software for automation in the central library and for

e-governance.• Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU), in 2012,

received a grant of nine million BDT for “Modernization of Central Library andEstablishment of an E-resource Centre at CVASU”. If successful, this projectwill bring a modernized library system along with digital facilities.

• NSU, a leading private university in Bangladesh, in December 2012, received agrant of 31.84 million BDT to build an e-resources access center andRFID-based library management system. This is the only private universitywhich was able to manage public funding from HEQEP.

In addition to HEQEP-supported DL projects, there are libraries in Bangladesh whohave received financial support from the government to build DL systems.

• The National Library of Bangladesh received a grant of 93 million BDT from theMinistry of Cultural Affairs to modernize the National Library of Bangladesh. Theproject commenced in 2011 and was expected to be completed by June 2013; however,due to some administrative complexity, this project has been extended for anotheryear. So far, the authority has purchased the required materials for the modernizationof the library and has recently given the work order to Devnet Limited to implementKoha and Greenstone in the National Library of Bangladesh.

• The Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,has been given a project titled “Implementing ICT in Government Public Libraries” tobuild digital public libraries by offering necessary ICT support to 64 governmentpublic libraries in Bangladesh. For this project, 51 million BDT has been allocatedfrom the revenue budget. A2I supported the building of the web portal, available at:www.publiclibrary.gov.bd, as well as developed library management software forpublic libraries. Nevertheless, no significant progress has been seen on the digitizationof books that are in the public domain. The government public libraries of Bangladeshare not yet successful in building true DL systems.

• Bangladesh Journals Online (BanglaJOL) was initiated in 2007 and is a projectsupported by the INASP. As of April 02, 2013, there are 105 journals on BanglaJOL,with 725 tables of contents listing 9,752 articles, of which, 8,819 of the articles areavailable in full text. (Banglajol, 2013).

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MethodologyThe current study incorporated both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.A questionnaire was prepared to assess the existing status of DL systems in universitylibraries of Bangladesh and to meet other purposes of the study. The population of thestudy included the heads of public and private university libraries in Bangladesh. TheDirectory of Public and Private Universities in Bangladesh by the UGC of Bangladesh,the Directory of Universities by University of Dhaka and individual Web sites of theuniversity libraries and the author’s personal contacts were consulted to find out thecontact information of the heads of the libraries.

Several phone contacts were made for this study. A good number of e-mail addresses ofthe librarians of public and private universities in Bangladesh were collected over the phone.This study was conducted from June 2012 to September 2012. At that time, the number ofpublic and private universities was 34 and 54, respectively. Recently, the Government ofBangladesh has granted approval for the establishment of some new private universities.Thus, the total number of private universities, as shown in the UGC private universitydirectory, is now 70. However, the population for the current study is 88 universities.The author of this paper was able to communicate with about 60 public and privateuniversity libraries that were not yet able to set up DL systems, and 10 additionallibraries already having DL systems. University libraries having DL systems wereexcluded from the questionnaire for the current study; however, several telephoneinterviews were conducted to get information on the libraries currently running DLsystems. Initially, of the 60 identified universities for this study, 10 university librariesincluding some newly established public universities ignored to participate in thisstudy, as they had no infrastructure to build DLs. In addition, some heads were notinterested in participating, as they had no idea about DLs. In some cases, it was foundthat some libraries are run by non-professionals, and they were reluctant to participatein the study. The questionnaire prepared for this study was hosted at drive.google.com.A link to the online questionnaire was given in the personalized e-mail sent to the heads of theuniversity libraries. In a few cases, the author had to send the questionnaire by post as theparticipants had limited Internet connectivity. Of the 50 identified respondents, the authorreceived 30 completed questionnaires. Heads of 18 public universities and 11 privateuniversities and 1 international university responded to the survey. Only two responseswere received by post; therefore, the response rate for the study was 60 per cent of theidentified respondents. It is worth mentioning here that the majority of the universitylibraries that participated in this study have a higher potential to set up a DL system in theirlibraries and/or they have an interest in a DL system. The data presented in this study,therefore, are adequate enough to draw a conclusion about the readiness of universitylibraries in Bangladesh. No study so far has provided a comprehensive picture of DLreadiness among the university libraries of Bangladesh.

For the convenience of the study, a library is ready to be digital if it has the followingminimum components:

• minimum of five computers;• availability of documents for digitization;• availability of scanners;• availability of printers;• availability of integrated library software;

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• at least one staff member with DL knowledge; and• availability of a Web site for the library

Results of the studyRespondents’ information. As mentioned in the methodology section, 18 of 34 publicuniversities, 11 of 54 private universities and 1 international university participated inthis study. The names of the participating universities are given in Appendix 1.

ICT profile of the participating libraries. A library planning to introduce a DL systemshould have minimum ICT facilities. The first part of the questionnaire was intended togather information on the ICT strength of the participating libraries. Unless a libraryhas a good number of computers and other technological equipment required to build aDL, it cannot move forward into this arena. The ICT profile of the participating librariesis presented in Table I.

As evident in Table I, one third of the public universities have less than fivecomputers, whereas the majority of the private universities have less than fivecomputers available in their libraries. Analyzing the individual data sheet of the publicuniversities, it turned out that comparatively newer public universities have fewcomputers in the libraries. A positive picture is also illustrated in Table I, i.e. five publicuniversity libraries have � 25 computers.

In terms of Internet connectivity, all libraries, except one public university, thatparticipated in this study have Internet connections in their libraries. The publicuniversity library that did not have an Internet connection is located outside of DhakaCity. They installed a broadband connection in their library but later it stopped working.No serious efforts have yet been made to ensure Internet connectivity in that university.

Table I.ICT profile of universitylibraries in Bangladesh

ICT profile CategoryPublic

university PercentagePrivate

university Percentage

Number of computersavailable for libraryuse

Less than 05 06 33.3 07 58.36-10 05 27.8 03 25.011-15 01 5.6 01 8.316-20 01 5.6 01 8.321-25 0 0.0 0 0.0

More than 25 05 27.8 0 0.0Internet connectionavailability

Yes 17 94.4 12 100.0No 01 5.6 0 0.0

Availability ofscanners

Yes 10 55.6 08 66.7No 08 44.4 04 33.3

Availability of printers Yes 18 100.0 11 91.7No 0 0.0 01 8.3

Integrated libraryautomation software

In-house Developed 06 33.3 02 16.7Not Available 08 44.4 05 41.7KOHA (OpenSource)

03 16.7 02 16.7

Others 01 5.6 02 16.7Availability of libraryWeb sites

Yes 18 100.0 09 75.0No 0 0.0 03 25.0

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Faculty members and students are using the e-resources of that library by using theirpersonal Internet connections.

More than half of the public university libraries have scanners, and all publicuniversity libraries have printers. On the other hand, two-thirds of the privateuniversities have scanners and all, but one private university library, have printers.

In terms of integrated library software, six public universities are using in-housedeveloped library management software. These library management softwareprograms were built either by the Computer Science department attached to therespective university or by the IT Division of the university. Two private universitiesare using in-house developed software. Thirteen university libraries in Bangladesh havenot yet been able to introduce an integrated library management system. Koha, anOS-free library management system, has been installed by three public universities andtwo private university libraries. One public university and one private university arestill using WINISIS, a Windows version software of the popular free librarymanagement software Computerized Documentation System-Integrated Set forInformation Systems (CDS/ISIS), developed by UNESCO in 1985. On the other hand, oneprivate university is using a commercial library management software program.

Except for three private universities, all public and private universities whoparticipated in this study have a web presence; however, most of the library webpagesare static and contain information on opening hours, lists of journals subscribed to bythe libraries, as well as the names and e-mail addresses of some library personnel.Surprisingly, the library webpage of one newly established public university only hasinformation on library personnel and their e-mail address and phone numbers. Noinformation on the library is given in the webpage of that library.

A separate study on library Web sites in the universities in Bangladesh may beconducted to see common features of the library Web sites and information they contain.

Staff strengths and their ICT knowledge and knowledge about DL software. Thisstudy found that public university libraries have a bigger staff size than the private

Table II.Staff profile of theuniversity libraries

Staff profile CategoryNumber of universities

Public Percentage Private Percentage

Staff strength Less than 10 03 16.7 09 75.011-20 08 44.4 02 16.721-30 02 11.1 01 8.331-40 0 0.0 0 0.0

More than 40 05 27.8 0 0.0Staff with ICT knowledge Less than 5 13 72.2 09 75.0

6-10 05 27.8 03 25.011-15 0 0.0 0 0.016-20 0 0.0 0 0.0

More than 20 0 0.0 0 0.0Staff with DL knowledge None 08 44.4 05 41.7

Less than 3 09 50.0 07 58.33-5 01 5.6 0 0.06-8 0 0.0 0 0.09-11 0 0.0 0 0.012-15 0 0.0 0 0.0

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university libraries. Eight public universities have a staff size ranging from 11-20,whereas the majority of private universities have � 10 staff members. Five older publicuniversities have � 40 staff members.

The staff scenario in the university libraries of Bangladesh and the number of staffmembers having ICT and DL knowledge are presented in Table II.

The majority of the university libraries in Bangladesh have less than five librarypersonnel with ICT knowledge. In this article, the staff with a good knowledge in officesoftware, library management software and Internet searching and browsing isconsidered ICT-skilled library staff. Only five public and three private universities have6-10 staff members with ICT knowledge. None of the libraries have � 10 staff memberswith ICT knowledge. This is also the case for the five universities having � 40 staffmembers. It is well-known in public universities that many library personnel do nothave an LIS background due to political reasons. University authorities consider thelibrary a place where anyone can work without having prior knowledge of librarypractices. As a consequence, most of the heads of the libraries of public universities anda few heads in private universities are appointed from the faculty ranks of the variousdepartments within the universities.

The respondents were asked to indicate if any of their staff know any DL softwareincluding Greenstone, Dspace and Fedora. It is very unfortunate in this digital age that13 universities have no staff with DL software knowledge. The majority of the librariesin the survey have only from one to two staff members with DL knowledge. Only onepublic university has more than two staff members with DL software knowledge.

Collections for digitization. Without a good number of collections for digitization, asuccessful, full-fledged DL system cannot be built. In this part of the questionnaire, theauthor tried to find out the universities that have substantial collections for a DL. Theresults are given in Table III.

As illustrated in Table III,the majority of the university libraries have substantialcollections for digitization. These collections include theses, monographs, journalspublished by the university, annual reports, magazines, etc. Newer public universitiesand five private universities have no collections for digitization.

DL software preferences. The respondents were asked to state whether they wouldprefer OS DL software, commercial DL software or will develop their own DL software.The responses are illustrated in Table IV.

As clearly illustrated in Table IV, the majority of public university libraries, i.e. 66.6per cent, prefer OS DL software, whereas one-third of private university libraries preferOS DL. In total, 11.1 per cent of the public university libraries and 50 per cent of theprivate universities prefer commercial DL software. To identify the reason behind thesepreferences, the author made phone calls to the respondents. It turned out, fromconversations with the respondents, that they prefer commercial DL software, as theydo not need to worry about the installation and customization of the software, and

Table III.Collections for digitization

Do you have collectionsfor digitization?

Public universitylibrary Percentage

Private universitylibrary Percentage

Yes 11 61.1 07 58.3No 07 38.9 05 41.7

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comprehensive support is provided by the software vendors after sales. Another reasonis that they do not have the IT personnel to work with installation and customization ofOS software, as well as for the maintenance of the system. Four public universities willdevelop their own DL software. Nine universities prefer Greenstone and another nineuniversities prefer Dspace. Only one private university library prefers Fedora.Nonetheless, 11 university libraries prefer other DL software not listed in thequestionnaire.

Technical support to the libraries. Technical support is needed for the automationand digitization of library materials. Building and sustaining DLs requirecontinuous technical support. Two questions were asked to the respondents of thecurrent study:

(1) Who offers support to the libraries? and(2) If they plan to build a DL system from where would they seek technical support.

The answers to these questions are presented in Table V.As apparent in Table V, half of the public university libraries and the majority of

the private university libraries receive technical support from the ICT divisionattached to the university. Technical supports to three public universities areoffered by the library staff with ICT knowledge. Some of the public universities havestaff with a computer science background. Five university libraries outside ofDhaka City are outsourcing their technical support. Two private universities receivesupport from both the ICT division in the university and the library staff working inthe libraries.

In response to the question of where they would seek support if they planned to builda DL, the majority of the libraries indicated that they would seek support from the ICTdivision attached to the university. Seven indicated that they would seek support fromother libraries successfully implementing DLs. Recently, Eastern University librarysought support from the East West University library for building the EasternUniversity Digital Library using Greenstone. Interestingly, three public universitieswould seek support from outsourcing and one private university would seek supportfrom both the ICT division attached to the university and from other librariessuccessfully implementing DLs.

Table IV.Digital library softwarepreferences

DL software Category

Publicuniversity

library Percentage

Privateuniversity

library Percentage

DL softwarepreferences

OS DL software 12 66.6 04 33.3Commercial DL software 02 11.1 06 50.0We will develop our ownDL library software

04 22.2 0 0.0

Do not Know 0 0.0 02 16.7Greenstone, Dspace,Fedora or other

Greenstone 06 33.3 03 25.0Dspace 05 27.8 04 33.3Fedora 0 0.0 01 8.3Other 07 38.8 04 33.3

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Training of LIS professionals. Continuous training in ICT for LIS professionals isessential to ensure ICT implementation in libraries. Professional development support isimportant for library professionals to move forward in this area. It is also important toknow who funds their training. The answers to these questions are presented inTable VI.

As indicated above, except in one public university, all university LISprofessionals are allowed to participate in training sessions on new technologies inlibraries. Regarding funding of training, 10 public and 8 private universitiesindicated that their training is usually funded by their university. Seven public andthree private universities indicated that financial support for their training isarranged by themselves. In one public and one private university, financial supportfor training is managed by both the university and the trainee.

Table VI.Training of LIS

professionals

Publicuniversity Percentage

Privateuniversity Percentage

Does your university authorityallow library staffs to go fortraining on new technologiesin libraries?

Yes 17 94.4 12 100.0No 01 5.6 0 0.0

Who funds the training? University itself 10 55.6 08 66.7Trainee 07 38.9 03 25.0Both traineeand university

1 5.6 1 8.3

Table V.Technical supports to the

libraries

Technical support Source of supportPublic

university PercentagePrivate

university Percentage

Technical support tolibraries

ICT division attached withyour university

09 50.0 10 83.3

Library staff 03 16.6 0 0.0Outsource 05 27.8 0 0.0Both ICT division attachedwith your university andlibrary staff

01 5.6 02 16.7

Technical support forDL development

ICT division attached withyour university

09 50.0 10 83.3

Other librariessuccessfully implementeddigital libraries

06 33.3 01 8.3

Outsource 03 16.7 0.0 0.0Both ICT division attachedwith your university andother librariesSuccessfully implementedDLs

0 0.0 01 8.33

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Problems while proposing/initiating the DL system. The respondents were asked toindicate major problems that hindered the development of DL systems at theiruniversity. Their responses are illustrated in Table VII.

In analyzing the above data, it can be said that lack of sufficient funds for DLdevelopment is the major constraint for DL development in university libraries inBangladesh as indicated by 16 participants. Thirteen universities consider thatinsufficient skilled library staff members running a DL is a major issue. One-third ofthe public universities and about half of the private universities consider reluctanceof management on the DL issue as a serious concern. Over 40 per cent of publicuniversities and 25 per cent of private universities consider lack of infrastructuralfacilities a barrier to the development of DL systems. Three public universitiessubmitted proposals to HEQEP and to the university authorities, and one privateuniversity submitted a proposal to university authorities to develop a DL system intheir respective libraries; unfortunately, they were not successful in obtainingfunds. Lack of national initiatives is a concern indicated by three universities thathas hindered DL development in university libraries in Bangladesh.

Shuva (2012), in his paper on DLs, reported some of these issues in the developmentof DL systems in Bangladesh (p. 144):

• insufficient budgets to run the existing digitization program;• lack of financial support to build a DL/institutional repository;• unable to convince university authorities to allocate funds for digitization

programs;• limited number of skilled staff to work with digitization programs;• problems selecting appropriate software for a DL;• lack of infrastructural facilities;• low speed of Internet connection and frequent fluctuations in electricity;• lack of coordination with ICT department in building a DL system;• administration’s disinterest in continuing DL and digitization projects;• lack of training on practical DL system development;• problems locating local experts in building a DL system;

Table VII.Problems of digital librarydevelopment

Types of problem Public university Percentage Private university Percentage

Lack of sufficient funds for DLdevelopment 10 55.6 06 50.0Lack of national initiatives to buildstandardized DLs 01 5.6 02 16.7Lack of infrastructural facilities 08 44.4 03 25.0Insufficient skilled library staffs torun DL 08 44.4 05 41.7Proposal has not been successful 03 16.7 01 8.3Management is reluctant on DLdevelopment 06 33.3 05 41.7

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• challenges with copyright issues; and• lack of adequate staff to run a digitization project.

Some of the problems reported by Shuva (2012) are similar to the problems reported bythe respondents of the current study, although the majority of the problems reported byShuva are related to post-DL development issues. The current study reported theproblems that are related to pre-DL development. Therefore, to create a hassle-free pathto DL system development nationwide, government and university authorities shouldaddress the problems reported in this study.

Support to DL initiatives. The respondents of the study were asked to give theiropinions on who should fund their DL initiatives. The answer is provided in Table VIII.

The majority of the respondents think that the university itself should fund DLinitiatives, whereas six public universities think that the UGC of Bangladesh should fund theDL projects of public universities. Five public universities think that the Government ofBangladesh and the International Donor Agencies should fund DL projects as part of theirdevelopment activities. It is worth mentioning here that private university librariansconsider their university financially well off to support DL initiatives.

Readiness study. As indicated earlier in the methodology section of this study, thefollowing criteria have been developed. A university satisfying all the requirementswould be considered ready to be digital. The list of requirements and the number ofuniversities satisfying the requirements is presented in Table IX.

Analyzing the individual data set, it has been found that only 8 of 18 public universities(44 per cent) fulfill the requirements set earlier in this study. On the other hand, 4 of 12 privateuniversities (33.3 per cent) fulfill the requirements. Table IX illustrates how easy it is to findout the ICT strengths and weakness of the participating libraries. Except one publicuniversity library, all the libraries participating in this study have an Internet connection. In

Table VIII.Support to DL initiatives

Who should fund your DL initiative?Public

university PercentagePrivate

university Percentage

University itself 07 38.9 12 100.0UGC 06 33.3 0 0.0Government of Bangladesh and internationaldonor agencies 05 27.8 0 0.0

Table IX.DL readiness of university

libraries in Bangladesh

DL readiness requirementsPublic

University PercentagePrivate

University Percentage

Minimum five computers 12 66.7 05 41.7Availability of Internet 17 94.4 12 100.0Availability of scanners 10 55.6 08 66.7Availability of printers 18 100.0 11 91.7Availability of integrated library software 10 55.6 07 58.3At least one staff with DL knowledge 10 55.6 07 58.3Availability of library Web sites 18 100.0 09 75.0Availability of documents for digitization 11 61.1 07 58.3

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terms of the availability of computers, however, about 33 and 60 per cent of the public andprivate university libraries, respectively, have less than five computers available. Moreover,approximately 45 per cent of the libraries are still unable to introduce integrated libraryautomation systems, and they do not have any LIS professionals with DL knowledge toimplement DL systems in their libraries. Furthermore, all public university libraries and 75per cent of the private university libraries have a web presence, but around 40 per cent of thelibraries that participated in this study do not have documents for digitization. Analyzingthe Table IX data, it can be determined that the majority of the university libraries inBangladesh are not ready to be digital.

Suggestions and conclusionBangladesh gained substantial improvements in the ICT-enabled citizen services,notwithstanding libraries in Bangladesh that are still adopting new technologies.Overall, the status of ICTs in libraries in Bangladesh is not praiseworthy. Lack ofsufficient funds, lack of infrastructural facilities, skilled LIS professionals and lack ofadministrative supports are the major hindrances to DL development in Bangladesh.

Several organized, coordinated efforts have to be in place by both the governmentand libraries themselves. Public and private university librarians have to propose DLdevelopment plans to their respective higher authorities with clear information on thebenefits DL will have to their universities.

The Government of Bangladesh, as part of its A2I Programme, should concentrate onDL development in public universities. A2I might develop a “Digital Library SupportGroup” to help public universities build full-fledged DL systems. This support groupshould help install OS DL software to the public and private universities who have notyet been successful in building DLs. In addition to software installations, other technicaland continuous support to the public university libraries may be rendered by the DigitalLibrary Support Group. It should consist of public and private university librarians withalready installed DL systems, DL software experts, DL researchers, policy advisers ofA2I and representatives from library associations in Bangladesh.

The Digital Library Support Group of A2I may work jointly with the UDLConsortium team of the UGC of Bangladesh. UDL is the right platform to support DLinitiatives in public and private universities in Bangladesh. Cooperative initiativesbetween A2I and UDL will bring positive changes to the DL scenario in universitylibraries in Bangladesh.

UGC must immediately set priorities for the establishment of DLs in public universities inBangladesh. Leading public universities should get priority in funds from HEQEP inbuilding DL systems to offer DL services to a larger community of people. Unfortunately, theUniversities of Dhaka and Rajshahi, two of the largest and leading public universities, wereunable to obtain funds from HEQEP for building modernized libraries.

The government should come forward in developing ICT scenarios at the nationallevel. International donor agencies should support the government in improving thecurrent status of ICT infrastructure in Bangladesh.

UGC of Bangladesh should take the necessary actions against private universitiesnot offering e-resource services to its students and faculty members. Private universitiesnot part of BIPC and UDL should immediately be a part of this. As indicated earlier, only19 private universities out of 70 are offering BIPC resources to their students and facultymembers. It is frustrating that only six private universities are members of UDL

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Consortium. The UGC should place continuous pressure on private universityadministrations to offer satisfactory library services and to reduce resourcediscrimination among the private universities.

The library Associations of Bangladesh (LAB) and the Bangladesh Association ofLibrarians, Information Scientists and Documentalist (BALID) should organizecontinuous training, seminars and symposiums on DLs. These associations can offertraining on building DLs to the librarians working outside of Dhaka City. It has beenobserved that the majority of the training, seminars and workshops are conducted inDhaka. It is troublesome for LIS professionals residing outside of Dhaka City toparticipate in training and/or workshops conducted in Dhaka. NSU is considered thepioneer in offering a certificate course on DLs. BALID started training librarians onKoha and Dspace. A very good effort to train working LIS professionals has been madeby the Daffodil International University Library authority. They are offering low-costtraining on Koha and Dspace for LIS professionals and students.

Several conferences and seminars are being organized by different governmentorganizations and institutions to support the government’s vision of a Digital Bangladesh by2021. Government and policymakers must understand that, without proper implementationof DL systems and proper assurance of information access by the people, the dream ofDigital Bangladesh will be futile. Several seminars, conferences and formal and informaldiscussions have been organized by different organizations that are related to DLs. Anational seminar on DLs entitled “�Building Digital Libraries for Digital Bangladesh” wasorganized in August 2010 by the Department of Information Science and LibraryManagement, University of Dhaka. The keynote speaker of the conference was Nafiz ZamanShuva of the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University ofDhaka. After that, an international conference on “Vision 2021: Role of Libraries in BuildingDigital Bangladesh” was organized by the Library Association of Bangladesh in cooperationwith the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhakaand the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University ofRajshahi. This conference focused on different aspects of DLs. Recently, the LAB, in October2012, organized an international conference on “Digital Libraries for Digital Nation”. Thisconference was inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of the People’s Republic ofBangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. The Keynote speaker of the conference was Nafiz ZamanShuva, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Several topics on DL aspects were presentedduring this conference.

Two public universities offering LIS education at the bachelor and master’s degree levelrecently introduced separate DL courses. The Department of Information Science andLibrary Management, University of Rajshahi introduced a course on DLs in 2011, and theDepartment of Information Science and Library Management of University of Dhaka, in2012, introduced a course on DL systems for the first semester master’s degree students.This course aims at offering hands-on training on building a DL system and producingqualified digital librarians. Installation and customization of Greenstone and Dspace aretaught as part of the DL course. It is expected that, after successful completion of the master’sdegree, LIS graduates will be able to help build a sustainable DL system. Each year � 100students are getting master’s degrees from the two departments.

In conclusion, in can be said that it will take at least 5-10 years for university libraries inBangladesh to be able to build full-fledged DL systems and to introduce modern libraryfacilities. Unless the government and university authorities offer special concentrations and

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support to library system development, Bangladeshi universities will not be able to offerquality education for future generations. Building DLs is imperative for building a qualifiedfuture generation. Converting Bangladesh into “DigitalBangladesh” is unachievable withoutan immediate concentration on nationwide DL development and improving access toinformation for all the people of Bangladesh.

ReferencesAhmed, S.M.Z. (2010), Investment Studies on Digital Library, HEQEP, UGC, Dhaka.Arms, W. (2001), Digital Libraries, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) (2009), “Bangladesh INASP-PERI Consortium”,

www.bas.org.bd/about/inasp-peri-consortium.html (accessed 15 July 2013).Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) (2005), Study on the IT

Sector of Bangladesh, BASIS, Dhaka.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2009), “Statistical pocket book”, available at: www.

bbs.gov.bd/webtestapplication/userfiles/image/SubjectMatterDataIndex/pk_book_09.pdf(accessed 7 January 2013).

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. (BBS) (2010), “Household income-expenditure survey 2010”,available at: www.bbs.gov.bd/PageWebMenuContent.aspx?MenuKey�320 (accessed 7January 2013).

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Board (BTRC) (2013a), “Mobile phone subscribers inBangladesh”, available at: www.btrc.gov.bd/index.php?option�com_content&view�article&id�681:mobile-phone-subscribers-in-bangladesh-january-2012&catid�49:telco-news&Itemid�502 (accessed 15 May 2013).

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Board (BTRC) (2013b), “Internet subscribers inBangladesh”, available at: www.btrc.gov.bd/index.php?option�com_content&view�article&id�769:internet-subscribers-in-bangladesh&catid�49:telco-news&Itemid�502(accessed 7 July 2013).

BanglaJOL (2012), “About the site”, available at: http://banglajol.info/index.php/index/about(accessed 15 July 2013).

Board of Investment Bangladesh (BOI) (2013), “Bangladesh at a glance”, available at: www.boi.gov.bd/index.php/about-bangladesh/bangladesh-at-a-glance (accessed 7 January 2013).

Borgman, C.L. (2000), From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access toInformation in the Networked World, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Digital Library Federation (1998), “A working definition of digital library [1998]”, available at:http://old.diglib.org/about/dldefinition.htm (accessed 15 July 2013).

Drabenstott, K.M. (1994), Analytical Review of the Library of the Future, Council on LibraryResources, Washington DC, available at: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58006/1/Analytical_review_of_the_library_of_the_future.pdf (accessed 7 January 2013).

Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) (2010), “About us”, available at:www.heqep-ugc.gov.bd (accessed 15 July 2013).

Khan, M.S.I. (1989), “Developments in new information technologies and their applications andprospects in Bangladesh”, Media Asia, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp 32-40.

Shuva, N.Z. (2012), “Building digital libraries in Bangladesh: a developing country perspective”,International Information and Library Review, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp 132-146.

Tedd, L.A. and Large, A. (2005), Digital Libraries: Principles and Practice in a Global Environment,K. G. Saur, Munich.

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UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) (2007), “Digital libraries ineducation, science and culture: analytical survey”, Russia UNESCO, available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001831/183191eo.pdf (accessed 7 January 2013).

Further readingUniversity Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh (2009a). “List of public universities”,

available at: www.ugc.gov.bd/university/?action�public (accessed 7 January 2013).University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh (2009b). “List of private universities”,

available at: www.ugc.gov.bd/university/?action�private (accessed 7 January 2013).University Grants Commission (UGC) (2012). UDL Success Stories, UGC, Dhaka.

Appendix 1

Table AI.Participants of the study

Type of university Name of the library

Public Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University LibraryBangladesh Agricultural University LibraryBangladesh Open UniversityBangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)Begum Rokeya University LibraryBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Central LibraryChittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU)Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) Central LibraryDhaka University of Engineering Technology Central LibraryIslamic University KustiaJagannath University Central LibraryJahangirnagar University LibraryJatiya Kobi Kazi Nazrul Islam UniversityKhulna University LibraryNational University of Bangladesh LibraryRajshahi University Central LibrarySher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Central LibrarySylhet Agriculture University Library

Private ASA University of Bangladesh LibraryBangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) LibraryBGC Trust University Bangladesh LibraryDarul Ihsan University LibraryEast Delta UniversityGreen University LibraryInternational Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC) Library & InformationDivisionManarat International University LibraryShanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology LibraryState University LibraryVictoria University of Bangladesh Library

International Asian University for Women (AUW) Library

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Appendix 2

Table AII.List of UDL members

Public universities Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman Science and Technology University,GopalgongBangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, GazipurBangladesh Agricultural University, MymensinghBangladesh University of Textile, DhakaBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, DhakaBangladesh University of Professionals, Mirpur Cantonment, DhakaBegum Rokeya University, RangpurChittagong University of Engineering and Technology, ChittagongChittagong University, ChittagongChittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, ChittagongDhaka University of Engineering and Technology, GazipurHajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, DinajpurIslamic University, Khtia-JhenidahJahangirnagar University, Savar, DhakaJatiya Kabi KaziNazrul Islam University, Trishal, MymensinghJessore Science and Technology University, JessoreKhulna University of Engineering and TechnologyKhulna University, KhulnaMawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, TangailNoakhali Science and Technology University, NoakhaliPabna Science and Technology University, PabnaPatuakhali Science and Technology University, PatuakhaliRajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, RajshahiRajshahi University, RajshahiShahjalal University of Science and Technology, SylhetSher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, DhakaSylhet Agricultural University, SylhetUniversity of Dhaka, Dhaka

Private Universities American International University Bangladesh, DhakaBRAC University, DhakaEast West University, DhakaIndependent University, DhakaInternational University of Business, Agriculture and Technology, DhakaNorth South University, Dhaka

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About the authorNafiz Zaman Shuva is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Information Science andLibrary Management, University of Dhaka. Nafiz is Erasmus Mundus Scholar for the 2009-2011academic sessions. He is the founder President of the Bangladesh Association of YoungResearchers (BAYR) and one of the ASIS&T international paper contest winner 2004. Nafiz is theManaging Editor of the Journal of the Bangladesh Association of Young Researchers (JBAYR) andThe Eastern Librarian – a peer-reviewed journal in library and information science inBangladesh. His research interest includes DL system development, DL education, mobileapplications in libraries and education institutions, e-government, public libraries and its relatedaspects Nafiz Zaman Shuva can be contacted at: nafiz_z@hotmail.com

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