Computerization and Modernization in Government Agricultural Libraries within Metro Manila: A Survey

Cañezal, Jennifer Cabangan (2004). Computerization and Modernization in Government Agricultural Libraries within Metro Manila: A Survey. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of the Philippines, Diliman, Q.C.

The Problem

The objectives of the study are: 1) To identify government agricultural libraries in Metro Manila that are computerized, not-computerized and/or planning to computerize their operations; 2) To identify the predominant computer configurations as well as software employed and/or planning to be installed by these libraries; 3) To determine the conditions of access to the computerized systems; 4) To determine the extent of computerization in the government agricultural libraries in Metro Manila; 5) To identify the specific library functions/services/areas that are currently being computerized and/or planning to be computerized; 6) To determine from among the non-computerized libraries, the primary services that should be given priority in computerization; 7) To determine from among the computerized libraries the benefits derived from computerization; 8) To identify the major factors that influence and/or hinder the computerization of the government agricultural libraries in Metro Manila; and 9) To recommend innovations to further improve the computerized libraries.

Methodology

The head librarians of the 21 government agricultural libraries in metro Manila comprised the respondents of this study. The descriptive research method was used with the survey questionnaire as a data gathering instrument. The questionnaire was composed of two types: Questionnaire A was intended for computerized libraries and Questionnaire B for non-computerized libraries. All of these questionnaires were personally distributed to 21 libraries in metro manila for one week and were personally collected the week after. These were supplemented by interviews and observations during the actual library visits. The data gathered were organized, tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using frequencies, percentages and ranking to carry out the objectives of the study.

Findings

A total of 18 head librarians responded out of the targeted respondents. Three out of the 18 reported that they were already computerized while the remaining 15 are still in the process of planning computerization. Two of the computerized libraries implemented their system in the late 1990s while the other one started only in January 2002. Although they are partially automated, the process of implementation had been proceeding smoothly. Cataloging and indexing were mostly the processes that are computerized in these libraries. The main factor influencing the decision for computerization was the goals and objectives of the library/organization whereas, financial resources seemed to be the common factor influencing the non-implementation of the non-computerized libraries computerization plan.