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Research Productivity of Library and Information Science in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A case study of Sarhad University of Science Peshawar, Pakistan Abid Hussain1 , Muhammad Ibrahim2 Abstract This major focus of this study is to examine the research productivity of the Department of Library and Information Science (LIS) of Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology. The research theses from 2014 to 2017 produced by undergraduate, graduates and postgraduates of this school of LIS were scrutinized. Bibliometric approach was adopted here. The findings shows that more than half of the theses are produced by graduate students followed by postgraduate. The contribution of male researchers are dominant as compared to female. Total 29 areas were addressed; however, the prominent topic was Library Resources and Services followed by Emerging Trends in Libraries. The most cited source was the Journal in these theses. Keywords: Library Science Research, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa LIS, Statistical Analysis-LIS, Research Output-LIS, Thematic Approach Introduction Scrutiny of documents or bibliographic data termed as bibliometric. Bibliometric is a quantitative approach to the documentary flow of information. Library & Information Sciences is the leading professional education. Sarhad University of Sciences and Information Technology is the only one private university at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was stared LIS program at Bachelor and Master Level two years program as per syllabus of Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan in the year 2007 through distance learning and Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) 1 Librarian, Saidu Medical college, SWAT. Email: [email protected] Chief Librarian, Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar. Email: [email protected] 2 54 | P a g e level program in the year 2012. The main aim of the department was the fulfillment of the market demand of professional librarian and & information manager in the region. Literature Review Haider and Mahmood (2007) evaluated the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Library and Information Science (LIS) research in Pakistan. The main aim of this study was to provide an insight to the international reader in the perspective of postgraduate LIS research in Pakistan. Basic data was acquired from the eight LIS schools and approved theses of MPhil & Ph.D. were evaluated for this literature-review based study. The first Ph.D. thesis was “Islami Kutubkhane: 749AD -1257 AD” (Tr. Islamic Libraries: 749 ad to 1257 Ad). The results revealed that the most common problems were lake of interest from the senior, lake of communication between scholar and supervisor/advisor and too much documentation which make reader uncomfortable. Mahmood and Shafique (2010) presented the changing LIS scenario in Pakistan and demand for research qualified professionals in the field of library sciences. This research paper aims to review the current scenario of research in Pakistan, estimate demand & supply and give recommendation to enhance supply. Documents and website review of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Ministry of Education were the main source of primary date. Telephonic conversation with selected senior LIS professionals for suggestion and recommendation was the second step of data collection. Author suggested research background, funding, motivation, qualified faculty/supervisor, publication of research, incentive, research culture and quality assurance for the uplifting of LIS in Pakistan. Samdani and Bhatti (2011) analyzed the doctoral research in the field of library and information science by Pakistani professionals. The objective of the study was to determine the growth and productivity of doctoral level research in Pakistan since 1947 to 2010. Data was collected through questionnaire and semi stricter interview. The analysis shows that 9 theses were produced by Pakistani university during the selected period. They recommended LIS schools to must give attention to MPhil & Ph.D. programs and make sure a research “Manual for the 55 | P a g e Researcher of LIS” by penal of senior LIS experts of the country. Sheikh and Jan (2017) studied the theses of MPhil and Ph.D. till 2015 produced by the LIS schools of Pakistan. This research paper was aimed to present a comprehensive review of research these produced by Pakistani LIS schools from beginning to 2015. The finding shows that 12 LIS schools are currently working in the country and five offer MPhil and Ph.D. programs. 19 professionals earned Ph.D. degrees and 125 have achieved MPhil degrees from different LIS schools of the country till 2015. Major issue is the lake of Ph.D. faculty for not offering MPhil & Ph.D. programs. The authors recommended to all LIS schools to coordinate with each other for the uplifting of LIS and the government should promote the high qualified employ to upper pay scale to encourage the LIS community. Warraich (2010) studied the MLIS curriculum of Punjab University: perception and reflections. The study aims to seek the opinion of young LIS professionals and pinpoint problem. Survey method was used. The common problems were communication & IT skills. Study recommends the IT course and lab facility to archive of high satisfaction. Objectives  To determine the length of research thesis  To study session and program base distribution of theses  To analyzed the gender-wise distribution of research students  To find the number thesis of a supervisor  To study the citation pattern of Theses  To examined the theme of research reports Material and Methods This quantitative study was conducted by using bibliometric approach toward the research productivity of undergraduate and postgraduate research student theses of the Department of Library And Information Science, Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Education, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan. Official marked final research reports of Bachelor of Library & Information Science (BLIS) and Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) were used for data collection. Title, Abstract, session and Course/Program, keywords, physical details and references were 56 | P a g e used for this study. While the meeting minutes of BOSAR (Board of Study and Advance Research) were used for as sources of data collection for the research approved synopsis of Master of Science in Library and Information sciences (MS-LIS) and not included in Table No 4 & 5. Being the part of this department it was not difficult for the authors to obtain the data for the study in hand. All Approved topic/synopsis of MS-LIS and Theses reports of BLIS and MLIS was listed and check form different aspect to extract the required information. Reject Synopsis by BOSAR was not included. According to the official record only one copy of thesis was fund missing for which we got the student thesis from the concern research student of the department. The final data was entered to Microsoft Excel spread sheet for sorting, faltering and eradication of errors. The filtered data were presented on tables. Finally the results derived were discussed and recommendations were made on the base of the finding and conclusions were drawn. Analysis of Data Table No: 1: Session and Program of Students/Scholars Sessions BLIS MLIS MS-LIS Total 2012-2014 1 11 0 12 2013-2015 0 20 11 31 2014-2016 0 6 12 18 2015-2017 0 1 3 4 Total 1 38 26 65 Percentage 1.54 58.46 40.00 100 Percentage 18.46 47.69 27.69 6.15 100 The analysis of table no.1 show the program and session vise distribution of research conducted by the students of Library & Information Science (LIS) department, at Master (MLIS), Bachelor (BLIS) and Postgraduate (MS-LIS) level. About half (47.69 %) research studies was made by the research students of 2013-2015 session, followed by 2014-2016 session. Majority (58.64 %) of research was done by Master students followed by postgraduate (40.00 %). Table No: 2: Genders of Research Students Gender MS-LIS MLIS BLIS Total Percentage 57 | P a g e Male Female Total Percentage 21 5 26 40.00 24 14 38 58.46 0 1 1 1.54 45 20 65 100 69.23 30.77 100 Table No.2 presented the gender based analysis of all three programs offered by the department of LIS. Male (69.23 %) are dominant over female (30.77 %). Master level Research is more (58.46 %) productive. Table No: 3: Thesis Supervised by MSSupervised by LIS MLIS Dr Saeed Ullah Jan 17 31 Dr M. Ishfaq Ahmad 2 2 Syed Arif Ali Shah 0 5 Dr Att ur Rahman 6 0 Dr Midrar Ullah 1 0 Total 26 38 Percentage 40.00 58.46 BLIS Total Percentag e 1 49 75 0 4 6.15 0 0 0 1 1.54 5 6 1 65 100 7.69 9.23 1.54 100 The analysis of Table No. 3 illustration the information of theses supervises. Dr Saeed Ullah Jan was supervised the majority (75 %) of Theses which was included Bachelor, Master and Postgraduate theses followed by Syed Arif Ali Shah (9.23 %). Table No: 4: Length of Thesis of MLIS and BLIS 20 to 36 to 46 to 56 to more Tota Percenta Length 35 45 55 80 than 80 l ge 12 4 13 6 3 MLIS 38 97.44 0 1 0 0 0 BLIS 1 2.56 Total 12 5 13 6 3 39 100 Percenta 30.7 12.8 33.3 15.3 ge 7 2 3 8 7.69 100 58 | P a g e Note: Only Synopsis of MS-LIS has been approved by Board of Study and Thesis are in the stage of evaluation. The analysis of Table No. 4 shows the length of thesis reports of Master and Bachelor program only. Good number (33.33 %) of reports were of 36 to 45 pages and (30.77 %) of 20 to 35 pages. Table No: 5: Citation Pattern of MLIS and BLIS Thesis Citatio Boo Journ Webs Repo The Oth Tot Percent n Pattern ks als ite rts sis er al age 58 74 37 11 2 8 MLIS 190 90.91 2 2 12 0 1 2 BLIS 19 9.09 Total 60 76 49 11 3 10 209 100 Percent 28.7 age 1 36.36 23.44 5.26 1.44 4.78 100 Table no. 5 shows the analysis of citation pattern of BLIS and MLIS thesis. Majority (90.91 %) of documents were cited by Master level researcher. The journal was citrated (36.36 %), followed by books (28.71 %). Less number of Thesis and reports was cited. Table No: 6: Thematic view of BLIS, MLIS & MS-LIS Theses of SUIT MSS.No Theme BLIS MLIS LIS Total Percentage Bibliometric 0 2 2 4 1 6.35 Emerging Trends in 0 1 5 6 Libraries 2 9.23 Evaluation of 0 3 2 5 Libraries 3 7.69 Information Literacy 0 1 2 3 Skills 4 4.62 information need of 0 1 0 1 rural women 5 1.54 Information seeking 0 0 2 2 Behavior 6 3.08 Knowledge 0 1 0 1 7 1.54 59 | P a g e 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 management Librarians Job Satisfaction Libraries policy Library Anxiety Library Automation Library Professional Library Resources and Services Library Science Library Services Library users Library Websites Marketing of Libraries Open Access Open Source Public Libraries Reading habits of Women Resource Sharing & Networking Role of Libraries Role of Library professional Schools Libraries Social Networking Special Libraries University Libraries 25 26 27 28 29 Total Percentage 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 6 2 0 5 4 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1.54 1 0 1 3 38 58.46 0 1 0 0 26 40.00 1 1 1 2 65 100 1.54 1.54 3.08 9.23 3.08 13.85 1.54 3.08 1.54 1.54 1.54 1.54 1.54 4.62 1.54 1.54 1.54 3.08 1.54 1.54 1.54 3.08 100 The analysis of table no 6 shows the thematic view of the research studies conducted at the department of LIS at Bachelor, Master and 60 | P a g e Postgraduate level from 2012 to 2017. Most 9 (13.85 %) of the Research was conducted on the subject of “Library Resource and Services” followed 6 (9.23 %) by “Library Automation” and “Emerging Trends in Libraries”. Some new subject was also touched by the students of research like “Evaluation of Libraries” 5 (7.69 %), “Bibliometric Analysis” 4 (6. 35 %) and “Library Policies” (1.54 %). Finding of Study The finding of this statistical analysis can be summarized in the following words:       The statistics of Table 1 reveal that research conducted by MLIS students was on top and the more predictive session of the SIUT was 2013-2015. The results of Table 2 reflect male students are dominant over the female research students in both academic programs i.e. MLIS & MS-LIS. Dr. Saeed Ullah Jan was supervised the high numbers 75 % out of 100 % in the research theses of MLIS and MS-LIS from 2012 to 2017. The average length of research reports was ranged from 46 to 55 pages per thesis. Research journal was used by the research theses as a most citied source in their final research report. It was revealed from table no 6 that Libraries Resources & Service, Library Automation, Emerging Libraries Trends and Evaluation of Libraries are the prominent area of inters for the research students of LIS department. Conclusion It was concluded from the analysis of the data that department of Library and information sciences Sarhad University of Sciences and Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan was the pioneer among the privet university who start BLIS and MLIS regular program form 2012 and MS-LIS program from 2013. The University has introduce the research culture at Bachelor and Master Level and motivate the scholars of MSLIS to participate in the development of the Library science filed by 61 | P a g e conduction the advance level research. In the short timespans of Five years 39 degrees was awarded to the undergraduate students on the bases of research thesis in the field of Library and Information Sciences. Library resources and services was the most prominent area for the research students. Articles from the Journal were the most citied source used by researchers in the final research reports. Recommendations Research is the core objective of university level institutions. It is recommended that university should give grant to the students/scholar of LIS department to strength the research activity and motivate the researcher. The research work conducted need to apperception through cash grants and apperception award/ certificate from university authorities. The excellent research is to be polished and published in peer-review/Impact-Factor Journals. The QEC & ORIC of the university should play the key role by organizing training sessions, seminars and conferences for promotion of the research culture among the research oriented student/ faculty of the university. References Department of Library and Information Science, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Pakistan Available online http://www.suit.edu.pk/department-info/28 Jalaluddin Haider, S., & Mahmood, K. (2007). MPhil and Ph.D. library and information science research in Pakistan: An evaluation. Library Review, 56(5), 407-417. Mahmood, K., & Shafique, F. (2010). Changing research scenario in Pakistan and demand for research qualified LIS professionals. Library Review, 59(4), 291-303. Samdani, R. A., & Bhatti, R. (2011). Doctoral research in library and information science by Pakistani professionals: An analysis. Library Philosophy and Practice. Sheikh, A., & Jan, S. U. (2017). Research Productivity of LIS Schools in Pakistan: A Study of MPhil and Ph.D. Theses to 2015. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 17(3), 451-470. Warraich, N. (2010). MLIS curriculum at Punjab University: perception 62 | P a g e and reflections. Library Philosophy and Practice (ejournal). 339. 63 | P a g e