EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC LIBRARY WEB
SITES IN MALAYSIA
by
Lee Kee Hiong
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Library and Information Science in the Faculty of Computer Science
and Information Technology, University of Malaya
May 2000
II
Perpustakaan Un vers'ti Ma aya
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A511730255
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ABSTRACT
Academic libraries have dynamically created Web sites on the World Wide
Web. However, they have to keep the content and design of their Web sites in
line with their missions. Currently, there is lack of a mixed-method approach
that combines both quantitative and qualitative analyses for academic library
Web sites evaluation and integration of results. This study evaluates the
content and design of academic library Web sites in Malaysia by using a
mixed-method approach. A total of twelve library Web sites of public and
private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia are selected for evaluation.
For qualitative analysis, a matrix of twelve items is developed and then used to
record the features of each selected Web site. A questionnaire survey of
information professionals and library users is carried out to obtain data for
quantitative analysis. Responses to questionnaire are analysed with SPSS for
Windows, version 9.0. A combination of factor analysis and descriptive
statistics are used in this study. The findings reveal that the academic libraries
in Malaysia generally have set up well-designed and useful Web sites. A few
academic library Web sites, however, have very simple and basic features.
Overall, academic library Web sites in Malaysia do not come up to
expectations as virtual expressions of the quality levels of academic libraries.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iv
LIST OF TABLES
vii
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUTION
1.1 Academic Libraries and the Web
1
1.2 Statement of Problem
2
1.3 Significance of Study
6
1.4 Research Questions
7
1.5 Scope of Study
8
1.6 Limitation of Study
9
1.7 Structure of Study
11
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Content and Design of Academic Library Web Sites
12
2.2 Evaluation Criteria for Academic Library Web Sites
16
2.3 Empirical Studies
22
2.4 Methodological Problems
25
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
28
3.2 Research Objects
29
3.3 Research Instruments and Implementation
30
3.4 Data Analysis
32
iv
CHAPTER FOUR ANALYSES AND FINDINGS
4.1 Qualitative Analysis
34
4.1.1 General information of the library
36
4.1.2 Library Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)
38
4.1.3 Links to other Internet resources
4.1.4 Interactive services
4.1.5 Internal electronic database services
4.1.6 External electronic database services
4.1.7 Languages used in Web site
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44
4.1.8 Technical services
4.1.9 Instructional supports
44
45
4.1.10 Other important features
4.1.11 Loading time of images
45
46
4.1.12 Marketing techniques
47
4.2 Quantitative Analysis
48
4.2.1 Information professional survey
50
4.2.2 Library user survey
4.2.3 A comparison of means between information professionals and
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library users
4.2.4 Factor analysis
55
CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Discussion of Findings
5.1.1. Virtual expressions of academic libraries in Malaysia
5.1.2. The perceptions and expectations of information professional
61
61
67
and library users
5.1.3 Factor analysis results
72
5.2 Conclusions
73
5.3 Recommendations for Further Research
75
REFERENCES
78
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FORM DISTRIBUIED TO
SELECTED INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS
AND LIBRARY USERS
APPENDIX B: RANKED ORDER OF EVALUATION CRITERIA
AS PERCEIVED BY INFORMATION
PROFESSIONALS
APPENDIX C: RANKED ORDER OF EVALUATION CRITERIA
AS PERCEIVED BY LIBRARY USERS
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Perpustakaan SKIM
LIST OF TABLES
Page
TABLE 1-1 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS OF
HIGHER LEARNING LIBRARY WEB SITES IN
MALAYSIA AND THEIR UNIFORM RESOURCE
LOCATORS USED IN THE STUDY
10
TABLE 4-1 THE NUMBER OF ACADEMIC LIBRARY WEB
SITES EXAMINED FOR QUALITATIVE
ANALYSIS
35
TABLE 4-2 GENERAL INFORMATION OF ACADEMIC
LIBRARY WEB SITES IN MALAYSIA
37
TABLE 4-3 RESPONSE RATE OF SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
49
TABLE 4-4 RESPONDENTS OF INFORMATION
PROFESSIONAL BY LIBRARY
49
TABLE 4-5 DISTRIBUTION OF LIBRARY USER
RESPONDENTS BY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
LEARNING
50
TABLE 4-6 TOP TEN IMPORTANT CRITERIA AS PERCEIVED
BY INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS AND
LIBRARY USERS
54
TABLE 4-7 FACTOR ANALYSIS OF EVALUATION CRITERIA
FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARY WEB SITES IN
MALAYSIA
58
TABLE 5-1 14 CORE EVALUATION CRITERIA OF ACADEMIC
LIBRARY WEB SITES IN MALAYSIA
68
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Academic Libraries and the Web
The World Wide Web (Web) made its first appearance in 1991 but only
started to become popular in early 1993. It is increasingly becoming a resource
of device for discovery of information of all types and formats, and may in
time replace the traditional library as information provider. Furthermore, it has
only existed for nine years as compared to academic libraries that have existed
for a few hundred years. However, it has a profound effect on academic
libraries (Morgan, 1994). Innumerable questions on the role and value of
academic libraries in the decade of the Web have been asked. The major
question for academic libraries is not whether they want to use the Web, but
whether they will be bypassed in both providing and retrieving information--and become marginal at their universities subsequently (Lesk, 1996).
The academic community has always been accustomed to academic libraries
where one can access a wealth of stored information for the past few hundred
years. Would the Web spell the end of academic libraries? There are scholars
who are strongly against the Web as a library, based on the weaknesses and
limitations of the Web. Their arguments include the following (Chen, 1998;
Griffiths, 1998).
a) The Web collection is not organised according to some standard
b) It does not offer access to all information
c) It lacks authority and quality control
d) It is inadequately catalogued
e) Web search interfaces and other tools are ineffective and simplistic
If the Web cannot replace academic libraries, what is the Web exactly going to
mean to academic libraries? Without doubt, there will be many changes in
academic libraries as a result of the existence of the Web. Since years of
establishing quality collections and reliable services created inertia, it is
suggested that the attitudes of senior management, infrastructure, staff skills,
appearances, and service practices in the academic libraries will be the first to
change when embracing Web access (Flatten, 1998).
1.2 Statement of Problem
In the process of change, more and more academic libraries have created Web
sites on the Web. Although academic libraries have extensive experience in
providing computer-based information services, a great deal of effort has been
invested in transforming useful information and services into Web access.
Improvements on the design and layout of the Web sites have been made
progressively. Text-based pages have been replaced by those with hypermedia
design. In addition, many Web sites offer enhanced opportunities for
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communication, both in terms of interactivity, depth and breadth, and currency
of the information resources available.
Also, dynamically created Web sites have brought academic libraries to
compete for attention across an increasingly wide bandwidth. Since the users
of these Web sites are primarily staff and students of institutions of higher
learning, the libraries have to be careful to keep the content and design of their
sites in line with their missions. Academic library Web sites are needed to
support their college or university, primarily through supporting the three-fold
mission of higher education---research, instruction, and service (Stover, 1997).
In this context, it is clear that the main function of an academic library Web
site is to provide access to sophisticated research tools and full text databases
for education purposes. The users are allowed to access the library's electronic
resources across the network in a manner that is independent of location or
time. Nonetheless, anyone who has visited a number of academic library Web
sites would have experienced that some of the libraries are simply just "on the
Internet." These Web sites are generally focused on providing general
information about the library, its online catalogue, and links to selected
resources available on the Internet.
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Of course, some academic libraries have realised the feasibility and real
potential of library Web servers by providing seamless access to electronic
information. They have used Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts to
provide Web browser access to its Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)
and databases. Thus, it is not necessary to telnet to the OPAC to perform a
search. Furthermore, these libraries have replicated certain services of the
physical library into a networked environment by providing electronic forms
on the Web pages which allow the direct submission of short reference
inquiries, recommendations for collection development, requests for the
placing of items on restricted loan, and interlibrary loan requests.
These efforts are centred on providing general reference services with no
departmental
documentation such as
cataloguing polices
and
procedures/manuals. The operations and works of various departments of the
academic library should be highlighted, as the distinction between technical
services and public services is no longer clear in a networked environment
(Harizan and Low, 1998).
Inherently, authors of academic library Web sites are mostly librarians
themselves---only 20 percent are non-librarians (Evans, 1999). The academic
librarianship as a progressive profession for the twenty-first century is
required to prove its expertise in selecting, organising, disseminating, and
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evaluating information resources through Web sites. They are expected to
offer some exemplary models of Web sites.
A good Web site filters and structures the information so that the user is not
overwhelmed (Stover and Zink, 1996). Anyone who uses academic library Web
sites for serious research could benefit substantially from its well- designed and organised information. Moreover, users accessing a well- arranged and
logically structured library Web site with relevant links that work will be
positively rewarded and stimulated in future use (Clausen, 1999).
It is understood that the content and design of academic library Web sites for
the interest of users are of great importance. A search through the literature
has shown that at present, studies of academic library Web sites are either
exclusively quantitative analyses or qualitative methods. There is lack of a
mixed-method approach for academic library Web sites evaluation and
integration of the results. Furthermore, none of the evaluation methods survey
academic library Web sites in Malaysia.
The present evaluation paradigm is developed and designed against the
background of general evaluation criteria of Web sites. These criteria are
accuracy, authority, currency, relevancy, and stability of information. Since
there is a lack of effort to examine the quality of information, a number of
general criteria such as author's qualifications, objectivity, and coverage
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should be further used in evaluating information content provided by academic
libraries Web sites.
Malaysia is a computer-literate and Internet-savvy country. In general, the
academic community in the country has pioneered the establishment and use
of the Internet. Additionally, Malaysian universities have been the leading
institutions in the country in creating Web sites. As a result of these
developments, academic libraries have been in a more privileged position to
set up Web sites than other types of libraries. Their presence on the Web
implies the desire of academic libraries in Malaysia to provide better and more
services to their users. Although much of the resources have been committed
to create and maintain academic library Web sites, there has been so little
effort in evaluating the sites.
1.3 Significance of Study
There is a relevant measurement that adopts a mixed-method approach to
critically evaluate academic library Web sites against criteria selected from the
literature. The use of mixed-method evaluation, which combines quantitative
and qualitative techniques is a more comprehensive and believable set of
understandings about Web sites compared to single method evaluation.
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This study brings attention to the content and design of academic library Web
sites in Malaysia. Hence, it provides a perspective of academic library Web
sites in Malaysia. It is expected that the examination of the sites will stimulate
continuous improvement of Web site development in line with the advances in
information technology and the emergence of good, reliable information
sources.
It is relatively easy to create a Web site since there are many handbooks and
articles for good hypermedia development. Similarly, the number of articles
on evaluation of Internet Web sites is increasing at an astonishing rate.
Nonetheless, there are very few studies dealing with the evaluation of
academic library Web sites specifically. This study aims to develop an
evaluation model that could serve as a guide to existing and potential creators
of academic library Web sites. The creators of academic library Web sites
should then have a better understanding on planning and formulating Web
sites in order to take a leading position in Web site development.
1.4 Research Questions
There is a wide range of possible evaluations of the Web sites that can be
undertaken. However, this study aims to answer the following main questions:
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a) To what extent do the content and design of academic library Web sites in
Malaysia meet the expectations as virtual expressions of the quality levels
of academic libraries?
b) To what extent do the content and design of academic library Web sites in
Malaysia meet the perceptions and expectations of information
professionals and library users towards a useful Web site?
c) Are the content and design of academic library Web sites in Malaysia
effective enough to draw the attention of potential users?
d) What information content does the academic library Web sites in Malaysia
display most effectively?
e) Do the trends in the design and content of academic library Web sites in
Malaysia follow the trends of academic library Web sites in developed
countries?
1.5 Scope of Study
For this study, a total of twelve library Web sites of public and private
institutions of higher learning in Malaysia are selected for evaluation (see
Table 1-1). Institutions of higher learning which have not created library Web
sites, are not included in this study.
The study is a survey of academic library Web sites in Malaysia. It is not an
attempt to investigate a particular Web site. Also, the study will not go beyond
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the content and design of the Web site in studying the academic library Web
sites.
Since the technology of the World Wide Web is not static, the possibilities for
presenting new information can happen at any time. Therefore, the analyses of
the content and design of the Web sites studied are based on the status of those
sites at the time the survey is carried out.
1.6 Limitation of Study
This study is limited to the use of qualitative and quantitative methods which
are combined to increase the validity and reliability of data. A robot computer
programme method dealing with link statistics, Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML) file and graphics sizes, and meta-elements that could possibly be
relevant to evaluate academic library Web sites in Malaysia is not included.
The questionnaire survey is limited to the investigation of the perceptions of
respondents who are assumed to make the most "visits" to the academic
library Web sites in Malaysia. Furthermore, other potential groups, such as
Library and Information Science (LIS) students, US alumni, US educators,
and non-users are not included.
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TABLE 1-1: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
LEARNING LIBRARY WEB SITES IN MALAYSIA AND
T HE IR UN IF OR M R E S OUR C E LOC AT OR S US E D
IN THE STUDY
Main Libraries
Library URLs
Universities in
Malaysia
UM Library
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my
Universiti Malaya (UM)
Universiti Islam
http://lib.iiu.edu.my
International Islamic
Antarabangsa (UIA)
University Malaysia
Library
http://www.library.ukm.my
Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM)
Perpustakaan Tun Sri
Lanang UKM
Universiti Putra
Malaysia (UPM)
Universiti Putra Malaysia http://lib.upm.edu.my
Library
USM Library
http://www.lib.usm.my
Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM)
Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM)
Perpustakaan Sultanah
Zanariah Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia
http://www.psz.utm.my
Universiti Utara
Malaysia (UUM)
ULTM Sultanah Bahiyah
Library
http://www.lib.uum.edu.my
Universiti Malaysia
Sabah (UMS)
Perpustakaan Universiti
Malaysia Sabah
http://www.urns.edu.my/library
Multimedia University
(MMU)
University Teknologi
MARA (UiTM)
Multimedia University
Library
http://library.unitele.edu.my
Perpustakaan Tun Abdul
Razak
http://www.itm.edu.my/acactr/ ptar
Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak (UNIMAS)
Centre for Academic
Information Services
Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak
http://www.unimas.my/html/
cais.html
Universiti Tun Abdul
Razak (UNITAR)
UNITAR Virtual Library
http://vlib.unitarklj 1 .edu.my
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