Browsing by Author "Weerasooriya, W.A."

Now showing 1 - 20 of 36

Bibliometric Analysis of ‘Bibliotherapy’ in the Digital Environment: Based on JSTOR Scholarly Publications
(Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Attanayake, Geethani; Weerasooriya, W.A.
Bibliometric analysis makes a significant contribution to directing researchers to more effective studies even before they start reading. It also allows them to quickly discover research gaps in the field, inspire new ideas for research, reveal research trends and map the research field for conceptual, social, or cognitive purposes. Accordingly, the main objective of this article is to provide an analysis of publications on bibliotherapy in JSTOR from 2010 to 2020. The bibliometric analysis method was used as the research method for this study. Data were collected using a standardized search approach through JSTOR using the keyword "bibliotherapy". A total of 906 books, book chapters and journal articles on bibliotherapy have been published across the world during the relevant period. The retrieved data set was analyzed with the text-mining facility of JSTOR. The findings of the study will be important for researchers to conduct more effective studies of bibliotherapy and library professionals to support their clients.
A Bibliometric Assessment of the Intellectual Content and Recognition Level of the Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Weerakoon, W.R.W.M.A.U.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
Bibliometrics enables quantitative description of scholarly documents, their impact and influence. This study explores “The Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (JNSF)”; a globally recognized journal where the objectives were to assess (1) the subject coverage, (2) types of information sources consulted by authors, and (3) total citations received by JNSF. Articles in 40 issues (n=335) published during 2004 and 2013 in two five-year periods; 2004-2008 (P-I) and 2009-2013 (P-II) were analysed separately. Among the 9 major disciplines identified, most articles were related to biology, and agriculture; particularly biochemistry, plant sciences, microbiology and animal sciences. Increased research has been carried out in the fields of chemistry, biomedical research, geo science and engineering. Physics and mathematics were narrowly studied. The subject diversity and inter-disciplinary research have increased by 19% and 10% respectively. Several new fields of research have emerged while research in some areas are lacking. JNSF contains 7043 in-text citations with 176.1 citations per issue whereas 20.8 citations per article with an average increased by 56.2% during P-II. Journal articles were the most-cited material incessantly, followed by books, proceedings and web-resources. Citing local references per volume has lessened by 4% whereas self-citation has declined to 1.14%. Most references (23%) lies within 6-10 years. The ‘price-index’ was 19.82 while ‘citing half-life’ for journals and books were 11 and 15 years respectively. JNSF has received 366 citations with an average of 3.02 per “cited article”. Citing of JNSF has improved from 19.87% (P-I) to 50.56% (P-II). Certain recent articles received early citations, especially within the published year. Most articles (38.84%) were cited once whereas the citations received were highest in the first 2, 3 years after publication, and a rapid decline observed after the 5th year. The results revealed the information needs of researchers, existing and deprived research areas, and recognition of JNSF in terms of citations.
Challenges in Selecting Humanities and Social Science Journal articles for Bibliometric Analysis at University Level in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Navaneethkrishnan, S.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
The century we live in is witnessing a huge disparity between the developed countries and the developing countries. This is also true in creating knowledge. The disparity is especially clear between pure sciences and social sciences. Even with the research studies of the Humanities and Social Sciences and their disciplines done to date, the amount of investigation is considerably less than in science and technology. Bibliometrics is built to provide an objective approach to assess research outputs of an individual scholar, a research agency, a university or a nation. Based on such outcomes, research funding is allocated and the reputation or credentials of a scholar or an institution are assessed. Although bibliometric assessment has been continuously criticized and improved over time for multidimensional measurement, reflecting more accurately the reality of research activities, it has some significant limitations when applied to the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the methodological challenges faced in selecting Humanities and Social Science journal articles for bibliometric analysis at University level in Sri Lanka.This research paper provides a basic understanding to a researcher and formulates guiding principles when dealing with bibliometric analysis of Humanities and Social Science subjects. Variations in citation patterns, discrepancies due to journals with dual volume-numbering systems or combined volumes, publication gaps due to the war situation, language and regional bias, need of fine-grained delineation at the level of individual articles, defining journal coverage in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences and unavailability of soft forms of printed journals are identified as the major challenges in selecting journal articles for bibliometric analysis at University level in Sri Lanka. Even though the methodological challenges have been pointed out, responding to these challenges and designing strategies with criteria are necessary to promote a better application of bibliometrics for the evaluation of journal articles. It paves the way for more cautious and sophisticated evaluation systems, rooted in a better understanding of the dynamics of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Constraints in Conducting Survey Research among Visually Impaired Undergraduate in Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jeyaraj, W.J.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
The first and foremost entry point to information access is sight. Being equally adequate to the privilege of sight is not the case at all illustrations. Being visually impaired can affect this accessibility to direct information. The boulders in accessing information has been considerable blurred out to a certain level but there still exists instances such facing face to face interviews, distribution of questionnaires and collection of context based result sets, etc. The main objective of this paper is to identify the constraints when the researchers do the survey research among visually impaired undergraduates in Sri Lanka. The obstructions that have considerably marked a footprint in this sphere are listed out as deficient time periods as the visually impaired clients are supposedly depended upon others to elucidate the contents of the questionnaire in order to fill the required which takes them around at least an hour to complete, language barriers, lack of data from the visually impaired clients, extraneous or redundant data collection due to the existence of barrier to get through to these clients past their visual impairment, the lack of sustainable data that can be utilized for future references, dearth of equipment awareness due to the absence of the privilege of sight and hands on experience with such equipment. As far as the analysis part is concerned, there’s an unavailability of established standards to compare the data provided by visually impaired students against those provided by others. Hence, assumptions are made without passable data to measure against with. This paper tends to traverse through to the core with the intentions of identifying the underlying issues that could be considered as probable causes and strives to propose plausible recommendations that could try in its best within its entirety to serve as solutions to these issues.
Continuous professional Development Programs for the university libraries in Sri Lanka
(The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka and the Open University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Weerasooriya, W.A.
Design and development of a desired Graduate Profile (GP) for the BA (Honors) Degree program in Library and Information Science (BLISC) conducted by the Department of Library and Information Science (DELIS), University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Weerasooriya, W.A.; Weerasinghe, M.K.; Wanigasooriya, Priyanwada; Piyarathana Thero, Lagumdeniye; Suraweera, S.A.D.H.N.; Chamara, K.A.T.
The principal objective of this paper is to explore the design and development a Graduate Profile for the BLISC honors degree, at the DELIS, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and to map it with the K-SAM model (Knowledge is what student can and should know, Skills is what they can and should do, Attitude is how they think and behave and should, Mindset is how they perceive and should perceive the world) developed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) Sri Lanka. Graduate Profiles are the descriptions of attributes like the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavioral elements (characteristics, qualities, ethics and norms, way of behavior, vision, mission, mindset, world of work are also considered) which a parent university or the educational authority expects from its graduates through the contact and non-contact hours with a view to position these graduates as universal citizens recognized with competent, social, cultural, good mannered, employable and environment friendly groups fitting local, regional, national and international demands and requirements. This is a result of a qualitative study performed on the basis of action research, content, needs and SWOT analysis and observation and experience matching and also of an ongoing study covering the BLISC degree program and its undergraduates. All the local and foreign curriculum standards relevant to study were also used. The 14 attributes expected from the BLISC Graduates are the 1.Subject Knowledge Capable (K), 2.Skilled (S), 3.Behavior Changer (A), 4.Information Literate and Lifelong Learner (SAM), 5.Language and Communication Competent (SAM), 6.Researcher and Scholar (SAM) 7.Analytical and Critical Thinker (SM), 8.Agent of Attitudes (A), 9.Planner and Time Manager (SA) 10.Problem Solver (SAM), 11.Environment and Social Friendly Group (AM) 12.Courageous Leader (SA) 13.Honest and Cultural Obedient Person (AM) 14.Dedicated Serviceman (K-SAM) and the final goal expected from GP is to develop a Visionary Global Citizen. How the BLISC undergraduates realize the major domains of K-SAM developed by the UGC are marked and mapped with the 14 attributes of the proposed GPabove. The attributes are mapped and embedded in the BLISC Degree program. There are altogether 42 study units in the curriculum and out of that, 26 are theory papers, 11 independent assignment based units, three practical or laboratory based units, 01 industrial training unit and the independent dissertation, altogether 42 units positioning in total 123 credits. While total study units attempt to inculcate the Knowledge domain of the undergraduates, 22 units develop Skills and 08 address the Attitudes and 6 units focus the Mindset domain. The dissertation and the industrial training units both play a major role in K-SAM. In addition to the BLISC curriculum, the field trip, library workshop method, Library and Information Science Student Association, three students’ societies namely English, IT and Library and all other creative and social functions like Teachers Day have been planned to improve these four domain K-SAM introduced by the UGC. Everything is directed to achieve the objectives of the GP.
Development Information needs and issues of Estate Workers in Sri Lanka
(Research Symposium 2010 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2010) Weerasooriya, W.A.; Wanigasooriya, Priyanwada; Piyarathana, Rev.L; Samarakoon, Manori
People live in a divided world: between rich and poor, healthy and sick, literate and illiterate, democratic and authoritarian and between empowered and deprived. Human development is a process of enlarging people’s freedom to do and be what they value in the life, empowering people as active agents in the development process. People are both the beneficiaries and agents of human development both as individual and as group in common sense with others. Information remains as the fountainhead for human development and the economic growth today. Information is a catalyst for the development, and it is classified in different contexts. ‘Development Information’ indicates the whole types of information that lead for the economic, social, political and cultural development of a nation or a country. This research discusses the information needs and issues of Estate Workers in Sri Lanka with special reference to Nuwara Eliya district, focusing the Development Information context. The objectives of this study are to have a clear picture about Development Information, to identify development information needs, to identify the ways that the estate workers fulfill their information needs, to identify the information providers and public opinion makers in the community and to identify the issues faced by the Estate Workers in the information flow in Sri Lanka. The research method adopted was the survey research of using questionnaires, interviews and observation as principal research techniques. The research was based on a field visits selecting 150 Estate Worker families as a sample in three Gramasewa Divisions; Lidula, Watagoda and Talawakale. Primary data revealed that majority of Estate Workers are illiterate and they did not have rights to do their works on their own. Talewar and neighbors are the main information providers and they have less confidence with government officials such as Grama Sewaka, Midwife, Health Inspectors and Doctors. Further they were less entitled for the facilities such as good health conditions, nutrition, sanitary facilities, access to maternity services provided in other sectors. They live hand to mouth life and not custom to save a certain percentage of money from their fort night earning. To overcome these issues adult education is a prime necessity and audio visual teaching methods should be used to increase the awareness of information and its access for their day today life. It is essential to develop more infrastructure facilities among the Estate Worker communities.
Development of competencies among professional staff in university libraries in Sri Lanka
(Library and Information Science Alumni Association, University of Kelaniya, 2008) Weerasooriya, W.A.; Deshpande, N.J.
The Impact of Natural Disasters on Library Resources and Services: with Special Reference to Galle Richard Pathirana, Matara Kumarathunga Munidasa and Tangalle Public Libraries
(3rd International Conference on Library and Information Management, Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Chandrawansa, M.P.S.; De Silva, A.P.U.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
Basically, public libraries that are situated in Sri Lanka mostly have been faced with lots of disasters that occurred in natural ways as well as manmade actions. This research was conducted, based on the research questions on how public libraries face any disasters and how they conserve and preserve their collections and do they have proper disaster management plan for their libraries, Throughout the research findings, it is crystal clear that any library does not have such kind of disaster plan, and lack of knowledge and weakness in management mainly caused the extinguishment of the libraries. This research has presented a proper disaster management plan based on the research results
Importance of Staff Capabilities to Provide a Quality Service in University Libraries: Users’ Perspective in Sri Lankan Context
(Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Arachchige, J. J.G.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
The research methodology employed a sample survey, encompassing 2131 participants, consisting of 1638 undergraduates and 493 academic staff members. These individuals were selected at random from seven state universities across different provinces of Sri Lanka. A structured Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 to 9, was utilized to gauge the users' perceptions of service quality based on nine key staff capability attributes. These attributes encompassed qualities such as dedication to instilling confidence in users, personalized user care, the ability to address user queries, user empathy, competency in responding to user queries, dependability, courtesy and politeness, willingness to serve, and the ability to understand user needs. The analysis of the collected data employed descriptive analysis and importanceperformance analysis. These analytical approaches allowed for an examination of the gap between users' expectations and their perceived experiences in the library regarding the nine staff capability attributes. The findings of this research demonstrate that, out of the nine staff capability attributes, seven were perceived by users as highly important and highly performed. This suggests that library staff excel in these areas and meet or exceed user expectations. However, two attributes, namely, employees' caring for users and their proficiency in addressing user queries, were deemed both low in importance and performance. Notably, attributes related to instilling confidence in users and providing crucial component of university libraries, even in the age of crucial component of university libraries, even in the age of digitalization and automation. It highlights the need for libraries to focuse on developing and enhancing various aspects of staff capabilities, particularly in the context of the evolving digital networked environment. By addressing the identified gaps in staff capabilities, libraries can continue to serve as vital hubs of knowledge and support in the academic journey of students and researchers, enriching the overall library experience.
Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (JNSF), 2011 - 2015: A Citation Analysis
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Pratheepan, T.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
Citation analyses of research in developing countries are interesting for various reasons. The situation of Sri Lankan is rather exceptional.The Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (JNSF) is the only Sri Lankan journal; indexed by the Journal Citation Report (JCR) from2010.This paper provides a citation network analysis of publications from the JNSF. The analysis covers publications in the journal from 2011–2015. The paper analyses the most published authors, most cited articles, uncited articles, most prolific authors, top institutions, collaboration profile of authors, and the nationalities of authors, that are most represented in the journal. 441articles were taken from the primary data source, the Google Scholar using Publish or Perish (POP) software. An analysis of 1056 citations was carried out using the POP online analytics tool and Excel. Results indicate that the 60% of JNSF research publications have received minimum of single citation.There are 998 authors have been contributed for 441 articles published during the study period in JNSF. In terms of collaboration profile, the JNSF’s authors show preference for “mega – authored” papers. Only 114 (26%) papers were single authored. The most cited article is Mosquito-lavicidal activity of some Sri Lankan plants written by Ranaweera, SS. published in 2013.
Library professional ethics and its related problems and challenges faced by Library and Information Science students during their library training
(Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Rathnayaka, R.M.J.N.; Weerasooriya, W.A.
Internships are hands-on experiential training for many careers. Many professional apprentices enter the world of work with the experience gained from these internships. Training and ethics are not concepts unique to the library field. It is an interrelated process if followed it will bring multifaceted effects. In order to successfully run any field in the world, one must maintain its own ethics as well as training. Training ethics are three fold, one is in trainee’s perspective, the other is in trainer’s perspective and the next is those who direct the trainees for trainers. Therefore, library training is essential to efficiently manage the library career of the students leading to the library profession. Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka also hired the students for the internship. Thus, students are employed in various institutions to get library training. Thus, it is essential for all institutions providing training to maintain a code of ethics related to this training. Accordingly, the principal aim of this research is to conduct a detailed investigation of the issues and challenges faced by students who studied library and information science during library professional training and to create a value system in developing a code of ethics associated with library training in anticipation of a solution. Accordingly, a researcher has used mixed methodology for this research. The sample used for this purpose is the 2015/2016, 2016/2017 groups of students who studied in the Department of Library and information Science including those lecturers who were in charge of training and some selected staff of the principal two institutions which offered training, namely the Library of the University of Kelaniya and the National Library and Documentation Board. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the primary data. Accordingly, it was identified that many of the institutions that provided the training did not have a formal documented code of ethics of trainees. They used this trainee ethics by practice. A simple code ethics for trainees was stated in the Departmental training guide book/record book given to student trainees. Accordingly, a formal ethical system should be introduced for three categories namely the trainee students, those lecturers who are in charge of training and the trainers attached to training institutions.
Managing human resources in university libraries in Sri Lanka: Appropriate styles and stratagies
(Research Symposium 2009 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Weerasooriya, W.A.
This study was carried out to investigate the existing Human Resource Management (HRM) set up and to explore the possibilities and outcome for utilizing to improve the HRM in University Libraries in Sri Lanka (ULSL). Objectives of the study were to identify key issues related to HRM, to suggest some guidelines for formulating human resource policy for ULSL, to explore the human resources needs and necessary changing requirements of HRM in university libraries and to develop an appropriate HRM model for ULSL. The method used for this study was the descriptive research. Survey technique was used in order to collect data. The population of the study was the professional staff working in ULSL. Primary data was collected circulating two structured questionnaires among the Librarians and Senior Assistant Librarians (SAL) and Assistant Librarians (AL). The major focus was given for testing and verification of three hypotheses viz. 01. HRM is the most important factor for providing an efficient and effective library and information service in ULSL, 02. Professionals in university libraries prefer to participative management style than bureaucratic style of management, 03. Professionals prefer to work as teams in a more self-guided committed work environment in university libraries. To test the hypothesis 01, Librarians and SAL and AL were asked to mark the most important factor for producing an efficient and effective library service out of six factors and they stated that well trained, qualified and dedicated library as the most important factor. Within this background, a suggestion is made to implement more HRM awareness programmes for ULSL. It is proposed to formulate and implement a sound HRM policy for university libraries. For hypothesis 02, out of three management styles, majority of Librarians (70%), and SAL and AL 85% endorsed the statement “HRM functions and activities which belong to library domain should be dispersed among respective Heads/Sectional Heads, while holding full responsibility with the Librarian himself.” It manifests that ‘participative management style’ which is based on the principles of more collaborative approach is needed for ULSL. In testing 3rd hypothesis, out of four organizational structures, the highest responses (60%) were received by the Librarians for the 3rd model “a new cohesive and collaborative model, based more on the principles of teamwork with high commitment” The underline theory behind these three hypothesis is that Human Resource factor is to be given the prime concerned by the ULSL and the very human resources have to be handled with appropriate management styles, strategies and structures.
Managing human resources in university libraries in Sri Lanka: appropriate styles and strategies
(Sri Lanka Library Association, 2010) Weerasooriya, W.A.
The new organization culture: a path professionalism and a new paradigm shift for university libraries in Sri Lanka
(University Librarians Association, Sri Lanka, 2010) Weerasooriya, W.A.
Organizational and staff qualities and norms system for the University libraries of Sri Lanka
(Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Weerasooriya, W.A.
Problems encountered in managing the human resources in University Libraries in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Weerasooriya, W.A.
This study is based on a research carried out on the Human Resource Management (HRM) in University Libraries in Sri Lanka (ULSL). It explores the problems encountered by the librarians in managing their human resources in ULSL. The objectives of the study are to identify the major problems of HRM, to gain a best picture about these problems, to rank these problems on the order of priority influence to lower influence for libraries, to study what are the additional HRM problems indicated by the librarians and to explore the possible alternative solutions for these problems. The method used for this study was the descriptive research method. Survey technique was used in order to collect data. The population of the study was the librarians in ULSL. Primary data was collected circulating a structured questionnaire among the librarians and they were asked to rank the ten major HRM problems defined by the researcher. The other 1-IRM problems stated by the university librarians are the policy of the Government,. lack of personal interest of library professionals, lack of professional mutual cooperation and individual interests, lack of opportunities to motivate and reward dedicated officers and lack of opportunities to share experiences with other colleagues especially in overseas libraries. To resolve these HRM problems, a suggestion is made to introduce sound HRM policy for the ULSL. Other suggestions are the introduction of staff training and development policy along with different types of best fit (qualitative) and higher number (quantitative) of training and development programmes, proper motivational procedures and programmes, and the development of competencies among library professionals. Within this context, the concerned stakeholders will have to design and implement the library policies and programmes in the future.
Problems Encountered in Managing the Human Resources in University Libraries in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Weerasooriya, W.A.
Role of the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya in LIS Educational sector in Sri Lanka
(Sri Lanka Library Association, 2009) Ranasinghe, P.; Weerasooriya, W.A.; Suraweera, S.A.D.H.N.
Salient characteristics and features of Colon classification: an overview
(Sri Lanka Library Association, 2009) Weerasooriya, W.A.