The establishment of National Sports Information Center in Sri Lanka: A feasibility study

Abstract

People in all the fields of study need information for their studies as well as for day-today activities. Libraries and information centers are required to provide information snob people. Information center is an office or a section of a bibliographical center, research bureau or documentation center which provides information about books or on a subject with which the organization providing the facilities of the center gets concerned (Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 1990). From the beginning of human civilization man has been using sport as a means to exhibit his power and skill and also recreation. A sport is a discipline connected to numerous other spheres and it is not confined to play field alone. Various academic activities and research taking place in the field of sports have made it necessary to search for new information connected with sports. Sportsmen, trainers, administrators, media people, researchers and others connected with sports are constantly engaged in information searching. Therefore it is imperative to obtain information not only in print form but in electronic form as well. Theoretical aspects of sports have intensified this need. Absence of a formal institution to provide sports related information is a drawback to the development of sports in the country. Therefore the establishment of a National Sports Information Center is a timely need. With the help of librarians and people interested in sports a qualitative and a quantitative survey was done as a part of this research. Details related to information searching, source of information, expected information, existing library information services, bibliographic search tools available, and media coverage etc. were surveyed. Questionnaires were administered to gather data from selected sportsmen, coaches, sports officers, administrators, doctors and other interested people. Statistics from librarians representing different grades were obtained through interviews. The method adopted for data collection was non – probability convenience sampling method. Analysis of data revealed that sports related information available in the libraries was inadequate and that a large body of people expects current information in the field of sports. Survey also indicated the dearth of sport related literature in Sinhala medium and the need of an information center. The need for the collection of resources and the establishment to maintaining of a National Sports Information Center and the proposals to enhance the access to Sports information by Sri Lankans are among major suggestions of the study.