Electronic Information Resources in the Libraries of Research Institutes of

Punjab. A Study of their users Attitude and Satisfaction

Researchers and scientists are always curious to know the latest information and major
developments in their area of interest through scientific publication and productions. In a
research environment, libraries are helping users with relevant scientific information within a
stipulated time. Research and development activities are being conducted in more countries in
the wider context. So now a day, users' needs, expectations and requirements of scientific
information has been increased tremendously with the nature and scope of information.
Electronic information resources can be defined as resources in the electronic format that provide
information or an indicator to the information and are accessible over the electronic devices.
When the user uses the resources, the mind evaluates the resources on the basis of benefits
derived from the resources. This results in the formation of the attitude. When the resources have
helped in the professional work, it results in positive attitude, which results in the satisfaction.
When the user is not satisfied by the use of resources, it results in negative attitude, leading to
dissatisfaction. Satisfaction enhances the usage of the resources. Therefore, it becomes necessary
for the libraries to know how far the users are using the resources acquired by them. An analysis
of the literature available on this subject indicated that only a few studies on the attitude and
satisfaction of users regarding Electronic information resources in research institute libraries
have been undertaken in India. The main objective of the study is to identify the use, attitude,
and level of satisfaction of users regarding electronic information resources in research institutes
in Punjab. The hypothesis of the study is to check the usage, attitude and satisfaction between
different categories of users. The scope of the present study is limited to Punjab because the
majority of research institutes are housed in Punjab. A questionnaire will be administrated to
collect primary data from selected respondents from fifteen research institutes of Punjab.
Collected data will be analyzed using statistical tools. Information about existing resources will
be collected by browsing the internet. However, this study focused on attitude and satisfaction of
users in the research institute of Punjab, It is recommended that future research includes impact
of electronic information resources on users in the research institute of Punjab. Second, this
study is conducted in a particular area (Punjab). So it is advisable to conduct research to compare
the results of this study to results in another state, i.e. Haryana. Furthermore, This study is the
first research to consider the performance of electronic resources in depth in research institutes of
Punjab . This will contribute to improving the accessibility and utilization of electronic resources
in libraries.