A survey on the present status of libraries of engineering colleges affiliated to JNTU-Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India

Analysis of data collected from a simple random of 37 Engineering Colleges affiliated to JNTU – Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, using a questionnaire, reveals that a high percentage of librarians (43.2%) possess M.A. and M.L.I.Sc. degrees. A high percentage of them (45.9%) have an experience of 6 to 10 years. Majority of them (67.6%) are getting a consolidated scale of pay. A high percentage of Engineering College libraries (29.7%) work from 9.00 A.M. to 6.00 P.M. in a day during working days. Open access system is followed in most of the libraries (89.2%). Nearly half of the libraries (48.7%) are subscribing to 51-100 national print journals and half of them (48.7%) are subscribing to 50 or less than 50 international journals (print). Nearly one-third of them (32.4%) have books in the range of 20,001 – 30,000. Majority of them (64.9%) are acquiring books by inviting quotations. Most of them (91.9%) are procuring periodicals directly from publishers. All the libraries are using Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme for classification of documents. Most of the librarians (94.6%) opined that Dewey Decimal Classification is more suitable for classification of engineering documents. Most of them (81.1%) replied that the books are catalogued in their libraries. Most of them (93.3%) are using catalogue modules of software packages for cataloguing of books. A high percentage of them (43.3%) are using their own software. Most of them are using computerized catalogue (93.4%) and computerized system for issue and return of books (81.1%). All the libraries are offering circulation service and reference service. Most of them are offering Internet facility (91.9%), newspaper clipping service (81.1%) and reprographic service (78.4%). Majority of them are offering referral service (67.6%) and CAS/SDI service (67.6%). Majority of them (73 %) have no separate building of their own. All the libraries have display racks and notice boards. Most of them have computers (86.5%), fire protection equipment (83.8%), and reprographic and electronic equipment (73.7%). Majority of them have a suggestion box (56.8%) and book trolleys (51.4%). Majority of the librarians (59.5%) informed that their libraries are carrying out stock verification annually. Most of the librarians (97.3%) replied that their libraries are maintaining up-to-date statistics. Finally, a number of suggestions have been made for improving the services of Engineering College libraries.