Abstract
Purpose: This article is an attempt to examine the current situation of book losses/theft, their causes, and remedies that have been taken by academic libraries in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was adopted for this study for which questionnaire as an instrument was carried out. It comprised of identifying the reasons, measures, and frequency of book theft was responded by 136 university librarians. The questionnaire was designed and administered via Google forms that took about two months for collection of the desired data. The data collected was tabulated and analysed using the Microsoft Excel. Research limitation(s): The scope of the study area is limited to the central libraries of universities of Pakistan. The investigation was confined to library physical learning resources i.e. book, journal, magazine, theses, flash cards, CDs and DVDs. Departmental, seminars, sub-campus and approved centre libraries were not the part of this research study. Key finding(s): The findings revealed that absence of national/local level policy, unawareness of users’ education, high prices of the study materials, untrained supporting staff and lack of proper ownership marks are the causes of theft in the academic libraries in Pakistan. A few libraries have taken measures so as to control the theft of valuable library materials which include use of CCTV Cameras for monitoring and recording and the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). However, due to high cost, useful precautionary measures have not been adopted by the libraries especially in universities. Practical implication(s): The findings of the study would highlight the importance of policy making regarding the library security measurement in the higher educational institutions of the country. It will alert the management of universities and higher education commission for provision of ample funds and applying the latest technology to resolve the issue. Contribution to knowledge: The study would prove fruitful and help aware the professionals of the library field about different aspects of library theft, allied reasons and their control.
Abid Hussain, Muhammad Ibrahim. (2020) Examining the Causes and Prevention of Book Losses in Academic Libraries , International Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Volume-5, Issue-1.
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