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UG launches online library services at Turkeyen Campus

Apr 09, 2012 News

 

 
Students at the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus will be able to access and benefit from the newly launched UG online library services which is being offered free of cost.
Students at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC) have started to use this Information Communications Technology (ICT) application since it was launched at their campus on May 12, last year.
With this latest development at the Turkeyen Campus, more students can now search for study books online, reserve required books for their courses and make purchase suggestions.
UG is the first university in the Caribbean to implement this leading Open Source Library Software (KOHA).
KOHA is an Open Source Integrated Library System used by many public libraries, universities and community libraries around the world.
It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships and more as well as provides a full-functioned Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) Service.
Users (students, staff and public) can carry out searches using various fields (Keyword, Subject, Title, Class, Barcode, Author, Publisher, etc.). They can order the search results according to several criteria (by author, title, etc).
Users who are library members can place holds (reservations) on library items, and give purchase suggestions.
One can access the Online Public Access Catalog service at http://ugbclibrary.uog.edu.gy.
University Librarian, Gwyneth George, stated that the Automation of the Turkeyen Library commenced in the late 1990s with the use of the IME Navigator, a commercial software.
For various reasons, the main one being cost of maintaining updates and the lack of technical skills to maintain the system, the project faltered.
In June 2007, the Library started to explore the use of Open Source Software after exhausting all possibilities of acquiring a commercial software. ‘KOHA’, a New Zealand Maori word for “Gift” was found to be ideally suitable for numerous reasons.
These included it being a full featured Integrated Library system in use worldwide in libraries of all sizes and also being web based, therefore opening endless opportunities for putting not only the catalogues, but other resources online.
“The Tain Campus online library service was launched in May 2011 as the pilot project for both libraries. From all reports, that online library is working well. However, it should be noted that all of the features of the software have not been fully activated, since the project is still in progress with the continuation of date entry into the system,” said George.
She also posited hope that the launch will also see the beginning of network cooperation among units on Campus, which have embarked on automating their operations. As a support unit, this project cannot work efficiently on its own since it has to be fed with data from other units for its efficient functioning.
Kaieteur News understands that frequent auditing has to be done to ensure that data is shared without wasting of resources and duplication taking place.
“The University of Guyana is already about ten decades behind with regard to modern ICTs and there must be some urgency in closing this gap,” added George.
Sekhar Mallampati, Manager, Department of Software Engineering, gave a detailed explanation of the online services that students will be benefitting from and what they should expect.
“For instance, if students want to reserve a book for their use ahead, they can. And the icon on the computer shows how many books are available and how many were already lent to other students. A notice is also sent to students to remind them of the deadlines and dates that they are supposed to return the book(s),” said Mallampati.
He also highlighted the numerous advantages that KOHA brought to this project as he made presentations to the audience that had gathered at the Education Lecture Theatre during the launching ceremony.

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