Browsing by Author "Dehigama, K."

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Factors Affecting the Reading Habits in the Digital Environment: A Study of Undergraduates of Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language at South Eastern University of Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jazeel, M.I.M.; Dehigama, K.
The impact on the digital environment for reading habits has been widely addressed on global level. While there is no adequate number of studies in Sri Lanka, this research attempts to explore the factors that enable or inhibit the reading habits of undergraduate students of South Eastern University of Sri Lankain the lights of widespread availability of digital formats. This study employed a single case study approach. A survey was used as the method in collecting thedata. The population of the study was randomly selected from the undergraduate students of Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. Drawing 20% of the total number of students 218 wereselected for the study. 203 completed questionnaires were received. The study revealed that integration of technology into the lives of students has widely affected their mode of reading. Availability of smart phones and laptops among 78% of the undergraduates tend them to spend more time online. Majority of the undergraduates indicated that they were not able cope with the screen-based reading. 65% of the students indicated that they are in favor of reading printed academic materials in print form. Students use new technological devices for light reading, while printed materials are used for serious in-depth reading. The study demonstrated that the wide availability of new technological devices prevents students spending more time in reading printed materials. Similarly, the study implicitly found that undergraduates do not read online journals/articles, due to the factors such as lengthiness, problems associated with the access, and they are of the opinion that those materials are too serious. Outcomes of the study implies that urgent measures should be taken by both teaching staff and librarians to promote health reading habits among undergraduates those who read less but spend more time online.
The Road to Kandy: A bibliographical and historical study of Colonial and Post-Colonial accounts
(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Dehigama, K.
A considerable body of literature highlights that the survival of Kandyan Kingdom from western invasion was mainly caused by geographical barriers and ancient travel rules and procedures practiced. Thus, the construction of road to Kandy under the supervision of Dawson and Skinner established British administration in Kandyan provinces. The road to Kandy is known as the “Great Road” not only because the of route is taken by the higher officials of Kandyan court and embassies of different countries to reach the Kandyan kingdom but also it marked a milestone of British Occupation in Sri Lanka. Historical literature suggested that changes brought into effect the construction of Kandy road in to the livesof Kandyans in particular and Sri Lankans in general, stretched from social, political and economic liberty to facilitating communication through fast trade and passenger transportation while transportation facilities were at minimal stage. On the contrary, it is argued that building a new road to Kandy under the concept of D’oyley and policy of Barnes had interrupted the traditional life style of Kandyans. Nearly after two centuries of opening of the road to Kandy, building of a new expressway to Kandy is at its crossroads. One may argue that the construction of a new expressway will fade away the significance of the existing Kandy-Colombo highway. However, due to social, political economical as well as historical linkages associated with Kandy road with Sri Lankan way of life, significance of Kandy road is heightened continuously. Gradually the same route was popularly known as Colombo-Kandy highway with the increasing development of Colombo as a commercial and administrative capital and its significance is even so emphasized by designating it Sri Lanka’s A-1 motorway. Notwithstanding the significance of the Kandy road, exploring into literature reveals that there is no effort has been taken to record the history of Kandy road in a descriptive manner. Except for few brief attempts made by handful of authors, rest of the accounts on constructions of the road to Kandy is intermingled in the administrative reports, travel accounts and, personal diaries etc. Hence, this study attempts to contribute to historiography of road building in Sri Lanka by putting all aspects of construction of Kandy road together.
Traditional Knowledge Illustrated in the Palm Leaf Manuscripts of Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Pushpakumara, K.; Dehigama, K.
Palm leaves played a major role in recording, and preserving information on various aspects of Sri Lankan culture in place of books and paper until the advent of printing in the 19th century. A search through of palm leaf collections in Sri Lanka reveals that they took part significantly in carry forwarding a tradition that considerably influenced to preserve Sri Lankan indigenous traditional knowledge that has been passed orally from generation to generation. Sri Lanka is in the custody of massive repository of manuscript wealth preserved in cultural institutions. However, an overview of literature reflects, studiesare mainly confined to the preservation, historical information andto widely address the documentation aspects of the palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka. This indicates that there is no research focusing on the theme that encompasses the study of paintings that depict the various aspect of traditional knowledge embedded in palm-leaf manuscripts.Theretofore, the present study is undertaken to explore the paintings in the palm leaf manuscripts in Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura district has been selected for the study. A survey has been carried out with a view to find paintings in the undocumented hither to unknown palm leaf manuscripts. Accordingly on the basis of previous pilot surveys, five Gram Sava Divisions were selected from the five different AGA Divisions of Anuradhapura District. In addition to the document analysis, focus group discussions and observations were used to collect data. While the survey produced paintings of various traditional knowledge related to Arts, the Indigenous Medicine, Magic and charms, Astrology and Agriculture, work of artappeared in palm leaf manuscripts related to ancient Sri Lankan agricultural activities are only presented in this paper. Surveying and studying hither to unknown collections at Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka will be of momentous achievement for the benefit of research and learning. Due to the utmost value of the manuscriptsit is recommended to take over the collections from theheritors with a view to preserve palm leaf manuscripts for the future generations.