Browsing by Author "Gunasekera, C."

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Addressing Educational Disparities: Analysis of Library Resources and Services in Urban, Semi-Urban, and Rural Schools in the Kandy District
(Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Gunasekera, C.
This study investigates the disparities in library resources and services among urban, semi-urban, and rural school libraries in the Kandy district. The findings reveal significant gender disparities among school librarians and diverse roles within the profession. Analysis of available information resources indicates variations across locations, with notable discrepancies in the availability of audio-visual materials. Similarly, disparities in library services and facilities are identified, impacting study spaces, reading materials, and technology access. The study emphasizes the need for targeted efforts to address these discrepancies and ensure equal educational opportunities. Recommendations include promoting awareness of diverse library services and resources and implementing improvements for enhanced effectiveness. The study contributes valuable insights to inform decisionmaking processes aimed at fostering equity in the educational system, regardless of school location.
Identifying Information Needs of School Teachers in Sri Lanka and Factors Affect for their Information Needs
(3rd International Conference on Library and Information Management, Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Gunasekera, C.; Balasubramani, R.
The main objective of this study is to examine school teachers’ information needs and the relationship between demographic and professional factors with their information needs. The population of the study consisted of graduate school teachers in government schools in Sri Lanka. The sample consisted with 440 teachers and cluster sampling method was applied for the sample selection. A selfadministered questionnaire was used as the main data collection tool and the received data were analyzed SPSS (21.0). The study found that most of the teachers need information on particular subject that they taught, followed by classroom management and teaching resources and it was found that there is no significant relationship between the factors and teachers' information needs
Understanding Faculty Contribution for the Institutional Repository: A Case Study at University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Gunasekera, C.
An institutional repository (IR) is a digital collection capturing and preserving the intellectual productivity of a university. The faculty contribution is considered one of the success factors for an IR; in fact there is a need to explore their knowledge and willingness to contribute to the IR. The main objective of this study is to investigate the awareness of academic authors towards the IR and the factors that motivate the use of these repositories.Questionnaire based survey method was employed and the self administered questionnaires were distributed among all permanent academic staff members in the University of Peradeniya on May, 2015 and out of 751, 279 duly completed questionnaires were received making a 37.1% response rate. The results revealed that most of the respondents learnt about the IR as a result of a web search engine (26%), information provided at faculty or any other meeting held in the university (24%) and by working in a field with established subject based archives (23%). Only 44% of the respondents were aware of the university IR and 49% mentioned that they are not aware of it. With regard to the frequency of IR use, only 14% use IR very frequently while 25% somewhat frequently, and surprisingly 17% rarely used and majority of the respondents (31%) has not used IR at all. The interesting finding is that 56% of the respondents reported their willingness to contribute to the university IR while 18% of them were not willing to contribute in future. Those who willing to contribute to IR mentioned they contributed because they support the principle of open access (39%) and it enhances visibility and recognition of the author’s work within the institution (35%) and beyond that. With regard to the depositing materials to the IR, 49% of the scholars prefer to publish conference papers rather than research reports and post print articles. The major barrier to contribute to IR is fear of plagiarism (32%). In light of these results, there is a need to create more awareness and to educate the faculty on the importance of the IR as it enhances visibility and recognition of the author’s work. At the same time the university should conduct an open access advocacy campaign and training sessions for researchers to demonstrate access and publish in open access repositories.