Browsing by Author "Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Effective use of weblogs for disseminating information in university libraries in Sri Lanka: A feasibility study
(Research Symposium 2009 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D.
Academic Libraries in the new millennium have undergone several changes as the consequences of modern Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs). The Internet and related technologies are among the most influential for the change. Weblogs or Blogs are one of the latest developments in the Internet. Blogging has made a revolution in the dissemination of current information, which is recognized as one of the major responsibilities and challenges of present day academic library. Aims of this study were to explore the effectiveness of the available university library websites in Sri Lanka in disseminating current information, to identify the deficiencies associated with them, and to investigate the feasibilities of using weblogs for disseminating information in university libraries in Sri Lanka. Two data collection instruments were used for the study as follows. Data on library websites were collected by means of observation. Researcher himself collected data by visiting websites/ web pages of university libraries. Fifteen (15) university library websites/ web pages were accessed for the study during August/ September 2009. The data on university library ICT facilities were collected by using a questionnaire especially designed for the purpose. It was dispatched among librarians in- charge of ICT, via e-mail. The study revealed that, all the university libraries have their own websites/ web pages. However, following were identified as the barriers faced by university libraries in disseminating current information through library websites. Technical problems associated with updating the website on a regular basis Unfamiliarity on HTML and other web development applications of the library staff Unavailability of qualified and dedicated staff to regularly update library websites Finally, the study identified the feasibilities of creating weblogs for university libraries and the study suggests that the blogging technology can be used effectively to disseminate information in university libraries in Sri Lanka.
A feasibility study on the establishment of an Online Institutional Repository of Faculty publications: Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya
(Research Symposium 2010 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2010) Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D.
There is a growing interest among academic institutions in collecting, preserving, and providing access to digital content produced by the Faculty members during their teaching and research activities. In the past several years open source platforms such as Eprints, Dspace, and Fedora have been released to allow this content to be organized, described, shared, and preserved in an Online environment. Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya was established in 1991 and it is one of the leading medical schools in Sri Lanka. Currently the Faculty has approximately 110 academic staff members serving in 16 academic departments. They produce high quality research which is published in international as well as local journals, conference proceedings, monographs, etc. According to the University Calendar 2010, during the past 6 years, the highest number of research papers and books has been published by the Faculty of Medicine. It includes 1535 research papers, 571 published abstracts and 360 books. Therefore, it has become a timely need to collect, organize, preserve and provide access to this literature in an efficient and effective manner. Present study aims to examine the feasibility of establishing an Online Institutional Repository (IR) of these publications based on DSpace software. The study does an environmental scan, proposes an implementation strategy, and discusses issues related to establishing an Institutional Repository. Establishing an Online IR will ensure free and open access to the publications of academic staff members. It will minimize the impact of restrictions imposed by publishers on authors in sharing their research findings with peers. Providing a wider visibility to research work is another advantage of this repository. By facilitating author self-archiving, it will also save the administrative tasks of librarians such as maintaining publication lists and dissemination of information. Finally, this online IR will serve as an Online digital archive which preserves the scholarly work of the Faculty members for future generations.
Open Access Journal Publishing in Sri Lanka: Characteristics and Future Potential
(Journal of Educational Media & Library Sciences. 2019, Vol. 56 Issue 2, 2019) Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D.; Chung, J.M.
The purpose of this study was to identify the problems faced by the scholarly journal publishing industry in Sri Lanka and to explore the opportunities provided by online open access publishing to overcome those problems. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study. A literature review was used to identify the problems faced by developing countries, including Sri Lanka, in scholarly journal publishing. Open access journals published in Sri Lanka were identified through secondary sources such as open access journal directories and indexing services. Data were manually collected by accessing eighty-four (84) journal homepages systematically through the links provided by above directories and indexing services. The study has found that Sri Lanka faces problems similar to the other developing countries in the scholarly journal publishing. At the same time, the study has recognized open access as an opportunity for Sri Lankan scholarly journals to overcome those issues. Suggestions were made to improve the open access journal publishing in Sri Lanka and measures were suggested to overcome possible future drawbacks. Despite several studies related to open access initiatives, there have been no substantial studies on open access journal publishing in Sri Lanka. Hence, the present study intended to fill that gap by reviewing related literature and analyzing open access journals published in Sri Lanka
An overview of open access journal publishing in Sri Lanka with special reference to SLJOL project
(The Library, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D.
Open Access (OA) is seen as an unprecedented opportunity by developing countries in addressing issues related to publishing scholarly research findings and providing free access to them. Objective of the study is to present an introductory overview of the OA journal publishing movement in Sri Lanka. The study is based on a literature survey and secondary data collected from local and international directories and listing services (i.e., SLJOL, DOAJ,) that either host and/or provide authoritative lists of OA journals. Collected data were processed and analyzed using MS-Excel spreadsheet, are presented through tables and graphs. The study findings reveal that one hundred and thirty-one (131) OA journals are published in Sri Lanka on Sri Lanka Journals Online (SLJOL) platform. Further, the study found that academic institutes publish most of the OA journals (55%), followed by professional associations (36%) and research institutes (4%). As far as the subject-wise distribution is concerned, Science, Technology, and Medicine (STM) filed dominates the OA journal publishing with 58.01 % journals fall under the category. Among them, medicine and health sciences have the highest percentage of journals (55.26%), followed by natural and physical sciences (23.68%) and agriculture (21.05%) journals. Highest number of medical and health journals (78.57%) are published by professional associations whereas the vast majority of (78.04%) social sciences and humanities journals (including journals on management studies) are published by academic institutes. Vast majority (70.99%) Sri Lankan OA journals are published biannually. This study recommends measures for Sri Lankan OA journals to reap the benefits of OA publishing including publishing as a continuous volume and issue throughout the year irrespective of the frequency of their print counterpart, securing regular financial support from the government of Sri Lanka is necessary for the sustainability of OA journals published in Sri Lanka, and establishing strong OA policies and OA mandates at institutional and national level.
Use of Internet for academic purposes by university teachers: A study as per University of Kelaniya
(University of Kelaniya, 2011) Ranasinghe, W.M.T.D.
The Internet plays a vital role in the teaching, research and learning process in the present day academic environment. Various Internet services such as e-mail, World Wide Web, online journals and databases have added value to academic activities. The main objective of this study is to investigate the extent and level of Internet use by academic staff members of the University of Kelaniya for their teaching, research and learning purposes. Specific objectives of the study are as follows: - To identify the various purposes for which Internet is used by university academics - To identify the various Internet services used for teaching, learning and research activities by university academics - To assess the impact of Internet on teaching, learning and research activities of university academics The study population covers academic staff members of 31 academic departments of four faculties of the university, except the Faculty of Medicine. Three (03) academic staff members were selected from each academic department to the sample using stratified sampling technique. Accordingly, the total sample size is 93 university teachers. A questionnaire survey is the method used in this study for data collection from academic staff members. Identification of the impact of Internet on academic activities, exploring the differences among various levels of academicians in using the Internet, identification of the level of satisfaction among university academics about the Internet facilities provide by the University are among the major outputs of the study. The study also reveals how tech-savvy university academics are. Also, the study will enable us to identify Internet use patterns and behaviors of university academics. Finally, this study will be useful for decision-makers as it reveals the need for the development of Internet related infrastructural facilities in local universities to enhance equitable and sustainable access to the Internet, which supports academic activities.