Browsing by Author "Ranaweera, R.A.A.S."

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    Early public libraries in Sri Lanka during the British period
    (University of Kelaniya, 2011) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
    Although Sri Lanka has a tradition of libraries from ancient times, with temple libraries, during the Anuradhapura period to the Kotte period, the modern development of the public library system in Sri Lanka started with the British regime. The British came to Ceylon in 1796, and gained complete control of the island by capturing the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815. The British had control and changed the social, political and economic situation of the country in many ways, during their governing period in Ceylon. The modern library system in Sri Lanka started with the establishment of the „Subscription Libraries‟ in principal towns of the country in the early British period, during the nineteenth century. These libraries fulfilled the information needs of the British government officers and Army officers who worked in Sri Lanka. The United Service Library (1813) and The Colombo Pettah Library (1829) were the first subscription libraries set up in Colombo by the British. As per the growing user demands, the government set up a number of subscription libraries, mainly in areas such as Central, Southern and Northern Provinces by the end of the 1880s. The initial idea of establishing subscription libraries in Sri Lanka gradually changed during the early years of the twentieth century. The establishment of the Colombo Public Library in 1925, marked a new dawn in the public library system in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this research is to study the history and gradual development of the public library system in Sri Lanka during the British period. Secondly, it aims to study the historical reference sources, institutions and human sources related to the history of public libraries in Sri Lanka. This study adopts a qualitative approach based on secondary data sources. Data were mainly collected through historical and archival information sources available in the National Archives Department, National Library, and other libraries in Sri Lanka.
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    Empowerment of Women through education: the role of public libraries in Sri Lanka
    (ASAIHL International Conference, 2013, 2013) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
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    Evaluation and Assessment of E-Service Quality of University Libraries in Sri Lanka
    (2017) Si, Li; Wanigasooriya, Priyanwada; Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
    This paper aims to evaluate the quality of e-services provided via Sri Lankan University library websites to examine their current status and issues related to services. The study employed web-based survey method to evaluate the quality of e-services. Purposive sampling method was used to select 15 university libraries from the population. We adapted a 62 itemed checklist which was organized into 6 categories; core e-service, e-reference service, facilitating e-service, supportive e-service, currency, accuracy and speed quality, and website features examined by the survey. The study was limited to the 15 university library websites offering e-services in Sri Lanka by the expert judge approach which examined how well they performed during the study period. The data revealed that, although university libraries are offering more e-services via the websites, development of e-services is still in its infancy stage as compared to those of international experience. However, suggestions for future improvements are given. The results of this survey should assist in the evaluation of e-services and promote the services in an attractive way, enabling designers, and policy makers to improve upon future websites. In addition further studies are required to understand the user perception of the e-services to meet the specific needs of different types of users including the faculties and the students utilizing the university libraries.
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    The Impact of the Performance Appraisal Process on Job Satisfaction of the Academic Staff in Higher Educational Institutions
    (Educ. Sci. 2021, 2021) Dasanayaka, C.H.; Abeykoon, C.; Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Koswatte, I.
    Performance appraisal is one of the key management tools which identifies employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Usually, this is the major mechanism of gathering information for rewarding/training employees based on their performance, and hence a key to achieve organisational goals by creating a satisfied workforce. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining the effects of the Performance Appraisal Process on job satisfaction of the university academic staff. The information collected within one of the largest universities in the UK via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews showed that the existing appraisal process majorly aligned with the requirements of the research-excellence-framework of the UK, which is greatly concerned with research rather than teaching. Furthermore, it was found that there is no clear link between promotions, salary increments, and rewards, etc. with staff performance within the current appraisal process. Eventually, it was realised that the majority of the academic staff of the source university were dissatisfied with the current performance appraisal process, and this could be the situation in the majority of universities in the UK. Therefore, further research in this area is highly recommended to explore extensive information to create a favourable work/study environment for both staff and students within the universities.
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    Libraries in Sri Lanka in the Ancient Anuradhapura period (250 BC- 1017 AD)
    (International Conference on Asian Art, Cultural and Heritage, 2013, 2013) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Ranasinghe, Piyadasa
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    Libraries in Sri Lanka in the Ancient Anuradhapura period: a historical account (250 B.C.-1017 A.D.)
    (Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka, 2013) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Ranasinghe, Piyadasa
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    Public libraries in Sri Lanka during the British period
    (Sri Lanka Library Review, 2012) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
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    Reading habits and study behaviors of female undergraduates
    (Library & Information Sciences Research Symposium, 2008, 2008) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Weligamage, S.S.
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    The role of the national union catalogue in library cooperation in Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, 2008) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
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    Subscription Libraries in Ceylon in the 19th Century: Special Reference to the Colombo Library, the Ceylon United Service Library and the Colombo Pettah Library
    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2013) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Ranasinghe, Piyadasa
    The contemporary library system in Sri Lanka systematically started with the establishment of “subscription libraries” during the early nineteenth century of the British governing period of Ceylon. These subscription libraries were established to fulfill the reading and recreational needs of the British Government and Army officers worked in Ceylon under the British Government. The library service extended to their family members as well. The aim of this study was to explore the subscription libraries functioned in the 19th century. The study mainly focused on the three prominent subscription libraries existed during the nineteenth century, namely the Colombo Library (1812), the Ceylon United Service Library (1813) and the Colombo Pettah Library (1829). These were the first set of subscription libraries established by the British in the Colombo city limit during the early years of their governing period in Ceylon. There was an annual grant received by these subscription libraries from the British Government in Ceylon. These grants were mainly used for the maintenance and functionality of libraries. Library users had to pay a small subscription fee for using the library. Qualitative research approach was adopted and study was mainly based on the secondary data. Secondary data were gathered from the secondary data sources such as “The Ceylon Calendar” The Ceylon Blue Book” and The Ferguson’s Directory”. Data was comparatively analyzed and arranged under the name of libraries. The study revealed that these three subscription libraries rendered a good service to its users throughout the 19th century. However, with the difficulties faced with regard to maintenance and functionality these libraries were amalgamated with other libraries to carry out a better library service to its patrons. As a result of the user demand for these three libraries, the government set up number of subscription libraries in the country covering main provinces such as Central, Southern and Northern by the end of the final quarter of the 19th century.
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    Subscription libraries in Ceylon in the 19th century: special reference to the Colombo Library, the Ceylon United Service Library and the Colombo Pettah Library
    (Culture, Globalization and the Developing World, 2nd ICSS, 2013) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; Ranasinghe, Piyadasa
    The contemporary library system in Sri Lanka systematically started with the establishment of ?subscription libraries? during the early nineteenth century of the British governing period of Ceylon. These subscription libraries were established to fulfill the reading and recreational requirements of the British Government and Army officers worked in Ceylon under the British Government. The library service extended to their family members as well. The aim of this study was to explore the subscription libraries functioned in the 19th century. The study mainly focused on the three prominent subscription libraries existed during the nineteenth century, namely the Colombo Library (1812), the Ceylon United Service Library (1813) and the Colombo Pettah Library (1829). These were the first set of subscription libraries established by the British in the Colombo city limit during the early years of their governing period in Ceylon. There was an annual grant received by these subscription libraries from the British Government in Ceylon. These grants were mainly used for the maintenance and functionality of libraries. Library users had to pay a small subscription fee for using the library. Qualitative research approach was adopted and study was mainly based on the secondary data. Secondary data were mainly gathered from the secondary data sources such as ?The Ceylon Calendar?, ?The Ceylon Blue Book? and ?The Ferguson?s Directory?. Data was comparatively analyzed and arranged under the name of libraries. The study revealed that these three subscription libraries rendered a good service to its users throughout the 19th century. However, with the difficulties faced with regard to maintenance and functionality these libraries were amalgamated with other libraries to carry out a better library service to its patrons. As a result of the user demand for these three libraries, the government set up number of subscription libraries in the country covering main provinces such as Central, Southern and Northern by the end of the final quarter of the 19th century.
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    Usage of printed journals of undergraduates in Faculty of Social Sciences: an analysis based on user statistics of the periodicals section, University of Kelaniya
    (Book of Abstracts, Annual Research Symposium 2014, 2014) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
    The primary objective of this study was to analyze the usage of printed journals of students attached to the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya.
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    User survey on online library resources and services during the Covid-19 pandemic: A case of University of Kelaniya.
    (University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka, 2021) Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.; de Silva, A.P.U.; Rubasinghe, A.S.
    Covid-19 is one of the tragic outbreaks of the world. Emergence of Covid-19 has become a global crisis and has created a massive impact on the day today lives of people including business, education, health, transportation and careers. Temporary closures and social distancing were introduced to limit the spread of the virus in the society. Education was drastically affected by these restrictions and preventive measures. Universities were physically closed but methods were devised to continue their educational process. Online teaching and e-learning technologies were applied in university education. Along with that, university libraries round the globe also shifted their services more towards to digital and virtual environments. In Sri Lanka too, university libraries also shifted their formal services to digital platforms as much as possible to cater to the academic community who study and work from home. This study reflects on the user’s opinion on the library resources and services rendered to them by the library, university of Kelaniya during the outbreak of Covid-19. It also investigated the challenges and barriers faced by the users using library facilities in this period. There were 264 undergraduates from the faculties of Commerce and Management Studies, Computing and Technology and Humanities participated in this survey. Adhering to the health guidelines, an online questionnaire was distributed among the study sample using the Google online form to collect data for this study. Study findings confirm that the 59% of the users were satisfied with the online library services and facilities offered by the library. Past papers repository (74.6%) was the most frequently used online library resource Technical issues and lack of awareness prevented the undergraduates from fully utilizing the online resources and services offered by the library during the pandemic.
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    Web based library services of university libraries in Sri Lanka: A content analysis
    (Shanghai Scientific and Technological Literature press, 2016) Si, Li; Ranaweera, R.A.A.S.
    The library website symbolizes the library as well as the opulence of the parent organization to the world via World Wide Web (WWW). Hence the library website should be systematically developed with accurate and up to date information to fulfill the information requirements of the clients. Sri Lanka, as a developing country, successfully adopts modern Information Communication Technology trends to higher education as well as libraries. The main objective of this study is to investigate the web based library services of university libraries in Sri Lanka. Further it would give suggestions and recommendations to develop a better library service to the users in the academic communities of the surveyed universities. There were fifteen government university libraries which are included in University Grants Commission, selected as the study sample using purposive sampling technique based on research objectives. A web-based survey was conducted to collect the data. Library websites were analyzed by a check-list of 55 items covered topics of site description, currency, website aids and tools, library general information, library resources, library services, links to E-resources and Value added services. This particular check-list was developed by the researchers, based on literature reviews and previous studies related to the topic. Findings of the study shows that surveyed universities identified library website as an important element in the university. None of the libraries had all the items in the check-list and library websites of university of Colombo (39), University of Ruhuna (35) and University of Peradeniya (34) consisted the maximum number of items in the check-list. This study recommended that university library websites in Sri Lanka should be more focused on adding new web based library services to be more compatible with constantly changing technology and ever growing demands of the users than uploading much information on library administration.
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