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Challenges of Covid 19 on Sri Lankan libraries

Presentation · May 2020

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Pradeepa Wijetunge
University of Colombo
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 Pradeepa Wijetunge
PhD; FSLLA; FCILIP
Librarian, University of Colombo
librarian@lib.cmb.ac.lk
 Library landscape and Covid-19 in Sri Lanka
 Four stages of covid-19 related effects on
libraries and staff
1. Initial stage – fear, uncertainty, anxiety,
isolation, inaccessibility of collections,
2. Facing the challenge – dealing with it,
balancing, and attempt at serving,
3. Turning the challenge into an
opportunity with new skills and new
service
4. Returning to new normal
 Conclusion
http://www.natlib.lk/pdf/StatLib2018.pdf
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/28/
http://epaper.dailynews.lk/Home/ArticleView
 Fear, worry
 Uncertainty, concern
 Anxiety, unease
 Sense of loss
 Isolation, nervousness
 Safety of the library
collections (rodents, fungi,
etc.)
Communication
mostly limited to FB,
mobile and email,
sometimes absent or
restricted due to
lack of connectivity
1. Books are for use?
2. Every reader his or her book?
3. Every book its reader?
Page
19.
 Raising awareness of the social , medical,
economic and other impacts of Covid-19 by
sharing a wide range of information via
different platforms (email, FB, twitter, viber,
WhatsApp).
 Searching for library-specific information
◦ Disinfecting library material and furniture,
◦ Library services provided by other locked-down
countries
◦ How to develop the social-closeness between the
library and its users on a virtual platform.
Phase 0 – Opening should be limited to staff
but online services to be promoted.
Phase 1 – To start circulation on prior
appointment
Phase 2 – Open the reference collections and
browsing.
Phase 3 – Services for children to be started
following the national health guidelines.
Phase 4 – All other functions to start when it is
announced that covid-19 threat is eliminated.
Fourth Law of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan:
 Save the time of the reader
• Draw the pandemic
• Draw from a story
• Online story telling
• Reviewing a book
• Online literary
discussions
A competition for children to write a
book, and 100 best to be printed and
the balance 9,900 to be published Guide to preparation
online. of children’s books
Content Page Service
for subscribed
e-journals and
delivery of full text to
staff via e-mail
• A simple Service offered using two Google Forms
• Responses are stored in Google Sheets.
• One professional staff member per Faculty was assigned to attend
to requests from students.
• On average 10 articles sent in the first instance.
• Drawback is not being able to record automatically the content
sent.
• Plans to develop the system further.
 Need to act fast (less time for detailed planning or technology
application)
 Lack of computers
◦ Sudden increase of computer usage by the children for school work
limiting the usage by adults
◦ overcrowding around one computer providing less time for parents
working in libraries. Staff had to work at night mostly.
 Absence of equipment for certain categories of library staff
especially paraprofessionals.
 Lack of skills in delivering new online services.
 Difficulty to re-skill during the lockdown.
 Data congestion in Zoom
 Language barriers (Interface and information mostly in English)
for some
 Increased usage of data and difficulty to top up for some.
 Need for skills and time to transform f-t-f user education
programmes to online mode.
 Lack of ICT facilities
 Lack of e-scholarly material in national
languages especially for HSS disciplines
 Lack of skills in using e- information
resources
 Language barriers (Interface and information
in English)
 Increased cost for data
Fifth Law of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan
 The library must be a growing organism
 The new paradigm of most educational and
research institutions is the online and
blended mode
 Librarians must transform their print based –
services to suit online teaching and learning
 New online services need to be offered
 Increasing the e-  Increasing access to
resources in the libraries currently available
 Strengthening the IT
infrastructure of the physical resources by
libraries. converting them to e-
 Increase access to
computers / Internet by
format within the
the user communities copyright restrictions.
 Increasing digital literacy
 Promotion of quality
of the of the user
communities (among open source material
general public)
 Long-term plan for e-
teaching/learning

Institutional Support Resources

 Increased provision of  Addressing the access
infrastructure, issues by the authorities,
 Re-skilling the staff with  Offering new online
competence required for services,
virtual environment,  Training the users to
 Re-defining the roles of employ more online
library staff to include resources & services
more e-based tasks.  Developing more
cooperation between
 Preparing a disaster
LMSs and library network
management / e-
services plan

Library Staff Users

Basak, Wotto, and Belenger (2016: 2375)
Mbodila, Mkabile, and Ndebele (2019: 238).
Mbodila, Mkabile, and Ndebele (2019: 238).
 Library is a growing organization.
We were taken through an intellectual
maturity cycle from data to wisdom .

4. Returning to new normal

Wisdom

3.Turning the challenge to an

opportunity Knowledge

2. Facing the challenge Information

1. Initial Stage Data

 All those who are in the forefront fighting Covid-
19 to protect us.
 All the staff of the LIS organisations who have
attempted to serve the community as well as to
protect the libraries / Librarians.
 Publishers who provided us with passwords,
remote access facilities and other help.
 All my colleagues who have stood up to covid-19
trying to keep the social closeness within social
distance.
 Last but not least Ebsco for giving me this
opportunity to share my thoughts.
Basak, S. K., Wotto, M. & Belanger, P. (2016). A
framework on the critical success factors of E-Learning
implementation in Higher Education: A review of the
literature. International Journal of Educational and
Pedagogical Sciences 10 (7).

Directorate of Environmental Health, Occupational

Health and Food Safety. Ministry of Health and
Indigenous Medical Services (2020). Operational
Guidelines on Preparedness and Response for COVID -
19 Outbreak for Work Settings: Interim Guidance.
http://www.health.gov.lk/moh_final/english/public/elfind
er/files/feturesArtical/2020/OPERATIONAL%20GUIDELINES
%20on%20preparedness%20and%20response%20for%20Co
vid-19%2017th%20April%202020.pdf
  Draft exit strategy from Covid-19 for libraries in Sri
Lanka https://nilis.cmb.ac.lk/home/news/2020/draf-
covid-19/973/

 Mbodila, M., Mkabile, B. and Ndebele, C. (2019).

Critical success factors for the effective implementation
of e-learning in South African higher education
institutions. Journal of Gender, Information and
Development in Africa (JGIDA), 8(3), 229-249.

 National Library and Documentation Services Board (2018).

Statistical handbook on libraries in Sri Lanka.
http://www.natlib.lk/pdf/StatLib2018.pdf

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