Topic of Research:

Role of academic libraries in HEC Research Ranking: Support and services to university
scholars

The academic library is the library which is attached to higher education institutions and to
support the school's curriculum, the main purpose of the academic library is support of teaching
and learning: providing required materials for class readings and student papers

Both academicians and researchers mostly depend on library resources and services. No doubt
the quick and easy access to such resources accelerates both academic and research activities
more effectively.

Academic libraries assist in finding, using and interpreting appropriate information that opens up
opportunities for lifelong learning, literacy enhancement, and informed citizenship time by time
for maximum facilitation to its users. Nowadays, technological facilities are available in most
libraries and communicate its client regarding their resources in multiple formats and ways.

The main objectives of the academic libraries are to acquire, organize and disseminate the
resources and provide the facilities to particular clients like faculty members, researchers and
students. Moreover the academic library also tries to acquire library materials to beneficiaries
and provides places for reading and provides the answer to questions received by the library,
whether they are internal or from outside the academy. Libraries not only provide more facilities
like contributing in serving the local community by organizing lectures and seminars / workshop
to give awareness about the importance of library and create the reading and research
environment for users but also instruct beneficiaries about the places of sources of information
and how to use the library.

Now a days, social media is playing a very good role for the marketing of library resources and
services, academic library also develops skills and abilities of workers in the library through
making them involved with training courses, seminars and workshops. The academic library
supports the teaching faculty and researchers’ needs to balance their investments in information
resources and services in a manner that reflects sometimes competing needs of teaching and
research.

Mostly academic librarians have to put a constant struggle to balance the demands for the
support of research and teaching with tight budgets. Researchers are well aware of this because
for many years they have been involved in the annual round of discussions about journal
subscription cancellations, new journals’ purchase, budget books, and how to assign priorities for
library purchasing. Researchers understand the problems faced by their libraries and that the
price of current journal in particular has risen over the last decade or so at a rate out of line with
library budgets. Researchers are sympathetic to the plight of librarians on this issue and are
concerned in particular about the increasing pressure on the provision of materials to support
their research. Even the academic libraries also sign the MoUs with other academic libraries to
fulfill the requirement of researchers and faculty members.

An academic library is the “heart of the university”. Higher Education’s environment has
changed. Government officials see higher education as a national resource. Employers view
higher education institutions as producers of a commodity of student learning. The top academic
faculty expects higher education institutions to support and promote cutting- edge technology in
research. Parents and students expect higher education to enhance students’ collegiate
experience, as well as propel their career placement and earning potential.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is trying hard to streamline the universities to adopt
quality assurance mechanism to improve the quality of their teaching and research for a good
ranking among all the academic universities in different research areas. An instrumental
approach has been suggested by HEC to enhance the quality of higher education which begins by
establishing a mission, followed by the functions that have to be carried out to achieve the
mission and the objectives. In HEC research criteria section, Research value was 41% in ranking
the university

The ranking of universities as per international standards would be conducted by the Higher
Education Commission (HEC), said that letters have been written to vice chancellors of all
universities to submit their relevant documents by July 15. "We will gauge the performance of
universities as per international yardstick. Hopefully, we will be able to complete the process by
the end of the current year.

There was a misconception among people as well as universities when they mix up categories
with ranking. "We have categorized universities according to their infrastructure, but universities
often appear claiming that they have achieved the highest ranking of the HEC, which is not true,"
HEC has divided universities into four categories - 'w', 'x', 'y' and 'z' - according to their
infrastructure, which does not mean that a university which has been categorized as 'w' stands
first in ranking. "Ranking is something altogether different from categorization.

Ranking includes everything, including the quality of education, research projects, faculty,
infrastructure , Produced No of MS/ PhD Students in different disciplines, organizing national
and international conferences and much more,"

HEC said that from June 2011, there would be no category other than 'w'. "We have given the
time period of one year to universities to improve their category. Now the time is over. There
will not be any category other than 'w'. Instead from now, we would have 'w1' 'w2' and 'w3'
categories".

HEC has asked vice-chancellors to broaden the concept of universities instead of carrying
forward its old definition. "Universities should play an important role in building economy. They
should not only focus on research, but also to connect research with industries,"
Every year the HEC announces the ranking of all academic universities in different categories
such as Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, and Faculty of Social Sciences etc. Every
academic library plays its vital role in upgrading their university in HEC ranking, because if the
library provides all resources in different formats, particular space related training and state of
the art services to their researchers and faculty / staff members, then the raking of that academic
university will be definitely increased.

Objective

1. To know the relevant resources and services of academic libraries in Pakistan.

2. To identify the current status of academic libraries.
3. To identify the percentage of each services to scholars
4. To know about the HEC Ranking criteria
5. To know the types of HEC Ranking
6. To know the role of academic library in HEC Research Ranking
7. To identify the previous and current research ranking in HEC.
8. To find the gap in academic libraries in Pakistan
9. To know the Research ranking criteria and methodology
10. To know the factors involved in HEC ranking
11. To know the scholars’ perceptions of each academic library
12. To know the percentage of research scholars’ satisfaction level
13. To find the upgradation level of services of academic level of each academic libraries
14. To find the role of cutting edge technology provided by academic library in research
15. To know about the future research requirement for academic libraries
16. To know about the space level of academic library
17. To know the percentage of academic library in HEC research ranking
18. To know alternative solution to increase the research culture