Impact and use of e‐resources by social scientists in National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC), India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the fact that electronic resources are a significant part of library collections. A large amount is invested in the development and management of e‐resources in the libraries. The study aims to identify the acceptance of e‐resources in the National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC) library in New Delhi, India and determine their usage, performance, degree of user satisfaction, and barriers faced in the access of e‐resources. It also attempts to find out the users' views about computer literacy among the social scientists. Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on the impact and use of e‐resources by social scientists pursuing research in the NASSDOC library. The data were collected from the entire population of social scientists at NASSDOC through a questionnaire accompanied by personal interview. This was further analysed using statistical techniques and percentages to arrive at qualitative and quantitative results. Findings The major findings of the study indicate that respondents are aware of the e‐resources (such as e‐books, e‐journals, e‐encyclopedias, e‐theses, CD‐ROM databases, e‐mail, internet and the OPAC). Large numbers of research scholars and faculty members are using these e‐resources for their research work. Many faculty members strongly agreed with the necessity for computer and internet literacy to access information. A majority of users were satisfied with the e‐resources available at the NASSDOC library. Originality/value This is one of the first surveys conducted to identify the need and importance of e‐resources in a specific Indian library (NASSDOC) as well as the requirement for information literacy to enhance the use of available resources in the social sciences. It should pave the way to showing the value of such e‐resources for scholarly research in India.