Users' studies are one of the most prominent areas of research in library and information science. Now the trend is to examine the use of e-libraries, e-journals and e-databases. Many studies have been carried out both in India and abroad in this area. This study aims to examine the user behaviour of 66 out of 100 research scholars and faculty members of select departments at the University of Mysore like environmental science, sericulture science, zoology and genetics form the sample. Structured questionnaire with 5 point scale was used and the mean and SD values were calculated using SPSS. The major findings are: Users use both print and electronic sources of information. Majority of the respondents have learnt to use e-journals effectively from 'friends/colleagues'. The respondents 'look for quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals'. Respondents identify relevant electronic articles by 'browsing through recent issues' (mean=3.39) followed by 'searching full-text databases from publishers or aggregator' (e.g. Elsevier, Springer).

“India lives in villages” said the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. With 1,000 million people and 180 million households, India is one of the biggest growing economies in the world. With the advent of the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) revolution, India and its villages are slowly but steadily getting connected to the cities of the nation and the world beyond. Owing to the late Rajiv Gandhi, India is now a powerful knowledge economy, and though India may have been slow to start, it certainly has caught up with the West and is ahead in important respects. The Government, the corporate sector, NGOs and educational institutions have supported rural development by encouraging digital libraries, e‐business, e‐learning and e‐governance. The aim of this paper is to touch upon and highlight some of the areas where, by using ICT, the masses have been reached in this way. A follow‐up paper will outline collections of significant cultural material which, once national IT strategies are fully achieved, could form part of a digitally preserved national heritage collection.

Previously, the authors have indicated how the use of information and communications technology in India has encouraged rural development: the promotion oft digital libraries, e‐business, e‐learning and e‐governance have been effective ways of starting to bridge the digital divide in the sub‐continent. This follow‐up paper outlines traditional collections of significant cultural material in India which, once national information technology and knowledge management strategies are fully achieved, could form part of a digitally preserved national heritage collection.

at, David Gichoya, (2014),"Application of resource dependency theory and transaction cost theory in analysing outsourcing information communication services decisions: A case of selected public university libraries in Kenya", The Electronic Library, Vol. 32 Iss 6 pp. 786-805 http://dx.(2014),"Web 2.0 tools: a survey of awareness and use by librarians in university libraries in Africa", The Electronic Library, Vol. 32 Iss 6 pp. 864-883 http:// dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of two law university libraries in the Karnataka state of southern India and their web-based online public access catalogue (web OPAC).Results from a survey of library users' attitudes towards the use of the web OPAC, methods adopted to learn how to use the web OPAC, guidance sought to use the web OPAC and the extent of use of the web OPAC search facilities in select law school libraries in Karnataka are reported. Design/methodology/approach -To study the users' attitudes towards the use of the web OPAC in law university libraries in Karnataka, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 300 users, including Bachelor Of Legislative Law students, Master of Laws students, research scholars and teaching staff. The sample population was chosen using the convenience sample method, and the researcher received 256 completed and usable questionnaires. A five-point Likert scale was used in the research questionnaire. Typical statistical tests such as mean and standard deviation were applied for the purpose of accuracy. Findings -The results of the survey indicated that 92.1 per cent of respondents were using the web OPAC. Most of the web OPAC users strongly agreed that they learned to use the web OPAC from a library orientation programme. It was found that there are positive attitudes towards the web OPAC search facility. The survey also found that the web OPAC search page has not given satisfactory guidance to web OPAC users. Practical implications -This research paper produces findings of relevance to any academic library to develop and implement a user-friendly web OPAC service. Originality/value -There have been no previous published research studies of the web OPAC and users'...