Dissemination of electronic journals: A content analysis of the library websites of technical university libraries in North India

As electronic journals are developing as a new information platform, their promotional activities require something more than just notifications. Promotion is the decisive factor in the effective use of a sophisticated service called electronic journal. Library websites act as a best promotional medium to spread awareness about electronic journals and to act as a gateway to provide a customized interface for enhanced navigation and ease of access. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the websites of technical university libraries to ascertain that libraries are effectively utilizing their respective websites to provide trouble‐free access to electronic journals available in the library.

For the purpose of this study, a research instrument in the form of comprehensive checklist was developed to evaluate the accessibility of electronic journals from the websites of technical university libraries.

The research reveals that technical university libraries are trying to set up useful websites but the library websites of most of the institutes seem to be at primitive stage. Majority of libraries' websites have very simple and basic features. Overall, they fall short of their potential to act as a platform for proper dissemination of electronic journals. There is enormous scope for the improvement of the websites of the institutions under study. A few recommendations were made for the improvement of these websites in the form of enhancement in various aspects like quality content, users' convenience and artistic composition.

The portal technology has enabled libraries to provide the user with an interface from where information of high relevance can be accessed with ease. The article suggests that websites of technical university libraries can incorporate a lot more information to enhance the utilization of electronic journals. It is time for librarians to feel their responsibility as web content managers and be more conscientious in providing the information on the library websites keeping in view the information requirements of the users. If the library website has a dedicated webpage for providing information exclusively for electronic journals, it will be easy for users to have a single access point for accessing all the electronic journals provided by the various publishers. This paper will be helpful to librarians who are planning to strategically develop their websites.