An empirical assessment of digital preservation skills among university librarians in Pakistan

What is it about?

The purpose of the study was to assess the digital preservation skills of university librarians in Pakistan. Through a quantitative survey, data were collected from the librarians working in the central libraries of higher education institutions in Pakistan. Results highlighted the prevalence of digital preservation skills amongst the responding librarians at a moderate level. The empirical data was collected from librarians working in the higher education institutions of Pakistan. The data presented in this paper is a subset of data gathered for the PhD study of the first author.

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Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Skilled staff is essential for performing digital preservation activities in memory institutions. However, there is a scarcity of studies outlining these skills in developing world. Similar textual dearth is observed in this area in the Pakistani context. Likewise, the available studies also lacked extensive coverage of the related skills. This study aims to fill the prevalent gap in the literature by investigating the current status of the digital preservation skills of university librarians in Pakistan. This study also possesses practical repercussions for higher education departments and the higher education commission, library schools, and associations and other continuing education organizations. It provides a comprehensive sketch of the digital preservation skills of librarians in the country. These institutions and organizations can intervene according to their scope to improve the librarians’ digital preservation skills.

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