Development of Union OPAC at universities in Pakistan: An overview

Abstract

Automation of libraries and integration of resources discovery for libraries is paramount to the contemporary academic landscape. Libraries can make catalog, and digital resource delivery more efficient and easy with OPACS created by using Integrated Library Systems. This paper provides a brief qualitative view of Union OPACS of 20 university libraries in Pakistan. The sample for this study was selected by exploring the university websites and OPAC manuals. The research states that Koha is predominant in automation of libraries in academic establishments and hybrid and proprietary systems are being used in academic libraries for creating Union OPACs. The common indicators of readiness to participate in Union OPAC frameworks are multi campus integration, standard metadata (MARC21, Dublin Core) and advanced OPAC capabilities. It is recommended that, national metadata policies be developed, centralized governance, staff capacity building as well as hybrid integration strategies are put in place to ensure the Union OPAC is made viable. The results reveal the possibility of inter institutional cooperation and development of digital library services in Pakistan.