چکیده:
The swing of the pendulum between centralization and decentralization of the higher education (HE) system has generally been towards the former in the Iranian context in the past decade. This has prompted some academics, particularly those who find their disciplines left out to react by highlighting intrinsic differences in teaching and studying methods across the HE spectrum. Built Environment disciplines are no exceptions in this regard as their interdisciplinary nature has always made it difficult to classify them as science, art or engineering, and hence to expect research and study methods associated with either. The present research initially started not to highlight the differences between Built Environment and other libraries, but to scrutinize the ways in which this particular library is used. Further examinations cast light on managerial and cultural issues behind what authors believe to be the underuse of the library. However, the research also highlighted possible discipline-specific reasons for such underuse. Authors are convinced, however, that not only what is considered as norms in library usage standards should be applied to this library cautiously, but also that there is a need to rethink the role of a library in research and teaching excellence in this particular context.
خلاصه ماشینی:
<H2>INTRODUCTION</H2> Due to their possession of specialist and detailed information resources, university libraries play a key role in the teaching quality of any higher education institution, which is why students -whether advised by faculty members or independently- constantly need to use anything kept in the library, be them books, periodicals, dissertations or other sources such as online and electronic resources.
This is echoed * The present paper revisits and expands on a research originally conducted between 2009 and 2011 as part of the the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning’s Library Strategic (10 years) Plan by Alai, A.
ir by other researches conducted in university libraries in developing countries, for instance one by Nina Shrestha (2008) on Nepalese university libraries, in which she acknowledges the advantages of information technologies and warns about the risks of students no longer being prepared to use more rigorous research methods on one hand, and calls for a more intensive training for search methods on the other; and another conducted in Turkey by Gürcü Koç Erdamar and Hüsne Demirel (2009) which emphasizes on the centrality of physical books for users, as well as the pressing need for their training.
Number of Items Borrowed By Each Member During 2014 (View the image of this page) <H2>SUMMING UP</H2> Having summed up the results of questionnaires, it emerged that in terms of quantities, users were most dissatisfied with available databases, suggesting the need for serious improvements on new technologies and non-physical formats.