Unlocking Knowledge: Exploring Library Resources and Awareness at Mahila

The library is essential in academic institutions because it provides resources to help users with their studies and research projects. The availability of various resources, their continued effective use, and user awareness among college students have all been considered in the current study's development. This study investigates the awareness and use of library resources by the undergraduate and postgraduate students at Mahila Mahavidhyalaya, BHU, and library user utilisation rates, the most popular library resources, and user-experience issues related to access of library resource. This study employed a descriptive survey methodology. Sixty questionnaires were distributed out of which 56 returned, representing a 92% response rate. Respondents were selected from colleges using random sampling techniques. The outcome of responses reveal students' limited awareness and proficiency in accessing information resources hinder their utilization of various library resources, including thesis/dissertations, handbooks, encyclopedias, electronic journals, and books. Challenges faced by students include outdated materials, mismatched resources, and difficulty in locating relevant information. Furthermore, it is recommended that library management must organize frequent training and orientation programs to enhance user awareness and effective utilization of library resources. This research contributes to the literature, policy, and practice, particularly concerning the utilization of library resources.


Introduction
Awareness and use of library information resources and services are important for students, researchers, and other library users.Libraries provide a variety of resources and services that can help people learn, research, and create.These resources include books, journals, newspapers, magazines, databases, online resources, and reference materials.Libraries also offer a variety of services, such as reference assistance, interlibrary loan, and document delivery.The library is a reservoir of knowledge; it gathers information from a variety of sources in print, non-print, and electronic media and makes it available to users through a variety of library services.Major impacts on library and information systems are due to the user's expectations, preferences, and level of satisfaction with library services.Providing information to its users is the aim of every library.Not only, a library's importance is determined by the quality of its collection, but also by the level of services it offers to patrons • Email: editor@ijfmr.com

IJFMR240425782
Volume 6, Issue 4, July-August 2024 2 in their needs.College libraries help graduate and undergraduate students to complete their courses, to participate in seminars, and write dissertations.Library professionals must regularly evaluate their work and invite feedback on the resources and services provided by them.
Many factors can affect the awareness and use of library resources and services.These factors include: • The user's knowledge of the library's resources and services.
• The user's ability to use the resources and services.
• The user's motivation to use the resources and services.
• The convenience regarding the library's location, operation hours, and accessibility.
• The availability of library resources and services in multiple forms and formats (e.g., print, electronic)

Mahila Maha Vidyalaya
To prioritize women's Mahila Mahavidyalaya under Banaras Hindu University was established in 1916.
The highly influential founder, Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, visioned the vital role women would play in the advancement of the nation as well as its citizens and the importance of women's education.To address the gap in women's education, Mahamana decided to establish a college dedicated to women, where the perfect union of contemporary knowledge and the Vedic ideal would help mould Indian women into capable citizens.Mahamana declared the founding of the Women's College of the Banaras Hindu University in his convocation speech on December 14, 1929.

Mahila Mahavidyalaya College Library:
The Mahila Mahavidyalaya Library is only meant to be used by college faculty, staff, and non-teaching personnel.Others are welcome to consult the library, are temporary permits available upon request.The library's mission is to support education by providing additional resources for a wide range of subjects, including education, computer science, bioinformatics, humanities, social sciences, science, home science, music, fine arts, computer science, and so on.Many Indian languages, including Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, and Urdu, are also offered.The Mahila Mahavidyalaya Library serves as a hub of all the college's academic endeavours.It holds roughly 54062 books and 790 back volumes of journals in it.

Review of literature:
The ways in which university libraries and information centres make use of their resources and services have been thoroughly studied which is presented in the form of the following literature review: Umesh Kumar & Amsaveni, N (2021).conducted a study to examine the usage of library resources and services by students of aided minority Muslim degree & PG colleges of Bengaluru.It concludes that there should be a transformation in the use of library & information resources and services to realize the full potential of the institution.2018) conducted a descriptive survey to investigate how NIMS Central Library patrons in Jaipur, India, are aware of and use the library's resources.It revealed that female users preferred the library more than male users and that most respondents indicated that gazetteers were not available.It concluded that library literacy education should be provided to users to make aware of how to properly manage the library.Kumar, P. (2013) in his study examined the extent of use of library resources at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak, India.He found that 63.54% of the sampled students visited the library to read the newspapers and 42.70% visited the library on a daily basis, but 32.39% were not satisfied with the existing library resources.This experimental study analyzed the utilization of library resources by UG students of NIT Kurukshetra and found that junior and senior students visit the library weekly and fortnightly, while 2nd and 3rd year students visit daily or twice a week.It also found that 3rd and 4th year students used indexing services more frequently and 1st year students used periodicals to prepare for exams.

Objectives of the Study
The Main objectives of the study are as follows: • To find out the students' awareness and uses of library resources.
• To find out the purpose of using Library resources by the users.
• To find out the extent to which library users utilize library resources in Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University.• To find out the most utilized library resources by the users.
• To know the problems encountered by the users while accessing the resources of the library.

Scope of the Study
The present study covers only undergraduate and postgraduate students of MMV Library, BHU.The main aim of the study was to find the purpose and frequency of library visits, use and awareness of library resources, and problems faced while using the library etc.A sample of 56 users covering various disciplines such as Arts & Science were taken as population for study.

Methodology
A survey method based on questionnaires was used in this research.The UG and PG students of Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University, were given a comprehensive and organised questionnaire.
During the academic year 2022-2023, a questionnaire was created to collect primary data and was administrated to 60 Mahila Mahavidyalaya Library users.Out of the sixty respondents, 56 finished and returned the questionnaires.The MS Excel 2007 programme was used to enter the data that was collected via the questionnaires.To determine the total and percentages required for different tables, MS Excel 2007 was utilized.The Microsoft Word 2007 program was used to create the necessary tables.

Data Analysis
The data gathered from the questionnaire was arranged and tabulated by utilising statistical techniques, tables, and percentages.The problem of the study is "Awareness and Utilization of Library Resources among students of Mahila Mahavidyalaya Library, Banaras Hindu University."The collected data has been presented in the table.All 56 completed questionnaires were taken for study.No Ist year students found at the time of data collection because that time their classes were in online mode due to covid 19.

Percentage
The number of visits to the library within a certain period is referred to as frequency.To investigate the frequency of library usage, respondents were asked their frequency of library visits, and the answers were tabulated in Table -2.Table-2 reveals that a maximum of 53 (94.6.%)respondents use the library and only 3(5.4%) do not use the library.14 (25.0%)respondents visit the library 'every day', 'once in a week', as well as 'once in a month' respectively.While 4 (7.1%)visit the library 'twice in a week', 2 (3.6%) visit the library 'fortnightly' and 8 (14.3%) of the respondents visit the library 'occasionally'.The usage of various Library resources by the students is shown in Table 3.The Table shows that 17(30.4%)students are to a great extent using 'textbooks' followed by 21 (37.5%)'reference books' and 17 (30.4%)'Internet/computer.' 23 (41.1%) of the students are using 'general books' to some extent while by 17 (30.4%)'online databases' and 'newspaper/e-newspapers'.Majority of the respondents are not at all using 'Thesis/ Dissertation /Project reports' 23 (41.1%), 'Hand Books' 23 (41.1%), 'Printed Journal' 21 (37.5%),'Encyclopaedia' 27 (48.2%),'Electronic Journals' 23 (41.1%), 'Electronics books' 21 (37.5%),'Full-text Journals' 21 (37.5%) and 'Library Website' 22 (39.3%)although all these resources are available in their library.The respondents were asked to state their preferred information resource locating strategy and the responses are shown in Table 6.It shows that 41 (73.2%) students search for information through the 'Online Public Access Catalogue' followed by 39 (69.6%) students search 'by consulting catalogue' and 'with the help of library staff', whereas 16(28.6%) of the students browsing through shelves.

Very little extent
To some extent

To a great extent
To a very great extent The extent of using various Library resources among the students is shown in Table 7.It shows that 17 (30.4%)students are using 'textbooks' followed by 'reference books' 19 (33.9%) followed by 'General Books' 20 (35.7%) followed by online databases 17 (30.4%)and followed by 'Newspaper/ E newspaper '17 (30.4%) to some extent.Only 17 (30.4%). of the students using the 'internet/computer' to a great extent.Majority of the students are not at all using 'Thesis/ Dissertation /Project reports' 23 (41.1%), 'Hand Books' 23 (41.1%), 'Printed Journals' 21 (37.5%),'Encyclopaedia' 27 (48.2%),'Electronic Journals' 23 (41.1%), 'Electronics books' 21 (37.5%),'Full-text Journals' 21 (37.5%) and 'Library Website' 22 (39.3%) even these resources are available in their library.The problem faced by users while using various Library resources of Mahila Mahavidyalaya Library, BHU is shown in Table -8 The Table shows that the highest percentage of 21 (37.5%)respondents opined that to some extent 'materials are outdated' followed by 18 (32.1%)respondents revealed that 'materials do not meet their need' and followed by 22 (39.3%)respondents who have 'difficulty in finding relevant information' The Lowest percentage 27 (48.2%) of respondents opined that no 'materials are missing from library' followed by 37 (66.1%) who said that 'staff are not always available to help' followed by 23 (41.1%) who pointed 'internet connectivity' followed by 21 (37.5%) to 'slow access speed' followed by 28 (50.0%) for 'Lack of training' followed by 41 (73.2%) who said 'Infrastructure are not suitable', 22 (39.3%)limited access to computers, 32(57.1%)'lack of motivations from authorities', 34 (60.7%)'less opening time of library' and 21 (37.5%)respondents pointed 'lack of printing facilities'.

Findings of the study:
The following major findings of the study: 1.The majority (37.5%) of respondents are from BA, followed by (19.6%) of respondents of BSc, followed by (21.4% )of respondents of MA and (21.4%) of respondents of MSc. 2. The majority (53.6%) of respondents are 3rd-year students.3. The majority (94.6%) of respondents use the library and only (5.4%) of respondents do not use the library.4. The respondents who visit the library 'every day' for their academic purposes, 'once a week' and 'once a month' have equal numbers i.e. 14 or (25%) 5.The majority of respondents have awareness about library resources of these (41.1%) of 'general books', (37.5%) of 'reference books', 30.4% of 'textbooks', (30.4%) of online databases, and (30.4%) have an awareness of newspapers.6.The Majority (39.3%) of respondents visit the library 'to consult reference material', (30.4%) 'for borrowing and returning books', (33.9%) 'for research purposes', and (26.8%) to 'complete assignments'.7. The majority (73.2%) of respondents search for information through 'Online Public Access Catalogue 'and (69.6%) of the respondents 'consult catalogue 'and 'take help of library staff', whereas (28.6%) of the respondents 'browse on shelves'.8.The majority (71.4%) of the respondents prefer to use 'print resources', whereas (28.6%) respondents prefer 'electronic resources' f'or their study and research purposes.So, the students prefer print resources more compared to e-resources.9.The majority (37.5%) of respondents opined that to some extent materials are outdated followed by (32.1%) of respondents who reported that 'materials do not meet their needs' followed by (39.3%) of respondents who have 'difficulty in finding relevant information'.

Suggestions and Recommendations:
Libraries can take some steps to promote awareness and use of their resources and services.These steps include: 1. Providing clear and concise information about the library's resources and services.

Conclusion:
This study concludes that Mahila Mahavidyalaya students are aware of library resources and make use of them for consultation, book borrowing and return, research, and assignment completion.However, students encounter certain challenges when using library resources due to a lack of knowledge about a few library information resources and a paucity of guides directing users to the relevant library sections.These challenges include outdated or unusable materials and trouble locating pertinent information.Library administration must carry out orientation courses to assist in regularly educating users about the various resources and services available and the advantages of using library resources to fulfill their information needs.
Bavaskar, Heena.(2023).In a survey-based study examined the availability and usage of library resources and services by the PG students of J.E.S. College.It studied the specific purpose of library visits, the most utilized library information resources satisfaction with library resources and services, and problems faced while using library resources and services.Gowda, V.H., & Shivalingaiah, D. (2009). in their survey study investigated the library facilities and services required by research scholars in traditional universities in Karnataka.Results showed that there were significant differences in the satisfaction level of facilities and services among the research scholars of various disciplines.Naqvi, T.H. (2014) in his study investigated the use of library collection and services by postgraduate students and research scholars at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology (GBPUAT), Pant Nagar, Uttarakhand, India .He found that CD-ROM databases, e-journals and online databases were the most highly used resources as well as electronic and online databases such as AGRIS, AGRICOLA, CAB Abstract and Natural resources and agriculture were the most frequently used databases.. Biradar, K., & Jayarama Naik, K.G. (2019).investigated the extent of use of library resources by PG students of Private Universities in Bangalore city.They found that students prefer to access print resources for their study and reference and are aware of various information resources available in their libraries.Sinha, M.K., & Paul, S.K. (2015), studied the library they found that use pattern of undergraduate students of Assam University Silchar.He found that students mainly use printed resources and that there are problems with access to e-resources.It suggests creating awareness about the importance of libraries and introducing open access systems Kumari, S., Kumar, P., & Kumar, S.M. (2013).

2 .
Offering training and workshops on how to use the resources and services.3. Making the resources and services available in multiple formats.4. Creating a welcoming and inviting environment in the library. 5. Collaborating with other library organizations to promote the library's resources and services.
services by the students of the select management institutes of Aligarh.It finds that most of the students are aware of the resources and services of libraries and consult for their course material.. Gurumurthy, K., & Padmamma, S. (2023) reviews the use of library resources and services from 2010 to 2022 and finds that library resources are becoming increasingly common and have a significant impact on academic and research work.Hussaini, S., Vashistha, R., & Jimah, H. ( Murugan, M., & Jeyshankar, R. (2019) investigated the use of library resources and services among PG students and research scholars of Alagappa University.He found that 65.55% of the respondents were female, 42.22% were aged between 26-30, 40.00% were PhD scholars, 43.33% were from rural areas, and 41.11% were highly satisfied.Raza, M. M., Upadhyay, A. K., & Noor, F. E. (2011) investigated the level of awareness and use of library resources and

Table - 1 Status of the Respondents Sl.No.
To know the status of respondents, all the questionnaires have been classified as per courses as shown in

Table - 4 Purpose of visiting library
Responses are drawn on the choice between print and electronic resources from the respondents and the results are shown in Table-5.The Table depicts that, of the total 56 respondents, 40 (71.4%) of the respondents prefer to use print resources, whereas 16 (28.6%)respondents prefer electronic resources for their study and research purposes.So, the students prefer print resources more compared to e-resources.Table-6 Method used in finding required information S.NO.