http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/139 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 17:35:00 GMT 2026-10-10T17:35:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13151 Reading habits of children using public libraries in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka Sandaresee, S.; Chandrasekar, K. Reading habit is one of the most essential elements of an individual's personal and intellectual development. If the habit of reading is inculcated in the childhood, it would help in enhancing knowledge, skills, imagination and creativity among children. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the reading habit of children utilizing public libraries in the Jaffna District, with the intension of enhancing the quality of services provided by the public libraries for children within the district. The descriptive survey research method was adopted. The participants were randomly selected from the list of active members (between the age group 3-14) of the public libraries (n=60) in the Jaffna District. At few instances, purposive sampling technique also employed. A self- administered structured questionnaire was distributed to the selected participants (n=458) ensuring the diversity in the participants pool, in relation to sex, age and locality. The Jaffna, Valikamam, Thenmaradchchi, Vadamaradchchi, and Islands area served as the study's base. The duly completed questionnaires received were analyzed quantitatively (using SPSS version 21) and qualitatively (using NVivo version 12). Out of 458 questionnaires distributed, 370 were returned, with the response rate of 80.78%. The study sample comprised 183 (49.5%) females and 187 (50.5%) males, within the age range of 3-14 years and covering entire geographical area of the Jaffna District. The findings revealed that 87.8% of the respondents prioritized reading as their leisure activity. Among the respondents, 94.6% expressed their interest in reading books, 54.3% preferred to spend 1-2 hours per day for reading. Further, the majority of the respondents expressed a preference for reading story books, in addition, showed interest in children's magazines and newspapers. Moreover, 59.5% of the respondents preferred reading materials in multiple formats. For the majority of respondents' favorite place for reading is home, followed by public libraries. The primary purpose for visiting the public libraries is borrowing library materials (66.8%), and searching for required reading material carried out with the support of library catalogues, assistance from library staff, browsing through bookshelves, etc. Considering the accessibility, 93.8% of respondents live within 10 Km radius from a public library. With regard to library facilities for children in the public libraries of Jaffna, collection, shelf arrangement, lending and reference services, opening hours, library environment, and the staff assistance are not up to the level of users' expectation, which was measured by using 4-point Likert scale. Besides, more than 50% of the survey participants expressed satisfaction with the library programs. However, library programs such as storytelling, reading promotion and reader development, reading clubs, and language classes were rated poor. The study identified insufficient reading materials, language issues (e.g., lack of books in Tamil, level of English language proficiency), lack of time, overloaded with schoolwork, absence of a conducive reading environment, and lack of diversity in children's literature as major obstacles related to reading habits of children. The study suggests adopting a comprehensive approach to foster reading habits and literacy in children. This approach would include parental involvement, the establishment of libraries in rural regions, enhancing children's library resources and facilities, promoting reading through competitions, raising awareness about the importance of reading, reducing academic pressures such as tutoring, and allocating more time for leisurely and enjoyable reading. Implementing these measures could be instrumental in achieving the goal of this study. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13151 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13150 Media coverage of water security issues in the water-stressed Northern Province of Sri Lanka: An explorative study of three Tamil dailies before and during the pandemic Rubini, S.; Chandrasekar, K.; Kumarendran, B.; Raguram, S.; Sriskandarajah, N. Media's role in influencing and reflecting public opinion, providing environmental awareness, and stimulating public participation is on the increase as environmental information becomes widely acknowledged and protection and conservation of natural resources is given priority in society. Public opinion on water conservation and water supply management leads to potential changes in policies and socio-economic behaviours by the public. Print media and particularly newspapers are quite a powerful tool still for disseminating information in society. This study investigated the extent and scope of newspaper coverage on the subject of water security within the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Three newspapers, namely, Thinakkural, Uthayan and Valampuri were chosen based on their popularity according to readership, circulation as print material and for being daily local or regional papers in Tamil. 2019 and 2020 were chosen as the two years covering pre-pandemic and pandemic years respectively for this study based on the premise that water usage and related news coverage would be different in the 2 years. Printed pages of daily issues of the three papers were systematically read and the pieces with any reference of water, irrespective of context were cut out for scanning and classification. The 1,214 items gathered as described above were subjected to quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Substantial decline in coverage of water related issues (28%) was noted from 2019 to 2020, which could be linked to the prevailing pandemic situation in 2020. It is noteworthy that a substantial amount of column space (80%) in the papers was allocated to reporting general news items such as events in the community related to new water projects, rain events as well as floods and drought events and reporting of allocation of irrigation water. Only 20% of space was given to non-news articles including advertisements related to water. These small numbers of non-news articles were subjected to further analysis after following categorization into five consistent themes. These were water resources, water governance or water management, water quality, water quantity, and water and society. The trend appears to be that water resources and water management issues were reported more often in Valampuri and Uthayan than Thinakkural. Thinakkural touched mainly on water quality issues over the same time period. Minimal coverage of water related issues by newspapers could subvert the interest of stakeholders and the public in addressing water related issues. This could be the reason why local people are unaware of local water issues when vernacular newspapers fail to report on local issues. This study has revealed the critical role local print media can play in awareness raising at community level about the unsustainable practice in water usage while promoting local initiatives for conservation of water resources. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13150 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13149 Water quality in Northern Province of Sri Lanka: Bibliometric analysis of Scholarly publications 1960-2021 Rubini, S.; Chandrasekar, K.; Sriskandarajah, N. This study aimed to assess the research output focusing on water quality in Northern Province, Sri Lanka and identify the bibliometric indicators to study the direction of water quality research. A literature search was conducted in January 2022 covering four electronic databases, namely Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In this study, scholarly publications such as, peer reviewed journal articles, conference papers in proceedings, and book chapters related to water quality in Northern Province, were considered. Gray literature such as Government and Non-governmental publications as well as theses and dissertations were excluded. The 118 scholarly publications were subject to the common set of criteria in any bibliometric study, namely publication distribution and types, authorship pattern, institutional collaboration, contributing countries, thematic distribution, and keyword analysis. Close examination of the progression of the publications in 10-year blocks reveals low productivity observed in the first 30 years (1969-1999) compared to, subsequent 20 years when publication rate showed a substantial increase. Journal articles and conference papers were the dominant types. Among the journal articles, 48 were published in 41 different international journals, whereas the remaining 26 articles appeared in 13 different national journals. Out of the conference papers, 13 were presented at 11 international conferences and 28 in 17 national conferences. Further, out of these 118 publications, Thushanthy, M. has been identified as the leading author in the field with 28 publications, followed by Saravanan, S. with 14 publications. University of Jaffna, which was the only state university situated in the Northern Province during the study period is in the lead position in numeric terms (n=81). This is followed by the University of Peradeniya. Except two, all other publications included in the study were from Sri Lanka. The publications within the dominant theme of water contamination in quality-related research consisted of papers on the physical, chemical as well as biological parameters of the water. Keyword analysis showed that the groundwater quality was the prominent issue studied in Jaffna peninsula during the study period. This bibliometric study identified that research has been focused much on knowledge generation in relation to water quality in the region. However, this knowledge and awareness of health risks due to poor water quality has to be translated into actionable measures to mitigate the above risk through appropriate policy. New and persistent organic pollutants and their impact remains an area of research within water quality yet to be undertaken in the Northern Province. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13149 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13148 Preservation and Conservation of Palm Leaf Manuscripts at the University of Jaffna Library: Fungal Deterioration, Treatment Strategies, and Digitization Kupeshan, R.; Chandrasekar, K.; Janen, J. Library university of Jaffna palm leaves manuscripts despite challenges such as limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, and periods of civil unrest. The palm leaf manuscript collection preserved in the Archives of the library, University of Jaffna represents a unique and significant repository of Sri Lankan Tamil intellectual heritage. This study examines the preservation and conservation practices applied to palm leaf manuscripts at the University of Jaffna Library, with a particular focus on fungal deterioration, control and treatment strategies, traditional preservation practices, and digitization as a long-term preservation approach. This study adopted case study method by using visual inspection, environmental assessment, laboratory based fungal identification, conservation treatment documentation and digitization. This study find that the, widespread fungal infestation, primarily associated with high humidity and inadequate ventilation. Laboratory analysis identified Aspergillus and Penicillium species as the dominant fungal agents responsible for biodeterioration. Conservation treatment using a controlled mixture of lemongrass (citronella) oil and ethanol proved effective in reducing fungal growth, improving leaf flexibility, and enhancing textual readability. Traditional preservation methods, when scientifically assessed and carefully applied, were found to complement modern conservation practices effectively. Digitization further contributed to preservation by reducing physical handling while improving access and scholarly use. This study concluded that an integrated conservation and preservation framework integrating with the environmental control, validated traditional treatments, routine biological monitoring, and digitization are essential for the sustainable preservation of palm leaf manuscripts in tropical academic libraries. As custodians of documentary heritage, librarians play a critical role in ensuring the long-term conservation and transmission of this irreplaceable cultural knowledge to future generations. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/13148 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z