Introduction Dr. Mahmud Hussain Library
The Dr. Mahmud Hussain Library is an imposing three storey structure firmly placed in the centre of campus activities. The Dr. Mahmud Husain Library was established in 1952, when the University of Karachi itself came into being. It moved later to the present building, a modern and imposing structure in the midst of a large campus located half an hour's drive from the center of Karachi. Some 10,000 students are enrolled in the university, which has a unusually high ratio of women
about 67% and claims to have educated most PhD holders in the country. The library houses 350,.000 volumes dating back to the 1600s, and it became the depository of the personal book collection of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Teachers from 100 affiliated colleges frequent the university, along with scholars from 19 research institutions. A loan and resource sharing system exists with other academic entities in the Karachi area.
Thanks to a staff of 25 Library Specialists and 10 Assistant Librarians (professional posts) and 90/95 non professional staff, the library is on the upper end of the academic spectrum in Pakistan. It consists of a maze of reading rooms (6 for general purposes and another 6 for research), and enjoys independent cataloging and microfilming units as well as binding facilities and a circulation department.
The position of Head Librarian is held by Professor Malahat Kaleem Sherwani, who is also the Chairperson of the Department of Library and Information Science and convener of library committee. She has been a staff member of the university since 1975 and, since her arrival at the helm of the library, has brought on new spirit and enthusiasm. The UN Collection has benefited form her interest and she has energetically been striving to make it a properly maintained section. The collection --housed separately in two rooms on the last floor of the building (one for storage, one for reading) -- is clearly a work in progress.
As far as electronic dissemination is concerned, the situation at present is on a par with other institutions but is about to make a giant leap forward thanks to a campus wide network whose basic installation is expected to be finished in 2000. The library, a resource center and an Internet center will then be linked by fiber optics as part of a first nodule that will eventually expand to each Department in the university. This ambitious project represents an investment of 25 million rupees (US $ 500,000) and will permit full connectivity by the year 2004. In the immediate future, the library is destined to be one of the main beneficiaries of the program. From six computers and a difficult Internet access at present, it is expected to jump to 35 PCs, all linked to a university server.
