EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR INFORMATION EMPOWERMENT SPECIALISTS IN THE NETWORKED SOCIETY: AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE

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EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR INFORMATION
EMPOWERMENT SPECIALISTS IN THE NETWORKED SOCIETY
AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE

• BY
• PROF. C R KARISIDDAPPA
• PRESIDENT
• (INDIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)
  PROFESSOR, CHAIRMAN
• UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN
• KARNATAK UNIVERSITY
• DHARWAD 580 003
• INDIA

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CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• NEED FOR ENHANCING COMPETENCIES
• INDIAN EFFORTS
• PHASES OF CHANGE
• EMPHASIS ON PRACTICE
• INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
• BLENDING TRADITION WITH TECHNOLOGY
• INFLUENCE OF OTHER DISCIPLINES
• NEW APPLICATIONS
• MODULAR APPROACH
• CONCLUSION

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INTRODUCTION

• Profession is in search of identity
• Sufficiently endeavoured to Partner in Societal
  Economic Transformation
• To adopt adapt contemporary Technology
  Innovations
• Many convergent factors have influenced the
  profession
• In this context structuring a dynamic curriculum
  for manpower development is a complex task
• This has been a consistent concern of Lib Inf.
  Schools
• Exercise to review the status of Lib Inf.
  Sc.Education is on the anvil

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• LISC (UK) recommended to review the future
  manpower training requirements for Lib Inf.
  work
• Persistent efforts are made in the task of
  development of education research in Lib Inf.
  Sc. globally
• Experts opined that now the schools of library
  Inf. studies are not playing the role they might
  be expected to play in the emerging Information
  Society
• There is a need to review the developments which
  have taken place in teaching research and also
  need for enhancing competencies

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• Human resources is the most valuable resource
• It enables the identification, selection,
  development control of other physical
  intellectual resources
• Any plan-sectoral or over all should give
  emphasis to development of manpower with
  appropriate professional knowledge skills
• In this fast changing world, there are new
  demands influences on Lib Inf. Centers -
  educating training for Lib Inf. work has
  focused upon recordable information,
  knowledge, services technologies to
  facilitate its management use
• Started with apprenticeship mode to formal degree
  programmes

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FUTURE LIBRARY AND INFO PROFESSIONALS ARE
EXPECTED TO ASSIST THE USERS

• by providing them with careful and well organized
  information, specially in electronic form
• by providing information which has been evaluated
  repackaged to meet their needs precisely
• by facilitating their use of both technology
  information, so that information professionals
  can play a significant part in a Learning
  Society
• Task of Lib Inf. Sc. teachers to impart
  education which transfers professional skills of
  acquiring using inf. in networked society

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Indian Efforts

• India has to play a significant role in education
  training
• Countrywide exercise made to articulate knowledge
  which could be packed in Lib Inf. Sc. education
  training curriculum, with help of experts
• Well defined modules presented before the forum
  of chairpersons of the Board of Studies in
  different universities
• Has facilitated the debate enabled to develop a
  viable curriculum beating the balance between
  traditional modern practices, skills
  techniques

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Phases of Changes (Phase One 1960-70)

• Three factors enhanced professional status
  increased employment opportunities, viz.,
• Enactment of Library Legislation
• UGC assistance to College University
  Libraries
• Documentation work services
• Library legislation enhanced employment
  opportunities for qualified library
  professionals in Public Libraries.
• UGC initiated review on working of university
  college libraries status of library science
  education in 1950s 1960s

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• Librarians in academic Libraries given equal
  status
• on par with teachers in educational sectors
• Emergence of new area of study - Documentation
• National Laboratories established under CSIR
• Establishment of INSDOC in 1952
• From mid 1970s emphasis on inf. component to
  the facets of inf. collection, storage
  retrieval aspects
• Decade of 70s important as it brought changes in
  nomenclature from library science to library
  inf. Science

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• Global attention due to internationalization of
  information also due to involvement of
  inter-governmental agencies like UNESCO, UNIDO
  FAO in information handling activities
• Establishment of international cooperative
  systems like INIS, AGRIS DEVSIS under UNISIST
• Shifted the emphasis of library information
  profession from national level to that of
  international level
• Establishment of Data Banks, Information Analysis
  Centres and Translation Centres marked the
  beginning of new milestone in global view of
  information activities
• Emphasized that library manpower development
  programmes and education programmes have to be
  remodelled to suit the needs of contemporary
  requirements

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(Phase Two 1980s)

• Began with advent of microcomputers in libraries
  in mid 1980s
• Brought in shift in professional approach from
  information oriented services to user oriented
  services
• Adoption of new storage technology in the form of
  optical media and this created a greater impact
• Computer communication technology
  revolutionized the subject to highly reckonable
  field of an international status a field to be
  called Information Science and Technology

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Emphasis on Practice

• In Indian context issue of relationship between
  theory and practice not properly addressed
• Library schools are drowning in theory but not
  giving enough exposure to practice
• Dilemma lies in the choice between teaching
  knowledge skills needed to meet immediate needs
  of employers or instilling principles which can
  expand skills knowledge base as career develops

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Inter-disciplinary Approach

• In western countries some schools have merged
  with different disciplines like information
  management technology information studies
  mass communication to meet the challenge of
  managing complex diverse new environment.
• Need to commit to life-long learning from
  established practitioners as circumstances demand
  greater professional technical awareness
• Only systematic continuing education provides
  method of combating professional obsolence as it
  is a real ever present danger
• On the lines of schools in western countries,
  introduction of new programmes to be seen as
  reflecting pull push effect of recognition,
  increasing need for professional workforce to
  match growth significance of information
  industry expanding higher education system to
  provide appropriate workforce
• Schools have began to diversify their portfolio
  of courses, with programmes intended to serve
  needs of publishing communication industries

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Blending Tradition with Technology

• Scenario of library information centres,
  services provided by them, undergoing a
  transformation due to emergence of new media
• Information needs of user community taking place
  due to need based adoption of IT
• Work in libraries necessitated to make
  appropriate changes in library and information
  science syllabus for various levels of education
• Factors invite serious attention of departments
  of library information science who produce
  manpower for managing library and information
  centers
• Till recently more emphasis on teaching of
  traditional subject, but teaching with emphasis
  on IT practical aspects of library automation
  received little attention in the syllabus

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Library information scientists have expressed
that

• library and information science professionals
  should possess skills to harness IT tools
  techniques
• hence responsibility of library and information
  science schools - to bring radical change in
  syllabus by incorporating theoretical practical
  aspects of automaton networking
• Library Science can claim a distinguished
  position on its own philosophical
  classification components
• To ensure due recognition of the profession,
  proper weightage to the components in library
  information science courses necessary
• Library information science based on sound
  philosophical base strong theoretical
  technical roots, without ignoring the roots to
  harmonize them with recent developments

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Influence of other Disciplines

• library and information science showed its
  affinity towards application of other fields to
  improve professional performance
• Ranganathan infused scientific method in the
  field that marked the first change from
  librarianship to library science
• Emergence of information society has extended
  horizon of information science field to the
  study of socio-political economic aspects of
  information
• Major disciplines are a part of library
  information science curriculum like Management
  Science, Information Technology, Statistics,
  Linguistics Psychology
• Transition shift from agriculture to industrial
  base, to an economy based on information
  technology, influenced governmental policies
  directed to production and distribution of
  information

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• These factors have contributed to emergence of
  new areas Information Science, Information
  Society Information Technology, with common
  denominator - Information
• Emergence of electronic media opened up new
  avenues also made to rethink on manpower
  development programmes
• Inf. professionals to turn their attention to
  Content Creation Development referred by Inf.
  Technology Task Force of Government of India, as
  new requirements in context of development of
  library networks

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• Information Industry has 3 components
• Information Content Industry
• Information Delivery Industry
• Information Processing Industry

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• Information Content Industry primarily concerned
  with developing products for Web on-line
  environment
• Information Delivery Industry consists of
  creation management of telecommunication
  networks through which Information is transferred
  delivered
• Information Processing Industry consists of
  products of hardware software
• Information Content sector accounts for nearly
  half of the Information Industry is still
  growing

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New Applications are based on

• The three fold transformation, Viz
• Objective of preserving recorded human knowledge
  
• Adopting the motto that knowledge is for use
• Providing global access to information

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• The profession has adopted contemporary societal,
  economic, technological educational changes in
  its applications
• It has been enabled to acquire capabilities of
  adopting them in teaching due to imminent
  application in practice
• In modern economy importance of information has
  increased calls for better use of existing
  services continuous improvement of information
  service to meet the explicit implicit needs

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• Computers are found successful in processing
  retrieval of information
• Impact of Internet on library information
  services concept of digital and virtual
  Libraries are recognized as nascent fields of
  study
• Hence need for examining adequacy
  appropriateness of present curricula

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Modular Approach

• an approach to help departments to adopt a
  curriculum suitably has to be seriously
  considered
• Crux of this paper revolves round a Modular
  Approach in formulation of model curriculum
• Important Features are
• Course objectives
• Unitwise course contents
• Special note on practical component
• Learning outcome of each module
• Also optimum hours of teaching programme has to
  be included
• In 1982 Yang in UNESCO report proposed a Modular
  Approach to curriculum for information studies

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• UGC Curriculum Report emphasizes on Cafeteria
  Approach and introduction of choice based credit
  system
• Module 1 Foundation of Library and Information
  Science
• Module 2 Knowledge Organization, Information
  Processing
• Retrieval
• Module 3 Information sources, Products
  Services
• Module 4 Management of Library Information
  Centers/Institutions
• Module 5 Information Technology Basics
  Applications
• Module 6 Research Methods Statistical
  Technology
• Module 7 (Electives) Information Systems

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Conclusion

• Need for rejuvenating LIS courses in India in
  light of the happenings in international area
• Education training programmes in library and
  information science must make provision to
  prepare professionals to assume proactive role in
  coping with new technology information
  explosion
• Designed course contents should concentrate in
  making professionals as change agents,
  facilitators and guides with suitable strong
  information empowerment

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KARNATAK UNIVERSITY

• This is where I work!

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• THANK YOU!