International and Comparative Librarianship

DEDICATED TO PIONEERS   INCLUDING:
S. R. Ranganathan, P. N. Kaula, R. N. Sharma, J. F. Harvey, D. J. Foskett, J. P. Danton, M. M. Jackson, etc.
This Blogosphere has a slant towards India [a.k.a Indica, Indo, South-Asian, Oriental, Bharat, Hindustan, Asian-Indian (not American Indian)].

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Burning Books and Leveling Libraries by Prof. Rebecca Knuth

The topics is this book include (based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication):
Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- History -- 20th century; Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- History -- 21st century; Book burning -- History -- 20th century; book burning -- History -- 21st century; Radicalism -- History -- 20th century; Radicalism -- History -- 21st century; cultural property


Being a recent history of library/cultural-heritage's destruction that is so meticulously document, this book by Prof Knuth, is another best buy. Library historians, historians of book, and with cultural heritage preservationists worldwide, will find this book very thought provoking and a great scholarly work. 
Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction Rebecca Knuth
Extract:  "In Libricide my focus was on intentional, systematic, and large-scale destruction that was driven by ideological mandates. But for the book that would follow, I had an intuition that a more complex set of motivations would subsume my explanations of libricide, and that this framework would also embrace local and contained incidents. When I began probing the impulses behind high-profile bonfires of Harry Potter books, staged in 2001 and 2003 by church groups in Pennsylvania, Maine, New Mexico, and Michigan, I stumbled upon a pattern of extremism, renunciation, and affirmation that quickly gained significance. In these relatively isolated, localized cases of destruction, fundamentalist congregations burned books, videos, and other pop-cultural items in protests against offensive values that, they said, had increasingly pushed their Christian faith and influence to the margins of American life. Pastors declared that burning Harry Potter books was a means for Christians to build community, affirm their allegiance to God, and separate themselves from a pop culture they believed to be detrimental to society. Although this chapter was eventually dropped because the ceremonies did not match in scale and seriousness the other cases under study, my observations about the fundamentalists’ motivation and mindsets became key to identifying dynamics of book destruction that, I believe, play out worldwide." Preface, p. X.
 "In other, more turbulent environments, such as post- colonial India, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka, biblioclasm has tended to be more personal in nature, more passionate, and more violent, the product of social flashpoint as well as political calculation" (Chapter 4, Ethnic Biblioclasm 1980-2005), p. 71
Book Description:
Whether the product of passion or of a cool-headed decision to use ideas to rationalize excess, the decimation of the world's libraries occurred throughout the 20th century, and there is no end in sight. Cultural destruction is, therefore, of increasing concern.
In her previous book Libricide, Rebecca Knuth focused on book destruction by authoritarian regimes: Nazis, Serbs in Bosnia, Iraqis in Kuwait, Maoists during the Cultural Revolution in China, and the Chinese Communists in Tibet. But authoritarian governments are not the only perpetrators. Extremists of all stripes—through terrorism, war, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and other forms of mass violence—are also responsible for widespread cultural destruction, as she demonstrates in this new book.
Burning Books and Leveling LibrarieS≪/i> is structured in three parts. Part I is devoted to struggles by extremists over voice and power at the local level, where destruction of books and libraries is employed as a tactic of political or ethnic protest. Part II discusses the aftermath of power struggles in Germany, Afghanistan, and Cambodia, where the winners were utopians who purged libraries in efforts to purify their societies and maintain power. Part III examines the fate of libraries when there is war and a resulting power vacuum.
The book concludes with a discussion of the events in Iraq in 2003, and the responsibility of American war strategists for the widespread pillaging that ensued after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. This case poignantly demonstrates the ease with which an oppressed people, given the collapse of civil restraints, may claim freedom as license for anarchy, construing it as the right to prevail, while ignoring its implicit mandate of social responsibility. Using military might to enforce ideals (in this case democracy and freedom) is futile, Knuth argues, if insufficient consideration is given to humanitarian, security, and cultural concerns.

"Strongly recommended for academic library and larger public library collections." -- Journal of Access Services
- "Each chapter has significant bibliographic citations that reflect excellent research in the author's preparation for this book….Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."- Choice

CONTENTS
Preface
1. Introducing Modern Biblioclasm
2. Tracing the Path of Extremism Ffrom Robespierre to Milosevic
PART 1 GRAPPLING FOR VOICE AND POWER
3. Political Protestors and Amsterdam¿s South African Institute, 1984
4. Ethnic Biblioclasm, 1980¿2005
PART 2 ABSOLUTE POWER AND THE DRIVE TO PURIFY SOCIETY 135
5. National Socialism and the Destruction of Berlin¿s Institute for Sexual Knowledge, 1933 136
6. Secular Fanaticism and the Auto-Genocide of Cambodia, 1975¿1979
7. Fundamentalism and the Destruction of Afghanistan¿s Cultural Heritage, 1994¿2001 186
PART 3 WAR, POWER VACUUM, AND ANARCHY
8. Dueling Ideologies and Total War, 1939¿1945
9. Anarchy and Acquisitive Vandalism, 1967¿2003
10. Errors of Omission and Cultural Destruction in Iraq, 2003
Index

On the same shelf:

Labels: ,

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Revamped Nehru Centre library to open today

Info courtesy: Suresh D Nair


You'll Need a PhD To Make Sense Of The Pricing Schemes Publishers Impose On Libraries, Forbes.com


Extract:
Much has been written about publishers’ early reluctance to license or sell any e-books to libraries. That  is mostly past.
But don’t get crazy and think that this must mean there is actual agreement or standards about how to structure the relationships between e-book publishers and their library customers.
Steve Potash,  President and CEO of OverDrive, the Cleveland-based provider of technology for managing and distributing digital content for lending libraries,  described the various schemes that publishers and producers have structured for charging their library clients for their digital materials.  continue reading
on the same shelf:

Labels: ,

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Imagining and reimagining India: Diversity and Plurality - A survey of recent books

Labels: , ,

Monday, November 18, 2013

India a new publishing stop for writers from Europe and US

Is there a trend of writers from Europe and America coming to India to get their books published and earn recognition?

The question got new focus at the launch ofCanadian writer Merlaine Hemstraat's new novel "Peacocks among the Tamarind Trees", a love story involving two doctors from Canada and India, here recently.

Continue reading deccanherald.com : 
More about the author, here


Saturday, November 16, 2013

Glassdoor's top 10 universities to work in 2013

Info courtesy:  huffingtonpost.com
10. University of Texas at San Antonio
9. Florida State University
8. Stanford University
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. University of Michigan
5. Iowa State University
4. University of Texas at Austin
3. Brigham Young University
2. Carnegie Mellon University
1. Texas Tech University

See also the full list: The Top 25 Universities To Work For;  "The 2013 ratings were based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied" @ universityherald.com 


  • Ranking of Canadian Universities in Webometrics
  • The A-List -- "Thinking about going to college? Checking up on your alma mater? Find out how your school stacks up against other schools in the nation. Don't worry, this isn't your typical college ranking list. Harvard didn't even make it on our list! We've ranked schools based on three things that matter most to you: Affordability, Academic Quality, and Accessibility. Once you've found your school, share it with your friends."

Labels:

Friday, November 15, 2013

The Google Search "Reunion" commercial is a hit in India, Pakistan - with video




Emotional Google advert a hit in India, Pakistan - with video

Labels: , ,

Take a book, leave a book: tiny libraries thrive in US

AFP via Yahoo! News   Nov 14 12:08pm
Technology has given readers new ways to curl up with a good book, but the latest trend in Washington is surprisingly old-school: "little libraries," stuffed with paperbacks, cropping up on front lawns. The informal lending libraries work under a simple principle: "take a book, return a book." "Last week, 11 new books came in," said Kevin Sullivan, who launched his "little library" in Bethesda ...

On the same shelf:

Labels:

Featured Helpouts by Google -- offerings involve a charge, r u ready with you Visa/MasterCard?

"Real help, from real people, in real time". That's the slogan of Google Helpouts, on the first page you don't see the money-matters!!! But, the bottomline is all about you pay as you go.
"Helpouts restricts listings and Helpouts that are marked for "health services." Learn more.
In order to view and search for health-related Helpouts, you must opt-in to allow Helpouts to create calendar entries and to send email and text notifications for any health service Helpouts that you start or schedule as a customer. You can find this option on the Settings page. Learn more."
Google Helpouts : Is this yet another Beta  (incl other beta, such as, Google Answers, that are gone with the wind). If it stays, will it be virtual reference platform--taking away the techniques, tools, know-how, skills + the cents some libraries get from a service, aka intelligent research?

Image courtesy: Michael Sean Wright

Labels: ,

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's quotes about libraries

To commemorate the 100 years of Rabindranath Tagore receiving the Noble Prize for literature in 1913, here are some quotes, he said about  libraries:

“Libraries are more important to the education system than the institutions such as schools, colleges and universities.” (source)
  “The extent of use to which the reading material of a library is put, should determine its importance rather than the staggering number of volumes." (p. 359*)
"The worth of a librarian should be gauged by his power of attracting and looking after such circles by acting as the  intermediary of an intimacy of relationship between reader and the library." (p. 359*)
"On him (librarian) is cost the burden not only of books, but of their readers as well and in the maintaining of both proper discharge of his trust and efficiency. " (p. 359*) 
*Quotes are from *

Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations by Mohamed Taher and and L.S. Ramaiah.  More quotations are here @ Library & Information Science Quotations or here: amazon.com

 On the same shelf:

Labels:

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

ROLE OF LIBRARIES IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT


Labels: ,

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Literacy Resources for Libraries – A quick list

This post is inspired by the collection of American resources by ESTHER CHASE @ LIBRARIES AND LITERACY

The Canadian resources:

American resources by ESTHER CHASE:

·         America's Literacy Directory
·         National Literacy Directory·         IL Adult Learning Hotline·         Libraries' English and Reading Network·         How to Start an Adult Volunteer Literacy Program (IL SOS)·         IL State Library Literacy Grants for Adult Volunteer Literacy Programs·         How to Serve the World: Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries (ALA)·         Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library (ALA)·         America Dream Toolkit for Libraries (ALA)·         GCF Learn Free - Technology Tutorials Online·         Hampton-Brown Series for Advanced Book Groups·         Joe's Web Tools - Readability Calculator·         Pearson Fastback Series for Intermediate Book Groups·         YALSA's List of Recommended Reads - Great for ESL Book Groups

On the same shelf:

Labels:

Inspirations 2013 to celebrate Tagore’s cultural heritage, Nov 9th

As we all know, Asia’s first ever Nobel Laureate was Rabindranath Tagore, and this year, 2013, marks the centenary of that historic event. www.southasianfocus.ca

A series of events has been held all year long to commemorate the multiple talents of this gifted son of India.
And now, come Nov 9, the Tagore Anniversary Celebrations Committee, Toronto, presents Inspirations 2013, that promises a richness of art and culture from South Asia for Toronto’s multicultural, English-speaking audiences.
Inspirations will celebrate those aspects of Tagore’s thought that are universal and contemporary, and will bring together professional artists from India and Canada along with 60-plus young, local performers from diverse cultural and artistic backgrounds,” says spokesperson Ananya Mukherjee-Reed.
Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. But well beyond literature, his talents encompassed a wide swathe. continue reading: www.southasianfocus.ca 

On the same shelf:

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Booking bookworms: Man arrested for overdue library book

By  | Daily Buzz, Nov. 4, 2013
Extract:

Sticking his nose behind books has landed a Texas man behind bars after he failed to return an overdue text for three years.
KWTX.com reported an ordinance in Copperas Cove, Texas allows authorities to issue arrest warrants for late library patrons, and police have just booked a bookworm. Jory Enck had checked out a study guide for the General Educational Development (GED) tests, about three years before police encountered him during an unrelated incident, according to ABC. They found a warrant for his arrest in the system because he had never returned the study guide, and bang, they threw the book at him — the law book, that is. Continue reading

see also: 

Labels: ,

Sunday, November 03, 2013

Librarian, Documentalist, Bibliophile, Bibliographer, Embedded Librarian or a Librarian by some other Name?

 "Documentation is the process of collecting and subject classifying all the records of new observations and making them available, at need, to the discoverer or the inventor."  Documentation, (p. 10, 1948). Quoted in in Dictionary of Library and Information Science QuotationsEdited by Mohamed Taher and L S S R Valluri Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423, (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) (p. 51).

"The information transfer chain begins with initial generation and exposition of information. This is the business entirely of the working scientist. The later steps, such as indexing, cataloguing, and retrieving are traditionally the job of documentalist." Scientific Communication, Key Papers in Information Science, 1971. p. 21. Quoted in in Dictionary of Library and Information Science QuotationsEdited by Mohamed Taher and L S S R Valluri Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423, (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) (p. 376).

Whatever is their name/title, librarians are now more than ever in need a name that which is appropriate with the ever changing face of libraries. 

We are not sure what this librarian's profession will be called in 2020/2050. However, we know that it was called Library Economy since 1876, and Library Science since 1942. In short, the field has different names, such as, Librarianship, Library Science, Documentation, Bibliography, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Library and Information Science, Information Science, Embedded librarianship, Digital librarianship, etc. Is this because as some feel: Having no “umbrella definition,” librarianship means different things in different settings (Gerhardt, 1978, p. 4)?


In tracing the changing names of the field of librarians, we need to do a quick re-cap on the emergence of a term 'Documentation' esp., in India in 1960s and then its disappearance in 2000s from libraries, information management related job titles, and library schools:
  • Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) at Bangalore was established in January 1962 by Dr. SR Ranganathan, to train a special brand of librarians. Very similar was the reason of founding the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC in Delhi--link inactive: http://insdoc.org); both offering a course called Associateship--DRTC's Associateship in Documentation and Information Science (ADIS); and INSDOC's  “Associateship in Documentation and Reprography, later re-named in 1977 as Associateship in Information Science (AIS)--More about the present face of INSDOC @ NISCAIR's brochure of the course, last updated : 2010Since that date to the recent days, at least in India, Masters degree in Library/Information Science from a recognized university or Associate ship from INSDOC/DRTC were considered equivalents. In  2002 we heard of (continuing the AIS Master's) the merger of INSDOC with  NISCOM; and Since, 2008 DRTC's ADIS has been changed to Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MS-LIS).
Note: The above disappearing scenario may not be true in Europe, and other parts  of the world, and this is obvious in The return of documentation?. Similarly as in the past many others have used this term in their own perspectives, e.g., Visual Resources An International Journal of Documentation. Hence, this post is not about what's in a name. Rather it is tracing the historicity of the names that the profession of librarians is going thro'. Also, this post is not about a written-manual (on how to use a software, aka documenting how-to manual): The Death of Documentation



Recently, I found a blog's title (Notes on Documentation and Librarianship), that leads me to wonder what is the current terminology of the profession, in a global village?? 

Googling, one further finds it was prevalent rather with breaks, between 1950s-1990, and then what follows later is a confusion/fusion/etc., see the samples: 
Read more »

Labels: , , ,

Friday, November 01, 2013

Records on Maharaja Ranjit Singh To Be Auctioned

Weeklyvoice.com Nov 2, 2013, A-17.