Libraries Targets High-School and High-Schools Target Library Education

Stephen Abram says: "Sounds like a great opportunity for library board / school board partnerships. Libraries are less stigmatizing environments for adult learners catching up on high school and e-learning is more flexible for workers than going to a local high school night class."

Two news stories about schools and libraries, one in US and the other in India make headlines. These headlines are not necessarily to say that the jobs of librarians will tend to improve, or that the image of profession has changed from books to classrooms. It is for the coming times to show what are the true colors of these headlines.

• Career Online High School Pilot Program Begins March 3, 2014. "Los Angeles Public Library to Offer High School Diploma and Career Certificate Program in Partnership with Gale : This is a very important development for public libraries where they can offer high school accredited diplomas and credits to their patrons." Read more: Online Learning in Libraries Targets High-School Dropouts  / Literacy Council has lots to celebrate / Private Online School District Battles America's High School Dropout Crisis and Offers a Solution to Educational Trauma / Changing Lives & the Public Library: Career Online High School,  Library Journal / Career Online High School: Los Angeles Public Library / Career Online High School Get the Education and Career Skills You Need to Succeed

"The library hopes to grant high school diplomas to 150 adults in the first year at a cost to the library of $150,000, Szabo said. Many public libraries offer programs to prepare students and in some cases administer the General Educational Development test, which for decades was the brand name for the high school equivalency exam." cbsnews.com

• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) introduces library and information science for grade XI and XII students, THE TIMES OF INDIA, Feb 13, 2014/ Now, learn all about libraries, The Hindu:

  "CBSE students may soon get to go to their school libraries not just during the designated hour, but also to understand the workings of classification, cataloguing, library-related technologies and library automation software, among other aspects."... According to a recent CBSE circular, the elective aims to develop basic understanding, theory and practical knowledge, and skill to pursue the subject for higher education and basic skills to work as a library semi-professional.   

  A. Amudavalli, professor and head, library and information sciences, University of Madras, says it is a viable and necessary career option. She says since it is an elective, it cannot be equivalent to a diploma, but it is a good move by the Board. “There is definitely more demand than there are people in this field,” she says. “Library science has changed drastically and, today, we work in a hybrid environment. Not only is there a demand for librarians, they are also well-paid,” she says, adding students of her department were placed well now.

Database Searching Trends in India: Review Article on the state-of-the-art

I found an interesting research article by Dr. Shailendra Kumar, Mr. Projes Roy, and Prof. M. P. Satija, "Database Searching in Central University Libraries in India," Library Philosophy and Practice 2011.

Introduction
In consequence of the recommendation of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC, 2005-2008), each of the Indian states has at least one fully-funded central university. Now there are 39 central universities. Privately funded and owned state-legislated universities are also being established to cater to the increased demand for higher education. In between there are many universities that are not legislation-based but are authorized by the University Grant Commission (UGC, New Delhi) to award degrees. Central universities are better-equipped in terms of financial resources, faculty, and infrastructure, and thus have an edge over the usually fund-starved state universities.

The libraries across the globe are challenged to integrate e-resources into their collection, services, and patrons' lives and academic libraries face obstacles when virtual learning environment (VLEs) become "the primary means of interaction between students and universities (Tenopir, 2008). Providing access to electronic journals and other e-resources is an important area of librarianship (Prabhu, 2002). The design of usable online interfaces is a crucial issue (Xie and Cool, 2000). Traditional library services and printed material are still more effective to researchers in Indian universities than web-based information and resources. Barriers to progress in this area in university libraries in India cannot be overlooked (Chandrakar, 2003).

On the same shelf

Background of the database searching (need and demand): Taking online interaction for granted, by Tenopir, Carol, Library Journal, 12/1/97, Vol. 122 Issue 20, p39,.

Can Johnny search?: ONLINE DATABASES, by Tenopir, Carol, Library Journal Feb 1, 2007, v132 i2, p30

Teaching student searchers: (Online Databases) by Tenopir, Carol, Library Journal March 1, 2005, v130 i4, p33(1)

Webliography: Database Searching -- Information Literacy for Library Technicians

Library and Information Science Education in India - 100 Year's Celebration & Introspection

William Alanson Borden (1854-1933) in India.
"Borden 's Achievements (US) ... introduced the first library school in the country in 1911, the first school which had ten men and women participants, and which by chance initiated the women's era in the profession too... (p. 157 + see also Index)" Continue reading further in Librarianship and Library Science in India : An Outline of Historical Perspectives, 1994 , by Mohamed Taher and Donald Davis. New Delhi, Concept Publishing Company. -- See also: William Alanson Borden: An Apostle of International Librarianship, by Murari Lal Nagar

Info courtesy: Dr Jaideep Sharma, Dr. Manjunath, Pawan R. Agrawal, Jayant Deshpande, & all others. Image courtesy: http://blog.westervillelibrary.org

DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Special Issue on 100 years of LIS Education in India Vol 30, No 5 (2010)

1. Guest Ediroial PDF
Jaideep Sharma 2
2. Library and Information Science Educationin India: A Historical Perspective PDF
Krishan Kumar, Jaideep Sharma 3-8
3. Library and Information Science Education in North India PDF
Paramjeet Kaur Walia 9-18
4. Library and Information Science Education in South India: Perspective and Challenges PDF
V.S.R. Varalakshmi 19-31
5. Library and Information Science Education in East and North-East India: Retrospect and Prospects PDF
Pijushkanti Panigrahi 32-47
6. Library and Information Science Education in Maharashtra: A Perspective PDF
Pratibha Gokhale 48-55
7. Short-term Library and Information Science Training Courses in India PDF
G. Mahesh, Narendra Kumar, Dinesh K Gupta 56-60
8. What Ails Doctoral Research in Library and Information Science in India? PDF
M.P. Satija 61-66
9. Library and Information Science Education in India: Some Government Initiatives PDF
Manoj K Joshi 67-73
10. Employability of Library and Information Science Graduates: Competencies Expected versus Taught—A Case Study PDF
Bharat Kumar 74-82
11. e-Learning Library and Information Science: A Pragmatic View for India PDF
Manorama Tripathi, V.K.J. Jeevan 83-90
12. Library and Information Science Education in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh PDF
Prabhjeet Kaur, Paramjeet Kaur Walia 91-96

Symposium on LIS Education in India: Challenges and Opportunities

LIS Teachers' contribution to LIS education, training and research in India

100 years of LIS Education in India

Centenary of Library Education, @ University of Nagpur, IATLIS Conference, 1987.

'Centenary Celebrations of LIS Education in India,' IATLIS Conf., 26th to 28th November,2011 at Department of Library & Information Science, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. For details contact: Geeta Girish Gadhavi, Asst.Prof./Co-Ordinator, Dept.of Library & Information Science, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad - 380 009 Phone: 079 - 2630 1363 / 098257 85008

Sub-themes: These sub-themes are not exhaustive, rather indicative only.

1 Critical analysis of 100 years of Library education in India
to develop a sustainable vision for future.
2 Relevance of LIS education to job-market.
3 LIS Education - modes and methods
4 LIS Research and publication
5 Continuous Professional Education and Training
6. Impact of ICTs on LIS Education and Research
7. Restructuring of LIS Education
8. Partnership and collaboration
9. Faculty and infrastructural requirements with special
reference to developing learning resources in Indian languages.
10. Accreditation and quality control in LIS Education [source: Dolores' List of CFPs]

On the same shelf:

Indian Contributions @ IFLA 2008

World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA General Conference and Council

"Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding"10-14 August 2008, Québec, Canada

• Access to information by the rural communities in Indian villages: the role of Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF)
  M. SANKARA REDDY (Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata, India)
• Course choice and equipage of the professionals: implications for restructuring LIS programmes in developing countries with special reference to India
  M. BAVAKUTTY (Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India), T.P.O. NASIRUDHEEN and K. C. ABDUL MAJEED (Farook College, Calicut, India)
• Creating reading environments: our initiatives in West Bengal, India
  RATNA BANDYOPADHYAY (University of Calcutta, The LIS Department, Calcutta, India)
• Designing of cultural knowledge portal: a South East Asian experiment
  AJAY PRATAP SINGH (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India)
• Development and use of humanities collection in hospital libraries in Hyderabad: a survey
  V. VISHWA MOHAN and VAHIDEH ZAREA GAVGANI (Dept. of Library & Information Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
• From Asian Federation of Library Associations (AFLA) to Regional Federation of South Asian Library Associations (REFSALA) and beyond: a journey incomplete
  TRISHANKIT KAUR (Punjabi University, India)
• Knowledge Sharing and Practice. RATNA BANDYOPADHYAY (University of Calcutta, India)
• Medical humanities collection development: policy guidelines for Indian hospital libraries
  MEDHA V. JOSHI (Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India)
• The memories of Chinese Buddhist scholars in connection with Nalanda Monastic International University in India in the 7^th century AD
  R.H.I.S. RANASINGHE (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka)
• Supportive staff in libraries of Visakhapatnam City: an evaluative study
  R.S.R. VARALAKSHMI (Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India)
• The tele-cottage approach to the community development in the rural Karnataka, India
  S.L. SANGAM (Karnatak University, Dharwad, India)

Reading now: International and Comparative Studies in Information and Library Science

A Focus on the United States and Asian Countries

Series: Libraries and Librarianship: An International Perspective #3. Edited by Yan Quan Liu and Xiaojun Cheng

Introduction by Dr. Yan Quan Liu.

Contents:
NB. To read the following, point mouse over and scrolling stops!!!

'
Part 1: Research Methodologies
1. Comparative Librarianship Lalitha K. Sami
2. International Library and Information Science Research: A Comparison of National Trends Maxine Rochester and Pertti Vakkari
3. Comparison between the People's Republic of China and the United States in the Field of Library and Information Science Weina Hua
4. Introducing an International Cooperative Research Method Employed in Cross-Country Studies in Information and Library Science Yan Quan Liu
Part 2: Information Policy
5. The Impact of National Policy on Developing Information Infrastructure Nationwide: Issues in the People's Republic of China and the United States Yan Quan Liu
Part 3: Professional Education
6. Is the Education on Digital Libraries Adequate? Yan Quan Liu
7. An Investigation of LIS Qualifications throughout the World Pete Dalton and Kate Levinson
8. A Comparative Study of Library and Information Science Education: China and the United States Ziming Liu
9. A Comparison Study on the Confusion and Threat of the United States and Chinese Library Education Xudong Jin
10. Motivation to Manage: A Comparative Study of Male and Female Library and Information Science Students in the United States of America, India, Singapore, and Japan Sarla R. Murgai
Part 4: Information Organization and Services
11. Digital Library Infrastructure: A Case Study on Sharing Information Resources in China Yan Quan Liu and Jin Zhang
12. Cataloging Nonprint Resources in the United States and China: A Comparative Study of Organization and Access for Selected Electronic and Audiovisual Resources Yan Ma, Steve J. Miller, and Yan Quan Liu
Part 5: Academic Libraries
13. A Comparative Study of the Use of the Academic Libraries by Undergraduates in the United States and Taiwan Ting-Ming Lai
Part 6: Public Libraries
14. International Public Library Trends Nerida Clifford
15. The Use of the National Library Statistics by Public Library Directors Yan Quan Liu and Douglas L. Zweizig
16. National Public Library Statistics and Management: A Comparison between the United States and People's Republic of China Yan Quan Liu
Part 7: School Libraries
17. Teachers' Perceptions of School Libraries: Comparisons between Tokyo and Honolulu Yuriko Nakamura
18. An International Study on Principal Influence and Information Services in Schools: Synergy in Themes and Methods James Henri, Lyn Hay, and Dianne Oberg
Appendix A: Schools Offering International and Comparative Librarianship Related Courses
Appendix B: Journals Pertaining to International and Comparative Studies in ILS
Appendix C: International Conferences on Information and Library Science
Appendix D: Web Resources Relating to Information and Library Science Worldwide
Bibliography
Index

Free Journal Access: Sage Publications

PS. Info courtesy: Rachel @ Beyond the Job Nicole C. Engard @ What I Learned Today, and Tom Wilson @ Information Research Weblog

Free trial access through Sept. 30 to current and back issues
NB. SAGE Publications are pleased to offer free online full text access to the current and back issues of the following selected Information Sciences

IFLA Journal

Journal of Information Science

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

Information Development

Business Information Review

Journal of Health Informatics

Certificate Course on "Modern Library Practices"

- Call for Participation from Developing Countries
PS. Info courtesy: Rachel @ Beyond the Job

The Resource Centre, NITTTR, is organising a Certificate course on "Modern Library Practices", which will be held on 15th October 2007 to 7th December 2007 at National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) (Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India) Taramani, Chennai 600 113, Tamil Nadu, India. continue reading

Demise of the Local Catalog or The OPAC Reborn?

Demise of the Local Catalog, by Roy Tenant***

The OPAC Reborn.(Online Public Access Catalog at libraries)

The Future of Cataloging, by Peachy

Thought for the day - Now if we had the semantic web or enough catalogers

***My 2 cent:
This article is an excellent eye opener, and makes a good feed-forward. Thanks to John Jaeger for sharing this info.

I agree with Roy that libraries must pack off their catalogs (I packed it too, and seen so many). But moving with a Google model (a free search-ware mindset) is probably not going to make the library catalog that useful and value-added, on the face of umpteen competitors; and a searchology (as Google calls it) that comes with a package minus the controlled vocabulary (with whatever name one likes it, LC, Meta tags, etc.).

I think there must be an effort to upgrade our mindset of catalogoing / cataloguing and fine tune it with our own foundations of librarianship and user-friendly ventures.

I have been working on the idea of visual catalogs, that started with the idea of an indepth, as well as, localized cataloging spirit of my professional inspirer: Sanford Berman.

FYI. I have compiled a webliography on this theme. Would appreciate your comments on this dimension. The link to my webliography is:

What do you do when the internet is down?

Annecdote posted by Ivy Lee @ Asian Libraries:

An elderly man queried me why he couldn't access hotmail yesterday. I explained to him that it's a nationwide situation.

Old man: "Oh dear, then what should I do now that I can't access hotmail?"
Me: "How about going back to the days before internet was invented? Like maybe....use the snail mail?"

Dear old uncle has a good sense of humour too and we burst into laughter.

If an old uncle is so reliant on hotmail and has almost forgotten the art of mailing a letter using stamps, well, this just shows how the world has grown "connected" over the years.

It was a test on us librarians' skills to answer quick reference questions without the internet. For example, someone asked what is the national flower of Myanmar. We tried all the encyclopedias, almanacks and factbooks but were unable to find. This morning, I was happy to see my best friend Mr Google greet me on my PC. The first thing I did was look for the national flower. Within seconds, Mr Google tells me that Myanmar's national flower is "The Paduak (Pterocarpus Indicus) blossoms in tiny fragrant yellow-gold flowers" with a colour picture to match. Source: http://www.aseansec.org/18203.htm
God, I admire librarians in the old days before internet. I wonder if there is a documentary somewhere that shows us how librarians handle enquiries before the computer or the internet was invented, and how accurate were their responses compared to us today. It would be interesting to learn, methink.
See also

Go to the library - ways to survive life without the Internet

The Ubiquitous Reference Service & Return On Investment

Case Studies from India: Evidence-based Librarianship

Actual Telephone Conversations Heard in Actual Libraries #83 @ Tales from the "Liberry"

Thought for the day - Now if we had the semantic web or enough catalogers

Source: Limits of FT Search Bring Fun Item @ Alaskan Librarian
Now if we had the semantic web or enough catalogers to catalog web resources, I could specify that I only wanted pages, blog posts etc that are actually related to the virtual world of Second Life. And that's what I'd get. Just like if I'd like the new Haines Borough Public Library Catalog to only notify me when they got new books on Second Life.
see also:

The Emerging-Semantics Web (”The Semantic Web is Dead”)

WEB IS A FOREST ... SEMANTIC WEB A JAPANESE GARDEN ?

Seamless Structured Semantic Web -Will Tags, Clouds, Ontologies, Taxonomies, and Facet Analysis help?

Semantic Web and Facet Analysis

Why Web 2.0 is leading back to full cataloging - Library Juice

Info courtesy: Sukhdev's World

"Just an observation of interest to librarians, about Web 2.0 types of websites.
Two examples of rich Web 2.0 sites are Last.fm and LibraryThing." continue reading

See also:

This network is for Library 2.0 Stuff

Uncontrolled Vocabulary @ InfoSciPhi

Working Locally At Home and Abroad

World Literacy of Canada is a small NGO with big projects on the go. For 50 years now, WLC has been changing people's lives through literacy and community development programs, both at home here in Canada, and in homes throughout the world. Although the world has changed dramatically over the course of the past 50 years, the heart of WLC's programming philosophy has remained the same: global change begins at a local level. Continue reading

World Literacy of Canada
401 Richmond Street West, Studio 236
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
P: 416 977 0008
F: 416 977 1112
E: info@worldlit.ca
W: www.worldlit.ca

Is this yet another Wiki in Library and Information Science

My guess: that this "Wiki" is not open to all and free for all to hack, whack and crack. And, I see that it is limited by registeration and subject.
But, my librarian buddy, Baby Boomer Librarian, i.e, Wilfred Drew questions its credibility:

I was going to blog about this but had forgotten about it. As Sarah points out in her post at LibrarianInBlack, it is a wiki or wiki wanna be that is supposed to look at librarianship with a global focus. Don't waste your time. It is not even clear as to who actually owns the wiki when you look at it. There is no ownership information at all. A WHOIS query gets this information: ... READ MORE

There are others who are looking to find more authentic, authoritative info about this new foundland:

Librariansworld.com was sent to me by Amol, who tells me that it is a popular site in India, Pakistan, and the Far East. It’s the only site that I know of (please let me know if I’m wrong) that offers a social networking tool for librarians. It’s not a pure SN site, but it’s not that bad either. A good start.
Is anyone working on something like this in the states? One would think with all of the discussion about social software in our profession, it would be in the works. Steve

Librarians World
"Librarian's World is a network of Librarians & Information Scientists . It is a democratically managed site without any editor. It offers Social bookmarking, Expertise Exchange, Discussion Forums, Librarians Webpages and many other facilities with an objective of better networking & knowledge sharing amongst Librarians."

What others say:

Here is an interesting website for Library Professionals, gokhalesharad012 20 Feb 2007

Lets join and share, Iam Saravanan, Information Manager

I have read many topics on digital libraries on www.librariansworld.com, go ahead and get benefit. Venusgoody1 10 Mar 2007

Hello All, I have come across a very Interesting website www.librariansworld.com hope it will intrest you too. Thanks & Regards, Pranaykumar Soft-AID

Useful info on document preservation on www.librariansworld.com, Venusgoody1 pdflib 2007-02-21

P.S. I just received another update about the IASLIC website:
New IASLIC WEBSITE : http://www.iaslic1955.org.
Send your uggestion for its improvement
Regards
Dr Pilusjkanti Panigrahi
Dr Pijushkanti Panigrahi, Reader, Dept of Lib and Inf Science, University of Calcutta, 87/1 College Street,Kolkata - 700 073, West Bengal, India, email : panigrahipk@yahoo.com, (M) : +91 94342 43522. Secretary, Education Division, IASLIC; Associate Editor, IASLIC Bulletin, IASLIC, Kolkata-700 054

My most recent posts:

Copyrights and Copywrongs - Responsibility of Media and Academia

Wikipedia and Academia Hit News Headlines Again

Health Information and Libraries Journal 24:1 (March 2007)

Reviewing a blog - benchmarks?

Semantic Web and Facet Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

Sub: Ranganathan had SEVEN Facets and not FIVE : Facet Analysis and Semantic Web

A brief write-up about Semantic Web and Facet Analysis is available on my Website. You can directly read Purpose 2 in the write-up.
Prof. Tom Wilson (famous for his “The Non-sense of Knowledge Management” article) has put some more information on this topic in a Blog. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Thank you
F.J. Devadason
PS: Please forward this message to appropriate lists and friends working on semantic web.

"Most of the atom is empty ... most of the semantic
web is meta data ... WWW is becoming Winding Way Web

See also:

Semantic Search on Pictures, Raju

Punch Line: Finding stuff the Search Engines can't
The secrets of 'Deep Web' searches, By: Lee Ratzan, Computerworld (15 Dec 2006)

See my previous posts:

• Searching Is Polarized; Will The Five Laws Get a New Revised Version: Every Search Engine Its Searcher


• Visual Search Plus

Courses in International Librarianship

History of the terms:

Richard Krzys, writing in 1983, found the historical roots of comparative librarianship much further back, but he defined its study more broadly, and creatively, and called it “world librarianship.” (in “Crises” in Scholarly Communications: Insights from Forty Years of the Journal of Library History,
1966 – 2005, by Maria Elena Gonzalez; p. 174)

BLISS, NONIE J. "The Emergence of International Librarianship As a Field," Libri - International Journal of Libraries and Information Services , Volume 43 (1) de Gruyter – Jan 1, 1993

Through a rcvicw of the literaturc in the field of international librarianship four major arcas of concern were identified äs a framework for analysis and developmcnt of the field. These areas were: (1) theoretical context, (2) library practice, (3) education for librarianship, and (4) bibliographic access Information transcends time and space. continue reading

Course: Comparative and International Librarianship

International or Global -The Expanding Universe of Librarianship by LM Rudasill - 2009

See More at Google
see also comparative librarianship