Dear Friends,

There have been recently a number of debates about the LIS Professionals and the LIS Education. Professionals feel that the LIS Education in India needs a complete revamping. IGNOU is planning a revision in its BLIS programme. We request fellow colleagues to give their views on the syllabus of the BLIS programme. Please find attached below a broad structure of the BLIS syllabus of IGNOU. It would be appreciated if responses are specific, pertaining to different courses.

Syllabus

BLIS-01 : Library and Society

Block 1 : Development of Libraries and their Role in Society

Unit 1 : Role of Library and Information Centres in Modern Society

Unit 2 : Laws of Library Science

Unit 3 : Development Libraries in

and

USA

Unit 4 : Library Development in Modern

India

- Plans and Programmes

Block 2 : Different Types of Libraries and their Functions

Unit 5 : National Libraries: Their Function; A Descriptive Account of National Libraries of

India

and

USA

Unit 6 : Academic Libraries: School, College and University

Unit 7 : Public Libraries: Role and Functions

Unit 8 : Special Libraries and Information Centres

Block 3 : Library Legislation

Unit 9 : Library Legislation and A Model Public Library Act/Bill

Unit 10 : Library Legislation in Indian States - Their Salient Features

Block 4 : Resource Sharing and User Studies

Unit 11 : User Studies

Unit 12 : User Education

Unit 13 : Resource Sharing - Concept, Need, Form and Selected Case Studies

Block 5 : Library Associations, Promotional Agencies and Systems

Unit 14 : Librarianship as a Profession and Professional Ethics

Unit 15 : Role of professional Associations

Unit 16 : Organisations and Institutions Involved in Development of Library and Information Services

BLIS-02 : Library Management

Block 1 : Principles of Library Management

Unit 1 : General Principles of Management and their Application to Library Management

Unit 2 : Library Organisational Structure

Unit 3 : Management Information System (MIS)

Unit 4 : Physical Planning of Library

Block 2 : Information Resources Development

Unit 5 : Types of Information Resources, Selection Principles including Communication Media

Unit 6 : Different Types of Selection Tools and Their Importance

Unit 7 : Acquisition Procedure: Books and Non-Book Material

Unit 8 : Acquisition of Periodicals and Serials

Unit 9 : Technical Processing

Block 3 : Use and Maintenance of the Library

Unit 10 : Circulation Work

Unit 11 : Maintenance, Shelving and Stock Verification ,etc.

Unit 12 : Elements of Binding and Preservation

Block 4 : Human Resources Development

Unit 13 : Human Resource Development: Concept and Contours

Unit 14 : Personnel Planning

Unit 15 : Participative Management and Total Quality Management (TQM)

Block 5 : Library Finance and Budget

Unit 16 : Library Finance

Unit 17 : Budgeting and Accounting

BLIS-03: Library Classification Theory

Block 1 : Elements of Library Classification

Unit 1 : Basic Terminology and Historical Perspective

Unit 2 : Need and Purpose of Library Classification

Block 2 : Theory and Development of Library Classification

Unit 3 : General Theory of Library Classification

Unit 4 : Species of Schemes of Library Classification

Unit 5 : Learning about Subjects

Block 3 : Approaches to Library Classification

Unit 6 : Postulational and Systems Approaches

Unit 7 : Fundamental Categories, Facet analysis and Facet Sequence

Unit 8 : Phase Relation and Common Isolates

Unit 9 : Devices in Library Classification

Block 4 : Study of Selected Schemes of Library Classification

Unit 10 : Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

Unit 11 Comparative Study of 19^th , 20^th and 21^st Editions of Dewey Decimal Classification

Unit 12 : Universal Decimal Classification (UDC)

Unit 13 : Colon Classification (CC)

Unit 14 : Different versions of Colon Classification

Unit 15 : Current Trends in Library Classification

BLIS-03P: Library Classification Practice

Block 1 : Dewey Decimal Classification (19^th Edition ) - Part 1

Unit 1 : Introduction, Structure and Organisation

Unit 2 : Definition, Notes and Instructions

Unit 3 : Introduction to Three Summaries and Steps in Classifying Documents

Unit 4 : Relative Index and its Use

Block 2 : Dewey Decimal Classification (19^th Edition ) - Part 2

Unit 5 : Study of Tables and Schedules

Unit 6 : Auxiliary Tables and Devices

Unit 7 : Practical Classification

Block 3 : Colon Classification (6^th Edition) : Preliminaries

Unit 8 : Introduction, Structure, and Organisation

Unit 9 : Schedules and Techniques

Unit 10 : Steps in Classification

Block 4 : Colon Classification (6^th Edition) : Introduction to the Application of Postulates and Principles for Facet Analysis and Synthesis

Unit 11 : Humanities and Social Sciences

Unit 12 : Biological Sciences

Unit 13 : Physical Sciences and Generalia

BLIS-04: Library Cataloguing Theory

Block 1 : History, Purpose and Types of Library Catalogues

Unit 1 : Library Catalogue: Objectives, Purposes and Functions

Unit 2 : History and Development of Library Catalogue Codes

Unit 3 : Physical Form of Catalogues

Unit 4 : Types of Catalogues

Block 2 : Format of Catalogue Entries

Unit 5 : Kinds of Entries

Unit 6 : Data Elements in Different Types of Entries

Unit 7 : Filing of Entries - Classified and Alphabetical

Unit 8 : Centralized Cataloguing, Cataloguing-in Publication and Pre-Natal Cataloguing

Unit 9 : Machine Formats: MARC and CCF

Block 3 : Choice and Rendering of Headings and Cataloguing of Non-Print Media

Unit 10 : Personal Authors (Western and Indic Names)

Unit 11 : Corporate Authors

Unit 12 : Pseudonymous, Anonymous Works and Uniform Titles

Unit 13 : Cataloguing of Non-print Media

Block 4 : Subject Indexing , Vocabulary Control and Recent Developments in_. Cataloguing

Unit 14 : Subject Cataloguing- Problems

Unit 15 : Vocabulary Control: Subject Heading Lists and Thesauri

Unit 16 : Subject Indexing Models

Unit 17 : Techniques for Subjects Indexing

Unit 18 : Recent Trends in Library Cataloguing

BLIS-04P : Library Cataloguing Practice

Block 1 : AACR- 2R- Part 1

Unit 1 : Preliminaries

Unit 2 : Single Personal Author

Unit 3 : Shared Responsibility and Editorial Directions

Unit 4 : Choice Among Different Names and References

Unit 5 : Series and Multivolumes

Block 2 : AACR - 2R - Part 2

Unit 6 : Subject Headings

Unit 7 : Corporate Bodies

Unit 8 : Uniform Titles and Serials

Unit 9 : Cataloguing of Non-Print Media/User's Guide to AACR-2 R

Block 3 : Classified Catalogue Code -Part 1

Unit 10 : Preliminaries to Classified Catalogue Code

Unit 11 : Class Index Entry and Tracing

Unit 12 : Personal Authors

Unit 13 : Corporate Authors

Block 4 : Classified Catalogue Code - Part 2

Unit 14 : Analytical Entries and Composite Books

Unit 15 : Series

Unit 16 : Multivolume Publications

Unit 17 : Periodical Publications

BLIS-05 : Reference and Information Sources

Block 1 : Study of Reference Sources

Unit 1 : Reference and Information Access Tools: An Overview

Unit 2 : Types of Reference and Information Access Tools

Unit 3 : Kinds of Bibliographies

Unit 4 : Indexing and Abstracting Periodicals

Unit 5 : Reviews, State- of-Art Reports, Trend Reports, etc

Block 2 : Categories of Reference Sources - Part 1

Unit 6 : Dictionaries

Unit 7 : Encyclopedias

Unit 8 : Hand Books, Manuals, Year Books, etc.

Unit 9 : Standards, Patents, Trade Catalogues, etc.