Dear Friends, Having followed with interest the discussion in this regard, I thought of sharing the following with you all. * Criticality of 'Language' as a conduit for 'carrying knowledge' and as an inevitable means of expressing and articulating ones ideas cannot be over emphasised. * Ideas/Knowledge is as good as it is packaged and presented in a medium. Let us not forget the McLuhian 'Medium is the message' axiom * Ranganathan's 'three planes of work' concept in the realm of Classification applies to all aspects of work in general. It is important that we understand the influence and impact of the verbal plane on the idea plane and vice versa * The field of Psycholinguistics has wrestled with the issues of language , concept formation and thought processes without reaching a consensus * Our ancient Indic Scholars had very skillfully and adroitly explicated the importance of interplay of 'language or words' and 'thoughts and meanings' in this way- they recognised three genres of 'UKTI' (speeches or statements'): MANTRA (Vedic Verses); SHASTRA (or precepts-learned works); and KAVYA ( Poetry or literature in general). According to our sages, words and their meanings have different levels of 'import' in these three categories. In SHASTRA ( i.e. scientific knowledge' ) the language is a tool to learn, to understand the world and we reach out to the world outside through the language. Knowledge or truths (as knowledge was known as) is assimilated through the meanings of words. If the link between 'concepts' 'words' and meanings are broken, then the world of knowledge gets segregated resulting in a kind of turmoil. Since it is not possible to express knowledge without language, it is necessary THOUGH NOT PRIMARY We at DLIS, Mysore believing in the significance of Language and communication skills have always striven to help our students augment their language skills through a variety of activities. For example some years back, we used to conduct 'what is the good word' contest. Some of our recent efforts in this direction are- 1. In the new revised syllabus for M.L.I. Sc (coming to effect from the academic year 2005-2006), we have introduced one full paper on ' Personality development and communication skills' (carrying 100 marks) in the first semester (thanks to our Board of Studies, which deemed it fit to introduce this change). Visit our website- www.lisc.uni-mysore.ac.in http://www.lisc.uni-mysore.ac.in/ 2. We have also introduced a novel competition for the students. Recognizing the importance of reading habits in strengthening communication skills, a monthly newspaper reading and clipping contest with two prizes- of INR 100 and 75 -where in students identify, collect newspaper write ups relating to 'Information world' and submit a well presented and bound volume 3. Weekly 'English coaching classes' for students * the above two have been voluntary efforts and initiatives by the faculty Shalini -------- Dr.Shalini R. Urs Director Information and Communication Division & Professor and Chairperson Department of Library and Information Science University of Mysore Mysore-570006 India Tele-91-821-2514699 Fax -91-821-2519209 homepage:www.vidyanidhi.org.in/shaliniurs.htm <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Tunga; panose-1:0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:4194304 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:script; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; 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Ideas/Knowledge is as good as it is packaged and presented in a medium. Let us not forget the McLuhian ‘Medium � is the message’ axiom Ranganathan’s �� ‘three planes of work’ concept in the realm of Classification applies to all aspects of work in general. It is important that we understand the influence and impact of the verbal plane on the idea plane and vice versa The field of Psycholinguistics has wrestled with the issues of language , concept formation and thought processes without reaching a consensus Our ancient Indic Scholars had very skillfully and adroitly explicated the importance of interplay of ‘language or words’ and ‘thoughts and meanings’ in this way- they recognised three genres of �� ‘UKTI’ (speeches or statements’): MANTRA (Vedic Verses); SHASTRA (or precepts-learned works); and KAVYA ( Poetry or literature in general). According to our sages, words and their meanings have different levels of ‘import’ in these three categories. In SHASTRA ( i.e . scientific knowledge’ ) the language is a tool to learn, to understand the world and we reach out to the world outside through the language. Knowledge or truths (as knowledge was known as) is assimilated through the meanings of words. If the link between ‘concepts’ � ‘words’ and meanings are broken, then the world of knowledge gets segregated resulting in a kind of turmoil. Since it is not possible to express knowledge without language, it is necessary THOUGH � NOT PRIMARY � We at DLIS, Mysore believing in the significance of Language and communication skills have always striven to help our students augment their language skills through a variety of activities. For example some years back, we used to conduct ‘what is the good word’ contest. Some of our recent efforts in this direction are- � In the new revised syllabus for M.L.I. Sc (coming to effect from the academic year 2005-2006), we have introduced one full paper on ‘ Personality development and communication skills’ � (carrying 100 marks) in the first semester (thanks to our Board of Studies, which deemed it fit to introduce this change). Visit our website- http://www.lisc.uni-mysore.ac.in/ www.lisc.uni-mysore.ac.in We have also introduced a novel competition for the students. Recognizing the importance of reading habits in strengthening communication skills, a monthly newspaper reading and clipping contest with two prizes- of INR 100 and 75 –where in students identify, collect newspaper write ups relating to ‘Information world’ and submit a well presented and bound volume Weekly ‘English coaching classes’ for students � the above two have been voluntary efforts and initiatives by the faculty � � � Shalini -------- Dr.Shalini R. Urs Director Information and Communication Division & Professor and Chairperson Department of Library and Information Science University of Mysore Mysore-570006 India Tele-91-821-2514699 Fax -91-821-2519209 homepage:www.vidyanidhi.org.in/shaliniurs.htm �