Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 18:44:59 +0530
From: Jagtar Singh
*Library Should be the Second Home of Library Users*
Presiding over the Valedictory Function of the three-day National Workshop
on Quality Indicators and Best Practices for Academic Libraries, organized
by the Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University,
Patiala during 04-06 March 2008, Dr. G.S. Kang, Dean, Faculty of Education
and Information Sciences, Punjabi University Patiala underlined the need for
providing quality resources and services in college and university
libraries. He also said that libraries are integral parts of any academic
institution; hence they should strive to provide value-added library
services. Speaking on this occasion, the Guest of Honour Mr. Mohammad Ahsan
Tahami, President of the Punjab Branch of Pakistan Library Association, said
that the workshop has provided an opportunity to him develop professional
relationship with India and other South Asian countries. He further said
that in this era of rapid change and obsolescence, continuous professional
education and training is essential to come up to the expectations of
library users. Such workshops provide an opportunity to the Library and
Information Professionals (LIPs) to share their experiences, expertise, and
professional problems. This workshop has been a great success and I
congratulate the organizers.
Prof. Jagtar Singh, the Workshop Coordinator, said that in this workshop
about 100 LIPs from India and Pakistan have interacted very seriously to
identify quality indicators and best practices for academic libraries. This
workshop was conceived with the objectives of (a) sensitizing the
stakeholders about quality issues in libraries, (b) updating them with the
latest in library and information work; (c) exchanging experience,
expertise, and issues facing the profession; (d) developing partnerships;
(e) managing feedback from the professionals; (f) identifying quality
indicators and best practices; and (g) finding out possibility of
establishing a federation of library association for South Asian countries.
The workshop was organized into eight technical sessions which included the
inaugural, valedictory, and open session, besides five technical sessions.
Though there was tremendous response to this workshop, yet only top 25
presentations could be made in five technical sessions. These included
presentations from the experts, such as Dr HK Kaul, Director, DELNET on ICT
Literacy for* *library educators and practitioners; Prof. RL Raina,
Director, Lal Bahdur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi on
University-Industry partnership; Dr Harish Chandra, Librarian, IIT Madras on
Quality indicators and best practices in the digital context; Dr. CR
Karisiddappa, President, Indian Association of Teachers of Library and
Information Science on Quality indicators for college libraries; Dr. DV
Singh, Senior Vice President, Indian Library Association on change
management; Dr M. Koganuramath, Librarian, Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Mumbai on managing learning resources in academic libraries; Dr W.
Senewiratne, Librarian, Open University of Sri Lanka on Criteria for Quality
Assurance; Prof MP Satija of Guru Nanak Ddev University (GNDU) on Knowledge
organization; Prof. IV Malhan on NAAC accreditation and academic libraries;
SK Arora of Indira Gandhi National Open University on Quality management for
open and distance learners; Prof. Manorama Srinath from Madras University on
TQM in academic libraries; Mr PV Rao of MG state Institute of Public
Administartion Punjab, Chandigarh on Open source software for empowerment of
information poor; Dr HS Chopra of GNDU on Impact of ICTs on academic
libraries; Prof. Jagtar Singh on Quality collection development in academic
libraries; Dr Trishanjit Kaur on Quality in context of library users; Dr HPS
Kalra on Quality indicators for information services; Kuvir Kaur and Dr.
Kulwinder Singh on Copyright concerns for academic libraries; and Mr Kadsam
Mashroowala of National Institute of Fashion technology (NIFT) Resource
Centre, Gandhinagar on Best practices at NIFT Resource Centre.
Earlier, while inaugurating this workshop organized by the Department of
Library & Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala on 4 March 2008,
Prof. R.G. Prasher, Former Dean, Faculty of Arts, Sagar University, Sagar
forcefully concerned that Academic Libraries should not be starved of funds
and quality manpower. Mr. M. Moni, Deputy Director General of National
Informatics Centre (NIC), Govt. of India, said in his keynote address that
ICT must be used to spread education and support library outreach,
particularly in the rural areas. Mrs. Kalpana Dasgupta, Library Advisor,
National Knowledge Commission (NKC), informed the workshop participants
about the recommendations of NKC to facilitate access to quality information
at grassroots level. Mr. DV Singh, Senior Vice President of Indian Library
Association stressed upon developing learning resources in local languages
and promoting quality consciousness among the LIPs for strategic
professional learning and change management. Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice
Chancellor, Punjabi University said in his presidential address that library
should be a second home for the library users. He further said that from the
next financial year, special grant will be made available to the Punjabi
University Library to preserve valuable manuscripts and make it a model
university library.
Delegates at the workshop represented various institutions such as National
Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New
Delhi; National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Resource Centre,
Gandhinagar; Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; MG State Institute
of Public Administration, Punjab, Chandigarh; various management
institutions; and Jammu, Guru Nanak Dev, Panjab, Kurukshetra, and Delhi
universities. The workshop was also represented from cross section of
library networks and associations at international, national, and local
levels, e.g. from International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions, (IFLA), International Association of School Librarianship
(IASL), Developing Library Network (DELNET), Information and Library Network
(INFLIBNET), Pakistan Library Association (PLA), Indian Library Association
(ILA), Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Information Science
(IATLIS), Confederation of Library Associations of North India (COLANI),
Punjab Library Association (PLA), Haryana Library Association (HLA),
Chandigarh Librarians Association (CLA), and Punjab Govt. College
Librarians Association (GCLA). Various facets of academic libraries were
discussed in the context of quality issues from the broader context of
quality in academic libraries, changing context and change management,
quality criteria, TQM, users perspectives, industry expectations and best
practices, collection development, processing, preservation, dissemination
and use, information services, digital context and the impact of ICTs, open
source software, resource sharing and library networks, LIS education,
research and training, open and distance education, etc.
Mrs. Jaspal Kaur, Chairperson, COLANI and General Secretary, CLA; and Mr
Kuldip Singh, Librarian, Government College, Tanda represented the delegates
of the workshop in echoing their concerns regarding need for balancing
theory and practice through more such workshops, conferences, seminars, and
refresher courses. They also suggested that for future such programmes,
recent developments and trends, practical demonstrations and library visits
should respectively be arranged. Authors, presenters, delegates and
dignitaries at the workshop said in one voice that LIPs should focus on
strategic professional learning and quality assurance for staying ahead of
change and competition in the emerging knowledge society.
--
Dr. Jagtar Singh,
Workshop Coordinator & Professor,
Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala
Pin - 147 002 (India)
&
Standing Committee Member,
IFLA Information Technology Section
Email: jagtar.kindu@gmail.com
Tel: +91 (0)175 304 6179 (Work)
+91 (0)175 228 2727 (Home)
Fax: +91 (0)175 228 3073
