Dear Members, I would really want to say thanks to Dr. Sarkhel for giving the exact or approx. statistics over here. This mail really gives a idea of demand - supply of this profession in job market. If we look at LIS jobs as a type of business then we have to really think from this angle. Some time back while taking interviews for junior position I seen the quality of most of the new comers and felt very bad. The standard has come down a lot (I am NOT saying that there is no standard remained at all). It seems that reputed institutes as well giving admission to whoever is coming to enroll. That brings our market further down. Selection of candidate and revision in course material has become basic needs in our profession. The course should include more and more practical based / situation based curriculum where guest lecturers would come from various types of libraries and brief students about profiles in market or problems and solutions in actual work scenario. Their can be a special paper of case studies like most of MBA colleges have. We can also have the exams at state or national level than of board level so that only those students will pass who actually put efforts (but the paper checking should be without any bias and corruption less). Associations should make it compulsory to close down the course for those colleges who can not achieve the results as per pre-decided conditions. This would give a standard in market and also the supply in field will have some quality and restricted quantity. The tricks and methods suggested by all my friend are really worth and good to apply but the person who has to apply that should be capable enough to do that and the production of such capable persons will be from our educational factories. So I guess it has become the responsibility of our associations to check the standard of institutes and students graduating from them, before they start fighting for rights of current and future professionals who would be coming in field. If people are capable enough then it make sense to fight for their existence or else the image of these associations would get spoil to for defending those who are good for nothing or not upto the standards. And when we have standard in ourself then at later stages we can fight for standard response to our expectations like types of jobs, salaries offered for various positions etc. Regards, Monali Panchbhai - Maduskar Mumbai. From: jksarkhel@hotmail.com To: lis-forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:10:51 +0530 Subject: [LIS-Forum] Accreditation of LIS Education Dear Friends, I do agree with Smita, Parinita,Vijay Gautam, K Desale, Prof. Mangla and others who have expressed concern over the present state of LIS education in our country. In this connection, I Iike to say that India today has more than 100 LIS schools at the university level alone churning out at least 5000 LIS degree holders — 4500 bachelor degree holders and 500 master degree holders — even at a modest estimate, which is several times more than the available job opportunities in Indian market and possibly highest production in the world. All these have brought into focus the question of continued relevance and adequacy of the present programme of LIS education. The present scene in LIS education in India gives dismal condition and reflects a very disappointing scene. To achieve academic excellence, it is of utmost importance that standards and norms for LIS education should be set by an external agency and thereafter adherence to them be made mandatory. The immediate task is to establish a mechanism for accreditation of LIS courses offered by different library schools in India. It is a high time that the Government of India should pass an Act for LIS education on the analogy of Indian Medical Council Act, BAR Council of India Act and All India Council of Technical Education Act which would help in standardization of LIS education in India. The proposed Act should make provision for establishing a Library and Information Science (LIS) Council of India (or in any other name) and it should function as a central agency to provide guidelines and standards in LIS education and practices. I think all library professionals should come forward to raise their voice in favour of accreditation of LIS education to overcome its present crisis. Dr. J. K. Sarkhel Professor & Head Dept of Library & Information Science University of Kalyani Kalyani-741235 West Bengal; India MSN Tech and Gadgets: You are just one click away from a total update on the latest gadgets and games Try it! -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. _________________________________________________________________ Searching for the best deals on travel? Visit MSN Travel. http://in.msn.com/coxandkings -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.