[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/city/ahmedabad/Is-it-the-end-of-road...] AHMEDABAD: Books have shifted from laps to laptops and reading has been reduced from pages to keywords so have libraries and librarians, who are known as knowledge resource' and knowledge professionals'. A seminar on future libraries and librarians at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) with participants from prominent academic institutions and business organizations shared their views about the existing system of libraries and what the future holds for them. Satish Deshpande, former head of British Council Library, said that the concept of a knowledge centre has undergone a paradigm shift. "When we think of library, we see an image of a dull place with an uninterested librarian and graveyard peace. However, the new-age resources do not depend on printed books only. Internet has become the biggest knowledge store house," he said. The educational institutes are feeling the heat. Dr TS Kumbhar, librarian at DA-IICT told TOI that the percentage of the subscription of the books by students has fallen drastically over the years. "We, as knowledge professionals, have an important role to play in guiding students to the right resources. We are already working on the concept of a virtual library," he said. Anil Kumar, librarian at IIM-Ahmedabad, told TOI that the automation of the library does not automatically convert into efficiency. "A library's role also includes documentation of the knowledge gathered by an institute and make it available to the others. The students also expect a lot more than just a classification of the information and issuance of books," he said. -- Posted By Engg-Lib-Forum from India to ELF at 10/11/2009 08:12:00 PM -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.