eChapters

INTRODUCTION

The World Wide has become one of the most important media for sharing information resources, digital documents, images, movies and various other types of resources. The research results, new findings, and opinions can also be put on the web from any where at any time. Owing to the dynamic nature of web information, the contents of many websites and their web pages are constantly being updated to reflect the latest changes.

The Web has also freed the user‘s dependence on library resources for finding information related to address and contact details of a person/institution, contents pages of books, journals, etc. Looking at the web has become an innovative trend in the reference service to complement dated print sources. At present many academic institutes in India have their own website and present all kinds of information about themselves. Information content is, however, one thing; Web site design and organisation is quite another matter. The existing institutions of Web sites are as different as are the institutions because even a high-quality institution may have a low-quality Web site that turns users off. Obviously, different institutions have a wide range of target groups, level of service, resources etc. Stover (1997) has outlined the different types of Web sites that academic, public and special libraries have created.

INTRODUCTION

The phenomenal growth and reach of World Wide Web (www) has been one of the most significant developments in the last few years. It has rapidly gained popularity and has become most widely used application of the Internet. Today, the World Wide Web has emerged as the most powerful medium for information publishing and access. A plethora of information sources.

The user friendly interface and hypertext features of Web have been attracting a significant number of users as well as information providers. The web-based e-services are increasingly being used by research communities as a viable means to access to a plethora of digital resources in networked information environment. Concomitantly, utilization of such electronic methods and means is expanding substantially throughout the chain of e-research and scientific knowledge production.

INTRODUCTION

For centuries, social and technological changes have been affecting every profession. During the last two decades rapid technological development has affected library services as well. Specifically for the last five years, Web 2.0 technologies have significant impact on the higher education sector as well on the libraries all over world. Tim O’Reilly invented the term Web 2.0 in 2004

INTRODUCTION

In the current climate of rapid change, whether political, economical, social or technological, the importance of knowledge cannot be ignored. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the development of the society which is based on the development of the individual person of that society. Once society is developed automatically the nation will develop. Developed countries have already realized the importance of knowledge and accordingly collected and organized properly. The developing countries like India are now realizing its importance. It has been felt that without knowledge society and then nation cannot be developed.

On this backdrop someone has to come forward and act as a broker between those who have knowledge and those who may use it. No doubt, knowledge cannot be well managed until some organization or professional takes the clear responsibility of it. Library professionals are the right persons to shoulder this responsibility.

Knowledge is action. It is a value-added behavior and activity. It provides the ability to respond to a novel situation. The person having knowledge can take right decision at right time in any critical situation. Such decisions will definitely get fruitful results. Therefore it should not be neglected. It must be focused and shared.

INTRODUCTION

Information literacy has been the subject of many studies over many years. The originating concept of information literacy is generally attributed to Paul Zurkowski, in 1974 (Spitzer, Eisenberg & Lowe 1998). Indeed, since 1974 information literacy has been an area of increasing interest to librarians and information professionals and there is a huge amount of literature on the topic. However, the majority of publications have come from the industrialised, English-speaking countries, especially from the United States and Australia. Information literacy is related to information technology skills, but has broader implications for the individual, the educational system, and for society. Information literacy is a natural extension of the concept of literacy in our information society. Information literacy education is the catalyst required to transform the information society of today into the learning society of tomorrow. IL is generally seen as pivotal to the pursuit of lifelong learning, and central to achieving both personal empowerment and economic development. Information literacy is a key component of, and contributor to, lifelong learning. Information literacy is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological changes and proliferating information resources. Because of the escalating complexity of this environment, individuals are faced with diverse and abundant information choices—in their studies, in the workplace, and in their personal lives. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.

The phrase “information skills” (rather than information literacy) is used, for example, by the Standing Conference of National and University Libraries (SCONUL) in the name of its Task Force, and was used by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) when tendering for a project looking at training in UK further and higher education.

Information literacy competency ensures maximum utilization of the information resources as well as optimization of information handling capabilities.. Information literacy competency extends learning beyond formal classroom settings and provides practice with self-directed investigations as individuals move into internships, first professional positions, and increasing responsibilities in all arenas of life. Because information literacy augments students ’ competency with evaluating, managing, and using information, it is now considered by several regional and discipline-based accreditation associations as a key outcome for college students and for “on campus “ students..

INTRODUCTION

Library Consortia is the sharing of resources among the libraries based on a number and utility over their respected areas. The resources that are shared in today’s consortia atmosphere are largely in electronic form such as electronic journals and databases. The aim of consortia is to accomplish what the members of the group cannot achieve individually, and its intention is sharing of resources, manpower and money, etc. It is regarded as a valuable strategy to increase the buying power and risk-sharing capacity of academic libraries over a short term. It is also a chance to maximize the opportunities for joint collection development and resource sharing over the long term. A consortium has the ability to share resources without forfeiting the individuality of member library. As a result, the end-users can collect the benefits of more resources than would be accessible through one library, while staff can adapt the system to meet their individual library’s needs. It can be a single agency with multiple locations around the world, all sharing one name, or the consortia members can retain their own name, but use the name of the consortia to recognize that they are the part of a larger, often worldwide, organization. It acts as director for the electronic resource sharing at the national, regional and local levels. The accessibility of IT-based electronic information products put forth portions of their budgetary allocation for either acquiring or accessing web-based online full-text search services, online databases shared services, on the one hand, permits flourishing consumption and desktop access to electronic resources at highly increasing users demands and growing cost of journals.

INTRODUCTION

Library networks and cooperatives were formed to provide support among libraries, leveraging staff and resources to provide cost-effective and efficient services that the libraries individually could not afford. By 1960s, the networks and cooperatives were focusing on automation; it was through them that library automation was introduced and pioneering efforts in resource sharing began. As the world of libraries changed, other services became the business of networks and cooperatives. Frequently, services initiated by networks were later integrated into the daily operations of individual libraries. Examples of such pioneering services included Internet connectivity and training; teleconferencing; services to special populations; distance learning; database licensing and training. Hence the discipline of LIS meant to manage and provide information service may not be taught effectively and practiced perfectly through a framed curriculum in the formal education stream alone. Driven by the market demands and user needs, the discipline is embracing other disciplines like computers, communication technology research etc. Library consortia and networking are not new to the library community as it is the latest phrase of the so-called library cooperation, library networks and so on. We have talked a lot about the issues that caused the lack of successful implementation of library networks in India. Of them, technology and economics are very important factors for realizing a successful cooperation. We talked about the solutions that are of global in nature but never suited Indian environments with its economic background. The result is that we developed library networks, but nothing to share. And then we realized that we need to develop information resources in the electronic form so that library networks become effective for the purposes they were setup. We have had number of conferences, meetings, publications etc on discussing the bibliographic formats, standards and the software to host these resources. There was a lot of initiatives by networks such as INFLIBNET, DELNET and other library networks supported by NISSAT to formulate bibliographic standards and formats that is suitable for Indian environment. And the database development activities started. Union catalogs of serials, thesis and dissertations were developed followed by catalog of books. Web enabled search interfaces were also developed for searching. However, union catalog system will be effective only when they are supported by efficient and timely document delivery system.

INTRODUCTION

Libraries are undergoing rapid changes due to the developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT). Paper based resources are giving way to electronic resources. The dynamic linking capability of web has provided users unrestricted access to information. ICT has brought massive changes in distance mode of education. ICT has helped to introduce many virtual universities in the world, which are operated through Internet and other telecommunication technologies. The e-learning library should organize and present the e-learning resources and services in a way that help users to locate and retrieve materials needed efficiently.

At present e-portals of various organizations come across as gateway for the websites that aggregates information from variety of sources, providing access to information network and set of services through the web. For examples the libraries of National Research Centers of India, Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM). The approach of learning of these institutes doesn’t mean composed, organized and packaged e-information resources in a blogging pattern but it is comprehensive and fully accessible to the user as reader and writer. Undoubtedly, a study of e-library environment of these institutes immensely helps us in evaluate the potential of proliferation of digitalization of libraries in India.

INTRODUCTION

Education, as is widely argued is a method of knowledge sharing and distance education is a concept in education that is widely prevalent. Several people around the world qualify themselves through this mode of education. Though widely popular, it has its limitations with respect to production, reproduction and distribution costs, however, the role of distance education is shifting (Caswell et al. 2008). This shift is accomplished with the help of technology, which reduces and almost nullifies the reproduction costs (Caswell et al. 2008). This is a step towards making the quality of life of learners around the world improve (Caswell et al. 2008). Further as Caswell et al. (2008), rightly quote that, this is also the beginning of a movement to ensure the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26, which declares that everyone has the right to education and “technical and professional education shall be made generally available” (United Nations, 1948).

Distance learning made possible through the help of technology specifically the internet or e-learning is not a new concept. Several individual course materials are available online (Baldi et al. 2003). However, systematically organizing and structuring the academic course materials from different disciplines and easy retrieval of such information is a sign of innovation (Baldi et al. 2003). This innovation which is currently made possible through initiatives of different Universities, institutes of learning and organizations is popularly titled Open Course Ware (OCW).

INTRODUCTION

Digital resources are growing at an exponential rate and uncountable stacks of resources are available on the web. Semantic based search engines and meta-search engines stimulate resource discovery on digital collections1. During recent years an increasing quantity and variety of digital material has been created or held by libraries, and consequently many standards have been developed to encode different catego-ries of metadata for specific object types. Metadata today is an essential phenomenon for electronic cataloguing, federated searching, and open URLs. Selecting metadata is perceived to be essential for the librarians in pursuing long-term management and preservation of digital objects in digital library. Metadata is also important for digital archivists, database developers, resource authors, web-page designers, aggregators, system designers, as well as seekers of electronic information. In fact, metadata is inevitable for digital resource management and for discovering information from a large distributed environment. Metadata is expected to improve matching by standardizing the structure2 and content of indexing or cataloguing information. The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standards (METS) were developed to deal with diverse metadata is-sues. It is an XML Schema designed as an overall framework3 within which all the metadata associ-ated with a single digital object can be stored or referred to. It enables effective management of digital objects within the repository; acts as a standard for transferring metadata within repositor-ies, facilitates access and navigation by the researcher, and links the digital object and its meta-data inextricably together.

INTRODUCTION

Libraries are social institutions bestowed with the responsibility of storing preserving the cultural heritage of accounting and making them available for use to the community. The inherent characteristics of artifacts, the storage conditions and the type; intensity and amount of the processes of monitoring the physical condition of the library’s materials and taking action to prevent future deterioration are critical issues. Preservation issues can be defined as those that relate to the longevity of materials, while conservation issues include handling and storage. Ironically, books published since the beginning of the 20^th century are more likely to decay than the older books. Other modern materials such as microfilm, photographs, videotapes, and films have unique preservation need.

INTRODUCTION

The Digital Library concept has evolved to provide solutions for storage, access, dissemination, content delivery and it paved way to mobile library, as we can browse and share content while on the move. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has given a new shape to the learning process, which includes reading, understanding and gaining information, which becomes knowledge. As the type of format of information changed from written to e-format, libraries assumed the role of digital libraries.

The library is a place which holds the information resources in print and digital formats. The concept of digital library is a major success as it came out of closed four walls of library and reached readers in their home, workplace and even while traveling, with the help of mobile electronic gadgets like laptop, palmtop, e-Book reader etc. e-Learning technology is a wonderful gift provided by the present day technological advancement and innovations. e-Learning is the convergence of learning and the Internet’ and it has brought about profound changes around the globe in the way people learn and train, allowing them to do it anywhere, any time. Through the World Wide Web the users can access e-content from any point, off or in campus, through a computer and connectivity.

INTRODUCTION

Andries Van Dam of Brown University, USA coined the term electronic book. E-books are print versions of books, which exist in electronic formats and can be read on a machine. The development of e-book started around 1960s by Alan Kay, called the Dyna Book. Stephen King’s ‘Riding the Bullet’ was one of the most popular electronic books available on the web. The electronic documents are easy to access, easy to search, inexpensive and economy in storage. An e-book can be purchased/borrowed, downloaded, and used immediately, whereas to buy a printed book, one must go to a bookshop, or library etc. It can reduce photocopying activities. The concept of Digital library was created based on the electronic documents.

The transfer of ownership of an e-book author is very difficult, whereas such transfer is possible in printed books. It is cheaper and easier for authors to self-publish e-books when compared to printed form. In electronic format there is no hold on licensing. The problems with e-documents are lack of long term access, dependence on the computer, lack of standardization and less permanent. Digital Right Management system is one of the most important development of electronic publishing. It has control over intellectual property. The e-publishers are more concerned about rights. They are offering limited usage for printing, downloading and copying.

INTRODUCTION

Information services are keys to the development of agriculture education, research and extension education in India. The services are rendered by the agricultural department, university, college and ICAR institute libraries. In changing scenario the users of libraries access the information themselves from various sources such as computer, internet, television, e-governance, videoconferencing, call centers, mobile phones and other electronic sources from anywhere, at any time as and when required.

Agricultural trends are changing everyday with the development of new research techniques and technologies and in support of this a heterogeneous knowledge is available in the form of various electronic sources. To make the best of emerging technologies in agriculture, it is vital that agricultural students, scientists, research scholars, academicians, extension workers, agriculturalists receive continuous information on education, research, extension work, training and to the cultivators on topics such as pesticide management, use of better seeds, irrigation and use etc. for the development of farm and farming. With the introduction of new technology that affects both their processes and products, libraries become more and more hybrid organizations. Hybrid libraries are mixes of traditional print material like books and magazines, as well as electronic based material such as downloadable audio books, electronic journals, e-books, etc. Because of this shift, libraries face many challenges, the most important of which is the competition for scarce resources. In this competition libraries have to change the allocation of resources from the more traditional processes like circulation to more value added processes like direct self-services to their patrons. The FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, providing behind the scenes assistance to help people help themselves.

1. INTRODUCTION

With the rapid development of Information Communication Technology (ICT), many new services have been introduced in libraries to satisfy the need of users in a better way. Institutional Repository is a type of information service which involves collection, organization, preservation and dissemination of digital scholarly materials such as theses, dissertations, technical reports, journal articles and teaching materials. It is created and maintained by an individual library/ organization or a group of libraries/organizations with an aim to preserve the institutional knowledge .Thus basically it is an online locus for collecting, preserving and disseminating the intellectual output of an academic or research institution in digital form, created and maintained by the institution itself.

“Clifford Lynch defines “ a university based Institutional Repositories as a set of services that a university offers to the members of its community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members. It is most essentially an organizational commitment to the stewardship of these digital materials, including long-term preservation where appropriate, as well as organization and access or distribution” ¹

Similarly Mark defines IR as “An institutional repository (IR) is defined to be a web-based database (repository) of scholarly material which is institutionally defined (as opposed to a subject-based repository); cumulative and perpetual (a collection of record); open and interoperable (e.g. using OAI-compliant software); and thus collects, stores and disseminates (is part of the process of scholarly communication). In addition, most would include long-term preservation of digital materials as a key function of IRs”²

INTRODUCTION

Digital libraries are a set of electronic resources and associated technical capabilities for creating, searching, and using Information; they are an extension and enhancement of information storage and retrieval systems that manipulate digital data in any medium. The content of digital libraries includes data and metadata. Digital libraries are constructed, Collected, and organized by a community of users and their functional capabilities support the information needs and uses of that community.

A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system. Man is a communicator of information, not simply a user of tools. The history of civilization is the history of improved means of communication. Man always desires to improve the means of communicating. Documents are the artifacts of recorded knowledge that is information. Documents are meant for communication knowledge to larger audiences. Libraries have stored and served the documents to the users.

Thus, libraries have performed as one of the links between generators of information and its users. The developments of libraries from print paper based libraries to digital libraries seem an illustration of man’s never-ending desire to improve his means of communication. In the digital world highway, there is stress on three factors (a) Awareness of information: it provides breadth of vision (b) awareness of technology: gives the power to make the visions manifest, and (c) awareness of needs facilitates the insight to use professional skills and talents to greater effect.

INTRODUCTION

Information has now become one of the basic needs of human being in addition to air, water, food and shelter. There is no human activity in the world without information. It is a basic raw material for right decision making from the governmental level to the personal level. It is an indispensable tool for teachers and research scholars.

Now-a-days, ICT advancements and developments have changed the libraries from mere store house of printed materials into gateways to knowledge of the world of information. The collection of modern library is not restricted to print media only but libraries are adding e-resources to their existing collections. Users need not come to library to meet their information needs. They may use online catalogue, web based database, online e-journals etc remote from library. In view of the above, information need and seeking pattern of users particularly research scholars are likely to change. Based on this, an attempt has been made to study on use pattern of electronic resources by Physics and Chemistry research scholars.

INTRODUCTION

Library and information centers are primarily service institutions which are expected to provide information to the entire satisfaction of user groups. However, in recent times, it is observed that there is conglomeration of several services in a pin-pointed manner in which the libraries are facing problem of confusion. Therefore, leading library and information centers have started adopting emerging management principles and practices in their functions and operations. Among all these new traits of management the concept of quality management appears to have a dynamic impact upon the improvement of organizational objective and functions. Since agriculture libraries are vibrant information organizations their quality of services needs to be improved in the modern technological era. The application of Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the vital aspects of the management techniques that appears to be very much applicable and can bring about a great transformation in quality of library services. The present paper makes an analytic discussion on the applicability of TQM in Agriculture Libraries in India.

INTRODUCTION

Research and teaching increasingly rely on global networks for the creation, storage, evaluate, and disseminate the knowledge. The 21^st century has brought enormous change in higher education throughout the world as a result of new information and technological developments. We are outfitting our schools, libraries, and homes with electronic technologies, but are we preparing our students and teachers for the onslaught of information that is provided by these technologies? What happens when the student can get more information from the Internet than previously conveyed by a teacher or a textbook? What should a student do when faced with so many informational possibilities ? Which of the information is credible and which is not?

The teacher’s role must evolve from the giver of knowledge into being more of a coach or guide. Teachers, librarians, administrators, and the community must collaborate to develop ways to involve the student not only in using classroom materials but also in using resources from the broader community and the mass media.

Teachers must be prepared to teach student to become critical thinkers, intellectually curious observers, creators, and users of information. In this context university libraries need to be dynamic, take a leading role in assessing the information literacy and computer literacy competence of the teachers and plan for conducting such programmes to improve the situation. One such attempt has been made by the Authors and the result is reported here.

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has made the libraries more powerful in the collection development, processing and retrieval of information. The advent of internet has not only made it possible to connect the libraries over the world, but also to search a huge repository of databases. The technology has developed to online system to connect commercialize vendors as well as learned societies with the databases to seek and obtain the needed information. The use of computer and digital technologies in teaching and learning has been evolved not just through the increase of distance learning or virtual courses but through the use of cyber education as an adjunct to the traditional classroom. This increased the trend of access to technology in Library and Information Centers and has given the opportunity to use those resources and improve the skill. In order to acquaint themselves with the new technological environment, the users are required to be more conversant with those skills.

Libraries & Information Centers play an important role in supporting the teaching, learning, research and extension programme of universities. These are made possible by building and developing good collection of selected documents both in print as well as digital form and by supporting it with various services for their dissemination. There is such an exponential growth of information in today’s era that students, faculties, research scholars often lack the scope of getting proper education or instruction to use those resources to the optimum possible limit. To overcome this difficulty and to maximize the use of such resources proper library instruction must be imparted to the user community which is otherwise known as Library User Education.