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Abstract:
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Information and communication technologies are the tools that underpin the emerging
“Knowledge Society”. Exchange of information or knowledge between people and
through networks of people has always taken place. But the ICT has radically changed
the magnitude of this exchange, and thus factors such as timeliness of information and
information dissemination patterns have become more important than ever.Since information and knowledge are so vital for the all round human development,
libraries and institutions that manage these resources are indeed invaluable. So, the
Library and Information Centres have a key role in the acquisition, processing,
preservation and dissemination of information and knowledge. ln the modern context,
library is providing service based on different types of documents such as manuscripts,
printed, digital, etc. At the same time, acquisition, access, process, service etc. of these
resources have become complicated now than ever before. The lCT made instrumental
to extend libraries beyond the physical walls of a building and providing assistance in
navigating and analyzing tremendous amounts of knowledge with a variety of digital
tools. Thus, modern libraries are increasingly being re-defined as places to get
unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.The research was conducted in the university libraries in Kerala State, India. lt was
identified that even though the information resources are flooding world over and
several technologies have emerged to manage the situation for providing effective
services to its clientele, most of the university libraries in Kerala were unable to exploit
these technologies at maximum level. Though the libraries have automated many of
their functions, wide gap prevails between the possible services and provided services.
There are many good examples world over in the application of lCTs in libraries for the
maximization of services and many such libraries have adopted the principles of reengineering
and re-defining as a management strategy. Hence this study was targeted
to look into how effectively adopted the modern lCTs in our libraries for maximizing
the efficiency of operations and services and whether the principles of re-engineering
and- redefining
can be applied towards this.Data‘ was collected from library users, viz; student as well as faculty users; library
,professionals and university librarians, using structured questionnaires. This has been
.supplemented by-observation of working of the libraries, discussions and interviews with the different types of users and staff, review of literature, etc. Personal
observation of the organization set up, management practices, functions, facilities,
resources, utilization of information resources and facilities by the users, etc. of the
university libraries in Kerala have been made. Statistical techniques like percentage,
mean, weighted mean, standard deviation, correlation, trend analysis, etc. have been
used to analyse data.All the libraries could exploit only a very few possibilities of modern lCTs and hence
they could not achieve effective Universal Bibliographic Control and desired efficiency
and effectiveness in services. Because of this, the users as well as professionals are
dissatisfied. Functional effectiveness in acquisition, access and process of information
resources in various formats, development and maintenance of OPAC and WebOPAC,
digital document delivery to remote users, Web based clearing of library counter
services and resources, development of full-text databases, digital libraries and
institutional repositories, consortia based operations for e-journals and databases, user
education and information literacy, professional development with stress on lCTs,
network administration and website maintenance, marketing of information, etc. are
major areas need special attention to improve the situation. Finance, knowledge level
on ICTs among library staff, professional dynamism and leadership, vision and support
of the administrators and policy makers, prevailing educational set up and social
environment in the state, etc. are some of the major hurdles in reaping the maximum
possibilities of lCTs by the university libraries in Kerala. The principles of Business
Process Re-engineering are found suitable to effectively apply to re-structure and redefine
the operations and service system of the libraries. Most of the conventional
departments or divisions prevailing in the university libraries were functioning as
watertight compartments and their existing management system was more rigid to
adopt the principles of change management. Hence, a thorough re-structuring of the
divisions was indicated. Consortia based activities and pooling and sharing of
information resources was advocated to meet the varied needs of the users in the main
campuses and off campuses of the universities, affiliated colleges and remote stations.
A uniform staff policy similar to that prevailing in CSIR, DRDO, ISRO, etc. has been proposed by the study not only in the university libraries in kerala but for the entire country.Restructuring of Lis education,integrated and Planned development of school,college,research and public library systems,etc.were also justified for reaping maximum benefits of the modern ICTs. |