ERIC EJ1073555: Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education in India and South Asia

2015·0.35 MB·English

by  ERIC

Challenges and Concerns for Library and
Information Science (LIS) Education in India
and South Asia
Trishanjit Kaur
Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab) India, E-mail: [email protected]
This paper presents some of the challenges and concerns for library and information
science (LIS) education in India. In order to provide context for these challenges, the
paper begins with a brief overview of higher education in India in general and then
discusses the beginning of LIS education. It briefly summarizes LIS education in South
Asia to provide additional context. The paper discusses concerning issues, including
curriculum, accreditation, program delivery through distance education, and research
in LIS. The paper goes on to highlight some of the challenges that LIS educators face
in India. It concludes with suggestions about how some of these challenges might be
addressed including implementation of the Recommendations of National Knowledge
Commission. The need for a Model Curriculum in order for LIS to fill the gap between
needs of the users and skills of library professionals is also discussed.
The role that education plays in build- the current era, libraries in India, as else-
ing and developing nations is undebat- where, are functioning in a highly compet-
able. This is no less the case in India and itive, dynamic, and technology based en-
South Asia. Higher education in India has vironment. This requires regular updating
its roots in the ancient times. The world of Library and Information Science (LIS)
famous Taxila University (414 A.D.) and curriculum in order to meet the emerging
Nalanda University (427 A.D.) were the needs of LIS practitioners. The LIS pro-
pride of the country. From these early be- fession in India is facing many challenges
ginnings India witnessed a steady growth as a result of this changing environment.
in higher education. It now has one of the Not least the introduction of rapidly evolv-
largest education systems in the world ing Information Technology and changing
with 700 universities, deemed universities management practices.
and institutes. But India’s Gross Enroll-
ment Ratio (GER) for higher education is LIS Education in India: A Humble
less that it should be. The GER is around Beginning
10% as compared to the 25% of many
other developing countries and 81% of The history of LIS education in India
USA (National Knowledge Commission, is nearly a century old. In 1911, W. A.
2009). The Planning Commission of In- Borden, an American student of Melvil
dia is committed to increasing the GER to Dewey started a library school at Baroda
21% by the end of 12th five year plan that (Maharashtra) under the royal benefac-
is currently operational in 2015. tion of Shivaji Rao Gaikwad II. Asa Don
The success of an education system de- Dickenson, another disciple of Dewey,
pends to a great extent on the financial sup- was the founding father of LIS education
port of government. Educational success at the university level. He started a library
also depends on the availability of librar- school at Punjab University, Lahore (now
ies that are well resourced and funded. In in Pakistan) in 1915 to provide a certifi-
J. of Education for Library and Information Science, Vol. 56, Supplement 1
6 ISSN: 0748-5786 © 2015 Association for Library and Information Science Education
doi:10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/S1/3
Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education 7
cate course in LIS. After the library school CAIR), New Delhi, previously known as
of Columbia University, “The training Indian National Scientific Documentation
school at Punjab University was consid- Centre (INSDOC). The departments of-
ered to be the second known library school fer the M.Sc. in Information Science and
in the world” (Ali & Bakshi, 2010). an Associateship in LIS respectively. The
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan is undoubtedly University Grants Commission (UGC)
the father of Library Science in India (see Model Curriculum lists the six levels of
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ LIS courses that are available in India:
topic/491106/Shiyali-Ramamrita-Ranga-
nathan ). Ranganathan laid down a sound • Certificate in Library Science,
foundation of LIS education by starting a • Diploma in Library Science,
certificate course at Madras Library As- • Bachelor’s Degree in Library and Infor-
sociation in 1929. This was later taken mation Science,
over by Madras University in 1931. From • Post-Graduate Diplomas in Information
certificate and diploma courses LIS edu- Technology,
cation gradually evolved to master’s and • Archives and Documentation and Li-
doctorate level. Before independence in brary Automation,
1947, five universities were conducting • Master’s of Library and Information
Library Science (LS) education programs Science (Both one year and integrated
in India. The University of Delhi was the courses),
first to start awarding master’s degrees in • Associateship in Information Science
1951, and awarded the first PhD in LS in (Equivalent to MLISc), and
1957. Dasgupta (2009) writes that the Uni- • Master of Philosophy and Doctor of
versity of Delhi “was first university in the Philosophy at Research level (Univer-
country as well as in (the British) Com- sity Grants Commission, 2001).
monwealth to introduce doctoral studies in
library science.” The University of Delhi There have been some futuristic efforts
also holds the credit for establishing an to modernize courses. For example, the
independent Department of LIS to bring International School of Information Man-
it into line with other disciplines. During agement (ISIM) has established M.Tech
this post-independence period, LIS depart- and PhD degrees in information systems
ments were established at various univer- and management. This is a truly interna-
sities in all parts of the country to meet the tional venture with faculty from India and
growing demand for LIS professionals. other countries. DRTC also revamped its
curriculum, even changing the name of
The Present Position their degree to Master of Science (MS)
in Information Science in an attempt to
Over time LIS has become recognized capture the new flavor of the discipline.
as an independent discipline like many Indira Gandhi National Open University
others. “It is estimated that today in In- (IGNOU) has taken the lead when they
dia approximately one hundred eighty introduced their MLIS in e-mode in 2008.
two (182) LIS departments affiliated to
universities and colleges are offering LIS LIS Education in South Asia:
education in regular and distance mode” An Overview
(LIS Edu Gatewayhttp://liseducation.in/
lisdep.php). Among these departments are In the South Asian region, India, Paki-
the Documentation Research and Train- stan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are rela-
ing Centre (DRTC), Bangalore, and the tively better placed in terms of LIS educa-
National Institute of Science Communi- tion and training programs than are Nepal,
cation and Information Resources (NIS- Bhutan, and Maldives. Afghanistan is
8 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
another country that has been added to gained momentum as the UGC has di-
the South Asian Association for Region- rected universities to opt for CBCS in all
al Cooperation (SAARC). Afghanistan other courses. The emerging information
has neither LIS schools nor a library as- environment and developments in infor-
sociation at the national level. Nepal and mation technology (IT) require continuous
Bhutan are at the preliminary stage of LIS updating of LIS curriculum to develop the
education. The situation for higher educa- professional manpower to meet the chal-
tion in South Asia is quite different from lenges and complexity of the emerging job
developed regions. There is a great diver- market. But many countries of the region
sity and complexity between, and within, are lagging behind in the use of ICTs in
the countries and institutions of the region education. In addition to the inconsistency
in terms of course composition, course between education and practice, there is
duration, teaching method, medium of also a lack of collaboration between LIS
instruction, etc. The development of LIS departments. This is the case both between
curricula vary depending up on the his- countries and within countries.
torical development of the subject in each The shortage of experienced faculty
country. There is tension as to how much and the nature of their appointment also
of core subjects and how much of technol- creates problems for LIS education in the
ogy related subjects should be included in region. For example, a large number of
the syllabi. the LIS faculty members in Sri Lanka are
Much of the course content is not of a also employed in full time administrative
level of sophistication that can meet the jobs in library and information services
requirements of the present day job mar- elsewhere in the sector. Initially faculty
ket. Instead of using technology-based in India and Pakistan also had similar cir-
advanced teaching techniques, the “chalk cumstances but gradually the situation has
and talk” method still prevails. Although improved, and at present the majority of
the courses are named as Library and In- LIS schools have their own fully function-
formation science programs, in a majority ing departments with full time faculty. In
of the courses there is but a small element India there are exceptions, however. There
of information science in the curriculum. is an example where one full time teacher
The cutting edge topics such as informa- is running both bachelor’s and master’s
tion science, knowledge management, courses with guest faculty. A lack of train-
change management, e-content manage- ing facilities for teachers, an acute short-
ment, e-learning, application of ICTs, age of experienced teaching staff, a lack
marketing techniques, etc. have not found of adequate resources, and scant collabo-
place in the curriculum of majority of the ration in LIS departments at national and
LIS schools in South Asia. international level, are problems common
The duration of courses also varies to all countries of the region. The most dis-
from country to country within the re- appointing fact is that, to date, none of the
gion. In Sri Lanka and Bangladesh LIS LIS schools or departments in South Asia
schools offer bachelor’s degree programs is accredited by any professional organiza-
of three to four year duration. The major- tion.
ity of the LIS departments in India offer Gradually, LIS education in South Asia
bachelor’sand master’s degrees of one is getting recognition but students are not
year duration each, while a few have start- passionate to enter the profession as their
ed two year integrated courses leading to first choice and only those left out of other
a master’s degree based on UGC Model education choices opt for these courses.
Curriculum 2001. Some of the universi- LIS schools must adapt and change to
ties are also experimenting with Choice attract the high caliber students that will
Based Credit System (CBCS), which has provide a capable and market driven pro-
Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education 9
fession who can work in rural, public, 3. Kaula Committee on Curriculum De-
school, college, university, and other re- velopment in LIS Education, 1993
search libraries. Those who want to opt 4. Karisiddappa Committee on Curricu-
for research and teaching should also be lum Development, 2001.
encouraged to do so.
The recommendations of these commit-
LIS Curriculum tees have overhauled LIS education and
services from time to time. The National
LIS education in India is in a better po- Knowledge Commission set up by Plan-
sition than her counterparts in the South ning Commission in 2005 recommended
Asian region due to the strong foundation setting up of 1500 universities by 2015. If
and knowledge base contributed by Dr. this target is attained it would open doors
S.R. Ranganathan. Although the major- for more job opportunities for LIS profes-
ity of the LIS departments suffer from the sionals at different levels.
problems discussed above, many schools
and departments have started incorporat- University Grants Commission
ing emerging concepts into the syllabi Model Curriculum
in order to develop LIS professionals to
meet market trends. The last decade has In 2001, the UGC appointed the Cur-
witnessed the organization of conferenc- riculum Development Committee (CDC)
es, seminars and workshops on IT based under the chairmanship of Professor C. R.
themes. The UGC Model Curriculum has Karisiddappa to redevelop the modules
succeeded to some extent in bringing uni- and course content on different themes
formity to LIS education, but that inno- for LIS Education keeping in view the
vation is now more than decade old. LIS changing scenarios and contemporary
departments are growing in an unplanned developments in the LIS job market. The
manner in the absence of any quality con- committee comprised LIS experts includ-
trol and even colleges have started to of- ing teachers, practicing librarians, and
fer bachelor’s programs without adequate information scientists who provided col-
infrastructure or a vision as to what is re- lective wisdom and a willingness to pre-
quired by new professionals. pare a National Curriculum for different
India has a National Policy on Education levels of LIS Education. In its final form
in general, but there is a dearth of National the report was called SaraswatMahaYajna
Policy in LIS. There is also an absence of [New Avatar]. The report consists of dif-
a national body to make projections for ferent modules for different levels of edu-
manpower requirement at different levels. cation.
The Working Group on Libraries in 2009 The Committee emphasized two year
raised a new hope in this regard by rec- integrated courses to eliminate the dupli-
ommending the permanent National Com- cation of course content, and to provide
mission on Libraries. It also recommended sufficient time for teaching the Informa-
revising and revamping LIS education and tion Technology components and their
training and encouraging research. Since application to libraries in order to meet
its inception in 1956, the UGC set up the present day requirements. In light of inter-
following committees for improvement of national developments, the Committee ad-
LIS education vis-a-vis services: opted a modular approach to curriculum,
which may be adopted by departments in
1. Ranganathan Committee on Univer- accordance with their existing infrastruc-
sity and College Libraries, 1957 ture. This provides flexibility to individual
2. Ranganathan Committee on Library departments to develop their own sylla-
Science Education, 1965 bus based on modules. This model allows
10 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
changes of up to twenty percent of the tion in the country. These recommenda-
course content to suit local needs. tions include:
The Model Curriculum is a blend of
traditional and modern subjects of study, 1. A National Mission on Libraries
which allows each department to prepare should be set up immediately, for a
their own structure and content of curricu- period of three years. The Mission
lum as per local needs. To enable the LIS should subsequently be converted into
aspirants to acquire requisite skills in prac- a Permanent Commission.
tical work, it suggested that sixty percent 2. Revamp LIS education, training and
of the course content should have a prac- research facilities. The proposal is that
tical approach, including hands-on prac- the Mission/Commission on Librar-
tice, assignments, seminar presentations, ies must assess as soon as possible the
and demonstrations by students during the manpower requirements of the coun-
study program. In addition to the incorpo- try in the area of LIS management, and
ration of information technology into the take necessary steps to meet the coun-
curriculum, it also has added the concept try’s requirement through LIS educa-
of information literacy. The committee tion and training.
stressed the need to equip LIS schools and
3. An evaluation of the research status
departments with an adequate number of
ofLIS should occur. In order to keep
practical tools in traditional subjects, ref-
the LIS sector abreast of latest devel-
erence sources, and an Information Tech-
opments, all necessary encouragement
nology Laboratory with content in the use
should be given to research.
of network facilities and software pack-
ages to meet the challenges presented by 4. Establish a well-equipped institute for
the evolving “information society.” It also advanced training and research in li-
recommended improvements in the facili- brary and information science and ser-
ties for teacher training. These recommen- vices that would provide the necessary
dations included the introduction of aca- impetus to this task.
demic staff colleges to support continuous 5. A system should be set up to foster
professional development and as a vehicle close cooperation between the teach-
to keep teachers informed about latest de- ing/research faculty and practicing li-
velopments in the field. brarians at all academic and research
Based on the recommendations of CDC, institutions.
the majority of LIS departments have re- 6. A minimum staffing pattern for the
designed their syllabi, or are in the process BLIS course and the MLIS has been
of revision. But inconsistency prevails in recommended. There should be a 1:10
the curriculum of schools and departments teacher-student ratio.
depending upon the local conditions and
7. Departments should have not more
availability of requisite infrastructure.
than 50 students in one class for the
And significantly, there is still a need to
BLIS course, 20 students for the MLIS
incorporate new information technology-
course, and PhD students according to
based subjects to modernize the traditional
the University norms.
LIS offerings. It is a matter of priority that
the UGC revise LIS curriculum as the last 8. All departments of LIS should set up
model curriculum is now a decade old. computer centers and well-equipped
It is appropriate to mention here and departmental libraries with appropri-
to elaborate on the recommendations of ate teaching tools.
National Knowledge Commission (NKC) 9. Appropriate physical facilities, such as
(2007) set up by the Government of India classrooms, must be made available to
for the overall development of LIS educa- each LIS Department.
Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education 11
10. E-learning materials should be provid- tation of LIS schools and departments.
ed to upgrade the skills of the existing Though India boasts that it has the larg-
staff. est number of LIS schools in South Asian
11. Teachers in areas such as ICT appli- region, no serious attention has been paid
cations in libraries and other modern to setting up an accreditation system for
methods should have a specialization evaluation of courses and programs. Paki-
in these areas. A system must be set stan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh also have
up to allow stringent review of the similar experiences. Library associations
performance of teachers. A suitable at the national level have been making
system of rewards, including promo- sincere efforts to promote the need for the
tions, should be instituted (Kumar & accreditation of professional education
Sharma, 2010). by discussing the theme in conferences
and seminars and urging the UGC for
Unfortunately, there has been lack of its implementation over many years. For
implementation of these recommenda- instance, the UGC sponsored a national
tions. There is a significant gap between seminar on Accreditation of LIS schools
the recommendations and LIS education in India, held at Nagpur University in
in real terms. There is an urgent to need 1994. This event concluded with the rec-
to adopt these recommendations, and they ognition of the need to establish a national
should be applied in letter and spirit. council for accreditation under the name
“Indian Council for Accreditation of Li-
Understanding Accreditation brary and Information Science Education
(ICALISE)”(Singh,2003, p. 7). To date,
Accreditation is crucial for quality as- these plans exist on paper only. Others
surance in all industries, and this is no less have expressed the same concerns: “There
so in LIS. Accreditation is key for both the is need to carry out a survey of LIS schools
students we teach and the public we serve: of the countries in this region on the pat-
The adoption of norms and standards, and tern of Southeast Asian countries to find
their adherence, is paramount for quality out about views on regional accreditation”
enhancement and optimum utilization of (Abdullahi & Kaur, 2007, p. 61).
resources. Though LIS education had been
available in India for nearly 100 years, no Distance Education
system of accreditation of LIS schools
and department exists at the national level In India, six open universities and more
by any professional organization. Conse- than 20 formal education universities offer
quently, new LIS schools and departments LIS programs through distance education.
are mushrooming without having appro- The unregulated expansion of distance ed-
priate facilities, information resources, or ucation institutions has created the deteri-
basic practical tools (even the basics such oration of the professional quality and the
as classification schemes, cataloguing educational excellence because there is, as
codes and lists of subject headings). discussed above, no accreditation. Many
The UGC has established the National of these distance education programs are
Assessment and Accreditation Council, an producing students with degrees but with a
autonomous body to assess and accredit little theoretical knowledge, but with little
the higher education institutions includ- or no exposure to practical librarianship.
ing universities, colleges and departments/ The majority of the universities providing
schools/centers within universities. It has distance education do not have basic in-
assessed and accredited a large number of frastructure, resources, or regular faculty.
universities and colleges throughout the Syllabi at these universities are not updated
country, but is yet to begin the accredi- regularly. Experienced regular faculty are
12 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
not usually involved in distance education. ated from 2000-2008 (Chandrashekara &
The majority of the universities providing Ramasesh, 2009).The Indian contribution
LIS education by distance mode hire re- to LIS research is highlighted by Satija
tired teachers or assistant librarians who (1999): “India maintained its Third World
are not up to date with the new develop- leadership in library research as well as in
ments in the field of LIS, especially those library education and literature.” Lately
related with IT. It is essential for most LIS UGC has introduced entrance exams for
students to have hands on experience with PhD aspirants, together with compulsory
technology and attend practical classes for course work to ensure sound knowledge in
classification and cataloguing. But per- research methodology.
sonal contact classes are of very short du- There is no shortage of research prob-
ration and this leaves students without the lems that can be investigated in India. But
necessary skills so they must learn these there is a lack of insight to identify the
practical subjects on their own. Thus, dis- legitimate research topics. An overview
tance education is more beneficial for the of the research conducted reveals that the
people who are already employed in LIS topics investigated did not have a problem
services. or hypothesis, but were merely surveys of
In an attempt to ameliorate some of the prevailing problems within libraries or
these problems, in 2004 the Indian Space information systems. During the last few
Research Organization (ISRO) launched years there has been a substantial growth
EDUSAT, the world’s first satellite to in MPhil. and PhD programs. This is due
be used exclusively for education. The to the fact these are sometimes treated as
satellite-based network provides one-way the equivalent to the National Eligibil-
video and two-way audio facilities and al- ity Test for Lectureship. Notwithstanding
lows the data transfer from the teaching these changes, universities expect their
institution to remote learning spaces. This teachers to do research to improve the
may prove to have a major impact on im- stature of their institution, but oftentimes
proving the quality of distance education, they do not support research programs fi-
if utilized properly. Many universities like nancially. In addition, library facilities are
the IGNOU use this video conferencing not adequate to support research.
facility. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Increasingly, LIS research in India is
uses electronic media for delivering in- moving from theoretical to problem based
struction to learners. However, other uni- research. The research methods used in
versities are yet to join. LIS are also undergoing several changes.
The majority of the faculty members now
Research in LIS working in LIS schools/ departments have
a PhD, and those who do not have are
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan holds the credit working towards it.
for introducing the doctoral program in
LIS to India. In 1951, he started first at Challenges and Problems
the University of Delhi. Though the first
doctoral degree in LIS was awarded in To understand the challenges and prob-
1957, it took about two decades to pro- lems for LIS education in India, it is ap-
duce a second PhD, in 1977. Research propriate to share here that, to some ex-
in LIS in India was very slow up to the tent, the cause of the problem can be the
1980s. Thereafter, PhD programs flour- lack of awareness about libraries among
ished despite a lack of facilities. A com- students. Many students in LIS programs
parison of the decade-wide growth of PhD are not conscious about the important role
theses reveals that 43.02% of the total that a library can play in their lives. Un-
research output of the country was gener- like the United States and other developed
Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education 13
countries, libraries are not an integral part The implications of information com-
of a students’ life and a student coming to munication technologies and the ever-
the university may not have had any real growing information needs of users have
experience of using a school, college, or a transformed the LIS into a profession with
public library. It may seem very surprising a diversity of opportunities and challenges.
for LIS educators elsewhere to read this, This requires LIS professionals to make
but the whole education system of India is continuous value addition to services and
to be blamed as it is based more on rote to integrate the emerging technologies to
learning. This kind of image- that libraries cope with the changing scenario. These
are not an integral part of education- domi- changes are making way for a new kind of
nates in the minds of prospective library competitive work environment.
science students, and they join the course The challenges and problems affecting
in order to get a job while not really un- the status of LIS education and profession
derstanding what role they can play in the are discussed below:
library system. This is especially true for
students from rural backgrounds that are 1. Shortage of Funds: Paucity of funds
not exposed to good libraries, and have is the major challenge for improving
had no experience using libraries during the quality of LIS education in India,
school and college. Marketing of libraries and in South Asia more generally. LIS
and their services is missing in the Indian is a practically oriented course that re-
context. In this setting, the LIS courses are quires adequate information resources
taken up most often by students who can- and infrastructure to support teaching
not get admission into other sought after and research. This funding is current-
courses and have no idea about the LIS ly not available. LIS research is also
courses or what is expected from them. lacking financial support. The major
This issue of perception is improving over funding agencies, including UGC and
time as information technology has played university authorities, have not paid
an important role in improving this idea of enough attention to the LIS schools
what libraries actually do, although as out- that need special grants to build up ba-
lined above many LIS courses still do not sic facilities and infrastructure.
have an IT component. 2. Learning Resources and Library Sup-
Although LIS education has a long his- port: In general, the majority of the LIS
tory in India, the profession still experi- schools do not have adequate learning
ences many problems. Recent scholarship resources to supplement teaching and
suggests that: research. While many LIS schools
do not have libraries at all, those that
LIS schools in India are not able to ad- have them do not have adequate col-
equately respond to emerging information lection of information resources (both
scenario created by the electronic publish- print and non-print) or practical tools
ing and dynamics of the knowledge soci- to promote practical skills. Electronic
ety. Because of lack of adequate faculty format resources are also missing in
strength several library schools are letting most LIS school libraries. The central
the courses go on as they are going on. libraries of the institutions have also
The course revisions if any are undertaken not been strengthened enough to sup-
with some patches here and there, whereas port education.
the present courses are required to be 3. Facilities and Infrastructure: Almost
completely redefined and recasted keeping all of the LIS schools have included
in view the contemporary information sys- the teaching of computer applications
tems, global technological developments in the curriculum. But the majority of
and local needs. (Malhan, 2011) these do not have even have basic fa-
14 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
cilities let alone state-of-the-art com- tion lives in rural areas. Students from
puter laboratories with adequate nodes these areas need particular support as
for each student that can provide Inter- they struggle with many issues such as
net connectivity and other web based communication in English for study,
resources to facilitate digital learning. research, and in their work place.
Internet connectivity is a luxury for 5. Uniformity in Nomenclature: Initially
many LIS Departments. The hard- LIS education in India sat within Arts
ware, software, and web-based re- and Social Sciences, but increasingly
sources require regular updating, and it is moving towards the Science dis-
this implies training the trainers also. ciplines due to its growing interdisci-
Such resources are just not available. plinary approach. This makes its status
4. Medium of Instruction and Employ- and position uncertain. The inclusion
ability of LIS students: As India was of information technology, communi-
under the control of the British Em- cation technology, management tech-
pire for almost 200 years, English is niques, and statistical methods, is in-
used as the major language for higher creasing the educational complexity of
education. The research program and LIS programs. Moreover, LIS schools
masters degrees in LIS are also mainly lack uniformity on nomenclature as
carried out in English. Certificate, di- they tussle between “L” and “I”and
ploma, and bachelor’s degrees are also what is visible within curricula.
offered in local regional languages
6. LIS departments also lack consensus
depending upon the student’s back-
on the duration of courses. The major-
ground. In many schools and depart-
ity of schools/departments offer a one
ments English is the only medium of
year bachelors’ degree and one year
instruction, and most of the profes-
masters’ degree in LIS, while many
sional literature is in English. Students
schools offer two year integrated pro-
also get the opportunity to use LIS lit-
grammes. There is no uniformity in
erature by foreign authors, also usually
approach.
in English. The growing competition
7. Lack of LIS Policy: India has a Na-
and sophistication of the job environ-
tional Policy on Education to promote
ment means that students need better
education throughout the country, but
communication skills and good com-
the Government of India has not im-
mand over the English language. Stu-
plemented any policy to support the
dents’ capacity for this depends upon
LIS education as suggested by the Na-
their schooling background. Students
tional Knowledge Commission. There
with non-English schooling or from
is a need to have a properly prepared
remote rural areas that may not have
program for the optimum utilization
adequate schooling facilities are more
of available academic and technologi-
comfortable with teaching and learn-
cal resources to ensure quality assur-
ing in regional languages but this may
ance within LIS education.
make them less employable in a wider
setting. Employability overall is chal- 8. Faculty: There is acute shortage of ex-
lenge for these students, as they have perienced and capable faculty mem-
not been exposed to many libraries. It bers in majority of developing coun-
is important to provide them with op- tries. This is no less the case in India
portunities to visit bigger libraries in and South Asia. Authorities appoint
larger cities so as to expose them to LIS professionals with little experi-
the work roles of library staff and the ence on an ad-hoc bases and at low
needs of those who use them. India is salaries. There are departments that
a country where 70% of the popula- are run by a single faculty member
Challenges and Concerns for Library and Information Science (LIS) Education 15
with guest faculty from other depart- accordingly. LIS departments in India and
ments and the university library. The South Asia should aim to prepare profes-
National Knowledge Commission has sionals who can make their way within
recommended the establishment of a the political, educational, psychological,
National Institute of Library and In- cultural and technological changes that are
formation Science. This will enhance emerging. In order for this to occur, the
learning opportunities for LIS faculty. recommendations of the National Knowl-
9. Gap between Theory and Practice: edge Commission should be implemented.
There is a large gap between theory It is now time that a new Model Curric-
and practice in LIS in India. As the ulum for LIS be designed to fill the gap
computer laboratories and libraries between needs of the users and the skills
are not adequate, students do not get of library professionals in order to fulfill
the opportunities to gain hands-on ex- user needs effectively and efficiently. The
perience. This culture produces LIS changing information scenario is putting
professionals who have degrees but a a great deal of pressure on librarians be-
little or no practical knowledge. There cause they must pay more attention to the
is need for short-term courses as we needs of modern users and ensure quality
move towards specialization in em- services to remain relevant. This will be
ployment opportunities. possible with the new generation of LIS
10. Teaching techniques and Internships: teachers and professionals, taking LIS dis-
The chalk and talk method remains cipline to new heights. LIS faculty in India
the dominant method of teaching in should empower itself and there should be
LIS classrooms. Hands-on experience collaboration at regional and international
and teaching in real life situations are levels. We have the responsibility to carry
rarely practiced. Although apprentice- on the legacy of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan.
ships enable LIS aspirants to have
work experience that makes them References
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Conclusion brary and information science research in India.
Proceedings from Asia—Pacific Conference on
Library & Information Education & Practice.
LIS education in India has a long his-
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