1. Introduction:
In
the early 19th Century,
young people learned librarianship by working under the more experienced
practitioners. But, gradually the tasks performed by librarians became more
complex and more dependent on technology. As a result, the study of library
science has moved from the work-setting to professional schools in Universities.
The first ever library school was started by Melvil Dewey in USA in
1887 at Columbia College (now Columbia University). In 1889 the programme
moved to the New York State Library in Albany when Dewey became the Director there.
The success of Dewey’s training programme and the publication of Training for Library Service, a book by the
economist Charles Williamson in 1923, led other universities, institutes of
technology, and large public libraries to establish their own professional
degree programmes in library science.
2.
First Course of Library Science in India: In India the
existence of in service training was initiated by John Macfarlane, the first
librarian of the Imperial Library (Now National Library) at Calcutta from
1901-06, as mentioned in some reports. In subsequent years, the training
programme was opened to the staff of other libraries and even those interested
in librarianship who deal with books and other documents.
a) Baroda School: In 1911, Siyaji Rao Gaikwad
(1862-1939), the ruler of Baroda state called the American librarian Mr.
William Allenson Borden (1853-1931), a disciple of Melvil Dewey to create a
cadre of men for the newly established libraries in the state library system.
In 1912, he initiated the first training school in library education in India. In 1913, another training class
for working librarians of town libraries was started. These classes continued
even after the departure of Borden.
3. Certificate, Diploma, and Training Courses: The growth of certificate, diploma
or training programme in Library and Information Science can be tracked as follows-
a) Lahore School: In 1912, the Punjab University called another librarian Mr. Asa Don
Dickinson (1876–1960) from USA.
He started the second educational course of three month duration in library
science in the year 1915. This happens to be the first university course in India. Mr. Asa Don Dickinson later
become the Librarian of Panjab University, Lahore (now Pakistan)
during 1915–1916.
b) Andhra Desa: The Andhra Desa Library
Association (founded in 1914) started conducting “training classes for the
library workers” at Vijayawadain
1920. The classes covered a module on running adult education classes in
addition to library technique.
c) Mysore State: In 1920, a course for the training of librarians was conducted at Bangalore under the “program of library
development” initiated by the then Dewan of Mysore Mr. M. Visweswaraya.
d) Madras Library Association: A summer school for college librarians and lecturers in charge of
college libraries in Madras was held in 1928 and repeated in 1930.
The Madras Library Association also organized a regular certificate course in
library science from 1929. Then in 1931, University of Madras took up the training course of MALA in
1931 and started offering the course on a regular basis.
e) Andhra University: Andhra University started a certificate course in 1935,
which was later abandoned.
f) Imperial Library, Calcutta: The Imperial library, Calcutta started a training class under the
supervision of its librarian Mr. K. M. Asudulah in 1935. It was a full time
regular Diploma course in librarianship at the Imperial Library, Calcutta (now National Library, Kolkata). It
continued till 1946.
4. Post Graduate Diploma: In case of post graduate diploma in library science,
the University of Madras becomes the 1st university to introduce such
programme which was followed by Banaras Hindu University and then Bombay University.
a) University of Madras: University of Madras, in 1937, introduced a one year Post Graduate
Diploma course in place of the certificate course of three month duration. This
was the first P G Diploma in library science in India.
b) Banaras Hindu University: The second university to start a post graduate diploma course was
the Banaras Hindu University in 1942.
c) Bombay University: University of Bombay initiated a diploma course similar to Banaras Hindu University in 1943.
d) Government of India’s
in-Service Training Course: A training course for the staff
working in various government organizations was started in 1953. This course
was recognized as equivalent to the university diploma courses.
5. Degree Courses: Aligarh Muslim University for the 1st time started bachelor degree
programme in library science which was followed by University of Delhi and Madras
University.
a) Aligarh Muslim University: In 1947, Aligarh Muslim University started B.Lib. Science Course for the
first time in the country.
b) University of Delhi: University of Delhi was the first university to establish
a full-fledged Department of Library Science in 1946. It also instituted the
first post diploma degree course in 1948. In 1949, the structure was changed.
The programme of Master of Library Science was introduced as a two year course
with the first year leading to Bachelor of Library Science.
In between 1956-59, six new LIS departments were established at Aligarh Muslim University, MS University of Baroda, Nagpur University,
Osmania University, Pune University and Vikram University.
c) Madras University: In 1960, Madras University replaced its full time one year
diploma course to B.LibSc. Degree course. By mid 1960, many other universities
had fallen in the line of university of Madras following the recommendation of Review
Committee Report of UGC in introducing different degree courses.
d) Government Polytechnique for Women: The Government polytechnique for women, Ambala, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jullandhur, Rourkela started post matric (class X) diploma
courses of two years duration in late 1960s.
e) Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC): In 1962, Dr. S. R. Ranganathan established Documentation Research
and Training Centre at Bangalore.
Previously DRTC courses were of 14 month duration which was later on moved to
two years programme.
f) Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC): INSDOC conducted a short term course for Asian Documentalists in
1963. In 1964, it started a one year post graduate course in Documentation and
Reprography leading to “Associateship in Documentation and Reprography”. In
1977, the programme was renamed as “Associateship in Information Science
(AIS)”. On September 30, 2002,
INSDOC merged with the National Institute of Science COMmunication (NISCOM) and
was renamed as National Institute of Science Communication and Information
Resources (NISCAIR). At present, it is conducting “Courses in Information
Science”.
The DRTC and NISCAIR in Delhi concentrate on the training of
professionals for special and industrial libraries and information centers.
Their course contents are biased toward information science and technology. The
programme of these two institutes is a class apart from other similar programmes
offered by various institutes.
In India advanced professional education has remained attached to
universities, though there are some regional library associations conducting
certificate courses of a few months duration and women polytechnics offering
post-masters two year diplomas in library science to train paraprofessionals.
At present, about 107 institutions, mostly university colleges and
polytechnics, have library science education courses. Out of these, the
M.Lib.I.Sc. course is being offered by more than 75 universities.
6. Five Year
Integrated Course in LIS: In 2010, University of Calcutta introduces five year
integrated course in Library & Information Science and thus becomes the
first university to launch such course in LIS domain. The entry qualification
for this course was set at Higher Secondary (10+2) in Arts / Science or
Commerce. Launching of this course will force the learners to choose the LIS by
choice and not by chance. It will again help the students to grasp and
understand the contents for LIS in a better and exhaustive way.
7. Present Status of LIS
Education in India: A few departments and
associations provide Certificate Courses in Library and Information Science
(CLIS) and Diploma in Library and Information Science (DLIS). The others
provide BLISc and MLISc courses. In most of the universities, the prerequisite
for admission into the Bachelor or Master degree course in Library and
Information Science is 10+2+3 years of education from any faculty (arts,
science, commerce etc). The majority of the universities generally conduct two
separate courses for the Bachelor’s degree followed by the Master of Library
and Information Science of one year (or two semesters) duration each. In recent
years, some institutions have offered two years of integrated courses of four
semester duration. The University of
Calcutta went a step ahead and introduced five years integrated course in LIS
with entry qualification as 10 +2.
a) Specialization: Students in most schools of library and information science have
the opportunity to develop at least some degree of specialization. Some may
take advanced courses in particular library functions, such as reference work,
while others may take courses related to a particular type of library, such as
a course in medical librarianship or public librarianship or academic
librarianship. In simple, there
are many different courses available in LIS. It makes the professionals
available to work at all levels of library irrespective of type, structure and
function.
b) Syllabus:
The University Grants Commission (UGC), from time to time recommended
the broader outlines of courses of Library and Information Science. The latest
effort has been through a UGC Curriculum Development Committee (1993). The UGC
and other higher bodies now give emphasis to semester system rather than annual
system, and credit-based rather than marks-based system. Every university being
autonomous is free to frame its own course of studies, and syllabi of many
universities / schools are quite modernized.
All programmes to educate librarians
share certain characteristics. Programmes typically offer courses in the
history of books and librarianship to give students a background in the
profession’s past. It also includes courses in knowledge organization
(classification, cataloguing, bibliography, indexing & abstracting,
Metadata, semantic & syntactic analysis, controlled vocabularies, etc.), collection
development (acquisition), information seeking behaviors of users, search
strategies, library services (dissemination of the acquired library materials,
reference), and management of the collection (preservation & conservation
of documents). It also includes contents related to scholarly communication
(bibliometrics, informetrics, scientometrics, webmetrics), digital libraries
and ICT.
i) ICT as an
Integral Part:
Technology is entering in a very big way to LIS where it has been used
extensively to store and retrieve information in different forms and
structures. This new dimension is reflected in the course structure of almost
all universities that provides courses in LIS. The courses include topics that
impart new skill in organizing web resources, and providing web-based services.
ii) Practical
Exposure:
All
courses provide scope of practical knowledge rather than restricting to only
theory. Even some universities make it compulsory for their learners to undergo
some apprenticeship courses before practicing the librarianship.
8. Problems with Present Library
and Information Science Education: The present problem
in Library and Information Science education in Indian can be looked from the following
angles.
a) A Very Competitive Entrance
Examination: In most of the universities, students desire
to study the LIS has to go through a very competitive entrance examination for
admission.
b) Less Permanent Faculty Members: Almost all
universities which provide Library and Information Science programme witness a
great flow of learners and out of those who are interested they are able to
accommodate only a limited number of such desired students. However, when we come
down to faculty members, a study conducted by Badan Barman in 2016 represent that
only 23 universities in India has more than 5 faculty members in their respective
Department of Library and Information Science.
c) Limitation as a Professional Programme: LIS is a
professional programme and so it has the limitations of any other professional programmes.
The non-inclusion of Library and Information Science in UPSC, Civil Service / State
Public Service Commission examination, SET / SLET is a very common.
The
other problems include lack of a standard cohesive syllabus of LIS and low
level of awareness among the general people about this programme.
9. Conclusion: The first ever
library school was started by Melvil Dewey in USA in 1887 at Columbia College
(now Columbia University). In 1889 the programme moved to the New York State
Library in Albany when Dewey became the Director there. In India, the existence of in service
training was initiated by John Macfarlane, the first librarian of the Imperial
Library (Now National Library) at Calcutta from 1901-06 In 1911, Siyaji Rao
Gaikwad (1862-1939), the ruler of Baroda state called the American librarian
Mr. William Allenson Borden (1853-1931), a disciple of Melvil Dewey to create a
cadre of men for the newly established libraries in the state library system.
In 1912, he initiated the first training school in library education in India. In
1912, the Punjab University called another librarian Mr. Asa Don Dickinson
(1876–1960) from USA. He started the second educational course of three month
duration in library science in the year 1915. This happens to be the first
university course in India. In case of post graduate diploma in library
science, the University of Madras becomes the 1st university to introduce such
programme which was followed by Banaras Hindu University and then Bombay
University. Aligarh Muslim University for the 1st time started bachelor degree
programme in library science which was followed by University of Delhi and
Madras University. In 2010, University of Calcutta introduces five year
integrated course in Library & Information Science and thus becomes the
first university to launch such course in LIS domain. Now-a-days many university and colleges
provides different courses in Library and Information and its related domain.
It ranges from certificate course to PhD.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.

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