all about libraries

   one of the nicest things of Rotary is that we come across newer developments in traditional occupation. sometimes new occupations and career streams have emerged due to necessity. This one was shared by Dr.Rekha Pai of MIT. she is a librarian there.
excrepts from her talk.
     Library to us is a room where books are kept or where reading is done. But the dictionary defines it as

an organized collection of books and documents. for the use of readers.

There is a triangular involvement of books, readers and library staff.

library science is the knowledge , demands and skills by which recoded information is selected, acquired organized and utilized in meetings of a community of users.

Libraries can be classified either as public (for people of the city) academic (people of an institution)special

depending of whether it is open access (that is the reader can go and read at his or her convenience of the shelf) or close access (where he has to indent through a staff).

Dr.S.R.Ranganathan is the father of Lib.Sc.

one can become a qualified librarian by taking up either a certificate, a degree or a diploma course. Certain universities offer postgraduate and doctorate programs too.

five laws of Library science

1. books are for use
2. every reader should get his book
3. every books should reach the reader
4. save the time of the reader
5. library is a growing organism.

duties of a librarian.

1. selection and acquisition of books,
2. classifying the books of the library
3. cataloguing for easy access
4. provide reference service 

    Theft of books is a major challenge for libraries and librarians. One way of minimizing this is-- detection through a security guard. or access control gate, or through CCTV vigilance. it can be reduced by making multiple copies of books in demand. providing photocopying facilities. extending library hours. assessing students and having RFID (radio frequency identification tags)

 Digital library is the system of the day. Here the collections are stored in digital format. and are accessed by using a computer. they contain

• electronic library and virtual library and virtual library
• collection of electronic journals
• online portals
• repository of multimedia files-- in fact the entire Internet.

collections in a digital library include E-books,E-journals, CD Roms, and DVD.  Various  components of a digital library are:

• servers  for database storage
• enough number  of PCs connected in a LAN.
• CD Roms,
• relational data based management systems.
• search engine to index so as to provide easy access to matter
• a well trained staff.

   Advantage  of a digital library is that there are no physical boundaries, it is available round the clock, many people can access it simultaneously, information can be retrieved with a click. time saving  minimum space is needed, quick access, portable and enables texts with sounds.

    Challenges: IT literacy is low, very costly, local resources are not available, shortage of trained manpower, and lastly lack of awareness among users.

   Disadvantages: are copyright laws are not followed, reader has to sit up straight, and cannot relax while he or she is reading. interrupted power supply, lack of Internet, problems of computer or server.

   Process of digitization starts with document-data capture through entry or OCR data processing by conversion of special characters - storage--indexing procedure- finally retrieval or display.

    Institutional repositories normally store faculty publications, PhD thesis project papers and E-question paper.

   In this rapidly changing information focused times an library science personal has to open to changes. Have a sound knowledge of user and resources, provide quality service, be flexible, be resourceful have good communicative skills, be updated help users to accept changes.