Education And Training For Information Empowerment Specialists In The Networked Society : Indian Experience

Introduction:

All over the world reviewing the status of Library and Information Science Education is on the anvil since last two decades due to the impact of Information Technology and with the emergence of Information Society. Generally speaking any human endeavour requires manpower, finance, technology/knowledge and infrastructural facilities. Of these human resources is the most valuable, for it enabled the identification, selection, development and control of all other physical resources. Intellectual resources. Any plan-sectoral or overall for national development should therefore give due emphasis to the development of manpower with appropriate professional knowledge and skills. This applies equally in Education and Training to Library and Information manpower.
In a fast changing world, there are new demands and influences on library and information centers. The profession needs to meet the challenging and ever changing demands of society through the application of new knowledge, tools and skills that are developed by societal demands and in other areas.
Over the decades education and training for library and information work has focused upon recordable information and knowledge and the services and technologies to facilitate the management and use. Preparation for the profession has evolved, like most other true professions, from the apprenticeship mode to formal degree programmes in institutions of higher education. The revolution in computers, communication sand content at the end of 20th century has had a dramatic impact on the information profession.

Need for Enhancing Competencies:
It is a recoginised fact that the new technologies make some information services more directly available to the end user. Indeed the increasing range of electronic information is based on the willingness of individuals and organizations to attempt to sell their information products directly to the end user. In such a situation future library and information professionals are expected to assist the users;
1. By providing them with carefully and well organized information particularly electronic information.
2. By providing information which has been evaluated and repackaged to meet their needs precisely and above all.
3. By facilitating their use of both the technology and information.
Information professionals are to play a more significant part is a “learning society”. Hence they must have well developed training and facilitating skills, to help people to use not only libraries but also information sources in different forms and formats. This is to say that training of professionals be considered as the training for ‘Information Empowerment Specialists’ rather than ‘Bibliographic Instructions Advocates’. The task of library and Information Science teachers is primarily to impart that education which transfer the professionals skills of acquiring and using information in a networked society.

Blending Tradition with Technology:
The curricular models for the LIS education by and large has traditionally been based on the assumption that graduates will go to work in large library organizations. However it is increasingly recognized that a growing proportion of graduates now take their first job in organizations, where they the sole information professionals, where they may be called on the undertake a wide range of information based tasks, and their success depends on their personal qualities and political skills. This calls for the continual effort to find ways of developing the personal attributes through enhanced teaching and assessment methods.

Therefore it is necessary to incorporate in the training programmes at different levels some newly introduced curriculum and the pedagogic changes with particular attention to independent activity, time and task management, communication skills and inter personal skills.

Emphasis on Practice.

The issue of the relationship between theory and practice is not properly addressed in the Indian context. An expert once stated that we are drawing in theory at library schools not giving enough exposure to practice. The dilemma lies in the choice between teaching students the knowledge and skills needed in their first posts which meets immediate needs of employers or instilling principles from which they can expand their skills and knowledge base as their career develops.

Interdisciplinary Approach

It is also seen that the challenge of managing the complex and diverse new environment, some of the schools have been merged with different disciplines like information management and technology, information studies and mass communications. Given the pace of change in the nature of library and information services, there is a need to instill not only in building library professionals, but also in established practitioners a commitment to life long learning, because the circumstances are demanding greater professional and technical awareness. As professional obsolescence becomes a real and ever present danger, only a systematic continuing education provides a method of combating of such obsolescence.

In the western countries may schools have made a through revision and development of course programmes and also introduced new courses to meet the needs of employers in industries, public and private sectors. The introduction of new programmes should therefore be seen to some extent as reflecting the ‘Pull-Push Effect’ of recognition, increasing need for professional workforce to match the growth and significance of information industry and the expanding higher education system to provide the appropriate workforce.

Across the world, it is seen that wide range of courses beginning to map on broad paradigms. Several schools have begun to diversify their portfolio of courses, with programmes intended to serve the needs of the publishing and communication industries. And other schools have established programmes focused on the operation and management of telecommunications and computer networks.

Indian Efforts:
In India a countrywide exercise was made to articulate the knowledge(theory, skills and practicals) which could be packed in the Library and Information Science Education and Training Curriculum with the help of the experts. The well defined modules prepared by the expert committee(subject panel and Curriculum Development Committee) were presented before the forum of chairpersons of the Board of Studies(Library and Information Science) in different Universities. This has facilitated the debate and enabled to develop a viable curriculum beating the balance between the traditional and modern practices, skills and techniques.

Conclusion:
Thus the education and training programmes in Library and Information Science must make a provision to prepare the professionals to assume the pro-active role in coping with the new technology and information explosion. In brief the designed course contents should concentrate in making the professionals as change agents, facilitators and guides with suitable and strong information empowerment.

C.R. Karisiddappa
University Librarian,
Professor and Chairman,
Dept. of Library and Information Science,
Karnatak University, Dharwad – 580 003.
Phone: 0836 – 747121 Extn. 348 & 260 (O), 0836 – 776656
E-mail: karisiddappa@yahoo.com