Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Report on 58th Indian Library Association International Conference on Next Generation Libraries: New Insights and Universal Access to Knowledge (ILANGL-2013) 24-27 February, 2013 CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Dr. B. S. Kademani Scientist-G, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharastra


                                                                                                                                                                                           
                        Report on 58th Indian Library Association   
                             International Conference
on
Next Generation Libraries: New Insights and Universal Access to Knowledge
 (ILANGL-2013)
24-27 February, 2013
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
Dr. B. S. Kademani
Scientist-G, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharastra

RAPPORTEUR GENERAL

Dr. Ramesha
Associate Professor, Dept. of Library and Information Science,
Bangalore University, Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bengaluru
OGANISING SECRETARY
Prof. B.D. Kumbar
Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science,
Karnatak University, Dharwad

VENUE:
Golden Jubilee Auditorium, Karnatak University, Dharwad
                                   





ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Respected dignitaries on the Dias, invitees, delegates of the conference and my dear professional colleagues, a very good afternoon one and all present here.

May we recall on this solemn occasion the selfless contribution and forethought of our mentors, gurus and teachers who started this Department in the year 1962. Thousands who have moved out of the portals of the educational abode reverentially salute them on this occasion.

Dharwad is known as a second cultural city of Karnataka State, as this place has given birth to many  giants in, music, poetry, dramatics, education, literature, art and culture and has also been the birth place for many philosophers, spiritual leaders, inventors, and business people those have contributed, to the rich tradition of this place. On this occasion I pay my respects to all those, the past and present.

The place where the Karnatak University is located was named by then President of India, Dr. Babu Raajendra Prasad as “Chhotamahabaleshwar” that was attributed to its climatic conditions and the valley around. In the valley the River Shalmala flows and many are yet to know this fact.

On this land with many unique features, the four days – from 24th to -27th February 2013 were spent with joy and rich knowledge of the delegates who made their scholarly presentations. I have made a sincere effort to consolidate the gist of presentations, deliberations and interactions of 58th Indian Library Association International Library Conference of on “Next Generation Libraries: New Insights and Universal Access to Knowledge” (ILANGL-2013) Organized by the Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University Dharwad between 24-27 February, 2013. I hope all of you have really relished and enjoyed the Golden Jubilee Conference organised by the Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad.
I would like to recall the valuable contributions made by late Prof. M.R. Kumbar and Prof. K.S.Deshpande the founding fathers of Library and Information Science department who were primarily responsible for many innovative practices and the other luminaries who have immensely contributed for overall development of the department through the 50 years which has occasioned to celebrate this event. I extend my sincere thanks to Dr. B.D. Kumbar, Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University Dharwad and the Organising Secretary, and Dr. D.V. Singh, President, Indian Library Association, Delhi for having invited me to act as a Rapporteur General for the most memorable Conference in my professional career because I’m one of the alumni of the this prestigious university and the LIS department. I extend my sincere thanks to authorities of Karnatak University, the Organising Committee especially Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Prof. C.R. Karisiddappa and equally thank all the office bearers of Indian Library Association both present and elect. 
It’s my duty to thank Dr. A.Y. Asundi, my teacher and a strong motivator of all my academic endeavours and Dr. B.S. Kademani, the Director of the Conference for guidance and help in preparing the conference report.
I along with Dr. B.S.Kademani sincerely thank the authorities of the Karnatak University for their gracious offer to host 58th ILA International Conference as a part of Golden Jubilee celebration of DLISc. They have facilitated the delegates from different part of India and abroad to meet in this magnificent building (Golden Jubilee Auditorium) the conference venue.
INTRODUCTION:

Since last two decades the profile of the libraries, their resources and services are on constant and persistent change. The Library professionals are facing a fabulous task of managing traditional and new information resources and equally there are “here today and gone tomorrow” modes of services and products that Libraries are required to entertain. The users’ needs are changing and the library use patterns are also on the verge of new needs. In this context the conference chose a topic that is contemplated over again and again, where the professionals are required to face new types of libraries under the nomenclature “Libraries without walls, Electronic Libraries, Digital Libraries, Virtual Libraries” and so on.

The Department of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad in its Golden Jubilee year, organizing 58th Indian Library Association International Conference on the theme “Next Generation Libraries: New insights and universal access to knowledge”. The subject of the conference is very relevant and important as there are persistent deliberations going across the world on what would be the future of the libraries and librarianship, from its contents, from the stand point of organization and the tools and techniques of providing access to varieties of knowledge resources.  It is a suitable occasion to discuss this vital issue on completion of 100 years of LIS education in India and the main goal of this conference is to create awareness and the relevance of libraries and librarianship by adopting innovative and emerging technological tools and techniques.

 Coincidently this Golden Jubilee of Dept. of Library and Information Science, KUD also marks the completing the 80 years of ILA. The organizers invited papers from a wide spectrum of professionals from the different parts of India and aborad.  In fact, the response was overwhelming and encouraging.  The conference received over 200 papers out which the editorial committee selected 137 papers for presentation and deliberation. Total 137 papers are included in the conference proceedings and are listed under 8 different themes.  Out of 137 papers Thirty Seven are written by individual authors, 58 are contributed by two authors and  30are by three authors and only 12 articles are by more than three authors. This shows the extent of Co-authorship and Collaboration in LIS research activities in the country as well as aborad.

CONFERENCE DELEGATES
          With regard to participation, the conference attracted large number of participants from different parts of India and abroad.   There were in all 250 registered participants. Besides the registered participants, the Organizing committee had invited a large number of distinguished professional experts from different parts of India to share their rich professional knowledge and experience. 
DAY ONE: SUNDAY, 24TH FEBRUARY, 2013:
INAUGURAL CEREMONY:

The great gala opening ceremony was marked by the presence of a large strength of LIS fraternity with the rich legacy associated with the Department of Library and Information, Karnatak University and the brand of ILA made an auspicious opening for the 58th Indian Library Association International Conference on “New Generation Libraries: New Insights and Universal Access to knowledge” with style at prestigious Golden Jubilee Auditorium, Karnatak University, Dharwad. Marked by the presence of a large number of delegates across the India and abroad, in total the conference received an overwhelming response. The inaugural ceremony of the conference began with an invocation rendered by Dr.Gururaj Hadagali and the team.  The auspicious beginning of the conference was started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the dignitaries on the dais
Dr. B.D. Kumbar, Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad and Organizing Secretary,  extended warm welcome to the dignitaries on the dais as well as to the invitees and the delegates of the conference and introduced the guests present on the occasion.

Keynote Address:

A scholarly and highly intellectual Keynote address was delivered on this occasion by Dr. Ismail Abdullahi, Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Sciences, North Carolina Central University, USA. Dr. Abdullahi presented the current status of LIS Education in Developing Countries and explained the current trends and challenges being faced by them to improve the quality of LIS education, research and training. He applauded the achievements of Indian Library Association during last 80 years, which has provided services to its members through advocacy, promotion and training of LIS professionals, improving their status, promoting research and collaborative working with international organizations such as the IFLA and UNESCO for organizing conferences and disseminating information about librarianship in India. He was optimistc that the network and collaboration that the LIS Education in Developing Countries initiated has become a catalyst of movement that ties its members together by their common will to combine individual forces into one enterprise. Their purpose is to develop a self-sustaining bond and to promote their common aspirations and vision. For LIS Educators in Developing Countries, cooperation is not only desirable but also critically necessary to eradicate the underdevelopment of libraries and library education. He said that the share of the developing country population is 85% and there is constant need to catch up with the developed world, for which intensive collaboration among developing countries in LIS would be essential.

Release of Conference Volume and other Publications:

           Prof. H.B. Walikar, the Hon. Vice-Chancellor, Karnatak University, a great visionary leader, released the Conference Proceedings and the Souvenir was released by Mr. P. Sasindran. The Directory of Alumni of KUD was released by Dr. D.V. Singh, President, ILA. The book entitled “Readings in Library and Information in Education in India authored by Prof. C.R. Karisiddappa and Dr. A.Y. Asundi, and another book entitled Basic issues on digital libraries: The 21st century knowledge centres written by Dr. Sujin and Dr. E. Ramaready were released by Dr. B.S. Kademani, Scientist-G, BARC, Mumbai. 

Addresses by the Guests and Felicitations:
This was followed by Inaugural address by the Chief Guest, Mr. P. Sasindran, COO, Jindal Steel Works, Thorangallu, Bellary. The Chief Guest recalled his love for books and libraries from his school days. In the olden days the knowledge was passed on from mouth to mouth and the knowledge diversity in people as well as a means of uniting people.
Dr. D. V. Singh, President ILA, in his address stressed on the need for adapting to the change, and presented an exclusive analogy of “Rock blocking the flow of water”.  The ICT deals with bits and bytes, whereas Libraries are concerned with ‘mentelfacts and artifacts’ he exemplified with the distinct eloquence. He critically examined the recent survey conducted by the NCER and lamented on the declining reading habits among the youth due to electronic media explosion.
Dr. B. S. Kademani, Scientist-G, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, and the Conference Director presented an overview of the conference theme. Dr. Kademani highlighted the relevance of this International Conference for the benefit of all types of LIS professionals including Librarians, researchers, students and faculty members to enhance the quality of Librarianship and said in the present context of celebration of 50 years of the Department the theme has been very relevantly selected and for which he complimented the organizers.
Dr. H. B.  Walikar, Hon. Vice Chancellor Karnatak University, Dharwad, gave the Presidential address. On this occasion he remembered the Library services he received at the hands of Dr. S. R. Gunjal when he was research student in the Department of Mathematics of the University. Today you have computers, internet and other ICT means to search for information but in the absence, such means of rendering a service is highly commendable. He suggested that LIS professionals should have the ability to identify, locate and provide proactive services to user community.

Felicitation Function:
The ceremonious occasion apart from the above event, the felicitation of the professional fraternity, comprising of past/retired teachers of the Department, some the teachers who had served the Department and moved over to other universities was held. It also included some of the professional giants who were closely associated in the development of the department and some aluminus who have achieved professional excellence were also honoured. The list of professional honoured includes:
I.             The teachers who are no more were remembered:
a)    Prof. M. R. Kumbhar  b) Prof. R. R. Atgur  c) Prof. S. R. Ijari

II.           The other teachers who were honoured on the occasion are:
Prof. K. S. Deshpande (in Absentia)
Prof. B. B. Hungund (in Absentia)
Prof. S. R. Gunjal
Prof. R. C. Patil 
Prof. B. V. Rajashekar
Prof. V. B. Hubli
Prof. C. R. Karisiddappa
Prof. A. K. Baradol
Prof. S. L. Sangam.
Prof. A. Y. Asundi
Prof. P. V. Konnur
Prof. I. K. Ravichandra Rao
Prof. N. Laxman Rao,
Dr. E. Rama Reddy
Prof. D. Chandran
Prof. M. M. Kognuramath
Prof. Jagtar Singh
Shri. M. M. Badni

It needs to be appreciated that the data which was collected from different LIS fraternity who have contributed immensely since from the inception of the Department.  The facilitation citations of the professionals honoured on this occasion were meaningfully and thoughtfully read by Dr. Gururaj S Hadagali, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad. After this function, the ILA Awards Ceremony was held. The details of the Awards are given below.
 ILA Awards
Indian Library Association has instituted several awards for the human and professional service rendered by the LIS professional in the cause and promotion of Librarianship in India. This year ILA had received many nominations for the awards which were shortlisted by the committee and conferred the following awards to individuals and institutions.
1.   ILA - P.S.G. Kumar Life-time Achievement Award was conferred on Dr. H.K. Kaul, Director, DELNET, New Delhi.
2.   ILA - P.N. Kaula Best Librarian Award conferred on Dr. A. K. Chakraborthy, Bose Institute, Kolkata.
3.   ILA – S. M. Ganguly Award for Best School Library to DAV Public School, Kurukshetra, Haryana.
Dr. Ramesh R. Naik, Associate Professor, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad proposed the vote of thanks.

Dr. C. Krishnamurthy, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Library and Information, Karnatk Universtiy, Dharwad was the master of the ceremony.

 DAY TWO: MONDAY, 25TH FEBRUARY, 2013
The technical sessions were commenced on the Second day of the conference. The Session-wise detailed Report is presented here.

Technical Session – I :

The session was started with an invited talk by Dr. E. Ramareddy, former University Librarian, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad and Visiting Faculty of Mahasarakam University, Tailand and now RRRLF Research Scholar, New Delhi. The topic of his talk was “Academic Library services in India in the 21st Century”. Dr. Ramareddy dwelt on what should be the status of Academic Libraries in the 21st century and in this context analysed the issues relating to the existing status, desired status and the define actions to be taken to the reach the desired status. He emphasized on the trends, parameters and the projections of the achievement of academic libraries. 

The first technical session for the presentation of contributed papers on the theme “Best Practices in Libraries” was Chaired by Dr. Sujin, Maharsarakam University, Thailand, Dr. Suresh Jange, Deputy Librarian, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga was the Rapporteur. Five out of Seventeen papers were presented in the session by the respective authors.

          The papers mainly focused on the background of Best Practices in the libraries and some case studies in this regard were presented and some of them in specialized institutions like Agricultural University and in Education libraries. The session also saw the future of university libraries and also some comparative studies on information sources in business and management sectors.  The delegates interacted with the authors and put some interesting questions and sought some clarifications of the mode of the case studies.

Before the start of the second technical session a Product presentation on “RFID Technology” was presented by Mr. Chandrasekar S Sanikop of 3M India.

The second technical session on the theme “Human Resource Management and Marketing of Library Information Product and Services” was followed after the tea break.  The Chairman, Co-chairman and the Rapportuer of the session respectively were Dr. Jagtar Singh, Professor and Dean, Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala,  Dr. O. N. Chowbey, Library, Election Commission of India, New Delhi and Dr. J. Shivarama, Asst. Professor, TISS, Mumbai.

          In this session out of 17 papers scheduled only 4 papers were presented and the Chairman expressed his disappointment due to lack of interest by the authors to come over and present their papers.  Out of the four papers, three were on Marketing and only one was on HRM in Libraries. The HRM mainly focused on Leadership needs in Librarianship and marketing in specialized products and services. The paper on “Mobile alerting services” invited many appreciations and it received a very good response from the audience. After presentation of all the papers, the flour was open of discussion. Delegates raised few questions as well as clarifications and the presenters of the papers answered the queries. 

The third session commenced after the Lunch Break. The theme of the session was “Management and use of electronic resources”. The Chairman of this was Prof. B.S.Biradar and Dr. Pradeep Rai of ILA was Co-chair and Sri Anjaiah Muthukuri was Rapportuer. Out of the 12 papers listed for the session seven were presented by the authors. The subjects discussed on the theme are management of e-resources, survey of e-resources and finally on the use of E-resources and the papers were well received.

After the session and tea break a product presentation from Informatics India Ltd., by Mr. Sanjay Grover was made on “Bridging the access gap”. This was followed by the previous theme and in this session out of 12 papers, six papers were presented by the respective authors. The papers mainly constituted on Resource Sharing and Consortia in India. They discussed the mode of resource sharing among the academic institutions and the interaction was very lively and the questions were aptly answered by the authors.

The same theme was continued in session Four.  This session was Chaired by Dr. D. Chandran, Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science, S.V. University, Tirupati, Co-chair Dr. Abhjieet Sinha, Librarian, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Delhi University. Dr. Ashok Kumar, Deputy Librarian, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, TN., acted as Rappoteur. In this session there were 16 papers listed and out of which 7 papers are presented.  

The papers mainly concentrated on effective use of e-resources and benefits of resource sharing in the networked environment. Few authors presented various library consortia initiatives in India such as UGC-INFONET and INDEST.

DAY THREE: TUESDAY, 26TH FEBRUARY, 2013
The theme of the fifth technical session was “Application of IT in Libraries and Cloud Computing” one of the current popular topics of discussion. The session was Chaired by Dr. M. Krishnamurthy, Faculty, DRTC, ISI, Bangalore and Co-chaired by Dr. P.K. Chowdhary, General Secretary, ILA, Delhi and Dr. P.J. Nirmala, Deputy Librarian, Karunya University, Tamilnadu was the Rapportuer for the session.  In this session 11 papers were listed out of which 8 papers are presented by the learned authors.

The papers were on:
§  Library Automation and Networking
§  Building Academic Information Centre using Online databases
§  Computer Architecture for Digital Libraries
§  and the remaining papers were on Cloud Computing and  its applications in LICs

The technical session six was Chaird by Dr. I. K. Ravichandra Rao, Former Professor and Head, DRTC, ISI, Bangalore and Co-chaired by Dr. Surendra Kumar, ILA, Delhi and Ms. Shazad Afia, Librarian, SECAB Arts and Science College, Bijapur served as a Rapporteur.

In this session there were 11 papers out of which 7 papers were presented. The papers mainly were on “Digital Libraries and Institutional Repositories” another area of studies in LIS.  The papers deliberated IR initiatives in India and the world, and Dr. Krishnamurthy pointed out that there is growing trend of IRs in India which is a welcome approach.

As in India, the distance and virtual learning programmes in LIS are also coming up in USA. A trend of iSchools is a new phenomena in that country, and the representatives coming from the University of Wisconsin, Millwaukee, Ms.Jessic Hutchings and Angela Sodawsky made a presentation on “Preparing next generation of LIS Professionals.”

Pre-lunch session i.e., Technical session Seven was on “Open Source and Open Access” and was chaired by Dr. A.N. Bandi, Librarian, NIFT, Hyderabad. The Co-Chair and Rapportuer for the session were Ms. B. Radhika Rani, Asst. Professor and Head, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Kakatiya University, Warangal and Dr. Ningappa Arabagonda, Selection Grade Librarian, Govt. Degree College, Byadgi respectively. In this technical sesssion there were 15 papers out of which 6 papers were presented by the authors. Out of them, one was on OSS, two were on Open Access and three were on Social Networking.

The post lunch session, the Eighth technical session was on the theme “Information Literacy and Use of LIS Services. Dr. P.G. Tadasad, Associate Professor and Chairman of Dept. of LIS, and the University Librarian i/c Karnataka State Women’s University, Bijapur, Dr. N.S. Shokeen, Head, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Kalpana Chawla Govt. Polytechnic for Women, Ambala City, Haryana served as Co-chair and Dr. Rajendran, Librarian, SRM University, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu served as Rapporteur.

In this technical sesssion there were 12 papers out of which 7 papers were presented and most of them focused on Information Literary another thrust area of discussion in LIS. The last technical session of the day was Chaired by Dr. S.B. Patil, Librarian, Karnatak University, Dharwad and Mr. K.G. Jayarama Naik, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Bangalore University, Bangalore acted as Rapportuer. The previous session also continued in this session too.

In this technical session 11 papers were listed out of which 6 papers were presented by the authors. The authors focused mostly on Community Information Services, E-governance and the role of Public Libraries in the context.

General Body Meeting of ILA and Election of Offce-bearers for the Period 2013-2016.
The General Body Meeting of the ILA was held at 5.30 pm. Dr. D.V.Singh, President ILA Presided over the Meeting. The important agenda of the Meeting was Election to ILA Office-bearers for the period 2013-2016 and it  was held this year. The results of the election from the Election Officer/ Returning officer were received and announced. All the positions were elected unopposed.  The new team was congratulated and felicitated during the meeting.


DAY FOUR: WEDNESDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY, 2013
The concluding session i.e., Ninth session of the conference was on Social Networking and Web 2.0 technologies. Mr. J.P. Hiremath, Former Librarian, Institute of Banking Studies, Kuwait, Chaired the session, Mr. B.R. Radhakrishna, Librarian, UCPE, Bangalore University, Bangalore acted as Rapportuer.
In this session 12 papers were listed of which 3 papers were presented. The authors made presentations on Blogs, Web Portals, CMS and Access and Security tools of the Web.
Panel Discussion:
A Panel Discussion an important business session of the conference on the theme of the Conference was held and Prof. A.Y.Asundi was the moderator. The Panelists were; Dr. M.M Kognurmath, Professor and Head, Dept. of Library and Information Science, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. Dr. D.V.Singh, President, Indian Library Association, Delhi Dr. M.K.Bandi University Librarian, Mangalore University, Mangalore and Dr. B.S. Kademani, Scientist-G, BARC, Mumbai. The moderator Welcomed the panelists and the issues relating to the theme of the Panel Discussion were deliberated by the Panelist and discussion followed.
I take this opportunity once again to profusely thank Dr. B.D. Kumbar, Organising Secretary, Professionals colleagues of the Dept. of Library and Informtion Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Dr. D.V. Singh, and all the office bearers of ILA for giving me this task of Repoting. 
Above all I thank each one of you for your active participation and deliberation during technical sessions and even after technical sessions. Some time you are toooo emotional and sometime tooooo silent. Whatever be it let us join our hands to uphold this profession through innovation, quality of libraries, education and research set in by our fore fathers like Dr. S.R. Ranganathan and others with professional commitment, zeal and passion in advancing the standards and ethics.
Once again thank you one and all…………..

58th ILA International Conference Resolutions and Recommendations:
In conclusion of these proceedings the following Resolutions (Draft) have emerged and the same are placed before the audience for their perusal and consideration.
  1. It is inferred from the presentation of papers on the subtheme “Best Practices in LIS” that the new generation libraries required revised benchmarks for the taking stock of the infrastructure facilities and services. In the context of growing assessment and evaluation process, especially in the academic environment, formulation of the renewed parameters on Benchmarking and best practices in the context of emerging new generation libraries is envisaged. The conference hence resolved and recommends undertaking suitable steps in this context, and the institutions and the professional bodies should initiate proper actions in the matter.
  2. The infrastructure for preparing manpower to handle the present state of libraries is quite adequate in our country. There are some gaps in the delivery of pedagogical issues in the context, such as preparing new generation leaders and experts in the emerging areas of LIS and in particular new generation libraries. The Conference is of the opinion that the course curriculum of the present LIS schools should attempt to inculcate the leadership and decision making concepts in the teaching, training and continuing education programmes of LIS.
  3. The growth of information industry is quite visible now and the output of varieties of information and knowledge resources is on the rise.  In this context it is recommended that suitable training programmes on “Marketing of Information Products and Services” be undertaken so that the products of LIS Schools find new avenues for employment.
  4. The last two decades have witnessed a tremendous growth of e-resources, in the form of e-books, digital library consortia and so on. There is a need for the concentrating on the “Management of e- Resources “ and the programmes and courses on the management of new kinds of information and knowledge resources should be focused more intensively than before. The conference recommends that the LIS Schools and Professional bodies design specialized courses in this context to prepare the manpower for the future.
  5. There is a growing impetus on the availability of OSS and Open Access resource mobilization like IRs and Self- archiving.  The deliberations in the conference revealed that the pace of building IRs is very moderate and there is an urgent need to initiate suitable actions to intensify building Open Access Resources at all levels and in all sectors viz., education, industry and government. This will provide proper visibility to such efforts and would encourage collaboration among different sectors for mutual sharing of the resources.


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