Paper presented at National Seminar on North East India Library Network(NEILIBNET-2013): Challenges and Opportunities Organized by Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University in association with Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, GOI, Kolkata held during October 3-5, 2013

1. Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Librarian
Assam down town University
Dulumani Sarma
Librarian
Habraghat College
CURRENT STATUS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION INCURRENT STATUS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION IN
THE COLLEGE LIBRARIES OF BARPETA DISTRICT:THE COLLEGE LIBRARIES OF BARPETA DISTRICT:
A STUDYA STUDY
National Seminar on North East India Library Network(NEILIBNET-2013): Challenges and Opportunities Organized by
Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University in association with Central Reference Library, Ministry
of Culture, GOI, Kolkata held during October 3-5, 2013

2. SESSION OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
METHODOLOGY
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
COLLEGE LIBRARIES OF BARPETA DISTRICT
LIBRARY MANPOWER
LIBRARY COLLECTION
STATUS OFLIBRARY AUTOMATION
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
RECORD ENTERED IN DATABASE
HOUSEKEEPING OPERATION
BARRIERS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION
FINDINGS
SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSION

3. With the emergence of ICT, the human intervention is reduced to a great extent in every
field. Libraries are applying ICT to maintain the house keeping operations, services,
uniformity and extension of library facilities. The automation is defined as the technique, a
process or a system that operates automatically. According to Encyclopedia of Library and
Information Science, “automation is the technology concerned with the design and
development of process and system that minimize the necessity of human intervention in
operation”. According to Webster’s dictionary “Automation is the technique of making an
apparatus, a process or a system operate automatically”.
The library automation is a process that will touch every library facility to one degree to
another. It can be defined simply as the use of computer and networking technologies in
the library. It implies a high degree of mechanization of various routine and repetitive
tasks performed by human beings and has facilitated the accuracy, flexibility and reliability
in the services of libraries. It also increases the efficiency in technical processing of library
materials and improves the efficiency of library administration and management.
INTRODUCTION

4. The main objectives of the study are as follows:
To find out existing manpower in the college libraries
of Barpeta district.
To find out the total collection in the college libraries.
 To find out the present status of library automation.
To find out the barriers of automation in the college
libraries.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYOBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

5. SCOPE OF THE STUDYSCOPE OF THE STUDY
 The geographical area of Barpeta district is 3245 square kilometers
with over 16 lacs populations. The literacy rate is 65.03% where
70.72% is male and 59.04% is female. The people of Barpeta district
are mostly depend on agriculture and about 95% of total population
lives in rural areas. Most of the colleges in this district are located
in rural areas. The study includes the provincialized college
libraries of the Barpeta district affiliated to Gauhati University.
There are 14 colleges in Barpeta district mainly with arts,
commerce and science streams.

6. METHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGY
The present paper is based on the survey method. For the
authenticity of the data, a combination of questionnaire &
interview method used to collect data from the Librarians.

7. Analysis of data collected from the questionnaires are
presented in the research paper. The data elements
gathered are grouped into Library staff, Library
collection, status of library automation and barriers
faced by the libraries for implementing automation.
There are 14 Provincialised College in Barpeta district
and out of 14 libraries 12 are responded. The
percentage of response rate is 85.71.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATAANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

8. COLLEGE LIBRARIES OF BARPETA DISTRICTCOLLEGE LIBRARIES OF BARPETA DISTRICT
S. No Name of the college
Year of
Estd
Name of the library Place Website
1
Barpeta Road Howly
College
1966 B.H. College library Howly bhcollege.in
2
Bhawanipur Hastinapur
Bijni College
1971 B.H.B College Library Sarupeta bhbcollege.com
3 Bapuji College 1977 Bapujee college Library Sarthebari bapujicollege.org
4 Bajali College 1955 Bajali college Library Pathsala N/A
5
Bhabanipur Anchalik
College
1982
Bhabanipur Anchalic
College Library
Bhabanipur bacollege.in
6 Barpeta Girls’ College 1978
Barpeta Girls’ College
Library
Barpeta
barpetagirlscollege.
org
7 Baosi Bani Kanta College 1971
Hridayanda Choudhury
Library
Nagaon bbkcollege.org
8 M C College 1939 Kameswar Das Library Barpeta mccassam.org
9 Madhya Kamrup College 1971
Madhya Kamrup College
Library
Chenga mkcollege.ac.in
10 Mandia Anchalik College 1981
Mandia Anchalic College
Central library
Mandia N/A
11 North Kamrup College 1979
North- Kamrup college
library
Baghmara Bazar N/A
12 Nirmal Haloi College 1979
Nirmal Haloi college
Central library
Patacharkuchi N/A
Table-1: Basic information of the College libraries in Barpeta district

9. S. No Name of the college Professional Non-professional Total
1 Barpeta Road Howly College 01 02 03
2
Bhawanipur Hastinapur Bijni
College
02 02 04
3 Bapuji College 01 02 03
4 Bajali College 01 03 04
5 Bhabanipur Anchalik College 01 02 03
6 Barpeta Girls’ College 01 02 03
7 Baosi Bani Kanta College 01 03 04
8 M C College 02 03 05
9 Madhya Kamrup College 01 03 04
10 Mandia Anchalik College 01 01 02
11 North Kamrup College 01 02 03
12 Nirmal Haloi College 01 03 04
LIBRARY MANPOWERLIBRARY MANPOWER
Table-2:Total library staff in each library

10. S. No Name of the college Printed Non-printed Total
1 Barpeta Road Howly College 35299 20 35319
2 Bhawanipur Hastinapur Bijni College 11090 - 11090
3 Bapuji College 14325 4 14329
4 Bajali College 33000 - 33000
5 Bhabanipur Anchalik College 16948 - 16948
6 Barpeta Girls’ College 12500 05 12505
7 Baosi Bani Kanta College 20003 15 20011
8 M C College 40302 50 40352
9 Madhya Kamrup College 30419 03 30422
10 Mandia Anchalik College 10663 - 10663
11 North Kamrup College 10005 - 10005
12 Nirmal Haloi College 17300 - 17300
LIBRARY COLLECTIONLIBRARY COLLECTION
Table-3:Total collection in each library

11. STATUS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATIONSTATUS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION
S. No Name of the college
Year of
Automation
Fully
Automated
Partial
Automated
Not
Automated
1 Barpeta Road Howly College - - - YES
2
Bhawanipur Hastinapur Bijni
College
- - - YES
3 Bapuji College 2004 - YES -
4 Bajali College 2009 - YES -
5 Bhabanipur Anchalik College 2013 - YES -
6 Barpeta Girls’ College - - - YES
7 Baosi Bani Kanta College 2012 - YES -
8 M C College 2002 - YES -
9 Madhya Kamrup College 2008 - YES -
10 Mandia Anchalik College - - - YES
11 North Kamrup College - - - YES
12 Nirmal Haloi College 2004 - YES -
Table-4:Status of library automation

12. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Fully Automated Partial Automated Not Automated
STATUS OF AUTOMATI ON
Status of Automation
The status of library automation in the college libraries ofThe status of library automation in the college libraries of
Barpeta district is presented below in the chart-1.Barpeta district is presented below in the chart-1.
Chart-1

13. S. No Name of the college Software
compute
r used
Barcode
Scanner
Barcode
Printer
Printer
Internet
connection
1 Bapuji College SOUL 2.0 02 01 01 01 YES
2 Bajali College SOUL 2.0 03 - - 01 YES
3
Bhabanipur Anchalik
College
SOUL 01 - - 01 NO
4 Baosi Bani Kanta College SOUL 2.0 02 - - 01 NO
5 M C College SOUL 2.0 04 01 01 02 YES
6 Madhya Kamrup College SOUL 02 - - 01 YES
7 Nirmal Haloi College SOUL 01 01 01 01 YES
HARDWARE AND SOFTWAREHARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
Table-5:Hardware and software used in libraries

14. S. No Name of the college
Total
collection
Total records in
database
% of records in the
database
1 Bapuji College 14329 1700 11.86%
2 Bajali College 33000 8000 24.24%
3
Bhabanipur Anchalik
College
16948 9870 58.23%
4 Baosi Bani Kanta College 20011 10000 49.97%
5 M C College 40352 14000 34.69%
6 Madhya Kamrup College 30422 8000 26.29%
7 Nirmal Haloi College 17300 11000 63.58%
RECORD ENTERED IN DATABASERECORD ENTERED IN DATABASE
Table-6:Records entered in database

15. STATUS OF RECORDS IN DATABASESTATUS OF RECORDS IN DATABASE
Chart-2:Status of record entered in database

16. S. No Name of the college Administration Cataloguing Circulation Acquisition
Serial
Control
OPAC
1 Bapuji College NO YES NO NO NO NO
2 Bajali College NO YES NO NO NO NO
3
Bhabanipur Anchalik
College
NO YES NO NO NO NO
4
Baosi Bani Kanta
College
NO YES NO NO NO NO
5 M C College NO YES YES NO NO YES
6
Madhya Kamrup
College
NO YES NO NO NO NO
7 Nirmal Haloi College NO YES NO NO NO NO
HOUSE KEEPING OPERATION IN LIBRARIESHOUSE KEEPING OPERATION IN LIBRARIES
Table-7:House keeping operation in libraries

17. S. No Barrier No. of Library Percentage n=12
1 Insufficient funds 10 83.33%
2 Lack of qualified staff 08 66.67%
3 Inadequate staff training 09 75.00%
4 Lack of staff coordination 07 58.33%
5 Problems from higher authorities 07 58.33%
6 Lack of space 03 25.00%
7 Overload of work 09 75.00%
8 Power supply problem: 08 66.67%
BARRIERS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATIONBARRIERS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION
Table-8:Barriers of automation

18. BARRIERS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION(GRAPHICALLY)BARRIERS OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION(GRAPHICALLY)
Chart-3:Barriers of automation

19.  It is seen that out of 12 libraries in Barpeta district no one is found fully
automated and only 7 (58.33 %) libraries are partially automated while 5 (41.66
%) libraries are yet to start automation.
 The M.C. College, Barpeta has been leading with the highest library collections
i.e. 40352 and the North Kamrup College has the least library collections i.e.
10005 only.
 It shows that the M.C. College has the maximum number of library staff i.e. 5
whereas the Mandia Anchalic College has only two library staff.
 Each college library in Barpeta district has only one library professional except
M.C. College and B.H.B. College.
 It is found that all the partial automated libraries of Barpeta district are using
SOUL Software. Out of 7, 4 libraries are using SOUL 2.0 whereas the other 3
libraries are using SOUL (Earlier version).
 The Nirmal Haloi College has the highest records (63.58%) in database whereas
Bapuji College has the least number of records (11.86%) in database.
 The M.C. College library is providing cataloguing, circulation and OPAC and
rest of the libraries are performing only cataloguing.
FINDINGSFINDINGS

20.  The libraries in which automation has been initiated should try to fully
automate and the libraries in which automation is yet not started should
start as soon as possible.
 The authority should recruit professional as well as the non- professional staff
with basic knowledge of computer application.
 The vacancies need to be filled up and new recruitment must be made
with qualified persons.
 In-house training program should be conducted on a part time basis which
helps the staff to practice and assimilate more.
 Library fund should be used properly for the development of the libraries.
 Librarians should convince the authority showing the importance of library
automation in the present scenario.
 Libraries should have sufficient power supply.
SUGGESTIONS

21.  Library automation is an expensive, complex and continuous process
involving various constraints faced in its implementation action. Lack of ICT
infrastructure, lack of sufficient staff with ICT skills and lack of initiatives
from the authority are found responsible for unsatisfactory progress of
automation in the college libraries. These problems should be resolved with
effective planning and management strategies. The automation in the
college libraries of Barpeta district is in developing stage.
 UGC is taking initiative for promotion of library automation and providing
the SOUL software free of cost through INFLIBNET Centre to the college
libraries of Assam. It is noteworthy to mention that some college libraries
have availed the software but due to lack of updated version of computers,
it is not implemented. The college authority and the library staff should
work together to implement automation successfully in libraries.
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

22. Thank You