This document discusses academic libraries and their role, functions, and services. It defines academic libraries as libraries that are part of colleges, universities, or other post-secondary institutions and are administered to meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff for scholarly information and research. It describes the objectives, collections, and services of both college libraries and university libraries. Key services discussed include reference, lending, and information services to support the educational mission of the parent institution.

1. UGC-NET
Guide 1900
This will help you to face UGC-NET exams in such a good manner. I have
been took my time to prepare it. This sources can be available in the URL
http://www.netugc.com/
Shanthakumara,T.N.
M.L.I.Sc.
Manasagangothri,
University of
Mysore

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Abstracting Periodicals
According to Allen Kent “an abstract is a summary of a publication or articles accompanied by an
adequate bibliographical description to enable the publication or article to be traced.
H. M. Weisman defines “the abstract is an announcement medium whose objectives is to provide
knowledge of and an ordered and logical access to new primary literature”.
Thus, an abstract can be defined as an abbreviated, accurate representation of the significant content of a
document consisting scope, purpose, method used, kinds of treatment results and findings, interpretation of
the result by the author, argument, etc which is usually accompanied by an adequate bibliographical
description to enable to trace the original document.
An abstracting periodical is “a regularly issued compilation of concise summaries of
i) Significant articles (often in a very limited subject field) that appear in current primary source journal
and
ii) of important new research monographs, reports, patent and other primary source publication in that
field”.
Example: Library and Information Science Abstract, London, Library Association, 1950-, Bimonthly.
Indian Science Abstract, Delhi, Insdoc, Vol. 1-, 1965-.
Besides the above sources, list of periodicals, list of theses, dissertations, location and finding list
etc also serves as bibliographical sources.
Academic Library
Libraries in the educational institutions are concerned with the teaching and learning process experienced
by specific communities.
a) Definition: A library which is an integral part of a college, university, or other post-secondary
educational institution (higher education), administered to meet the needs of its students, faculty, and staff
for scholarly information and research services is the academic library. Large college or university libraries
often have separate libraries within individual academic departments or schools which have a collection
devoted to their subject or discipline such as chemistry, mathematics etc.
i) College Library: The college library meets the legitimate needs and demand of all their users from senior
teachers engaged in research to fresh students just entering. The library serves the reading, reference and
research needs of the members of the college community.
ii) University Library: According to Donald Davinson library is the “soul” of a university, the sun around
which all teaching revolves. The Radhakrishnan Commission in its report hailed the library as the very
“heart of a university”, the “workshop of the scholar” and “the laboratory of the learned”.
b) Objectives: The general objectives of the academic libraries are:-
i) To serve the curricular, cultural and general education requirement of the academic community;
ii) To provide reference material at appropriate levels;
iii) To provide study areas of users;

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iv) To provide a lending service appropriate to different types of users;
v) To provide an active information service.
These libraries are located on the campuses of colleges and universities and serve primarily the students
and faculty of that institution and other academic institutions. Some academic libraries are also accessible
to the general public in whole or in part, although borrowing privileges are often limited for users affiliated
with the college or university only.
i) College Library: The college library aims to help young students in proper understanding of various
disciplines, in preparing them for advanced studies, and for shouldering the higher responsibilities in future
life. It also helps the students in getting acquainted with the library practices such as consulting catalogues,
bibliographies, indexes, locating books, and other materials, etc.
ii) University Library: Its primary aim is to support the instructional and research programmes of the
university and conservation of knowledge and ideas, teaching, research, publication, extension service and
interpretation. The objective is to ultimately help produce leaders in the community in different fields of
human activity- the inventors, discoverers and pioneers.
c) Collections: The collections of academic libraries reflect the courses offered and research undertaken
within the institution. In recent times most of the academic libraries tend to use new computers,
telecommunications equipment for access to the Internet, and online databases, E-Journal etc. Also as in
the age of information explosion no college or university library can procure all published documents
therefore the academic libraries can form a network on cooperative basis that would enable them to share
the scarce and little-used materials required for advanced research.
i) College Library: The college libraries build up a balanced collection consisting of a wide variety of
learning and teaching materials to satisfy varied curricular and extra-curricular activities of both students
and teachers. The collections are selected and developed on the basis of educational philosophy and
objectives of the institution, size and nature of the student body, size of the faculty and their needs for
research materials. The collection includes text books and recommended books, books of advanced nature
for teacher, a wide range of reference books, travelogues, biographies, learned periodicals.
ii) University Library: The collection of the university library includes materials to meet the needs of post-
graduate students as well as resources of sufficient breadth and depth to support serious scholarship in all
areas. The collection, in fact, embraces a wide variety of subjects for learning, teaching, research and
publishing. It provides a general collection, rare materials, newspapers and periodicals, government
publications, special materials such as theses, dissertations, archives, clipping, visual and audio-visual
materials, digital objects, and so on.
d) Services: The academic library plays a central role in the academic work of students and faculty at
colleges and universities and is often considered the most important resource of the institution of higher
education. As students and faculty at colleges and universities may wish to conduct research within any
conceivable academic discipline, the collections of academic libraries usually reflect a vast range of

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interests and formats. It has both a comprehensive collection to support formal or class room teaching as
well as bears a representative collection of different research activities. Some of the universities maintain
the largest libraries in the world.
Because of the complexity, range, and diversity of formats and information in academic libraries, they
frequently offer orientation, library tour programs to introduce incoming students and faculty to the
institution’s library services. These programs are designed to teach new users the effective ways to make
use of a variety of reference tools and library search mechanisms. Even in some parts of the United States,
college accreditation agencies require institutions to offer library-sponsored courses on information
retrieval and evaluation.
i) College Library: The basic function of the college library is to assist its parent institution to carry out its
programmes. It must serve the needs and requirements of teachers and students towards reading, study and
research. Its educative function includes- providing materials to the college community, making materials
easily accessible, arranging orientation programmes in the use of the library, providing bibliographical
information to the faculty, arranging inter-library loan, and similar others.
ii) University Library: The university libraries provide ready access to materials and facilities such as
translation, typing, photocopying. In an effort to provide more efficient service the university library often
participates in co-operative undertaking in networking, consortia, interlibrary lending, co-operative and
centralized cataloguing and compilation of bibliographies. By accumulating and organizing materials, the
library serves as an invaluable aid in the conservation of knowledge and as an active force in teaching,
research and extension program4 | P a g e of the university. It also provides a variety of library
documentation and information services necessary for the success of the formal programmes of instruction.
It also participates in the interpretative function of the university through assistance to the faculty and
research staff.
Academic Status of a Librarian: Status means the social position or rank in relation to others and its
relative importance. The status of the profession depends upon the rules that reflect the entry qualification
for the new aspirants that want to join the profession, their future career prospects, the level of training
needed, amount of experience required. After getting a job it also depends upon the position held in the
administrative hierarchy of the institution, level of responsibility vested, amount of salary drawn, tenure,
voting privileges within or outside the institution, vacation, sabbatical leave, sick leave, retirement benefit,
social privilege and so on.
At present in India the status of the librarian is somewhat confused and uncertain. However, some
academic librarians in colleges and universities are considered as faculty, and they hold similar academic
ranks as professors. The following points will throw some light on the overall position of the librarian as an
academician in different academic institutions.
a) Entry Qualification: At present the entry qualification for the post of librarian at college is on par with
that of the lecturer i.e. Master degree with minimum of 55% marks in Library Studies, Library Science,
Library and information Science and, in some cases, a Master's degree in another field, SLET/SET/NET
and at university level, it is similar with that of the head of different departments.

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b) Rank in the Administrative Hierarchy: He works at the top level of administrative hierarchy, next to the
principal and vice principal at college level and alone with the top administrator such as Vice Chancellor,
Registrar, Controller of Examinations in the University level. In case of universities, the librarian is directly
responsible to the vice chancellor of the university or in colleges to the principal. The librarian is also a
member of a University’s Academic Council.
c) Responsibilities: He/she acts as a boss or chief executive and is responsible for all the administrative
functions of the library. He helps not only the students but also the teaching staff. Besides, he / she can be
termed as the teacher of the self-education practice, who complements and supplements the classroom
teaching.
d) Salary and Grade: The salary and grade of a qualified librarian is at par with the teaching staff of the
respective institution. In college, lecturer grade is given to the librarian, in Universities the grade of the
librarian is equivalent to professors.
e) Condition at Foreign Countries: In the United States and Canada, generally, the trend is to provide
academic status to the librarians working in colleges and universities.
In India, in Karnataka, the Karnataka Government passed a resolution for the librarian to be treated on par
with a teacher on 21st July 2006. Of course this is due to the efforts of the Karnataka State College
Librarians’ Association and fde credit goes to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Shri.
Basavaraj Horatti and Shri D H. Shankarmurthy respectively.
Further, each individual working in an organization wants a feeling of group belongingness, as the public
librarian are group among government officer, the librarian in research laboratories are group among
scientist so the academic librarian wants to grouped alone with the faculty member of the institution.
So in conclusion if we count the academic and professional qualifications of librarian, they are same
as that of teaching staff, so the status should also be the same.
Accessioning Work: The accessioning work includes the following activities
a) Receiving the Books and Bills: From the vendors books are received along with bills.
b) Checking the Books: After receiving the books they should be checked for page missing, damaged
binding, and for such other issues.
c) Arranging the Bills and the Books in Parallel Sequence: The books should be arranged in the sequence
in which these have been entered in the order placed to the vendor.
d) Verification: Then the bill should be verified in regard to the order in terms of books received and the
amount to be paid. The order slip with the bill and books should be submitted at the accession corner. If
books are not received in time then reminder letters should be sent to the vendor.
e) Accessioning: The accessioning involves the following activities-

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i) Entering details in the accession register: In the accessioning process, the details of the books are entered
in the accession register. Documents are entered date-wise according to their receipt in the library. All
purchased books are entered in the order of their bills.
ii) Entering accession number in the document: Accession number is recorded at the back of title page and
on the conventional clue place of the volume.
iii) Certifying the bills: Accession number is also written against the respective item in the bill for
purchased book. After entering all the items covered by one bill a certificate must be furnished on the bill
which should be like the following. A rubber stamp for this purpose may be useful.
Certified that all the books as per the bill have been duly entered in the accession register vide numbers
from ------ to-------
f) Transmitting Books: Then the books are sent to the technical department for classification and
cataloguing (processing). At this step each book should also be provided with a process slip (7.5 cm X 12.5
cm) as well as earlier order slip.
g) Transmitting Bills: Then bills are passed for payment.
h) Books – In-Process: The cards belonging to them, after noting the date of accessioning and the accession
numbers, are filed in a tray labelled as “Books – In-Process”.
i) Accession Register: Accession register is the official stock record in the library about each document
forming part of its collection; it is a bound register consisting of essential field in regards to a description of
a reading material. This record gives a complete history of each book / periodical acquired by the library.
The general practice in libraries is to have a single register in which all types of document whether
purchased or received as gift or on exchange or as deposit is entered. But some libraries have the practice
of using separate accession registers for gifts. When a book is withdrawn, then the corresponding accession
slip is withdrawn or the note regarding withdrawal is given in the accession register. In case, a user loses a
book, then with the help of details given in the accession register, the user may be asked either to make
payment or to replace the copy.
ii) Accession Number: Every volume added to the library receives a serial number in the order of
acquisition to the library collection. This includes book purchased or received in exchange or as gift. This
number is called accession number. Cumulated volumes of periodicals, which are to be bound and
preserved in the library, are also accessioned.

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Administration Vs Management
There are many factors according to which administration can be distinguished from management. These
are as follows:
i) Meaning: Administration: It is concerned with formulation of broad objectives, plans & policies.
Management: Management is an art of getting things done through others by directing their efforts towards
achievement of pre-determined goals. It puts into action the policies and plans laid down by the
administration.
ii) Nature: Administration: Administration is a decision-making function.
Management: Management is an executing function.
iii) Scope: Administration: It takes major decisions of an enterprise as a whole.
Management: It takes decisions within the framework set by the administration.
iv)Process: Administration: Administration decides what is to be done & when it is to be done.
Management: Management decides who should as it & how should he dot it.
v) Function: Administration: Planning and organizing functions are involved in it.
Management: Motivating and controlling functions are involved in it.
vi)Skills: Administration: It needs administrative rather than technical abilities. Administration handles the
business aspects such as finance.
Management: It requires technical activities. Management handles the employers.
vii) Level: Administration: It is a top-level activity. Management: It is a middle level activity.
viii) Influence: Administration: The administration is influenced by public opinion, govt. policies, religious
organizations, customs etc.
Management: The management decisions are influenced by the values, opinions, beliefs & decisions of the
managers.
ix) Status:Administration: Administration represents owners of the enterprise who earn return on their
capital invested & profits in the form of dividend.
Management: Management constitutes the employees of the organization who are paid remuneration (in the
form of salaries & wages).

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Archives
Archives: In general, archives consist of records which have been selected for permanent or long-term
preservation on the ground of their enduring cultural, historical or evidentiary value. Archival records are
normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines for which many identical
copies exist. This means that archives (the places) are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their
functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings.
a) Definition: The word “archive” is derived from the Greek “arkhē” meaning government or order
(compare an-archy, mon-archy). The word originally developed from the Greek “arkheion” which refers to
the home or dwelling of the Archon, in which important official state documents were filed and interpreted
under the authority of the Archon. Since “archive”, as a noun or a verb, has acquired meanings related to
computer science, Archivists tend to prefer the term “archives” (with an S) as the correct terminology to
serve as both the singular and plural.
A person who works in archives is called an archivist. The study and practice of organizing, preserving,
and providing access to information and materials in archives is called archival science.
b) Objectives
i) Safe storage and preservation of the document in a climate control facility;
ii) Classification and Cataloguing of the document;
iii) Retrieval and safe handling of the document.
c) Collections: It contains records (primary source documents) which have accumulated over the course of
an individual or organization's lifetime. The collection refers to all historical records (not just documents
and manuscripts but videos, disks, and other tangible forms as well) held and preserved by an institution.
Archival materials are not published; these are always famous documents, or even necessarily old.
The archives of an organization (such as a corporation or government) tend to contain records, such as
administrative files, business records, memos, official correspondences and meeting minutes. The archives
of an individual may include letters, papers, photographs, computer files, scrapbooks, financial records or
diaries created or collected by the individual – regardless of media or format.
d) Services: Professor and author Bruce Dearstyne identified the eight roles of the archivist-
- The role of an agent to the past and the future. This means that archivists must always bear in mind its
historical significance and its importance to posterity.
- They must work in conjunction with related information fields. For example, many archivists work
closely with librarians and records managers to determine the value of records and their place in the
repository.
- They act as organizers. This requires the archivists to manage, coordinate, and allocate resources in a
manner that allows an easy access and use by staff and patrons.
- Archivists should act as evaluators of program materials by continually assessing records.

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- They should assert control and order. This includes systematic filing and storing of items.
- They ensure physical survival of records through security, storage, and disaster planning.
- Archivists foster access to valuable records and so they must also encourage patrons and researchers to
make use of their collections. They can do this through various promotional campaigns (articles or
exhibits).
- Archivists act as public relations coordinators for their repository. This means that they attempt to reach
out to the community via conferences and presentations that demonstrate the importance and richness of
their resources
Areas of Computer Application in Library
Areas of Computer Application in Library: A modern library cannot be imagined without the application of
computers. In the library and information centres computers can be used for performing efficiently all sorts
of jobs from the procurement of the reading materials to their organization and use. So, it can serve as a
remedy for all the existing problems of libraries and information centres. But, till now computers have been
used successfully in the following areas of library activities.
A) Library House Keeping Operation: In case of library house keeping operation, the computer is used for
acquisition of books and other reading materials, their classification, cataloguing, circulation and serial
control.
a) Acquisition: The selection of materials can be made by the computer. Any library which is a part of
online computerized library system has access to catalogue entries and bibliographic data of all the libraries
in the system. These databases can be used as a selection tools to purchase new documents for the
particular library in question. Other offline databases can also be used as selection tools for non current
documents and sometimes out of print books. For other documents, conventional book selection methods
may be used. The MARC bibliographic record service has opened up a new vista in both cataloguing and
bibliographic database that can be used as a book selection tool.
The ordering and acquisition are the routine jobs in the library and for a single time ordering it requires
repetitive operation by different sections. These repetitive operations and the requisite checking can very
well be done by the application of the computer system. Both offline and online acquisition can be
performed by the use of computers.
b) Classification: A computer based classification system is being experimented at the Documentation
Research and Training Centre, Bangalore. It is based on Colon Classification System.
c) Cataloguing: The computerized cataloguing system operates with high speed for performing routine and
repetitive jobs. Besides, in the cataloguing unit, computer can also be used in various other ways such as
producing book plates, book pockets, book cards, spine labels, etc. It can also produce a variety of records,
card catalogues in the book form, printed catalogue, etc. as byproducts. The following uses of computer in
cataloguing have already been able to draw the attention of the librarians.

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The MARC project was started in November, 1965 by the Library of Congress, USA. The latest
development in the system includes the CoMARC (Co-Operative Machine Readable Cataloguing).
Computer Output Microfilm (COM) was developed in the USA by Stromberg Carlson Company. The
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), previously known as the Ohio College Library Centre was
started in August 1970. All these have successfully used computers for cataloguing of documents.
d) Serial Control: Serials are continuing publication having reasonably permanent titles and appearing
usually at regular intervals. Their contents usually vary from issue to issue. An article as a single
bibliographic unit may be published in more than one issue and even in more than one volume. Obviously,
the users may be interested in an issue of a serial as a bibliographic unit, or an article spread over a number
of issues as a bibliographic unit. So, serial control comprises complex operations of library activities
because of the vary nature and characteristics of Serial as library material. Again, the conflict between the
physical unit and the bibliographic unit makes Serial control a complex task.
In case of Serial, the current issues, the retrospective or immediate back issues and bound volumes under
every year of publication is an ongoing process. In this case, the library should encounter the search
problem because of the conflict between the title and the corporate body, the old titles and the changed
titles, nature of irregularity in publication (more than one issue in a single publication and the like). These
situations pose the problem of listing, acquisition, accessioning, cataloguing and creation of records in the
desired format.
e) Circulation: The circulation activities are the life-stream of the library services. The library documents
are for use and are intended for the users. At various points, documents are to be trapped for the users who
have recorded their priority in using such documents. The circulation is a flow of document, but the flow
should be controlled by library operations so as to serve the users in the best possible way with the
available materials in the library.
B) Library Administrations: In case of library administration, the library automation helps in
a) Providing Access Right to Staff Members
b) Providing Access Right to Library Users
c) Exception Reporting
d) Generation of Library Statistics / Report
C) Information Retrieval: Today, Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) or sometimes Web OPAC
facility provided by the library and information centres helps in easy retrieval of information. Computers
are also used for searching Library Database: eg. International Nuclear Information System.
D) Building Digital / Virtual Libraries Collection: Computers can also be used to build digital or virtual
collection or for institutional repository of the library.
E) Resource Sharing: In order to facilitate the provision of material request on inter library loan basis, the
use of computers and other latest telecommunication devices is being put to use in almost all the countries
of the world. The Online Union catalogue is also a product of computer application in library.

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F) Library Network: INFLIBNET, Developing Library Network (DELNET) is the example of taking
library automation as its first step or base structure.
G) Information System: World Science Information System (UNISIST), Medical Literature Analysis and
Retrieval System (MEDLARS), illustrate the advanced stage of library automation.
H) User Services: The library automation also helps to provide Current Awareness Service (CAS),
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) Services, Indexing and Abstracting Service, Web Based
Translation Services, Computer Based Indexing and Abstracting Services, and so on.
Conclusion: Today, the computers have entered each and every area of a library. The library automation is
the application of modern technologies including the application of computer hardware and software,
different storage medias, telecommunications, etc. which help the mechanization of any activity in the
library. To implement the computer in the library, the selection of proper hardware and software forms an
essential part. If proper software is selected, it will automatically generate or create OPAC which will
replace the traditional card catalogue of the library. The feature-rich software will also have the provision
of retrospective conversion. It will help the library to enter minimum of details about the document in their
collection in the database of some other libraries and will help in getting the full bibliographic record of the
document that can be embedded in the local database.
Array and Chain
1. Introduction: The addition of a characteristic to a basic subject idea or an isolate idea leads to the
addition of an array. The addition of an array implies the addition of a further division of a basic subject or
an isolate idea as the case may be. Any isolate idea taken along with its succession of sub isolates is also an
isolate idea. The succession of the isolate idea from the first to the last reached in this process is denoted by
the term “chain of isolate idea”. A chain may similarly be formed in respect of basic subject idea.
2. Array: The series of co-ordinate subdivision which are obtained by dividing a class or a division
according to a single characteristic. Each co-ordinate division in array should exclude all the others and the
whole array should be exhaustive of the context of the class. The order of the division in an array should be
that deemed most helpful to users.
3. Chain: The successions of division subordinate one to another expressing the relation. “A includes B
which in turn includes C (or conversely c is a part of B which is a part of A) constitute a chain of or it may
also be defined as a hierarchy of term each containing or including all which follow it in the same series.
4. Examples: Asia, India, Assam, Kamrup, Guwahati is a chain of isolate idea

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Basic Principles of Library Building Design
Basic Principles of Library Building Design: Some of the basic principles of library building design are
mentioned below-
a) Functional Design: A library building should have functional design rather than a monumental one.
There should be provision for documents, users, staff, and service areas. There should be areas for senior
professional’s rooms, library staff, seminar room, binding section, reprographic section, digital library
section with additional areas for acquisition section, technical section, reference section, reading room,
room for stack book, circulation section, etc.
b) Open Access: The availability of the number of library staff, the user demand and the type of collection
are the deciding factors for a library to go for open access or closed access system. In a closed access
library the users are prohibited to enter the library, they should write their demands in some slips. The
building design for open access is also considered useful for closed access system. However, vice versa is
not true. But, in both the closed and the open access systems, library property counter and some such a
thing are a must, because the users are free to enter the reading room and the periodical section in both the
cases. Both the systems require that the library building should have a single entrance and one exit point
for keeping a proper control on incoming and outgoing users. The whole building should be accessible
from the entrance to different parts of the building by means of simple and easy to understand plan
requiring only a few directions or guides. Doors and windows should be protected by means of wire fabric
to avoid any loss of books.
c) Future Growth: A library building should be planned for at least next 20 years, keeping in view the rate
of collection development, number of readers, technology enhancements, etc. The building should be
extendable to allow for future growth with minimum of disruption. There should also be adequate
provision for future expansion, both horizontally and vertically.
d) Flexible: There should be the means of interchangeability of all major stack areas, service areas, reading
room, and staff areas. The whole design should be such that if any change in library function takes place in
future it will be possible to adjust the layout without carrying out major structural operations. There should
be no interior load bearing walls but the building should be able to bear the stack load anywhere.
e) Air-conditioning, Lighting and Noise: Uniform standards of lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, noise
prevention, communications, fumigation and flooring are necessary to meet the criteria of
interchangeability. The natural light should come inside the whole building throughout the day time.
Outside or background noises generally cannot be controlled except by double glazing which involves air
conditioning. The inside noise of human voice, equipment and mechanical device, impact of footsteps,
banging of doors should be reduced by using insulating materials and devices, use of acoustical material
for walls and ceilings in corridors, reading rooms and work rooms. Use of proper floor coverings is also
essential.
f) Modular Design: A building on modular system is the one which is supported by columns placed at
regular interval. The basic dimensions of library building should be in multiples or submultiples of some
module/column. Even while only the columns are load bearing inside the building, outside walls may also

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bear the load. Columns, stairways, lifts, hearing facilities, plumbing and ducts are all fixed and everything
else is movable. Thus, the modular system leads to flexibility.
g) Economic: The design should be such that the operation of the library can be carried out with the
minimum of staff and finance. The windows should be covered with net.
h) Secure: The building should be free from dust, dirt, and cobwebs. To deal with other vermin the best
remedy would be to have a rat proof building. The water may not enter the stack room either through
ventilators and windows or due to leakage of roof. The stacking material should be fire proof. Sufficient
number of fire extinguishers and fire buckets should be fixed at various strategic places in the building. The
library building should also be designed to guard against some detrimental habits of the readers, visitors
and outsiders.
Bibliographic Control
According to UNESCO / Library of Congress Survey, bibliographic control means “the mastery over
written and published records which is provided by and for the purpose of bibliography”. Effective
bibliographic control should be made at subject and national level.
A) National Bibliographic Control: The national library ensures the bibliographic control of all the books
or book-like documents published in that particular country. It has the provision of legal deposit by a host
of different programs such as a cataloguing in publication service or similar mandatory practices. By
cataloguing in publication service, the Library of Congress gives a complete catalogue entry of a book to
any publisher who sends a final draft or some form of galley proof of a book currently in production.
B) International Bibliographic Control: One of the main goals of a national library is fulfilling their nation's
part of the common international goal of universal bibliographic control. The International bibliographic
control is done by the exchanges and also by fostering the creation of standard conceptual tools such as
library classification systems and cataloguing rules. The most commonly used of these tools is the
International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD). It applies to books and periodicals, but also has
variants for other book-like material such as the ISBD (ER) for Electronic Resources or digital documents
or the ISBD (A) for Antiquarian documents.
C) Conclusion: New ideas are generated in each and every branch of human activity from time to time.
Apart from new ideas we give new interpretation to old ideas, at times we also borrow ideas from other
discipline and try to apply them in a new content. As a result more and more information are produced in a
variety of forms leading to information explosion. There is a need to keep track of this information
explosion by way of bibliographic control.

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Bibliography
1. History of the Bibliography: the word “bibliography” originated in post classical Greek times. It has
been derived from the Greek word “biblion” which means books and “graphein” is to write. So
etymologically bibliography changed practically. Since 1763 from “writing of books” to “writing about
books”.
The term “bibliography” was first used by Louis Jacob de Saint Charles in his Bibliographia parisiana
(1645-50) and Konrad Gesner regarded as the father of bibliography, he attempted to list of all scholarly
publications in “bibliotheca universities” which appear in 1545.
Great German bibliographer Ebert define bibliography as “the science that deals with literary
production”
Copinger define bibliography as “the grammar of literary investigation”
C. W. Claps defined bibliography as “the systematic listing of the records of human communications”.
The bibliography as defined by Louis Shores is a “list of written, printed or otherwise produced record
of civilization, which may include books, serials, pictures, films, maps, records, manuscripts and any other
media of communication”.
According to Ranganathan the bibliography “is a list of document listed together for some purpose.
The purpose is to bring to the attention of the reader an exhaustive or selective lis of document relevant to
his pursuit of study or enquire”.
ALA glossary of library and information science defined bibliography as “a list of works, documents
or bibliographic items, usually with some relationship between them. E.g by a given author on a given
subject or published in a given place and differing from a catalogue in that its contents are not restricted to
the holding of a single libraries or group of libraries”.
2. Aims and Functions of Bibliography: Librarianship is a profession in which what is recorded by what so
ever of librarianship is bibliographies. Bibliography generally serves the following functions:
a) It is a guide to the literature of a subject: bibliography is actually an index compiled systematically on a
subject, so it serves as a guide to the literature of the subject.
b) Finding the existence: A bibliography enables one to find out what has already been written on his
subject and allows him to keep himself well informed and up to date. This avoids duplication in research,
saving him both time and money.
c) Verification of bibliographic detail: Whenever we are to verify a title or collect information on any
subject we are to consult a bibliography (subject bibliography). It also helps us to as certain bibliographical
data about an author thus helping in the identification of a document.
d) Location of material: A bibliography helps in locating the material or book in terms of place of
publication, location in the library on point of purchase.

15. Page15
e) Book selection: A bibliography by adding a note to each document being listed, indicate the value of the
document to a given type of user. So it helps in books selection i. e. which book should be consulted for a
given purpose.
f) It preserves documents: bibliography by listing of documents preserve all books, good, bad and
indifferent from oblivion.
g) It provides list of prior records of civilization: bibliography provide information about the prior records
of communication. Thus it is a vital aid to the study of history.
3. Types of Bibliography: Bibliographies are of the following types
a) Analytical Bibliography: According to Roy B Stokes on analytical bibliography involves “investigation
of the physical nature of the book which can be and frequently is sufficiently exhaustive to enable all the
circumstances of the book manufacture and history to be revealed”. Analytical or critical bibliography
therefore rests to a large extent upon imperfection in the production process and as such it has been defined
as the physical examination of books.
There would have been virtually no need of analytical bibliography if every step in the production
process was perfectly accomplished and a perfect book produced in every care. But unfortunately such
perfection has been a rare thing in the history of book production or has at latest happened in exceptional
case.
b) Descriptive Bibliography: Descriptive bibliography is the application of analytical bibliography to the
external form of the book i.e it concern itself with the materials forms of books and not with their literary
contexts. “its function is primarily that of recording the bibliography details of the book which has been
established during the process of analytical bibliography.” In Descriptive bibliography the bibliograph
details are kept to minimum because the basic purpose to listing. Descriptive bibliography aims to describe
all variation from this ideal form. But due to standardization of books production the importance of
descriptive bibliography has decreased greatly.
c) Textual Bibliography: It is an application of analytical bibliography to the contexts of books. It is a
bibliography applied to textual studies. The main purpose of such a bibliography is to determine the effect
of writing or the printing process on the correctness or completeness of a text. It helps ascertain the variety
of authorship edition etc. thus textual variation between a manuscript and the printed books or between
various reprints or edition. So the textual bibliography is more interested in the author’s wards and tries to
determine the exact words that the author intended should constitute his work. The aim is to prepare
definite edition of the original author.
We can say therefore the textual bibliography is an area which seems to be of great importance for
literary critics rather than librarians or bibliographies.
d) Historical Bibliography: The study of books “as object of art” may be termed a historical bibliography.
It is concerned with art of writing, printing, illumination and binding. The historical bibliography makes an
attempt to achieve a broad understanding of the milieu of the book in the context of the world of books,

16. Page16
and social and cultural conditions in existence at the time because the significance of books is very great in
every phase of civilization and of life.
Historical bibliography has to content itself with the evolution of typefaces from its very early
manuscripts origin. Then again the very material of which the book is compared paper as we know it, from
its handmade stage to that of machine manufactured.
e) Systematic Bibliography: systematic bibliography is nothing but the listing of books and other reading
material according to some useful system of reference scheme. According to Arundell Esdaile “to assemble
the resulting entries, simple or elaborate as the case may required into logical and useful arrangement for
reference and study” is called systematic bibliography.
Esdale in his “student’s manual of bibliography” has divided bibliography into two categories namely
primary and secondary.
a) Primary Bibliography: Primary bibliographies are those which are the original record of the whole or
part of their content.
i) General or Universal Bibliography: In general or universal bibliography, it attempts to include books
published in every country and age and on all subject. It is a survey of all records of civilization in all fields
of knowledge for whatever the time, place, language, subject or author. It does not matter. In fact there is
no universal bibliography as such but the publish catalogue of great libraries of the world can be stated to
be the nearest approaches to this type of bibliography. Eg. Library of Congress Catalogue of Books.,
British Museum General Catalogue of printed books.
Also Konard Gesner, the father of bibliography attempts to list all scholarly publication in the world
which appears in 1545, under the title “Bibliotheca Universalis”
ii) Incunabula Bibliography: This type of bibliography lists the early printed material upto 15th century. It
was considered a cradle period of printing and the systematic order in arranging various parts of the book
was not followed. Eg. Proctor Robert An index to the early printed books in the British Museum from the
invention of printing to the year 1300 with notes of those in the Bodleian library. Konard Burger’s index,
London 1960.
iii) Bibliography of anonymous and pseudonymous works: These types of bibliographies are arranged
alphabetically by title with notes of author, details of publication and annotations and notes about authority
for the ascription. They are also provided with an index of initials and pseudonyms. Sometimes the titles
are arranged alphabetically with names of the authors in square brackets and notes about the authority for
the attribution at the end. Eg. Dictionary of anonymous and pseudonymous literature.
iv)Trade bibliographies: These types of bibliographies are brought out by large publishing firms engaged in
book production or trade. The books available for sale or purchase are listed therein. Eg. Whitakers
cumulative book list, London, Whitaker British Book in print etc.
v) National bibliography: it is a comprehensive, almost complete record of both written and printed output
in a given country, furnishing description and supplying verification which cannot found in the less
complete bibliographies. So in short a national bibliography list all documents published in a given
country.

17. Page17
The national bibliography is compiled on the basis of the materials received by the National Libraries
under the copyright act as promulgated in various countries. A national bibliography is considered a
national heritage and its purpose is intellectual not commercial (selling). It is useful for the researcher and
the posterity. Example: Indian National Bibliography, Kolkata, Central Reference Library, British National
Bibliography, London
B) Secondary Bibliography: Secondary bibliographies are “those in which material registered elsewhere is
rearranged for the convenience of research”. In these documents already recorded in primary bibliographies
are selected, analyzed, and rearranged either by subject, author, period or typography.
i) Subject Bibliography: A subject bibliography is a comprehensive list of all books, periodicals articles,
pamphlets and other analytical materials that have appeared on that subject, such a bibliography is
international in scope since it covers everything that has been appeared on the subject in different
languages and in different countries of the world. Example: Education Abstract, 1949 to date, Paris,
UNESCO.
ii) Author Bibliography: An author bibliography is the list of writing by an author together with the works
on him by others.
Example: Mahatma Gandhi: A descriptive bibliography, compiled by Dr. J. S. Sharma, Delhi, S. Chand,
1955.
iii) Personal Bibliography: A personal bibliography is a list of writings by others on the different aspects of
the life of a great man together with what he himself has written, printed and delivered in the form of
oratory. Kindly note that personal bibliography is different from that of author bibliography.
Example: Jawaharlal Nehru: A descriptive bibliography by Jagdish Saran Sharma, Delhi, S. Chand & Co,
1955.
iv) Bibliophilic Bibliography: A bibliography that records old and rare books, first editions of celebrated
authors is known as bibliophilic bibliography. These bibliographies are only for those who have a craze for
old and rare books, especially for first edition of books of celebrated author. They have fancy for such book
for their magnificent look, distinctive physical feature, colorfulness, sumptuous binding, decorative covers,
brilliant illustration and pictorial ornamentation, grand illumination and beautiful type face, sometimes on
sentimental ground and sometimes for getting original thought of the author.
Example: Johnson, Merie de Vore, “American first editon”, 4th ed, revised N. Y. Bowker, 1942.
v) Selective Bibliography (Elective): This kind of bibliography is concerned with the listing of only
selected and the best books. This is useful to those who want to record only the best. This is also serves as a
valuable book selection tool to small and medium-sized libraries.
Example: The best books: A readers’ guide, 3rd ed, by W. S. Sonnenschein, London, Routledge, 1910 –
35, 6 Vol.

18. Page18
vi) Unit Bibliography: It is a list of different editions adaptations, abridged forms, translations,
dramatization, versification, criticism, etc of a single literary work conveniently arranged in order to give a
comprehensive picture of its literary excellence and popularity. Every literary work by every author does
not deserve a unit bibliography. It is only in the case of such works which have sound scholars curiosity by
dint of their great literary merit, universal appeal and enormous popularity that unit bibliographies are
compiled.
Example: The Arabian Hight’s Entertainment with its numerous adaptations and translations.
vii) Bibliography of Bibliographies (Bibliographic Index): As the bibliographies in various subject fields
have multiplied now a day the compilation of this kind of bibliography has become imperative. It is a list of
bibliographies recorded in a systematic and logical order. It includes all type of bibliographies in various
subject fields, separately published. This kind of bibliography is also known as bibliographic index
Example: Besterman Theodore, “A world bibliography of bibliographies”.
Blog
Blog: The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. Then Peter Merholz, jokingly
broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in 1999, from where
it becomes popular as "blog". Thus Blog is derived from Weblog. Blog or weblog is a web-based
publication consisting primarily of periodic articles normally in reverse chronological order with
reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.
1. Definition: Blogs have different meaning to different people, ranging from “online journal” to “easily
updated personal website”. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for
general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
According to Concept Websites Ltd (http://www.conceptwebsites.com/SEO/common-terms.htm), “a blog
is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and
someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows
people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog”.
In simple, it can be said that it is a web based website where articles posted will automatically be arranged
in reverse chronological fashion or in a chronological fashion. The owner/member will post message which
are sometimes rich with graph, audio, video and hyperlink periodically enabling others to view and
comment. Topics often include the owner's/member’s daily life or views on a particular subject or topic of
important to the group. The original post with its associated comments and discussion provide a very
insight to the topic at hand.
Many blogs are frequently updated and publicly accessible i.e they allow anybody to sign up at any
time; some others are private where entry to the group is restricted. Some advanced users have server-side
software, and often implement membership management and password protected areas. Others have
created a mix of a blog and wiki, called a bliki.

19. Page19
2. History: At the initial stage of internet development, Usenet, e-mail lists, Bulletin Board Systems (BBS),
chronicles, commonplaces, diaries, and perzines were used as a form of Citizen Media. Bulletin Board is a
service whereby messages and points of interest can be posted to be read and replied to unlike list server.
The news group provides access to thousands of topic based discussion group services which are open to
all. The news reader software allows one to post an article to any group for others to read. A comment to
the message (original) can be added to the thread of the article. In recent times these are effectively
replaced by the “blog”.
During recent days, blog has evolved into a tool that offers some of the most insightful information on the
Web. It provides self-publishing phenomenon represented by blogging and becoming much more common
in LIS, as librarians, libraries and library associations have begun to blog as a way of communicating with
their patrons and constituents. Many librarians world wide also publish their personal blogs that offer a
wealth of information about librarianship, their parent institution and sometimes to their personal lives as
well.
The emergence of blogging provides a medium to give readers of the library new perspectives on the
realities, as well as often offering different viewpoints from those of its official news sources. Many
bloggers began to provide nearly-instant commentary on televised events, creating a secondary meaning of
the word "blogging": to simultaneously transcribe and editorialize speeches and events shown on television
(liveblogging).
3. Anatomy of a Blog Entry: Blog uses web interfaces that allow anyone over the Internet, to create blogs
by their own. It usually does not demand the maintenance of server software by the users themselves. It
also does not demand to go for the HTML. A blog entry typically consists of the following:
a) Title: The main title, or headline, of the post;
b) Body: Main content of the post;
c) Permalink: The URL of the full, individual article;
d) Post Date: Date and time the post published.
A blog entry optionally also includes the comments or feedback. Comments are a way to provide
discussion on blog entries. Readers can leave a comment on a post (a way of correcting one’s error) or they
can also leave their personal opinion on the previous post(s).
4. Types: There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written. A
typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its
topic, the ability to quote another user's post with special formatting in ones post is also a special feature of
many blogs. Generally, blog can be categorized as follows:
a) Linklog: A blog comprising links;
b) Moblog: A blog written by a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA);
c) Photoblog: A blog comprising photos;

20. Page20
d) Podcasting: Blog containing audio;
e) Vlog: A blog comprising videos.
Blog can also be categorized based on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, legal blogs
(often referred to as a blawg), Library blogs, Academic Library blogs, Librarian’s blogs and so on.
5. Importance: Blogging combined the site with tools to make linking to other pages easier specifically
permalinks, blogrolls and TrackBacks. This, together with blog search engines enabled bloggers to track
the threads that connected them to others with similar interests.
a) Blog as a Forum: The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format and the scope for
adding more than one author in a blog, can be used to create discussion forum. Wordpress comments at the
bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post. Slashcode, on the other
hand, is far more complicated, allowing fully threaded discussions and incorporating a robust moderation
and meta-moderation system as well as many of the profile features available to forum users.
b) Blog as a Group: The Blog’s RSS Feed or Atom by burning with some feed burning services can be
used to provide email subscription option (some blog hosting service even produce it by default). This
feature can be used as a group to notify the intended users or reader or subscribers about some
announcement.
Blog also have blogrolls (i.e. links to other blogs which the owner reads or admires), and indicate the social
relationship of a particular blog to those of other bloggers. Pingback (links to other sites that refer to the
entry) and trackback (one of three types of Linkbacks, methods for Web authors to request notification
when somebody links to one of their documents) allow one blog to notify another blog, creating an inter-
blog conversation. In summary, blogs engage readers and build a virtual community around a particular
person or interest, which have immense implication in library and information science.
c) A Major Part of the Internet: Blogs are easy to create and maintain as compared to websites. As a result,
people are turning towards blog as a publication medium. Day by day, its volume as well as quality
increases and now we are in a position where we can say that if one is unable to locate any information
over internet by searching in the traditional general purpose search engine then it must be in blog.
d) Latest Information: The literature search forms the backbone of any research activities. In recent times, a
part of this business relies on internet and for a comprehensive list of resources over internet, the search
should extend to blog also, as it contains the latest, up to the minute information on a given topic.
e) Substitute of Mainstream Media: Blog increasingly considered as a substitute of the mainstream media
for news services, consultants, etc. As blog becomes a standard part of the publicity arsenal, it is used
extensively as a tool for outreach and opinion forming and as means of applying pressure upon concern
authority and like other. It can also be used to push the messages directly to the public by avoiding the
filtering process of the mainstream media (the editorial board of which often cut down the massage as a
means to avoid the legal liabilities, to present credible news or at times to justify their presence!).

21. Page21
6. Finding a Blog / Blog Search Engine: The general purpose search engines generally avoid displaying
results from blogosphere. So, for searching the blog over internet, reliance must be placed on the specially
designed blog search engines. Several blog search engines are used to search blog contents (also known as
the blogosphere), such as blogdigger, Feedster, and Technorati, which helps one to find out what people are
saying on any subject of his/her interest. In the following paragraph an attempt is made to list and discuss
some of the most popular blog search engines.
a) Blogdigger (http://www.blogdigger.com/index.html): Blogdigger is a blog and media search engine
founded in March 2003 by Greg Gershman. Blogdigger began as an experiment with RSS and search
technologies, developing into a search engine that provides fast, up-to-the-minute search results of the
latest posts collected from blogs and syndicated content feeds, such as RSS and Atom.
b) Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com): Bloglines is a web-based news aggregator for browsing weblogs
and other news feeds. Mark Fletcher founded the site in 2003 and sold it in February 2005 to Ask.com.
Bloglines uses an interface with the blogs names in one frame and their most recently updated content in
another pane.
c) Feedster (http://www.feedster.com): Feedster was founded in March 2003 by Scott Johnson. In June
2003, it merged with RSS-Search founded by François Schiettecatte. Feedster began as a weblog search
tool, indexing and archiving individual blog posts based on a site's RSS feed. Feedster gained popularity
with blog enthusiasts because it indexed new information fast, let users sort search results chronologically,
and made it possible to subscribe to search results as an RSS feed. It has now expanded to offer a wide
range of related services, including "Feed of the Day".
d) IceRocket (http://www.icerocket.com): IceRocket is an Internet search engine specialized in searching
blogs. IceRocket is backed by Mark Cuban and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. In 2005, CNet reported that
it may be re launched as Blogscour.
e) PubSub: PubSub is an Internet search engine for searching blogs which was founded in 2002 by Bob
Wyman and Salim Ismail. The site operates by storing a user's search term, making it a subscription, and
checking it against posts on blogs which ping the search engine. When a new match is found, the user is
notified, even if it occurs months after the initial search. This feature has led PubSub to call itself a
matching engine. Results can be read on the service's website or on an optional sidebar, available for both
Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. PubSub is currently having problem as noted in by Bob Wyman.
f) Sphere (http://www.sphere.com): The Sphere search engine delivers blog posts based on algorithms that
combine semantic matching with authority factors to deliver results relevant to the search query. Sphere
also organizes bloggers by topic. The company produces an application called Sphere It! allowing users to
seek blog posts related to news articles based on the contents of a particular web page they're viewing. The
function is accessed from a browser navigation bar plug-in. Upon clicking the plug-in button, a semantic
analysis is performed on the text within the page and blog posts related to the text of the article are
returned.
g) Technorati (http://www.technorati.com): Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs,
competing with Google, Yahoo, PubSub and IceRocket. As of November 2006, Technorati indexes over
60 million weblogs. The site won the SXSW 2006 awards for Best Technical Achievement and also Best of

22. Page22
Show. It has also been nominated for a 2006 Webby award for Best Practices. Technorati provides current
information on both popular searches and tags used to categorize blog postings. Blogs are also given
rankings by Technorati based on the amount of incoming links and Alexa Internet based on the web hits of
Alexa Toolbar users.
h) Google Blog Search (http://www.google.co.in/blogsearch?hl=en): Google Blog Search is a search
engine focused on blogs, with a continuously updated search index. Results include all blogs, not just those
published through Blogger. Results can be viewed and filtered by date. Google provides following option
to search for blog
i) Google-style interface (blogsearch.google.com) ii) Blogger-style interface) (search.blogger.com)
iii) The Blogger Dashboard iv) The Navbar on any Blog
All of the above provide same search, no matter where one searches. The Navbar, however, provides two
buttons: one to search the blog that one currently viewing, and one to search all blogs. It also provides
“Advanced Search” features where one can specify titles, authors, languages and more. After getting the
search results, it also provides an additional link that allows to switch between displaying the results with
either the most relevant or recent results at the top.
7. Blog Hosting Services: Blogs are generally hosted by dedicated blog hosting services or on regular web
hosting services. Most of the free blog hosting services are ad-supported but generally have unlimited
posting bandwidth and storage space. Generally, a small advertisement square banner is placed on the user
blog, which does not affect the overall make up the said blog. Many blog hosting services also notified the
blogger when someone adds some comments on his/her blog. Examples include the following
i) Blogger (https://www.blogger.com/start): Blogger was started by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan
(Pyra Labs of San Francisco) in August 1999 and was purchased by Google in February 2003.
ii) coComment (http://www.cocomment.com/): coComment is a Swiss startup company funded by
Swisscom Innovations and focused on providing high quality services to internet users worldwide. The
company is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
iii) LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com/): Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999. The
LiveJournal can be used as a private journal, a blog, a discussion forum, a social network, and like other.
iv) Open Diary (http://www.opendiary.com/): Launched in October 1998, soon growing to thousands of
online diaries. Open Diary becomes the first blog community where readers could add comments to other
writers' blog entries.
v) Pitas.com (http://www.pitas.com/): Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier
alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a website, followed by Diaryland in September 1999, focusing
more on a personal diary community.
vi) Xanga (http://www.xanga.com/): Launched in 1996, had only 100 diaries by 1997, but over 20 million
as of December 2005.

23. Page23
Other blog hosting service includes Blog (http://www.blog.com/), DreamHost
(http://www.dreamhost.com/), Salon.com (http://www.salon.com), Tripod (http://www.tripod.lycos.com/),
Vox (http://www.vox.com/), WordPress (http://www.worldpress.org/), etc.
Book Order
Book Order: Once a book has been selected for purchase, then an order has to be placed to acquire it by
typing from the book selection slip in a sheet or two. In case the book being ordered is an additional copy
or a new edition of an available book, the staff would put down the call number in the book order slip. The
ordering procedure relates to three stages-
i) Pre-ordering Work: Pre-order work includes the various jobs connected with the invitation of tenders or
quotations, tabulating the quotations, fixing the suppliers, signing the contracts, and so on.
ii) Order Placing Work: Order placing work consists of tallying, scrutiny and elimination.
iii) Intimation to the Indenters: The library should inform the indenter(s)/user(s) about the action taken by
the library for their demanded books.
The library generally tries to possess every type of information sources based upon the demand of the user
which includes books, journals, books on tape, videocassettes, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, electronic journals,
online databases, etc.
The book selection section is responsible for the identification of potentially useful materials by consulting
publishers' catalogues and flyers for the final selection to be made by the appropriate decision maker.
Sometimes the acquisition unit is the primary collection development unit for the library. Activities
centring acquisition also focus on securing items wanted by the library's end-users and handling financial
transactions that are associated with the purchase or leasing of the item(s). It is a process that involves
which materials the library should acquire by purchase or otherwise and getting the materials.
Book Selection Theories
Book Selection Theories: There are some principles of selection of documents which guide the librarian in
making a judicious choice of a document and thus help to develop a meaningful collection of documents in
the libraries.
i) L. R. McColvin: Theory of Book Selection (1925): According to L. R. McColvin books in themselves
are nothing. They have no meaning until they are made serviceable by demand. So he gives much stress on
demand and gives stress on the selection of only those documents which are demanded by the users for
their information needs.
ii) Drury: Book Selection (1930): It states that the right book will be provided to the right reader at the right
time. In this principle the reader is the central theme. A document is right or otherwise is to be provided
when the user needs it for use. The selector should know the users and their requirements. He should select
only that material which caters to the informational educational and recreational needs of the users.

24. Page24
iii) Haines: Living with book (2nd ed, 1950): The first edition of Living with Books appeared in 1935. It
was one of the first true textbooks aimed at training librarians in the art of book selection. Although Haines
died in 1961, her legacy continues to be felt. Through the 1970s, Living with Books remained the standard
text on book selection, and it is still referenced on many collection development course syllabi.
iv) Ranganathan: Library book selection (1952, reprint 1990): The first three laws of library science
enunciated by Ranganathan are also helpful in formulating the principles of selection of the documents for
libraries.
v) Dewey’s Principle: According to Dewey, the library should select the best documents within the finance
available, which may satisfy the information need of the maximum number of users.
Besides the above, we may mention Rovert Broadus’ Selecting Materials for Libraries, 2nd ed.
New York: H.W. Wilson Co, 1981 and Building Library Collections: 6th Ed. By: Arthur Curley, Dorothy
M. Broderick, and Published: January 1985 as important books on book selection.
Budgeting
Budgeting: Budget is defined as “an estimated often itemized or expected income and expense or operating
results for a given period in the future”. Thus, a library budget is an estimate of the expected income and
expenditure of the library for the coming year. As a budget is an estimate, it can be altered if and when the
circumstances change. It needs to be flexible enough to meet the changing needs. In a budget, the diversion
of funds should not be done for some unnecessary events or causes and it is actually not permitted.
a) Need and Purpose of Library Budget: Since a library is a non-profit organization, the financial
responsibility on its part is much more important. The need and purpose of library budget can be looked at
from the following points
i) Through budgeting a library is able to limit its expenditure to its income;
ii) A budget helps to spend the finance in a systematic way;
iii) Budgeting is the primary means by which formulated plans can be carried out;
iv) It serves as an effective management tool.
v) It gives overall direction to the library services;
vi) It coordinates all administrative functions by guaranteeing exchange of information on policies,
program and finance;
vii) It is a most important control device to measure the programmes of a library and their effectiveness;
viii) It reflects the goals and objectives of the library.
b) Budgeting Method: The following methods are generally used in budgeting-

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i) Line Item: Here the expenditure is divided into broad categories such as salary and wages, books and
periodicals, equipment, binding, stationary, miscellaneous, etc. However, this brings inflexibility, whereby
money from one item cannot be shifted to another one easily.
ii) Lump Sum: In this approach a certain amount of money is allocated to the library, the libraries decide as
to how that amount is going to be allocated to different categories.
iii) Formula Budget: Here predetermined standards are applied for the allocation of money. The formula is
mechanical and easy to prepare.
iv) Performance Budget: It is based on the expenditure for the performance of activities of a library. It
gives justification for and description of services to be achieved by the proposed programme.
v) Programme Budgeting: It is concerned with activities of organization but individual items or
expenditures are ignored.
vi) Per Capita Method: In this case a minimum amount per head of the population is fixed and financial
estimates are prepared accordingly.
In case of university and college libraries, the UGC Library Committee way back in 1957 suggested
for a provision of Rs. 16 per student and Rs. 200 per teacher. Kothari Commission in 1966 suggested for
allocation of Rs. 25 per student and Rs. 300 per teacher.
vii) Proportion Method: In this method a certain proportion of the general budget of a parent organization /
state is recommended for providing library services.
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan suggested that 6% of the education budget of a local /state / federal
government, as the case may be, should be earmarked for public library purposes. UGC Parry Committee
(UK) suggested that 6% of the total budget of a university may be provided to university library. Education
Commission recommended that 6.5-10 percent of the total university budget should be spent for the
university library.
viii) Method of Details: In this method all the items of expenditure of a library under various heads and
subheads in detail are calculated. The expenditure should be estimated under non recurring expenditure and
recurring expenditure. It is generally done by projecting current expenditure to the next year adding the
increase of cost.
The UGC Library Committee (1957) staff formula can be used to determine the number of staff and
their pay scale. The cost of books and other reading materials can be based on the number of students and
teachers. 5% of the total cost of books is allocated to stacking, storing, and serving of books.
ix) Planning Programming Budgeting System (PPBS): PPBS is a technique which combines the best of
programme budgeting and performance budgeting. In this method the emphasis is given on the planning of
the total system, the different parts of the system and their expected level of performance. All these are
considered for assigning the cost of the whole system.

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x) Zero Based Budget: It was developed by Peter Phyor to achieve greater effective planning and fiscal
control. The term “zero based” is derived from the first step in the process- the development of a hierarchy
of functions based on the assumption that the unit or agency is starting operation for the first time (i.e point
zero). Thus, the focus of budgeting is on the purpose(s) of the unit and on the function which it should
perform so that it meets the reason for its existence. Basically, it is not concerned with what happened
previously but rather with what is required to be done in future.
c) Expenditure: While estimated expenditure is planned three factors are kept in mind-
i) Comparison with past expenditure;
ii) Budgeting in accordance with the work programme and
iii) Using arbitrary stands and norms.
Depending upon the size of the library, the types of library expenditure headings vary. The general
forms of expenditure which can be applied to all types of libraries are given below.
Sl. No. Item Percentage of Total Budget
Initial Recurring
1) Salaries
a) Basic Salary
b) DA
c) PF
20% 65%
2) Equipment and furniture 30% 5%
3) Books
a) Reference collection
b) New books
c) Others
15% 10%
4) Periodicals
a) Back volumes
b) Annual subscription
20% 10%
5) Binding and repairing of
documents
2 ½% 2 ½%
6) Microfilming and digitization 7 ½% 2 ½%
7) AMC -as needed- -as needed-
8) Contingency
(stationary item, printing,
Photostat, postage, telephone,
electricity bills, etc)
2 ½% 2 ½%
9) Miscellaneous (overtime
allowances, insurance
premium)
2 ½% 2 ½%
10) Imprest Money (Sundry
expenditure or the money
which is kept for unforeseen
events)

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In the above table, expenditure with regards to gift and exchange are excluded as they cannot be
foreseen with any possible precision.
In case of a new library, the initial costs as well as the operating budget require some special
consideration. But in case of an existing library only the operating budget items need to be considered. As
the library does not usually have all its functions at the start, the total staff is not required at the initial state;
consequently, the recurring expenditure on salary will be about three times of that obtaining at the
beginning.
The cost of the library building and its maintenance usually form part of the budget of the
organization as a whole and, therefore, this has been excluded from the library budget. If, however, the
library has its separate existence, a sizable initial cost and a proportionate cost of maintaining will have to
be provided in the budget. Any good architect will be able to give these estimates.
The expenditure in a special library is higher than that in a general library as it involves more
amenities and the use of many costly machineries and gadgets.
d) Accounting and Reporting: Accurate records regarding the amount paid out, encumbered and unspent
are maintained by the accounts section. To ensure proper utilization of grants, an Account Register should
be maintained to watch the expenditure. A Ledger should be maintained with double entry system.
Receipts and expenditure items should be entered regularly in the said ledger. In addition to this ledger, a
Cash Book in which daily transactions are to be entered and a Budget Allotment Register, department wise
and objective wise, should be maintained so as to know easily and with accuracy as to how much amount
has been spent and how much remains in balance. Monthly reports should be prepared regarding this. The
reporting should be done to the users, library staff and higher authorities. This may appear an annual report
of newspaper article or radio talk or in some other form.
Let Us Sum Up: Budget statement or record is a definite financial record which speaks of the back history,
present position and future development of the library. It is also a statement for comparing the position and
the trend of development between the past, present and future. Budgetary statement generally depends on
the sources of income and expenditure of the library. Library budget may be divided into two parts- Income
and expenditure.

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Citation Analysis
Citation Analysis: When one author cites another author, a relationship is established. Citation analysis
uses citations in scholarly works to establish that relationship (links). Many different links can be
ascertained, such as links between authors, between scholarly works, between journals, between fields, or
even between countries. Citations both from and to a certain document may be studied. The Science
Citation Index began publication in 1961.
One very common use of citation analysis is to determine the impact of a single author on a given field by
counting the number of times the author has been cited by others. Citation indices, such as Institute for
Scientific Information's Web of Science, allow users to search forward in time from a known article to
more recent publications which cite the known item. Information scientists also use citation analysis to
quantitatively assess the core journal.
Google's PageRank is based on the principle of citation analysis. Other bibliometrics applications include:
creating thesauri; measuring term frequencies; exploring grammatical and syntactical structures of texts.
Data from citation indexes can be analyzed to determine the popularity and impact of specific articles,
authors, and publications. However the limitation of citation analysis is that they are often incomplete or
biased; data has been largely collected by hand (which is expensive), though citation indexes can also be
used; incorrect citing of sources occurs continually; thus, further investigation is required to truly
understand the rationale behind citing to allow it to be confidently applied.
a) Co-citation Coupling: If papers A and B are both cited by paper C, they may be said to be related to one
another, even though they don't directly cite each other. If papers A and B are both cited by many other
papers, they have a stronger relationship. The more papers they are cited by, the stronger their relationship
is. Co-citation coupling is a method used to establish a subject similarity between two documents.
b) Bibliographic Coupling: Bibliographic coupling is the mirror image of co-citation coupling.
Bibliographic coupling links two papers that cite the same articles, so that if papers A and B both cite paper
C, they may be said to be related, even though they don't directly cite each other. The more papers they
both cite, the stronger their relationship is.
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing:in the traditional model of computing, both software and data are fully contained on the user’s computer,
whereas in the cloud computing, the user’s computer may contain almost no software or data. They only need a minimal
operating system and web browser to serve as a display terminal for processes occurring on a network of computers far away.
So, the cloud computing refers to the provision of computational resources on demand via a computer network. The resources
may be a application, database, file service, email etc.
In case of cloud computing, the data are stored in the cloud instead of a local computer so multiple users can access and
contribute to the projects simultaneously without worrying about using the same operating system, software, or browser. For
example, instead of collaborating on a document by sending back and forth revision after revision as attachments, documents can
be better stored in the cloud with Google Apps. Coworkers can access the web-based document simultaneously in their
browsers, and even make changes that other authorized users can see in real-time. Eliminating attachment round-trips by storing
data in the cloud saves time and reduces frustrations for teams who need to work together efficiently.

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Collection Development
Collection Development: The Library housekeeping operation or Technical works of a library handle those
tasks associated with bringing materials into the library and making them ready for use for the general
public or for the service population and thus include the job of identification, selection, acquisition,
organization of the collection (classification and cataloguing) and preparation (labeling and others),
covering, security processing, and/or distribution of materials. Within the purview of technical service also
come such things as serials, binding / repair, copy cataloguing, original cataloguing, and gifts and
exchange.
A library, however large it may be, cannot store all the materials and all the users of a library will not be
interested in all the materials kept in it. All the materials will not be used by all the users in a library. So,
here arises the need of selection of library materials.
The library collection development is the process of planning and acquiring a balanced collection of library
materials of many formats, including books, periodicals, online resources, and other media. It is sometimes
considered as synonymous to “Collection building”, which means that there are already nuclei of collection
in the library and the librarian is going to build up the collection. But collection development is a term
different from collection building, since the word “development” implies qualitative improvement of the
collection, whereas building a collection is likely to mean the planned and systematic development of an
already existing collection. It occasionally involves the selection and acquisition of materials, as said by
Shipman. Harrod’s Librarian Glossary (6th edition) defines “collection development” as “the process of
planning a stock acquisition programme not simply to cater for immediate needs but to build a coherent
and reliable collection over a number of years, to meet the objective of the service”.
The proliferation of publications in various physical formats made the exponential growth of literature and
all these materials are the record of intellectual endeavours on one hand and on the other hand these are the
vehicle of communication for transmission of information and knowledge.Since the basic purpose of the
library is to facilitate the process of communication so all the above materials should be collected to help
grow the library holding and to meet the ever increasing need and requirement of the users as far as
possible. This continuous process of acquiring the reading material is known as collection development.
Collection development is an expansion of book selection by enlarging the kinds of materials to which
selection principles have been applied, making the collection a total holding at any particular point. It is
also a process of maintaining a balanced, consistent and user responsive collection in the library.
The process of collection development includes selection of current as well as retrospective material,
weeding out of obsolete, irrelevant, unused and not-to-be-used materials. Evaluation of existing holding
should be made for the identification of adequacy and gaps. The gaps should be filled according to the
user’s need.
Paul Mosher explains collection development as “a process that should constitute a rational documented
programme guided by written policies and protocols and should reflect in sense a contrast between library
users and library staff as to what will be acquired, for whom and at what level”.

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Collections are developed by librarians and library staff by buying or otherwise acquiring materials
over a period of time, based on the assessment of the information needs of the library's users. In addition to
ongoing materials acquisition, library collection development includes:
i) The creation of policies to guide material selection.
ii) Replacement of worn or lost materials.
iii) Removal (weeding) of materials no longer needed in the collection.
iv)Planning for new collections or collection areas.
v) Cooperative decision-making with other libraries or within library consortia.
a) Collection Development and Book Selection: The librarian knows that collection development begins
with book selection. Some assume that they are same and the terms are interchangeable; others assume that
collection development is a broader term for the same old job, namely, acquisition, but actually collection
development is very much different from the term “book selection” both conceptually and operationally.
The library collection and its development determine the nature and the characteristics of the library not
only in the holding but in service pattern also. So the librarians should be acquainted with the user needs
and requirements and the users should be requested to advise the librarian about their needs. In this way it
is a two way job.
b) Objectives of Collection Development: The main objectives of collection development are-
i) A library should acquire and provide all the relevant reading materials to its clientele so that the basic
function of the library are fulfilled from the vast amount of literature, which are also increasing day by day.
ii) A library should acquire all other books on the related topics;
iii) A library should contain all the reading materials pertaining to the history and culture of a particular
country, city, place or institution as the case may be.
c) Need of Book Selection: The need of book selection arises due to the following reasons-
i) The world of book is so large that a library, however large and resourceful, cannot procure all the
materials published and available in the market;
ii) The library collection is meant for the user of a particular library so that library collection should
commensurate with the need and requirement of the users;
iii) The physical limitation of storage naturally imposes the necessity for selection.
d) Factors that Influence Book Selection: Selection of the library materials is of prime importance in a
library. The librarians with the concern of library staff and with the help of various user groups should

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perform the job of selection of the library material. In selection process the following factors should be
considered:-
i) The Library: The kind, objectives, size and goals of the library, specialization areas of the library;
ii) Users: Need and demand, requirement and intellectual level of the users, the number of users;
iii) Existing Holding: The number of books, its nature and characteristics which are already present in the
collection; the merits of the books which are going to be selected;
iv)Fund: The amount allotted for acquisition of books/journals.
Common Communication Format (CCF)
Common Communication Format (CCF): CCF is a structure format for creating bibliographical records
and for exchanging records between groups of information agency and libraries. An international
symposium in Taormina, Sicily conducted by UNESCO was held in April, 1978. On the recommendations
of the symposium UNESCO / PGI formed the adhoc group on the establishment of a Common
Communication Format (CCF). The first edition of CCF was published in 1984 under the editorship of
Peter Simmons and Alan Hopkins and its second edition was published in 1988 in two volumes called
CCF/B and CCF/F. Several countries have adopted this standard for exchange and creation of bibliographic
records at national level.
A) Structure of CCF: The structure of CCF is the implementation of ISO-2709. It consists of the following-
a) Record Labels: Each CCF record begins with a fixed record label of 24 characters and consists of data
element which contains the record. Each data element is identified by its relative character positioning the
label.
b) Directory: The directory is a table containing a variable number of 14 characters entries i.e the length of
each directory entry is of 14 characters terminated by a fixed separator character. Each directory entry
corresponds to a specific variable. Data fields in the record are divided into four sub sections or parts,
containing data for the following data element-
i) Tab
ii) Length of the data field
iii) Starting character position
iv) Implementation defined section
c) Data Fields: In the CCF a data field is defined as consisting of-
i) Indicator
ii) Sub Fields: A sub field consists of a subfield identifier followed by a data string which is terminated by
either another sub field identifier or a field separator.

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iii) Field Separator: The field separator is that character which constitutes the final character of every data
field except for the final data field in the record.
iv) Record Separator: The record separator is that character which makes the end of the final data field in
the record and constitutes the final character of the record.
B) Limitation of the CCF: CCF is not designed to meet the requirement of all types of libraries and
information organizations for local implementation. It is also not expected that institutes will use CCF
record format for internal storage and processing purpose. The major limitations of CCF are-
a) It is not sufficiently detailed in its definition and coverage of all data elements necessary for creating a
bibliographical database for an individual library.
b) It does not include its cataloguing rules nor does it align itself with any particular cataloguing code or set
of rules oriented towards a specific or fixed type of information output form.
c) Except for standard CCF fields CCF recommends the use of alphanumeric code for tags but it may not
be possible to use alphanumeric code for tags in all cases (eg when library system uses CDS/ISIS, this
recommendation cannot be implemented).
d) Though in CCF further addition of the new data elements and their respective content designator is
possible, the unrestricted interpolation by different users can create complication for exchanging data
among libraries. In such cases, the content designators of newly added data elements are likely to vary
which may cause inconvenience for exchanging data from one database to another.
Communication
Communication: The term “communication” comes from Latin word “communis” meaning common.
When we communicate with someone we try to establish a certain degree of commonness with the
communicate. Eg. By sharing some information, an idea or an attitude. Communication therefore refers to
transmission or exchange of information, message, etc. Communication takes place when people send or
receive message of various kind. So information and communication are two interlinked term in the sense
that without information communication is not possible.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines communication as “the imparting, conveying or exchange of ideas
and knowledge whether by speech, writing or signs”.
The Columbia Encyclopaedia of Communication defines it as “the transfer of thought and message
as contrasted with transportation of goods and person”.
In ordinary usage the verb “to communicate” means
i) To exchange thoughts, feelings, information;
ii) To make known;
iii) To make common;

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iv) To have a sympathetic relationship.
In the noun form “communication” refers to
i) The exchange of symbols, common message, information;
ii) The process of exchange between individual through a common system of symbols;
iii) The art of expressing ideas and
iv) The science of transmitting information.
In the popularly understood sense of the term communication refers to anything from a face to face
conversion between two persons, conversion over the telephone, and correspondence between friends. The
transmission of programes on live television are broadcast via communication satellite i.e received by
millions of people.
1. Elements of Communication: The communication process requires at least three elements.
a) Source: The source is a point at which message originates. It can be an individual or an organization, a
human being or a machine.
b) Channel: The message may be in audible, visual, or tactile form as any signal capable of meaningful
interpretation.
c) Destination: The destination or recipient, which again can be a person or a group of person, is in the final
link of the communication chain. Destination is the interceded target of the message.
2. Media and Forms of Communication of Information: There is a distinct difference between
communication of information and communication of commodities, energy, heat, etc. i.e one’s own stock
of information or knowledge is not going to diminish by communicating to others. Thus the ownership of
information may multiply but not change hands like a physical commodity. Further one can communicate
information which he does not have, eg. about one’s own behaviour.
Quite often two or more channels may be used together for effective communication and the
channels of dissemination may form a series of alternative routes, through the total communication system.
Communication is a process of transferring message from one point to another. The four element of any
communication process are the reader, the medium, the receiver and the feedback. In Library and
Information Science several models of communication are used in the dissemination of information
through e-mail, post, telephone line, through oral verbal communication, videoconferencing etc.

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Communication of Information
1. Introduction: In the popularly understood sense of the term communication refers to anything from a
face to face conversion between two person, conversion over the telephone, and correspondence between
friends. The transmission of programmes on live television broadcast via communication satellite i.e.
received by millions of people.
2. Elements of Communication: The communication process requires at least three elements.
i) Source: The source is a point at which message originates. It can be an individual or an organization, a
human being or a machine.
ii) Message: The message may be in audible, visual or tactile form, as any signal capable of meaningful
interpretation.
iii) Destination: The destination or recipient, which again can be a person or a group of persons, in a final
link in the communication chain - the intended target of the message.
3. Media and Forms of Communication: There is a distinct difference between communication of
information and communication of commodities, energy, heat, etc i.e. one’s own stock of information or
knowledge is not going to diminish by communicating to other. Thus the ownership of information may
multiply but not change hands like a physical commodity. Further one can communicate information which
he does not have eg. about one’s own behavior.
Following is a list of forms of communication with channels of disseminating information. Though
they are given in isolation here, quite often two or more channels may be used together for effective
communication and the channels of dissemination may form a series of alternative routes, through the total
communication system.
3.1 Oral Communication / Informal Communication: Oral communication is one of the oldest medium of
communication of information and is speedier. The oral communication is generally called as informal
communication.
According to Ban – Hillel, oral transmission can be analysed into the following technical stages-
i) A concept, statement, preposition, postulates etc is formulated mentally.
ii) The mental formulation is expressed in words.
iii) The words are spoken that is they are expressed by the complicated larynx, tongue and lip position of
speech.
iv) The vibration set up a sound wave that is transmitted through the air.
White has referred to informal communication as interactive as it involves a direct interaction
between the source of information and the recipient.
Oral communications are of the following types-

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i) One person to one person: Example: a face to face talk or by phone, chat, etc.
ii) One person to several: Example: a group or committee meeting, conference, teleconference, video
conference, etc.
iii) Several person to several: Example: A group discussion, conversation, etc.
a) Advantages of Informal Communication: The following are the some of the advantages of informal
communication
i) Promptness: The face to face or telephone conversation, personal correspondence, and preprint exchange,
all of which are faster than dissemination through the formal channels.
ii) Selectivity: Formal journals are designed to reach large audiences and therefore cannot be sensitive to
individual need. Information transmitted through the informal channel is specifically meant for an
individual recipient or a small group.
iii) Interactive Communication: In the informal context example telephone conversation, continuous
interaction between the supplier and receiver of information is possible. This facility is very difficult to
achieve in the formal channels.
iv) Screening and Evaluation: In the informal communication system the supplier provides evaluated and
predigested information that can be readily used by the recipient.
v) Transmission of Ineffable: In the informal mode a scientist may not hesitate to communicate opinions
and experiences which are too personal to be communicated through formal channels.
vi) Personal Appeal: Scientist communicating in the informal mode can established a personal rapport
among themselves. This is difficult to achieve in the formal channel.
3.2 Formal Channel of Communication / Verbal Communication: The formal channel of communication is
very effective way of storing and preserving the available information and knowledge in a very handy
manner. Formal communication is non interactive and also known as documentary communication or
verbal communication. The formal channel of communication is of the following types.
i) Written (Manuscripts): Exchange of practical note book, preprints and reprints among scientists fall
under this category.
ii) Printed: The newspapers, newsletter, journal, book, state of art report, etc fall under this category.
iii) Audio – Video: It consists of picture, charts, maps, slide, video tapes, CD, DVD, Magnetic tapes, etc.
3.3 Exception Cases: There are many exception of formal and informal communication. They are
i) Correspondence: Correspondence is a written form of communication but it is generally treated as
informal rather than formal channel of communication.
ii) Professional Conference: It is both formal and informal. It is formal in the sense that it involves formal
organization. There will be presentation of formal papers and it frequently results in some formal

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publication. It is informal in the sense- it provides greater opportunity for personnel communication among
individual.
iii) Mass Media: Radio, television film which are able to bring the information as soon as it occur to the
mass.
iv) Telecommunication and Satellite Communication: The online resources, though they are formal but are
interactive in nature.
4. Barriers of Communication: The barriers to communication of information can broadly be grouped into
the following categories-
a) Institutional Impediment: There are three basic institutional impediments. These are -
i) Status of a person and organization: Information mainly flows among equal level of status. It is very
difficult for person of lower status to enter into such network of information.
ii) Structural (Hierarchical): Information flows from top to bottom or from bottom to top level in
administrative hierarchy.
iii) Secrecy (Fear of Losing): Managers and officials sometimes fear that if they provide the information to
somebody else their own secrets will be lost.
b) Financial: Financial barriers are of the following types
i) Rising cost in production of document: It reduced the production of the documents and reduced the
purchasing power of the user.
ii) Postal and other transportation charges
iii) Cost in running libraries and information centres pushed libraries to shift from free services to fee based
service.
iv) Currency exchange and import controls: Some countries have import restrictions for certain classes of
literature.
v) Dwindling Budgets: The dwindling budget of libraries and individual toward information procurements.
vi) Royalties: The scope of royalties increases the price of the literature.
c) Technical: The technical barriers can be of the following types-
i) Poor presentation of documentary products.
ii) Less number of copies.
iii) Lack of special system / equipment: Certain classes of documents need special equipment for reading or
viewing. Example: Microfilm / fiche.
iv) Complicated System: The complicated nature of system needs lot of patience and practice to get the
required information.

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v) Lack of Awareness: Many of the users are not aware as to what services are available and what service
can provide him the needed information.
vi) Underqualified staff of libraries / documentation centres.
vii) Lack of proper organizational structure.
viii) Lack of bibliographical control tool.
d) Linguistic: The linguistic barriers can be of the following types
i) Inter linguistic problem
ii) Intra language problem: Jargon such an neologism (coining or using of new words), synonyms (words
that have similar meaning), acronyms (words formed from the initial letter of a name), etc.
e) Psychological and Social: Psychological characteristic of user i.e. unwillingness to changes, question of
prestige, shyness, selfishness, ignorance, traditional boundaries, mistrust, etc.
f) Administrative and Political: The closed societies who allow very little information to cross their border
or allow very little information to flow in.
Components of a Computer
Components of a Computer: The computer unit is frequently called as the computer system because of its
numerous parts, machinery units and complicated sequential operation. A computer system has three main
parts i.e Hardware, Software and Humanware. A general purpose computer has two main parts Hardware
and Software.
1. Hardware: The physical or mechanical parts of the computer system that can be seen and touched are
known as hardware. It consists of a combination and collection of electro-mechanical and electronic
components and devices, electronic circuits and microelectronic equipment assembled in metal boxes in the
form of modules and cabinet. All these equipment and elements are interconnected by wiring and switching
communication components like transistors, capacitors, resistors, diodes, printed circuits, integrated
circuits, main and auxiliary storage systems, various types of magnetic media, communication media for
carrying and transformation of data, coded instruction, etc. The different hardware parts are interconnected
by busses, often made of groups of wires.
Any computer system has three important hardware parts. They are input device, central processing unit
and the output device. The central processing unit itself has three parts, namely memory unit, control unit
and arithmetic and logic unit. These three units along with the input and output devices form the five
important components of any computer system. In addition to the above five parts mentioned, computers
also have secondary storage devices, which are used for storing data or instruction on a long term basis.

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A) Input Unit: The input devices are used to transfer the information into the memory unit of a computer.
In simplest term, they bring information into the computer from the user’s hand, i.e. input unit feeds data
into the computer. It is thus a communication medium between the user and the machine. The input devices
are of the following types.
i) Keyboard: Keyboards are the most commonly used input devices usually having 83-84 keys and
enhanced with 101 keys or even more. The enhanced keyboards are more popular.
ii) Mouse: It is a hand-held pointing device that allows controlling the computer without having to type the
instruction through keyboard. The Scrolling mouse is a small unit with a round ball at the bottom and with
two depression switches at the upper top portion having again a scroll button. Nowadays cord less as well
as without scroll ball-type of mouse is also used.
iii) Scanners: Scanners are used to store or feed an entire image / data or page of other information into the
computer system. Image scanner is a general-purpose device which digitizes a two-dimensional image.
iv) Track Ball: A trackball is just like a mouse lying on its back. It is stationary and does not need to move
on any surface. To move the pointer only the ball should be rotated with the thumb / finger or with the
palm. The buttons next to the ball are used just like mouse button.
v) Joystick: A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or
direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games and they usually
have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer.
Fig. 2: Elements of a joystick elements: 1. Stick 2. Base 3. trigger 4. Extra buttons 5. Autofire switch 6.
Throttle 7. Hat Switch (POV Hat) 8. Suction Cup
Fig. 3: A 6×8 Wacom Intuos3 graphics tablet with DuoSwitch erasing Grip Pen stylus and 5-button
scrollwheel puck.
Fig. 4: Front and back of a Canon PowerShot A95.
vi) Digitizing Tablet: A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet, graphics pad, drawing tablet, pen pad or
digitizer) is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way
one draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten
signatures.
vii) Digital Camera: A digital camera (or digicam) is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both,
digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor.
viii) Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR): It allows the computer to recognize character printed
using magnetic ink. MICR is widely used in banks to read the cheque number written on the bottom of the
cheque. It is also used in the back of credit cards and bank debit cards and ID cards.
ix) Optical Character Recognition (OCR): An optical character reader is used to read character of special
type fonts printed on conventional paper with conventional ink i.e. it involves reading text from paper,
book or from a magazine articles but they still have difficulty with handwritten text.

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x) Bar Code Reader: Bar code readers are photoelectric scanner that reads the bar codes or vertical zebra
striped marks printed on the product container and the computer automatically tells the prices of the
product at the terminals.
xi) Speech Recognition and Voice Response Devices: In this type of device the user speaks into a
microphone which is attached to a digitizer. The dizitizer converts the analog sounds waves to “0” and “1”s
which can be easily understood by the computer. Speech recognition devices are necessary because spoken
commands are much quicker than typing. It helps to give command to a remote computer over telephone. It
helps the computer usable to the blind people. In computer assisted learning environment it helps in the
interaction between the man and machine.
xii) Touchscreen: A touchscreen is a display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the
display area. The touchscreen has two main attributes. Firstly, it enables one to interact with what is
displayed directly on the screen, where it is displayed, rather than indirectly with a mouse or touchpad.
Secondly, it lets one do so without requiring any intermediate device such as a stylus that needs to be held
in the hand. Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks.
xiii) Touchpad: A touchpad (also trackpad) is a pointing device consisting of specialized surface that can
translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on screen. They are a common
feature of laptop computers and are also used as a substitute for a computer mouse where desk space is
scarce.
xiv) 14 Light Pen: A light pen is similar to a mouse except that with a light pen one can move the pointer
and select objects on the display screen by directly pointing to the object with the help of the pen.
xv) Optical Mark Recognition (OMR): Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) is also called mark sensing. It is
a technology where an OMR device senses the presence or absence of a mark such as pencil mark. OMR is
used in test such as aptitude test.
B) Central Processing Unit (CPU): The CPU is the brain of any computer system; all major calculations
and comparisons are made inside the CPU and it is also responsible for activating and controlling the
operations of other units of a computer system. It guides, directs and controls a computer performance. It
also executes the instruction given to it. The CPU consists of the ALU, control unit, registers, and basic I/O
(and often other hardware closely linked with these). Early CPUs were composed of many separate
components but since the mid-1970s CPUs have typically been constructed on a single integrated circuit
called a microprocessor.
a) Arithematic and Logic Unit (ALU): The input devices are used to transfer the information into the
memory unit of a computer. Information from the memory can be transferred to the ALU where
comparison and calculation are done and the results are sent back to the memory unit. The set of arithmetic
operations that a particular ALU supports may be limited to adding and subtracting or might include
multiplying or dividing, trigonometry functions (sine, cosine, etc) and square roots. Some can only operate
on whole numbers (integers) whilst others use floating point to represent real numbers with limited
precision. An ALU may also compare numbers and return boolean truth values (true or false) depending on
whether one is equal to, greater than or less than the other. Logic operations involve Boolean logic: AND,

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OR, and NOT. These can be useful both for creating complicated conditional statements and processing
Boolean logic.
b) Control Unit: It acts as a manager which controls all activities being carried out within the computer.
The control unit strictly obeys the instruction given by us, follows the instruction in the same sequence and
executes them one after another until the entire set of instruction is exhausted. CU brings one instruction at
a time from the memory, interprets it and obeys it by coordinating the working of all other units. The CU
tells the input unit what is to be read and addresses the memory as to where it is to be stored. The CU
ensures that according to the stored instruction the right operation is done on the right data at the right time.
It manages and coordinates the entire computer system. The simplified descriptions of the steps that are
performed by the Control unit are given below. Some of these steps may be performed concurrently or in a
different order depending on the type of CPU
* Read the code for the next instruction from the cell indicated by the program counter (program counter is
conceptually just another set of memory cells, it can be changed by calculations done in the ALU);
* Decode the numerical code for the instruction into a set of commands or signals for each of the other
systems;
* Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction;
* Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory (or perhaps from an input device). The
location of this required data is typically stored within the instruction code;
* Provide the necessary data to an ALU or register;
* If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, instruct the hardware to perform
the requested operation;
* Write the result from the ALU back to a memory location or to a register or perhaps an output device
* Jump back to step one.
c) Memory Unit: It is the workspace area within the computer where the data and instructions are stored. It
holds all data, instruction and results temporarily. It stores the data to be processed, the intermediate results
and the final results until they are displayed. It contains the programs that are currently being run and the
data the programs are operating on. In modern computers, the main memory is the electronic solid-state
Random Access Memory (RAM). It is directly connected to the CPU via a "memory bus" and a "data bus".
The arithmetic and logic unit can very quickly transfer information between a processor register and
locations in main storage, also known as a "memory addresses". The memory bus is also called an address
bus or front side bus and both buses are high-speed digital "superhighways". Access methods and speed are
two of the fundamental technical differences between memory and mass storage devices. Main memories
are of the following types
i) Random Access Memory (RAM): It is the key working area of the memory. It is possible to select
randomly and use any location of this memory. It is also called the read/write memory because information
can be read from RAM chip and can also be written into it. It is a volatile storage medium i.e. the contents

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of the memory are lost when power is switched off/cut, as it requires a steady flow of electricity to
maintain its content. RAM is also quite expensive. RAM may be of VRAM, WRAM, NVRAM.
ii) Read Only Memory (ROM): It holds permanent data or instruction that can only be read. That
information is permanently recorded and cannot be changed by the programmer. It is non volatile in nature
i.e. the contents of ROM are not lost when the computer is switched off. It contains instruction to get the
computer started when the switch is on, holds instruction and data that control the various peripheral units
of the computer such as graphic display, disk drives, etc. Most personal computers contain a small amount
of ROM that stores critical programmes, as it is expensive to produce. Typically, ROM must also be
completely erased before it can be rewritten, making large scale use impractical, if not impossible. ROM
may be of the following types-
* Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM): A PROM is a memory chip on which set of instructions or
information can be stored, but it cannot be modified or wiped out later on. Like ROM its memory is also
non volatile. To write data on a PROM one will need a special device called a PROM programmer or
PROM burner. The difference between a PROM and ROM is that PROM is manufactured as blank
memory where ROM is programmed during the manufacturing process.
* Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM): EPROM is used widely in personal computers to
enable the manufacturer to change the contents of PROM before the computer is actually skipped so that
the bugs can be removed and new versions can be installed shortly before delivery. The EPROM is of two
types - Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), where high voltage electric pulses are used to erase the
previous data or instruction and after that the disk can be reused and Ultra Violet Erasable PROM
(UVEPROM), which retains its data or instruction until it is exposed to Ultra Violet light. The UV light
clears its contents making it possible to reprogramme the memory. The difference between an EPROM and
PROM is that while in PROM the data or instruction can be written only once and cannot be erased, in
EPROM the content can be erased and reprogramming can be done.
iii) Flash Memory: Many modern PCs have their Basic Input Output System (BIOS) stored on flash
memory chip so that it can easily be updated if necessary. Such type of BIOS is sometimes called flash
BIOS. Flash memory is also important for modem as it enables the modem manufacturer to support new
protocols as they become standardized. EEPROM is similar to flash memory (sometimes called flash
EEPROM). The principal difference between the two is that EEPROM requires data to be written or erased
in byte at a time whereas flash memory allows data to be written or erased in blocks. This makes flash
memory faster.
iv) Cache Memory: It is a special type of internal memory used by many central processing units to
increase their performance or "throughput". Some of the information in the main memory is duplicated in
the cache memory, which is slightly slower but of much greater capacity than the processor registers, and
faster but much smaller than main memory. Multi-level cache memory is also commonly used—"primary
cache" being smallest, fastest and closest to the processing device; "secondary cache" being larger and
slower, but still faster and much smaller than main memory.
C) Output Unit: An output device is any product or machine that is capable of bringing information for user
view. It presents the processed data or information to the user. It can be a printed page, a picture in

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monitor, and so on. Anything which comes out of a computer system is the output of it. The common
output devices are-
a) Monitor [Video Display Unit (VDU) / Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)]: It looks like a television. The
advantage of having a video display unit is that as we write we can see what is being fed into the computer
and by this way we can spot the mistakes and make the necessary correction. It also helps to display the
stored information inside the computer system.
b) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): CRT screens are relatively heavy and bulky, therefore unsuitable for
small portable computer like note book. Considering this the screen of a portable computer is effectively
replaced by a flat panel LCD screen which is smaller in size and lighter in weight.
c) Printer: A computer printer, or more commonly called the printer, is a device that produces a hard copy
(permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on
physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as computer
peripherals, and are permanently attached by a printer cable to a computer which serves as a document
source. The latest technology is combining printers with a scanner and/or fax machine in a single unit. The
world's first computer printer was a 19th-century mechanically driven apparatus invented by Charles
Babbage for his Difference Engine.
d) Plotter: A plotter is a vector graphics printing device which operates by moving a pen over the surface of
paper. Plotters are used in applications such as computer-aided design, though they are being replaced with
wide-format conventional printers.
e) Speaker: Speaker output the music or speech from the programme. A speaker or loudspeaker converts an
electrical signal to sound. The speaker pushes a medium in accord with the pulsations of an electrical
signal, thus causing sound waves to propagate to where they can then be received by the ear.
f) Computer Output on Microfilm and Microfiche (COM): The output from the computer, instead of being
printed is displayed on a high resolution cathode ray tube, and the output is obtained in microfilm or
microfiche from which it is often used to store massive data in compact form. Then, when needed, with the
help of a special microfilm reader it is used to read the output.
g) Speech Output Unit: A speech output unit is one which reads string of character stored in a computer
memory and converts it into spoken sentence. This type of speech output is very useful in many areas.
Examples: A telephone where a message is given to the caller when the number dialed does not exist,
railway and airlines enquires.
D) Auxiliary Storage Devices: Auxiliary memory / storage devices or secondary storage supplements the
main memory and it requires the computer to use its input/output channels to access the information.
Secondary storage is also known as “mass storage devices”. It functions as back up device even if by some
accident the computer is crashed and the data in it is unrecoverable. One can restore it from the backups. It
acts both as input and output devices. The secondary storage devices are also used as a transport medium to
transfer data or information from one computer system to another computer system. If we use keyboard as
an input device we will waste a lot of valuable computer times because manual input is always slow.

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Secondary storage is also used for long-term storage of persistent information. Secondary storage device
includes Magnetic tapes, Floppy disc, CD / DVD, Pen drive, External Hard Disc etc. The Floppy and
Magnetic Tapes are now obsolete as secondary storage devices.
i) CD-ROM: CD-ROM is an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-only memory. The standard CD-ROM
holds 650 or 700 MiB of data. A "700 MB" CD has a nominal capacity of about 700 MiB. The CD-ROM is
popular for distribution of software, especially multimedia applications, and large databases.
ii) DVD: It typically may contain at least 4.4 GiB of data, nearly 7 times the amount of a CD-ROM. DVD
capacities are given in decimal units: A "4.7 GB" DVD has a nominal capacity of about 4.38 GiB.
iii) Pen Drive: A USB flash drive consists of a NAND-type flash memory data storage device integrated
with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable,
much smaller than a floppy disk, and most weigh less than an ounce (30 g). Storage capacities can range
from 64 MB to 256 GB with steady improvements in size and price per capacity. Some allow 1 million
write or erase cycles and have 10-year data retention, connected by USB 1.1 or USB 2.0.
2. Software: A computer cannot perform on its own. It needs to be exclusively instructed on what it has to
do, the programmes written for a computer to perform different operation are called software and it can be
defined as ‘the set of computer programme, procedures and associated documentation or complete set of
instruction which enable the computer to obtain solution of a problem that resides in the memory or storage
device of a computer’. (The programme is a set of instructions written in computer language). Software is a
general term that is used to describe only single programme or group of programme and makes the
hardware run. It acts as an interface between the user and the computer. Computer softwares are generally
classified into two broad categories:
A) System Software: It is a set of one or more programs, designed to control the operation of a computer
system. Generally, the system software supports the running of the other software, communicates with
other peripherals devices, supports the development of other types of software and supervises the user of
various hardware resources. System software is of the following types-
a) Operating System: An operating system (OS) is an integrated set of computer programmes that manage
the hardware and software resources and the overall operation of a computer system. The operating system
is designed to support the activities of computer installation. It acts as an interface between a user and the
hardware i.e. all computer resources. It forms a platform for other system software and for application
software. Its prime objectives are to improve the performance and efficiency of a computer system,
increase the facility and the ease with which a system can be used. Most operating systems have a
command line interpreter as a basic user interface, but they may also provide a Graphical User Interface
(GUI) for ease of operation. Operating systems are mainly of two types-
i) Command / Character User Interface (CUI): In this type of OS the user has to type the commands at the
command prompt mode, which will act as an input to execute and program. E.g. UNIX, MS DOS.

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ii) Graphic User Interface (GUI): In this type the user is able to select files, programmes or commands by
pointing to graphical representations on the screen and thereby it avoids the typing of lengthy complex
commands. E.g. Windows XP.
b) Language Processor: Men use their own language (High Level Language) to write their programmes
because it is much easier to code in such languages. However, the computer is unable to understand such a
High Level Language; it only understands its own language i.e. Machine Language (Binary Language).
Therefore, it becomes necessary to process a HLL to LLL. The computer programme that performs this job
is the language processor. The language processors are of the following types-
i) Assembler: In the 1950s to reduce programming complexity in Machine Language and to provide some
standardization, assembly languages were developed. Assembly language is also known as Symbolic
Language. Assembly language uses abbreviation or mnemonic code to replace the earlier 0s and 1s of
machine language. i.e. it substitutes letters and symbols for the numbers in the machine language program.
The function of an assembler is to translate an assembly code into the computer machine code / language.
ii) Interpreter: This language processor converts a HLL program into machine language by converting and
executing it line by line. If there is any error in any line, it reports it at the same time and the programme
execution cannot resume until the error is rectified. For error debugging the interpreter is very useful as it
reports the errors at the same time, but, once errors are removed then also interpreter is present in the
memory. So, unnecessary usage of memory takes place in this case.
iii) Compiler: It converts the entire HLL program at one go and reports all the errors of the programme
along with the line numbers. After all the errors are removed, the programme is recompiled and after that
the compiler is not needed in the memory as the object programme is available.
B) Application Software: These are the programmes written by the programmers to enable the computer to
perform a specific task such as processing words, inventory control, handling calculation and figures,
medical accounting, financial accounting, result preparation, railway reservation, billing, etc. It can be
defined as “a set of programmes necessary to carry out operation for a specified application”. Application
software can further be subdivided into three categories-
a) Packages: The application softwares that are designed for the individual user, so that they can be used in
a manner that suits their needs and requirements are known as packages. Actually it is a bundle of essential
features for carrying out a particular task. There are different packages available in the market. Some of the
most common categories are given bellow-
i) Word Processing Software: It is the software that processes textual matter and creates organized and
flawless documents. It provides a general set of tools for entering, editing and formatting text. A word
processor has everything that a conventional type writer has; in addition, it also removes various barriers of
the conventional type writers. eg. M.S. Word, Wordstar, WordPerfect, Softword, etc.

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ii) Spreadsheet: An electronic spreadsheet is a programme that accepts data values in tabular form and
allows the users to manipulate / calculate / analyze data in the desired manner. It can also generate graphs
and charts to show the relationship among numbers. Eg. MS Excel, Quattropro, etc.
iii) Database Management System: A DBMS is a software that can effectively store, manipulate and handle
bulk of data. Eg. Foxpro, MS Access, Oracle, etc.
iv) Desktop Publishing Software: Desktop publishing packages handle page layout by combining the
function of a traditional typesetter and a layout artist.
v) Graphics: The application software that manipulates images is known as graphics software.
vi) Multimedia: The software that incorporates images, text, sounds, animation, video sequences is known
as multimedia software.
vii) Presentation Software: The application software that concentrates on professional looking visual aids is
called presentation graphics software. Eg. Corel Draw, Macro Media, Director, MS. Power Point, etc.
b) Utilities Software: Utility software (also known as service program, service routine, tool, or utility
routine) is a computer software designed to help, manage and tune the computer hardware, operating
system or application software by performing a single task or a small range of tasks. Some utility softwares
have been integrated into most major operating systems.
i) Text Editors: Text and Hex / Editors directly modify the text or data of a file. These files could be data or
an actual programme.
ii) Backup Utility: Backup utilities can make a copy of all the information stored on a disk, and restore
either the entire disk (e.g. in the event of disk failure) or selected files (e.g. in the event of accidental
deletion).
iii) Compression Utility: Disk compression utilities can transparently compress / uncompress the contents
of a disk, increasing the capacity of the disk.
iv) Disk Defragmenter: Disk defragmenters can detect computer files whose contents are stored on the hard
disk in disjointed fragments, and move the fragments together to increase efficiency.
v) Antivirus Software: Anti-virus utilities scan for computer viruses.
c) Customized Software: Customized software (also known as Bespoke software) is a type of software that
is developed either for a specific organization or function that differs from or is opposite of other already
available softwares (also called off-the-shelf or COTSsoftware). It is generally not targeted to the mass
market, but is usually created for companies, business entities, and organizations.
The trained computer professionals who, by their knowledge are able to run the computer and can perform
different operations are known as Humanware. They are the persons who programme, design and operate a
computer installation such as System Analyst, Programmer and computer operator.

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Components of Information System
Components of Information System: Information System consists of a number of organs or components.
These organs or components work in harmony to achieve the define purposes. The main components of
Information Systems are
i) Libraries
ii) Documentation Centres
iii) Information Centres
iv) Data Banks
v) Data Centres
vi) Information Analysis Centres
vii) Referral Centres
viii) Clearing Houses
ix) Translation Centres, etc.
1. Libraries: Libraries are by far the oldest institutions charged with the responsibility of collecting, storing
and disseminating of information. Library is a collection of books or other written or printed materials, as
well as the facility in which they are housed and served the reader within an institution that is responsible
for their maintenance. According to Ranganathan, the father of library science in India “a library is a public
institution or establishment charged with the care of collection of books, the duty of making them
accessible to those who require the use of them and the task of converting every person in its neighborhood
into a habitual library goers and reader of books.”
Libraries are established by the government, academic institutions or by some other special organizations.
Libraries can be grouped into three major divisions i.e Public (State Central Library, District Library, Sub
divisional Library, Rural Library), Academic (University Library, College Library), School and Special
(Libraries attached to industries, Doordarshan Kendra, All India Radio, etc).
a) Collections: In ancient day libraries gathered huge collection of manuscripts and preserved them most
efficiently for the posterity. Modern libraries may contain a wide range of materials, including manuscripts
and pamphlets, posters, photographs, motion pictures, and videotapes, sound recordings, and computer
databases in various forms.
b) Services: Libraries are the carriers of information from one generation to the next generation. Most of
the new technology based information businesses are still largely dependent on the library for their survival
which includes information broker, consultants, referral centre. In the days of IT also libraries continue to
serve millions of grateful users in new and improved ways and it is hoped that in neat future also it will be
the only affordable source of information.

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The change in structure of libraries comes as an information system that consists of a number of organs or
components. These organs or components work in harmony to achieve the define purposes. It is
advantageous to discuss the changing role of library and information centers on the basis of such
information unit or change in structure of the libraries.
2. Documentation Centres: ASLIB adopted the definition of the term documentation for the Journal of
Documentation in 1945 as “recording, organization and dissemination of specialized knowledge”. Late Dr.
S. C. Bradford defines it as “the art of documentation is the art of collecting, classifying and making
readily accessible the records of all kinds of intellectual activities”.
a) Origin of Documentation Centres: Books were not able to communicate latest scientific thought as a
result importance of scientific periodicals had increased. With the acceleration of research scientific
periodicals gained further importance. Along with the scientific periodicals new kind of literature like
conference proceedings, annual reviews, patents, standards and specification, theses, secondary periodicals
like indexing and abstracting journals, directories, research reports, etc. started appearing in big way.
Further these paper based information sources are supplemented by CD, DVD, etc. As a result libraries
started acquiring all these materials along with books. To have a comprehensive term for all these media of
communication “Documentation” was brought into vogue. The reader for this kind of new literature
steadily increases but the nature of complexity of information sources led to the demand of services that are
outside the domain of traditional libraries and the traditional library techniques were found to be unsuitable
hence, a new breed of organization known as documentation centres paved the way.
b) Services: Documentation centres find out new vistas in serving the need of the user. It gives emphasis
towards provision of information contained in document rather than serving the document themselves. It
analyses the content of the documentation in finer details, provide indexing, abstracting, union catalogue,
translation, etc. services to meet the need of the specialist users. Another basic function of any
documentation centres is that it brings to the notice of specialist user, current and recent literature of value
to them. Services of documentation centres are designed to satisfy the existing and anticipated needs of its
users. The main purposes served by these units are
- To answer the queries;
- To help in finding the primary document;
- To identify as accurately as possible all information of potential interest to users;
- To see that the user receive the information.
3. Information Centres: An information centre can be defined as “an organization that
a) Select, acquire stores and retrieve specific information in response to requests.
b) Announces, abstract, extract and indexes information and
c) Disseminate information in response to requests from documents or in anticipation”.

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Meltzer defines the information centre as “The Special library with added functions of analyzing and
synthesizing information needed by management, staff and the technical personnel of the organization”.
Thus information centres gives emphasis towards the provision of information contained in the document
rather than document themselves which is the main consideration of traditional libraries.
A library handles and provides address of a document containing information but an information centre
gives information that is inside the document and also processes and disseminates it. The information
centre differs from the library in following main areas
i) Degree of delegation by the user i.e. the task of searching and evaluating information is dome by the staff
ii) Exercise of judgment and evaluation as to the importance of the retrieved material in relation to the
client’s request
iii) The giving of information itself rather than document.
iv) The processing of search input into a variety of search products
v) Provides information to not only user of parent organization but also outside the organization too.
vi) Not only acquire, process, store and retrieve information (the library function) but also reduce analyse
and present information / data.
4. Data Banks: Data Banks are usually concerned with a broader field. They are very precise grids to
extract the raw data from data collection and the relevant literature which they arrange in structured files so
as to be ready for subsequent processing to answer user queries. The essential characteristic of data bank is
storing information in a form (so data should be in a machine readable files i.e. for storing and retrieving of
data computer should be used) which will allow continuous updating, augmentation and approach from
different points of view and which has the capacity of supporting simultaneously a number of user at
remote locations. To use the analogy of a bank, a user can deposit or withdraw from several branches.
Satmana defines a data bank as an open information system with sets of data known as files. It is composed
of the following elements
i) The basic files known as data base.
ii) A filing system that makes to integrate data from different files, relative to the same entities
iii) A data processing system that allows users to extract relevant information from the files adopted to
their needs and in a form suited to their decision pattern.
Data centre and data banks are dissimilar only regarding the subjects they deals and type of data they
handle. Simply stated data centres handle only numerical data and mostly for science and technology. Data
banks are multidisciplinary and deal with all types of data particularly administrative, statistical, techno-
economics, census and survey, and similar other that are produced by several institutions. Data banks
handle data only while data centres handle data themselves or literature about data.

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5. Data Centres: According to UNESCO a data centre “constitutes an organization handling quantitative
numerical data” Such centers take the primary function of collecting, organizing, and disseminating data
(mainly numerical) and also provide a measurement service and are in a position to advance relevant
measurement techniques. They store data on a narrow field of specification. Data centres try to collect
arrange and store numerical data pertaining to a specific subject field or to answer specific queries. Data
centre activities are anticipatory operations planned keeping in view the requirements of its user. It also
checks systematically all available data and organizes them into a number of categories for the purpose of
showing the current state of knowledge together with comments on the precision or reliability of the data in
regard to the various aspects of a product or phenomena. It may be stated here that the activities of a data
centre may comprise of the following
i) Data Collection
ii) Data Control
iii) Data Codification
iv) Data Organization ans structuring into a database
v) Data Retrieval
Example of data centre include National Data Centre for Crystallography, University of Madras, India.
6. Information Analysis Centres: The COSATI standing panel wrote the following comprehensive
definition of Information Analysis Centre (IAC) “An information analysis centre is a formally structured
organizational unit, specifically (but not necessarily exclusively) established for the purpose of acquiring,
selecting, storing, retrieving, evaluating, analyzing an synthesizing a body of information and / or data in a
clearly defined specialized field or pertaining to a specified mission with intent of compiling, digesting,
repackaging or otherwise organizing and presenting pertinent information and / or data in a form most
authoritative, timely and useful to a society of peers and management”.
The key activities of IAC s are analysis, interpretation, synthesis, evaluation and repackaging of
information carried out by subject specialists, resulting in the production of new, evaluated information in
the form of critical reviews, state of art, monographs or data compilation as well as substantive, evaluated
responses to queries for the purpose of assisting a community of users more broadly representative than the
staff of the parent institutes of laboratories.
These centres have to closely monitor the literature produced in the field, evaluate the utility of each piece
of information so gathered and the information are communicate to the users in a directly usable form. The
results of analysis are communicated either through a regular publication or by way of sporadic reports. It
is very much essential that these centres should verify the information so gathered with regard to the
validity, reliability and accuracy before dissemination.
7. Referral Centres: These do not provide the user with the documents. Instead it refers or directs them to
the source from where they can get the data or the documents. Mostly to secondary publication,
information centres, professional organizations, research institutions, clearing houses and individual

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scientist, etc. They maintain files of sources, directories, etc. The referral centre may even bring out such
documents. So, in simple referral centre provide switching mechanism among different types of
information institutions. The referral service may be one of the activities of a documentation centre and it is
difficult to find units performing this function exclusively. To achieve its objectives a referral centre has to
perform certain basic operations. These includes
i) A referral centre possesses an inventory of all significant information resources in different disciplines.
ii) It compiles and publishes directories of scientific and technical information resources.
iii) It analyzes the operating relationships that exist in the scientific information.
The function of referral centres includes
i) Collect information about information sources within the range of scope of either the subject or activity
of the referral centre.
ii) Prepares comprehensive inventory of types of information services available from these sources with a
detailed subject index to facilitate access.
iii) Functions as an intermediary between inquirers and the organization or individuals who possess
specialized information of the subject of enquiry;
iv)Guides users to appropriate sources where from the required information may be obtaining.
The Examples of referral center includes
a) British Library Lending Division (BLLD), UK.
b) National Referral Centre, Library of Congress.
8. Clearing Houses: A clearing house is a central agency for collection, classification and distribution of
information. It may include specialized information centres as well as conventional libraries. It represents a
depository for document with the additional objectives of servicing as a central agency engaged in the
distribution of information. It also includes such functions as collecting and maintaining records of
research and development.
Clearing houses provide a single point of access to documents originating from a number of sources from
different places, in different languages. The producers of the documents inform the clearing house about
the bibliographical details of the document and usually send them a copy. The clearing houses circulate the
description of the documents to the organization that are interested in the field and to the participating
organizations. They may provide a copy of these documents as well on request if available. These units are
organized either on a cooperative basis or by an international or national agency.
Most of the clearing houses have specialized as well as they developed collections. They have information
gathering network to acquire documents in their subject areas. They also provide specialized information

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services in some selected areas. They answer specific and general type of questions and may act as central
searching places for enquiry especially for research and development areas.
The difference between a documentation center and a clearing house is that the documentation
centre deals with conventional documents, whereas the clearing house deals with the non-conventional
documents like conference proceedings, scientific reports, document of limited circulation, etc.
9. Translation Centres: In modern times in any discipline literature are published in many languages as a
result, scientist in need of particular information find it difficult to be able to understand the contents of the
documents. To solve the problem, some national and international level organization comes forward to help
the scientist in this regard. They translate the content of the documents from one language to another to
meet the needs of the user. In the field of science and technology following centre provides translation
services.
a) National Translation Centre, Chicago, America
b) International Translation Centre, Delft, Netherlands
c) British Library Lending Division, Boston
10. Data Consolidation and Evaluation Centre: It is an advance form of information units which check
systematically all available data and organize them into a number of categories for the purpose of showing
the current state of knowledge together with comments on the precision or reliability of the data in regard
to the various aspects of a product or phenomenon.
11. Let Us Sum Up: In practical life each of the information unit performs more or less the same function,
at least to a certain extent making it difficult to make a distinction between different components of
information system. So it will not be correct to go by the name of the information unit. However Claire
Guinchat and Michel Menou say that the most important criterion for distinguishing the information unit is
the kind of information activity (or the primary function) they perform.
Computer
Computer: The industrial machine eliminates muscular effort from production; just like that the computing
machine eliminates clerical and computational effort from administration, research, etc. The word
“computer” is derived from the word “compute”, which means to calculate. It is an electronic device that
can perform a variety of operations according to a set of instructions called program. It is “a device that
receives, processes and presents information” (McGraw Hill, 1997, p. 270). A computer is a device that
solves problems by applying prescribed operation on data entered into it. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1991,
p. 638). A computer can also be defined as a set of interacting elements, responding to input so as to
produce desire output.
A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions. The first use of the word
"computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and

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the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th
century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that
carries out computations.
Nearly all modern computers implement some form of the stored program architecture, making it the single
trait by which the word "computer" is now defined. By this standard, many earlier devices would no longer
be called computers by today's definition, but are usually referred to as such in their historical context. The
technologies used in computers have changed dramatically since the first electronic, general-purpose
computers of the 1940s, but most still use the Von Neumann architecture. The design made the universal
computer a practical reality.
Vacuum tube-based computers were in use throughout the 1950s. Vacuum tubes were largely replaced in
the 1960s by transistor-based computers. When compared with tubes, transistors are smaller, faster,
cheaper, use less power, and are more reliable. In the 1970s, integrated circuit technology and the
subsequent creation of microprocessors, such as the Intel 4004, caused another generation of decreased size
and cost, and another generation of increased speed and reliability. By the 1980s, computers became
sufficiently small and cheap to replace simple mechanical controls in domestic appliances such as washing
machines. The 1980s also witnessed home computers and the now ubiquitous personal computer. With the
evolution of the Internet, personal computers are becoming as common as the television and the telephone
in the household.
Experts don’t agree on computer classification because computer technology is changing so fast that within
the span of a month, when a new system comes out, it is faced with two potential factors- one costs the
same and has a much higher performance and the other has the same performance but costs much less.
Thus, a recently introduced smaller system can outcome (outperform) the large model of a few years ago
and a new PC can do the work of an earlier mini at a much lower cost.
This is the Computer Age and these machines are beginning to affect our lives in many ways. There are so
many applications of computers. The computer era appears before us with the promise of new and
improved ways of thinking, living and working. Computers are all around us and avoiding them is virtually
impossible. We have been exposed to the world of computer hype, computer advertisements and computer
headlines. We interact with computers in our daily lives - whether we are at the cinemas, the school, or the
public library.
Computer Storage
Computer Storage: The fundamental components of a general-purpose computer are Input Unit, Central
Processing Unit (CPU) and Output Unit. The CPU consists of Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), Control
Unit and Memory. If memory is removed, the device we had would be a simple digital signal processing
device (e.g. calculator, media player) instead of a computer.
Computer storage, computer memory, and often casually memory refer to computer components, devices
and recording media that retain digital data, to be used for computing at some interval of time. It is one of
the fundamental components of all modern computers, and coupled with a CPU. Some of the commonly
associated terminologies related to computer storage are discussed below

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a) Memory Unit: Memory is the work space area of a computer system where data and instructions are
stored. Text, numbers, pictures, audio, and nearly any other form of information can be converted into a
binary digits i.e. ‘1’ or ‘0’ and a digital computer can understand information only in terms of ‘0’s and ‘1’s.
i) Bit: A binary digit i.e. ‘0’s and ‘1’s is called a bit and it can be define as an electronic signal, which is
either On ‘1’ or Off ‘0’. It is also the smallest unit of information the computer uses.
ii) Byte: A group of 8 bits is called a byte. There can be 256 different combinations possible in Byte (8 bit)
and each character typed consumes one byte. The most common unit of storage is the byte.
Bit = “0” and “1”.
1 Byte = 8 bits = 1 character.
1024 Byte= 1 Kilo Byte
1024 Kilo Byte= 1 Mega Byte.
1024 Mega Byte= 1 Giga Byte, and so on.
b) Storage Capacity: It is the total amount of stored information that a storage device or medium can hold.
It is expressed as a quantity of bits or bytes (e.g. 750 megabytes).
c) Storage Density: It refers to the compactness of stored information. It is the storage capacity of a
medium divided with a unit of length, area or volume (e.g. 1.2 megabytes per square centimeter).
d) Latency: It is the time needed to access a particular location in storage. The relevant unit of
measurement is typically nanosecond for primary storage, millisecond for secondary storage, and second
for tertiary storage. It may make sense to separate read latency and write latency, and in case of sequential
access storage, minimum, maximum and average latency.
e) Throughput: It is the rate at which information can read from or written to the storage. In computer
storage, throughput is usually expressed in terms of megabytes per second or MB/s, though bit rate may
also be used. As in the case of latency, read rate and write rate may also be differ in throughput.
f) Word length: The number of bits that a computer can process at a time in parallel is called its word
length. It is nothing but the measure of the computing power of a computer. Commonly used word lengths
are 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits.
1. Storage Media: Various forms of storage, based on various natural phenomena, have been invented. So
far, no practical universal storage medium exists, and all forms of storage have some drawbacks. Therefore
a computer system usually contains several kinds of storage, each with an individual need and purpose.
A) Types of Storage Media Based on Memory Hierarchy and Distance from CPU: Based on memory
hierarchy, or distance from the central processing unit the memory or computer storage can be categorize
as primary, secondary, tertiary and network storage.
a) Primary Storage: Primary storage or internal memory is directly connected to the central processing unit
of the computer. It is used to store data that is likely to be in active use and is typically very fast, as in the

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case of RAM. It is present for the CPU to function correctly. Primary storage can be accessed randomly,
that is, accessing any location in storage at any moment takes the same amount of time. A particular
location in storage is selected by its physical memory address. That address remains the same, no matter
how the particular value stored there changes. The primary storage sometimes also refers as memory (main
storage / primary storage).
Today, primary storage is typically random access memory, a type of semiconductor memory. The primary
storage typically consists of three kinds of storage:
The processor registers is internal to the central processing unit. Registers contain information that the
arithmetic and logic unit needs to carry out the current instruction. They are technically the fastest of all
forms of computer storage, being switching transistors integrated on the CPU's silicon chip, and
functioning as electronic "flip-flops".
The other two types are Cache Memory and Main Memory.
b) Secondary and Off-Line Storage: Secondary storage, or external memory supplements the main memory
and it requires the computer to use its input / output channels to access the information. Secondary storage
is used for long-term storage of persistent information. Secondary storage is also known as “mass storage
devices” or “auxiliary memory” and is much slower then primary memory.
The need of secondary storage devices are felt due to the following reasons-
i) Limited storage capacity in primary storage devices: The capacity of primary storage devices is limited
so to store data and programs that are too large to fit into the random-access memory at one time, we
require the auxiliary storage devices.
ii) To make blank spaces in primary storage devices: If the capacity of the primary storage devices
becomes full of information then we will be unable to use it for our day to day activities.
iii) For easy transportation: Primary memories are not portable in nature, so for easy transportation we
require auxiliary storage devices.
iv) Security against physical calamities: If primary memory is destroyed due to some physical calamities or
by some accident computer crashes and the data in it cannot be recovered then the data in the secondary
storage devices can be used for backup utility.
v) Multiple copies: To obtain multiplied copy of our information we require secondary storage devices.
Some of the characteristics of secondary storage devices are-
i) Storage medium can be easily removed from the computer system.
ii) It uses input / output channel of the computer system to access the information.
iii) Mainly used for data transfer and archival purposes.
iv) The cost of secondary memory is very less as compared to primary memory.

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v) The secondary storage is more permanent in nature, non volatile and secures method for storing
programs and data compared to RAM memory.
vi) The Secondary or mass storage is typically of much greater capacity than primary storage (main
memory).
In modern computers, Hard Disks, CDs, DVDs, memory cards, flash memory devices including "USB
drives", Zip disks and magnetic tapes are commonly used for off-line mass storage purposes. "Hot-
pluggable" USB hard disks are also available. Off-line storage devices used in the past include punched
cards, microforms, and removable Winchester disk drums.
i) Hard Disks: A hard disk is a fixed unit placed within the cabinet of the computer system and it can not be
removed like a CD. It consists of rigid circular platters of magnetizable material sealed in a metal box with
associated read/write heads. In modern computers, hard disks are usually used for mass storage and it is no
removable magnetic media as it is usually internal to the computer. The time taken to access a given byte
of information stored on a hard disk is typically a few thousandths of a second, or milliseconds. By
contrast, the time taken to access a given byte of information stored in random access memory is measured
in thousand-millionths of a second, or nanoseconds. So, hard disks are typically about a million times
slower than memory. This also illustrates the very significant speed difference which distinguishes solid-
state memory from rotating magnetic storage devices. In today’s context 160 GB is of hard disk storage is
minimal for personnel computer; one can also go for even 1 terabytes.
ii) Optical Storage Devices: The computer storage devices in which data is placed and / or retrieved by
means of a focused optical beam is called as optical storage device. Optical technology involves the use of
lasers (i.e. by burning microscopic “pits” to represent 1s and 0s) to enable or recode the data from an
optical laser disk. In case of optical disk nothing touches the encoded portion and so not worm out by the
playing process and last long. Rotating optical storage devices, such as CD and DVD drives, are typically
even slower than hard disks, although their access speeds are likely to improve with advances in
technology. The term Worm drives/ device, optical disk libraries, jukebox / optical jukebox, write once
read only device/ drives etc. are synonymous with optical storage devices.
- Optical Disk: The laser optical disks are hard metal disk ranging in size from 4.72 inches to 14 inches.
They were originally developed as a compact disk for audio and video application. Most optical disks are
read only storage devices. Eg. of optical disk includes Jukebox, DVD, CD, etc.
- Jukebox: A jukebox is an optical disk device that can automatically load and unload optical disk and
provide as much as 500 GB of near line information. The device is often called as optical disk – libraries,
Robotic drives or autochangers.
- DVD: DVD (commonly known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc") is an optical disc
storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound
quality. DVDs resemble Compact Discs as their diameter is the same (120 mm (4.72 inches) or
occasionally 80 mm (3.15 inches) in diameter), but they are encoded in a different format and at a much
higher density. A DVD typically may contain at least 4.4 GiB of data, nearly 7 times the amount of a CD-
ROM and about 20 times faster than a CD-ROM. There are several possible successors to DVD being
developed by different consortiums: Sony/Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc (BD), Toshiba's HD DVD and Maxell's

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Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD). However, as reported in a mid 2005 issue of Popular Mechanics, it is
not yet clear which technology will win the format war over DVD. HD DVD discs have a lower capacity
than Blu-ray Discs (15 GB vs. 25 GB for single layer, 30 GB vs. 50 GB for dual layer). Other speculations
as to which format will win include Blu-ray Disc's larger hardware vendor and movie studio support, and
HD-DVD's faster read times.
- CD-ROM: CD-ROM is an abbreviation for "Compact Disc Read-only memory. It is a small plastic disk
used to store information digitally. The disk is covered with a transparent plastic coating and is played on
machine that uses laser to read the pattern of pitted and unpitted areas on the disk’s surface. Since nothing
touches the encoded portion the CD’s is not worn out by the playing process. It is possible to produce
composite CDs containing both data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player,
whilst data or perhaps video can be viewed on a computer. These are called Enhanced CDs. The standard
CD-ROM holds 650 or 700 MiB of data. The CD-ROM is popular for distribution of software, especially
multimedia applications, and large databases. A CD weighs less than 30 grams.
- Optical Tape: The optical tape is similar in appearance to a magnetic tape, but data are stored by optical
laser technique. Like other optical media the optical tape is also read only data storage device.
- Optical Card: Optical cards are also called as laser card. It is in the size of a credit card and has an optical
laser encoded strip that can store approximately 2 MB of data.
- USB Pen Drive: USB Pen Drive is a small keyring-sized device that can be used to easily transfer files
between USB-compatible systems. It comes with a very different size and capacities.
c) Tertiary and Database Storage: Database storage is a system where information in computers is stored in
large databases, data banks, data warehouses, or data vaults. It involves packing and storing large amounts
of storage devices throughout a series of shelves in a room, usually an office, all linked together. The
information in database storage systems can be accessed by a supercomputer, mainframe computer, or
personal computer. Databases, data banks, and data warehouses, etc, can only be accessed by authorized
users. In Tertiary or database storage a robotic arm will "mount" (connect) or "dismount" off-line mass
storage media according to the computer operating system's demands. Tertiary storage is used in the realms
of enterprise storage and scientific computing on large computer systems and business computer networks,
and is something a typical personal computer user never sees firsthand.
d) Network Storage: Network storage is any type of computer storage that involves accessing information
over a computer network. Network storage arguably allows to centralize the information management in an
organization, and to reduce the duplication of information. Network storage includes:
i) Network-Attached Storage: It is secondary or tertiary storage attached to a computer which another
computer can access at file level over a local-area network, a private wide-area network, or in the case of
online file storage, over the Internet.
ii) Storage Area Network: It provides other computers with storage capacity over a network, the crucial
difference between Network-Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Area Networks (SAN) is the former
presents and manages file systems to client computers, whilst a SAN provides access to disks at block
addressing level, leaving it to attaching systems to manage data or file systems within the provided
capacity.

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iii) Network Computers: Network computers are computers that do not contain internal secondary storage
devices. Instead, documents and other data are stored on a network-attached storage.
Confusingly sometimes primary storage can be used to refer to local random-access disk storage, which
should properly be called secondary storage. If this type of storage is called primary storage, then the term
secondary storage would refer to offline, sequential-access storage like tape media.
B) Based on Volatility of Information: Based on volatile and non volatile nature of information stored in
the memory, memory can be of the following types-
a) Volatile Memory: It requires constant power to maintain the stored information. It is typically used only
for primary storage, but at the same time primary storage is not necessarily volatile, even though today's
most cost-effective primary storage technologies are volatile. Non-volatile technologies have been widely
used for primary storage in the past and may again be in the future.
b) Dynamic Memory: It is volatile memory that demands to be periodically refreshed, or read and rewritten
to store information without modifications.
c) Non-volatile Memory: The Non volatile memory retains the stored information even if it is not
constantly supplied with electric power. It is suitable for long-term storage of information, and therefore
used for secondary, tertiary, and off-line storage.
C) Based on Access: Based on the access provision, memory can be divided into the following categories-
a) Random Access: In Random access one can access any point at random i.e. without passing through
intervening points. It means that any location in storage can be accessed at any moment without wasting
much time. This makes random access memory well suited for primary storage.Example: Magnetic disk,
Optical disk, Zip disks
b) Sequential Access: In sequential access the data stored in the media can only be read in sequence and to
get to a particular point on the media one has to go through all the preceding points. It means to access a
piece of information takes a varying amount of time, depending on which piece of information was
accessed last. The device may need to seek (e.g. to position the read/write head correctly), or cycle (e.g. to
wait for the correct location in a revolving medium to appear below the read/write head). Example includes
magnetic tapes and such other media.
D) Based on Ability to Change Information: Based on the provision of modifying the information,
computer memory can be of the following types-
a) Read / Write Storage, or Mutable Storage: It allows information to be overwritten at any time. A
computer without some amount of read/write storage for primary storage purposes would be useless for
many tasks. Modern computers typically use read/write storage also for secondary storage. Slow write, fast
read storage is read/write storage which allows information to be overwritten multiple times, but with the
write operation being much slower than the read operation. Examples include CD-RW.
b) Read Only Storage: It retains the information stored at the time of manufacture, and write once storage
(WORM) allows the information to be written only once at some point after manufacture. These are called
immutable storage. Immutable storage is used for tertiary and off-line storage. Examples include CD-R.

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E) Addressability of Information: Based on the provision of addressability of information, computer
memory can be of the following types-
a) Location-addressable Storage: Here, each individually accessible unit of information in storage is
selected with its numerical memory address. In modern computers, location-addressable storage usually
limits to primary storage, accessed internally by computer programs, since location-addressability is very
efficient, but burdensome for humans.
b) Content-addressable Storage: Here, each individually accessible unit of information is selected with a
hash value or a short identifier with number? Pertaining to the memory address the information is stored
on. Content-addressable storage can be implemented using software (computer program) or hardware
(computer device), with hardware being faster but more expensive option.
c) File System Storage: Here, information is divided into files of variable length, and a particular file is
selected with human-readable directory and file names. The underlying device is still location-addressable,
but the operating system of a computer provides the file system abstraction to make the operation more
understandable. In modern computers, secondary, tertiary and off-line storage use file systems.
F) Based on Technologies, Devices and Media: Previously paper tape and punch cards have been used to
store information for automatic processing since the 1890s, long before general-purpose computers existed.
Information was recorded by punching holes into the paper or cardboard medium, and was read by
electrically (or, later, optically) sensing whether a particular location on the medium was solid or contained
a hole. Williams’s tube used a cathode ray tube, and Selectron tube used a large vacuum tube to store
information. These primary storage devices were short-lived in the market, since Williams tube was
unreliable and Selectron tube was expensive. Delay line memory used sound waves in a substance such as
mercury to store information. Delay line memory was dynamic volatile, cycle sequential read/write storage,
and was used for primary storage. In modern times the following types of devices are widely used.
a) Magnetic Storage: Magnetic storage uses different patterns of magnetization on a magnetically coated
surface to store information. Magnetic storage is non-volatile. The information is accessed using one or
more read/write heads. Since the read/write head only covers a part of the surface, magnetic storage is
sequential access and must seek, cycle or both. In modern computers, the magnetic surface takes the forms
of Magnetic disk, Floppy disk (used for off-line storage), Hard disk (used for secondary storage), Magnetic
tape data storage (used for tertiary and off-line storage; In early computers, magnetic storage was also used
for primary storage in a form of magnetic drum, or core memory, core rope memory, thin film memory,
twistor memory or bubble memory. Also unlike today, magnetic tape was often used for secondary
storage.)
b) Semiconductor Storage: Semiconductor memory uses semiconductor-based integrated circuits to store
information. A semiconductor memory chip may contain millions of tiny transistors or capacitors. Both
volatile and non-volatile forms of semiconductor memory exist. In modern computers, primary storage
almost exclusively consists of dynamic volatile semiconductor memory or dynamic random access
memory. Since the turn of the century, a type of non-volatile semiconductor memory known as flash
memory has steadily gained share as off-line storage for home computers. Non-volatile semiconductor

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memory is also used for secondary storage in various advanced electronic devices and specialized
computers.
c) Optical Disc Storage: Optical disks are non-magnetic auxiliary storage devices that resemble audio
compact disks. Optical disc storage uses tiny pits etched on the surface of a circular disc to store
information, and reads this information by illuminating the surface with a laser diode and observing the
reflection. Optical disc storage is non-volatile and sequential access. It takes the forms of CD, CD-ROM
(or compact disk, read-only memory), DVD (Read only storage, used for mass distribution of digital
information such as music, video, computer programs etc), CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R (Write once storage,
used for tertiary and off-line storage), CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM (Slow write, fast read
storage, used for tertiary and off-line storage), Blu-ray Disc (BD), HD DVD, Ultra Density Optical (UDO),
Professional Disc for DATA (PDD or ProDATA). Among the list Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD),
Phase-change Dual is also can be proposed. Recordable CD-ROM disks, called WORM (write-once/read-
many) are becoming an affordable alternative to tapes and hard disk, primarily for archival storage
purposes. A single, small CD-ROM disk can hold more information than 1,000 floppy disks.
i) Magneto-optical Disc Storage: Magneto-optical disc storage is optical disc storage where the magnetic
state on a ferromagnetic surface stores information. The information is read optically and written by
combining magnetic and optical methods. Magneto-optical disc storage is non-volatile, sequential access,
slow write, fast read storage used for tertiary and off-line storage.
ii) Ultra Density Optical Disc Storage: An Ultra Density Optical disc or UDO is a 5.25" ISO cartridge
optical disc encased in a dust-proof caddy which can store up to 30 GB of data. Utilizing a design based on
a magneto-optical disc, but utilizing phase change technology combined with a blue violet laser, a UDO
disc can store substantially more data than a magneto-optical disc or MO, because of the shorter
wavelength (405 nm) of the blue-violet laser employed. MOs use a 650-nm-wavelength red laser. Because
its beam width is shorter when burning to a disc than a red-laser for MO, a blue-violet laser allows more
information to be stored digitally in the same amount of space. Current generations of UDO store up to 120
GB, though up to 500 GB has been speculated as a possibility for UDO.
iii) Optical Jukebox Storage: Optical jukebox storage is a robotic storage device that utilizes optical disk
device and can automatically load and unload optical disks and provide terabytes of near-line information.
The devices are often called optical disk libraries, robotic drives, or auto changers. Jukebox devices may
have up to 1,000 slots for disks, and usually have a picking device that traverses the slots and drives. The
arrangement of the slots and picking devices affects performance, depending on the space between a disk
and the picking device. Seek times and transfer rates vary depending upon the optical technology.
Jukeboxes are used in high-capacity archive storage environments. HSM is a strategy that moves little-used
or unused files from fast magnetic storage to optical jukebox devices in a process called migration. If the
files are needed, they are migrated back to magnetic disk.

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Concepts Related to Software Packages
Concepts Related to Software Packages: Open-source software is computer software whose source code is
available under a licence that permits the users to study, change, and improve the software, and to
redistribute it in modified or unmodified form.
When we talk about the software packages especially Open Sources Software, we will come across some
concepts or terminologies or term. Some of such popular concept or terminologies are discussed below-
a) Open Archives Initiative (OAI): The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is an attempt to build a low-barrier
interoperability framework for archives or institutional repositories containing digital content. It allows
service providers to harvest metadata from the data providers. The collected metadata thus obtained is used
to provide "value-added services". More: http://www.openarchives.org/
b) Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH): It is a protocol developed by
the Open Archives Initiative. It is used to harvest (or collect) the metadata descriptions of the records in an
archive so that services can be built using metadata from many archives. A number of software systems
support the OAI-PMH, including GNU EPrints from the University of Southampton and DSpace from
MIT. The OAI Protocol has been widely adopted by many digital libraries, institutional repositories, and
digital archives. Commercial search engines have started using OAI-PMH to acquire more resources.
Google has started to accept OAI-PMH as part of their Sitemap Protocol, and they are using OAI-PMH to
harvest information from the National Library of Australia Digital Object Repository. In 2004, Yahoo!
acquired content from OAIster (University of Michigan) that was obtained through metadata harvesting
with OAI-PMH. The mod_oai project is using OAI-PMH to expose content to web crawlers that is
accessible from Apache Web servers. A number of large archives support the protocol including arXiv and
the CERN Document Server.
c) Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR): OpenDOAR is an authoritative directory of
academic open access repositories. It provides the facility to “search for repositories” or “search repository
contents”. It also provides tools and support to both repository administrators and service providers in
sharing the best practice and improving the quality of the repository infrastructure. Website:
http://www.opendoar.org/
d) Richard Matthew Stallman: Richard Matthew Stallman often abbreviated as “rms” (http://stallman.org/)
is an American software freedom activist and computer programmer. In September 1983, he launched the
GNU Project (http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html) to create a free Unix-like operating
system. In October 1985 he founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF). Stallman pioneered the concept
of copyleft and he is the main author of several copyleft licences including the GNU General Public
Licence, the most widely used free software licence.
e) Application Programming Interface (API): An Application Programming Interface (API) is an interface
implemented by a software programme which enables it to interact with other software. It facilitates
interaction between different software programmes similar to the way the user interface facilitates
interaction between humans and computers. An API is implemented by applications, libraries, and
operating systems to determine their vocabularies and calling conventions, and is used to access their
services.

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f) The Digital Library Federation (DLF): The Digital Library Federation (DLF) is an international
consortium of libraries and related agencies that are pioneering the use of electronic-information
technologies to extend collections and services. Since its formation in 1995, DLF has made a number of
significant contributions to the academic library and library services vendor communities. Website:
http://www.diglib.org/
g) The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative: The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, or "DCMI", is an open
organization engaged in the development of interoperable metadata standards that support a broad range of
purposes and business models. The Dublin Core set of metadata elements provide a small and fundamental
group of text elements through which most resources can be described and catalogued. It can describe
physical resources such as books, digital materials such as video, sound, image, or text files, and composite
media like web pages. Metadata records based on Dublin Core are intended to be used for cross-domain
information resource description and have become standard in the fields of library science and computer
science. Implementations of Dublin Core typically make use of XML and are Resource Description
Framework based. Website: http://dublincore.org/
h) Search / Retrieval via URL (SRU): SRU is a standard XML-focussed search protocol for Internet search
queries, utilizing Contextual Query Language (CQL), a standard syntax for representing queries. Website:
http://www.loc.gov/standards/ or http://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/
i) Free Software Foundation (FSF): The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit corporation
founded by Richard Stallman in October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based
movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer
software. Website: http://www.fsf.org/
j) Open Source Software (OSS): The Open source software (OSS) is defined at the website
www.opensource.org as “Open source promotes software reliability and quality by supporting independent
peer review and rapid evaluation of source code. To be certified as open source, the license of a program
must guarantee the right to read, redistribute, modify, and use it freely.” Open source software is normally
created and maintained by developers crossing institutional and national boundaries, collaborating by using
internet-based communications and development tools. In case of OSS, the developers take personal pride
in seeing their working solutions adopted but not gaining profit drive.
k) Copyleft Licenses: Copyleft is a general method for making a program (or other work) free, and
requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. It means releasing the
content giving with permission for anyone to use, copy, and distribute, either verbatim or with
modifications, either gratis or for a fee. The GNU General Public License, originally written by Richard
Stallman, was the first copyleft license to see extensive use, and continues to dominate the licensing of
copiloted software. Creative Commons, a non-profit organization founded by Lawrence Lessing, provides
a similar license called Share Alike.

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Content Management System (CMS)
Content Management System (CMS): A Content Management System (CMS) is a computer application
used to create, edit, manage, search and publish various kinds of digital media and electronic text. CMSs
are frequently used for storing, controlling, versioning, and publishing industry-specific documentation
such as news articles, operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, and marketing brochures. A
CMS may support the following features-
a) Identification of all key users and their content management roles;
b) Ability to assign roles and responsibilities to different content categories or types;
c) Definition of workflow tasks for collaborative creation, often coupled with event messaging so that
content managers are alerted to changes in content (for example, a content creator submits a story, which is
published only after the copy editor revises it and the editor-in-chief approves it.);
d) Ability to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content;
e) Ability to capture the content (e.g. scanning);
f) Ability to publish the content to a repository to support access to the content through different search and
retrieval techniques;
Besides the above, a CMS may also have the following provisions:
g) Communication application such as video conferencing;
h) Administration components such as whiteboards for brainstorming, appointment scheduling, project
management, etc.
A CMS has the following advantages over other paper based information sources
a) Reduction of paper handling and error-prone manual processes;
b) Reduction of paper storage;
c) Reduction of lost documents;
d) Faster access to information;
e) Online access to information that was formerly available only on paper, microfilm, or microfiche;
f) Improved control over documents and document-oriented processes;
f) Streamlining of time-consuming business processes;
g) Security over document access and modification;
h) Providing reliable and accurate audit trail;
i) Improved tracking and monitoring, with the ability to identify bottlenecks and modifying the system to
improve efficiency.

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In the following paragraphs a few widely used CMS are discussed in brief.
a) Drupal: Drupal is a free and open source content management system (CMS) written in PHP and
distributed under the GNU General Public License. The Drupal contains basic features common to most
CMSs. These include user account registration and maintenance, menu management, RSS-feeds, page
layout customization, and system administration. The Drupal core installation can be used as a
brochureware website, a single- or multi-user blog, an Internet forum, or a community website providing
for user-generated content. Website: http://drupal.org/
b) Joomla: Joomla is a free and open source content management system for publishing content on the
World Wide Web and intranets. It includes features such as page caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of
pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, search, and support for language internationalization. Website:
http://www.joomla.org/
c) MediaWiki: MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application developed by and used on
all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, as well as on many other wiki websites worldwide. The first
version of the software was deployed to serve the needs of the free content Wikipedia encyclopedia in
2002. Now it is deployed by many companies as a content management system for internal knowledge
management. Website: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki
d) Zope: Z Object Publishing Environment (Zope) is a free and open-source, object-oriented web
application server written in the Python programming language. Zope is used for building web
applications, content management systems, and dynamic websites of all kinds. Website:
http://www.zope.org/
Copyright Library
Copyright Library: A copyright library is a library that is instituted by certain legislative that acts in a
country. India has enacted copyright acts with certain stipulation such as the publishers must compulsorily
deposit a few copies of a book in the National Library, Kolkata, which is authorized to be a copyright
library.
Criteria for Selection and Evaluation of Library Software Packages
Criteria for Selection and Evaluation of Library Software Packages: In any endeavour in which we make a
substantial investment of money, energy, and time or other resources, we like to know what kind of return
we are getting. The ability to evaluate the return on our investment gives us the basis on which to choose
between alternatives. So an evaluation is basically a judgment of worth, it is a matter of comparison of
actual result with external standard, in the light of existing institutional realities which may be relevant to
evaluating the future trajectory of the programme or services and provide an objective basis for decision
making. Like any evaluative process, library software evaluation is also quite a difficult task. It mainly
involves four basic aspects i.e.
a) Whether software will be commercial;

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b) In-house developed software packages;
c) Freeware
d) Open Source Software
In case of commercial software, it will cost a huge investment. In case of In-house developed software
packages, it will consume much of the library budget, time from the library staff (in the form of constant
evaluation and modification to the library software packages to become stable) and create problem in
retrospective conversion. In case of freeware, there is a problem with technical support. But the Open
Source Software has not any major disadvantages, if it has a online community for technical support. But
in all cases, we have to consider the following procedure, features and aids to evaluate the software
package.
A) Preliminary Steps
a) Consulting Others: No one wants chosen software to stop unexpectedly, slow down on large network,
report error message. So, before making a choice, it will be better to consult a person who has already used
the software in the same way or consult people who have already gained experience on that software
package.
b) Reputation of the Referrer: The reputation of a person or the institution, his/her/its experience on that
particular software is the next point to be considered. The relation between the evaluator and the referrer
should also be justified at this point.
c) Existing Literature: It is better to go for the software after carefully examining the existing literature and
documentation on the particular software packages.
B) Manufacturers and Vendor
a) Reputation of the Manufacturer and Vendor: What is the reputation of the software vendor or
manufacturer in the market or for how long they are working in the field is the next important thing to
consider.
b) Training: Does the company or authority of the particular software provide training? Where and how the
training is conducted, whether it is online, onsite? It is another point to be considered.
c) Documentation / Manual: Is training accompanied by easy-to-follow supporting print material or
manual. How good the manual is? It is also an important point to consider.
d) Updating: Does the library automation system company from their own website help to install, upgrade
(web based updates), and patches or simply help one with a particular function. How is the new
modification / new version of the software to be obtained by the librarian?
e) Post Installation Support: Post installation support from the vendor.

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C) General Features of the Software Package
a) Multiple Platforms: The software package chosen should run on various computer platforms i.e. server,
mainframe to simple PCs. The software should also be able to run in multiple platforms such as windows
XP, windows 2000, windows N.T., etc.
b) Existing Standard: Software should support internationally known standards such as MARC 21, CCF,
AACR2, LCSH and data export/import in ISO 2709 (MARC/ CCF). If possible, the software chosen
should also comply with UNICODE.
c) Integrated: The software should permit collaborative working and all modules should be integrated in
nature.
d) Flexibility: The software should make it easy to switch between the OPAC and writing station because
there are times when one would want the public OPAC station to function as writing station and at other
times when would like the writing station to function as OPAC. The software package chosen should also
be so flexible as to handle the records of variable sizes.
e) Capacity: The restriction in total number of database / information / records in a database enable the
software to be handled effectively.
f) Speed: Speed of operation in different environment.
g) Standardize Data Format for Import and Export: The software should use standardized data format for
importing and exporting of data from and to the software.
h) De-Bugging Facility: De-bugging facility and scope of proper error message while executing the
software are to be ensured.
i) User Friendliness: The software should build on GUI based environment. It should provide expert advice
and assistance in performing any task. It should empower the experienced user with short cut and
inexperienced user with menu driven icon, dialogue box, etc. giving clickable access to the software. The
software that is built on other platform should have the mnemonic based command.
j) Object Linking and Embedding (OLE): The Object Linking and Embedding feature helps to create
objects in one application and then to embed it in a record of the software package running on the
computer. If the software package chosen has this feature then it is good.
k) Effectiveness: Does the system meet the specification?
l) Reliability: Does the search in the software give consistent result?
m) Customization and Expandability: The system should permit addition of new feature to meet the local
need and use.
D) Services

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a) Acquisition: Does the system carry out duplicate checking while entering the data. Does it have the
capacity to print accession register? How effective the system is for data entry? Does the software provide
an easy way for editing records? Are insertion and deletion of records easy?
b) Cataloguing: Cataloguing through retrospective conversion facility, provision of catalogue card printing,
etc.
c) Circulation: Provision for issue, return, renewal, grace period, overdue alert, computation of fines,
reservation of document, etc.
d) Serial Control: Provision of monitoring multiple issue of a serial, provision of grace period for receiving
the serial, provision of renewal, overdue alert, entering the abstract of a serial.
e) OPAC: Provision of reservation through OPAC, provision of searching OPAC from outside the library,
provision of searching the OPAC and web simultaneously (Meta search) using a single word search.
f) Library Administration: The software should allow generation of different kinds of reports i.e. collection
statistics, circulation statistics and also should be helpful to create one’s own specialized report to meet the
specialized need. It should also have the facility to assign different right to the software for different
categories of library staff.
E) New Technologies: The library software package should keep pace with global technology, web
enhancement, online information, virtual services, provision of barcode facility, handling un-catalogued
item, etc.
a) Network Capabilities: Provision of LAN connectivity, scope of integration of the software package with
other school department, provision of accessing the software from computer outside the school walls via a
web browser.
b) Web Enabling: Provision of web enabling through link to the Application Service Provider (ASP) or to
the school web server, provision of internet connectivity, Email connectivity, etc. This is an advantage,
where the cataloguer can work from remote location and OPAC can be accessed from both home and
school, 24 hours a day.
c) Enhanced MARC Data: Many softwares allow to catalogue website, E-Books, AV resources in addition
to the library resources. The websites are added by the library media specialist manually.
d) Open Standard Technologies: Is the database built on open standard technologies such as SQL, cold
fusion, or XML that allows different types of software to talk to each other? That means, different modules
of the software can easily and automatically share and update any information is common e.g. students
name, address, etc.
F) Securities
a) Log on/off: The software should provide the students and staff members the user id and passwords to log
on/off facilities on their own. The system must also allow the administrator to provide access restriction to

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certain records/ fields of importance.
b) Power out Feature: Is any power out feature included? The system should be with a manual hand
scanner available to check the material in and out in the event of power failure that can later on easily be
connected to the computer system.
G) Cost Factor of the Software Package
a) Total Cost of the Software Package: If the system comes in different modules (available in only
circulation module, circulation plus cataloguing module) then the total cost of the system. Is to be
considered whether the total cost is affordable or justified.
b) Cost of Support: Cost of training, on site support, etc.
c) Cost of Upgrade: Cost of future upgrades.
d) Future Exist Cost: In near future, if one wants to switch over to another package then the cost involved
in such cases should also be considered.
e) Warranty: The software should come with performance and service warranty.
The technologies are shifting the horizon of library software packages every day, so, in choosing any
software for library automation, if possible, we should look for the software package that has also the
facility for federated search, and comply with the Open URL and Barcode and RFID technologies.
Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom
Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom: Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom are the products
of the mind. The Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom are evaluated in an ascending scale of
values, Data having the least value, Wisdom the greatest.
a) Data: The word “data” is Latin in origin and literally, it means anything that is given. In sum, the term
includes facts, figures, letters, symbols, words, charts and graphs that represent an idea, object or condition.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines data as “something given or admitted facts or
principles granted or presented, that upon which an interference or argument is based, or from which an
ideal system of any sort is constructed.” According to Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary, Data are
“Known facts or things used as a basis for interference or reckoning." UNESCO defines data as “facts,
concepts or instructions in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing by
human or automatic means”. In simple, Data is a unit of fact and a raw material of information. It is derived
by observation and experiences.
By nature, data are either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data are numerical and qualitative data
are descriptive. It is also possible to transform qualitative data into numerical values. Additionally, in
science, data can also be graphic in nature. The data possesses the following characteristics.

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The following are the properties of data:
i) Amenability to Use: Data must be amenable to use. The use may differ with the context.
ii) Clarity: Data should necessarily display clarity.
iii) Accuracy: Accuracy is an essential property of data.
iv) Essence: Data should be compressed and refined. Only the refined data can present the essence of value.
b) Information: The word “information” is derived from two Latin words “forma” and “formatio”. Both the
words convey the notion of giving shape to something and of forming a pattern. Information is the
processed data, organized and presented by someone. The data becomes information when these are
collected, processed, interpreted, presented or communicated to some one in an organized or in logical
form to facilitate a better comprehension of the concerned issue. Information is the knowledge concerning
some particular fact, subject or events in any communicable form. It is a structured collection of data i.e.
sets of data, relation between data. It consists of data that have been retrieved, processed or otherwise used
for informative or inference purpose, argument or as a basis for forecasting or decision making. Let us
mention some of the definitions of Information-
According to Harrod’s Librarian’s Glossary and Reference book compiled by Ray Prytherch, 7th
ed, 1990, information is “an assemblage of data in a comprehensible form capable of communication”.
Mikhailov et.al (1966) has cited Brillounin’s definition. According to them “information is the raw
material and consists of a mere collection of data”.
Hayes (1969) defines information as “result of data, usually formalized in processing”.
Davis (1974) has defined information as “data that has been processed into a form that is
meaningful to the recipient and is of real perceived value in current or prospective decision”.
Stevens (1986) has defined information as “the factual data, ideas and other knowledge emanating
from any segment of society that are identified as being of value sometimes gathered on a regular basis,
organized in some fashion, transmitted to others and used in some meaningful fashion”.
According to S. C. Blumenthal in “Management Information System” (1969), “information is data,
recorded, classified, organized, related or interpreted within context to convey meaning”.
According to A. J. Evans et al, information is a “sensible statement, opinion, fact, concept or idea,
or an association of statement, opinions or ideas. It is closely associated with knowledge in that once
information has been assimilated, correlated and understood it becomes knowledge”.
c) Knowledge: The word “knowledge” means an assured belief or that which is known. It is the
information read, heard or seen and understood. It is an organized set of statements of facts or ideas –
presenting a reasoned judgments or an experimental result which is transmitted to others through some
communication medium in some systematic form. When information is stored in mind, it constitutes
knowledge, particularly when relationships are established between items of information.

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The Webster’s New International Dictionary of English language defines knowledge as, “Familiarity
gained by actual experience, practical skill, technical acquaintance”. It has also been defined by Webster as
“Acquaintance with fact; the state of being aware of something or of possessing information; hence scope
of information”.
When man knows the entities (things or concepts), knowledge is established. As man knew more and more
about entities knowledge grew. In order that knowledge already gathered is not lost from the scope of
posterity it must exist in recorded and stored format. Due to the comparatively larger age of human, living
of three generations in a family within society, ability to reason and analyse and ability to transfer the
accumulated knowledge to its posterity increase his/her stock of knowledge.
Knowledge is the ability of an actor to respond to a body of facts and principles accumulated over a period
of time. The quality of knowledge depends on the properties of the agent. Knowledge can be viewed in
terms of the following
i) Knowledge is the structure or organization of information including the relationship among items of
information.
ii) Knowledge is created and modified by new information.
iii) When information is applied by people it becomes knowledge.
iv) Knowledge is universally regarded as a much wider concept than information, both in the everyday
world and within the specialty theory and practice.
Further, knowledge is individual to each person and does not depend upon humans to exist; when it exists
apart from information it can only be useful if it becomes a commodity or a resource.
Knowledge can only reside in an organic brain. As soon as it is objectified outside of a biological
organism it becomes disembodied information, capable of entering production similar to a manufactured
product or commodity. Some of the characteristics of knowledge are
i) It is dynamic, ever growing and continuing.
ii) It is contained in the subjective realm.
iii) It is structured, coherent and often of enduring significance.
iv) It is a stock, largely resulting from the flow, inputs of information.
v) It is the basis for action.
d) Wisdom: Wisdom is the distilled and integrated knowledge and understanding. It is the most precious
human capital in all developmental processes.
Cleveland, Ohio Association for System Management, 1979 has treated raw data from “birth” into
evaluated form as information, through maturity as knowledge, to “death” and inclusion in the knowledge
base. It may be noted in passing that in common social process, data, information and knowledge are
regarded as mutually sustaining elements at times distinctly different, on occasions overlapping, and

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interchangeable. Both data and information have intrinsic properties. While information is shareable,
knowledge is individual to each person. Again, information depends upon humans to exist but knowledge
does not depend upon only humans to exist.
Information is the aggregation and assemblage of data in a comprehensible form recorded on paper or in
some other medium and is capable of communication. Knowledge is the potential for action on
information. The information, knowledge and wisdom in their totality constitute valuable human
intellectual assets.
Database
1. Introduction: A database is an organized set of data stored in a computer that can be search
automatically.
A database is a self describing collection of integrated records. It is self describing because it
contains as part of itself a directory or dictionary of its context.
It is a collection of records or a file or a collection of files brought together as a single file
commonly accessible by a given set of programme.
According to John Convey, databases are a collection of records in machine readable form that are
made available for searching from remote computer terminals.
A database is an organized, integrated and often inter- related collection of computer based data,
records, files or information.
A random assortment of data cannot be referred to a database. Databases may be stored on magnetic
tape; optical media such as CD- ROM, DVD ROM, and Hard Disk etc. can be accessed either locally or
remotely.
2. Characteristic of Database: The characteristic of a database are as follows
a) It is an organized, integrated collection of data.
b) It can be referred to by all relevant application with relative case and number. So duplication of data can
be avoided.
c) It is a model of natural relationship of the data in the read- world environment.
d) Database enhances data independence by permitting application programme to be incentive to changes
in the database.
e) Databases provide facilities for centralized control of accessing and security control functions.
The database approach can be employed wherever storage and manipulation of data are required. It
is most useful when relationships between data are numerous and complex and information requirements
are subject to change. Common examples of databases is: A student database containing enrolment data for
all persons currently attending classes.
3. Types of database: Databases are of the following types:

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a) Bibliographic: In bibliographic databases the data stored comprises input of bibliographical details of a
document for identification, storage and retrieval purposes. The bibliographic details to a document may
include titles, authors, journal names, volume, issues, place of publications, publisher, year of publication,
ISBN/ISSN number, classification number, book number, location keyword, abstract etc.
A bibliographical databases may be a library catalogue or a database of theses, dissertation,
research papers published in technical journals, conferences etc.
Bibliographical databases can be divided into two categories:
i) Internal database and associated services: The internal bibliographic databases are those created by
libraries and information centres of their published holdings such as books, serial, articles in periodicals,
proceedings in conferences, theses etc.
ii) External database and associated services: External bibliographic databases comprise online catalogues
such as SCISEARCH. The machine readable counterparts of Science Citation Index, Current Content, the
publication of the Institute for Scientific Information, USA, National Union Catalogues of Scientific
Serials in India (NISCAIR) etc.
b) Numerical Databases: It contains numeric or statistical or survey type data of information to give
answer of numeric queries.
c) Full Text Database: Full text databases contain the full text of a publication, i. e. provide relevant
information directly. E.g.: Harvard Business Review (HBR); The New York Times via Naxis
d) Factual Database: Factual database contains directory type data
e) Research in Progress Database: It contains description of research in progress.
Many of the world databases are now made accessible to the users by vendors (computer based
agencies that arrange access to various world databases for a fee). Such vendors include DIALOG, SDC
etc.
4. Evaluation of Database: The evaluation of a database includes the following-
i) Scope: The bibliographical database should include full bibliographical information such as ISBN/ISSN
number, author, title etc.
ii) Indexing System: Which method is used in indexing the database is a prime factor to be considered in
evaluation. It should also include the indexing is done by manual or by using automatic method.
iii) Searching facilities: The database should have multiple accesses using various keywords or access
point. It should also support Boolean operators.
iv) Vendors Support: Whether the vendor of the database has provide rules, regulation and guidance for
using the database or not.

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Decision Making
Decision Making: Decision is the act of determining in one’s own mind upon an opinion or course of
action. It is choosing one alternative among several alternatives given in a particular situation.
In the words of Terry, it is “the selection of one behaviour alternative from two or more possible
alternatives”. In fact, decision is a conclusion to long deliberation.
Franklin points out that decision making is understood as an act of determining in one’s own mind a
course of action, following more or less deliberate consideration of alternatives and by decision is
understood that which is determined.
On the basis of the different points of view expressed above it can be concluded that a decision is a
chosen course of action(s) selected out of all perceived or available alternatives by the decision maker
based on some criteria and in the light of objectives or purpose to be fulfilled.
Decision is a means; it is not an end itself. Decisions have to be made and re-made in the light of
the ends to be achieved. Decisions have to be responsive to varying situations.
a) Need of Decision Making: Decision making is the most important process and an essential element in
every activity of library management. It is to be done every day, every time, every point when manager
faces problem, when they have to make choices between alternatives, etc. The success and failure of the
individual at the top position as well as efficiency of the organization depends much upon taking right and
wise decisions. In taking decision it should be remembered that taking no decision is bad but worse is
taking a wrong decision.
b) Decision Makers: Decision making in any organization is a cooperative effort. Decisions are the product
of long deliberations or collective activity to which many people and agencies participate. If the skills,
expertise, knowledge and creativity of the staff member are properly utilized then they can contribute to
improve decision making. But at the top of administration is a person who must have a final say, who must
ultimately give the final word. This is because of the fact that in the final analysis it is he who has to own
the burden of responsibility of the consequences of a particular decision. No doubt as he rises up the ladder,
his function will decrease but his responsibilities will increases. It is he alone who can see the enterprise as
a whole. So, the power of final decision making must rest with him.
c) Model of Decision Making: John Cowley has mentioned five points on the model of decision making.
They are-
i) Own Decision without Detailed Explanation: The manager himself takes the decision without reference
to colleagues and does not make any attempt to explain why he has taken the decision.

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ii) Own Decision with Detailed Explanation: Taking decision by the manager himself and giving reason
later to his subordinates.
iii) Prior Consultation with Subordinate: Prior to making decision, discuss with subordinate and then
making decision with or without taking into account the advice offered by subordinate.
iv) Joint Decision Making with Subordinate: Taking joint decision by genuine participation of other staff.
v) Delegation of Decision to Others: Managers may hand over a problem to a member of team for decision
making. In such cases although the decision may be reported back but the manager will have little
influence in the matter.
d) Factors that Influence Decision Making: Decision making are influenced by the following factors-
i) Institutional Factor: The aspiration, tradition, attitude, objective of the institution influence the decision.
ii) Personal Factor: The academic, professional qualification of the person, his conduct, behaviors, etc
influence his own decision. The personal mode of thinking plays a high role in decision making process.
iii) Knowledge: Decision making depends on the availability of facts and necessary data.
iv) Budget: The budget or other resource of the organization also influences the decision.
In the library system, the aims and objectives of the library and parent organization, five laws of
library science, readers and users, available staff, etc also play important role in decision making.
e) Process of Decision Making: There are no universally accepted techniques of decision making. In fact
decision making is a practical experience and can be learnt by actually taking it. In general, the following
sequence of steps can be considered in decision making.
i) Identification of Problem: The librarian should be a diagnostician who should look for the problem
underlying apparent symptoms.
ii) General Information: Acquire general background information and different view points about the
problem. Collection of all relevant data regarding the problem.
iii) Development of Alternative Solution: There is not a single problem which cannot be solved in more
than one way. So find out all the possible method of solution.
iv) Evaluation of the Alternative: Against the decision criteria, the alternative solutions are evaluated.
v) Selection of the Best Alternative: The decision maker has to weigh each alternate in terms of associated
risks and gains and decide how much risk he can take and identify which is optimum for this view point
and select the solution accordingly.
vi) Consult Others: In taking the decision in the above step some important points may be missed by the
decision maker so at this step consult others for knowing certain points which are missed and for getting an
opportunity to clarify the decision makers own thought and feelings.

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vii) Flexibility: The decision should not be rigid. It should have the provision to change according to
circumstances.
viii) Implementation of the Decision: Putting the decision into action.
f) Types of Decision: Generally, decision can be classified into three broad categories-
i) Personal and Organisational Decision: The personal decision attempts to achieve personal goals and
generally cannot be delegated to other. The organizational decision attempts to achieve organizational
goals and can often if not always be delegated.
ii) Basic and Routine Decision: Basic decisions are those which are permanent in character and are taken
for long duration and a degree of importance is such that a mistake would seriously injure the entire
organization. Routine decisions are the everyday repetitive management decision which do not bear any
great impact on the organization as a whole but play an important role in the successful working of an
organization.
iii) Programmed and No-programmed Decision: The programmed decision are those where the problem are
of repetitive character and well defined involving tangible consideration to which the economic model that
call for finding the best among a set of pre-established alternative can be applied rather literally.
The non-programmed decision refers to problem of no-repetitive sort often involving basic long
range question about the whole strategy. The decisions are novel. In structural method of handling the
problem because it has not arisen before or because its precise nature and structure are elusive or complex
or because it is so important that it deserves a custom tailored treatment.
g) Problems in Decision Making: In general, in the process of taking decision, the following factors creates
problems-
i) Routines take too much time: Routine work in the library takes too much time from the librarian so they
do not get enough time to devote to this aspect.
ii) Confusion: The librarian is always surrounded by problems. Each problem looks more urgent than the
other. The librarian finds it extremely difficult to determine the priority of these problems which take much
of their time and create constant worry in them.
iii) Lengthy procedure: Decision taking is a lengthy procedure, so in case of emergency this is generally
avoided.
iv) Politics: Today’s society is a group oriented society. Each member of the library is generally the
member of some religious or political party. So each person has a different preference and preference
rating. This limits the decision making.
v) Lack of information: Lack of knowledge about the available alternative between which choice has to be
made also creates problem in decision making.

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vi) Changing environment (future as anticipates): The surrounding environment of the library is
continuously changing. So a decision taken today may not be relevant tomorrow. This creates another
problem in decision making.
Digital Library
Digital Library: The IT has almost converted the whole world into a global village. The revolution in the
IT sector is influencing the information industry at its peak and revolutionized the concept of libraries
where it has been used extensively to record, store, and disseminate the information in the digital form.
Each and every library step by step shifts over to this dimension to meet the demand put on it.
If one considers that the information is for use and for all then why should not libraries be for all? Why
should libraries not become universal for all those who seek information, considering that a large number
of organization in the USA and Europe has already more or less switched over to digital mode i.e. they are
making the digitized images of periodical which are not available in electronic format and there after no
new procurement are being made on print media. Example of such organization are University of
Micrographic Inc (UMI of USA), National Institute of Scientific and Technical Information (INIST of
France), etc.
A twenty first century library if not at all digitized, has at least a section devoted to accessing the growing
collection of computer readable materials, the subscribed bibliographic and full text database, E-Journal,
etc. for the end user. Along with the access of the subscribed databases it also provides the Internet
browsing and searching, E-Mail, Chat, Video Conferencing facilities to the user. Sometimes it also
provides OPAC terminals. The downloaded articles can be printed upon request. Back issues of selected
journals and newspapers are also available in some library as microfiche or microfilm, with readers and
printers provided for access. All these collection together constitute the digital library.
A digital library is nothing but a large database of organized collection of multimedia, data that are globally
available directly or indirectly across a network and eventually act as a portal site providing access to
digital collections held elsewhere for the people who are working on hypertext environment.
Electronic resources accessible on the web for free or for a fee are undeniably major and important
constituent of a digital library. To build a digital library all these resources need to go through the process
of selection, acquisition (by way of linking) and management. The information contents of a digital
library, depending on the media type, may include a combination of structured / unstructured text,
numerical data, scanned images, graphics, audio and video recordings. Different types of resources need to
be handled differently in digital library environment.
1. Definition: In 1938 H. G. Wells dreamed of a world encyclopedia in which all-human knowledge would
be available elsewhere. Today Internet in collaboration with digital libraries are moving fast to fulfill the
dream of H. G. Wells.
The term "Digital Library" has a variety of potential meanings, ranging from a digitized collection of
material that one might find in a traditional library to the collection of all digital information along with the
services that make that information useful to all possible users. In simple a DL is a library having all it’s

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holding in the digital form or in a form that can be stored, processed by the computer system. It is nothing
but a large database for the people who are working on hypertext environment. It is a system of organized
collection of multimedia, data that are globally available directly or indirectly across a network.
According to Lesk (1997) “Digital libraries are organized collections of digital information. They combine
the structuring and gathering of information, which libraries and archives have always done, with the
digital representation that computers have made possible”.
According to Arms a digital library is a managed collection of information with associated services where
the information is stored in digital format and accessible over a network.
The digital library federation in the USA defines the digital library as Digital libraries are organizations
that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to,
interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital
works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of
communities.
A digital library is a library in which a significant proportion of the resources are available in machine-
readable format (as opposed to print or microform), accessible by means of computers. The digital content
may be locally held or accessed remotely via computer networks. It comprises digital collections, services
and infrastructure to support lifelong learning, research, scholarly communication and preservation. It is an
environment which supports full life cycle of creation, storage, preservation, dissemination and use of data,
and information. It is a process of democratization of information.
Project Gutenberg, Google Book Search, Cornell University, The Library of Congress World Digital
Library, The Digital Library at the University of Michigan, and CMU's Universal Library are considered
leaders in the field of digital archive creation and management.
2. Characteristic: A digital library is an organized collection of digitized material or its holding in the
digital form which can be accessible by a computer on the network by using TCP/IP or other protocol. The
main characteristics of digital libraries are as follows
a) The function of acquisition, storage, preservation, retrieval is carried out through the use of digital
technology.
b) Organized collection of information objects may be a digital text or any other.
c) Resources are available in computer readable form.
d) Access to the entire collection is globally available directly or indirectly across network.
e) Support users in dealing with information objects.
3. Need for a Digital Library: Digital libraries are needed to provide quality based service at the user
desktop.

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a) Easy to Understand: The visual or graphical information system of digital libraries is more popular as
compared to text based information system.
b) Shifting of the Environment: The new generation user becomes only happy when they will be able to
read from the computer screen. The new generation whose demand for information is never met demands
that traditional libraries should be developed as a well equipped and interconnected DL.
c) Multiple Function of Same Information: In case of digital libraries by using hypertext it is possible to
structure and organize the same digital information in a variety of ways which serve multiple functions.
d) Information Explosion: Digital library is expected to be able to handle the problem of information
explosion somehow. It will be able to handle and manage large amount of digital content by simply
providing link, without actually procuring the document.
e) Searching Problem in Traditional Libraries: By using digital library one will be able to retrieve
information specifically for e.g. a particular image, photo, a definition, etc.
f) Distance Learning: Time is a major factor for each modern user of the library which is otherwise spent in
coming and going to the library, but digitization will facilitate learning from home, office or other places
which are convenient to users.
g) To Provide Access to Online Publication: As more and more information are published over internet,
digital library needs to procure and provide link to the online publication and other important sources of
information.
h) Limited Buying Power of Libraries: The collection of every library is limited to only a fraction of the
total. Introduction of digital library will help to enhance the collection considerably.
i) Storage Problem in Traditional Libraries: Libraries are spending much of its budget by way of
maintaining the collection in a usable form that also demands a huge physical space. Digitization hopes to
overcome this. Digital Medias comes with a huge storage capacity.
j) Low Cost of Technology: The cost of technologies is much more less than that of traditional libraries.
k) Environmental Factor: The use of digital libraries is one of the cleanest technologies to fulfill the slogan
“Burn a CD-ROM save a tree”.
4. Requirement for Digital Libraries: The internet and World Wide Web provide the impetus and
technological environment for the development and operation of a digital library. The internet provides the
TCP/IP and or its associated protocol for accessing the information and web provides tools and technique
for publishing the information over internet. Still, for introducing any digital libraries, the following
infrastructure will be needed:-
a) Computer Hardware: Server, P.C. with multimedia, U.P.S. Etc
b) Software: Any suitable software from GSDL, DSpace, etc which is interconnected and suitable for LAN
and WAN connection.
c) Network: LAN, MAN, WAN, etc.

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d) Printer: Laser printer, Dot matrix, Barcode printer, Digital graphic printer, etc.
e) Scanner: H.P. Scan jet, flatbed, Sheet feeder, Drum scanner, Slide scanner, Microfilming scanner,
Digital camera, Barcode scanner etc
f) Storage Devices: Optical storage device, CD-ROM, juke box, etc. As in the digital environment it is
reasonable to say that a central back up or archive should be created at the national level which will store
information out put of the region as well as information from out side the country.
g) Other Audio Visual Aid: Color T.V., V.C.R., D.V.D., Sound box, Telephone, etc.
h) Humanware: Well trained manpower for online help.
The use of search engines, Optical Character Recognition and metadata will allow digital library to
operate.
5. Resources of a Digital Library: The resources of a digital library are those, which the computer can store,
organize, transmit and display without any intervening conversion process. The resources of a digital
library mainly consist of e-book, v-book, electronic tax, map, image, sound, and video. The digital material
may be of multimedia types or any other i.e. only digital audio, video, full text information, photograph,
drawing, digitized sound, 3D representation, etc. The collection may include structured /unstructured text,
scanned images, graphic audios, video recording, etc. In the digital environment any one who has access to
the internet can be a publisher by merely posting messages to an online discussion group or other, so digital
libraries collection should also be enhanced with links to such resources.
a) On line Resources: Local database of traditional books in machine-readable form, E-book, v-book,
electronic tax, map, image, sound, video, and multimedia, E-journal, etc.
b) Off line Resources: C.D-ROM, Juke Box, etc.
6. Advantages of the Digital Library: A digital library is not confined to a particular location or so called
building, it is virtually distributed all over the world. The user can get his/ her information on his own
computer screen by using the internet. Actually it is a network of multimedia system which provides finger
tip access. The spoken words or the graphical display of a digital library is again having a different impact
from the words that are printed. In the new environment owning a document will not be problem for the
library because the user will pay for its uses.
a) No Physical Boundary: The user of a digital library need not go to the library physically; people from all
over the world could gain access to the same information, as long as an Internet connection is available.
b) Round the Clock Availability: Digital libraries can be accessed at any time, 24 hours a day and 365 days
of the year
c) Multiple Accesses: The same resources can be used at the same time by a number of users.
d) Structured Approach: Digital library provides access to much richer content in a more structured
manner i.e. we can easily move from the catalog to the particular book then to a particular chapter and so
on.

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e) Information Retrieval: The user is able to use any search term bellowing to the word or phrase of the
entire collection. Digital library will provide very user friendly interfaces, giving clickable access to its
resources.
f) Preservation and Conservation: An exact copy of the original can be made any number of times without
any degradation in quality.
g) Space: Whereas traditional libraries are limited by storage space, digital libraries have the potential to
store much more information, simply because digital information requires very little physical space to
contain them. When the library had no space for extension digitization is the only solution.
h) Networking: A particular digital library can provide the link to any other resources of other digital
library very easily. Thus a seamlessly integrated resource sharing can be achieved.
i) Cost: The cost of maintaining a digital library is much lower than that of a traditional library. A
traditional library must spend large sums of money paying for staff, book maintenance, rent, and additional
books. Digital libraries do away with these fees.
7. Disadvantages of the Digital Library: The computer viruses, lack of standardization for digitized
information, quick degrading properties of digitized material, different display standard of digital product
and its associated problem, health hazard nature of the radiation from monitor, etc. makes digital libraries
at times a handicap.
a) Copyright: Digitization violates the copy right law as the thought content of one author can be freely
transferred by others without his acknowledgement. One difficulty to overcome for digital libraries is the
way to distribute information. How does a digital library distribute information at will while protecting the
copyright of the author?
b) Speed of Access: As more and more computer are connected to the internet its speed of access is
reasonably decreasing. If new technology will not evolve to solve the problem then in near future internet
will be full of error messages.
c) Initial Cost is High: The infrastructure cost of digital library i.e. the cost of hardware, software, leasing
communication circuit is generally very high.
d) Band width: Digital library will need high bandwidth for transfer of multimedia resources but the band
with is decreasing day by day.
e) Efficiency: With the much larger volume of digital information, finding the right material for a specific
task becomes increasingly difficult.
f) Environment: Digital libraries cannot reproduce the environment of a traditional library. Many people
also find reading printed material to be easier than reading material on a computer screen.
g) Preservation: Due to technological developments, a digital library can rapidly become out-of-date and
its data may become inaccessible.
8. Role of Librarian in Digital Environment: Though the digital environment is built as a system which can
be used by its ultimate end user directly from their desk top PC but the role of librarian cannot be

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overlooked. In digital environment also the librarian and information scientist will be needed for packaging
and repackaging of information, for electronic publishing, for reference purpose, to advice the user about
the strategy to identify relevant electronic sources, etc. Thus the librarian will be more or less a hypertext
engineer. In the new environment it will be very difficult for the librarian to decide what should be
organized; how to give citation; how to organize the collection; etc because the new environment will be
really challenging one for the librarian to decide who the authors are, who the publishers are and who the
users are?
9. Conclusion: Digital libraries are not going to replace the physical existence of document completely but
no doubt to meet the present demand, to satisfy the non local user digitization must be introduced so that at
least libraries becomes of hybrid nature. The initial cost of digitization is high but experiment shows that
once digitization is introduced then the cost to manage this collection will be cheaper than that of any
traditional library. Day by day the cost of digitization is also decreasing, the online publication is
increasing, the need of users are shifting towards a different environment so it is needless to say that after
one or two years all library will shift over to digital mode, if not fully at least to some extent. So it is the
pick time to all library and informational science professional to gear them in building digital library and
taking it as a challenge.
Large scale digitization projects are underway at Google, the Million Book Project, MSN, and Yahoo!.
With continued improvements in book handling and presentation technologies such as optical character
recognition and e-books, digital libraries are rapidly growing in popularity
Digital Media Preservation and Conservation Techniques
Digital Media Preservation and Conservation Techniques: Digital preservation is defined as a long-term,
error-free storage and management of digital information, with means for retrieval and interpretation.
Digital preservation requires more constant and ongoing attention than preservation of other media. This
constant input of effort, time, and money to handle rapid technological and organizational advance is
considered the main stumbling block for preserving digital information. Indeed, while we are still able to
read our written heritage from several thousand years ago, the digital information created merely a decade
ago is in serious danger of being lost, creating a digital Dark Age. The following two terminologies are
used in conjunction with digital preservation
a) Digital Curation: Digital curation is the selection, preservation, maintenance, and collection and
archiving of digital assets. It is the process of establishing and developing long term repositories of digital
assets for current and future reference by researchers, scientists, and historians, and scholars generally.
b) Digital Obsolescence: Digital obsolescence is a situation where a digital resource is no longer readable
because the physical media (modes of digital encoding, data –storage medium, standards for encoding
images and films), the reader required to read the media, the hardware, or the software (operating systems
and general or specialized software) that runs on it is no longer available.

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Digital technology is developing extremely fast, and one retrieval and playback technology can
become obsolete in a matter of years. When faster, more capable and cheaper storage and processing
devices are developed, the older version gets replaced almost immediately. Even different computer
"standards" are only for some time, and in the end are always replaced by new versions of the software or
completely new hardware.
Only continual forward-migration of files and information to the latest data-storage standards can address
the issue of digital obsolescence. File formats should be widespread, backward compatible, often upgraded,
and, ideally, open format. The National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage cites uncompressed
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and Portable Document Format (PDF) (for images) and American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) and Rich Text Format (RTF) (for text) as “de facto”
formats that are unlikely to be rendered obsolete in the near future.
The preservation of digital media includes the following techniques-
a) Avoiding Physical Deterioration of Media: The media on which digital contents are stored are more
vulnerable to deterioration and catastrophic loss than some analog media such as paper. While acid paper is
prone to deterioration in terms of brittleness and yellowness, the deterioration does not become apparent
for at least six decades; and when the deterioration begins, it progresses slowly. It is also highly possible to
retrieve all information without loss after deterioration is spotted. The recording media for digital data
deteriorate at a much more rapid pace, and once the deterioration starts, in most cases there is already data
loss. This characteristic of digital forms leaves a very short time frame for preservation decisions and
actions. So it should be avoided as far as possible by maintaining an appropriate environmental condition.
b) Refreshing: Refreshing is the task of transferring contents between two types of the same storage
medium. Sometimes transferring the data from one long term storage medium to another is also termed as
refreshing. It addresses the issues related to media obsolescence. Examples include transferring contents
from floppy to CD and then to DVD and then to Blue ray and so on. Transfersing census data from an old
preservation CD to a new one is also one example of refreshing.
The refreshing strategy may need to be combined with migration when the software or hardware required
to read the data is no longer available or is unable to understand the format of the data. Refreshing will
always be necessary due to the deterioration of physical digital media.
c) Replication: Replication is the process of creating multiple copies of the digital document and keeping
them in multiple locations. Sometimes it is the best means of preserving cultural resources by lowering the
risk of loss. Data that exists as a single copy in only one location is highly vulnerable to software or
hardware failure, intentional or accidental alteration, and environmental catastrophes like fire, flooding,
earthquake, etc. Digital data is more likely to survive if it is replicated in several locations. This goal may
be facilitated by following standards and guidelines that mandate producing a master copy for long-term
storage and preservation, and producing used copies derived from the master copy in the format that best
satisfies the users’ needs.
d) Bit-stream Copying (Backing up data): Backing up data refers to the process of making an exact
duplicate of the original digital object and it should be followed by remote storage so that the original and

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the copy document does not become victims of the same disastrous event. This is an essential preservation
strategy for data loss due to hardware and media failure, normal malfunction and decay, malicious
destruction or natural disaster.
e) Migration: The biggest problem to the digital media preservation is the storage format evaluation and its
obsolescence. Migration can address this issue. It is the transferring of data to newer system environments
and the process of transferring information from one generation computer system to the next available
computer generation that is advanced in nature. It also deals with the process of transferring information
from one obsolete file format to a new standard file format. This may include conversion of resources from
one file format to another (e.g. conversion of Microsoft Word to PDF or Open Document), from one
operating system to another (e.g., Windows to Linux) or from one programming language to another (e.g.,
C to Java) so that the resources remain fully accessible and functional. Resources that are migrated face the
risk of losing some type of functionality since newer formats may be incapable of capturing all the
functionality of the original format, or the converter itself may be unable to interpret all the functionality of
the original format. The latter is often a concern with proprietary data formats.
f) Emulation: Emulation uses emulator, a special kind of software that translates code and instructions from
one computing environment (original obsolete software) to execute in a new platform so that the digital
form can be viewed and used.
Emulation is the replicating of functionality of an obsolete system. Examples include emulating an Atari
2600 on a Windows system or emulating WordPerfect 1.0 on a Macintosh. Emulators may be built for
applications, operating systems, or hardware platforms. Emulation has been a popular strategy for retaining
the functionality of old video game systems, such as with the MAME project.
g) Metadata Attachment: Metadata is data on a digital file that includes information on creation, access
rights, restrictions, preservation history, and rights management. Metadata attached to digital files may be
affected by file format obsolescence. ASCII is considered to be the most durable format for metadata
because it is widespread, backwards compatible when used with Unicode, and utilizes human-readable
character, not numeric codes. It retains information, but not the structure information it is presented in. For
higher functionality, Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) or Extensible Markup Language
(XML) should be used. Both markup languages are stored in ASCII format, but contain tags that denote
structured format. The long term storage of digital information is assisted by the inclusion of preservation
metadata.
h) Analogue Backups: It is the process of the conversion of digital objects into analogue format. It is useful
to the document that deserves the highest level of merit and protection from being lost. The analogue
backup of printed document can be created by taking a printout of the document and then binding it.
i) Technology Preservation (Computer Museum): It deals with the preservation of the technology in which
the digital information was created and maintained. It deals with the issues of preserving the technology
including hardware and software configuration. It is very helpful in extending access to media
obsolescence and file formats.
j) Digital Archaeology: Digital archaeology includes methods and procedures to rescue the content from
damaged media, hardware or software environments.

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Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): DMCA is a United States copyright law that implements two
1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Passed on October 12, 1998 by a
unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28,
1998, the DMCA extended the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of the providers of on-line
services for copyright infringement by their users.
It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to
circumvent measures (commonly known as digital rights management or DRM) that control access to
copyrighted works. It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is
actual infringement of copyright itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright
infringement on the Internet.
Document Delivery Service (DDS)
Document Delivery Service (DDS): The requested material for DDS may be articles from journals, papers
from conference proceedings, any other materials required for academic and research purposes, depending
on the availability. Modern computer and telecommunication technology made it possible to transfer the
electronic text of the document to long distances at extremely fast speed.
a) Definition: DDS is concerned with the supply of document to the user on demand either in original or its
photocopies irrespective of the location and form of original document. The Document Delivery Centre
(DDC) on demand, deliver the copies of papers from learned journals, conference proceedings and other
material available in their collection. Every DDC will also make the required effort to procure and supply
the paper from other institution.
b) Need: The need for DDS felt due to ever increasing subscription cost of learned journal that leads to a
situation where no library can hold every item required to meet the needs of its user.
c) DDS Providers: The British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston and University Microfilm
International, Ann Arbor provide the DDS at international level
In national level, INFLIBNET Centre in collaboration with the following universities provides DDS. The
role of INFLIBNET here is mainly to act as a catalyst in promoting this service.
* Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi: For the region of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh.
* University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad: For the region of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West
Bengal.
* Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore: For Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadeep, Pondicherry, Tamilnadu.
* Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: Covers Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan.
* Punjab University, Chandigarh: Covers Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab.

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* Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai: Includes Diu and Daman, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra.
d) Placing Request and Delivering the Material: The request, listing the items required with complete
bibliographical information are generally made using Email, normal letter by post, fax, telephone (in case
of urgency) or requests in person. The delivery is also made accordingly.
e) Charging Pattern: Some DDS services are provided on No Profit – No Loss Basis while others are on
profit. Each Document Delivery Centre makes best effort to deliver the requested materials as early as
possible. The fee for the service is charged depending on the type of members and mode of delivery
(electronic copies through email / print out copy of electronic document / photocopy (Xerox) of printed
material by hand scanning the printed page through electronic / photocopy of printed material by Fax /
Courier / speed post). The members and associated member libraries of DDC can make the payment on
supply of requested materials. However, there is some time bound to settle the account. All non-member,
commercial organizations and individuals will have to pay in advance. To avoid the delay and paper work,
in many case it is suggested that a deposit account with a minimum of amount may be opened. In today’s
era many DDC also have the facility of online transfer of money through credit card or internet banking
while some others are still functioning by taking account of the Demand Draft, cheque or by cash.
f) Let Us Sum Up: The requesting library / individual for the DDS will have to follow the copyright
regulations and therefore will have to give an undertaking in the request itself that the requested material
will be used only for academic and research purpose and not for any commercial gains.
Dubline Core Metadata Elements Set
The Dubline core metadata set is a vocabulary of fifteen properties for issue in resource description. the
name " Dublin " is due to its origin at a 1995 invitational workshop in dublin, Ohio. " Core " because its
elements are broad and generic, usable for describing a wide range of resources.
The fifteen element Dublin core described in this standard is part of a largest set of matadata vocabularies
and technical specifications maintained by the Dublin Metadata (DCMI),the full set of vocabularies DCMI
Metadata terms also includes sets of resources, classes, vocabulary encoding schemes, and syntax encoding
schemes. The term in DCMI vocabularies in the context of application profiles and on the basis of the
DCMI abstract mode (DCAM) all changes made to terms of the Dublin core metadata elements set since
2001 have been reviewed by DCMI usage board in the context of a DCMI name space policy, the name
space policy describes now DCMI terms are Assigned uniform resources identifiers (URIs) and sets limit
on the range of editorial changes that may allowably be made to the labels , definitions, and usage
comments associated with existing DCMI Terms

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Duties and Responsibilities of the Librarian
Duties and Responsibilities of the Librarian: The main duties and responsibilities of the librarians are as
follows
a) Policy Formulation: The librarian is to formulate and administer policies, rules and regulation for the
purpose of securing the most complete use of the library and to participate in the formulation of
educational policies of the parent organization.
b) Ex Officio Member: The librarian acts as an ex officio member of all the academic bodies of the parent
organization.
c) Library Budget: The librarian has the responsibility to prepare and execute the annual budget of the
library.
d) Library Documents: He is responsible for all the professional job related to selection, acquisition,
classification, cataloguing and maintenance of the library documents.
e) Library Service: The librarian is also responsible for providing the various types of services such as
CAS, SDI, Reference and also for creating reading habit.
f) Secretary of Library Committee: He acts as a secretary of the library committee where he/she is
responsible in preparing the agenda for the committee meeting by giving facts of each item, to issue the
library committee meeting notice and to keep the minutes of the library committee meeting. The librarian is
also responsible for keeping the library committee well informed about the day to day happening of the
library.
vii) Library Representative: The librarian represents the library before the patrons of the library, the general
public etc and act as the chief executive of the library.
E- Journal
1. Introduction: According to Covi 1996, the “Electronic Journal” is ambiguous and it is not always clear
whether the producers of a given title are referring to a distribution format for a print journal, an electronic
archive of a print journal or a journal published exclusively in an electronic format.
Broadly, E- journal may be defined as any journal, magazine, newsletter etc. which can be
electronically accessed and are available over the internet.
2. Characteristics: The characteristics of E-journals are
a) Articles in e- journals are electronically submitted which help in the rapid publication of an issue.
b) It gives innovative ways of representing research results and other form of data, information, text,
motion, sound, hypertext, hypermedia linkages.
c) The files or articles are electronically accessed using different technologies such as www, gopher, FTP,
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d) Ability to link reader comment and evaluation to published articles.
e) It helps in more efficient dissemination of information, rapid SDI services by libraries through e- mail.
f) It lower cost per successful match between articles and reader.
E-documents
E-documents: The term e-document or e-text is a broader term that includes the document in ASCII text
format. It may be content from a website, blog, wiki, discussion forum, discussion group, online journal
and so on.
The salient features of electronic documents are:
i) They can be delivered to the desktop (although the desktop needs a computer)
ii) They can be read by more than one person at a time.
iii) The text can be searched.
iv) They can include multimedia and graphics, in color, at marginal cost.
v) They can be published more quickly than paper publications.
vi) They can be interactive; that is, they can foster an online exchange of ideas by e-mail.
vii) Have the ability to make hyperlinks, both internally and to other publications. This means that readers
can link directly to references cited in an article and also, with additional effort on the part of publishers
and indexers, to later articles that cite the article they are reading.
viii) Articles can be retrieved directly through links from abstracting and indexing databases.
ix) The content can be reproduced, forwarded, modified leading to possible problems with copyright
protection and preserving authenticity.
The main disadvantage is that, unless they are also printed on paper, they require specialized
equipment for reading.
a) E-journal: E-Journal is an all-electronic, peer-reviewed periodical in a specific field or in a general field
of interest. In the E-Journal environment the creation, transmission, storage, interpretation, alteration and
replication of electronic "text" including "display" takes place in electronic form. Some electronic journals
are online-only journals; some are online versions of printed journals, and some consist of the online
equivalent of a printed journal, but with additional online-only material.
Some journals are subscription-based, or allow pay-per-view access. An increasing number of journals are
now available as open access journals, requiring no subscription. Most working paper archives and articles
on personal homepages are free, as are collections in Institutional repositories and Subject repositories.

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Most electronic journals are published both in HTML and Portable Document Format (PDF) formats, but
some are available in only one of the two. Some e-journals are available over the internet while some
others are distributed on CD-ROMs, or by way of e-mail.
b) E-book: An e-book also called eBook, ebook, electronic book, is an electronic (or digital) equivalent of a
conventional printed book and is a proprietary file formats.
Some e-books are produced simultaneously with the production of a printed book, though in many
instances they may not be put on sale until later. Often, e-books are produced from pre-existing hard-copy
books, generally by document scanning, sometimes with the use of Robotic Scanners, having the
technology to quickly scan books without damaging the original print edition. Scanning a book produces an
image file, which must then be converted into text format by an Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
program. Occasionally, an e-book may also be produced by re-entering the text from a keyboard. As a
newer development, sometimes only the e-book form is produced by the publisher; it is usually possible
technically to convert this to a printed book by short-run printing.
A writer or publisher has many options when it comes to choosing a format for production of e-book.
Formats available include, but are by no means limited to image file (.png, .jpg), Microsoft Word or plain
text files (.doc or .txt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) (.html), Open
Electronic Book Package Format (OPF), Portable Document Format (.pdf), etc.
The hardware device used to read books in digital format is known as an e-book device or e-book reader.
The e-book reader includes FlipViewer®, Haali Reader and FBReader, Plucker, Acrobat Reader or Adobe
Reader, Mobipocket (.prc), Cybook (Bookeen), iRex iLiad (based on eInk), Sony Reader (based on eInk),
eBookwise-1150 (based on former Gemstar technology), Jinke Hanlin Reader (based on eInk), DNL
Reader (http://www.dnaml.com/), eReader (formerly Palm Digital Media) (.pdb), etc.
Among the first Internet-only publishers of new e-books were Boson Books, Hard Shell Word Factory and
Online Originals, all founded in the mid-1990s. Online Originals was the first e-book publisher to win
mainstream book reviews (in the London Times) and a nomination for a major literary prize (the Booker
Prize). Some of the free notable e-book repositories that are available over the web are
i) Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/).
ii) Facsimile Books & other digitally enhanced Works from: The University of Georgia Libraries
(http://fax.libs.uga.edu/).
iii) The Internet Public Library Online Texts Collection
(http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/)
iv) ManyBooks.net (http://manybooks.net/)
v) Econlib (http://www.econlib.org/)
vi) Higher intellect project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_intellect_project)
vii) epalm.org (http://www.epalm.org)

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viii) Explorion (http://explorion.net/).
vix) PocketPCBooks.net (http://www.pocketpcbooks.net/)
The main advantages of e-books are
i) Searching: Text can be searched, except when represented in the form of images.
ii) Take up Little Space: Hundreds (or thousands) may be carried together on one device, Approximately
500 average e-books can be stored on one CD (equivalent to several shelves' worth of print books).
iii) Royalties Generation for Authors: E-books can be offered indefinitely, with no “out of print” date,
allowing authors to continue to earn royalties indefinitely, and allowing readers to find older works by
favorite authors.
iv) Zooming Facility: Type size and type face may be adjusted.
v) Backup Copy: A backup can be kept in a remote place, so cannot be lost by fire, etc.
vi) Low Cost: Can be distributed at low cost since coloring copy also does not cost much.
vii) Speedy Distribution: Distributed instantly, allowing readers to begin reading at once, without the need
to visit a bookstore.
viii) Sharing: Can be simultaneously shared with many readers.
ix) Environmentally Viable: Economically and environmentally viable by cutting down on paper and
lumber production, economically viable by cutting down on ink production
x) Preservation: Does not wear over time, no risk of damage, vandalism, etc. on the pages.
Some of the disadvantages of e-books are:
i) Can be incompatible with the development of new hardware or software.
ii) To avoid damage or loss care must be taken in handling and storage of the books.
iii) Continuous reading can be harmful to the eyes.
iv) Always need some equipment to read the book.
Since the late 1990s, the many newcomers to e-book publishing have included most major print publishers.
At the same time, many established e-publishers started to offer print versions of some of their titles. Thus
the line between the two is fast blurring.
E-books have their own bestseller lists, including those compiled by IDPF and Fictionwise. They even
have two yearly awards for excellence in e-books. The longest-standing and most inclusive of these is the
EPPIE award, given by EPIC since 2000. The other is the Dream Realm Award, first awarded to
speculative fiction e-books in 2002

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Environmental Information System (ENVIS)
Realising the importance of Environmental Information, the Government of India, in December, 1982,
established an Environmental Information System (ENVIS) as a plan programme. ENVIS is a decentralised
system with a network of distributed subject oriented Centres ensuring integration of national efforts in
environmental information collection, collation, storage, retrieval and dissemination to all concerned.
Presently the ENVIS network consists of Focal Point at the Ministry of Environment and Forest and
ENVIS Centres setup in different organizations / establishments in the country in selected areas of
environment. These Centres have been set up in the areas of pollution control, toxic chemicals, central and
offshore ecology, environmentally sound and appropriate technology, bio-degradation of wastes and
environment management, etc.
ENVIS India has already established Eighty One partner nodes, which include thirty government
departments, Thirty Six Institutions and Fifteen NGOs. These nodes are supposed to create websites on
specific environment related subject areas.
1. Aims and Objectives: ENVIS focal point ensures integration of national efforts in environmental
information collection, collation, storage, retrieval and dissemination to all concerned.
1.1 Long-term objectives
a) To build up a repository and dissemination centre in Environmental Science and Engineering;
b) To gear up the modern technologies of acquisition, processing, storage, retrieval and dissemination of
information of environmental nature; and
c) To support and promote research, development and innovation in environmental information technology.
1.2 Short-term objectives
a) To provide national environmental information service relevant to present needs and capable of
development to meet the future needs of the users, originators, processors and disseminators of
information;
b) To build up storage, retrieval and dissemination capabilities with the ultimate objectives of
disseminating information speedily to the users;
c) To promote, national and international cooperation and liaison for exchange of environment related
information;
d) To promote, support and assist education and personnel training programmes designed to enhance
environmental information processing and utilization capabilities;
e) To promote exchange of information amongst developing countries.
2. Functions:

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i) EMCBTAP: ENVIS has started implementing the World Bank assisted Environment Management
Capacity Building Technical Assistance Project (EMCBTAP) since January, 2002 which aims at
structuring the ENVIS scheme by extending its reach through involvement of Institutions / Organizations
in State Governments, academia sector, corporate sector, NGO sector, etc.
ii) ENVIS-Nodes: To strengthen ENVIS in disseminating information pertaining to environment and
sustainable development, ENVIS India establishes different ENVIS Nodes by involving Organizations,
institutions, Universities and Government departments working in diverse areas of environment.
3. Conclusion: ENVIS due to its comprehensive network has been designed as the National Focal Point
(NFP) for INFOTERRA, a global environmental information network of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). In order to strengthen the information activities of the NFP, ENVIS was designated
as the Regional Service Centre (RSC) of INFOTERRA of UNEP in 1985 for the South Asia Sub-Region
countries
Evaluation of Reference Sources
Introduction: Reference sources are the backbone of a library. It helps the libraries and librarian in
maintaining the question banks from which answer to queries of the users and material required by users
are available. It may be added that the border line of demarcation between a reference book and others is
not always sharp. The decisions as to whether or not to regard a given book as a reference book will
sometime different from library to library.
The checklists for evaluation of reference sources are more or less same for all types of work. They
can be applied to all sources with slight modification. The mnemonic form APPARATUS can be used as a
check points for their appraisal. The APPARATUS indicates:
A-Authority
P- Purpose, Price
P- Physical format, Picture
A-Arrangement
R- Receney, Revision
A-Accuracy
T- Treatment
U- Use
S- Scope
Authority: The work should be authoritative. The authoritiveness of a reference book can usually be judge
on the basis of qualification, experience and reputation of the sponsoring body (if any), publisher,
distributor, author(s), Editor(s), Compiler(s).

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Purpose, Price: What is the purpose of the work as stated by the editor himself? Has this purpose been full
field in the main work? What is the total cost of the work and whether the cost can be justified on the basis
of its content?
Physical Format, Picture: It refers to the physical make up of the book. All reference works should be a
handy volume easy to withstand wear and tear. Format refers to binding quality of paper, typefaces, page
make up, illustration, plates, diagrams, maps etc. Binding is of special consideration for bulky works likely
to be used heavily. Type face should be clear and legible with suitable headings and subheading in bold
types for the guidance of the readers.
Arrangement: A reference sources demand easy and quick location of recorded entries. Goods arrangement
adds to the value of a reference sources. The information must be systematically arranged. It is essential to
have a detailed index which should provide for various kinds of approaches. The arrangement of the main
text can be classified or chronological or geographic or alphabetical or some other. The kind of
arrangement used should have a sound basis. Index to the main text is extremely important. The index
should be detailed one providing reasonable number of approaches complemented by cross references. The
index can be alphabetical or classified or some other.
Receney, Revision: Information is always developing, some old becomes obsolete and some new are
added. So in the evaluation process, the evaluator should keep it in mind to check whether the work is
current and update or not. A continuous revision policy must be followed. Some works may issue
supplements containing new information. What devices it uses to keep the bibliographies up to date.
Though some reference sources may contain some retrospective information, every year it should be
thoroughly revised and updated. The time lag is important for current sources.
Accuracy: The work should be judged by the accuracy of the facts mentioned in the work.
Treatment: It is to be ascertained whether the information is reliable and accurate or not, whether the
treatment is biased or unbiased. It includes how through, reliable and complete is the information e.g.
Facts, statistics, place, names, names of persons, names of organization, bibliography whichever is
applicable. Treatment should also include questions like does it show any bias on controversial topics. Has
the space allocated for a topic related to the degree of importance attached to a topic? Has the work written
for scholars or layman, adults or children? How readable is the writing etc.
Use: If the work will be purchased then who will be the user, who will benefit from the work. Does the
library have such kind of user base or not?
Scope: The kind of information included would depend upon the scope of the work. Some work may cover
a particular country or the whole world or all subjects while others may be restricted to some specific or
minute topic only. The date or period covered is an important criterion. Sometimes it may relate to a
particular subject, organization also. The content page, preface, and introduction may give an idea of the
information contained in the work. What are the limitations of the reference work with regard to subject,
class of reader, up- to-dateness of material, what is the overall coverage? Does it follow a definite plan
consistently? What is the extent of supervision provided by the editor(s)? Some works have a long history.
It would be useful to add history as an additional check point. Overall Judgment: The evaluated reference
sources are useful for what kind of library.

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Formulation of Research Topic / Proposal
Formulation of Research Topic / Proposal: A research proposal is a chosen plan of action to follow in
conjunction with a research work. It is a tool to identify potential research interest. The objectives of a
research proposal are -
i) Research proposal gives direction to the research work;
ii) It is needed to submit to the funding agency / supervisor;
iii) It is the foundation on which the future research work will grow.
The researchers own academic, personal, and professional expertise is the main asset to choose a
relevant topic of interest for research. Before taking any topic for research one should ask himself / herself
two questions - what is the significance of the topic and why is this particular topic need of being
researched?
1. Steps in Formulating a Research Proposal: Though there is no thumb rule for formulating a research
topic, yet the following will throw a light in this direction.
i) Identifying Area of Specialization: In choosing any topic for research the first and foremost thing is the
identification of the areas what one likes most.
ii) Discussion with Peers: In the very second step one should ask or talk with his / her peers (including
seniors and teacher) about the topic and by this way should try to collect some more information on the
topic at hand.
iii) Using Science: The person concerned in the next step should employ science in way of viewing the
topic based on the concept of order, external reality, reliability, parsimony, and generality.
iv) Literature Search: Literature search is essential in order to be aware of the existing research and to
know what has already come out to the surface. Different form of literature both macro, micro and web
covering all aspect of the topic should be studied at this step itself. Literature searching tool includes guides
to literature; bibliographies, citation analysis (forward search); library catalogue, indexing and abstracting
journals, search engines; Meta search engine; wiki search engines, etc. During literature search activity one
should collect all the relevant documents. It will be needed to summarize the results of previous research to
form a foundation of the present one and to collect ideas about what methodologies, techniques and tool
were used by previous researchers in case of near topic that one is supposed to choose for and to assess the
success of the previous research work based on the methodologies, techniques and tools undertaken.
v) Research Method, Tools and Techniques: Based on the literature search, the research scholar should
seek for alternative, judge himself/herself why earlier investigators choose their course of action, what are
their shortcomings, whether other approaches can be used for such type of investigation and so on.

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vi) Key Concepts: In the next step, the research scholar should try to list and define key concepts and terms
and also be alert to the latest happenings on the subject;
vii) Problem Identification: The research scholar now should find out, what is missing in the existing
literature. In doing so he/she should go from general to particular problem, and then should break the
problem.
viii) Judging Yourself: Now after identification of the problem one should judge himself/herself whether
he/she is fitted to take this topic, in regard to his/her expertise, time and skill, if not he/she must again start
from the point number (i) and choose other alternatives;
ix) Research Proposal: In this step the research scholar should prepare the research proposal, making
judgment to make others convinced regarding the value of the research work, map out all the arguments in
the form of research proposal and so on.
x) Communicating the Proposal: The proposal should be communicated with the expected research
supervisor.
2. Contents of a Research Proposal: A research proposal in general consists of the following parts-
Sl. No. Contents Page
1 Title Page 1
2 Introduction 1
3 Statement of The Problem 1
4 Aims and Objectives ½
5 Topic Justification 1
6 Scope and Limitation ½
7 Literature Review 5
8 Methodology 2
9 Ethical Consideration: the ethics you adopt 1
10 Risk Analysis 1
11 Schedule* 1
12 References 1
* The Schedule will include time needed for extensive literature search, research design to conduct the
main study, and time needed to write the research findings.
3. Writing Research Proposal: Though it is not mandatory, the following steps are followed in writing a
research proposal-
a) Setting up Template: Template like using of Font = Times New Roman; Font Style = Regular; Font Size
= 12; Alignment = Justify; Line Spacing = 1.5. For heading purpose one can use Font Style: Bold, rests are
same and like that.
b) Avoiding Biasness: For any type of research proposal writing it would be better to restrict using “I”
except in the introduction chapter, in other parts of the report it should be replaced by “the researcher”, “the
author”, and such appropriate words.

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c) Table and Graphs Names: In case of table and graph naming, the rule of thump is to naming the table
and graph by using the chapter name followed by table or graph number starting freshly from the beginning
of each chapter.
d) Checking: After writing the research proposal the research scholar need to check for the following:-
i) Whether all text formatting guidelines are followed or not.
ii) Quotations are complete and followed by in text citation or not.
iii) In text citation are included in the references pages or not.
Function of Management
Function of Management: In 1937 L. Gulic and L. Urwick in “papers on the Science of administration”
listed seven functions of management. They coined the acronym POSDCORB for the same. This stands for
Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, COordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.
a) Planning: Plan is regarded as a “projected course of action”. According to Koontz and O’Donnell,
planning is deciding in advance what to do and how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. It involves
developing objectives, strategies, policies, procedures, programmes, etc.
b) Organizing: Organizing means establishing of a formal structure of authority, which is well defined and
co-ordinated towards the attainment of specific objectives. At this stage the objectives are set, methods are
formulated, process of implementation are fixed, papers are ready, decision for doing the job is taken and
all necessary steps are taken to perform the job.
c) Staffing: Staffing refers to the human resources already existing in the organization and the new
recruitment. The manager should assess the existing man-hour and capabilities of the existing persons
employed. If required their duties may be reorganized for yielding better service. They should have in
service training and continuing education to improve the capabilities and expertise. The right person should
be in the right place with the right job. When required new person should be recruited having desired
academic background and adequate training with proper aptitude and motivation. Further for getting the
best result the working environment should be congenial.
d) Directing: Directing is defined as the continuous task of taking decisions and incorporating them in
specific and general order and serving these orders. That’s why directing involves overall administrative
control. It is the administrative command over the affairs. In this sense directing is taking the leadership
over all the maters as a whole for the present as well as for the future. Directing not only means just to
issue the order but also to motivate the staff to get the best result.
e) Coordinating: Coordinating in an organization is balancing and interrelating of the various parts of
organization and keeping together all the staff for getting the best result with the minimum resources at
hand. In any organization the division of work is distributed and at every stage a person is responsible to
somebody for his performance and jobs to be done by him. The staffs are generally responsible to their
immediate superior. There are various work units, sections and divisions for respective responsibilities but

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for proper coordination all these individual units must be interrelated and works should be done in a chain
system, one after another.
f) Reporting: Reporting is the way to keep the authorities and the concerned public informed about the
performance, achievements and shortfall of the organizations. It is a means of keeping informed to whom
executive is responsible as to what is going on, which thus include keeping himself and his subordinates
informed through records, research and inspection. Reporting is the preparation of factual data of the work
done in a unit or section. These unit or section reports are amalgamated to prepare the full report of the
working of the institution for a given period. The report is then transmitted to the top administrative body.
The report contains the work done in various units, any progress made, constraints felt and the suggestion
to overcome these, any backlog in the work and the reasons thereof, actual work done with statistical figure
and the like.
g) Budgeting: Budgeting is defined as “an estimated often itemized or expected income and expense or
operating results for a given period in the future. Budgeting is the preparation of financial estimate for the
next financial year, anticipate allotment for the present financial year and showing the actual expenditure
incurred in the previous financial year. It involves receipts and expenditure as well as accounting, financial
control and financial planning.
In addition to the above mentioned functions the following two functions are considered essential for an
efficient management.
h) Control: The chief of any institution has to control effectively his subordinates. He has to inspect their
work personally. He has to keep an eye upon the methods of performing specific jobs assigned to
individual workers, the end products and overall cost of productions / services. He has to ensure best
quality and maximum quantity of work from his worker.
i) Motivation: The aim of an organization cannot be achieved unless its workers perform their jobs
willingly and conscientiously. So to do the same the worker must be motivated by providing congenial
service conditions and environments. An individual can be motivated by two kinds of needs – Basic needs
and those that is socially determined and that both of these must be satisfied to allow emotional maturity.
The motivation of personnel through promotion, recognition and incentives create proper environment for
employees to put in their best effort.

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Generations of Computers
Generations of Computers: Computer generation means step by step changes and each major change or
progress after a period of time. Since inception there are totally five generation of computers.
a) First Generation Computer (Up to 1950): ENIAC was the first valve based computer and taken as first
computer of first generation of electronic digital computer. It was made by J. P. Eckert and John W.
Mauchly in 1946. EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC are some other examples of computer of this generation.
This generation computer possessed the following characteristics:
i) Used thermionic valves or vacuum tube or electronic valve;
ii) Used Mercury line for storage and paper tapes and punched cards were also used;
iii) Computer programming was mainly done in machine language;
iv) All the computers were of very big size and so required very large space;
v) The computers were very costly;
vi) Limited programming capabilities, memory;
vii) Slow operating speed and restricted computing capacity;
viii) High power consumption (each vacuum tubes consumed about half a watt power);
ix) Vacuum tubes used filament as a source of electron; they have a limited life.
x) Large amount of heat generated from the vacuum tubes and so they needed air-conditioning.
b) Second Generation Computer: The invention of transistor (short names for transfer resistor) in 1948 led
to the development of second generation of computer. Their main disadvantages were that the commercial
productions of transistors were difficult and expensive; again, the manual assembly of individual
components into a functioning unit was required. Examples of second generation of computer include
UNIVAC-1108, IBM 700, 1401, CDC 1604, 3600.
The second generation computers are characterized by the following:
i) Transistors replaced the vacuum tubes completely;
ii) Use of magnetic cores for memory storage. Magnetic drum, magnetic disc, punched card were also used
for storage purpose;
iii) Use of high level language like FORTRAN, COBOL, Algol, SNOBOL etc.;
iv) Due to the use of transistors the sizes turned to be smaller;
v) Less costly in comparison to the first generation of computer;
vi) Memory capacities were about 100 Kilobyte;

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v) Reduction in computation time from millisecond to microsecond;
vi) Transistors consume only a tenth of power as required by vacuum tubes;
vii) Transistors have no filament to burn as against the first generation of computer so they were more
reliable;
ix) Less heat was generated due to the use of transistor but still needed air conditioning and frequent
maintenance.
c) Third Generation Computer: The third generation began in 1965 with germanium transistors being
replaced by silicon transistors (=integrated circuit). Integrated circuit is a circuit consisting of transistors,
resistors and capacitors grown on a single chip of silicon eliminating wired interconnections between
components. Highly sophisticated technology was required for the manufacture of the chips, but still
commercial production become easier and not so expensive. Remote processing and time sharing is also an
added advantage of this generation of computer. Example: IBM 360 Series, ICL 1900 series, IBM 370/168,
ICL 2900, Honeywell 6000 series. This generation computer has the following characteristics
i) Use of integrated circuit;
ii) Use of semiconductor memories in addition to, and later instead of, ferrite core memory. The two main
types of semiconductor memory are Read-Only Memory (ROM) and read-and-write memories called
Random Access Memory (RAM);
iii) Extensive use of high level programming languages;
iv) Smaller size and better performance, more flexibility with input/output;
v) Less costly in comparison to the second generation of computer and become popular as mini computer
and are quite portable;
vi) Memories improved to 4 Megabytes;
vii) Reduction in computational time from microseconds to nanoseconds;
viii) Lower heat generation and quite less power requirement;
ix) More reliable in comparison to the second generation of computer;
x) Air conditioning required in many cases;
d) Fourth Generation Computer: The fourth generation of computer may be identified by the advent of the
microprocessor chip. The whole computer CPU except primary memory is placed on a single chip. This
chip is known as microprocessor.
Examples: Intel 4004, Apple series I and II, spectrum 7 etc.
This generation computer has the following characteristics:

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i) Use of large scale and very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) packing about 50,000 transistors in a
chip;
ii) Magnetic core memories were replaced by semiconductor memories;
iii) Sophisticated programs and languages for special application. In the area of language “C” language
became popular.
iv) Increasing use of microcomputer;
v) Low cost;
vi) Increased storage;
vii) Considerably faster and smaller;
viii) Heat generated is negligible and even air conditioner is not always required;
ix) Network of computers and distributed computer systems were developed;
x) Modular design, versatility and compatibility.
e) Fifth Generation Computer: The fifth generation of computer is in the process of full development. This
computer is expected to be a new and unique of its kind having the artificial intelligence i.e. the ability to
reason logically and with the real knowledge of the world, behaving almost like a human being in the sense
of talking, seeing, hearing and utilizing human language.
History of a Computer
History of a Computer: It is difficult to identify any one device as the earliest computer, partly because the
term "computer" has been subject to varying interpretations over time. It was the fusion of automatic
calculation with programmability that produced the first recognizable computers.
1. The Beginning: Examples of early mechanical calculating devices included the abacus, the slide rule and
arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism (which dates from about 150-100 BC). The end of
the middle ages saw a re-invigoration of European mathematics and engineering. Wilhelm Schickard's
1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers.
However, none of those devices fit the modern definition of a computer because they could not be
programmed.
a) Abacus: The concepts of number and counting are believed to have been developed first by the
herdsmen of ancient times, who sought to avoid animal losses. It can be traced back to 3000 BC. The
herdsmen (or the Stone Age men) used small round stones (pebbles) for counting cattle. After counting
with pebbles, the successor was a tool known as ABACUS, which is treated as the first mechanical
computing device. The word “Abacus” is derived from the Greek word ‘abakos’ which means a board or
calculating tables. Beads are strung on wires or strings held in a frame and they are slid along the wires

99. Page99
counting, adding, etc. It was invented by the Chinese in 3000 BC, which was later improved by the
Egyptians and the Greeks.
b) Mechanical Theater: Hero of Alexandria (c. 10 – 70 AD) built a mechanical theater which performed a
play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that might be
considered to be a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed which actions and when.
c) Joseph Marie Jacquard: In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom that
used a series of punched paper cards as a template to allow his loom to weave intricate patterns
automatically. The resulting “Jacquard loom” was an important step in the development of computers
because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns can be viewed as an early form of
programmability.
d) Napier’s Bones: John Napier was the inventor of logarithms. He used his data tables and with the help of
a mechanical device could do the necessary computing.
e) Pascal’s Machine Arithmetique: In 1642 Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician invented a mechanical
adding machine, a prototype of the digital calculating machine. This device was able to add and subtract
directly, whereas multiplication and division were performed through repeated addition and subtraction
respectively.
f) Leibnitz’s Stepped Reckoner: Gottfried Withelm Von Leibnitz, a German mathematician invented a
more advanced calculating machine in 1671, which could not only add but also multiply, divide and extract
square root. As the machine could make a series of repeated additions, it was called the Stepped Reckoner.
The merit of Leibnitz’s contribution is that he showed the advantage of binary system over decimal system
in the operation of mechanical computer.
g) Punched Card: A French weaver’s son named Joseph Marie-Jacquard made the next significant
contribution in 1804. After observing how his father could make different weaving patterns on the loom, he
thought of storing these patterns for future use. So, he developed a plate with multiple holes to control the
weaving patters, not knowing that only his idea of storing the weaving patterns would be used to store data
and would be called the Punched Card. A Punched card is a thin rectangular card divided into 80 columns
and 12 rows in which the various characters could be represented by punching holes in different rows and
columns. On one card it is possible to punch 80 characters – one character per column, thus it is possible to
store 80 characters of data.
h) Babbage’s Difference and Analytical Engines: Charles Babbage, a professor of Mathematics, designed a
computing machine in 1822 for the purpose of producing ballistic tables called the “Difference Engine”.
Then he conceived the idea of a new computing machine in 1833 and designed the machine in 1835 called
Analytical Engine, which is the forerunner of the modern computer. It could be called as the first digital
computer having the memory and the calculating units as well as sequential control with provision for
automatic printout. Thus, Charles Babbage is widely regarded as the father of the computer. Due to limited
finances, and an inability to resist thinking with the design, Babbage never actually built his Analytical
Engine. (The Analytical Engine should not be confused with Babbage's Difference Engine which was a
non-programmable mechanical calculator).

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i) Lady Ada Lovelace: Lady Ada Lovelace, an amateur mathematician, and a friend of Babbage produced
supporting material for the “Analytical Engine” in the form of programs, and explanatory documentation.
As such, she is considered the first lady computer programmer. ADA is one of the programming languages
named after her.
j) Boole’s Symbolic Logic: George Boole, the famous logician, discussed symbolic logic in 1859 in his
work ‘Treatise of differential equation’. The development of symbolic logic and the application of binary
logic operation AND, OR, NOT are his main contribution to modern computer technology.
k) Hollerith’s Punched Card Machinery: Dr. Herman Hollerith, an American statistician invented the
punched card machinery in 1886. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed
for the U.S. Census in 1890 by tabulating machines designed by Herman Hollerith and manufactured by
the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation, which later became International Business Machine
(IBM) Corporation. The punched card invented by Hollerith is still used as the basic input medium to
computers.
l) Aiken and MARK I: This computer is also known as automatic sequence controlled calculator, which
was designed by Howard A. Aiken of Harvard University. It is also known as Harvard MARK I. It is the
first fully electro-mechanical computer.
m) Stibitz’s Machine, MARK II and SSEC: George R. Stibitz developed a large relay computer at Bell
Telephone Laboratories in 1946. Aiken built the MARK II, the large relay computer in 1947. Another
machine was also constructed by the people of IBM Corporation. It was known as the Selective Sequence
Electronic Calculator (SSEC).
n) The Atanasoff-Berry Computer: This electronic machine was also known as ABC (Atanasoff-Berry
Computer) as it was named after its founder Dr. John Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry. The non-
programmable Atanasoff–Berry Computer (1941) used vacuum tube based computation, binary numbers,
and regenerative capacitor memory.
o) Colossus Computers: The secret British Colossus computers (1943) (Copeland, 2006), had limited
programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of tubes could be reasonably reliable and
electronically reprogrammable. It was used for breaking German wartime codes.
p) Z Machines: In 1941, Konrad Zuse's electromechanical "Z machines" (Z3) was the first working
machine featuring binary arithmetic, including floating point arithmetic and a measure of programmability.
In 1998, the Z3 was proved to be the world's first operational computer.
q) Bush and Memex: Memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records and
communications, which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. Dr.
Vannevar Bush visualized the library of the future with mechanized services from housekeeping to
operation.
2. Early Electronic Computer: The early electronic computer can be categorized into the following-

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a) ENIAC: (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator): This computer was built by a team at the
University of Pennsylvania, designed by a team of members from the USA headed by Professor J. Presper
Eckert and John Mauchly. The U.S. Army's Ballistics Research Laboratory ENIAC (1946), which used
decimal arithmetic, is sometimes called the first general purpose electronic computer (since Konrad Zuse's
Z3 of 1941 used electromagnets instead of electronics). Initially, however, ENIAC had an inflexible
architecture which essentially required rewiring to change its programming.
Several developers of ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant
design, which came to be known as the stored program architecture or Von Neumann architecture. This
design was first formally described by John Von Neumann in the paper "First Draft of a Report on the
EDVAC", published in 1945. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored program
architecture commenced around this time, the first of these being completed in Great Britain. The first to be
demonstrated working was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or "Baby".
b) BINAC (Binary Automated Computer): Mauchly and Eckert established their own company and design
the BINAC in 1950, which was the first machine to use self checking devices.
c) EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer): Dr. John Von Neumann and the ENIAC
group designed this computer. The device could store both the instruction and the data in the binary form,
instead of human readable words or decimal numbers.
d) EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator): It was developed by the Britishers, headed by
Professor Maurice V. Wilkes at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory. It was much faster
than EDVAC. EDSAC was one of the first computers to implement the stored program (Von Neumann)
architecture.
The EDSAC which completed a year after SSEM, was perhaps the first practical implementation of the
stored program design. Shortly thereafter, the machine originally described by von Neumann's paper
EDVAC was completed but did not see full-time use for an additional two years.
e) SEAC (Standard Eastern Automatic Computer): The US National Bureau of Standards constructed this
computer following the design of EDVAC and was completed in 1950. It was the first stored-program
American Computer.
f) Manchester Mark I (1948): This machine was designed by a group of scientists headed by Professor M.
N. A. Newman.
g) UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer): Mauchly and Eckert designed and built UNIVAC I. It was
the first computer to handle both numerical and alphabetical information.
h) MARK III and IV: Aiken built MARK III with magnetic drum storage at Harvard in 1950 and MARK
IV, an improved version of MARK III, in 1952.

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3. Modern Electronic Computer: Modern electronic computers have a faster speed. A major breakthrough
in the computer technology was made by introducing transistor in place of vacuum tubes during the early
sixties. With the development of transistor it was possible to design printed circuit, integrated circuit and
other miniaturization techniques in the structure of computer.
The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1945),
although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier. Early electronic
computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal
computers. Modern computers are based on tiny integrated circuits and are millions to billions of times
more capable while occupying a fraction of the space. Today, simple computers may be made small
enough to fit into a wristwatch and be powered from a watch battery.
In 1946, ENIAC consumed an estimated 174 kW. By comparison, a typical personal computer may use
around 400 W; over four hundred times less (Kempf, 1961). Early computers such as Colossus and ENIAC
were able to process between 5 and 100 operations per second. A modern "commodity" microprocessor (as
of 2007) can process billions of operations per second, and many of these operations are more complicated
and useful than early computer operations.
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management: Human resources are acknowledged as the most valuable and important
assets in any organization and recognized as a valued resources with potential. These are no longer
associated with problems and cost. Human resource management is sometimes also known as personal
management.
a) Definition: Personal management implies a process of getting the best out of the employees of an
organization by means of judicious selection, tactful dealing and by seeking their replacement, if necessary.
A formal definition of personnel management is that it is a function performed in organizations that
facilitates the most effective use of employees to achieve organizational and individual goals.
According to O. Tead and H.C. Metcaffe personnel management is “the direction and co-operation of
human relations of any organization with a view to getting the maximum necessary production with a
minimum of effort and friction and with a proper regard for the genuine well being of workers.”
b) Aims of Personnel Management: The aim of personnel management is to develop capabilities of
individual persons towards understanding appreciation and solution of problem. Each staff member should
get a feeling that his works form a vital part of the working of the organization. In simple, the aims of
personnel management are:
i) Optimum output;
ii) Development of workers capabilities by enabling the workers to derive maximum satisfaction from their
work;
iii) Development of team spirit;

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iv) Continuous vigilance.
c) Importance of Personnel Management: The rationale behind recognizing the role of human resources
management is that:
i) Human resources who are employed in the organization are human being with some aspiration and
ambition in life.
ii) Though humans are utilized as means to an end in the production process they are ultimate sharer of
profit.
iii) The personnel being a part of the community are also the consumers as well.
iv) The manpower of any organization is responsible to perform the duties and all operational work and is
the one who ran an organization.
v) Human resources are the best resources of any organization in comparison to all other physical
resources. It is they who convert material into suitable commodities.
vi) If the energies of the personnel can be channelised in right direction, they can overcome the constrains
and limitations of other physical resources.
d) Function of Personnel Management: Personnel management is a staff function. It is advisory in nature. It
recommends, cooperates and counsels. The main functions of personnel management may be grouped
under the following broad heading-
i) Manpower planning.
ii) Job analysis
iii) Job description
iv) Staffing
v) Recruitment, selection and test
vi) Induction, orientation and placement
vii) Training and development (continuous education)
viii) Motivation of personnel
ix) Leadership
x) Wage and salary administration
xi) Employer – Employee relationship (supervise, control)
xii) Performance evaluation.
Henry Mintzberg in his “the nature of managerial work” (1973) described the following roles to be played
by the top man in management.

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i) Figurehead
ii) Leader
iii) Liaison
iv) Monitor
v) Disseminator
vi) Spokesman
vii) Entrepreneurs
viii) Disturbance handler
ix) Resource allocator
x) Negotiator
e) Problems in Personnel Management: The problems associated with personnel management are-
i) Increasing government regulation regarding employment practices: The reservation for schedule caste
and tribes, backward classes, government regulation on recruitment, resignation, dismissal, retirement, etc.
creates problem in personnel management.
ii) Pressure and bargaining with union: The pressure from union or bargaining with union for working
condition and benefit creates another problem.
iii) Insufficient budget: Decreasing or stable budget can disturb staffing pattern. It might lead to vacancies
being allowed to remain vacant.
Hypotheses:
An investigator cannot enter in any field with a blank mind. Normally he or she begins the task of
investigation with some ideas about the subject matter vaguely formulated. Having thus entered the field of
investigation, he or she proceeds to find out whether these ideas what he or she has conceived are true or
false. They may be totally correct or only partially so, or may be altogether false but as a guide to
understanding the problem on hand, these ideas are very useful. These primary ideas which guide the
investigator in his study may be termed as hypothesis.
The concept of hypothesis has been defined by various scientists in their own ways. Hypo means “less
than” and thesis means “a generally held view”. Etymologically speaking thus the word hypothesis
connotes “a less than generally held view”. It is an assumption or supposition whose validity is to be tested.
a) Definition: A hypothesis is a tentative answer to a research problem, expressed in the form of a clearly
stated relation between the independent and the dependent variables. Hypotheses are tentative answers
because they can be verified only after they have been tested empirically.

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According to Rumel and Belline “a hypothesis is a statement capable of being tested and thereby
verified or rejected”.
According to Goode and Hatt “hypothesis is a shrewd guess that is formulated and provisionally
adopted to explain observed facts, or conditions and to guide in further investigation”. They further add
that “it is a proposition which can be put to test to determine its validity. It may prove to be correct or
incorrect”.
In the words of George Lundberg, “a hypothesis is a tentative generalization, the validity of which remains
to be tested. In its most elementary stage the hypothesis may be any hunch, guess, imaginative idea, which
becomes the basis for action or investigation”.
Barr and Scates define hypothesis as “a hypothesis is a statement temporarily accepted as true… when the
hypothesis is fully established, it may take the form of facts, principles or theories”.
According to Webster, “a hypothesis is a proposition, condition or principle which is assumed, perhaps
without belief in order to draw out its logical consequences and by this method to test its accord with facts
which are known or may be determined”.
Kerlinger states “a hypothesis is a conjectural statement of relation between two or more variables.
Hypothesis are always in declarative sentence form and they relate whether generally or specifically
variables to variables”.
James E. Creighlon defines hypothesis as “a tentative supposition or provisional guess which seems to
explain the situation under observation”.
In the opinion of J. S. Mill “a hypothesis is only an unproved supposition, a weak form of proposition”.
Hypothesis simply means a mere assumption or some supposition to be proved or disproved. It is a
preposition or a set of proposition set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of
phenomena either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide some investigation or accepted as
highly probable in the light of established facts. Quite often a research hypothesis is a predictive statement
capable of being tested by scientific methods that relates an independent variable to some dependent
variable. It is a statement in a research, which the study might prove or disprove.
b) Types of Hypothesis: There are different approaches to classify the hypothesis. Some of them are listed
below-
i) Goode and Hatt Classification: According to Goode and Hatt, there are mainly two types of hypothesis
* Crude Hypothesis: A crude hypothesis is at the low level of abstraction. It indicates the kind of data to be
collected and it does not lead to higher theoretical research.
* Refined Hypothesis: Refined hypothesis are of three types- simple level, complex ideal and very
complex. Simple Level indicates merely the uniformity in social behavior. It does not involve much
verification. Complex Ideal Hypothesis is at higher level of abstraction. This hypothesis examines the
logically derived relations between the empirical uniformities. This type of hypothesis is useful in

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developing tools of analysis. It provides constructs for further hypothesizing. The Very Complex
Hypothesis is concerned with the interrelations of multiple variables.
ii) P. V. Young Classification: Young refers to mainly two types of hypothesis-Working Hypothesis and
Explanatory Hypothesis. Working Hypothesis is a provisional central idea which becomes the basis for
fruitful investigation. The Explanatory Hypothesis refers to the scope of going into the depth and width
with various possibilities so far invisible.
iii) Statistical Analysis: In the context of statistical analysis, a hypothesis may be any one of the following
types-
* Null Hypothesis: Null means Zero. The null hypothesis is a statistical proposition which states,
essentially that, there is no relation between the variable (of the problem). When a hypothesis is stated
negatively, then it is called as a null hypothesis. A null hypothesis is used to collect additional support for
the known hypothesis. The null hypothesis says, “You are wrong, there is no relation, disprove me if you
can”. The objective of the null hypothesis is to avoid personal bias of the investigator in the matter of data
collection.
* Alternative Hypothesis: That which is concluded rejecting the null hypothesis is known as alternative
hypothesis. Alternative hypothesis is formulated embracing a whole range of values rather than a single
point.
For example:
HA = the males visited cinema more than the female.
H0= the males and females do not different in respect of the frequency of seeing cinema.
So, alternative hypothesis is usually the one which one wishes to prove and the null hypothesis is the one
which one wishes to disprove.
iv) Others: Hypothesis may further be classified into Descriptive Hypothesis and Rational Hypothesis.
Descriptive hypothesis are propositions that typically state the existence, size, form, or distribution of some
variables. The Rational hypothesis on the other hand is a statement that describes the relationship between
two variables. Eg. Families with higher income spend more for recreation.
c) Difficulties in Formulating a Hypothesis: According to Goode and Hatt, the following difficulties arise
in formulating the hypothesis-
i) Lack of Previous Knowledge of the Field of Enquiry: In the absence of knowledge concerning a subject
matter, one can make no well founded judgment of relevance hypothesis.
ii) Lack of Clear Theoretical Background: Hypothesis do not have a clear cut and definitive theoretical
background, partly it is a matter of lifting upon an idea on some problem.
iii) Lack of Logical Background: Formulation of proper hypothesis to a great extent depends on one’s
experience and logical insight.

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iv) Lack of Knowledge of Scientific Method: It is not always possible to have complete information of and
acquaintance with the scientific methods for formulating hypothesis. This lack of scientific knowledge
presents difficulty in formulation of hypothesis.
d) Functions of Hypothesis: Cohen and Nagel’s are of the view that we cannot take a single step forward in
any inquiry without a hypothesis. Without hypothesis mere collection of data is likely to lead the researcher
anywhere without aim and produce no result. The main functions of hypothesis are-
i) Prevent Blind Research: It spells out the difference between precision and haphazard research, between
fruitful and fruitless research. It helps in selecting pertinent factors. It makes the enquiry more specific and
to the point.
ii) Foundation of Research: The hypotheses are the foundation of scientific research. If a proper hypothesis
is formulated then one fourth of the research works comes to an end.
iii) New Experiment and Observation: A hypothesis what we are looking for is a proposition which can be
put to test to determine its validity.
iv) Provide Direction to Research: Hypothesis shows the line, in which way the researcher has to proceed.
Hypothesis is investigator’s eye – a sort of guiding light in the world of research darkness to identify which
is relevant and which is irrelevant
v) Link the Investigation with Theory: Hypothesis is necessary to link between investigation and theory,
which lead to the discovery of additional knowledge.
vi) Serve as a Framework for Drawing Meaningful Conclusion: Direct answer to the hypothesis being
tested.
vii) Lead to Discovery of Laws: Hypothesis leads one to the discovery of laws and theory.
e) Conclusion: A hypothesis looks forward. It is a proposition which can be put to an empirical test to
determine its validity. Every worthwhile theory permits the formulation of additional hypothesis. These,
when tested, are either proved or disproved and thus in their own constitute further tests of the original
theory.
Indexing and Abstracting Service
Indexing and Abstracting Service: An abstract or summary is a short statement of the most important points
in a text. Abstract – especially refers to scientific papers where as summary – refers to more general news
stories, administrative documents, reports, etc.
The manual abstracting is typically done by a human being. In automatic abstracting, abstracting is
typically done by computer system. Automatic Abstracting are very complicated, often fragile, slow in
production and available in some restricted domain only.

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a) Automatic Indexing: Automatic indexing is the process of assigning and arranging index terms by
machine without human intervention. As suggested by Eugene Garfield it is actually improper to use the
word “automatic indexing” rather it should be called as “algorithmic indexing”.
In automatic indexing (or algorithmic indexing), the computer programme identifies the words in a
text and their location, and then the collected words are alphabetized. In doing so definite and indefinite
articles, prepositions and other words on a so-called stop list are not included in the program's output. Even
some word processors provide this capability.
The advantages of automatic indexing include speed of generation and negligible cost associated with its
generation.
No computer programme however intelligible makes full judgment; don’t have the expertise, intelligence
or audience awareness that is needed to create usable indexes. The main drawback of automatic indexing is
that indexes produced in this way are generally list of words in a document than truly usable indexes. This
is as because to generate index, abstraction is more important than alphabetization. Abstractions result
from intellectual processes based on judgments about what to include and what to exclude and any
computer devoid of it. Sometimes in index even the terminology that does not makes its appearance on the
document contents are make available in the index and they are directed to the synonymous word within
document. Eg. In biological indexing separate entries may be needed for scientific names even it was not
mentioned in the document. Again, there are many occasions when a document lists some terminology
without details information about them. A manual indexer will avoid such terminology from being
included in the index, but computer will not be able to make a difference.
Indexing is necessary for retrieval purposes than other more conventional terms and concepts. The indexes
of web documents created by some robotic devices of search engine are quite effective in meeting this end.
Again, while facilitating the production of the Science Citation Index, the ASCA (Automatic Subject
Citation Alert) system has been operating successfully for over years. All these services have many
consumers and are sufficient to prove the usefulness of automatic (algorithmic?) indexing. Nowadays
automatic indexing is even used in large scale by search engine as well as other peoples for various reasons
and they are quite effective within their scope though they need to go further to replace the indexers.
Indexing Periodical / Journal
1. Indexing Periodical / Journal: The word “index” is derived from the root “indicare” which means to
indicate. Index is therefore basically concerned with indication of an object or idea to one who does not
know where that object or idea is located.
Index can be defined as a systematic guide to (i) item contained in or (ii) concepts derived from a
collection. These item or derived concepts are represented by entries arranged in a known or stated
searchable order.
An indexing periodical is a regularly issued compilation of titles of articles that appear in current
primary source journals. Generally titles of new books, pamphlets etc are also included.

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Types: Broadly speaking indexing periodicals are of three types. Example: General index, subject index
and index to individual periodicals.
a) General Index: It covers many periodicals in a wide field of knowledge. Example: Readers guide to
periodical literature, 1900 -, New York, Wilson; British humanities index, 1962-, London, LA, 1963-.
b) Subject Index: This covers several periodicals in a narrow field or subject very often these also include
new books, pamphlets, conference proceedings, reports, etc. Example: Library literature: an index to
library and information science, 1921-, New York, Wilson, 1934-.
c) Index to Individual Periodicals: It restricted to a single periodical and usually issued on an annual basis.
Example: Guide to Indian Periodical Literature: Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol1-, 1964-, Gurgaon,
Indian Documentation Service, Quaterly.
Information as a Resource / Commodity
Information as a Resource / Commodity: The concept of information as commodity is wider than that of
information as resource, as it incorporates the exchanges of information among the people and related
activities as well as its use. The notion of information as a commodity is tied closely to the concept of
value chains. With commoditized information gaining in value as it progresses through the various steps of
creating, processing, storage, distribution, and use.
a) Information is a Resource / Commodity: Information possesses many characteristics that are the same as
those of some other commodities. When we consider such characteristics, information can be termed as a
resource and a commodity in a broad sense and people at large have accepted this view.
i) Information is a Natural Resource: Many resources were earlier taken for granted as common for all. For
example, clean air and water. Information has also been similarly understood. Whoever is interested can
get enough information for his daily needs through institutions established for that purpose. But specialized
information is made accessible to those who have special needs and can legitimize its claim by status or by
money. Just like the maintenance of clean air and water, the proper information demands some cost.
ii) Information is a Vital Resource: Information is looked upon as a resource like manpower, material and
money. Information is a resource created by ingenuity of man to be used by man for the benefit of man; it
can be used for the opposite also. According to K. J. McGarry, information becomes a resource by analogy
with the classic resources of labour, capital and material. Management of these classic resources (man,
material and money) now mutates to the “management of information”. It is easy to see how information
can be depicted as a resource as essential to productive success as are raw materials and skilled staff. But
information needs to be controlled, manipulated and managed.
According to W. L. Saunders, information is that type of resource which is not scarce. It has also economic
value as when company uses the information effectively, the level of trade and revenue are maximized.
Information and knowledge become the principal generators of wealth in the form of educational
institutions of research and development establishment and science laboratories.

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No national development programme can succeed fully without proper information support. As
such, it is regarded as a national resource like energy, coal, water, etc. vital for national development. It is
an important input for nation building. The impact of fast, reliable and inexpensive information would be
as great as that of electricity in national and international economy. IBM, the giant computer company,
says that information is like an inexhaustible and renewable source of energy.
iii) Information is a Major Criterion: Information is vital for national development. The backwardness or
forwardness of any county nowadays is mainly due to the use of adequate information, especially in the
field of science and technology. Presently the world is divided on economic consideration into
economically developed and economically developing countries. According to Herbert I. Schiller, in future
the division will be based on possession of information into information rich or data rich nations and
information poor or data poor nations.
iv) Information as a Thing: Buckland points out that in order to communicate knowledge it must be
expressed or represented in some physical way as a signal, text or communication. Any such expression
would, therefore, constitute information as a thing. The notion of information as resource attracts
information economics and spreads to such diverse disciplines like management, transport and
communication, consolidation and repackaging, pricing, marketing, distribution, exchange, etc.
v) Satisfies the Economic Principle: Information satisfies the economic principles of generation or
gathering, processing, storage, dissemination, etc.
* Demand / Market: Information has a wider market. All people need information for some purpose or the
other. There is a heavy demand for information from all around the world, so to get profit out of it, its
production rate must increase.
* Information Generation: Information is generated mainly through research activities and research
activities are highly price consuming business, which is just like other product whose production or
manufacture involves a high cost.
* Protection: Information as a resource has been well established which is evident from the profusion of
national and international laws and policies relating to storage, transmission and information related
services including trans-border data flow. Just as in the case of various commodities or products,
information is also protected by copyright and patent. However, the property right of information is weaker
than the property rights of other goods we possess.
* Consumption: Information does not always flow across market. Within some private sectors information
produced is entirely consumed within the organization itself, which is in the same line of other goods.
* Different Forms of Products: For the different categories of users, different forms of information are
released into the market. In this regard it is just like any other services provided in the market place.
Information is provided through books, magazines, business, news, investment, advice, legal advice,
medical advice, consulting services, formal education through school, colleges and universities, etc. So, we
do have markets for information and people buy it depending on its perceived value. In this respect
information is like other goods and services.

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* Transportation / Communication: High cost is involved when we use the information technology for
communication and transportation of information just like any other product.
* Storage: If information is stored for a long period just like other consumable products it loses its value
because particularly in case of science and technology, historical information is generally less valuable.
b) Information is not a Resource / Commodity: Judith Jordet complains about the notion that information is
a commodity. According to him, this notion will not only interfere with real knowledge creation, it will
unravel what knowledge we have! When information is seen as a commodity, the users are seen as
customers consuming a commodity identified as information. Users define usefulness. If it is not used, it
is not useful. But in reality, how many users use all the information that are the product of large research
investment, is itself a question. Again, against the view of information as a resource / commodity, the
following arguments can be offered-
i) Shareable and not Exchangeable (Public Good): Most of the goods and services have the property that
more for you means less for me; but in case of information, more for you does not mean less for me.
Passing of information is not losing it.
ii) Assigning Value: It is very difficult to assign values to ideas because different people need information
in different depth.
iii) Tax: Tax is not levied on information generation or its consumption; so it is not a commodity.
iv) Publicity: Before buying any other product or goods people know ahead of time what they are going to
buy, but in case of information one will not be able to know the whole thing before buying it. If one knows
the whole thing, then they may not feel the need to buy it.
v) Expandable and Compressible: Information increases with use, it can be expanded and compressed i.e it
can be summarized, integrated, etc.
vi) Non Materiality Problem: The non-materiality of information creates several problems in respect of
measurement, appropriateness, ownership, impact, costing, etc.
Information does not possess each and every property of other general resources or commodities but at the
same time we also should not expect it to be. The people at large are favouring the view that information is
a resource and a commodity.

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Information Exchange Groups
1) Information Exchange Groups: In the 1960s an interesting experiment was supported by the National
Institutes of Health of the United States for facilitate rapid communication of research information among
scientist by creating a formal organization for the exchange of preprints. The experiment, hailed as one of
the most revolutionary innovations in the history of science communication, consisted of setting up a series
of Information Exchange Group (IEG) for different field of inquiry. Membership in the group was free and
opens to any scientists actively engaged in research and each group had a chairman whose task was to
ensure smooth functioning of the group. Any member could submit a written communication for
distribution to the other members of the group. The IEG head office in Bethesda, Maryland, then made
copes of the communication called IEG Memoranda, and mailed them to the group member without
charge. There was no restriction on the material submitted for distribution, copies of papers submitted for
publication in primary journals, preliminary reports of unfinished research, comments on other
communication, reviews, abstracts, notes on events and even enquiries were accepted and distributed as
IEG Memoranda without any editorial scrutiny. In all seven IEG were established and were in operation
between 1961 – 67.
During the initial years of the project, the IEG were successful and become quite popular with the
participating scientist, mainly because of the speed with which papers could be transmitted to their peers
through the IEGs. In fact the IEGs became so popular that both the membership and the number of
communication submitted for distribution grew to unmanageable proportions resulting creation of the
following problems.
i) The cost becomes so increases that it becomes impossible of raising their sum of money every year from
any source on a continuing basis.
ii) Overwhelming inundation of memoranda many of which were of questionable quality and doubtful
utility.
iii) Unaccepted delay in the duplication and transmission of the memoranda.
iv) A suspected lowering of the standard of scholarship (presumably due to the absence of any editorial
scrutiny).
v) Strong wave of opposition from a group of editors of primary journals.
Thus despite its initial success the IEGs was called off by the National Institute of Health in 1967 and
resulted abandonment of the whole project.
The main conclusion of the whole project or the experiment were that IEG concept was workable
and the IEGs could be a valuable adjunct to complement the primary journal provided that compact groups
could be built around well defined problems or phenomena under active investigation by a small group of
scientist.

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Information Explosion
Information Explosion: There has been a continuous revolution in the generation, transfer and
communication of information since the invention of printing. Though information generation is a
continuous process yet the two World Wars had a very great impact on the very fast development of
various fields of knowledge. Since the 2nd World War information, in fact, has been growing at an
exponential rate and it is often referred to as “information explosion”.
According to American Educational Association, it had to wait till 1750 since the beginning of the
Christian era for human knowledge to double. The second doubling was completed 150 years later in 1900.
The third doubling of all man’s knowledge took place in the decade of 1950s, but today it is even growing
at a faster speed. Let us now discuss information explosion in terms of its definition, factors for
information explosion, its impact and how it can be controlled. The following sections deal with these
aspects-
a) Definition: The term “information explosion” attempts to describe the exponential increase and
diversification of published data and information. “Exponential” is a technical term meaning produced or
expressed by multiplying a set of quantities by themselves. The exponent is the sign written above to the
right of the number or letter in mathematics to show how many times that quantity is to be multiplied. For
example, in 53, the number 3 is the exponent. In ym the letter “m” is the exponent. The explosion image
conveys the idea of sudden bursting out.
b) Factors that Lead to Information Explosion: There are many factors which directly contribute to
information explosion. Some of them are -
i) Increased Literacy: Creative contributions are born when a man or woman comes in contact with the
light of education. Increased literacy is a prime factor for information explosion because individuals
produce new information as he becomes more and more acquainted with knowledge.
ii) Increased Number of Scholars: The art of creativity is confined relatively to a very small proportion of
the world’s population, who could devise new methods, recognize the existing ideas and offer improved
solutions to familiar problems. They set new standards in science and technology, literature, fine arts,
business, industry and social leadership. When the society becomes devoid of nature’s gift of talents then it
would begin to stagnate and will ultimately perish. In 1800, there were 1,000 scientists and engineers in the
world which increased to 10,000 in 1850 and in 1900, to 100,000. In 1950s, the numbers swelled to one
million. It is this ever increasing number of scientists that accounts for the rapid proliferation of published
materials.
iii) Increased Research and Development: The increase in research activities is also one of the factors of the
exponential growth of information. Nowadays the scale and level of research funding have changed
significantly as the research has become mission-oriented, multidisciplinary and assumed a matrix
managed character.
iv) Increased Literature: Literature of a subject is its foundation. It represents a record of achievements of
the human race. Literature is diverse, complex and multilingual in nature. It is becoming more and more

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interdisciplinary. It is growing at a fast pace. In science, it is almost doubling itself in every 5.5 years. In
social sciences it is doubling at the rate of every eight to twelve years and in the documentary media book
production more than double in a decade. According to Rider, American libraries which try to collect
everything appearing on a given subject double their size in every 16 years.
v) Origin of Different Types of Information Sources: Earlier information sources are only published media
and handwritten manuscripts but today the sources of information are diversified from databases,
microforms, online journals, CDROM, DVD, optical disk to hypermedia and hypertext.
vi) Growth of Technology: Technology has multiplied by 10 times every 50 years for over 2800 years but
now a days its growth is very fast. Advancement in the field of communication and technology network has
brought down the distances between the person, states, countries and continents throughout the world,
Computer and telecommunication are converging very rapidly and its highest impact is felt fall in the
information sector. Actually the need for creative achievement has never been more recognized and
designed than it is today.
vii) Development of Society: Information has been stored in people’s mind and it has been updated and
modified through social contact and communication. As society has developed and become more complex
large quantities of information have been generated, published and disseminated causing an information
explosion.
viii) Development of Competition: We will continue to be confronted with competitive forces leading to
creation as long as one person strives to advance, as long as one business attempts to increase its share of
the total industrial output or to improve its profitability as long as one nation attempts to improve its
position in the world. The competitive forces are leading to the demand for more information. As a result,
more and more information is produced.
c) Impact of Information Explosion: The impact of Information Explosion can be summarized as follows-
Due to the explosion of information
i) It has become difficult to keep pace with the proliferation of published materials.
ii) It creates a great problem in management of information.
iii) It is becoming difficult to locate & pull out specific information.
iv) It is tremendously contributing towards duplication of information generation. In UK, the estimated cost
of unintended duplication in scientific research in the 1960s was Rs. 21.6 million.
v) It creates a great problem in bibliographic control.
d) Controlling Information Explosion: The terrific rate of expanding of knowledge and information can not
be slowed down. So, the control of information explosion does not mean the controlling of growth and
development of information; rather, it means the development and maintenance of a system of adequate
recording, and storing of all forms of information published and unpublished, printed and non printed that
add to the sum of human knowledge. So, actually, the control of information explosion means the mastery
over information generation.

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The need to be aware of different information sources arises from the fact that even a voracious reader is
unable to read all the literature on his/her chosen subject. The interdisciplinary nature of subject and the
wide variety of their characteristics have added to the confusion. But, for any scholar, it is very essential to
keep pace with the all information that is coming day by day in his/her field of specialization.
The design and development of different information system can be a probable measure of keeping an eye
on the information explosion. It should be equipped with the necessary databases, indexing and abstracting
services. The librarians also have to devise some sort of information service, which may result in bringing
out a product which analyses, consolidates, evaluates & disseminates all the latest information.
New ideas are generated in each and every branch of human activity from time to time. Apart from new
ideas, we give new interpretation to known ideas; we also borrow ideas from other disciplines and try to
apply them in a new context. As a result, more and more information is produced in a variety of forms
leading to information explosion.
Information Need
Information Need: The information needs; demands and wants have been used interchangeably, although
they may not be identical. Information need involves a cognitive process which may operate on different
levels of consciousness and, hence, may not be clear even to the inquirer himself / herself.
People in different situations require information on a subject in different forms and with different
emphasis and different depth of explanation. Even the same person seeks information in different ways and
forms on various occasions depending on his/her knowledge of the subject and the reasons for wanting the
information. So the information need is very difficult to define and categorize.
a) Definition: Information need is seen as a subjective, relative concept existing only in the mind of the
experiencing individual. The Librarian’s Thesaurus defined information need as “that need which library
science and material are intended to satisfy”.
Maurice B. Line has defined information need as “what an individual ought to have for his works,
his research, his education, his recreation, etc”.
According to Brenda Dervin, “an information need is an impediment preventing an individual from
moving forward in cognitive time and space. The person is faced with a gap that must be brought by
“asking question, creating ideas and for obtaining resources. Such gaps do not occur in the abstract but
arise out of a particular critical event and situation”.
Faibisoff and Ely (1976) viewed information need as either shaped by activity such as problem
solving or decision making or manifest through a passive reception of information which is stored as
knowledge.
Krikelas (1983) has defined it as the “recognition of the existence of uncertainty”. While, N. Ford
in 1983 defined it as “recognition of the existence of uncertainty and described it as something which
prevents an individual from making progress in a difficult situation”.

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b) Types: Information is a power and so it is needed in virtually every field of human thought and action
and by everyone for some purpose or the other. According to Carol C. Kuhlthou (1991) in the process
of information searching, initially a person first becomes aware of knowledge or understanding, feeling of
uncertainty and apprehension. This is the stage showing the need for information. Information need
generally varies from individual to individual, according to their working condition, the discipline in which
they are working, the time, etc.
Tague has presented the following types of information needs-
i) Social or Pragmative Information Need: Required to cope with day to day life;
ii) Recreational information need;
iii) Professional information need;
iv) Educational information need.
Krikelas on the basis of information seeking behavior, categorized information need as
i) Immediate Need;
ii) Deferred Need.
David Bawden (1986) identifies four kinds of information in particular for aiding the creative
process. They are-
i) Interdisciplinary information;
ii) Peripheral information;
iii) Exceptions and inconsistencies.
Melvin J. Voigt’s (1961) study revealed that the same person could interact with the information
system in different ways at different times depending upon his purpose in relation to his works, stage of his
works, general interest, amount of information already available to him and so on. According to him, a
scientist’s use of information arises from three different needs. These are -
i) Current Approach: The need to know what other scientists have recently done or are doing. It keeps up to
date with the current progress of a scientist’s field.
ii) Everyday Approach: The needs that come to the scientist in course of his work for some specific piece
of information. This need is directly connected with the research work or the problem at hand.
iii) Exhaustive Approach: The need to find and check through all the relevant information existing on a
given subject.
Later a fourth type of information need was added to the Voigt’s types of information need by other
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iv) Catching up or Brushing up Approach: A worker may at times need to have a brief but a complete
picture of the recent development of a related subject in which he was not very much interested or which
did not come within the area of his main interest. In such cases he needs a catching up approach.
The need of the scientist at different levels makes him adopt different approaches to gather the
requited information.
Information needs also can be categorised as follows:
i) Information for its Own Sake: Information for its own sake are to live in this world in order to know the
world and our surrounding environment. Therefore, no action is necessarily taken on this type of
information.
ii) Professional Need: Information is needed to meet the professional need, to cope up and compete with
other professionals in the subject. Professionals such as doctors, lawyers, librarians and others need
information to pursue their vocations. They cannot afford to ignore new development in their respective
fields. Their ignorance about the latest development in the field would affect their performance. Engineers,
technologists, business executives need information for solving the problems related to their respective
profession.
Information Society
Information Society: The society has created various institutions. These social institutions make a person
part of the society. Each institution serves one or few needs of the society. A library is a social institution
and it has been created to fulfill all the needs of the society. In the library, the people are exposed to books
or a variety of documents that give knowledge, bring to surface one’s latent aesthetic talents, stimulate
one’s intellect, inculcate values and learning skills, provide one with recreation and so on. Therefore, of all
the institutions formed by society it is the library and its modern cognates that are the most potent in
meeting the multifarious needs of different users of modern society. A public library provides free service
irrespective of status, age, religion, colour or creed, and sex. It may extend service to the neo literates and
even to the physically handicapped people.
A society is composed of people working together to achieve common ends and to satisfy common needs.
It is a body of individuals that is outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, consisting of
different characteristics or conditions such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, etc. It is
characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive culture and
institutions.
A society is an economic, social or industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied multitude of individuals
who may or may not be from different ethnic groups. Modern society is heading towards an information
society in which the central instrument of change, the force and direction of change are knowledge and
information.

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All information societies, ancient, medieval or modern, have functioned and prospered on the basis of
proper utilization of information and knowledge in their various stages of development. The term
information society is said to have been coined in Japan for the first time. The two Japanese cognates “Joho
Shakai” when normally translated into English means “Information Society”. The American Society for
Information Science (ASIS) in 1970 organized its annual meeting around the theme “The information
conscious society”, where the concept of information society was explicitly used.
1. Definition: William J. Martin defined information society as “a society in which the quality of life as
well as prospects for social change and economic development depends increasingly on information and its
exploitation”. In such a society, living standards, patterns of work and leisure, the education system and the
market place are all influenced markedly by advances in information and knowledge. This is evidenced by
an increasing array of information intensive products and services that communicate through a wide range
of media, many of them being electronic in nature.
According to Blaise Cronin, “an information society is one in which labour has been
intellectualized, one in which the expression to earn one’s daily bread by the sweat of one’s brow sounds
decidedly anachronistic”. Employment in the information sector of the economy is growing fast. Soon,
terms such as information worker, knowledge engineer, ideas processor will be as common as weaver,
miller, electrician, carpenter, etc.
G. P. Sweeney defined information society as one “in which the creation of economic wealth is
based on information and in which key economic activities are enquiring, communicating and deciding”
for good or ill. Martin is of the view that “the concept of an information society has now gained a fair
degree of acceptance”. As a concept it is certainly viable.
2. Criteria of an Information Society: William J. Martin has noted the following criteria for the
development of information society.
a) Technological Criteria: Today’s age is the computer age in which computers and telecommunication are
behind every other change in the society. Communication technologies such as teleeducation,
teleconferencing, teleshopping, telecommuting, e-government, e-commerce have converted the world into
a global village and its impact can be felt at every level of our society.
b) Economic Criteria: This is the age of knowledge in which knowledge capital would predominate over
material capital. The internet is fundamentally changing the way the companies operate. The internet is
turning the business upside down and inside out. The e-commerce goes far beyond the buying and selling
over the internet. The information workers are replacing productive worker as the biggest sector in the
economy. Information is turning out as the key economic factor as resource, service, commodity, a source
of added value and employment. In the information society most of the information will be cheaper, would
occupy less space and can be communicated with greater speed.
c) Social Criteria: In information society, information is the enhancer of the quality of life. The information
society will be conscious towards the value of information and its use and will become increasingly centred
on information handling, processing, storage and dissemination using micro electronic based technologies.
Globally the society has got divided into two parts, i.e information rich society and information poor
society.

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d) Political Criteria: In information society there would be more interaction between the government and
the governed through citizens’ participation by way of electronic polling, their access to public information
under the concept of freedom and equality of access to information. There will be better interaction with
fellow citizens through wired networks, telephone, teleconferencing, etc. The information superhighway
will change the whole world.
e) Cultural Criteria: The information society recognizes the cultural value of information through the
promotion of information values in the interest of national or individual development.
In an information society, it is said, a majority of the people will spend their time doing tasks which relate
to information, expressing, gathering, storing, retrieving and disseminating it. People in an information
society will manipulate information for the purposes of travel, entertainment, instruction, control and so on.
Information System
Information System: “An information system or information grid is a network of information centre at
different levels working in perfect harmony and close co-operation with each other with the objectives of
storing and dissemination of information usually of a specific type or a specific community”. In simple
form an information system is a group of components that interact to produce information for a specific
group of users.
The Information providers on the other hand are organization that collect the information, select
appropriate document and convert the materials into machine readable form. They are the creator and
access providers to the databases.
The Information vendors are persons / organization who are the retailer of online searching
services, bibliographic databases, etc. They own the computer and software for information retrieval. They
develop a set of instruction or command for searching the databases and then obtain a number of machine
readable databases through licensing agreement with various databases producers and load these databases
on their computer system and provide access to information to the end users, i. e libraries, information
centres, etc. Information vendors are on business. Eg. DIALOG.
Types of Information System: Information network are comprised of group of individuals or organizations
that exchange information in various form in a regular and organized basis. Before establishing information
network a formal agreement between members of the network and a common procedure than need to be
followed are established. The information network can be a decentralized structure where all the members
can communicate with each other directly, or it can be a centralized one where the members communicate
through centers. The structure can also be a mixed one combing the above two where certain
communication will take place directly while some other may take place through the center.
Based on the geographical areas covered, an information system may be an International; regional,
national or local one while based on the subject consideration, an information system may be of general or

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sectoral. It can be noted that the sectoral information sytem are generally the international or regional one,
while the general information system are of national and local one.
a) International Information System: The International information system is also known as global
information system. The Global Information System is the information system that collects, process and
provide access to the information globally.
An International Information System is a network of information centre that covers the whole world or
parts of the whole world i.e when a group of regional and national information system work in perfect
harmony and close co-operation with the object of providing new services for identified gaps, so
coordinated as to reinforced and enhance the activities of the individual units and thus enable specific
categories of user to receive the information relevant to their needs and abilities then it is called as
International Information System. In respect of its geographical coverage, International Information System
is at the top of any information system. Eg. ENVIS.
b) Regional Information System: A Regional Information System is a network of information centre within
a region or area. The area cover includes two or more nation, whose components of information system
work in perfect harmony and close co-operation with the object of providing new services for identified
gaps, so coordinated as to reinforced and enhance the activities of the individual units and thus enable
specific categories of user to receive the information relevant to their needs and abilities.. In respect of its
geographical coverage it is in between International Information System and National Information System.
Eg. SAARC.
According to International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (www.isft.net/cms/index.php) a regional
information system is an “information system providing access to information stored in cf. operational
systems of a region”.
When Regional Information System work as part of International Information System its objectives is to be
i) Maintain Union Catalogue of monograph, serials and non-book materials held in the libraries and
information centres of the region.
ii) Maintain the copies of union catalogue of other region so that union catalogue enquiries relating to the
entire countries holding can be handled at the regional level itself, thereby reducing the traffic of
international information centre, etc.
c) National Information System: A National Information System is basically a network of existing
information resources within a nation together with new services for identified gaps, so coordinated as to
reinforced and enhance the activities of the individual units and thus enable specific categories of user to
receive the information relevant to their needs and abilities. The national information system exists at
national level but accessibility is international eg. INSDOC.
d) Sectoral Information System: Sectoral Information System is based on subject specialization. It
maintains a rich collection of materials in the specialized areas only to which it is intended but with
international scope. Eg. Agricultural Information System (AGRIS).

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Information Technology (IT)
Information Technology (IT): Information Technology (IT) is a generic term that covers the acquisition,
processing, storage and dissemination of information. IT is the boon for mankind. It gives accessibility to
information at fingertips. IT has reduced the space and time between the people, country and continent and
ultimately has led to the emerging concept “global society” and “global village”.
1. Components of Information Technology: Information technology consists of the following components-
a) Computer: A computer is a device that solves problems by applying prescribed operation on data entered
into it. It is a set of interacting elements, responding to input so as to produce desire output.
b) Telecommunication: The communication channel is the medium which carries the message /
information / etc. send by the sender and takes it to receiver ends. In computer network the communication
channel is the connecting cables.
c) Modem: Modem is short name for MOdulator – DEModulator. It can be defined as “a device attached to
computer that can convert digital signals to analog signals and vice versa.” The data signal generated by
computer (digital signal) is different from the signal from that can be carried by telephone lines (analog
signal). A digital signal is a discrete signal and an analog signal is a continuous signal. So, a modem is
required to convert the digital signal to analog signal at the senders side so that telephone cables can carry
them. At the receivers end it again needs to convert back to the analog signal to digital signal to pass it to
the computer. The modulation can convert the digital signal to analog signal and demodulator does the
opposite. Modems are of two types- internal and external. Internal modems are installed inside the
computer system.
d) Database: A database is a self describing collection of integrated records. It is self describing because it
contains as part of itself, a directory or dictionary of its contents.
2. New Technologies in Information Technology: The new technologies that are emerging as part of
Information Technology includes E-Commerce, Hyper Media, Data warehouses and Data Marts, Data
Mining, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), Geographical Information System (GIS), Video
Conferencing / Net Meeting, etc. The Net Meeting helps one to talk face to face with distance people over
the web.
3. Impact of IT on LIS: IT gives us the concept of remote access that brings the concepts of Global Village.
IT connects different parts of the world with high speed; bring more capacity, and easy retrieval
mechanism. If any information is fed into the computer system today then it is also available to the outsider
today itself. There is no time lag in between. Uses of IT avoids duplication, so the information is becoming
less costly.
The impact of new technologies is seen in almost every human activity. The computers are also
transforming the libraries into a paperless atmosphere. Again, it is the use of IT that gives librarians a wide
scope, wide audience, and raise the status.
a) Collection: Information is collected as mashup, tag, bookmark, hyper text.
b) Transportation: Information is transmitted through optical fiber cables.

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c) Storage: The computer storage reduces the bulk of the printed materials in the library. The optical disk,
hard disc are very commonly used in all types of libraries.
d) Processing: Different types of computer software and other equipments are used for information
processing.
e) Retrieval: The use of computer for information retrieval gives precise result in fraction of a second.
The overall impact of IT on library and information science is broadly subdivided into three major
divisions, such as
a) Impact on Technical Services: Automation, in the form of bibliographic utilities and MARC format has
revolutionized the practice of cataloguing. Today’s librarians rely on MARC format to provide proper
cataloguing services to their users. Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) can substantially reduce the
cost of maintaining a catalogue. If the OPAC is integrated with technical service files in a full function
automated system, work throughout the department can be streamlined and reorganized. The impact on
staff responsibility and assignment can be significant. The co-operative collection development and
management have become increasingly important in libraries due to tight budgets, rising prices and the
information explosion. Bibliographic utilities facilitate these efforts through shared holdings, information
and automated inter-library loan sub-systems to speed resource sharing.
b) Impact on Public Services: OPACs which provide speedy online access to the entire library's holding by
means of computer terminals are affecting library operations.
c) Impact on Library Organization Structure: The right type of planning is vital for the efficient working of
a library. Planning of a library organizational structure requires a thorough understanding of need of the
users, objectives and functions of a library or information center. The emergence of information technology
provided greater impetus for information transfer at both inter and intra-organizational level. Organization
of all types become involved with IT and have implemented, IT based system.
4. Let Us Sum Up: Libraries and information centers has very important role in advancement of education,
scientific research and socio-economic development of any society. These are the service centers, where
very personalized service is extended to the users.
As a result of recent expansion in communication infrastructure, expanding computer culture,
advance in printing technology etc. has created more awareness about information use. It has resulted in
increasing library services. The future libraries may not be recognized by their size; these will be perhaps
recognized by variety of services and approaches, where information search areas will be outlined.

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Information Transfer Cycle
Information Transfer Cycle: Cycle means a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order.
Transfer of information from its generation to its end user becomes possible through many processes.
These processes are also regularly repeated in the same order. These processes complete a cycle, which is
called Information Transfer Cycle (ITC). The ITC comprises generation, collection, storage,
communication and retrieval.
a) Information Creation / Generation: Information is created with the happening of incidents and activities
of humans. If an activity or an incident does not happen, no information is created. Information is mostly
created by research and development programmes, government activities, survey and census of population,
business and industrial organizations etc. and presented in format by author, scientist, researcher, editor,
writer, poets, novelists, dramatists, etc. Over the web, information is produced by the general people
irrespective of their background and is not restricted only to academics such as scholars, scientists, etc.
b) Information Production and Dissemination: It is the mass production of knowledge through publishing
companies or others that will help the mass distribution of knowledge in some physical or electronic form.
Previously the information had been disseminated in the form of book. Many conventional and non
conventional, printed and non printed sources of information are nowadays available which are different in
shape, size, type and format. Over the web, the production is accelerated by posting the information
electronically over some kind of websites. It speeds up the transfer of information globally at a rapid rate
instead of taking months or years to get published on paper.
c) Information Storage, Organization, Retrieval and Communication: The storage is the process by which
the information described and presented in the documents are stored. Information is collected and stored by
libraries, documentation centers, information analysis centers, data banks, data centres, etc. Computer has
been accepted as a boon for storing of information. It can store a huge amount of information in the form of
database. Besides, the computer, disks and CDROMs are the newly developed and very significant tools of
storing information.
i) Organization is how that representation of knowledge is found among others of its kind. In the library
environment, the classification and catalogue, shelf list, various kinds of guides, etc facilitate the retrieval
function. All these tools are equipped with controlled vocabularly. In the computer environment,
organization is facilitated by databases, search engines, etc. Knowledge is individual and the users
determine its usefulness; so keyword and natural language searching in computer environment is more
attractive.
ii) Retrieval is a process of getting information from the collection of a library, for providing answer to the
queries of the users, etc.
iii) Communication is the process of transmission of information from one place to another, from the
creator of information to its users. It is necessary for the best use of the same. It is the process of social
exchange. In the library environment, communication of information can be made through telephone, CAS
services, SDI services, teleconferencing, e-mail, etc. Sometimes the publisher also brings different kinds of
information sources to the notice of the user community.

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d) Information Diffusion and Utilization: Diffusion is viewed as a more targeted flow of information to a
particular segment of society. The diffusion of information should find its way to people who actually need
it instead of targeting the people who will use it for their own benefit.
Utilization is the adoption and implementation of the knowledge by the user. Information is needed by each
and every person of modern society for some purpose or the other. When information is consumed by one
person it gives new dimension to his knowledge. This knowledge when he applied to some other purposes
it gives birth to new information. Thus the information cycle is continuum in nature.
e) Information Preservation and Destruction: The different kinds of libraries, archives are trying to preserve
information in different format. Over web, the Internet archive and the cached page of search engines are
serving some purpose in this regard.
The information that is less frequently accessed or has met its assigned retention periods may be considered
for relocation to an archive. Then from the archive, it needs to be weeded at some time or other by means
of appropriate procedure for the content.
The meaning of information cycle relates to that unit of knowledge from where the information is
generated and then transmitted to the users with the state of various processes. The whole process of
information from its creation to its use is called the information cycle.
Institutional Repository Software Packages
Institutional Repository Software Packages: An Institutional Repository (IR) is an online locus for
collecting and preserving in digital form the intellectual output of an institution, particularly a research
institution. For a university, this would include materials such as research journal articles (before
(preprints) and after (postprints) undergoing peer review, and digital versions of theses and dissertations,
but it might also include other digital assets generated by normal academic life, such as administrative
documents, course notes, or learning objects. The main objectives for having an institutional repository is
to provide open access to institutional research output by self-archiving it and to store and preserve other
institutional digital assets, including the unpublished or otherwise easily lost (grey) literature (e.g., theses
or technical reports).
IRs are partly linked to the notion of a digital library i.e., collecting, housing, classifying, cataloguing,
curating, preserving, and providing access to digital content, analogous with the library's conventional
function of collecting, housing, classifying, curating, preserving and providing access to analog content.
There are different softwares for building institutional repositories. Some well known software
packages are described bellow
a) Dspace: Dspace was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) libraries & Hewlett-
Packard labs. It runs on Unix or Linux machine and Apache web server, Tomcat servlet engine and the
postgre SQL relational database system are required. The software is released under BSD license. Website:
http://www.dspace.org/

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b) EPrints: Eprints was developed by University of Southampton and released under GNU General Public
License. It runs on Unix machine and Apache, MySQL database, Perl language is necessary for its
installation and operation. Website: http://www.eprints.org/software/
c) Green Stone Digital Library software (GSDL): The Greenstone Digital Library Software is a suit of
Open Source, multilingual software package for building and distributing Digital Libraries. It provides a
new way of organizing information and publishing it on the Internet or on CD-ROM. The software has
been developed by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Greenstone is supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and the Human Info NGO, based in Antwerp, Belgium for spreading the benefits of this
software to developing countries. It is released under GNU General Public License and runs on Windows,
Linux / Unix machine that have Apache web server, MySQL database and Perl language. Website:
http://www.greenstone.org
Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN)
Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN): The ISDN is an integrated digital network in which the same
digital switches and digital paths are used to establish different services. Eg. Telephony, data, etc. It already
upgrades today’s telephone network to a digital system.
a) Definition: ISDN “is a network, in general evolving from telephony IDN (Integrated Digital Network)
that provides end to end digital connectivity to support a wide range of services, including voice and non-
voice services to which users have access by a limited set of standard multipurpose user-network
interfaces. The key points of this definition are:
a) It is an infrastructure to support a wide variety of services and is not a network designed for any specific
services.
b) It provides end to end digital connectivity to support a wide range of services and the digitization
process begins right at the user premises.
c) It should be possible to support every conceivable service on ISDN for any such service is either a voice
or non voice service.
d) A small set of carefully chosen interfaces should enable the support of all possible services.
The use of ISDN should not be burden with too many specialized interfaces but at the same time an
expensive universal interface.
b) Factors for Development of ISDN: ISDN truly represents the next generation of the worlds telephone
service for all forms of telecommunication, including voice.
i) Sociological or Societal Need: The society is looking for a telecommunication infrastructure that can
carry voice, data, image, graphic, videos, etc. supported by sophisticated signaling system.

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ii) Economic Necessities: Network providers have to put up separate and independent network to support
different services, which demand separate maintenance staff, building for housing switching system, etc.
All these leads to higher capital cost. The introduction of ISDN is the only solution to this.
iii) Technological Development: Technology is developed up to the level that now a days a single network
can support integrated digital services.
c) Services of ISDN: ISDN can operate at speed up to 128 kbps which is five or more times faster than that
of todays analog modem. Basic rate ISDN divides the telephone line into 3 digital channels, 2 “B” channel
(Bearer) and one “D” channel (Delta). Each of which can be used simultaneously. The B channels are used
to transmit data at the rate of 64k or 56k. The D channel does the administrative work such as setting up
and tearing down the call and communication with the telephone network. ISDN will support the following
list of services:
i) Email
ii) Database Access
iii) Image and graphic exchange.
iv) Document storage and transfer;
v) Electronic fund transfer;
vi) Audio and video conferencing.
vii) Videotax
viii) Teletax
ix) Digital facsimile
x) Automatic alarm service (Smoke fire, etc).
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): Like other forms of property, intellectual property is also an asset which
can be bought, sold, exchanged or gratuitously given away. Owners of intellectual property also have the
right to prevent the unauthorized use or sale of their property.
According to The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) <http://www.wipo.int/>, “Intellectual
property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names,
images, and designs used in commerce”.
Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents),
trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes
literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as
drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright

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include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and
those of broadcasters in their radio and television programmes.
According to The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) <http://www.wipo.int/> “Copyright
and related rights protect the rights of authors, performers, producers and broadcasters, and contribute to
the cultural and economic development of nations. This protection fulfils a decisive role in articulating the
contributions and rights of different stakeholders and the relation between them and the public. The
purpose of copyright and the related rights is twofold: to encourage a dynamic creative culture, while
returning value to creators so that they can lead a dignified economic existence, and to provide widespread,
affordable access to content for the public.”
Copyright is basically the individual right of an author to dispose of his / her work in return for
remuneration. According to Christopher Scarles, “subject to certain exception, it is ownership of and right
of control over all possible ways of reproducing a work”.
1. International Context
a) Berne Convention: The international convention for protection of literary and artistic works was first
signed at Berne on 9th September, 1886, which later on came to be known as “Berne Convention”. It
guaranteed protection for the life of the author plus fifty years after his death. The convention was revised
and amended more than seven times.
Berne remained essentially European. It could not attract the U. S. A. So, most civilized states except the
U. S. became signatories to it.
b) Universal Copyright Convention (UCC): In the early 1950s UNESCO set about devising a union that
would combine Berne and Montivideo convention and the outcome was the establishment of Universal
Copyright conventions in 1952. U. S. joined it in 1955.
Paris Revision of 1971: In 1971 both Berne and UCC was revised. This is what goes by the name of Paris
revision of 1971. This has made some realistic concession to the developing countries with regard to
reproduction and translation of material having great educational value.
c) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): The World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is dedicated to developing a balanced and
accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation
and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest. WIPO was established by
the WIPO Convention in 1967 with a mandate from its Member States (Till 2009 there were 184 Member
States, i.e. over 90 percent of the countries of the world) to promote the protection of IP throughout the
world through cooperation among states and in collaboration with other international organizations. Its
headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
2. Indian Context: The earliest statutory law in India concerning copyright was the Indian copyright of
1847 which was passed by the Governor General of India. In 1911 the law of copyright was codified in
England and was made applicable to all Majesty’s dominions including India. The Governor General of
India enacted the Indian Copyright act of 1914 to make some modification to the provision of the 1911

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Act. The copyright of 1914, granted copyright to an author for the whole of his life and fifty years after his
death.
The provision of the copyright act of 1914 were again modified after independence and the
copyright act which is in force even today was passed in the Indian Parliament in 1957 and known as
Copyright Act, 1957. The copyright act of India of 1957 had been amended in August 1983 with the
specific purpose of incorporating the provisions of the Paris text of 1971 of the Berne convention
concerning the grant of compulsory licenses for translations and reproduction of foreign work for
educational purposes. The copyright was further amended in 1984 in order to overcome the problem of
wide spread piracy in India. The act was further modified in 1992 and 1994 (No. 38 of 1994). The
Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999 officially published in: The Gazette of India, 30/12/1999, No. 49. In
accordance with the copyright act of 1957, a copyright office and a copyright board were set up in New
Delhi under the auspices of the Government of India of which the copyright board serves as a civil court
with the power of adjudicating disputes arising out of claims and counter claims. The copyright board
serves as a civil court and its judgment can be challenged only in the high court of the area and in no other
lower court.
The legislation covering intellectual property right in India are
i) Communication: Communication Bill, 2000;
ii) Copyright: The Copyright Act of 1957 (last amended in 1994);
iii) Designs: The Design Act 1911;
iv) Information Technology: Information Technology Act 2000;
v) Patent: The Patent Act 1970 (changes bought in 1994);
vi) Trade Mark: The Trade Merchandise Mark Act 1958, etc.
India signed the Berne convention in 1886 when it was part of the British Empire. India also signed
the Universal Copyright convention in 1952 of its own choice as a free country.
3. Intellectual Freedom: According to American Library Association, every individual has the right to both
seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all
expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.
Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive, and disseminate ideas.
According to Canadian Library Association, the fundamental right is to have access to all expressions of
knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express their thoughts publicly.

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International Article Number [European Article Number] (EAN)
GTIN-13 number encoded in EAN-13 barcode. First digit is always placed outside the symbol; additionally
a right quiet zone indicator (>) is used to indicate Quiet Zones that are necessary for barcode scanners to
work properly.
An EAN-13 barcode (originally European Article Number, but now renamed International Article Number
even though the abbreviation EAN has been retained) is a 13 digit (12 data and 1 check) barcoding
standard which is a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC) system developed in
the United States. The EAN-13 barcode is defined by the standards organization GS1.
The EAN-13 barcodes are used worldwide for marking products often sold at retail point of sale. The
numbers encoded in EAN-13 bar codes are product identification numbers, which are also called Japanese
Article Number (JAN) in Japan. All the numbers encoded in UPC and EAN barcodes are known as Global
Trade Item Numbers (GTIN), and they can be encoded in other GS1 barcodes.
The less commonly used EAN-8 barcodes are used also for marking retail goods; however, they are usually
reserved for smaller items, for example confectionery.
2-digit (EAN 2) and 5-digit (EAN 5) supplemental barcodes may be added for a total of 14 or 17 data
digits. These are generally used for periodicals (to indicate the serial number), or books and weighed
products like food (to indicate the selling price), respectively.
International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)
International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD): In 1961, at the International Conference on
Cataloguing Principles held in Paris, stress was laid on the need of standardization in bibliographic
description. To solve the problem, International Meeting on Cataloguing Expert (ICME) was sponsored by
IFLA and held in Copenhagen in 1969. The meeting formed a committee to study the problem of
standardization in bibliographic description. The committee submitted its report at a meeting held in
Liverpool in 1971 which is known as International Standard Bibliographic Description (Monograph)
{ISBD (M)}. In course of its application many ambiguities and lack of details in some areas were
discovered. To resolve the problem, IFLA conference was held in Grenoble in 1973. After the conference
two documents- ISBD (M) and ISBD (S) were published. In 1975, the General International Standard
Bibliographic Description [ISBD (G)] was developed. It serves as a single framework for the description of
all types of publications in all types of media. The ISBD (G) was later on incorporated into AACR II as a
general framework for bibliographic description.
The ISBD (G) acted just as some guiding principles. It was not intended for use as a working tool for the
cataloguer. So, IFLA brought out the following ISBDs on the basis of ISBD (G) as working tool. Their
names are:
ISBD (M): Monograph
ISBD (S): Serial

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ISBD (CM): Cartographic Material
ISBD (AV): Audio Visual
ISBD (CF): Computer Files, etc.
As ISBD has so many numbers they are called ISBDs.
A) Elements of ISBD (M)
i) Title and Statement of Responsibility
i) Title proper
ii) Parallel title or alternative title
iii) Statement of authorship
b) Edition
i) Edition statement
ii) Statement of authorship related to edition
c) Imprint
i) Place of publication
ii) Name of publisher
iii) Date of publication
iv) Place of printing
v) Name of printer
d) Collation
i) Number of volumes and / or pages
ii) Illustration matter
iii) Size and accompanying material
e) Series
f) Notes
g) International Standard Book Number, binding, price
i) ISBD
ii) Binding

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iii) Price
B) Punctuation: ISBD also suggested proper punctuation mark for each and every item for making machine
readable format.
[] : If information is not available in the proper place;
() : To denote omission;
/ : Before the statement of author;
: : It proceeds the name of publisher / sub title;
= : Parallel title;
- : Place of publication;
, : Year of publication, etc.
C) Capitalization and Abbreviation: The first letter of the first word in each area is given in capital.
s.l. (Sine Loco), used when place of publication is not known;
s.n.: (Sine Nomina), used when name of publisher is unknown;
ill.: Illustration;
cm.: Centimetre;
D) Information Sources for ISBD: Generally the maximum required information for ISBD is available in
the title page of the document itself.
Internet
Internet: Information technology consists of different components like electronics, computer hardware,
software, and telecommunications. Integration and application of the above technologies in information
handling for efficient and effective information management is termed as information technology. By using
IT we can obtain, process, store, transmit and output information in the form of voice, picture or text. A
part of information technology is the Internet. If one has heard anything about computers, then he/she
would have certainly heard about the Internet as well, as it is so popular that there is hardly any one who
has not come across the term.
Internet, a computer network, rather a network of networks, makes any information available at the touch
of a button. The importance of internet lies on the fact that it is like a printing press of the technology era. It
is like a huge central warehouse of data that can be accessed by people from all over the world. The
internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment and
commitment to research and development of information infrastructure. The internet today is a widespread
information infrastructure, the initial prototype of what is often called the national (or global or galactic)

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information infrastructure comprising more than thousands of regional, national and international networks
which connect people from all over the world.
Internet has brought about drastic changes in social contact and tries to by pass physical face to face
contact. Today, it is used daily by millions of people, who access it for a variety of purpose. There has
been practically no technology being adopted at a rate similar to the internet.
1. Definition: On October 24, 1995 the FNC unanimously passed a resolution defining the term Internet.
This definition was developed in consultation with the members of the internet and intellectual property
right communities. “The Federal Networking Council” (FNC) agrees that the definition of the term
“Internet” is reflect in the following expression: “Internet refers to the global information system that
a) is logically linked together by a global unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or its
subsequent extension (follow-ons;
b) is able to support communication using the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Suits or its subsequent extension / follow-ons and / or other IP compatible protocol
and
c) provides uses or makes accessible either publicly or privately high level services layered on the
communication and related infrastructure, described here in http://www.fnc.got/internet-res.html.”
In simple term, the internet is an enormous network of millions of computer allowing constant
communication throughout the world. It is a loose connection of related networks or a network of
networks. It is made up of Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and huge Wide
Area Network (WAN) of the whole world. It is a global information highway and a universal database of
knowledge which itself collectively represents human society on a virtual life.
2. History: The first recorded description of the social interaction that could be enabled through networking
was a series of memos written by J. C. R. Licklider of MIT, USA in August 1962 discussing his “Galactic
network” concept. He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could
quickly access data and program from any site. The internet began to evolve when packet switching
network came into operation in the 1960s. In Europe, when transmitted data is broken up into small packets
and sent to its destination then the reassembled packet can also be compressed for speed and encrypted
(converted into code) for security.
a) ARPANET: In 1968, a similar system as that of packet switching was developed in the USA. In 1969,
Pentagon Commissioned Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for research into
networking. In the following year Vinton Cerf and others published their first proposal for protocol that
would allow computer to “talk” to each other. Thus, ARPANET began operating using the Network
Control Protocol (NCP). The first host to host protocol, which went into operation at the US Defence
Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1969-1982. In 1974, Vinton Cerf joined
Bob Kahn to present their “protocol for packet network interconnection” specifying the detailed design of
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the basis of the modern internet. In 1978, TCP was split into TCP
(now short for Transmission Control Protocol) an Internet Protocol (IP). When NCP was replaced by the

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new widespread Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), a number of interconnected
US military computers formed the first sizable internet for defence use (communication in the event of
nuclear attack).
b) National Science Foundation: Internet really took off in the year 1980s when the National Science
Foundation (NSF) used ARPANET to link its five regional super computer centres at major universities so
that many users could share their work. Later on NSF created National Science Foundation Network
(NSFNET), a series of networks for research and education communication. It was provided free to any US
research and educational institution.
c) USENET: Usenet is actually a companion network to electronic mail started at Duke University and the
University of North Carolina, USA and it also offers an unusual service called “Network News”. Email
was developed through ARPANET as did the Bulletin Board System (Usenet). Usenet, which began in
1979 contributes enormously to the internet’s rapid expansion. Its spirit of information sharing and
discussion was the hallmark of its system and was reflected in the Internet as a whole.
d) World Wide Web: By the end of 1980s the European Particle Research Laboratory (CERN) in Geneva
was one of the premier internet sites in Europe. CERN desperately needed a better way of locating all the
files, documents and other resources that now threatened to overwhelm it. Tim Berners Lee, a young
British scientist working as a consultant for CERN, had found out an answer for the above problem. In
1991 his World Wide Web system assigned a common system of written addresses and hypertext link to all
information. In 1991, the first www files were made available on the internet for downloading using File
Transfer Protocol (FTP). In October, 1993 there were around 200 known HTTP servers. In 1993, the
National Centre for Supercomputer Application (NCSA) developed web browser (namely Mosaic) which
took the internet by storm.
3. Components of Internet: The Internet consists of the WWW and all the hardware, software, protocols on
which WWW runs. One of the main characteristics of Internet is that it is a decentralized system i.e there is
no single person or organization that owns or control Internet, all who use Internet or supply material to it,
have a role to play. However, there are organizations such as InterNIC, the National Science Foundation,
the Internet Engineering Task Force, ICANN and the Internet Architecture Board which oversee and
standardize what happens on Internet.
a) World Wide Web: The WWW is also called web. The WWW is a set of programs, standards, and
protocols (set of rules) governing the way in which multimedia files (files containing a combination of text,
graphics, photographs, audio, video) are created and displayed on the Internet. The difference between the
Internet and the WWW is similar to the distinction between a computer and a multimedia program that
runs on the computer. The Internet is a decentralized global network of computers that transfer information
and the wiring that makes all these possible, whereas the web is a collection of documents or websites, that
users can access using the Internet and a web browser.
b) Hardware: It means the computer (supercomputer, web server, and personal computer), modem (external
or internal) and cables or telecommunication lines. The cables with jacks and rackets connect the modem

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with the computer and telephone. The users possess the terminal or the computer, modem, etc. The ISP
procures the server that serves up web pages upon request.
i) Modem: Modem is a device that allows computers to communicate over telephone lines, it converts a
digital signal to an analog signal and vice versa.
c) Software: It includes the operating system and web browser.
i) Operating System: In case of Operating System, Windows, Linux or others will do. The higher versions
of the OS are preferable because it has an inbuilt component to support internet connections.
ii) Web Browser: A web browser is the software program that is used to access the WWW or to visit web
pages and display it in the computer screen, e.g. Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Netscape Navigator,
etc.
iii) Telecommunication Lines: The telephone companies own the equipment and cables that carry signals to
the service providers.
d) Internet Protocol Suite: The Internet Protocol Suite [also known as Transmission Control Protocol /
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)] is the set of communication protocols used for the Internet and other similar
networks. It governs the way data travels from one machine to another across a network. It is named from
two of the most important protocols in it: the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet
Protocol (IP), which are the first two networking protocols defined in this standard.
The Internet Protocol Suite, like many protocol suites, may be viewed as a set of layers. Each layer
solves a set of problems involving the transmission of data, and provides a well-defined service to the
upper layer protocols based on using services from some lower layers. Upper layers are logically closer to
the user and deal with more abstract data, relying on lower layer protocols to translate data into forms that
can eventually be physically transmitted.
The Internet Protocol Suite consists of four layers. From the lowest to the highest, these are the Link Layer,
the Internet Layer, the Transport Layer, and the Application Layer.
In the application layer, the following are the common types of protocols
i) HTTP: Web pages are transferred between computers using Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.
ii) FTP: Excluding web pages other types of files are transferred between computers by using FTP. It is a
mechanism that allows placing and retrieving of files over the Internet. It allows anyone to download
software, upgrading of downloaded softwares, information and so on. It provides authorization of persons
allowed to copy the files.
iii) Telnet Protocol: It is a simple programme created by National Centre for Supercomputer Application
(NCSA) that uses TCP/IP to provide connection into another computer. Telnet allows a users’ work station
or terminal to behave as though it is directly connected to the machines where the user is logged in. It
means that Telnet helps to operate remote computers from one’s own desktop. The condition is that the
user must have log-in account and passwords to access the remote computer.

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iv) Gopher Protocol: The University of Minnesota Microcomputer work-station centre created gopher to
find information on the internet in a user friendly way. It is a menu-driven programme that allows one to
click with information server or “Gopher Holes” on the Internet to retrieve the information including text,
sound and images. The gopher system is impressive owing to its simplicity volume and variety of
information available. To retrieve information an indexing tool called Veronica is used that searches all
gopher server using a set of keywords.
e) Internet Service Provider (ISP): An Internet service provider is an organization that provides some
crucial portion of the Internet infrastructure to help connecting to the Internet. Sometimes the Internet
Service Provider also responsible for telecommunication link i.e telephone connection to users’ site, or in
today’s context Data Card providers and an internet account (username and password). The ISP provides
the Internet connection to the user.
f) The Website: The Hyper Text Mark Up Language (HTML) is the commonly used language for creating
the web documents or webpage. However it is not the single one. A website is a set of related (linked
through hypertext link) web pages, published by an organization or individual. Normally it contains a home
page along with other additional pages. The home page is the starting point or doorway to a website
providing an overview of what could be found at the website. Home page is also known as the index page
or index.
In Internet environment, the download refers to copying or saving the data, information from the internet to
the local computer. Uploading is just the opposite of downloading. It is the sending of the data or
information from the local computer to the Internet. The Online means staying connected to the Internet.
The offline is just the opposite. Offline means that the user is no longer connected to a remote computer or
the internet
In Netscape Navigator, Bookmarks is a list of favourite web pages and Internet resources. One can add
items to this menu at any time. Bookmarks are equivalent to favourite in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
4. Internet Protocol Address: An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label that is assigned to
devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its
nodes. An IP address serves two principal functions in networking: host or network interface identification
and location addressing. The role of the IP address has also been characterized as a name that indicates
what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there.
The network portion of the IP address is allocated to the Internet Service Providers (ISP) by the InterNic
under authority of the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). ISPs then assign the host portion of
the IP address to the machines on the network that they operate.
a) Uniform Resource Locator (URL): The location of a web page on the internet can be identified by a
unique address which is called URL. Every single page of the hundreds of millions of pages stored on the
web has a URL. The URL or the address tells the browser which document to fetch and exactly where to
find it on a particular host computer some where on the internet.

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b) Domain Naming System (DNS): The Internet uses an addressing scheme that employs the Domain
Naming System (DNS). Domain names provided a system, an easy to remember internet address which can
be translated by the Domain Names System (DNS) into the numeric address (Internet Protocol Number).
The internet protocol number is the numeric location of a particular computer so that it is an identifiable
machine to all the other computers connected to the internet. The IP address is a 32 bit number divided into
four octets and these octets are written in dotted decimal format eg. 11.245.196.212. Each octets numbers
lie in between o and 255.
c) Internet Address: The Internet address is needed so that massage can be correctly routed to and from the
machine over the network. Each part of the address goes from general to specific and consists of letters,
numbers, and punctuation. The basic structure of URL is hierarchical. i.e
Protocol:// Server name. Domain name. Top level domain name. port / Directory / File name.
Eg: http://www.liswiki.com/wiki/index
Protocol: The protocol is generally Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
://: It is a kind of separator that tells the browser that the next words will be actual URL.
Server: WWW. It indicates the site as part of the World Wide Web. The web is a subnet of Internet that
uses multimedia objects.
Domain Name: Liswiki is the domain name. This is a unique name which has to be registered with
InterNIC, an organization which has official authority over all domain names.
Top Level Domain Name: It indicates the purpose of the institute / organization associated with the
website. Some of the top level domains are-
Organizational Domain
.com: Commercial entities;
.edu: Educational institutions;
.gov: US government institutions;
.int: International institutions;
.mil: US Military institutions;
.net: Network resource providers;
.org: Non profit organization.
Geographic Domain: Outside the United States a code is included to which country a URL belongs.
Though United States also have a domain code (US) yet in reality it is used in rare instances on the
Internet. It is assumed that if there is no geographic code then the domain is located within the United
States.

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For example:
.au: Australia;
.ca: Canada;
.in: India;
.va: Vatican, etc.
Directory: The next is the directory on the host computer that contains the specific website.
5. Types of Internet Connections: The type of internet connection requirement depends on its uses. If the
user wants an Internet mainly for sending e-mail, occasional chats, infrequent browsing then he should go
for a dial-up connection. If the user is using the internet frequently for research, downloading or uploading
a fair amount of data, play multi-player video games or live audio or video streaming, then he should look
into other high speed accesses such as a cable modem or ISDN. The Internet connection generally can be
categorized into the following-
i) Dial-up (analog up to 56k): In a Dial-up, the telephone lines are used to connect to the Internet. Here to
get connected, the user needs to specify a username, a password, and a telephone number.
ii) Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): DSL operates over normal telephone lines and it can be used
simultaneously with the telephone. It can increase the connection speed by ten times from a standard dial-
up modem.
iii) Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): ISDN involves the digitization of the telephone network
so that voice, graphics, text, and other data can be provided to users from a single terminal over existing
telephone wiring. It is four times faster than a Dial-up network.
iv) Cable Internet: A cable modem connects the user to the Internet through a cable television line. A cable
modem will typically have two connections, one to the television outlet and the other to the computer. It is
10-100 times faster compared to the dial-up modem and added interactivity to the television.
v) Leased Line: Leased line facility is provided via fiber optic or copper lines to provide data, voice and
video links between two parties. It provides for a consistent amount of bandwidth. For example, T-1 Lines,
T-3 Lines, etc. It is especially useful for businesses connecting to the Internet and for Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) connecting to the Internet backbone.
vi) Internet over Satellite (IoS): Here the data are transmitted via satellite to a dish antenna at the users’
house. It allows a user to access the Internet via a satellite that orbits the earth. A satellite is placed at a
static point above the earth's surface in a fixed position. Because of the enormous distances signals must
travel from the earth up to the satellite and back again. IoS is slightly slower than high-speed terrestrial
connections over copper or fiber optic cables.
vii) Wireless Internet Connections: Wireless Internet or wireless broadband is one of the newest Internet
connection types. Instead of using telephone or cable networks for your Internet connection, one can use

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radio frequency bands. Wireless Internet provides an always-on connection which can be accessed from
anywhere- as long as one is geographically within a network coverage area. It is typically more expensive
and mainly available in metropolitan areas.
Broadband is often called "high-speed" access to the Internet, because it usually has a high rate of data
transmission. In general, any connection to the customer of 256 kbit/s (0.256 Mbit/s) or greater is more
concisely considered broadband Internet access. The standard broadband technologies in most areas are
DSL and cable modems. Newer technologies in use include pushing optical fiber connections closer to the
subscriber in both telephone and cable plants.
Modems which use mobile phone lines [General packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wired Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), etc.], are
known as cellular modems. Cellular modems can be embedded inside a laptop or an appliance, or they can
be external to it to access the Internet. External cellular modems are datacards and cellular routers. The
datacard is a PC card or ExpressCard which slides into a Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association (PCMCIA)/PC card/ExpressCard slot on a computer.
6. Factors Affecting Speed of Internet Connectivity: The speed of internet connectivity is influenced by the
following factors-
a) Speed of the Modem: The speed of the modem greatly influences the speed of internet connectivity So,
for getting higher speed one must procure a modem with a maximum speed of 56kbps or higher, if
possible.
b) Quality of Phone Line: Noise on the phone line, running into the home, can disrupt internet connection
with a modem. So, higher quality phone line should be used. If possible, ISDN should be implemented to
solve the problem.
c) Internet Traffic: While hitting a popular site, one may be competing with the hundreds or thousands of
others for the attention of that site server resulting in slow speed of access. The web traffic generally tends
to expand throughout the day and peaks around the evening. So, for getting high speed one should try to
change the time of the day he/ she is going for online.
d) Personal Computer: There are some other factors which are associated with personal computer. They
are-
i) Processor: For getting higher speed one should procure processors which have 650 MHZ or higher
speed.
ii) RAM: Working with other software application at the time of browsing decreases the RAM capacity
resulting in slow speed of access to the Internet. So, it is better to get higher RAM or avoid working with
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iii) Hard Disc: A highly fragmented hard disc can slow down web surfing considerably. So, it is good to
practice to keep the hard drive defragmented and optimized.
iv) Browser’s Cache: Web browser’s cache is a storage area on the computer’s hard disc. As one surfs the
browser stores the web pages that are already visited in the cache up to the disc space limit that one has set.
When anyone tries to retrieve the same page after its first visit the browser displays the cached WebPages
from the hard disc which is very fast and not from the Internet. So, if cache memory is small it slows down
the access to the Internet. The solution is to increase the browser cache limit.
v) Image Loading: Today many files are very big and rich of data, picture, image, etc. and so it takes longer
time to download the images resulting in slow speed to Internet access. One can solve the problem by
turning off image loading and java in the browser without affecting the content of a webpage. This can be
done by selecting advanced Tab of Internet options in the Tool menu.
vi) Working with Two or More Browser Windows at a Time: To increase further surfing speed one can
surf with two or more browser tabs or windows at a time. This will enable one to read the content of one
page while allowing another page to load in the second windows. This may help to cut down the time lag
and frustration.
7. Internet Applications: Internet is the network of networks. It provides a base structure for different
applications / services. Such applications may include Email, chat, discussion group, discussion forum,
social network and so on. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the web.
There are many activities that can be preformed online. Some of the commonly used applications are only
listed here in the following paragraphs;
i) World Wide Web: It is a subset of Internet and it presents text, images, animation, video, sound, and
other multimedia in a single interface. The operation of the web relies primarily on hypertext, as it is a
means of information retrieval. Hypertext is a document containing words that connect to other documents
and resources throughout the Internet.
ii) Email: Electronic mail or e-mail is a fast, easy, and inexpensive way to communicate with other internet
users around the world. Email can be defined as the process of exchanging messages electronically,
through a communication network, using the computer. Using email, one can exchange messages with
someone else on the internet. It reaches its addresses within seconds and the people at large using it. Email
overcomes most of the problems and delays of getting a physical document from one person. It is one of
the basic and earliest services of the Internet and the most used application on the Internet too.
iii) File Transfer Protocol (FTP): It is a system of rules and a software program that enables a user to log on
to another computer and transfer information between it and his/her computer. FTP can be done using the
command prompt, browsers, and various GUI based FTP softwares such as CuteFTP and WS_FTP.
iv) Telnet: It allows a user to log on to a remote computer in such a way that a person may interact with
another machine as if it is being used locally. The user’s monitor displays what is taking place on the
remote computer during the telnet session.

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v) Chat: Chat puts people online in a live conversation with other internet users around the globe. Chat
programs allow the users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. It is
sometimes included as a feature of a website.
vi) Internet Telephony: Internet telephony is the use of Internet to exchange spoken or other telephonic
information. The required hardware for Internet telephony generally consists of end devices (either
traditional telephone or audio-equipped personal computers) and gatekeepers that provide call admission
control, bandwidth management, addresses translation, authentication, and user location. There are many
Internet telephony applications available, for example CoolTalk, NetMetting, etc.
vii) Video Conferencing: It enables direct face-to-face communication across networks using audio, video,
and the data. In video conferencing, web cameras, microphone, and other communication tools are
necessary.
ix) E-Commerce: E-commerce refers to buying and selling goods and services online.
x) Mobile Commerce: M-commerce or mobile commerce refers to transactions through a mobile phone
network and data connection that results in the transfer of value (monetary or otherwise) in exchange for
goods and services.
xi) Mailing List (Listserver): It is a method of sending and receiving discussions via e-mail, organized
around some topics within a large community.
A search page is a web page where a search of the web can be conducted. If some one is good at framing
the search queries, it will help them in finding exactly what they are looking for, anywhere on the web. The
web directories provide direction to the web sites by listing relevant web pages in some easy to browse
categories. Many web directories also provide search facilities to the user for easy location of the pages.
Web directories are especially useful when someone is new to some topic.
Groups and discussion forums are great ways to keep up with a subject. It broadens one’s mind by
displaying different points of view or perception on a single idea or concept. The social network is the
virtual social life of the people over the web.
Advantages and Disadvantage of Internet: The internet has the following advantages-
i) Central Repository of Information: The Internet is like a huge central warehouse of data that can be
accessed by people from all over the world.
ii) Direct Communication: Through email, chat, internet telephony, video conferencing, etc. one can
directly communicate with others.
iii) Round the Clock Availability: Information on the internet is available to the user 24 hours a day and
365 days of the year.
iv) Cheapest Medium: Internet is perhaps the cheapest medium for online help, trouble shooting assistance,
for getting specific information, etc.

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v) Distance Learning: It provides the facility of learning remotely without physically coming in contact
with the teacher, the school or university.
vi) No Barrier: In the internet environment any one can be author / writer / publisher and users of the
information. There is no barrier in this regard.
The disadvantages of Internet can be as follows-
i) Copyright: Digitization violates the copyright laws as the thought content of one author can be freely
transferred to another without his acknowledgement.
ii) Incompatible Hardware and Software: The hardware and software are modified every day. So a
document that is available in one format may not be accessible in the days to come. So, one has to upgrade
the hardware and software configuration as and when needed.
iii) Artificial Environment: The environment created by Internet is an artificial one.
iv)Volatile Information: The electronic environment though very exciting and stimulating is also quite
volatile.
Let Us Sum Up: Internet is the largest of all other networks connecting a large number of smaller
interconnected networks, so it is a computer based worldwide network connecting other smaller networks.
It is a global network linking millions of computers and people cutting across all barriers and boundaries of
countries, race, class or sex. Internet can also be described as a collection of government, academic,
commercial and individual sites.
The launching of ARPA in 1957 by Sputnik, and European Particle Research Laboratory (CERN) are at the
backend in the development of the Internet. The Internet mainly consists of the WWW and all the
hardware, software, and protocols. To get connected to the internet, the user will need a computer, a
modem (internal / external), and an Internet account with the ISP.
The usefulness of Internet lies in its characteristics of the Worlds Greatest Library where everybody will
find it as a vast pool of information; it is the Wide Area Network, and much more. Besides, it also provides
the latest information on any topic available round the clock and from a wide distance.
Internet Browsing and Searching
Internet Browsing and Searching: Searching or browsing in Internet environment is nothing but retrieving
of relevant results from the Internet.
a) Browsing: In Internet environment, browsing refers to opening a website through the web browser that
contains hyperlink and with the help of these hyperlinks, jumping to a new web document in the same or a
new window. It is also known as navigating or surfing the web.
i) Working with Address box of the Browser: In the online mode one can use web browser for arriving at a
particular address. In the “Address” box of the browser, typing the web site’s address (URL) and pressing
the “Enter” button of the keyboard or by pressing “Go” button, the browser will open a particular website.

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When the web site opens, its home page is displayed. The keying appropriate URL in the address box of
the browser is obligatory. The website or home page will contain links to other website or hyperlinks. By
clicking on the highlighted words or links one can access other files of the same website or entirely a
different website.
ii) Working with Mouse: While we are on a webpage, we can use the vertical or horizontal scroll bars to
move around or through a document.
iii) Working with Keyboard Keys: We can use “Up” (↑) and “Down” (↓) arrow keys to move up or down
one line. Pressing the “Page Up” (PgUp) key moves up one window length, and pressing “Page Down”
(PgDn) moves down one window length. Pressing “Ctrl+Home” takes us to the beginning of the document
and pressing “Ctrl+End” take us to the end of the document.
iv) Working with Hyperlink in the Document: A webpage contains many hyperlinks in the form of text as
well as images. When you move your mouse cursor over the hyperlink it will take the form of a hand with
a pointing index finger (). You can open the hyperlink by just clicking on it. You can also open a hyperlink
by right clicking it and selecting the “Open” option from the shortcut menu, or by selecting the “Open in a
New Window” option to open the link in a new window.
v) Working with Back, Forward button of the Browser: If you browse through several pages in a window,
you can move backward and forward by clicking the “Back” (←) and “Forward” (→) button in the
standard toolbar. These two options will only back or forward one page at a time. But, you can also select
from the list of pages by placing the mouse pointer over the “Back” button and then by clicking on the
down arrow (↓) besides the button, and then clicking on any site from the list of previously visited sites.
Clicking on the “Stop” button stops whatever the browser is doing, and will wait for your next
instruction. It is particularly useful for undoing mistakes.
b) Searching the Internet: Internet is a huge collection of information so it needs the search query to be
specific; otherwise, it will retrieve some irrelevant results. Searching means finding or locating information
through some search engines, directories, databases, etc. Generally all searching tools provide you an
option in the form of search box to conduct a search. The search over Internet is interactive, provides post
co-ordinate search facilities and produces more results at a higher speed at a reduced cost.
Some of the well known search engines are Google (http://www.google.com), Bing
(http://www.bing.com), and Ask/Aj/Ask Jeeves (http://www.ask.com). Most search tools have a similar
structure. All will include in some form i) form for you to enter your keywords, ii) a button which will
begin your search, iii) links to help pages and advanced search tools, normally located near the search
form, iv) special features and options, and v) subject categories (most).
i) Keyword Search: This is most generally used over the web. In this technique, the document available in
the WWW is generally searched by using keywords in the search box of a search engine; use of
preposition, articles and such other words are avoided in this type of search. E.g. searching for Mahatma
Gandhi, India in Google (http://www.google.co.in). Results from this method are often mixed and you may

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have to go through many results to find the site most useful to you. For keyword based search, the search
strategy may include identifying keywords by breaking down the topic into key concepts.
ii) Phrase Search: When a user is quite aware of all the words that occur in the same sequence in the
relevant digital document, then he/she can use phrase (or proximity) search techniques. In such cases the
search terms were down the search results considerably. Surrounding a group of words with double quotes
tells the search engine to only retrieve documents in which those words appear side-by-side; e.g. “God of
Small Things”, “Five Laws of Library Science”, (Five Laws of Library Science), etc.
iii) Wild Card / Truncation Search: When a user is aware only of some of the letters that are contained in
the keywords then he / she can use wild card search technique to retrieve all the documents containing the
words which again contain the particular letters stated by the user. In wild card search techniques the
known letters are followed by an asterisk “*” or sometimes by a “?” mark. The asterisk or question mark
may be given in the left, right or in both sides of the known letters as the case or need may be; e.g. Cata*,
to retrieve document containing the word “cataloguing”, “cataloguer”, “catalogues”, etc. i.e the search
engine will find all the words that contain keying letters as prefix letter of a particular word. Wildcard
features allow variations in spelling or word forms.
iii) Boolean Search: Most of the search engines use “and” “or” and “not” as boolean search query, some
uses “*”, “+” and “-” for the same purpose. Eg: Five laws of library science * S. R. Ranganathan, to
retrieve all documents containing the words “Five laws of library science” and “S. R. Ranganathan”. In
most cases the Boolean operators “and” “or” and “not” are used to connect the key concepts.
iv) Natural Language Search: Some search engine uses natural language search queries i.e the user is free
to use natural language query to retrieve the relevant result. The system will automatically ignore the
unnecessary words. This is true in http://www.altavista; http://www.askjeevas.com, etc. Eg.: Who is the
Prime Minister of India, to retrieve the name of the Prime Minister of India or to retrieve thousands of
pages not containing the word “Who”.
v) Complex Search: In this type, combinations of the above search techniques are used to retrieve more
relevant results. For example, one can combine phrase searching with implied Boolean operator. E.g.:
“Classified catalogue code” * “S. R. Ranganathan”.
vi) Field Search: A web page is composed of a number of fields, such as title, domain, host, URL, and link.
So, field searching is one of the most effective techniques for narrowing results and getting the most
relevant websites listed at the top of the result page.
vii) Meta Search: The content of search engines, indexes and databases generally vary. So, if the same
search query is typed into several search engines then it is likely to produce different results. So, a user
may often want to know to see the results from various search engines. In such cases he/she can use the
Meta search engine to get single input or query and to retrieve results from different search engines. Some
example of Meta search engines are http://www.search.com, http://www.albany.net/allinone, etc.
viii) Database Searching: Searching the directory or database is entirely a new experience. One can search
the directory or databases by the specific entry point, which the particular directory or database is using to

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search its records. In case of a database of books the access point can be the title of the
article/document/author/editor/accession no, etc. In the database searching, one can also save his/her result
in accordance to his/her requirement. Some common examples of databases are
http://www.sciencedirect.com, http://www.jstor.org, etc.
Invisible College
1) Introduction: In the middle of the 17th century small groups of scholars and philosophers began to meet
in various places (including taverns) in London to discuss the experimental method of scientific inquiry
propounded by Francis Bacon. This groups which later become known as “invisible colleges” could not
meet openly and regularly due to civil strife in England. The term invisible college is coined by Robert
Boyle. After the civil war ended, these natural philosophers decided to established a formal constitution
which results in the foundation of one of the greatest scientific societies – The Royal Society on July 15,
1662 and the meeting of individual colleges in England eventually culminated in the establishment of the
Royal Society.
2) Characteristic: The characteristic of invisible colleges are -
a) Membership in these invisible colleges is not formalized but is dependent on the acceptance of one’s
research effort by peers.
b) The scientists see himself as belonging to amorphous groups of fellows scientist who share his research
interest and attitude regardless of their organizational or geographical locations.
c) The personal communication among eminent workers in a given field keeps the others informed of the
developments in their field.
d) This group falsely assumes that researches not included in their peer group or work done not in exactly
their field will not be of interest.
e) This group also assumes that the researcher should be able to duplicate any steps along the way to his
own research goal.
f) It also assumes that one knows what problem remains to be solved in one’s specialty.
Knowledge Management (KM)
Knowledge Management (KM): There is no universal definition for knowledge management. At its
broadest, KM is the “process through which organizations generate value from intellectual and knowledge
based assets”.
Information management tries to make the right information available to the right person at the
right time though a variety of database driven information applications. Information management tools try
to capture the human experience of knowledge through collecting, classifying, disseminating, searching,
indexing, and archival power of technology. Information management may well be considered the first
wave of KM (and is still often considered synonymous with KM).

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a) Knowledge Assets: Knowledge assets are often described as the intellectual capital of an organization.
There are two types of knowledge assets –
i) Explicit or formal assets like copyrights, patents, templates, publications, reports, archives, etc.
b) Tacit or informal assets that are rooted in human experience and include personal belief, perspective,
and values.
b) The Value of KM: Knowledge began to be viewed as a competitive asset in the 1980s, around the same
time that information explosion started becoming an issue. The trend was fueled by the development of IT
systems which made it simple to store, display, and archive classified, indexed information. It is important
to manage knowledge assets because –
i) Organizations compete increasingly on the base of knowledge (the only sustainable competitive
advantage, according to some)
ii) Most of our work is information based (and often immersed in a computing environment)
iii) Workforces are increasingly unstable leading to escalating demands for knowledge replacement /
acquisition.
Laws of Library Science
Laws of Library Science: According to Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan, considered by librarians all over
India as the father of library science, “there can be no doubt however, that there are certain essential
principles underlying the management of library according to the present days’ need and conception”.
Ranganathan expounded these principles in a systematic form and reduced them to five cardinal principles.
He has developed all these rules of library organization and management as the necessary implication and
inevitable corollaries of his five laws.
In the context of library science Dr. S. R. Ranganathan conceived the five laws of library science in 1924.
The statement embodying these laws were formulated i.e. the laws took the final form in 1928 and a
detailed account of these laws and their implication were published in the form of a book in 1931 by
Bombay Asia Publishing House (This is also the year in which Melville Dewey passed away). Most
librarians worldwide accept them as the foundations of their philosophy.
The five laws of library science are:
a) Books are for use.
b) Every reader his / her book (i.e. books are for all).
c) Every book its reader (i.e. every book in a library must find its reader)

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d) Save the time of the reader (i.e. a user is supposed to be a busy person. So his / her time must be
saved). Corollary: Save the time of the staff.
e) Library is a growing organism (A library always grows in terms of document i.e. book, reader or user
and staff).
Ranganathan at first formulated the statement of four laws only, Laws 2-5 in the present state. The first law
emerged last from the casual hint provided by his professor E. B. Ross.
1. Need of the Laws of Library and Information Science: In the past before the formulation of library
science laws there was no evidence of an overall view of libraries. It looked as if future development were
totally unpredictable. By proposing the laws Ranganathan solved the problem. The basic needs of the laws
of library science are:
a) Give Pressure at the Subconscious Level to Work: Scientific methods are applicable equally in both
natural and social sciences. The only difference lies in the status of the basic principles. These were
hypotheses in the natural science and normative principles in the social sciences.
Hypothesis: Proposed explanation of some thing made on the basis of limited evidence used as a starting
point for further investigation.
b) Helps Library Science to Become an Independent Subject: A subject cannot stand in its position unless
some fundamental laws are not attached to it, so by proposing the laws Ranganathan put the first stone in
this direction.
c) Denote Library Practices: Laws of library science contain in a latest form all the library practices of the
past and the present and those which are likely to be evolved in the future.
d) Serve as a Higher Court: These laws are applicable to any problem in the areas of library science, library
service and library practice. In case of conflict between canons, an appeal is made to the five laws of
library science to resolve the conflict.
e) Boundary Condition: Laws of library science locate the boundary condition within which the librarian
might work.
2. Usefulness of the Five Laws
a) Act as Fundamental Laws: The five laws of library science are fundamental laws of library and
information science and are applicable to any problem in the areas of library science, library service and
library practice. Five laws are guiding norms; these are the verified principles applicable everywhere in the
library world.
b) Help in Deriving Canon, Principles and Postulates: With the help of these five laws of Library Science
we can derive canons, principles and postulates applicable in different fields of library and information
science. These fundamental laws will serve as a source of inspiration and guidance in the years to come.
c) Resolve Conflict Between Cannons: The laws of library science help in solving any conflict that may
arise during the functioning of libraries. The five laws serve as a higher court. So in case of conflict

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between canons of cataloguing, classification etc. an appeal is made to the five laws of library science to
resolve the conflict.
d) Guiding Rules: The laws of library science guide the staff in decision making about what is right and
what is wrong in a given situation. As such Ranganathan’s five laws of library science have found
universal acceptance as Pentagon of Library Philosophy.
3. Variants of the Five Laws of LIS: According to Ranganathan’s own words “One is the generalization of
the concept ‘Book’ this has been emphasized in recent years in the term document”, so Ranganathan later
on in his “Documentation and its Facets” reformulated the laws as
a) Documents are for use.
b) Every reader his / her document.
c) Every document its reader.
d) Save the time of the reader.
e) Library is a growing organism.
In 1998, librarian Michael Gorman (past president of the American Library Association, 2005-2006),
recommended the following laws in addition to Ranganathan's five in his small book, "Our Singular
Strengths":
a) Libraries serve humanity.
b) Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
c) Use technology intelligently to enhance service.
d) Protect free access to knowledge.
e) Honor the past and create the future.
In 2004, librarian Alireza Noruzi recommended applying Ranganathan's laws to the web in his paper,
"Application of Ranganathan's Laws to the Web"
a) Web resources are for use.
b) Every user his or her web resource.
c) Every web resource its user.
d) Save the time of the user.
e) The Web is a growing organism.
4. First Law: Books are for Use: The first law embodies an elementary principle and all the other laws of
library science are based on the first law. The library becomes great not because of its collection or
building but as a result of the use made of by its users. Therefore, the motto of a librarian should be to

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acquire process and serve document for use. The implication of this law is limited to make the physical
carrier of information accessible to the user. A modern librarian who has belief in first law will feel
satisfied only if the user keeps the shelves constantly empty.
In Ranganathan’s own words the implications of the first laws of library science are
a) Location of the Library: Location of the library should be the one which is conveniently accessible to the
community to be served. A public library should be at a place which most citizens can frequently visit
regularly on some business or other; at the same time the location should be as free from noise and other
disturbances as possible so that serious study can be made. A University library should be centrally located.
A special library should be near the factory entrance or factory canteen. In case of school and college
libraries the location does not matter very much because distances are small from various sections.
However it would be preferable to have it centrally located.
b) Library Building and Furniture: The library building should be well planned. The exterior should be
inviting and the interior should be attractive. The building should be functional and at the same time
aesthetic. It should be functional one providing enough space for various purposes to meet the
requirements. The furniture should be so provided as to give comfort to the readers and to make use of the
resources of the library as conveniently as possible. Racks in which books are kept should not be high and
books on the top shelves should be easily reachable.
c) Library Hours: The opening hours of the library should be decided keeping in view the need of the user.
The influence of the first law on library hours has resulted in opening for long hours and on all days of the
year without any holidays. Library hours should also be convenient to the users. If possible, each user of
the library should be provided with a key of the library so that the user can use the library at any hour,
whenever he feels like using it.
d) Library Staff: In order to maximize the use of the library, it is essential that library staff should be
qualified and efficient. Every member of the staff should perform the role of a friend, philosopher and
guide to all those who come to the library to use it. The staff should believe in and follow the philosophy of
service to the user. They should be approachable, courteous, helpful and willing to appreciate the point of
views of others; a missionary zeal to serve the user; amiable manners and professional competence are the
essential qualities of the library staff for carrying out the mandate of the first law.
e) Book Selection: The books should be selected and acquired keeping in view the present and potential
requirement of the user. There should also be a periodical weeding out of books.
f) Shelf Arrangement: The books should be classified, catalogued and arranged according to a helpful
sequence.
g) Reference Service: The personal service will lead to greater use of library document.
The forces of the first law can be looked at from the following-

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In the ancient period books were rare i.e. multiple copies were not available due to the non availability of
printing machines. The copying of the Mahabharata was a very tough requiring long hours to copy a
document. So, in the past, there was a great deal of negligence towards the first law. In modern times due
to the availability of printing technology, photocopying, scanning etc it is possible to overcome all such
barriers. But unfortunately due to the result of a rudimentary practice of preserving the documents, that
tendency has remained as a regular habit in the successive generation of librarians. The modern librarian
should overcome such a habit and there is an urgent need for the vigorous attempt to eliminate the
negligence to the first law.
A modern librarian who has faith in the first law is happy only when his/her reader make his/her shelves
constantly empty. Also in such cases he/she will go to them, not to snatch away the book they are using but
to distribute the new arrival that needs to be introduced to them as quickly as possible.
The forces of the first law as a whole can be traced out as
- Make the library open access rather than traditional closed access;
- Make free access to the book world;
- Branch libraries should open in the larger cities in order to be easily reachable within a few minutes walk
from each house;
- Books should be sent free to the houses of those that would offer to get them introduced in their
neighborhood;
- Books should be carried in motor van from street to street for their distribution amongst the residents.
The above forces of the first law will be possible only if library has enough funds and the library itself
obtains free copy of books from different sources. But in this industrialized world in which everybody pays
according to his/her need or requirement, there is a doubt that an exception will happen for library and
information science only. So the fulfillment of the first law is bleak in near future. If library legislation
comes to help in this regard or the readers of a library are ready to pay according to their need, the law,
Books are for use, can be satisfied in every aspect.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth century books were actually kept in chains (chained library) to confine their
movement to the sphere determined by their chain. Such chaining was more conducive to the preservation
than to the use of the books. This practice was in contrast to the first law of library and Information
Science.
5. Second Law: Every Reader his / her Book: The second law is, every reader his / her book (books are for
all). According to the second law every reader of a library should have the books he / she wants. It
advocates for a mandatory provision of library services to each reader according to his / her need. It
advocates the universal and democratization of library services i.e. documents are not merely for scholars
but for all, including the poor, sick, blind, prisoner, neo-literates and the old. The documents should be
accessible irrespective of occupational and income lines, irrespective of the normal and the abnormal, or
irrespective of an adult and a child.
Ranganathan examines the implication of the second law under the following four categories.

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a) Obligation of the State
i) Library Legislation: In order to achieve the second law it is desirable that economy factor should not
stand as a barrier. This will be possible through library legislation, which will provide for finance of public
libraries at various levels to achieve free library services for all.
ii) Maintenance of a Library System (Network): As far as students, teachers and researchers are concerned
the public library plays only a marginal role in fulfilling the second law. Therefore, the state also has the
responsibility of establishing other types of libraries like school library, college library, university library
and special library.
iii) Co ordination and Resource Sharing: A given library would not have the finance to purchase documents
on occasional demand. Therefore the second law would suggest the formulation of a National library
network to share the resources, especially for the purpose of inter-library loan.
b) Obligation of the Library Authority
i) Choice of Book (Book Selection): The second law implies that all the books that can be useful should be
selected and all the useless books should be discarded. The selection should be based on individual needs.
The library authority should ensure the proper selection and acquisition policy in order to build up a
balanced collection in the library for each category of users i.e. the blind, neo-literates, scholars, children,
young, adult, man, women, etc. Buying a document that has no potential demand is a violation of the
second law.
ii) Choice of the Staff: The library authority should select an adequate and competent team of library staff
and it should take utmost care in the recruitment of the library personnel, their subsequent promotion,
recognition and status.
c) Obligation of the Library Staff
i) Open Access: The library staff should also feel the obligation to introduce open access to help the readers
in gaining access to all the books of possible interest to them. The open access makes it possible for a
reader to approach books directly and handle them personally without any barrier. A user can, thus browse
amongst the world of books and thus they will have better chances of choosing the right book.
ii) Cataloguing: Some times the information contained in a chapter or a few pages of a book may be of
interest to a reader but the users often tend to miss such content. To avoid such oversight the library should
introduce subject analytical or cross reference entries.
iii) Shelf Arrangement: The shelf should be arranged according to the subject of the document and not
based on the size and other aspects.
iv) Maintenance: In case of open access libraries there is every possibility of some document being
misplaced intentionally or unintentionally by the patron of the library. To fulfil the second law misplaced
books must be restored to their proper places. Books in need of binding or repair should be taken out from
the shelves from time to time.

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v) Reference Service: Reference service is an effective means of ensuring that the reader gain access to all
the documents of potential interest to him that are held by the library. So the library staff should have
proper training in reference work and be able to provide an effective reference service to the user in getting
the right book.
d) Obligation of the Reader
i) Library Rules Should be Followed: A user must realize that library rules are framed to get the maximum
out of the library resources and to prevent the misuse of library resources. The rules are aimed at increasing
the use of the library rather than curbing its use. Thus, the user should regard the rigid enforcement of the
rules as an aid rather than a hindrance in the use of the library.
ii) Maintenance of the System: A user should not misplace the books within the library or damage it. This
will deprive the other users; similarly a user should not mutilate or take out cards from the library
catalogue, tear pages or steal etc.
iii) Should not Ask for Any Undue Special Privileges: The Library is meant for every body’s use and no
one should have undue privileges at the expense of others. The current issues, the reference books etc
which are in much demand should not go through the process of any special privileges.
iv) Returns of Books In Time: The books that are borrowed must be returned on or before due date so that
other users do not have to suffer. If a document is lying unused at home, it is the obligation of the user to
return it as soon as possible.
6. Third Law: Every Book its Reader: Every book in a library must find its reader. This law emphasizes the
approach to the document. According to this law, every book in a library must find its reader, not a single
item should be lost in the darkness of the stack.
The following measures should be adopted for giving effect to this law.
a) Introducing Open Access: In the open access system books are arranged in shelves in the classified order
and the readers have freedom to access them. In the course of readers’ browsing through the shelves they
may come across books of interest to them the existence of which they may not be aware of; so the chances
of readers noticing the books and reading them are enhanced by the open access system only.
b) Provision of Popular Department: The provision of popular department like newspaper reading room,
periodical section, etc. offer baits to the reader and such provision increases the chances for every book to
get its reader. Recent additions, rare books, specific collection, festival collection etc displayed at
prominent places attracts the reader’s attention.
c) Book Selection: Best attention should be paid to book selection so that the chances of books remaining
unused are reduced.
d) Cataloguing: Subject cataloguing, series entries, cross reference entries etc. may often reveal to the
reader the books which might not have otherwise been noticed.

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e) Shelf Arrangement: If the shelf arrangement is made by the subject approach then there are better
chances of books finding their reader. Again, the subsequent attention should be given by the library staff
to maintain the arrangement by way of restoring the misplaced books to their correct place and so on.
f) Reference Service: There must be the provision for personal assistance to each reader when they feel
they need it. The reference staff should act as a canvassing agent for book.
g) Publicity and Library Extension Service: Internally, within the premises of the library, the staff should
provide shelf guide, bay guides, etc. which will guide the reader to appropriate places in the library.
Externally, the reference staff should go to make the use of mass media like press, radio, television, public
lecture, demonstration, tours, exhibitions, library weeks, brochure and leaflets, etc. for publicizing the
library.
7. Fourth Law: Save the Time of the Reader: A user is supposed to be a busy person; so his / her time must
be saved. Corollary of this law is “save the time of the staff”. A reader coming to the library should get an
exact and fast service; they should not be made to wait longer than necessary. Unnecessary delay may
cause vexation and readers may be dissatisfied. Dissatisfied readers may cease to come to the library.
The implications of the fourth law are as follows.
a) Location of the library: The library must be centrally located so that it is conveniently accessible to the
community being served.
b) Open Access: There are many advantages of introducing the open access. One of the major advantages
of open access system is the subjective time decline which gives satisfaction to the readers.
c) Classification and Cataloguing: Proper Classification system which would bring together documents on
a specific subject and also the related subject should be adopted.
d) Shelf Arrangement: The arrangement of documents according to the degree of mutual relationship of
subjects would lead to saving the time of the readers.
e) Signage System: Stack room guide, bay guides, tier guides, gangway guides should be provided to save
the time of the reader.
f) Reference Service: The fourth law advocates the need of reference service.
g) Charging System: The issue method, charging and discharging should be done as quickly as possible.
h) Centralized Cataloguing: Cataloguing in press, cataloguing in publication, cataloguing with the aid of
OCLC database greatly reduce the time factor.
i)Information Technology: The use of IT in libraries invariably speed up many activities. So to fulfill the
fourth law the IT should be introduced.

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8. Fifth Law: Library is a Growing Organism: The main components of the library are documents, the user
and the staff. A library always grows in terms of documents, the reader or the user and the staff. The
growth of a new library can be compared to the growth of a child as it grows in every aspect. In case of a
service library that has attained certain degree of stability its growth can be compared with the growth of
the adult i.e. it grows in terms of replacing old document by new one and new user will continuously
replace the old one.
The implication of the fifth law of library and information science are:
a) Library Building: The library building should be modular and should have the provision of future
growth.
b) Choice of Classification and Cataloguing Code: The classification and cataloguing scheme chosen
should have the provision to keep apace with the development in the universe of subject.
c) Physical Forms of Catalogue: The physical forms of catalogue chosen should have the provision of
updating, sorting in different order, editing and so on.
d) Weeding out of Document: To make the space for new addition the documents that are obsolete and
unused should be weeded out. The weeded out document should be stored, where they are available for
occasional use or at a central place (a central library) with cooperation among libraries.
e) Modernization, Computerization: Library that grows fast both in terms of size and services may have to
go for the computerization of various house-keeping operations (i.e. acquisition, circulation, cataloguing
etc). In order to take care of the growing collection the documents should be digitized or microfilmed; the
new procurement should be made in the form of electronic journals, e-book, etc. To cope with the
increased readership the library should go for the video terminal and ultimately to the digital or virtual
library.
Previously the libraries grew with the collection, but nowadays the digital library, or virtual library
or e-library does not show the characteristics of the growing of a library by volume. The growth is in the
use of sophisticated technologies.
9. Let Us Sum Up: Ranganathan’s five laws of library science consist of five short statements but they
provide guidance and rationale for practice and teaching of library and information science. With the help
of these laws, we can derive postulates, cannons and principles applicable in different fields of library and
information science. The first three laws emphasize the exploitation of the documents of the library fully
by the maximum number of users. The fourth law gives emphasis on the role of reference librarian and has
a great potentiality to bring reforms in the running of libraries. All laws as a whole will serve as source of
inspiration and guidance in the years to come.

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Learning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS): A Learning Management System (LMS) or Courseware
Management System is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and
reporting of training programmes, classroom and online events, e-learning programmes, and training
content.
LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software for distributing
courses over the Internet with features for online collaboration. Student self-service (e.g., self-registration
on instructor-led training), training workflow (e.g., user notification, manager approval, wait-list
management), the provision of on-line learning (e.g., computer-based training, read & understand), on-line
assessment, management of continuous professional education (CPE), collaborative learning (e.g.,
application sharing, discussion threads), and training resource management (e.g., instructors, facilities,
equipment), are dimensions to Learning Management Systems.
The following are some of the popular LMS softwares
a) ATutor: ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Management System (LMS). It is used in
various contexts, including online course management, continuing professional development for teachers,
career development, and academic research. The software is cited as unique for its accessibility features,
(useful to visually-impaired and disabled learners); and for its suitability for educational use. Website:
http://www.atutor.ca/
b) Brihaspati (The Virtual Classroom): Brihaspati is an open source learning management system and of
Indian origin. Website: http://home.iitk.ac.in/~ynsingh/tool/brihaspati.shtml
c) Claroline: Claroline is a collaborative eLearning and eWorking platform (Learning Management
System) released under the GPL Open Source license. It allows hundreds of organizations worldwide
ranging from universities to schools and from companies to associations to create and administer courses
and collaboration spaces over the web. Website: http://www.claroline.net/
d) Moodle: Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) is a free and open-source
e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System,
or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is developed by Martin Dougiamas to help the educators create
online courses with a focus on interaction and collaborative construction of content. Website:
http://moodle.org/
Librametric, Bibliometric, Scientometrics, Informetrics
Librametric, Bibliometric, Scientometrics, Informetrics: The Librametric, bibliometric, scientometrics,
informetrics are overlapping areas, though their scopes are not the same.
1. Librametry: Dr. S. R. Ranganathan coined the term librametry and presented his concept in 1948 at the
ASLIB conference held at Lemington Spa. He said that “there is a need to develop this subject on the lines
of Biometry, Econometry, Psychometry, etc. He used the term to include statistical approaches to the study
of library and its services. However, the practice of using quantitative method to measure information

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sources were made even before Dr. S. R. Ranganathan either under different name or without any name at
all. For instance E. J. Cole and Nellie Eales in 1917, graphically mapped the literature and called this as
“Statistical analysis”, E. Wyndham Hulme in 1922 studied the literature and called it “statistical
bibliography”, but the terms were found to be clumsy as it could easily be mistaken.
2. Bibliometrics: The formal term “bibliometric” was first used by Alan Pritchard in his article “Statistical
bibliography or bibliometric” in 1969 published in the “Journal of Documentation”. “Biblio” means book
and “metric” means a scale or measure. Bibliometric means application of statistical studies in library and
information science.
Pritchard defines bibliometric as “the application of mathematical and statistical methods to books
and other media of communication”.
Potter defines bibliometric as “the study and measurement of the publication pattern of all forms of
written communication and their author”.
Thus bibliometric is a sort of measuring techniques by which interconnected aspect of written
communication can be quantified. It is the study, or measurement, of texts and information. Bibliometrics
utilizes quantitative analysis and statistics to describe patterns of publication within a given field or body of
literature. Researchers may use bibliometric methods of evaluation to determine the influence of a single
writer, for example, or to describe the relationship between two or more writers or works. One common
way of conducting bibliometric research is to use the Social Science Citation Index, the Science Citation
Index or the Arts and Humanities Citation Index to trace citations.
a) Bibliometric Techniques: There are different kinds of bibliometric techniques. For example-
i) Productivity Count: It deals with books articles, words in a text, place of publication, subject matter, time
and date of publication, publishing institution, authors, author’s institution, etc. Nicholas and Ritchie in the
book “Literature and Bibliometrics” called it as productivity count or descriptive.
ii) Literature Usage Count: It deals with citation in published works, circulation, frequency of borrowing or
browsing different library material, failure and success in search strategies, search option , etc. Nicholas
and Ritchie called it as “Evaluative”.
b) Laws of Bibliometrics: One of the main areas in bibliometric research concerns the application of
bibliometric laws. The three most commonly used laws in bibliometrics are - Lotka's Law of Scientific
Productivity, Bradford's Law of Scatter, and Zipf's Law of Word Occurrence;
i) Lotka's Law of Scientific Productivity: In 1926, Alfred J. Lotka proposed an inverse square law relating
to scientific papers to the number of contributions made by each author. Lotka's Law describes the
frequency of publication by authors in a given field. It states that ". . . the number (of authors) making n
contributions is about 1/n² of those making one; and the proportion of all contributors, that make a single
contribution, is about 60 percent". This means that out of all the authors in a given field, 60 percent will
have just one publication, and 15 percent will have two publications (1/2² times . 60), 7 percent of authors
will have three publications (1/3² times . 60), and so on. According to Lotka's Law of scientific
productivity, only six percent of the authors in a field will produce more than 10 articles.

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Lotka’s equation is xn.y= Constant.
Where
Y= Frequency of authors making n contribution, the value of the constant was found to be 0.6079
ii) Bradford's Law of Scatter: Samuel Clement Bradford in 1934 points out that if scientific journals are
arranged in order of decreasing productivity of articles on a given subject, they may be divided into a
nucleus of periodicals more particularly devoted to the subject and several groups and zones containing the
same number of articles as the nucleus when the number of periodicals in the nucleus and succeeding zones
will be 1: n: n2.
Bradford's Law states that journals in a single field can be divided into three parts, each containing the
same number of articles:
* A core of journals on the subject, relatively few in number, that produces approximately one-third of all
the articles;
* A second zone, containing the same number of articles as the first, but a greater number of journals, and
* A third zone, containing the same number of articles as the second, but a still greater number of journals.
The mathematical relationship of the number of journals in the core to the first zone is a constant n and to
the second zone the relationship is n². Bradford expressed this relationship as 1 : n : n². Bradford
formulated his law after studying a bibliography of geophysics, covering 326 journals in the field. He
discovered that 9 journals contained 429 articles, 59 contained 499 articles, and 258 contained 404 articles.
So it took 9 journals to contribute one-third of the articles, 5 times of 9, or 45, to produce the next third,
and 5 times 5 times 9, or 225, to produce the last third.
Bradford's Law serves as a general guideline to librarians in determining the number of core journals in any
given field. Bradford's Law is not statistically accurate, but it is still commonly used as a general rule of
thumb.
iii) Zipf's Law of Word Occurrence: George K. Zipf, 1947 states that if the words occurring in a natural
language text of sizable length were listed in the order of decreasing frequency then the rank of any given
word in the list would be inversely proportional to the frequency of occurrence of the word. Zipf’s equation
is
r . f = k
Where
r = Rank;
f = Frequency of Word;
k = Constant
The Law states that in a relatively lengthy text, if you "list the words occurring within that text in order of
decreasing frequency, the rank of a word on that list multiplied by its frequency will equal a constant. The

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equation for this relationship is: r x f = k where r is the rank of the word, f is the frequency, and k is the
constant. Zipf illustrated his law with an analysis of James Joyce's Ulysses. "He showed that the tenth most
frequent word occurred 2,653 times, the hundredth most frequent word occurred 265 times, the two
hundredth word occurred 133 times, and so on. Zipf found, then that the rank of the word multiplied by the
frequency Of the word equals a constant that is approximately 26,500".
c) Uses of Bibliometric Studies: Historically bibliometric methods have been used to trace relationships
amongst academic journal citations. The bibliometric research uses various methods of citation analysis in
order to establish relationships between authors or their work. The Bibliometric studies are used in
i) Measuring the scattering of articles on a subject in various periodicals (Bradford).
ii) Measuring the productivity of an author based on the number of published articles. (Lotka).
iii) Ranking of words in a text based on frequency of occurrence of words.
iv) Productivity count of literature.
v) To identify the peers, social change and the core journal, etc.
vi) Indexing and Thesaurus;
vii) Research;
viii) Formulating search strategies in case of automated system;
ix) Comparative assessment of the secondary services;
x) Bibliographic control;
xi) Preparation of retrospective bibliographic and
xii) Library Management.
3. Scientometrics: This term was introduced and came into prominence with the founding of the journal
named “Scientometrics” by T. Braunin in 1977, originally published in Hungary and currently from
Amsterdam.
The term “Scientometrics” was used to mean the application of quantitative methods to the history
of science but it is now generally used as a generic term for a variety of research approaches within the
study of science that a quantifiable aspect of science can be utilized to assess the characteristic of science.
Marton and Garfield have defined it as the field of enquiry given over to the quantitative analysis of
science and scientific field.
4. Informetrics: According to Brooker the term “informetrics” was first proposed by Otto Nacke of West
Germany in 1979. It focused on information productivity. It interprets information technology and
considers interaction of information theory, cybermetrics, decision theory, etc.
5. Webmetrics: Webmetrics can be defined as using of bibliometric techniques in order to study the
relationship of different sites on the World Wide Web. Such techniques may also be used to map out

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(called "scientific mapping" in traditional bibliometric research) areas of the Web that appear to be most
useful or influential, based on the number of times they are hyperlinked to other Web sites.
6. Let Us Sum Up: According to Sen, bibliometric deals with document and its component while
informetrics studies pertaining to information. Morales use the term informetrics to cover almost all the
aspect of bibliometric and librametrics.
Librarians in Different Types of Libraries
Librarians in Different Types of Libraries: The librarians of different types of libraries have to perform
work according to the library concerned. Following are the different types of libraries where librarians have
different types of work to perform
a) School: The school librarianship covers the library services for children in schools. In some regions, the
local government may set the standards for the education and certification of the school librarians (who are
often considered a special kind of teacher). School librarianship may also include issues of intellectual
freedom, pedagogy, and how to build a coordinated curriculum with the teaching staff.
b) College and University: The college / university librarianship covers the library services for colleges /
universities. Issues of special importance to the field may include copyright, technology, digital libraries,
and digital repositories, academic freedom, open access to scholarly works and specialized knowledge of
subject areas which are considered important to the institution. The librarian of a college / university library
caters to a large number of user base and therefore, involves higher responsibilities than his counterpart in a
school library.
c) Public: The librarianship for public libraries covers issues such as cataloguing, collection development
for a diverse community, information literacy, community standards, etc. It is a librarianship with focus on
public service and serving a diverse community of adults, children, and teens, and therefore, deals with
intellectual freedom, censorship and legal and budgeting issues.
d) Special: Special librarians include those who are involved with any other form of librarianship that
serves in medical libraries (and hospitals or medical schools), corporations, news agency libraries, or other
special collections. The issues in these libraries will be specific to the institutions / industries they inhabit.
But the librarians in these libraries also include for their work such specialized functions as corporate
financing, specialized collection development, and extensive self-promotion to potential patrons.
e) Archives: This covers the study required to maintain and build the archives of records intended for
historical preservation. Special issues include physical preservation of materials and mass de-acidification,
specialist catalogues; solo work, access, and appraisal. Many archivists are also trained historians
specializing in the period covered by the archive.

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Librarian’s Day
Librarian’s Day: At the 9th Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centre (IASLIC)
seminar held at Nagpur (1980) initiative were made to form JOint Council of Library Association of India
(JOCLAI). In the JOCLAI meeting held at Jaipur during the seventeenth conference in 1989 it was decided
to observe the birth day of Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan, the father of Library Science in India as
Librarians Day all over the country every year. So considering this, 12th August, which was the birthday of
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan has been assign as librarian’s day.
At Kolkata since 1990, a day long Programme purely professional is held every year not necessarily on
12th August but on Sunday following the date. This is as because librarianship is a service profession so
the user cannot be disappointed on working days in the name of the profession itself. This is what
librarianship is.
Library
Library: Libraries are congenial homes of ideas to be enjoyed, valued and used regularly by all. Libraries
almost invariably contain long passageway to rows of books. It has materials arranged in a specified order
according to a library classification scheme, so that items can be located quickly and collections can be
browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where reference
materials are stored. These reference stacks may be open to selected members. Others require patrons to
submit a “stack request”, which is a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the closed stacks.
In today’s context, most of the libraries provide open access to its entire collection.
Technical services work behind the scene. It includes selection, acquisition, cataloguing and classification
of new arrivals and weeding out of obsolete and unused materials. Collection development orders materials
and maintains materials budgets. Larger libraries are often broken down into departments staffed by both
para-professionals and professional librarians. Circulation handles user accounts and the loaning / returning
and shelving of materials. Reference staffs in the reference desk provide answer to user questions (using
structured reference interviews), instruct users and develop library programming. Reference may be further
broken down by user groups or materials such as youth, teen, or special collections.
Since the advancement in technology made it possible to store information and media in the form other
than books, many libraries now act as repositories and access points for a variety of microfilm, microfiche,
audio tapes, video tapes, CDs, and DVDs, and provide public facilities to access CD-ROM and
subscription databases over the Internet. Thus, modern libraries are increasingly being redefined as places
to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.
1. Definition: The word “library” comes from the Latin word liber=Book. Library means a collection of
written, printed or digital reading material organized to provide different services to the user with the help
of a trained staff. It is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is
housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or an individual. However,
with the sets and collection of media and of media other than books for storing information, many libraries
are now also repositories and access points for maps, prints, or other documents and various storage media
such as microform (microfilm/microfiche), audio tapes, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs. Libraries

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may also provide public facilities to access subscription databases and the Internet. Although mostly free to
access and use, some libraries assess service charges for some services, such as checking out new fiction,
DVDs, interlibrary loan, Document Delivery Service, etc.
ALA glossary of Library and Information Science has defined library as “a collection of materials
organized to provide physical, bibliographical and intellectual access to a target group, with a staff that is
trained to provide services and programmes related to the information needs of the target groups.”
According to Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, the father of library science in India, “a library is a public institution
or establishment charged with the care of collection of books, the duty of making them accessible to those
who require the use of them and the task of converting every person in its neighborhood into a habitual
library goers and reader of books.”
The word “Library Collection” is synonymous with holdings. It is the total accumulation of books and
other materials owned by a library, organized and cataloged for ease of access by its users. Encyclopaedia
of Library and Information Science describes library collection as “the sum total of library material –
books, manuscripts, serial, government documents, pamphlets, catalogues, report, recording, microfilms
reels, micro cards and microfiche, punched cards, computer tapes etc. that make up the holding of a
particular type of library.”
Modern libraries are increasingly being redefined as places to get unrestricted access to information in
many formats and from many sources. They are understood as extending beyond the four walls of a
building, by including material accessible by electronic means, and by providing the assistance of librarians
in navigating and analyzing tremendous amounts of knowledge with a variety of digital tools.
2. Types of Libraries: No single library can contain the information sought by every potential user; as a
result, different types of libraries exist to serve different needs. Libraries can be divided into categories by
the following methods.
2.1 Based on Mission: The following are the main types of libraries based upon their mission.
a) National Library: The mission is to preserve the cultural heritage of a Nation. Eg. The National Library
of India, Kolkata.
b) Public Library: A free informational and recreational institution. Its mission is to provide reading
materials to people without any fee.
c) Academic Library: The libraries that are attached with educational institutions are known as academic
library. Its mission is to help the students, researchers, faculties in their study or research. The primary
mission is to support the educational and research need of the parent institution. Academic libraries may be
of the following types:
i) University Library
ii) College Library
iii) School Library

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d) Special Library: Libraries attached to special institution i.e. industrial firm, insurance company, All
India Radio, Dordarshan Kendra, etc. belong to this category. Their aim is to support the parent
organization.
e) Personal / Private Library: A library owned by an individual or family or a a library with reading
materials collected, maintained and intended to be used by a single person or a family.
f) Archives: An organized collection of the noncurrent records of an institution, government, organization,
or corporate body, or the personal papers of an individual or family, preserved in a repository for their
historical value.
2.2 Based on Technology: A shift from the traditional library to digital library has already taken place. The
traditional closed access libraries are shifting towards open access library. The open access libraries are
shifting towards automated library, the automated one towards the electronics, the electronics to digital and
finally end in virtual library. Is it really true? The truth is that nobody knows what will be the future of
libraries. Still, based on the technology used in processing of information as well as in providing services
to the user community, the libraries of present times can be grouped into the following types
a) Library (Traditional): The collection of the traditional libraries is mostly print material, manuscripts etc
and the collections are not well organized and the documents are deteriorating at a rapid rate. The
information sources are also hard to locate and so does not easily reach user. Again, the traditional libraries
confine themselves within a physical boundary.
b) Automated Library: A library with machine-readable catalogues, computerized acquisition, circulation
and OPAC are called as automated library. The holding of this type of libraries is same as that of traditional
libraries.
c) Electronic Library: When an automated library goes for Local Area Networking (LAN) and CD-ROM
networking then it is known as electronic library. The resources of the electronic libraries are in both print
and electronic forms, but resources are not available over the web. The electronic Media is used for storage
retrieval and delivery of information.
d) Digital Library: The Digital Library (DL) is a later stage of electronic library. When an electronic library
started procuring e-journal and other similar kind of publications and access is over the web, then it is
termed as digital library. In digital library, high speed optical fibres are used for LAN and the access is over
WAN and it provides a wide range of internet based services i.e. audio and video conferencing etc. The
majority of the holding of a digital library is in the computer readable form. They have their own computer
readable database and act as a point of access to other on line sources. A DL, like a traditional library, is
also a collection of books and reference materials along with its associated services. But, unlike a
traditional library, however, the collection of a digital library is in digital form, and is usually served over
the World Wide Web.
e) Virtual Library: Virtual Library refers to the scientifically managed collection of information resources
and services on site as well as off site that are available in a virtual reality environment and accessible
electronically through the internet at any time from any geographical location.

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f) Hybrid Library: The libraries, which are working both in electronic or digital and print environment, are
known as hybrid library. Actually it is a transitional state between the print and digital environment. It is
estimated that in near future libraries will be of hybrid nature, some of the very strong points in favour of
this view are the centuries old reading habit of paper, more convenience of handling and reading a paper
document than the digitized one (in case of digitized, some equipment must be needed to read the
document), incompatible standard of electronic product, different display standard of digital product and its
associated problem, etc.
Though, in the above, an attempt is made to categorize the different types of libraries based on the
technology used but in reality there is no strict line of demarcation between the last four types of libraries.
2.3 UNESCO’s Division: An overall classification of all types of libraries has been made by UNESCO in
“Recommendations concerning the international standardization of library statistics” adopted by the
General Conference at its 16th session (Paris, November 13, 1970).
a) National libraries
b) Libraries of institutions of higher education
i) University library
ii) Libraries attached to university / institute or department.
iii) Libraries which are not part of a university.
c) Other major non specialized libraries
d) School libraries (Size of collection only printed materials and manuscripts).
i) Up to 2,000 volumes.
ii) From 2,001 to 5,000 volumes.
iii) More than 5,000 volumes.
e) Special libraries open to the public.
f) Special libraries, reserved for their primary user.
g) Public (or popular) libraries financed by the public authorities, size of collection (Only printed material
and manuscripts).
i) Up to 2,000 volumes.
ii) From 2,001 to 5,000 volumes.
iii) From 5,001 to 10,000 volumes.
iv) More than 10,000 volumes.

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Based on the entity i.e institution, municipality, or corporate body that supports or perpetuates the library,
library can be divided into Academic libraries, Corporate libraries, Government libraries, such as national
libraries, Historical society libraries, Private libraries, Public libraries, School libraries, Special libraries,
etc. Again, based on the collection of the library material, library can be divided into Digital libraries, Data
libraries, Picture (photograph) libraries, Slide libraries, Tool libraries, etc.
Libraries can also be grouped based on the thought contents of procuring document as Architecture
libraries, Fine arts libraries, Law libraries, Medical libraries, Theological libraries, etc. It can also be
grouped based on the user or patron of the library as Prison library, Library for blind, Public library,
Military community’s library, Children library (actually children library has grown as an offshoot of the
public library functioning as a part of it. In some cases it has grown independently), Private library, etc.
Let Us Sum Up: Libraries are by far the oldest institutions charged with the responsibility of collecting,
storing and disseminating of information. In a more traditional sense a library was defined as “a place
where books were kept for reading study or reference”. It is a collection of books or other written or printed
materials, as well as the facility in which they are housed to serve the reader within an institution that is
responsible for their maintenance. But a modern library with a few exceptions is regarded as a service
institution. Its aim is to enable the users to make the most effective use of the resources and services of
libraries. A modern library is a public institution which is expected to convert the potential reader into
actual reader.
In ancient days libraries gathered huge collection of manuscripts and preserved them most efficiently for
the posterity. Modern libraries may contain a wide range of materials, including manuscripts and
pamphlets, posters, photographs, motion pictures, and videotapes, sound recordings, and computer
databases in various forms.
Libraries are the carriers of information from one generation to the next generation. Most of the new
technology based information businesses are still largely dependent on the library for their survival. The
information broker, consultants, referral centre etc still largely depend on the library for their survival. In
these days of Information Technology (IT) libraries continue to serve millions of grateful users in new and
improved ways and it is hoped that in near future also it will be the only affordable source of information.
More recently, libraries are understood as extending beyond the physical walls of a building, by including
material accessible by electronic means, and by providing the assistance of librarians in navigating and
analyzing tremendous amount of knowledge with a variety of digital tools.
National libraries are responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all significant publications
published in the country and functioning as a “deposit” library, either by law or under other arrangements.
It also produces a national bibliography, holds and keeps up to date a large and representative collection of
foreign literature including books about the country, acts as a national bibliographical information centre,
compiles union catalogues, and publishes the retrospective national bibliography.
Public library serves the population of a community or region free of charge or for a nominal fee. An
academic library serves an institution of higher learning and is located on the campuses of colleges and

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universities for the benefit of the students and faculty of that organization. A school library or a school
library media center is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents have access to a
variety of resources. Libraries had often been started with a donation, an endowment or parishes, churches,
schools or towns, and these social and institutional libraries formed the base of many academic and public
library collections of today.
Special library is established, supported and administered by a business firm, private corporation,
association, government agency, or other special-interest group or agency to meet the information needs of
its members or staff in pursuing the goals of the organization.
An archives is a place for storing earlier and often historical, material. It usually contains documents
(letters, records, newspapers, etc.) or other types of media kept for historical interest. The inactive records
of an individual, organization, or institution are kept in archives for their continuing value. Private or
personal libraries are mostly made up of non-fiction and fiction books
Library and Information Policy at the National Level
Library and Information Policy at the National Level: A Policy is a statement of commitment to a generic
course of action necessary for the attainment of a goal which in our case is library development. A policy is
conditioned on the political, economic, social, and cultural milieu. Policies are value in a number of ways
such as they standardise activities, facilitate decision making, minimise confusion, coordinate the activities
of various units, conserve time in training etc. Policy statements are to be formulated at the institutional,
regional, state, national and international level. It comprehends a set of basic issues which are infrastructure
development, information services development, utilisation of new technologies, manpower development
and other general recommendations. Many countries have adopted a library policy which helped them
undertake library development with a certain commitment and assurance. Policies in certain sectors of the
national economy have also had their implications for library development.
1. Meaning and Definition: The concept of Library and Information Policy is new. Here, we are going to
discuss, how the concept of “Policy” originated in the field of Library and Information Science. Today’s
society is known as an Information Society which require information at every step. In modern society,
information is treated as a very important source in all areas of development whether it is social, political,
economic, cultural etc. The progress of any nation depends on the information generation, disseminating it
to the users, and putting it to work. Lack of information is going to adversely affect the development. It is
because of the ever increasing demand for information from all walks of life that the need of a policy is
felt. And since, this information is being imparted or disseminated via the Libraries, Documentation
Centres, Information Analysis and Consolidation Centres etc. they are the means for collecting, storing,
and organizing information. Thus, the policy had to be formulated on Libraries and Information Systems.
In almost all countries, national governments are the major investors and disseminators of information. As
such, each country should evolve a national policy of its own taking into consideration the developments at
national and international level.

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In the context of India, a National Information Policy must necessarily be governed by and form an integral
and harmonious part of the social, economic, educational, research and development and other related
policies, which get formulated at various stages of our national development. Further, the Information
Policy needs to be properly made compatible with the Five Years National Plans of the country.
“A National Information Policy is a set of decisions taken by a government, through appropriate laws and
regulations, to orient the harmonious development of information transfer activities in order to satisfy the
information needs of the company. A National Information Policy needs provision of necessary means or
instruments such as financial, personnel, institutional for concrete implementation”. (UNISIST: II Main
Working Document).
A National Information Policy would ensure access to professional and specialized knowledge at the global
level as the development of any country directly depends upon the planning and policies followed by the
government of the country.
2. Library Information Policy at National Level for India: Libraries in our country function under a variety
of ownerships and jurisdiction. There is generally no coordination in their development. The progress of
libraries has been very slow because of the following factors:
a) Neglect of library services during the British period
b) Resource constraint in the post-Independence era
c) Sole dependence on Government funds for library development.
Due to above said reasons and many more, the need for an integrated library system or policy for
India was felt and in this direction, first step was taken by Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, Father of Library
Science, in 1944. He suggested that “library edifice of postwar India should be so planned that primary
libraries are attached to regional centres, regional centres to provisional central libraries, these again to the
national centre libraries of other countries and international centres”.
The Government of India made various attempts to improve library services. Under the National Library of
India Act, 1948, the Imperial Library was renamed to National Library. In 1951, Delhi Public Library was
set up. Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) was established in 1951. Five Year
Plans included funnels for their improvement. In 1957, the Advisory Committee suggested library services
“free to every citizen of India.”
National Policy on Library Information System was formulated by the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library
Foundation (RRRLF) which was set up in 1972 and also by Indian Library Association.
The Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, appointed a
Committee of senior library scientists and other specialists with Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyaya as Chairman,
to prepare a draft document on the National Policy on Library and Information System in October 1985.
The Committee completed its assignment and submitted a draft document to the Government on May 31,
1986. The draft policy document consists of 10 chapters.

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To implement the recommendations of the committee, Government appointed an Empowered Committee
under the chairmanship of Prof. D.P. Chattopadhyaya, in October 1986. The committee submitted its report
in March 1988.
The recommendations of the committee are:
a) Constitution of National Commission on Libraries.
b) Creatian of All India Library Services.
c) Active role of Central Government in Public Library Development in State.
d) Public Library Development has also to be supported by agencies involved in education, social and rural
development.
e) National Library of India, Calcutta should be strengthened.
f) Development of system of national libraries.
3. Salient Features: A number of features that constitute the National Information Policy are given below:
i) To establish, maintain, and strengthen the free public libraries. A network of libraries would result with a
district library being the apex library in district, with public libraries at city, town and village levels. These
would, then be part of the national network with each state having its own library legislation.
ii) Every school or college established should have a library and a qualified librarian. The policy states that
science libraries are essential part of education. There must be a state level agency for proper development
of school libraries of the state and a national agency for coordination at the national level. The policy gives
University Grants Commission, the authority for college and university libraries and suggests that all these
institutes form a network and share the resources by signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
iii) Expansion of national, regional, sectoral, and local levels of NISSAT (National Information System for
Science and Technology). The policy recommends that national, regional, sectoral, and local levels of
NISSAT scheme should be further strengthened and expanded.
iv) Similar systems are organized in Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages.
v) Development of information system and data banks in different fields.
vi) Parent bodies should be committed to provide support and infrastructure for libraries.
vii) The policy recommends for a system of national libraries consisting of The National Library at
Calcutta, National Depository Libraries, National Subject Libraries and National
Documentation/Information Centres, National Databases of Manuscripts, etc. A National Library Board
should be set up by the National Library of India for effective inter-relation among all these national
libraries and also between libraries, archives and museums.
viii) Manpower, planning and development. The policy also recommends specialized information
personnel who could apply modern management techniques to Information Services.

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ix) Library legislation and regulation of information flow. To meet effectively, with the changing
information needs of society, the policy recommends a national library act to be enacted and supplemented
by model library legislation at the state level.
x) Use of technology. Information revolution is undisputably caused by the unprecedented advances in
technology. These advancements have made accessibility to world information and knowledge possible,
almost from any part of the world. All these developments in information technology have far reaching
implications for National Information Policy. It recommends the access and use of technology for
enhancing the existing services and to exploit and utilise the available resources to its optimum.
xi) Removal of communication barriers. Information, being an important resource, any barrier in its free
flow should be removed for easy access and maximum use.
xii) National network of libraries. The National Information Policy recommends the setting of a National
Commission for Libraries and Information System by the Government. This would take charge of the
national network of libraries, within which, would be accommodated libraries of different levels from the
rural society to the modern society, from the school to the research organisations. The policy states that the
necessary financial support 6 to 10% of the education budgets for systems will be made available by the
Government of India and state of governments.
4. Other Library and Information Policies: UNESCO has been advocating the adoption of a National
(Science) Information Policy by all the countries of the world. In this connection, UNESCO held some
regional meetings and seminars in India. NISSAT, which is the focal point in India for the
UNISIST/UNESCO programme, is expected to take interest in framing information policy. The Society for
Information Science in India has done considerable spade work for preparing the National (Science)
Information Policy.
Even, in India or other nations, there are various Associations formulated at state and district levels for e.g.
Library Association for Chandigarh and so on, contributing in formulating and implementing the Library
and Information Policies for the betterment of the Nation as a whole.
The policies which have been adopted by Government in a few other sectors have direct impact on Library
field such as National Policy on Education 1986, National Book Policy 1986, Scientific Policy Resolution
1958, Technology Policy 1983, Information (Communication) Policy, National Knowledge Commission,
2005.
The primary objective of a national policy is to achieve a progressive upliftment of the socioeconomic
development of the country through the provision of access to and availability of information and
knowledge with speed and efficiency to all those who are involved in activities for national development.
Planning and programming endeavours are essential to aim at a systematic and assured development. The
formulation of a National Policy on Library and Information System are epoch-making measures in the
library movement in the country. If the policy recommendations are faithfully implemented, a new phase in
library development in India towards a far better performance and achievement is sure to come about. A
National Library Policy is also necessary to have a commitment to provide library service to all the people
as it is suggested by the Advisory Committee. The Five Year Plans have given a great deal of attention to

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library development and informatics and the Ninth Plan has made appropriate provision. If implemented
rigorously library development will get assured success.
Library and Information Science
Library and Information Science: Library and Information Science is concerned with the body of
knowledge relating to the origin, storage, retrieval, transmission and utilization of information. The term
“library science” first appeared in the early 1930’s, in the title of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan’s “The Five Laws
of Library Science” and in the title of Lee Pierce Butler’s 1933 book “An Introduction to Library Science”.
In 1959, Information Science began to be used in USA as a general brand for documentation which is
summarized as a discipline that investigates properties as well as behavior of information, forces governing
the flow of information and the means for processing information for optimal accessibility and usability. In
recent years, the trend is to term the subject as “Library and Information Science (LIS)” by merging both
the concepts, and it is the study of issues related to libraries and the information science. This includes
academic studies regarding how library resources are used and how people interact with library systems.
These studies also tend to be specific to certain libraries at certain times. The organization of knowledge
for efficient retrieval of relevant information is also a major research goal of LIS.
According to Borko, Information Science is an interdisciplinary science that investigates the properties and
behavior of information, the forces that govern the flow and use of information and the technique, both
manual and mechanical, of processing information for optimal storage, retrieval and dissemination. He
further stated that information science has both pure science components which enquire into the subject
without regard to its application and applied science components which develop services and products.
Librarianship and documentation are also the applied aspect of information science.
According to J. H. Shera, Librarianship is the generic term and information science is an area of research
which draws its substance, method and techniques from a variety of disciplines to achieve and understand
the properties, behaviour and flow of information. Information science contributes to the theoretical and
intellectual base for the librarians operation.
According to C. G. Viswanathan, Information science is concerned with the principles and techniques
governing the transfer and communication of organized thought (knowledge) from one human to another
and ultimately to society.
According to P. B. Mangla, Information science is a discipline which is concerned with the study of the
properties and behaviour of information as well as the forces influencing the flow of information.
According to P. H. William both library science and information science are swiftly developing subjects
and so the relation between them is in a constant stage of change.
However, there are many thinkers who see the library science and information science as overlapping
discipline.

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The Library and Information Science is at the cross road of science seeking a basic principle which would
bring together the knowledge in a general framework in which each discipline would have its own place
and in which its relationship with other discipline would be clearly perceived. The activities and
programmes in LIS often overlap with the activities of computer science, various social sciences, statistics,
and system analysis.
Many practicing librarians do not contribute to LIS scholarship but focus on daily operations of their own
library systems. Other practicing librarians, particularly in academic libraries, do perform original scholarly
LIS research and contribute to the academic end of the field. On this basis, it has sometimes been proposed
that LIS is distinct from librarianship, in a way analogous to the difference between medicine and
doctoring. In this view, librarianship, the application of library science, would comprise the practical
services rendered by librarians in their day-to-day attempts to meet the needs of library patrons. Some other
scholars are of the view that the two terms do not make any distinction and can be treated as synonyms
Library and Information Science Education in India
Library and Information Science Education in India: 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.
1. 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.
i) 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.
2. Certificate, Diploma, and Training Courses
i) 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.

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ii) 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.
iii) 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.
iv) 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.
v) Andhra University: Andhra University started a certificate course in 1935, which was leter abandoned.
vi) 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.
3. Post Graduate Diploma
i) 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.
ii) Banaras Hindu University: The second university to start a post graduate diploma course was the
Banaras Hindu University in 1942.
iii) Bombay University: University of Bombay initiated a diploma course similar to Banaras Hindu
University in 1943.
iv) 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.
4. Degree Courses
i) Aligarh Muslim University: In 1947, Aligarh Muslim University started B.Lib. Science Course for the
first time in the country.
ii) 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.

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iii) 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.
iv) 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.
v) 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.
vi) 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.
5. 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.
6. 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

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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.
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.
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.
* 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.
* 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.
Problems with Present LIS Education and Research
* Limited Accommodation Capacity: All universities which provide Library and Information Science
courses witness a great flow of learners. But they are able to accommodate only a limited number of such
desired students.
* 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.

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* Limitation as a Professional Subject: LIS is a professional course and so it has the limitations of any
other professional courses. 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 course.
7. LIS Research in India: The LIS research briefly means the collection and analysis of original data on a
problem of librarianship, done within the library school according to scientific and scholarly standard.
Research in this connection broadly includes investigation, studies, surveys, academic work at the doctoral,
post doctoral and research staff level, It also includes in house or action research by practicing librarians,
information personnel and documentalist, etc. The aim of research in LIS, like any other discipline is to
contribute towards the advancement of subject and contribution to the existing knowledge.
a) Dr. S. R. Ranganathan’s Effort: The era of LIS research in India started with S. R. Ranganathan. He has
done individual research for several years. His works that lead to some of the fundamental and theoretical
principles have dominated the research activities for five decades. His idea of classification and cataloguing
becomes the area of research in different library schools all over the world. The library and academic
community of those days, even today also respect him as a pioneer researcher in LIS. Some of his worth
notable contributions are
a) Five laws of library science
b) Colon Classification
c) Prolegomena to library classification
d) Classified Catalogue Code
e) Documentation and its facets
f) Library administration, etc.
b) M. Phil Programme
i) University of Delhi: University of Delhi was the first to introduce M. Phil programme in Library and
Information Science in 1980. Today more than 11 universities offer the M.Phil programme. The duration of
M. Phil programme in almost all universities in this country is one year.
c) Ph.D. Programme
i) University of Delhi: The credit for introducing the doctoral degree programme in library science in India
goes to Dr. S. R. Ranganathan (1892–1972). In 1951, he started the same in Delhi University in 1958. The
university offered first doctoral degree in Library science to D. B. Krishan Rao for his “Facet Analysis and
Depth Classification of Agriculture” under the guidance of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan. In 1977, Panjab

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University, Chandigarh offered the second Ph.D. Today more than 35 Universities in India have Ph.D.
research facilities.
ii) Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC): In 1962, Dr. S. R. Ranganathan established
Documentation Research and Training Centre at Bangalore. Since its inception, it has been carrying out
research studies on documentation and related areas.
iii) Library Associations: The contribution of library association of India towards research activities is
negligible. They restrict their activities in the field of publication of journals, organization of seminars,
conferences and workshop, etc. only. The ILA, IASLIC are the mentionable among them.
iv) Funding of LIS Research in India: The University Grant Commission (UGC) is promoting LIS research
by awarding different kinds of fellowship to the students. Indian Council of Social Science Research
(ICSSR) and Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC) are also promoting
LIS research programme by awarding scholarship to doctoral students.
Till March, 1997, 350 theses have been awarded under various Indian universities.
d) D.Litt Programme: In 1992, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar awarded D.Litt. to Dr. B. B. Shukla. It
claimed to be the first such degree in library science all over the world.
8. Let Us Sum Up: The library and information science deals with all aspects of information and
knowledge which includes acquisition of materials, classification and cataloguing, searching tools,
information retrieval, preservation and conservation of documents and so on.
The library and information science closely related to all other subjects. It forms its own foundation
by taking the help of some other subjects.
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan in a pionner in the field of Library and Information Science in the world as a
whole and India in particular. He contributed almost to all aspects of the library science. Nowadays many
university and colleges provides different courses in Library and Information and its related subjects. It
ranges from certificate course to PhD.

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Library as a Complex Open System
1. Introduction: Libraries are very complex organization and are struggling with problem of shortage of
funds, staff, space, facilities and material. These problems are further compounded by ever increasing
demand for services; both in kind and in degree and they can no longer be resolved in a piecemeal fashion.
Again due to the dynamic of fast changing educational and socio- technical environment the demand
placed on the library, the use of system was limited until the availability of automated ways of data
processing system, i. e. Computer.
2. Subsystem of a Library: Using one library building a s point for originating the system approach one can
proceed upward and investigate how the library contribute to a longer (super social system) proceed
laterally and examine its function as part of a regional network of libraries or proceed downwards and
examine the subsystem that affects its operation. It is suggested that the downward approach be the first
area of investigation for in pyramidal concept. It is best to start at the button and work up. If each small
component is doing the job properly then there is an assurance that the entire system is generally healthy.
The function of library are analyzed and coordinated by six basic subsystems which are interconnected and
relations between these are also clear:
a) Acquisition Subsystem
b) Technical Processing Subsystem
c) Circulation Subsystem
d) Serial Control Subsystem
e) Reference Subsystem and
f) Administrative Subsystem
3. Library as a Complex Open System: The application of system approach in libraries is not restricted to
management of the library as a whole institution but in fact is perhaps best of providing services when used
with myriad of components or subsystem within the library. The library bears the following characteristics
by which it is considered as complex open system:
a) Input: The library receive input from external environment in the form of finance, hardware, software,
document resources, human resources in the form of appointment, etc.
b) Process: Within the boundaries of the library the document resources undergo various technical
processes such as classification, cataloguing, indexing, packaging, repackaging etc. The staffs undergo
various processes by induction, orientation, training methods etc.
c) Output: The result of processing is a collection of well organized which makes them useful product or
output for the use of library, who visit the library either to seek some specific information or to acquire
knowledge about something. The staffs are outputted in the form of retirement, dismissal etc. All these
output may be input for other system.

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d) Cycle of Events: The document and information generated by society are added to the collection of the
library regularly and work out and outdated documents are discarded as waste product. Users comes o the
library and acquired desired knowledge and this result in the production of new knowledge which is
ultimately becomes output to the library. Thus a cycle of events goes on in the library continuously.
e) Teleology: Open system are supposed to purposive or having certain mission or goals to achieve. In
case of library, the mission or purposes of the library is well explained by the five laws of Library Science
of S. R. Ranaganathan.
f) Equifinality: Like other system in case of libraries also there are various methods or approaches to
achieve goals. Different classification scheme, cataloguing arrangement, automated procedure etc. to
achieve the same end result. The end result of all libraries is to provide information services to the user by
disseminating the end product.
g) Interaction: Libraries are always interacts with its external environment is influenced by it and in turn
influences it.
h) Adaptation: Since ancient times the libraries are responding to the changing circumstances by adjusting
their courses of action or functional activities to achieve and maintain desirable level of performance to
maintain dynamic equilibrium. Libraries continuously check their backside to increase entropy. This is the
reason for which nowadays the traditional libraries are moving towards electronic or digital library.
i) Differentiation and Hierarchy: Libraries like any other open system tends to growth that leads to
differentiation of function and specialization with the result that open system becomes more complex and
often develop specialized component to perform different function.
j) Negative Entropy: Libraries like any other open system have natural tendency to decline with age. If any
library system unable to respond to the environment directly then no doubt, it will automatically move
towards death. An example can be given from the traditional libraries that are existing in these days. If
these libraries will not respond to the environment by changing themselves to automated library then they
will invite their own death.
4. Conclusion: The library is a social organization as such it exhibits the characteristic of an open system.
The subsystem of any library will depend upon its growth, specialization and differentiation that have taken
place in that particular library. The subsystem aims at interact with each other and environment in such a
way that the effect is put in the direction of achieving the central objectives of the library. The central
objective is to satisfy the user need.

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Library Automation
Library Automation: Library is a growing organism that requires constant positive changes to meet the
need of its user. The invention of computer has brought in a rapid change in the society. Therefore,
automation has become the need of the hour. Library automation not only improves the image of the library
staff but also provides additional services to the users with the existing staff. The impact of automation on
the library is quite obvious; it creates new environment where each function redefines the traditional
organizational structure and transforms it into new institutional entries. In this unit a brief overview is
given about library automation.
Automation is defined as a technique, a process, or a system which operates automatically. According to
the Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science, “Automation is the technology concerned with a
design and development of the process and systems that minimize the necessity of human intervention in
their operation.”
Swihart Stanley S and Hefley Beryl F have defined the term ‘library automation’ as “the processing of
certain routine clerical function in the library with the assistance of computer or other mechanized or semi
automatic equipment”. It may also be defined as a process of mechanization of all the housekeeping
operation of a library which is repetitive in nature. The housekeeping operation includes acquisition,
cataloguing, circulation, serial control, references and administration work.
To go with the library automation, the willingness of the librarian and library committee is a must.
The library should also have proper planning and adequate finance. The availability of hardware (server,
UPS, scanner, printer, storage media, etc.), software (operating system, system software, application
software, library automation software, etc.), and also trained manpower together form the prerequisite for
the library automation.
The first computer network was perhaps the OCLC (Online Computer Library Centre). Although
the microcomputer made its first appearance in 1971 it was not before 1981 that they made an impact on
libraries. The reason was limited storage capacity of the computer and scarcity of good software for library
applications. The development of OPAC in 1980s is a remarkable addition to the field of library
automation.
Among all the universities in India, Hyderabad University Library was the first to start its automation
project by using Libsys software. It gets the software free of cost from the Lybsys Corporation (Now
Libsys Ltd) as parts of its development programme. Now the library switches over to BTLS software
package. In NE India, all the universities started their automation project. The work done by Tezpur
University and NEHU University is quite commendable.
In terms of automation, the university libraries of India are lagging behind their counterparts in the
developed countries. However, the libraries and the librarians are slowly adjusting with the changes by
starting their automation phase. Many libraries have also started their computerized circulation desk and
resource sharing.

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Library Building and Equipments
Library Building and Equipments: Library is a trinity considering of the reading materials of various kinds,
the library users of various denominations and a good number of library personnel. Library building is a
warehouse of books, a workshop for the reader, and business-home for the staff. The building should be
designed to supply adequate and efficient accommodations of materials, readers, and staff.
The planning for a library and information science centres arises out of a need. A library operates in a
complex, dynamic, ever-changing and uncertain environment and as a social organization it has to take care
of increasing government regulation, union activities and increasing community interest. It is always a
growing organization and, with passage of time, some of the libraries grow into large and complex
organizations.
In view of the above, sound planning is highly essential for a library. It is through planning that a manger
can deal with a potential problem before it can take an ugly shape.
Library Cataloguing
Library Cataloguing: The cataloguing department decides on the appropriate form for identifying
authorship of works in the collection, describes the item as a physical item or a virtual source, and assigns
subject access points. In the cataloguing, on the process lip, headings for different types of entries to be
prepared should be listed. The headings should be listed on the pattern of a tracing section. At this state, the
cataloguer should pass on the volumes along with process slips to the typist to type out catalogue cards or
to handwrite the card. So at the end, the product of cataloguing is just like a card or in modern sense an
entry in the OPAC giving essential general information about informational entity. This essential general
information includes details about author, title, place of publication, name of publisher, year of publication,
edition, editorship, pagination, illustration, etc. The individual cards which bear the class number or call
number to enable the item to be located are arranged in some definite order. It may be noted that for each
volume, an additional card called shelf list card shall be prepared.
Cataloguer / Catalog Librarian: The library professional who is engaged in the process of cataloging of
library materials is called cataloguer. He compiles the list of documents according to a definite set of rules
to enable the item to be located in the collection
1. Definition: In order to provide access to the holdings of a library, an index or list of the materials is
always prepared and maintained systematically for the readers. It contains all the essential details about the
documents with location mark, usually in numerical form, by which the documents can be located on the
shelves of the library. This list or index or tool is basically called a library catalogue.
Cataloguing meant those activities that record, describe and index the resources of a collection that were
acquired in a manner that will aid the end-user in locating materials in the collection(s). Library items that
are written in a foreign script are, in some cases, transliterated to the script of the catalog.
Ranganathan has defined a library catalogue as “a list of document in a library or in a collection forming a
portion of it”. A “list” refers to some kind of arrangement based on a set plan and a “document” constitutes
embodied thought, which is a ‘record of work on paper or other material fit for physical handling, transport

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across space and preservation through time’. This means that document includes all types of records in
which information can be stored or presented.
According to Ruth French Strout, a catalogue may be considered “a work in which contents are arranged in
a reasonable way, according to a set plan or merely word by word”.
2. Need and Purpose: The objective or function of the early catalogue was to serve as an inventory list with
progressive pattern of arrangement based on the order of accession chronologically by date of publication
or period of author. From this arose a wide variety of approaches and an expansion of the inventory idea to
include retrieval.
The modern library catalogue serves both the inventory (listing) and retrieval (finding) function. Without
cataloguing, it would be difficult for anyone to know what is in the collection, how many items dealing
with a particular topic are in the collection and so on. What one sees in the public catalogue is the result of
the efforts of the cataloguing staff and the extent of the use of library resources depends greatly upon the
quality of it. A well made catalogue definitely adds to the reputation of the library. Library cataloguing
allows library aids to assist the end-users in locating the materials. The need and purpose of the library
catalogue can be viewed from the following points of view
a) General Objectives: The general objectives of library catalogues are-
i) Register: At any time the user may not find the entire collection of the library on the shelf. Therefore, to
know about the entire collection (what is available) at any time reliance is to be given to some other
dependable tool. Catalogue, which is a register of all informational items found in a particular library or
group of libraries serves this end.
ii) Finding Aid: Cataloguing helps the user in locating the document in the stack. Simply it guides the user
to the exact location of a stack in which he / she will find the book of his/her interest.
iii) Describes an Entity: Catalogue is only one of the many forms of bibliography, giving essential general
information about an informational entity (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, regalia, cartographic
materials, a webpage etc.).
iv) Satisfies Different Approaches: Cataloguing satisfies different kinds of approaches of the patron of the
library, say author, title, series, subject approach etc.
b) Charles Ammi Cutter Objectives: Charles Ammi Cutter made the first explicit statement regarding the
objectives of a bibliographic system in 1876. These have been frequently quoted and criticized. According
to Cutter, those objectives are
a) To enable a person to find a book of which (Finding objective) one of the following is known
i) The author
ii) The title
iii) The subject.

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b) To show what the library has (collocating objective)
i) By a given author
ii) On a given subject
iii) In a given kind of literature
c) To assist in the choice of a book (Choice objective)
i) As to its edition (bibliographically)
ii) As to its character (literary or topical)
It is only a few readers who are able to express their subject requirements in specific terms. They think of
either a narrower or broader subject rather than the specific subject they require. Considering this,
Ranganathan raised an important point by quoting “if it is the interest in the subject which takes him to the
library, his wants will be better served if the catalogue can spread before him a full connected panorama of
all materials on his specific subject, all its subdivisions and all broader subject of which it is itself a
subdivision”. Ranganathan in the light of the five laws of library & information science expressed the
objectives of a catalogue as the following
A catalogue should be so designed as to
i) Disclose to every reader his or her document;
ii) Secure for every document its reader;
iii) Save the time of the reader and with this save the time of the staff.
The Cutter objectives are more specific in comparison to the Ranganathan approach in describing the
objectives of a library catalogue.
c) Paris Conference: The principles adopted by the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles held
in Paris in 1961 are considered a landmark that leads to the standardization of practices. The Paris
conference resolved the function of a catalogue as given below
The catalogue should be efficient instrument for ascertaining
a) Whether the library contains a particular book specified by
i) Its author and title or
ii) If the author is not named in the book its title alone or
iii) If author and title are inappropriate or insufficient for identification, a substitute for the title and
b) i) Which work by a particular author and

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ii) Which edition of a particular work in the library.
The function as adopted by the Paris conference is more or less a restatement of the Cutter objectives as
described in his first edition of 1876.
d) Simonton Objectives: According to Simonton (1964) a library catalogue serves three purposes in the
conventional library and especially in the research library.
i) Describing all items catalogued to a degree of precision permitting positive identification.
ii) Establishing and describing the relationship of all items catalogued in terms of community of authorship
or sponsorship, similarly of context and continuity of bibliographic history.
iii) Serving as a finding list.
Though the objectives stated by Cutter have been criticized a great deal and quoted very often, these can
only explain the explicit objective of a catalogue. These have stood the test of time and according to Patrick
Quigg “later statements’ are most usually restatements of them”.
3. Different Kinds of Catalogue: The catalogue may be of different types based on different approaches to
division.
Based on physical form of presentation library catalogue can be of the following types
i) Printed Catalogue: The printed catalogue is also known as dictionary catalogues or bound book
catalogue. This type of catalogue is just like a book where individual catalogues are printed to make it easy
to consult for the user. The printed catalogues sometimes are interlaced with blank leaves on which
additions could be recorded. This type of catalogue is difficult to produce and update; it’s very difficult to
interpolate new entries and maintain correct sequence in it. Again, its portability can be a disadvantage to
other users because when a single volume is taken to nearby table to be used by a particular user, it
becomes difficult for the other user to consult and there is no guarantee that the user will keep the volume
in the proper place. The British Museum catalogue of printed books is an example of this kind of catalogue.
ii) Guard Book Catalogue: This type of catalogue is also known as paste down catalogue. In paste down
catalogue, the base is a bound volume of thick blank sheets; each typed or printed entry is pasted in the
correct sequence on the successive right hand pages, leaving space for at least five more entries to be
inserted between any two consecutive pages. The left hand page is left blank for pasting down any new
entry not finding its due place vacant on the right hand page, in the corresponding position. In case a given
portion of the catalogue becomes too crowded, the stripes are lifted and redistributed. This is similar to a
printed catalogue except that additional new entries can be pasted in and also new pages can be inserted. It
is sometimes used in conjunction with a printed catalogue and used prior to its production, bringing a new
edition or in producing a supplement for making addition, deletion, amendment and so on.
iii) Sheaf Catalogue: This type of catalogue is also known as loose leaf book form catalogue. It contains
about six entries on a single paper slip with holes or slots at one edge so that they can be fastened into
binders. Each binder has a locking / releasing mechanism to allow the insertion of new entries when
required yet ensures that the slips remain securely in place when the catalogue is consulted. Owing to the
fact that more than one entry was included on a single leaf sometimes a break-down in sequence occurs.

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iv) Card Catalogue: In card catalogue the size of leaf is reduced so that each leaf containes one entry only
and as the small leaf is inconvenient to handle so it has been replaced by the card. Each card is of 125 mm
X 75 mm. The cards are arranged in trays and held in their relative position by a rod passing through holes
near their bottom edge. The trays are all built into a cabinet. The specification for the catalogue cabinet is
given by the Indian Standards Institution. The card catalogues allow much more flexibility.
v) Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC): The card catalogue was a familiar sight to library users for
generations, but the computerization of library activities has led to rethinking regarding the form, purpose
and function of a library catalogue. Now the card catalogue has been effectively replaced by the OPAC or
Web OPAC. Some libraries with OPAC access still have card catalogues on site, but these are now strictly
a secondary resource and are seldom updated. Some libraries have eliminated their card catalogue in favour
of the OPAC. The other form of catalogue can be easily obtained as an output from OPAC.
Based on source where cataloguing is done catalogue can be grouped into the following types-
i) Individual Cataloguing: Cataloguing done by individual libraries, institution, people to serve their own
need and purpose or for their own sake are known as individual cataloguing.
ii) Cooperative Cataloguing: Cooperative cataloguing refers to a situation where a number of independent
libraries share the work of producing a catalogue for their mutual benefit. It is done in two or more libraries
for the benefit of each participant and the results may or may not be made available to other libraries. One
of the important outputs of cooperative cataloguing is Union catalogue.
iii) Centralized Cataloguing: Centralized cataloguing is defined as the cataloguing of documents by some
central organization for the benefit of other libraries. This form of cataloguing can take place within one
library system or within a number of library systems. Sometimes centralized cataloguing may be done by
another agency. Some of the forms of centralized cataloguing services are Card or shelf service,
Cataloguing in source, Cataloguing in publication, and Prenatal cataloguing.
The term “Prenatal cataloguing” was used by Dr. S.R. Ranganathan. In this process the cataloguing work
has been done by the National Central Library of a country on each book before its release by the
publisher. This is done with the help of a copy of the form proof of each book sent by each publisher. The
National Central Library prepares a muster stencil of the catalogue cards for each book before its release.
The catalogue cards are later made available for distribution to libraries on order along with the release of
books themselves, Call numbers are also printed on the back of the title pages and tooled on the binding as
well. According to Ranganathan, this type of process leads to saving 79% in the technical manpower of an
intra National and inter National Library System.
Based on the type of entry catalogue can be divided into the following-
i) Author Catalogue: A formal catalogue, sorted alphabetically according to the authors' or editors' names
of the entries.
ii) Title Catalogue: A formal catalogue, sorted alphabetically according to the title of the entries.

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iii) Keyword Catalogue: It is a subject catalogue, sorted alphabetically according to keywords. The
keywords are derived by using some system.
iv) Mixed Alphabetic Catalogue: It is a mixture of author / title, or an author / title / keyword catalogue.
v) Systematic Catalogue: A subject catalogue, sorted according to some systematic subdivision of subjects
is called systematic catalogue.
vi) Shelf List Catalogue: It is a formal catalogue with entries sorted in the same order as bibliographic
items are shelved on the stack.
d) Based on Scope: Based on the scope of a catalogue unit, cataloguing can be divided into i) Individual
catalogue and ii) Union catalogue. When a library catalogue lists holding or part of holding of two or more
libraries then it is called a union catalogue.
e) Based on Purpose: Based on purpose catalogue can be classified as Library Catalogue, Book Sellers
Catalogue, Publisher Catalogue, Dealers Catalogue, etc.
4. Criteria for Selection of Library Catalogue: In selecting the forms of catalogue to be adopted by the
librarian, he / she may consider the following factors-
i) Economic to produce and handle: The production and its subsequent maintenance cost and labour of the
catalogue should be minimal.
ii) Compact in size: It should not occupy much space in the library.
iii) Bring together like entries: It should have the provision to bring together entries with the same heading
or leading section.
iv) Updating: The selected catalogue should have the provision to insert or withdraw entries easily as and
when required.
v) Reproduction: It should have the provision to produce duplicate copies.
vi) Durability: The catalogue should be durable.
vii) Accessible: It should be reasonably accessible (within approach) to both users and staff members of the
library.
viii) Easy to handle and consult: To enable a user to find entries with ease. It should be easy to handle and
consult.
ix) Speed of searching: It should be amenable to fast speed of search.
x) Portability: It should be easily portable to enable the user / staff to consult it from inside or from outside
the library. The user should be able to take it home and consult it there.
5. Cataloguing Rules: Cataloguing rules have been defined to allow for consistent cataloguing of various
library materials across several persons of a cataloguing team and across time and space. Users can use
them to clarify as to how to find an entry and how to interpret the data in an entry.

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Cataloguing rules prescribe which information from a bibliographic item is included in the entry; how this
information is presented on a catalogue card or in a cataloguing record; how the entries should be sorted in
the catalogue. Currently, most cataloguing rules are similar to, or even based on, the International Standard
Bibliographic Description (ISBD), a set of rules produced by the International Federation of Library
Associations (IFLA) to describe a wide range of library materials. These rules describe an item in terms of:
title and statement of responsibility (author or editor), edition, material-dependent information (for
example, the scale of a map), publication and distribution, physical description (for example, number of
pages), series, note, and standard number (ISBN).
A catalogue code is a set of rules for the guidance of cataloguers in preparing entries for catalogues so as to
ensure uniformity in treatment. These codes may also include rules for subject heading, filling and
arranging of entries. Classified catalogue code by S. R. Ranganathan and Anglo-American Cataloguing
Rules, 2nd edition (AACR-II) are examples of such catalogue codes. In June, 2010, the Resource
Description and Access (RDA) was published, which will completely take over the place of AACR-II.
AACR-II was the most commonly used set of cataloguing rules in the English speaking world. The AACR-
II has been translated into many languages for use around the world. AACR-II provides rules for
descriptive cataloguing only and does not touch upon subject cataloguing.
5.1 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules – II: AACR-II was jointly prepared by American Library
Association, The British Library, The Canadian Committee on Cataloguing, The Library Association, UK,
and The Library of Congress. The code was edited by Michael Gorman and Paul W. Winkler. It was
published in 1978 by the American Library Association and Canadian Library Association.
There are two parts and four appendices in AACR-II. An index was also provided at the end of the code
and it has been compiled by KG B Backwell.
Part I: Description
1. General Rules for Description
2. Books, Pamphlets and Printed Sheets
3. Cartographic Material
4. Manuscripts
5. Music
6. Sound Recordings
7. Motion Pictures and Video Recordings
8. Graphic Materials
9. Machine-Readable Data Files
10. Three-Dimensional Artifacts and Realia

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11. Microforms
12. Serials
13. Analysis
Part II: Headings, Uniform Titles and References
14. Choice of Access Points
15. Headings for Persons
16. Geographic Names
17. Headings for Corporate Bodies
18. References
Appendix A: Contains instructions for Capitalization
Appendix B: Contains list of Standard Abbreviations
Appendix C: Deals with Numerals
Appendix D: Glossary
AACR-II prescribes three levels of details in the description depending upon the nature and the size of the
library. The first level provides a brief cataloguing description just to identify a particular document. It is
recommended for a small library. The second level description is recommended for a medium size library,
whereas the third level of description includes all the elements prescribed in the AACR-II and is
recommended for the highly specialized libraries or national and research libraries. Here, we will
concentrate only on the second level of description.
5.2 Card Catalogue: In most of the libraries of India the entries are written on card. The standard size of
the card is 12.5 X 7.5 cm or 5’’X 3". The catalogue cards which are used for preparing entries may be
ruled, semi-ruled or plain. The ruled cards are very convenient if the entries are prepared by hand, and if
the matter is typed then plain cards are more suitable and used. There are different lines on the card, which
may be of the following types:
First Indention: It is the first vertical line that lays nine (9) spaces from left margin. This line is in red ink.
Second Indention: It is the second vertical line that lays thirteen (13) spaces from left margin or four letters
space from first indention. It is also indicated in red ink.
Third Indention: Beyond the second vertical line there is also a third indention which is an imaginary line.
It lays fifteen (15) spaces from left margin. In a reference, referred-from heading continues from third
indention

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Horizontal Line: The card has also one horizontal line in the upper section of the catalogue card. It is a bold
line and is also indicated in red ink.
Hole: The card also contains one hole at the bottom portion at equal distance from both the vertical cores of
the cards. A rod of iron or brass is used to support all the cards in the tray through this hole.
5.3 Types of Entries: Each library prepares various unit records for each document in its holding. These
unit records are prepared to meet the various need and approach of the library user to the document. These
unit records are called as entries.
AACR-I regards the main entry as “the complete catalogue record of a bibliographical entry, presented in
the form by which the entity is to be uniformly identified and cited. The main entry normally includes the
tracing of all other headings under which the record is to be represented in the catalogue”.
An added entry is “an entry, additional to the main entry, by which an item is represented in a catalog”
(AACR-II, p. 563). The additional entries supplement the main entry by providing an additional approach
to the documents listed in the catalogue.
a) Type of Information Needed for Cataloguing: The cataloguer needs the following information about a
document for cataloguing.
Name of the authors
Name of the collaborators
Title, subtitle or alternative title of the document
Edition
Name of the series
Editor of series
Name, place and year of publication
Size and number of pages of the document
Copyright year
ISBN/ISSN
The call number (class number and book number) of the document. It can be found at the verso of the title
page that will be provided by the classifier.
The accession number of the document. It also can be found at the verso of the title page. The accessionist
will provide this number.
b) Sources of Information Needed for Cataloguing: The prescribed source of information for the
preparation of the card catalogue is the title page. It provides most of the information about the book. It is

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the next printed page to the cover of the book. Please note here that the cover page of the book is not the
title page. The page leaving one or two pages from the beginning and on which the description mentioned
bellow is printed is called the title page. The title page, in upper most part of it, contains the title and
subtitle (if any) of the book. The names of authors and collaborators with their working institutions are
given in the middle of the page. In the lower part, the name of the publisher, place and year of publication
and price etc are given. If there is no title page, one can consult the cover caption or the half title page of
the book. In the half title page of the book, only the title of the book, but no author and publication
statements, is printed. Sometimes, the name of the series is also printed on this page. The verso / back of
the title page contains copyright year, print and reprint, edition, name and address of the publisher, the
price, and so on.
Besides the title page, we can also collect information about the book (in order of the following preference)
i) Accompanying material
ii) A container
iii) Another published description of the book or
iv) Any other available sources.
AACR-II recommends the following types of entries
i) Main Entry: The Main entry is an author entry in AACR-II. If the authorship is diffused or not known the
main entry is prepared under the title. The Main Entry is the complete catalogue record of an item. It also
includes the tracing of all other headings under which the record is to be presented in the catalogue.
ii) Added Entry: An added entry is a secondary entry, additional to the Main Entry, by which an item is
represented in a catalogue. S R Ranganathan calls it “entry other than the main entry”. There are different
types of added entries. i.e. Joint author(s), Editor(s), Translator(s), Compiler(s), Subject, Title, Series, etc.
The number and kind of added entries required by a document depends upon the nature of a particular
document and also on the nature of the catalogue used in a library.
iii) Reference: Reference is a direction from one heading or entry to another. There are different types of
references in AACR-II. They are See Reference, See also Reference, Name title Reference, Explanatory
Reference, etc. Out of all the references “See” and “See also” type of references are frequently used.
* See Reference: It directs the user of a catalogue from a form of the name of a person or a corporate body
or the title of a work to the form that has been chosen as a name heading or a uniform title.
Example
Md. Syed Ahmed Khan
see Syed Ahmed Khan
Dhanpat Rai
see Prem Chand

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* “See Also” Reference: The function of a “See also” reference is to direct the user from one name heading
or uniform title to another that is related to it. If the works of one person or corporate body are entered
under two different headings a “see also” reference is prepared from each heading.
Example:
Home Science
See also Interior decoration
5.4 Rules for Description of Monograph: The elements to be included in the catalogue entry are divided
into the following areas:
a) Call Number: Call number is the combination of class number and book number. It is the first item
which should be recorded in the upper left hand corner of the catalogue card with pencil.
b) Accession Number: It should be recorded on the seventh line from the top of the card or fourth line from
the bottom.
c) Author: “Author” in the entry is indicated by writing the surname first which is followed by a comma “,”
and the remaining parts of the name (i.e. forenames) are given after leaving one space which is followed by
the date of birth and / or death of an author in full, if any, and a full stop. This is written from the first
indention and continued from the third indention on the next line.
d) Title and Statement of Responsibility: The title proper should be recorded exactly as the wording, order
and spelling as it is found in the title page of the document. Capitalization and punctuation should be
avoided
i) Alternate Title: Use the first part of the title with commas, and then the alternate title.
Examples:Another world watching, or The riddle of the flying saucers
Indian song of songs, or Gita govinda
ii) Abridge Title: Abridge a long title proper only if this can be done without any loss of the essential
information. Indicate the omission by the mark of three dots “…”.
iii) Initial and Acronyms: If a title proper includes separate letters or initials without full stops between
them, record such letters without spaces between them. If such letters or initials have full stop between
them, record them with full stops.
Example:“ALA Rules for filling catalog cards” and “A.L.A. Rules for filling catalog cards”
iv) Parallel Title: Record parallel title in the order indicated by their sequences. If the title appears in two or
more languages, choose one of these as the title proper and record the other titles as parallel title. The
parallel title appearing outside the chief source of information should be noted in the note section of the
catalogue card.
v) Title in Numerals: If the title of a document appears in numerals, record it in letters and endorse it in the
square brackets.

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Example: “20 [Twenty] – point programme”.
vi) Other Title Information: Record other title information (subtitle, etc) appearing in the chief source of
information. Use space colon space “ : “ between the title proper and other title information.
Example: “Cataloguing : theory and practice”.
e) Statement of Responsibility: Record statement of responsibility in the form in which they appear in the
chief source of information. The statement of responsibility should be preceded by a diagonal slash. If there
is more than one statement of responsibility, record them in the order indicated by their sequence on or by
the layout of the chief source of information. If the statement of responsibility is taken from outside enclose
it in square brackets.
Example: “Cataloguing practice / by S R Ranganathan”.
f) Edition: This area should be preceded by a full stop, space dash space “. – “. The statement of
responsibility should be preceded by a diagonal slash, and then each subsequent statement of responsibility
should be preceded by a semi-colon. The standard abbreviations and numerals in place of words should be
used.
Example: “2nd ed”, “3rd ed”, “New ed”, “Rev ed”, “Rev and enl ed”.
g) Place: If a publisher has many offices in more than one place, always prefer the name of the first place
and omit all other places. If the place of publication, distribution, etc is uncertain, give the probable place
with a question mark in square brackets.
Example: “[Delhi?]”.
If, no place or probable place can be given, put the abbreviation sl (Sine loco) in square brackets “[s.l.]”.
“Sine loco” means “no place” in Latin.
Example:“[s.l.]: Vikas, 2001”.
h) Publisher: After the place of publication, use the shortest form of the publisher in which it can be
understood and identified internationally. If the book has two or more publishers, record the first named
place and publisher. If the name of the publisher is not known, the abbreviation sn (sine nominee) is given
in square brackets. Example: “[s.n.]”.
i) Date of Publication: Give the year of publication in Arabic numerals preceded by a comma.
Example:“, 2001”.
If there is no date, the copyright date is given.
Example:“, c 1999”.
If the date of publication is not known then n.d. (no date) is written in square brackets.
Example:[n.d.].

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j) Physical Description Area: This paragraph starts from the second indention and continues from the first
indention. This area consists of pagination, illustrative matter and size of the document expressed in cm.
If the volume is without pagination, ascertain the total number of pages and give the number in square
brackets. The sequence of describing page information is
“Preliminary pages, Roman pages, Arabic pages.”.
Example: “xii, 786 p.”.
When preliminary pages are not numbered it should be in the form of : “[xii], 786 p.”.
The connecting symbol between pagination and illustrative matter is a colon “:”. The illustrated printed
monograph is described as “Charts”, “Maps”, “Music”, “Plans”, “Portraits”, “Samples”, or simple as “ill”.
Example:“786 p. ; ill.”.
The connecting symbol between the illustrative matter and the height of the document is semi colon “;”.
The height of the document is written in cm.
Example“786 p. : ill.; 18 cm.”.
k) Series: The series are preceded by a full stop space dash space “. - “. Series statement is recorded in
circular brackets. The series statement may consist of name of the series, statement of responsibility
relating to series and number of series.
Example:“. - (Ranganathan series in Library Science; 4)”, “. - (Research monographs / Institute of
Economic Affairs; 3)”.
l) Notes: Notes may be given to explain the nature, scope or artistic form of the item, language of the item,
sources of the title proper, variation in title, accompanying material, contents, etc.
m) Standard Number: If the item contains ISBN / ISSN, record International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for the item. Example: “ISBN : 0-910608-70-9”.
n) Tracing: Tracing is the record of the heading under which an item is represented in the catalogue. The
information about the added entries should be recorded in a paragraph starting from the second indention.
Before going for tracing, the subjects of the document need to be determined. In the main card, the added
entries for subject should be numbered in Arabic numerals (Example “1”, “2”) whereas, the other entries
should be numbered in Roman numerals (Example “I”, “II”). Another point to be noted is that, in the added
entries for subject, the names of the subject are written in all capital letters. Example: “LIBRARY
SCIENCE”.
6. Sorting: In a title catalogue, one can distinguish two sort orders-
a) Grammatic Sort Order: In the grammatic sort order, the most important word of the title is the first sort
term. The importance of a word is measured by grammatic rules; for example, the first noun may be
defined to be the most important word.

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The most important word of the title is also a good keyword and it is the word most users remember first
when their memory is incomplete. This is an advantage in favour of grammatic sort order. However, it has
the disadvantage that many elaborate grammatic rules are needed, so that only expert users may be able to
search the catalogue without help from a librarian.
b) Mechanic Sort Order: In the mechanic sort order, the first word of the title is the first sort term. Most
new catalogues use this scheme. Still, the mechanic sort order includes a trace of the grammatic sort order
as they neglect an article (A, An, The etc.) at the beginning of the title.
c) Alphabetic Sorting: Here entries are arranged alphabetically.
In a subject catalogue, one has to decide on which classification system to be used. The cataloguer will
select appropriate subject headings for the bibliographic item and a unique classification number (class
number).
7. Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC): The catalogues which are available for searching online are
known as OPAC. Such OPAC may be searched from a terminal within the originating library or at a
terminal elsewhere in the organization or remotely via national or international telecommunication
network. Now the scenario is that these databases are available over web. OPAC has two different
meaning-
a) Access to library housekeeping especially circulation (primarily for library staff use) and which could
also serve as rudimentary catalogue for the library user.
b) Access to machine readable bibliographic records from which card and computer output in Microform
(COM) can be generated.
a) Definition: The A. L. A. Glossary defines OPAC as “a commuter based and supported library catalogue
(bibliographic database) design to be accessed via terminal so that library user may directly and effectively
search for and retrieve bibliographic records without the assistance of a human intermediary such as a
specially trained member of the library staff”.
b) Types of OPAC: OPAC can generally be viewed being of two types-
i) First Generation OPAC: First generation OPAC has been derived from traditional catalogues or
computerized circulation system. They are also referred to as phase – indexed or pre-coordinated OPACs
and it demands exact matching between the search term and pre-coordinate phrase. The number of access
keys is limited and they are similar to that of manual catalogue i.e author, title, class number and possibly
subject heading.
ii) Second Generation OPAC: Second generation OPAC originated from common bibliographic
information retrieval system and so there is a growing similarity between second generation OPAC and
traditional information retrieval system. This generation OPAC provides key word searching that is post
coordinate searching together with phrase searching or pre-coordinate subject heading.
c) Components of OPAC: There are three main components of OPAC. They are-

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i) Computer and Terminal: The hardware requirement for OPAC i.e computer terminal and server from
which databases can be accessed.
ii) Software Enabling Networking: The network enabling software which will be able to manage the entire
database.
iii) Database: The database of books, serial, dissertation, etc can be generated by two different ways. One is
developing database by direct entry and the other is developing database through retrospective conversion
process.
d) Searching and Browsing OPAC: When the searcher knows precisely what he wants i.e. when user
information need is fairly well defined he/she can use word truncation, range search, field level search,
Boolean combination, word adjacency / proximity operator, etc. which are of generally two types.
i) Phrase Searching: Phrase searching is done on pre-coordinate subject heading.
ii) Keyword Searching / Post Coordinate Searching: When a query is formulated using Boolean expression.
iii) Browsing: Browsing is used when user’s information needs are not precisely defined. By browsing one
can determine the exact forms of entry of a subject heading or author name.
e) OPAC Vs Card Catalogue: The difference between OPAC and card catalogue are represented in the following
table.
Characteristic OPAC Card Catalogue
Time OPAC allows rapid retrieval. It is a time consuming job.
Access point It provides multiple access to the
database and helpful for Boolean
searches
Access is only through entry
point and a build in cross
reference structure.
Indexing techniques Support both pre-coordinate and post
coordinate searching.
Support only pre coordinate
searching.
User Friendliness It is more user friendly and guides the
user in a step by step manner to find the
information.
The user has to decide himself
how to find the required card.
Current Status OPAC provides the current status of the
item being search i.e whether a
document is on the shelves, on loan, on
reservation or at binders or the document
is lost.
It does not provide current
status of the document.
Enhance Feature OPAC provides acquisition of titles, to
reserve material and to send
personalized SDI, overdue/ recall /
collect notices and messages by Email.
Such types of facilities are not
found in a card catalogue
Union Catalogue Helps to develop centralized database
and resource sharing among different
libraries.
It is very difficult to achieve
resources sharing through card
catalogue

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f) OPAC vs Information Retrieval System: The difference between OPAC and Information Retrieval System are -
Characteristic OPAC Information Retrieval System
Coverage OPAC database includes one or
more than one library’s collection;
hence its coverage is on wide
variety of discipline and subject
areas.
Its coverage is limited in subject
scope either to a single subject or
to a range of discipline linked to a
particular mission.
Abstract Records in the OPAC mostly lack
abstract and subject descriptor is
inadequate.
Information retrieval systems
records are well indexed and are
supported usually with abstract.
Indexing System OPAC provides pre-coordinate
phrase searching and browsing
option.
Information retrieval system mostly
provides post coordinate searches.
Underlying Assumptions The most searches will be on
known document i.e searches for
document whose bibliographic
details are known at least
partially.
Searching will be for document
containing information of a
particular subject.
Skill OPAC is designed for end-user
and so menu driven and provides
facilities like on-line help
message, on-line index with
different approach points (author,
ISBN, class number, etc.)
It is not designed for end user and
required the skills of information
professional. The search
negotiations are carried out by the
librarian. He/she should interact
with the user to know their
information need then formulate
search strategy using vocabulary
control devices and modify the
search if required.
g) Advantages of OPAC: The main advantages of OPAC are -
i) OPAC searching is speedier and user friendly than that of manual cataloguing.
ii) Provides multiple access to the database and more or less designed as an information retrieval system.
iii) Guides the user in a step by step manner for retrieving the specific information.
iv) Supports the post coordinate searcher, Boolean operation, etc.
v) Provides the current status of the item being search i.e. whether a document is on the shelves, on loan,
on reserved for someone, at the binder or whether it is lost.
vi) Designed as an integrated library management system.
vii) Helps to develop centralized database and resources sharing among different libraries.
h) Limitation of OPAC: Different in user and system vocabulary is a major reason for user dissatisfaction
with OPAC.

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Library Classification
Library Classification: Classification means putting together the like-entities and separating the unlike
entities. The characteristics of entities are used as a basis for determining the likeness and unlikeness
between them. A class consists of entities which are like in some respects and possessing certain qualities
in common. This helps in distinguish them from another class of entities.
1. Definition: A library classification is a system of coding and organizing library materials (books, serials,
audiovisual, computer files, maps, photographs, manuscripts, regalia, gramophone records, tape records,
microfilm and so on) according to their subject. It provides formal access to documents in a library.
Sayers defines library classification as “the arrangement of books on shelves or description of them in the
manner which is most helpful to those who read”. The emphasis is on usefulness so that the users can
locate the document without complication.
According to Margaret Mann, classification is “the arranging of things according to likeness and
unlikeness. It is the sorting and grouping of things, but in addition classification of books is a knowledge
classification with adjustment made necessary by the physical forms of books.”
According to S.R. Ranganathan, “it is the translation of the name of the subject of a book into a preferred
artificial language of ordinal numbers and the individualization of the several books dealing with the same
specific subject by means of a further set of ordinal numbers which represents some features of the book
other than their thought content”. The first of these ordinal numbers is called the class number of the book.
The second ordinal numbers is called its book number. The class number and the book number together
constitute the call number of the book.
The library classification system provides a system for organizing the knowledge embodied in books, CD,
web, etc. It supplies a notation (in case of DDC, it is Arabic numerals) to the document. The Dewey
Decimal Classification (DDC) system is a general knowledge organization tool that is continuously revised
to keep pace with the development of knowledge. It is the most widely used classification scheme in the
world. Libraries in more than 135 countries use the DDC to organize their collection. It is also used over
the web for organizing the web resources for the purpose of browsing.
2. Need: Until 19th century, most libraries had closed stacks, so the library classification only served to
organize the subject catalogue. In the 20th century, libraries opened their stacks to the public and started to
shelve the library material itself according to certain library classification scheme to simplify subject
browsing. So classification is needed for providing the following advantages
i) Helpful Sequence: Classification brings the like documents together on the shelf in a helpful sequence
providing approach through subject.
ii) Locate a Particular Document: A library collects / preserves documents. It is very difficult to locate a
required document from a system of disorderly collection. So, it needs classification to bring order to the
collection.

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iii) Self Help: Classification helps the locating of document by the patron of the library itself, thus
requiring less assistance from the library staff.
iv) Correct Replacement: Documents would be taken out from shelves by the users or library staff. The
classification helps in the correct replacement of documents after these have been returned from use.
v) Mechanical Arrangement: The classification helps the mechanization of the collection by allocating
notation.
3. Different Schemes of Classification: To derive the particular class number different libraries use
different classification schemes. All classification schemes can be categorized into three kinds- based on
the language, based on the synthesis and based on arrangement. Let us discuss them in detail
Based on the language library classification can be:
i) English-Speaking World: In the English –speaking countries Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC),
Library of Congress Classification (LC), Bliss Bibliographic Classification (BC), Dickinson Classification
are generally followed.
ii) Non English Speaking World: Non English speaking countries use Nippon Decimal Classification
(NDC), Principes de Classement des Documents Musicaux (PCDM), Chinese Library Classification
(CLC), Korean Decimal Classification (KDC), etc.
Synthesis means combining codes from different lists to represent the different attributes of a work. Based
on synthesis library classification may be Bibliographic Classification by Bliss, Colon Classification by
Ranganathan, Expansive Classification by Cutter, Universal Decimal Classification, etc.
Based on the arrangement there are three main types of classification systems:
i) Enumerative: Produce an alphabetical list of subject headings; assign numbers to each heading in
alphabetical order. The most common classification systems, LC and DDC, are essentially enumerative,
though with some hierarchical and faceted elements, especially at the broadest and most general level.
ii) Hierarchical: Divides subjects hierarchically, from general to specific.
iii) Faceted or analytico-synthetic: Divides subjects into mutually exclusive orthogonal facets. The first true
faceted system was the Colon classification of S. R. Ranganathan.
iv) Specialist Classification: Specialist classification systems have been developed for particular subject
areas, and some specialist libraries develop their own classification system that emphasizes those areas they
specialize in. An example is the Medical Subject Headings devised by the US National Library of
Medicine (NLM). Another example is the specialist classification system for art and iconography
(Iconclass). There are also emerging metadata standards that are being developed for web resources, digital
images, and other specialized materials.
4. Dewey Decimal Classification: The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is the world’s most
widely used library classification system. American librarian and library educator Melville Dewey devised

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the system in 1873 while he was a student at Amherst College in Massachusetts. The Dewey Decimal
system was first published in 1876 as “A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging
the Books and Pamphlets of a Library”. It appeared in the form of a small book of 44 pages. The Decimal
Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) was established in 1937 to serve as an advisory body to
the Dewey Decimal Classification. In 1988, Online Computer Library Center, Inc (OCLC) acquired the
DDC. The editorial headquarters was located at the Library of Congress in the Decimal Classification
Division. The editors prepare the proposed schedule revisions and expansions, and forward the proposals to
EPC for review and recommended action. Nowadays, DDC is published by Online Computer Library
Center, Inc in full and abridged editions. The abridged edition targets the general libraries having less than
20,000 titles. Both the full and abridged editions are available in print as well as in electronic version.
4.1 Introduction to 22nd Edition of DDC: The edition 22 is the first edition of the DDC, which is produced
in the context of the web environment. DDC 22 is composed of the following major parts in four volumes.
a) Volume 1: It includes special features of edition 22, introduction regarding how to use the DDC,
glossary, index to the introduction and glossary, a manual (guide to the use of the DDC), and six numbered
tables. It also has the lists that compare editions 21 and 22 with the list of relocated, discontinued and
reused numbers.
b) Volume 2: It includes DDC summaries (the top three levels of the DDC), and schedules (from 000-599).
The summaries will help you to visualize at a glance the structure and scope of various subjects as laid
down in DDC.
The first summary contains ten main classes. The first digit in each three-digit number represents the main
class. For example, 600 represents technology.
The second summary contains the hundred divisions, ten for each main class. The second digit in each
three-digit number indicates the division. For example, 600 is used for general works on technology, 610
for medicine and health, 620 for engineering, 630 for agriculture.
The third summary contains the thousand sections. The third digit in each three-digit number indicates the
section. Thus, 610 is used for general works on medicine and health, 611 for human anatomy, 612 for
human physiology, 613 for personal health and safety.
c) Volume 3: It includes the organization of knowledge schedules from 600-999.
d) Volume 4: It includes a relative index. The relative index (it relates subjects to discipline) contains an
alphabetical list of subjects with the disciplines in which they are treated as sub-arranged alphabetically
under each entry.
4.2 Understanding the Structure of DDC: The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system uses simple
decimal notation to divide recorded knowledge into 10 main classes at the broadest level which together
cover the entire world of knowledge. Each main class is further divided into ten divisions, and each
division into ten sections giving 100 divisions and 1,000 sections. All the numbers for the divisions and
sections have not been used.

197. Page197
a) Tables: The six tables in the DDC are as following
T1 Standard Subdivisions
T2 Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Persons
T3 Subdivisions for the Arts, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms
T4 Subdivisions of Individual Languages and Language Families
T5 Ethnic and National Groups
T6 Languages
The notation from T1can be added to any numbers unless there is an instruction in the schedules or tables
to the contrary. The other table notations may be added only when instructions are given in the schedules
or tables.
b) Summaries: The Dewey Decimal Classification divides human knowledge into ten basic categories, with
subdivisions indicated by decimal notation. Each of the ten main classes has the potential to be broken
down into smaller multiples of ten. The word decimal in the name of the classification system comes from
decem, the Latin word for “ten”.
DDC has three summaries. The first summaries includes 10 main classes, the second summary includes
100 divisions and the third summary includes 1000 sections.
i) First Summary: The ten primary classes of DDC are as follows:
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy and psychology
200 Religion
300 Social
400 Language
500 Natural sciences and mathematics
600 Technology (applied sciences)
700 The arts; fine and decorative arts
800 Literature and rhetoric
900 Geography and history

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A brief explanation of each of the class is given below.
000: Class 000 is the most general class. It includes the works that are not limited to any one specific
discipline or the works that are related to information and knowledge. It includes encyclopedias,
newspapers, general periodicals, computer science, library and information science, journalism, etc.
100: Class 100 covers Philosophy, Parapsychology and occultism, and Psychology.
200: Class 200 is devoted to Religion
300: Class 300 covers the social sciences that include Sociology, Anthropology, Statistics, Political
science, Economics, Law, Public administration, Social problems and services, Education, Commerce,
Communications, Transportation, Custom (including folk literature), etc.
400: It comprises languages, linguistics, and specific languages.
500: It includes Natural sciences and Mathematics.
600: Class 600 includes technology.
700: It covers arts in general, fine and decorative arts, music, and the performing arts. It also includes
recreation, including sports and games.
800: It covers literature, and includes rhetoric, prose, poetry, drama, etc.
900: It is devoted to History and Geography.
ii) Second Summary: Again, each of the 10 Main Classes is subdivided into 10 Divisions resulting in 100
Divisions on the whole. The entire second summary is reproduced bellow for your reference. You should
remember the first and second summary of DDC fully.
000 Computer science, knowledge & systems
010 Bibliographies
020 Library & information sciences
030 Encyclopedias & books of facts
040 [Unassigned]
050 Magazines, journals & serials
060 Associations, organizations & museums
070 News media, journalism & publishing
080 Quotations
090 Manuscripts & rare book

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100 Philosophy
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology
130 Parapsychology & occultism
140 Philosophical schools of thought
150 Psychology
160 Logic
170 Ethics
180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy
190 Modern western philosophy
200 Religion
210 Philosophy & theory of religion
220 The Bible
230 Christianity & Christian theology
240 Christian practice & observance
250 Christian pastoral practice & religious orders
260 Christian organization, social work & worship
270 History of Christianity
280 Christian denominations
290 Other religions
300 Social sciences, Sociology & Anthropology
310 Statistics
320 Political science
330 Economics
340 Law

200. Page200
350 Public administration & military science
360 Social problems & social services
370 Education
380 Commerce, communications & transportation
390 Customs, etiquette & folklore
400 Language
410 Linguistics
420 English & Old English languages
430 German & related languages
440 French & related languages
450 Italian, Romanian & related languages
460 Spanish & Portuguese languages
470 Latin & Italic languages
480 Classical & modern Greek languages
490 Other languages
500 Science
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy
530 Physics
540 Chemistry
550 Earth sciences & geology
560 Fossils & prehistoric life
570 Life science; Biology
580 Plants (Botany)
590 Animals (Zoology)

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600 Technology
610 Medicine & health
620 Engineering
630 Agriculture
640 Home & family management
650 Management & public relations
660 Chemical engineering
670 Manufacturing
680 Manufacture for specific uses
690 Building & construction
700 Arts
710 Landscaping & area planning
720 Architecture
730 Sculpture, ceramics & metalwork
740 Drawing & decorative arts
750 Painting
760 Graphic arts
770 Photography & computer art
780 Music
790 Sports, games & entertainment
800 Literature, Rhetoric & Criticism
810 American literatures in English
820 English & Old English literatures
830 German & related literature
840 French & related literatures
850 Italian, Romanian & related literatures

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860 Spanish & Portuguese literature
870 Latin & Italic literatures
880 Classical & modern Greek literature
890 Other literatures
900 History
910 Geography & travel
920 Biography & geography
930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)
940 History of Europe
950 History of Asia
960 History of Africa
970 History of North America
980 History of South America
990 History of other areas
iii) Third Summary: In the third summaries, each one of the 100 divisions is further subdivided into 10
sections resulting in 1000 sections. For the copyright issue, the third summary is not included here in this
unit. But, you can find the complete summaries of DDC 22nd edition over OCLC website
(http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/summaries/default.htm), and Chopac.org (http://chopac.org/cgi-
bin/tools/ddc22.pl). The Chopac.org provides the DDC summaries of 22nd edition in a very easy to
browse, and search structure. You can also use this interface to obtain the main class number of any
document.
You can also find the Dewey Decimal Classification System (13th Abridged) in the website of Near North
District School Board (http://www-lib.nearnorth.edu.on.ca/dewey/ddc.htm).
c) Schedules: Schedules contain the schedules of Class Numbers assigned in numeric order from 000 to
999. To follow the correct use of the Schedules, it is necessary to understand the various notes and
instructions suggested in different entries. So, let’s explore the schedule in some details.
Entries in the schedules and tables are composed of DDC number in the left margin, a heading
describing the class that the number represents, and often one or more notes. All entries, numbers,
headings, and notes should be read in the context of hierarchy. The first three digits of schedule number
appears only once, when first used, in the number column. They are repeated at the top of each page where
their subdivisions continue. Subordinate numbers appear in the number column, beginning with a decimal
point. The numbers and notes in parentheses provide options to standard practice. Numbers in square

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brackets represent the topics that have been reallocated or discontinued, or unassigned. Square brackets are
also used for standard subdivision concepts that are represented in another location.
Only a fraction of the potential DDC numbers is included in the schedules. It is often necessary to
build or synthesize a number that is not specifically listed in the schedules. If you turn the third page of the
schedule (Vol 2), you will see that entries start with the notation “000” at the top of the page and a
summary of all divisions and sections below it. In the 5th page you will see the first entry that is “001”
which stands for knowledge, and below it the numbers and descriptions and different notes to arrive at the
correct class number of a document.
d) Relative Index: The volume 4 contains the Relative Index. It is an alphabetical list of all the subjects
given in the Schedules and Tables. It is called the Relative Index because it brings together under the name
of the subject the various aspects of a subject which are scattered in the schedules according to the
disciplines. This index not only arranges the concepts and their terms in an alphabetical sequence but also
shows the relation between the terms and the contexts in which the subjects appear in the Schedule. It is a
key to the Schedules as well as an independent approach to classification. In the index, all possible subjects
are included under main divisions and sub-divisions so that the classifier finds it easy to search out the
possible subjects under the alphabetical list of relative index. The numbers that are given for subjects in the
index are readymade numbers, but they are not the same as those of the schedule. The classifier has to
finally decide the number himself.
4.3 Steps for Classifying with DDC: While doing the classification of a document one should procede to
the class number in the following ways
a) Determine the Subject: First, try to determine the subject of the book or document in your hand. The title
often provides a clue to the subject, but it should never be the sole source of analysis. The subject which
the book deals with can be determined by going through the table of contents, chapter headings, the preface
or introduction, and the book jacket or the accompanying materials.
If a work includes multiple subjects, class it under the subject that is being acted upon (rule of
application). The rule of application takes precedence over any other rule. For instance, class an analytical
work dealing with Shakespeare’ influence on Keats with the subject Keats. Class a work (book) on two
subjects with the subjects receiving fuller treatment. If two subjects receive equal treatment, class the work
with the subject whose number comes first in the DDC schedules (first-of-two rule). For example, history
dealing equally with the United States and Japan, should be classed under history of Japan, because 952
Japan precedes 973 United States (even if in the title of the work United States appears first, and it is
discussed first in the contents of the work). Class a work in which three or more subjects are treated equally
but are all subdivisions of a broader subject in the first higher number that includes them all (rule of three).
For instance, a history of Portugal (946.9), Sweden (948.5), and Greece (949.5) is classed with the history
of Europe (940).
b) Determine the Discipline: After determining the subject the classifier should try to determine the
disciplinary focus and, if possible, the approach or form of the work.
If a work is dealing with more than one discipline, interdisciplinary number should be provided to
the work.

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If you are not able to determine the subject and the discipline of the book in hand, you can consult
“The Relative Index”. It will help by suggesting the discipline(s) in which a subject is normally treated.
c) Consult the Schedule: The schedules are the only place where all the information about coverage and use
of the numbers may be found. So, once the subject has been determined and information on the discipline
has been found, the classifier should turn to the schedules. The summaries, headings and notes within the
schedules will provide the necessary guidance to arrive at the appropriate class number.
In the schedule of DDC, special headings, notes, and entries indicate relationships among the topics
that violate the notational hierarchy. The notes are usually given at the highest level of application. For
example, the scope note at 700 applies to 730 to 736 and to 736.4. So, during the process of classifying a
document the classifier has to turn the pages up and down.
Even if the classifier has used “The Relative Index”, he should still rely on the structure of the
classification schedule to arrive at the proper class number of a work. Even the most promising Relative
Index citations must be verified in the schedules.
d) Close and Broad Classification: Close classification means that the content of a work is specified by
notation to the fullest extent possible. Broad classification means that the work is placed in a broad class by
the use of notation that has been logically abridged. For example, a work on French cooking is classed
closely at 641.5944 (641.59 Cooking by place + 44 France from the T1), or broadly at 641.5 (Cooking).
The DDC provides the basic options of close versus broad classification. A library should choose between
these two option based on the size of its collection and the needs of its users. The abridged edition of the
DDC is another source for broad classification.
e) Other Points: It should be noted that DDC uses the convention that no number should have fewer than
three digits; zeros are used to fill in the numbers. A decimal point (or dot) follows the third digit in a class
number, after which division by ten continues to the specific degree of classification needed. The “dot” is
not used as a decimal point in the mathematical sense; it used to ease the transcription and copying of the
class numbers.
A number should never end in a zero anywhere to the right of the decimal point. Again, subdivisions
beginning with zero should be avoided if there is a choice between zero and 1-9 at the same point in the
hierarchy of the notation (rule of zero).
4.4 Examples of Classifying a Document with DDC Summaries: Now let’s try to classify some general
books practically, wherein we do not require to use seven tables and the details about the Schedules. For
classification of such books, the three summaries of DDC and the Relative Index will be enough. Now, for
example, take a book whose name is “A Text Book of Geometry”
Here, in the title, it is very easy and expressive enough to determine the subject. Geometry is the branch of
Mathematics and it will come under science. So, go to the first summary wherein you will find “500
Science”, then consult the second summary, wherein under 500 you will find “510 Mathematics”. Now, in
the third summary under “510 Mathematics”, you will find “516 Geometry”. Now, consult the schedule for

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verification. In the schedule also the 516 is for Geometry. So, the class number of the above book will be
“516”.
Now, suppose, in lieu of the above approach you want to move from the Relative Index. In such
cases, find the word Geometry in the page number 331 of volume 4. Opposite to the word you will find the
number “516” in the following format.
Geometry 516
famous problems 516.204
Now consult the schedule for verification. In page number 515 of volume 2, you will find “516
Geometry”, so the class number of the above book will be “516”.
4.5 Classification of Document by Using the Web: The cost of DDC is very high. Every library in India
and in other developing countries cannot afford to have a set of DDC as its own. But the classification of
the documents in a library is a must. To meet this end, librarians can use some tools and techniques to have
a class number of a document they have procured in their library. There are some excellent tools over the
web that share the class numbers. Some of these tools and techniques are discussed bellow. They will
provide the readymade class number of a document and will save the time of the classifier. We may not
require to follow these options if we have a set of DDC. We are to only follow the options listed below in
the event of not having a set of DDC. We can also follow these options to verify the class number obtained
by consulting the DDC on our own.
a) Classify: An Experimental Classification Web Service: OCLC Research experimental classification
service launched “Classify” (http://classify.oclc.org/classify2/) which is targeted to support the assignment
of class number and subject heading by using the web. The interface can be used both by a machine as well
as human being. It provides access to more than 36 million collectively built records from a large pool of
related resources. Each record in the database contains Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) numbers,
Library of Congress Classification (LCC) numbers, or National Library of Medicine (NLM) Classification
numbers, and subject headings from the Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST).
In the database of Classify (http://classify.oclc.org/classify2/) by inputting any one or in combination of
some basic information related to the document, the class number or subject heading can be obtained. The
inputted information may be of the following types-
i) ISBN: You can use the 10 or 13 digit ISBN. The ISBN should be used without hyphens in between. You
can find more about ISBN over: http://www.isbn-international.org/
ii) OCLC #: Each bibliographic record in the WorldCat has a unique number that range from 1 to 9 digits
in length. You can also use this number to find out the information from the database. More about OCLC #
is available over: http://www.worldcat.org/links/default.jsp
iii) Barcode / The Universal Product Code (UPC): You can use the 12 digits UPC number found in the
document. You can know more about Barcode over: http://www.gs1us.org/
iv) International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): You can use the eight digits ISSN with or without
hyphen (as it is appeared in the document). You can know more about ISSN over: http://www.issn.org

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v) Title and / or Author: You can also use full title of the document or some portion of it or its author or
both the title and the author as a combined search.
vi) Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST): You can also use the FAST controlled vocabulary
that is based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). You can collect more information
about FAST over: http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/fast/
If you go to (http://classify.oclc.org/) web address and enter the ISBN / ISSN or any standard number
correctly in the interface it sometimes shows a “No data found for the input argument” error. But, if you
use the title and some portion of the authors’ name of the same document it shows the result. It happens
probably because sometimes people perhaps do not entered those fields in the records of the database,
while preparing it.
Entering some portion of the title and the first author’s surname (or sometimes the forename) of the
document in the interface mostly leads to the relevant document and class number. You can use this option
as your first approach to obtain the class number of the document or its subject heading.
b) DeweyBrowser: The DeweyBrowser (http://deweybrowser.oclc.org) provides access to approximately
2.5 million records from the OCLC Worldcat database. You can also use this interface to obtain readymade
class number of a document in your library. Just make a search by entering the complete title of the
document in the search box of the site to have its class number.
c) ISBNdb.com: ISBNdb.com (http://isbndb.com/) is a database of books that is built by taking data from
hundreds of libraries across the world. It is developed by Andrew Maltsev. He has also a company named
Ejelta LLC (http://ejelta.com/), based in San Gabriel, CA. This ISBNdb.com is one of the outputs of the
company. You can enter the keywords, book title, author, publisher, topic or ISBN of the document in its
search box to have its class number. After displaying the result by the interface, click on the most relevant
title under the heading of “Books Matching (‘your enter title’)” and consult the “Dewey Class:” under
“Classification:” heading. Here you will find the classification number of the document you are looking
for.
If you don’t find the heading “Classification:” or you find the heading “Classification:” but don’t
find the “Dewey Class:” then you should move to the appropriate title under “Libraries this book has an
entry in:”. Now under the “MARC Record” you should consult the number against: 092: $a: or 082. This
will be your classification number of the document you were looking for.
d) Library of Congress Online Catalogue: To classify document by using Library of Congress Online
Catalogue (http://catalog.loc.gov/), enter the address http://catalog.loc.gov/ in the address bar of your
browser, and then click on “Alternative Interface to the LC Online Catalog (Z39.50)”. It will lead you to a
new screen, from where you have to opt for “Advanced Search (multiple terms using Boolean operators)”.
In the new page you have arrived at (it will look just like the following) you can search for class numbers
by entering different details about the document in your library. Your search term may be the name of the
author, title, series, ISBN, ISSN, publisher and many others to choose from. After submission of the details
in the interface you have to click on "Submit Query" and then should navigate to “More on this record".
Now, against the "Dewey No.:", you will find the class number of the document you are searching for.

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Please note that for some titles you will not be able to find DDC number in this database, as it was mainly
designed by using the Library of Congress Classification number.
The WebDewey also offers easy-to-use, World Wide Web-based access to the Dewey Decimal
Classification (DDC) and related information, with searching and browsing capabilities. One can also find
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) intellectually and statistically mapped to Dewey numbers;
and links from the mapped LCSH to the corresponding LCSH authority records. It is also an excellent tool
for online classification of the document, but the bad thing is that it is a paid service. It costs from $ 225-
$575 per year.
4.6 Let Us Sum Up: In this unit you have learnt how to classify a document by using the DDC summaries
as well as by using different online tools and techniques. Sometimes a book itself may contain the
classification number. In such cases, you can simply copy down that classification number from
Cataloguing in Publication (CIP) data. The CIP will provide classification number, subject headings, and
notes. This type of data is very common in the verso of the title page of many books published from U.S.,
Australia, British, and Canada. So, if you have a book published from the above countries, try to find the
CIP data and copy it to your document.
The unit takes into account the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) that includes the structure of
the DDC consisting of Tables, Summaries, Schedules and Relative Index. Classification of document by
using the web is another important point of discussion in the unit. In this section the relevant matter
includes “Classify”, Dewey Browser, ISBNdb.com and Library of Congress Online Catalogue. Each of
these concepts has been exercised to give an idea about the use of the web for classification.
5. Library of Congress Classification: In 1898 a group under the guidance of J. C. M. Hanson, the head of
the catalog division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C, and Charles Martel, the library’s chief
classifier, developed the first part of the Library of Congress (LC) Classification system. In the years that
followed, numerous specialists contributed to the further development of the system and expanded it to
cover other subject areas.
The Library of Congress Classification system divides human knowledge into 21 major classes, using
letters of the English alphabet for each, with further subdivisions indicated by decimal notation. The
system does not use the letters I, O, W, X, and Y.
The major classes of the Library of Congress Classification system are as follows:
A General works
B Philosophy; psychology; religion
C Auxiliary sciences of history
D History: General and Old World
E-F History: America
G Geography; anthropology; recreation

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H Social sciences
J Political science
K Law
L Education
M Music and books on music
N Fine arts
P Languages and literature
Q Science
R Medicine
S Agriculture
T Technology
U Military science
V Naval science
Z Library science
6. Universal Decimal Classification: UDC, which was designed to facilitate the organization of a universal
bibliography of all recorded knowledge, first made its origin at Belgium in 1895 by bibliographers Paul
Otlet and Henri La Fontaine. Initially UDC was based on the fifth edition of the Dewey Decimal
Classification that combines notation to express multiple concepts. The Universal Decimal Classification
system is issued by the International Federation for Documentation, in the Hague, Netherlands, which is
responsible for its ongoing revision.
7. Colon Classification: In 1933 Indian librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan introduced the Colon
Classification system, which classifies all knowledge into broad, fundamental concepts. The Colon system
then divides these concepts into several distinguishing characteristics, which Ranganathan called facets.
The classification system uses colons (:) to distinguish between the various facets in a single notation and
the name “Colon Classification system” is derived from its use in its notation scheme.
In United States, most research and academic libraries use Library of Congress Classification, while most
schools and public libraries use Dewey Decimal Classification. The UDC system is widely used in Europe,
Latin America, Russia, and Japan. Although the use of the Colon Classification system is limited to a few
Indian libraries, Ranganathan’s concept of facet analysis in classifying knowledge has been widely
recognized. Some of its key concepts have been adopted by subsequent editions of the DDC or UDC,
among others.
8. Allotting Class Number: In classifying, a classifier first takes up those books which are additional copies
or new editions of works available in the library. In such cases, he/she would put down the call number in

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the book order slip and on the process slip along with the fact whether the book in hand is an additional
copy or a new edition. Sequence numbers are also copied in the processing slip. The rest of the books
received by a classifier are sorted by basic classes. The indexes attached to the classification schedules are
used to find out the basic class numbers. Each basic class is taken, one by one. In the process of
classification, based on the subject content of the item, a class number is assigned by consulting the
schedules. The classification of the document can be made by manual means or by copy cataloguing, etc.
The practice of complete reliance on the indexes for deriving the class number of any document is not
advisable. The class numbers so arrived at should be tallied with the other standard catalogues, if necessity
arises, especially in doubtful cases. The class numbers are given in pencil on the upper half portion of the
verso of the title page. It is in pencil, because in case there is some changes in the class numbers, in future
it may be corrected without any damage to the book by rubbing the earlier class numbers. This
phenomenon is common because almost every classification scheme is revised periodically.
9. Allotting Book Number: Generally, the author marks constitute a book number. Cutter’s Author Table,
Cutter-Sanborne Author Table, Merrill’s Author Table, Author Tables of L. Stanley Jast, Biscore Time
Numbers, Ranganathan’s Book Numbers System may be used to allot author marks. A decision is to be
taken by each library as to which system is to be used for allotting book numbers.
The class number and book number together constitute the call number of the book. The call numbers
should be written on the processing slips, adding the sequence number, wherever required.
10. Assigning Subject Heading: Subject heading is the words or group of words under which books and
other materials on a subject are entered in a catalogue. The heading may include punctuation to which an
arranging significance may be assigned. In a classified catalogue the subject heading consists of a
classification symbols with or without its verbal meaning. It may also include entries for all materials on
the same subject in an index or bibliography. For assigning subject heading, Library of Congress List of
Subject Headings, Sears List of Subject Headings, ALA List of Subject Headings, Ranganathan’s Chain
Procedure may be used. The chain procedure method is useful in deriving proper subject headings. The
smaller libraries, where minute subject headings are not required, may use Sears List of Subject Headings
or ALA List of Subject Headings. But large, research or special libraries may use the Library of Congress
List of Subject Headings which is a very comprehensive and standard one. Each library due to some local
and special conditions may adopt certain subject headings of its own in order to meet the readers’ demand.
Library Committee
Library Committee: A library authority may appoint a library committee, which is a body consisting of
persons who are assigned the job of looking after the library. The library committee is needed because the
librarian alone should not carry the whole burden of a big institution like a library.
a) Members of the Library Committee: In case of a University, the library committee is formed with the
heads of the departments of the University, the Vice-chancellor, the Librarian, etc. The Vice chancellor is
the Chairman of the library committee, and the Librarian is the Secretary. In case of college library, the
principal is the chairman, and the librarian is the secretary. In case of school library, there is no need of a
library committee because the library itself is a very small one and the librarian is the working head of the
library.

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The library committee should not be a very large. Only those people should be included as members of the
library committee who are interested in the library and in this way the membership is restricted within the
limit of twenty.
b) Types of Library Committee: There are mainly two types of library committees
i) Executive Committee: This committee is most powerful as it has full power over those matters which are
delegated to them by the library authority. So the decision of the library executive committee is final and
mandatory. It need not report its decision to the library authority.
ii) Advisory or Recommendatory Committee: It simply gives proposals which are subject to the approval
of the library authority.
If we go deep into the history of library committee we will also find some other types of library
committees. These are as follows:
iii) Self Perpetuating Committee: These committees have the sole authority and independence as regards
the control and management of the library under it. It does not have to report to any other higher body
about its activities.
iv)Adhoc Committee (Statutory Committee): It has the advantage of being independent of politics. It takes
decision expeditiously. This committee is more or less independent. The Madras Public Library Act of
1948 provides the appointment of such a committee. This type of committee serves as library authority.
v) Nominated / Elected Committee: A large committee or an authority nominates or elects a smaller body
for looking after certain bodies under it. It delegates certain power to such smaller bodies or committees.
vi) Recommending Committee: It does not have any real power except that it simply gives certain
proposals which are subject to the approval of the library authority.
vii) Reporting Committee: This committee has sufficient powers to decide the matters within certain limit.
Such decision needs no confirmation of the supreme authority but the decision is to be reported to the latter
for information.
c) Powers and Functions of Library Committee: Powers and functions of a library committee vary
according to its nature. In case of the Executive Committee the powers, functions and responsibilities are
more whereas in case of a recommending committee, these will be narrowed to a great extent. Almost all
the proposals for discussion at the library committee meeting are put forth by the librarian who generally
acts as an ex-officio secretary to the committee. The library committees generally serve the following
purposes.
i) Library Building: Library committee plays a great role in the construction of the library building and also
makes necessary arrangement for the maintenance of the library building.
ii) Library Furniture and Fittings: Library committee ensures the availability of the adequate and proper
standard furniture so that in future any number of identical articles may be added without any wastage of
money or space.

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iii) Library Staff: A library committee employs the qualified and adequate library staff for the library.
iv) Library Rule: It frames a set of library rules and keeps them up-to-date.
v) Library Finance: The librarian not being an elected representative of the people cannot successfully
appeal for more fund allocation for the library. But the committee being a representative body of the people
can successfully and convincingly appeal for more funds. The committee can also allocate the funds for the
library.
vi) Collection of Documents: A library committee may appoint a sub-committee to serve as book selection
committee so that the lists of books are thoroughly scrutinized to avoid the purchase of undesirable books.
vii) Library Accounts and Audits: A library committee provides the proper machinery for checking the
library accounts. It may appoint an account sub-committee for auditing the accounts.
viii) Standard Library Service: A library committee put in its best efforts to secure full coverage and
standard library services to the users.
ix) Library co-operation: A library committee finds out ways and means of securing co-operation between
various branches within a locality and between other authorities.
x) Supervision and Advice: Public functions are best performed by a committee of persons who may be
elected or nominated out by the people themselves as such the library committees also supervise and advise
the librarian in matters on which public participation is essential.
xi) Buffer Agency: The committee serves as a buffer agency and an interpreter of the needs of the library to
the community, controlling and guiding the library activities. In the absence of a library committee the
librarian would find himself defenseless and unprotected.
Library Consortia
Library Consortia: The basic premise of consortia is that its members can collectively achieve more than
what they can achieve as individual institutions.
a) Definition: According to American Heritage Dictionary a consortium is “a cooperative arrangement
among groups or institution,” or “an association or society”. According to Oxford English Dictionary,
“Consortium means temporary cooperation of a number of powers, companies, etc. for a common purpose.
It is an association of similar type of organization / institution who are engaged for producing and servicing
the common things / for providing services for a specific purpose of its users.”
Library consortium is a “community (a cooperative) of two or more information agencies which have
formally agreed to coordinate, cooperate or consolidate certain function” to achieve mutual objectives. It is
an association of a group of libraries to achieve mutually the joint benefits. It provides a way for its
members to conduct business in a comparative manner.
Library consortia is a network for buying and accessing e- information in a cooperative arrangement among
a group of libraries in providing instant access to greater resources for the users of the individual libraries.

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One of the libraries or agencies of the consortia works as coordinator for identification of libraries for each
publisher, negotiation, legal matters, etc. Library consortia may vary from being decentralized to highly
centralize in nature. The degree of centralization of consortium is the primary factor affecting not only how
member institutions interact with one another, but also maintain relationship with external party
(publisher/vendor). More decentralized the consortium, the greater the degree of autonomy each member
retains.
b) Precondition for Consortia: Technological developments, electronic publishing of scholarly journals,
emergence of consortia, pricing models of publishers are some of the factors that create the condition for
the development of the library consortia.
i) Emergence of Electronic Document: The whole world is moving towards electronic publishing and the
cost of the electronic publishing is much less than that of the print version. The users also hope to have
access to their learned journals article in electronic form.
ii) Access to Electronic Resources is a Precondition for a Modern Library: Library materials have grown
exponentially in many forms and formats like e-books, e-journals, etc. and all these are very essential for
the survival of the library itself.
The limitation in finance, space and manpower also stresses upon the need for library consortia.
c) Benefit of Consortia: Library consortia increases the Cost Benefit Per Subscription. The other
advantages are:
i) Reduced Information Cost: Many libraries currently subscribe only to those journals that they can afford.
Though interested in other journals yet they cannot afford to provide access to them. Consortia approach
helps them to provide the access.
ii) Access to More Resources Than the Capabilities: A number of publishers offer consortia. If the library’s
purchase power is big enough they provide access to their whole range of journals – that is, every member
of the consortium gets electronic access not only to the journals currently subscribed to but also to all the
journals published in the field.
ii) Promoting the Rational Use of Funds: By forming consortia the purchasing power of the collaborating
institutions can expand the resource availability and offer automated services.
iii) Ensuring Continuous Subscription: The continuous subscription to the periodicals subscribed is ensure
in library consortia.
iv) DDS: Inter-libraries loan services will grow and it is interlinked with the search of the union catalogues
which will build effective DDS. Delivery of documents will be fast, either electronically through Xeroxing,
fax, courier or e-mail.
Consortia will give the library and also the user extended access- that is, better service for reduced costs.
With subscribed resources accessible online in electronic format, the member libraries would have less
pressure on space requirement for storing and managing print- based library resources. Moreover, all
problems associated with print media such as their wear and tear, location, shelving, binding, organizing,
etc. would not be an issue for electronic resources.

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d) Development of Library Consortia in India: Library consortia has become quite popular in India and
many intuitions some of which are furnish below has made use of it.
i) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) e-Journals Consortium <http://124.124.221.7>.
ii) The Forum for Resource Sharing in Astronomy & Astrophysics (FORSA)
<http://www.iiap.res.in/library/forsa.html>.
iii) Health Sciences Library & Information Network (HELINET)
<http://www.rguhs.ac.in/hn/newhell.htm>.
iv) Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Knowledge Park
<http://www.iciciknowledgepark.com/>.
v) The Indian Institute of Management (IIM)’s Library Consortia.
vi) Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Sciences and Technology (INDEST) Consortium
<http://paniit.iitd.ac.in/indest/>.
vii) UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research <http://www.tifr.res.in/~libws/>.
viii) UGC- INFONET <http://web.inflibnet.ac.in/info/ugcinfonet/ugcinfonet.jsp>.
ix) ISRO Library Consortium, ICMR Library Consortium, etc.
The library cooperation / resource sharing / networking / consortia or by whatever name we term it aims to
improve the existing organizational infrastructure of the participating libraries in terms of finance,
manpower, equipment, document, and other library facilities. It improves the effectiveness and efficiencies
of the participating libraries to serve the needs of the user, improves access to resources, widens
information coverage and accelerates the sphere in the supply of information, and helps in utilizing the
available resources to the optimum level.
Library Extension Services
Library Extension Services: Extension work is defined as those activities which are undertaken with the
objective of reaching the group of people who might otherwise be unaware of the library services and book
stocks. Mc Colvin considers it as means “to increase the number of readers and the volumes of work and
later to make the library more useful to more people”. ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science
1983 defines it as “the provision by a library of materials and services (including advisory services) to
individuals and organizations outside its regular service area, especially to an area in which library service
is not otherwise available.
1. Objectives: The main objectives in providing extension services are
i) To convert a library into a social, cultural and intellectual centre;

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ii) To convert non reader into reader, non user to user.
iii) To bring books and readers together.
iv) To inform those who do not use the library services and to attract them to those services.
v) To inform the reader of all the facilities offered by the library.
vi)To remind both the reader and the non reader of the library and its resources.
vii) As a means of publicity to enlist financial support or otherwise for the libraries.
2. Prerequisites for Extension Services
i) The library should have a good collection to support all extension activities.
ii) The trained and experienced staff is obligatory.
iii) The library should have a lecture hall, an exhibition hall for holding meeting of different groups.
iv) The library should possess audio-video equipment i.e. LCD projector, slide projector and mike
arrangement.
v) The librarian should be a good organizer, should understand the needs of the different categories of the
community and be knowledgeable about the collection of the library.
3. Forms of Extension Services: The Library extension services may be of internal or external type. The
internal extension service includes orientation programmes and the external extension service includes the
mobile library service, publicity programmes etc. Some of the main forms of extension services are as
follows
i) Library Orientation / Library Tour: Many potential library patrons do not know how to use a library
effectively. This can be due to the lack of early exposure, shyness, or anxiety and fear of displaying
ignorance. These problems led to the emergence of the library instruction movement, which advocated
library user education. Libraries inform the public of what materials are available in their collections and
how to access that information. The reference staff may orient the user either in formal way or informally
into the library system.
ii) Reading Circle, Study Circle: Persons with common interest may be bought together by the library to a
reading circle. Each reading circle should be given necessary facilities regarding the materials and a
suitable place to hold the meeting.
iii) Forming Friends of the Library Group: The Library can also think of forming “Friends of the Library
Group”; such group can assist the library through fund raising, volunteering, and advocacy. They also hold
book sales at the library.
iv) Reading to Illiterates: Reading hours for adults who cannot read should be arranged by public libraries.
Once they become neo-literates the public library then should take upon itself to see to it that they do not
lapse into illiteracy again.

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v) Meeting, Public Lectures and Talks: A library should organize public lectures and talks by eminent
persons and also by library staff.
vi) Celebration of Festival and Events and Arranging Cultural Programmes: It is a good idea to arrange
popular festivals and events in the library which may also arrange a drama, a puppet show, a music concert,
a film show, a magic show etc. Such cultural programmes can prove great attraction for the community. On
such occasions a book exhibition related to the programme should be arranged.
vii) Book Fair and Exhibition: At the time of talk, festival, fair, drama, etc. a book exhibition on the
relevant topic may be arranged. Exhibition on local history, local festivals, art, photograph and painting can
offer great opportunity to attract the attention of the community.
Periodical exhibition of books which have a bearing on topical theme enhances the chances of books
finding their readers. Occasional exhibitions of unused books might prove useful for the reader in getting
interested in books and using them.
viii) Mobile Service: Introduction of mobile library services to provide service to citizens without access to
central or branch libraries has devised an interesting variety of delivering methods. For offering this
service, the time for each locality is to be fixed and notified earlier.
ix) Publicity/ Propagenda: Propaganda through the newspaper, radio, television can be introduced.
x) Book by Mail and Telephone Request: The public library should also provide library lending service
through mail and Dial a book and Dial a fact method. A public library can also think of delivering books to
any home bound person on a request. Introduction of library website is also a good form of extension
service.
xi) Publication: Publications like annual report, reading guide, library magazine / bulletin and other similar
publications are also helpful.
* Library Bulletin: The library bulletin should not only list fresh books and some important articles
published in current issues of journals but should also give brief annotations wherever the content of new
material needs. The library bulletin can take the form of indexing or abstracting service or table of content
of periodicals received in the library or the list of recent publications or acquisition.
* Annual Report: The annual report is the official document of the library for recording the annual library
activities in totality. It is the statement of assessment and evaluation of all the departments of the library. It
is the survey of works carried out during the preceding year with summarization of the activities and
achievements of the library.
Libraries are the democratic institutions for the profit and enjoyment of all. So, in the recent years
much thought has been given to the best methods of popularizing the use of libraries. How does one attract
readers to libraries? How were it extend to all classes the facilities for using them? How can one render the
maximum amount of help to those who desire to use libraries and how to save the time of the reader and
library staff alike are some issues to be addressed.

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Library Furniture and Fittings
Library Furniture and Fittings: The furniture and fittings can be made of metal, wood or plastic. The
furniture and fittings should also be modular. This would be the case for tables, chairs, book racks, book
trolleys, doors, windows, etc.
a) Book Racks: For normal shelving in general libraries, the standard racks or shelves made of either
seasoned teak or sheesham wood can prove useful and functional. Book racks are used to store books,
bound volumes of periodicals, reports and such other kinds of materials. Each individual rack is usually
180 cm wide, 195/225 cm high and 25/50 cm deep depending on whether it is a single-sided or double
sided. The number of shelves in a rack is usually 5-6 depending on the high of the rack. A number of racks
can be joined together to make one row. In general, the height of the unit book rack should be such that a
person of normal height should be able to pick up books from top-most shelf. The popular kinds of stacks
are:
i) Fixed Shelves with Double Row: They are normal fixed shelves where material can be arranged in
double rows.
ii) Hinged Stacks: Here two shelves are joined together with hinges on one side and one shelf fixed while
the other is mounted in front of the hinges.
iii) Rolling Stacks: These are metal stack units mounted on ball bearing wheel placed side by side.
iv) Compact Storage: This system consists of units of three stacks, the centre row of fixed double-sided
stacks at each side. This helps in increasing the capacity of the storage space.
v) Multitier Stacks: This kind of stacking consists of stacks from the floor to the roof and it has become
quite popular in very large libraries.
b) Periodical Display Rack: Double sided periodical racks are not recommended since the unit becomes too
bulky. It is better to place two single sided racks back to back, if necessary. The following types of
periodical display racks are generally available in the market.
i) Step or Gallery Type: In this type the periodicals are displayed stepwise, each step being 5 cm deep and
15cm high. Length of the rack is generally 90cm. There may be 4-5 steps and on each step 4-5 journals can
be displayed and on a single sided rack 20-25 journals can be displayed.
ii) Pigeon Hole Type: This type of rack has two parts, one being a cupboard in the bottom and other pigeon
holes at the top. The usual height and width are 7.5 feet by 6 feet. The depth is about one foot in the pigeon
hole and about 1.5 feet in the lower cupboard portion. The cupboard portion is for storing the back volumes
of the periodicals and the pigeons holes hold about 36 current periodicals.

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iii) Inclined Type: This type of display rack is an improvement over the earlier pigeon hole type of rack.
This is a box type rack with horizontal shelves, each covered with wooden planks with an inclination to the
shelf plank. The shelves can be portioned into pigeon holes, each hole being provided with a wooden
support for the periodicals. The inclined plank provides a way of displaying periodicals with the back
issues in the space behind the inclined plank. Display space for 25-30 periodicals can be provided in one
rack.
c) Catalogue Cabinet: The catalogue cabinet is a unit of drawers full of cards specially designed to hold
library cards (5 x 3) and equipped with a metal holding rod. These units are available in a wide range of
sizes starting from four drawers to about sixty drawers. For convenience and ease of consultation, the trays
of drawers are placed on stands of eye level. Each tray can hold about 1,000 thick cards.
d) Charging Desk / Issue Counter: In most of the libraries the charging desk is specially designed to serve
special need of the library, and it is not usually acquired from the open market that has predefined shape
and size. The issue counter is usually designed for two people to work simultaneously. The height of the
counter should be 4-5 foot and should have sufficient drawer space to accommodate all the issued
documents records. The counter should also have sufficient shelving space for placing the books which are
returned by the users. The common type of design used for issue counter is circular, L-shaped, rectangular,
and U-shaped.
e) Computer Table / Reading table: Proper computer tables with drawers are required for the OPAC
terminal, digital library section and such other. Some common type tables are also required for the
technical staff of the library and for the readers to use as reading table in the reading room. The tables to be
used in the reading room are large in size and without any drawers.
f) Chairs: The chairs are required for OPAC terminal, digital library section, technical staff and for the
readers to use in the reading room.
g) Book Ends or Book Supports: These should be provided in large numbers. At least two book supports
are required for one plank so that the books are made to stand erect.
h) Book-lifts and Trolleys: If the book stacks are spread over many floors, it is desirable that book lifts or
dumb elevators, as these are called, should be provided. Similarly, to carry books from one end to the other
end of each floor, there should be a book trolley so that the time and energy of the staff can be saved.
i) Record Keeping Equipment: In a modern library, most of the record keeping equipment is replaced by
computerized record keeping databases. The record keeping equipment includes loan register, periodical
record register, accession register, gate register, membership register and such others.
j) Filing Cabinets: There should be filing cabinets for correspondences, newspaper clippings, pamphlets,
patents, standards, and other types of materials with odd sizes. For filing of correspondences, vertical filing
cabinets with drawers that can be pulled out can be used. Pamphlet boxes of various kinds are also
available in the market for storing pamphlets, leaf-lets, standards and patents.
k) Photocopiers / Printer: In the libraries for various activities there will always be the need of multiple
copies of a single document. The photocopiers will also be needed when readers of the library want to
make Xerox copies of a chapter of a book or for such other activities. Several leading companies are

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manufacturing photocopiers with several variations like coloured copies, size enlargement or reduction and
several copies at a time. Depending on the requirements of an individual library and availability of funds,
suitable copier as per requirement can be purchased. In modern day libraries computer printer should also
be procured.
l) Typewriters / Computers: Typewriters are gradually replaced by computers in most of the libraries. So,
it’s better to go for computer than typewriters. In an automated library bar-coding printer, bar-coding
reader and such others should also be procured.
m) Miscellaneous Items: It will include stool or step ladder for reaching the roof for cleaning, for users in
stack room for picking books from upper shelves, vacuum cleaners, air-conditioners, binding equipment,
projectors, etc. Some other library furniture may include notice board, newspaper stand with sloping top,
property counter or rack for keeping the users belongings.
Let Us Sum Up: Planning the library building is a team project and not exclusively the job of an architect.
The basic aim of the design of a library building should be to achieve flexibility using modular system. In
addition, open access and provision of future growth is an important consideration. The design should be
functional rather than a monumental consisting of a rectangular area having pillars or modules.
The inclusion of the librarian in the library building committee is a crucial factor. He is the best
person for planning and equipping the library and determines the exact functional relationship between the
various parts of the structure. He will prepare a note on library building programme explaining the
requirements of the library to the architect, management, etc. The architect on the basis of his note would
propose a plan keeping in view the ways in which the users would use a library. He would be able to
suggest the designing of a functional and attractive building within the budget allocated for the purpose.
The decision of the library building committee must be finally approved by the competent authority
Library Governance and Authority
Library Governance and Authority: The library governance refers to the persons (or committees or
departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering the library. The authority has the
power or right to give orders or make decisions in the library.
a) Library Governance
i) University Library: University library is based on the statutes and ordinances adopted by the governing
body of a university. The statutes made in accordance with the policy enunciated by the university act
would determine the status of the librarian in the general set up of the university and provide for its
organization and administration.
ii) Public Library: The public library law enacted by a state legislature forms the legal basis for the
establishment, maintenance and governance of the public library. In India, the public libraries were
formerly under the ministry of education but now it is under the ministry of culture.
iii) Special Library: In a special library run by a company or industry, there may be no legal basis of library
government. The library concerned may be their internal matter and the librarian may be at the mercy of
the higher authorities of the concerned organization. There may be no prescribed rules, regulations, etc.

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b) Library Authority: The word “authority” implies a person having the power to do something, the power
being derived from his office or character or prestige. A person having power is authorized by a competent
agency / authority to carry out a certain job. The purpose of granting authority is to allow him / her to
perform some kind of service by means of administrative process.
i) College Library: In a college, the Board of Management is the authority and college librarian is directly
answerable to the principal.
ii) University Library: In Indian Universities, the Executive Council (EC) is the library authority. In actual
practice, many powers are delegated by EC to the Vice Chancellor (VC). So, the librarian is directly
answerable to the VC.
iii) Public Library: In a public library, the Directorate of Library Services or Local or State Library
Authority is the library authority or otherwise a library board might be the authority. The librarian is
responsible to the board. In case of a public library, where there is a library legislation, it is mentioned in
the library act as to who will be the library authority. But when there is no library legislation then the
Director of Library Services will be the library authority.
iv) Special Library: The Board of Director or Board of Trustees of the parent body is the authority. The
librarian is answerable to the Managing Director or some other senior officer and in practice the situation
differs from library to library.
Library Legislation in India
Library Legislation in India: Act means preparing the format of law or legislation. In the context of
libraries, the Library Act means to give legal provision for establishing a library system, its maintenance,
services, functions, right and management under any state or a national government. Library legislation is
capable of regulating various organs of public library services. It is an instrument for the development of
public libraries in a planned manner to ensure establishment, development and maintenance of libraries in a
uniform pattern. It can help in promoting a sense of self consciousness among the people who would feel it
obligatory on their part to use services offered by the library.
In the year 1850 the first library act was passed in Great Britain. At present most of the countries specify
free use of public library services.
1. Need for Library Legislation: Provision of public library service is a natural corollary to the democratic
way of life. Free communication is essential for the preservation of a free society and creative culture. A
public library expects its users only to spend time and not money for the utilization of services. In that
situation, the question arises from where will the finance come? It has been experienced that public library
service can be effectively offered only through legislation. Library Legislation is needed because:
i) A law helps in creating necessary conditions under which public libraries can be established nation wide.
ii) To put the public library on a sound and sure financial footing by way of levy of library tax.
iii) To make the public library independent from subscription, donation or private gift and to save the
library from political influence.

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iv) For a sound administrative setup permanent, uniform, efficient, balanced and coordinated library
service and also for proper line of growth.
v) To solve the problem of land, building, legacies, etc.
vi) For centralized services like acquisition, processing, etc.
The library legislation has the provision of financial support to the public libraries, but the provision to be
made in library legislation would depend upon the social, political and economic environment. There are
mainly two ways of making provision of finance to public libraries through library legislation. They are
i) Annual budget allocation by the state out of its total funds with capital grants from central government.
ii) Levying of library cess with a matching grant from the state government.
2. Components of Library Legislation: Dr. S. R. Ranganathan recognized the following components of
public library act.
a) Preliminaries: The description of all the terms used in the act and the brief title of the act are under this
component of library Act.
b) Top Management: It discusses the issues relating to the management of the libraries that will fall under
the jurisdiction of the Act, such as who will manage the libraries. It is the second component for
consideration.
c) Library Committee: To give suggestions to the library authority (top management) and to the librarians,
a committee is to be constituted. The library Act should clearly mention who will be the members of such
library committees, what are their functions, rights, qualifications, responsibilities, etc.
d) Finance: The Act should mention clearly-
i) Rate of library cess / Local extra tax or surcharge;
ii) Goods on which tax will be levied i.e. vehicle, land, house, other properties, etc;
iii) The method of receiving the cess from the public;
iv) Checking of received money through cess;
v) Other sources of finance;
vi) There should be a component in the library Act itself to maintain all the records of accounts and audit
from time to time. The appointment of staff, categories of the staff, pay scale, service condition and
working period should also be mentioned in the Act.
vii) The laws, rules and by laws should be mentioned in the Act.
3. Characteristics of Library Legislation: Some of the important characteristics of library legislation are-

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i) The library legislation must be simple and general. It should also allow future modification or
development.
ii) It must be free from political influence or political changes.
iii) It must define the respective responsibilities of the local, state and national government.
iv) It must make the library service compulsory and free to one and all.
v) It should create conditions for libraries to flourish.
vi) It must coordinate and control library activities in full recognition of the people to have free access to
the information and knowledge.
vii) It must meet every interest of its reader.
viii) Different tasks can be assigned to different types of libraries based on specialization to ensure a better
service to the community with the least cost.
ix) It also must take into account the other types of libraries.
4. Role of Different Bodies in the Process of Enacting Library Legislation: In the process of enacting the
library legislation, the levying of library cess should not be the pre condition. Otherwise, it will lose the
support of the general public or other members of the society. The following roles can be played by
different bodies in the process of enacting the library legislation in respective states.
a) Library Association: The local as well as the state and national level library associations can lay down a
strategy to get the public legislation passed. They can utilize various media and platforms to propagate the
idea of library legislation. Members of the state assembly, especially the concerned ministers should be
approached and be presented a strong case for library legislation. Indian Library legislation must provide
all the support and guidance needed for the purpose.
b) Library Professionals: The library professionals should make the general as well as the elite people
aware about the significant role that can be played by the library. They should first do so through their
services in the organization in which they are working and then through newspapers, radio, television, etc.
c) Elite Groups: The elite have the responsibility of framing policies, procedures etc. As the leader of the
society they also have the hidden responsibility to give the people the best they can. As such, considering
the role that can be played by the library they should take upon themselves the responsibilities of
awakening the general public about the library services, facilities, etc.
d) Political Leader and General Public: Leaders, who matter in decision making be given special attention
in enacting library legislation. The general people should also give pressure to enact the library legislation.
5. Library Legislation in India: In ancient India learning was the concern of the Brahmin and the common
man had to depend for his enlightenment on the spoken words of gurus. General people were also

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accustomed to this oral tradition of learning and, as a result in ancient India there was no tradition of public
library legislation.
a) Before Independence: Pre independence India shows some of the significant steps in implementing the
library legislation, which can be summarized as follows
i) The Press and Registration of Books Act (1867): The Press and Registration of Books Act was passed in
1867 for the British India. This Act was for the regulation of printing-presses and newspapers for the
preservation of copies of books and newspapers printed in India and for the registration of such books and
newspapers. It helped some specific libraries to get some copies of books free of cost and to maintain a
continuous catalogue of early printed books in the country. In terms of this Act the publisher or the printer
of every book or newspaper was to send a copy of the book or newspaper to the Secretary of state for India,
another copy to the Governor General in Council and still another to the local government.
ii) Funds for the encouragement of literature (1898);
iii) Imperial Library Act (1902);
iv) Model Library Act (1930).
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan drafted a “Model Library Act”, which was presented at the All Asia Educational
Conference held at Banaras in 1930. In 1942 on the request of ILA, Dr. S. R. Ranganathan drafted another
bill called ‘The Model Public Library Bill’.
b) After Independence: The major steps in implementing library legislation in the post independence era
are as follows
i) Imperial Library Act (1948): In 1948, the Government of India passed the Imperial Library (change of
name) Act. By this act the Imperial Library of Calcutta (Kolkata) became the National Library (of India).
ii) Delivery of Books (Public Libraries Act) 1954: In 1954 Indian parliament passed Delivery of Books and
Newspaper Act which was further amended as the Delivery of Books and Newspaper (Public Libraries)
Amendment Act 1956 to include serials as well.
iii) Model Library Act / Bill (1963): A library bill was also drafted in 1963 by a committee under the
chairmanship of Dr. D. M. Sen. Then in 1972 revision was made to the model library act of 1930. Another
model public libraries bill was prepared by the library legislation subcommittee of the Planning
Commission in 1966.
c) Present Status of Library Legislation in India: The credit of enacting a library act for the first time in
India goes to the Kolhapur princely state of the present Maharashtra in 1945. The act is presently non
functional. In India, nineteen states have so far enacted library legislation and the rest are providing library
services without legislation. The list of the nineteen Acts is given below
i) Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad) Public Libraries Act, 1960;
ii) Arunachal Pradesh Public Libraries Act, 2009;

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iii) Bihar Public Libraries Act, 2007;
iv) Chattisgarh Public Libraries Act, 2007;
v) Goa Public Libraries Act, 1993;
vi) Gujarat public Libraries Act, 2001;
vii) Haryana Public Libraries Act, 1989;
viii) Karnataka (Mysore) Public Libraries Act, 1965;
ix) Kerala Public Libraries Act, 1989;
x) Maharashtra Public Libraries Act, 1967;
xi) Manipur Public Libraries Act, 1988;
xii) Mizoram Public Libraries Act, 1993;
xiii) Orissa Public Libraries Act, 2001;
xiv) Pondichery Public Libraries Act, 2007;
xv) Rajasthan Public Libraries Act, 2006;
xvi) Tamil Nadu (Madras) Public Libraries Act, 1948;
xvii) Uttar Pradesh Public Libraries Act, 2005;
xviii) Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal) Public Libraries Act, 2005 and
xix) West Bengal Public Libraries Act, 1979.
6. The Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954: The Delivery of Books (Public
Libraries) Act, 1954 extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. According to
this Act, the publisher of every book, newspaper or serial must deliver at his own expense a copy of the
book within thirty days from the date of its publication to the National Library at Calcutta and one copy
each to three other public libraries specified by the Central Government. The Delivery of Books (Public
Libraries) Act, 1954: No. 27 of 1954, amended by the Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Amendment
Act, 1956: No. 99 of 1956 and thus it became “The Delivery of Books 'and Newspapers' (Public Libraries)
Act, 1954”. The insertions “and Newspapers” provided by the Delivery of Books (Public Libraries)
Ammendment Act, 1956: No. 99 of 1956 includes serials as well.
i) Mode of Delivery: A copy of every book published by a publisher and the publisher of every newspaper,
published in the territories to which this Act extends, shall deliver at his own expense one copy of each
issue of such newspaper as soon as it is published, shall be delivered by him to the librarian of three public
library either by registered post or through a special messenger. Under the Delivery of Books and
Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954, the National Library, Calcutta (presently Kolkata) is entitled to

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receive a copy of every publication brought out by anyone anywhere in the country. The other copies
should be delivered to the Connemera Public Library, Madras (Chennai), The Central Library, Town Hall,
Bombay (Mumbai), and the Delhi Public Library. The copy to be delivered to the National Library,
Kolkata should be the best of its kind.
ii) Receipt for Books Delivered: The person in charge of a public library (whether called a librarian or by
any other name) or any other person authorised by him in his behalf to whom a copy of a book is delivered
shall give to the publisher a receipt in writing and send it to the publisher by registered post and such
receipt shall be conclusive proof of the fact that a copy of the book has been duly delivered to the public
library of which he is the librarian.
iii) Benefit for the Publisher: The Indian National Bibliography is procured by all leading libraries and
learned institutions throughout the English speaking world and much beyond. The books that are received
by way of Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act 1954, 56 are included in the INB. Thus, the INB
provides the publisher or the author with an excellent and unique opportunity of using the forum of the
Indian National Bibliography to give the widest possible publicity to their publications not only in India but
virtually all over the world. So, Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act 1954, 56 also gives a commercial
advantage of publicity to the publisher or authors.
iv) Penalty: Any publisher who contravenes any provision of this Act. or of any rule made hereunder shall
be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty rupees and, “if the contravention is in respect of a book,
shall also be punishable with fine which shall be equivalent to” the value of the book, and the court trying
the offence may direct that the whole or any part of the fine realised from him shall be paid, by way of
compensation to the public library to which the book or “newspaper”, as the case may be, ought to have
been delivered.
7. Let Us Sum Up: None of the countries in which library legislation exists are able to provide entirely
satisfactory and effective library services. All of them have problem to some degree despite the fact that
there has been revision of laws in most countries. Again, there are many countries without legislation but
they are serving the general public in a better way in comparison to the countries that have legislation.
Library Management Software Packages
Library Management Software Packages: Library management or automation software provides centralized
management and processes for different types of libraries and library activities such as acquisition,
cataloguing, circulation, administration, reporting and patron records. It provides integration of self-service
kiosks and online web portal access for catalogue search, content delivery or reservation requests and such
others. They also track and automate notification of overdue books and fines.
In the following paragraphs, an attempt is made to list some of the popular free and open source library
automation software packages. A very few commercial software packages are also discussed.
a) Automatización de Bibliotecas y Centros de Documentación (ABCD): ABCD stands for
"Automatización de Bibliotecas y Centros de Documentación" (Spanish), which means: Library and
Documentation Centers Automation. Its development is promoted and coordinated by BIREME, with the
support of VLIR. ABCD is an integrated library management system that covers all the major functions in
a library. It is able to manage acquisitions, management of bibliographic databases, user management, loan

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management, control of periodicals, and so on. It uses MARC-21 cataloguing formats and other current
standards or protocols (Dublin Core, METS, Z39.50) and published as Free and Open Source Software
(FOSS) with the accompanying tools for the developer community. Website:
http://reddes.bvsaude.org/projects/abcd or http://sites.google.com/site/abcdtutorials/
b) DEL-PLUS: This software was designed and developed by Developing Library Network (DELNET),
New Delhi exclusively to work under all kinds of libraries. It is able to manage the acquisition,
cataloguing, circulation, and administrative work of the library. It also has an OPAC end and follows
internationally recommended standards and formats such as MARC 21. It is suitable for small and medium
size libraries which have collections upto one lakh holdings. It also supports Barcode. Website:
http://delnet.nic.in/software-development.htm
c) E-Granthalaya: e-Granthalaya is a library automation software from National Informatics Centre,
Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology,
Government of India. Using this software the libraries can automate in-house activities as well as user
services. The software can be implemented either in stand-alone or in client-server mode where the
database and WebOPAC are installed on the server PC while the data entry programme is installed on
client PCs. The software runs on Windows platform. The software is provided at zero cost to the Ministries
/ Departments / Public / Academic / Universities / Colleges and school libraries. Besides, libraries set up in
Public / Private sectors may also approach the NIC for free copy of the software. Website:
http://egranthalaya.nic.in/
d) Evergreen: Evergreen is an open source library management software, freely licensed under the GNU
GPL. It was first launched in September, 2006 in Georgia's PINES consortium. It is highly-scalable
software for libraries that helps library patrons find library materials, and helps the libraries to manage,
catalogue, and circulate those materials, no matter how large or complex the libraries. are Evergreen has an
active community that participates in its coding, documentation, and direction of the project. Website:
http://www.open-ils.org/
e) FireFly: FireFly is a Complete Public Library system. It is being written in Python, Perl, with all data
being stored in XML. The driving force behind this project is to give public libraries a Free-Software set to
run and maintain library systems. Website: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/firefly/
f) Koha: Koha is the world's first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS) and it is distributed free of
cost (open source, and so no license fee, ever). It was initially developed in New Zealand by Katipo
Communications Ltd and first deployed in January of 2000 for Horowhenua Library Trust. It is currently
maintained by a team of software providers and library technology staff from around the globe and is in use
worldwide in the libraries of all sizes. The name “Koha” comes from the Maori word for a gift or donation.
It runs on Linux, Unix, Windows and MacOS platform. Koha is a comprehensive system that has the
capacity to intelligently run a library, large or small, real or virtual. Koha is compliance with copy
cataloguing and z39.50, MARC21 and UNIMARC for professional cataloguers. The software can also be
used as document manager or digital library. Website: http://koha.org/

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g) Library Information and Management System (LIMS): LIMS is a unique library system, designed,
developed, implemented and fully tested by library professionals. It is distributed free of cost to the
libraries. Website: http://www.paklag.org/limsFreeware.htm
h) Library Manager: Library Manager is a library management software. It has been developed under GPL
licence. Website: http://libman.sourceforge.net/
i) LibSys 7: It is a web based library software product from Libsys Ltd., Gurgaon, Haryana. It has the
modules for acquisition, cataloguing, circulation, serials, article indexing, Web-OPAC, and reports. It
supports international standard like MARC21 (USMARC + CANMARC), Unicode, SRU-SRW, Z39.50,
NCIP-NISO, SICI-Barcode. If any library has the sufficient fund, then it can be treated as the most field-
proven library system in a wide spectrum of libraries with unmatchable depth in functionality and features.
Website: http://www.libsys.co.in/
j) NewGenLib: NewGenLib is an integrated library management system developed by Verus Solutions Pvt
Ltd. Domain expertise is provided by Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management in
Hyderabad, India. On 9th January 2008, NewGenLib was declared as Open Source Software under GNU
GPL Licence by Verus Solutions. It is estimated that 2,500 libraries across 58 countries are using
NewGenLib as their Primary integrated library management system. Website:
http://www.verussolutions.biz
k) OpenBiblio: OpenBiblio is an easy to use, automated library system written in PHP containing OPAC,
circulation, cataloguing, and staff administration functionality. The software is free. Website:
http://obiblio.sourceforge.net
l) Sanjay: The NISSAT sponsored a project to DESIDOC for developing programmes on UNESCO’s
CDS/ISIS for enabling a library to do acquisition, circulation, etc. DESIDOC has successfully modified the
programmes and a new package based on CDS/ISIS was released in 1992 by the name of SANJAY. So,
Sanjay is an augmented version of CDS/ISIS with modules prepared for the various house keeping
operations. The software is totally menu driven and works in windows environment with LAN support. In
India, NISSAT is the marketing agent of this software. The package was released for marketing in
September 1995.
m) Small Library Organizer Pro: It is a complete software for small private, public, or corporate libraries. It
able to manages all the library collections, member / patron information, and keeps track of the library
circulation data. The package has a separate module called Designer. With Designer one can modify Small
Library solution or can build their own. This is a freeware. Website: http://small-library-organizer-
pro.software.informer.com/1.0/
n) SOUL 2.0: Software for University Libraries (SOUL) is the state-of-the-art library automation software
designed and developed by the INFLIBNET Centre, Ahmedabad. It is a user-friendly software developed
to work under client-server environment. Looking at the name of the software, one may think that it is
meant for the university libraries only, but, in fact, it is flexible enough to be used for automating any type
or size of library. It is one of the best and proven software for all types of libraries. Website:
http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/soul/

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o) WEBLIS: WEBLIS is a free-of-charge Web based Library Integrated System based on CDS/ISIS. The
system has been developed by the Institute for Computer and Information Engineering (ICIE), Poland. The
current version of WEBLIS, available in English, consists of the cataloguing system, OPAC (search),
LOAN module, and statistical module. WEBLIS runs through the WWW-ISIS engine. More:
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=16841&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Library Movement in India
Library Movement in India: The first libraries were only partly libraries, and stored most of the
unpublished records, which are usually viewed as archives. The archeological as well as literary evidence
(written by Chiness travellers in India) make it clear that writing and reading of manuscripts were regularly
practiced in ancient period since the fourth century B.C. to the sixth century after Christ. This must have
led to the growth and development of collection of manuscripts in important centers of learning. The
important library of that period was that of Nalanda University of Bihar in the fourth century AD. The
library was said to be in three grandest buildings, the area of which was called “Drama Ganja” meaning
mast of religion. The other important academic library of that period was Vikramsila, Odantapuri,
Somapuri, Jaggadal, Mithila, Vallabhi, Kanheri, etc. During that period there was a considerable activity in
South India too, and there was a tradition about the libraries in that period known as sangam age.
The Buddhist of India laid special emphasis on the writing of manuscripts and maintaining their collection.
The Jains and Hindus also made immense contribution in the field of learning. They patronized education
and literary activities, established innumerable institution called Upasrayas and Temple College.
Acharya Nagarjuna, the founder of Mahayana Buddhism is known to have maintained a library on the top
floor of the university building. It was also said that Taxila has a rich library.
a) Medieval Period: The medieval cycle may be roughly taken to have ended with the seventeenth century.
It was during the ascending phase of this cycle that the giant intellectual and spiritual leaders such as
Sankara, Ramanuja and Madheva flourished.
i) Personnel Libraries: From the earliest times the kings and nobles of India patronized education and
encouraged writing of manuscripts and their preservation. Even the princes of small states maintained their
manuscripts libraries. The tradition was continued till the nineteenth century. The emperors of Timuride
dynasty were patrons of learning. With the exception of Aurangzeb all the early Mughal rulers extended
their support to art, music and literature. The libraries also made remarkable progress during their times.
Humayun converted a pleasure house in purana quila in Delhi into a library. Akbar maintained an “imperial
library”; he was also instrumental in introducing reforms in the classification and storage of books.
Jahangir is said to have maintained a personnel library which moved with him wherever he went.
ii) Public Libraries: In the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, the development of libraries received an
impetus due to rise of European settlement in India. From 1690, Calcutta began to develop as one of the
principal English settlement, when a large number of British began to settle there. Subsequently, the
circulation and subscription libraries came into being.

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The East India Company established the Fort St. David library in 1707 at Cuddalore. In the year 1709, the
society for promotion of Christian Knowledge sent out a circulating library to Calcutta, the first of its kind
in India. Subsequently, a number of such libraries were established in India, the notable among them were
Fort St. George library (1714), East India Company’s library, Bombay (1715), John Andrews circulating
library at Fort William, Calcutta (1770), The Calcutta Circulating library (1787), etc.
b) Period of Modern Cycle (till Nineteenth Century)
i) Public Libraries: The role of Mughal rulers and missionaries in establishment of some libraries also find
their way to modern cycle. Some of the scattered manuscripts of the early periods have been collected and
preserved in many modern manuscripts libraries. These are found in many states in India. Those of Baroda,
Banaras, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Mysore, Poona, Tanjavur and Trivandrum are well known.
The year 1808 is considered an important period during which the then government of Bombay initiated a
proposal to register libraries which were to be given copies of books published from “funds for the
encouragement of literature”. This has been the first attempt to register the libraries and assist them with
literature by the government.
In the early 19th century John Andrew’s circulating library at Fort William, Calcutta (established in 1770)
was converted into a public library. A few public libraries started appearing sporadically here and there
during the same period in this country. The notable among them are Asha Granthalaya, Waltair (1800),
Calcutta Literary Society’s Library (1818), United Services Library, Poona (1818), Raghunandan Library,
Puri (1821), Bombay General Library (1830), etc
In August 1835, the Calcutta public library was established. It was meant to serve the needs of all ranks
and classes without distinction. In 1860, a small library was established by Jean Mitchel in Madras as a part
of the Museum. It was opened to the public in 1896. It was named Connemera Public Library, this library
can be claimed to be the first true public library, only a nominal refundable deposit was required. In 1948,
it becomes State Central library.
In 1867, the Government of India enacted the Press and Registration of Books Act (XXV) under which the
publisher of a book was supposed to deliver free, to the provincial government concerned, one copy of the
book and one or two more copies, if the provincial government so desired, to be transmitted to the central
government.
In 1876, Khuda Baksh Oriental public library (Patna) was established. Maulvi Muhammod Baksh Khan, on
his death left a collection of 1500 manuscripts. It formed the nucleus of the library. In 1891, the library was
opened to the public.
The imperial library was also established at Calcutta in 1891. Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India
promulgated the imperial library act 1902, which is based on Registration of books act of 1867,
amalgamating Calcutta public library with imperial library. Soon after independence the Government of
India passed the National Library Act in 1948 following which the imperial library was renamed as the
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By the end of nineteenth century, all the provincial capitals as well as many of the district towns, especially
in the three presidencies (Bombay, Calcutta and Madras) had so called public libraries. Even princely states
such as Indore and Travancore-Cochin had public libraries in their capital. However, the masses in general
did not take full advantage of these institutions.
ii) Academic Libraries: The first college to be started in this country is the Fort William College in 1800.
Sir John Colville in 1857, introduced the bill to establish universities in India. In the same year Lord
Delhousie, then the Governor General of India, gives immediate consent to this bill. As a result, the first
three modern universities were started at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857 based on the patterns of
London University.
* Calcutta University Library: Calcutta University was the first to be established on January 24, 1857. On
February 24, 1869 Mr. Joy Kissen Mookherjee of Uttar para donated Rs. 5,000.00 to the University for
purchasing books for the library. The senate in the year 1872 succeeded in constructing a beautiful building
at a cost of Rs. 4, 34,697.00. This is the first and oldest university library that was established in British
India. In 1874, the library also started a collection of periodicals. In 1876-77, Calcutta University library
had a good collection of books with printed catalogue service to the user. In 1934, a new library building
was set up in the Calcutta University. In 1937, the Calcutta University Library appointed the professionally
qualified librarian, Dr. Nihar Ranjan Roy. He, for the first time in India introduced the DDC and AACR
rule for providing effective library services to the user.
* Madras University Library: The Madras University Library was opened in 1907. The government of
India gave a special grant of Rs. 1,00,000.00 to the library to develop its book collection. In 1924, Dr. S. R.
Ranganathan joined the Madras University Library as librarian. He was the first professionally qualified
librarian in Indian history. Due to his active involvement he was able to receive Rs. 6,000.00 and Rs.
10,00,000.00 in the year 1926. This was the first grant to be received from the government in the history of
the university libraries in India. As a result of this grant, the University Library that was in-house at the
Connemara Public Library since 1908, was shifted to the new location in 1936. Again five well-trained
reference librarians were appointed to provide special reference service to the user. This was done for the
first time in the Indian history.
* Bombay University Library: The Bombay University library was established very lately due to the lack
of donation. It was the university authorities of Bombay that offered a donation of Rs. 20,000.00 for
construction of library building. In 1931, a very special grant of Rs. 10,000 was given by Kikabhai and
Meneklen the sons of late Premchand Roy Chand. In 1939, the Central government provides a special grant
of Rs. 50,000.00 to the University of Bombay library to strengthen its collection.
* Punjab University Library: Punjab University was established in 1882 and in the year 1908 Punjab
University Library was opened.
* Banaras Hindu University Library: Banaras Hindu University was established in 1916. In 1926-27 the
construction of the library was made by the handsome donation of Rs. 2,00,000.00 by the late Sir Siyaji
Rao, the Maharaja of Borada.
iii) Research Libraries: The Asiatic society of Bengal that was established at Calcutta in 1784 started
building up a good research library since its inception. The Asiatic Society of Bombay, founded in 1804,

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also developed a good library. The first technical library to be founded in this country is the Victoria
Technical library at Nagpur in 1806. The Madras Literary Society had founded its library in 1812.
c) Twentieth Century
i) Role of Individual: The development of public libraries as a movement may be said to have started by
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the ruler of Baroda state in 1906. During his visit to USA he was
impressed by the public libraries system in that country. In order to organize libraries along modern lines,
the Maharaja appointed an American librarian by name William Allenson Borden as curator of libraries of
his state. During his tenure of office that is in between 1910-13, Borden could organize a very good
network of free library services in the state. However, this example did not set a pace in the later
development due to lack of interest on the part of the state government. But the contribution made by
Maharaja Sayajirao III would be written in golden letters in the history of public library movement in India.
The library movement in Baroda originated as the peoples movement under the leadership of Motibhai
Amin (a public leader) in the form of Mitra Mandal (Society of Friends) as early as 1906 which received
state patronage in 1960. Newton Mohan Dutta, curator of libraries at Baroda also did good work.
There has been a number of pioneers who made contribution to the library movement in Andhra Pradesh.
Out of them Sir Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya holds a place of pride. From Bengal we have the name of
Monindra Dev Rai Mahashaya. Master Motilal (1876-1949), by his own effort and meagre resource
established Shri Sanmati Pustakalaya (a public library) in Jaipur in 1920. From Punjab we had Sant Ram
Bhatia, who played an important role in promoting the cause of public libraries in Punjab. In Assam, the
library movement at its true spirit was led by Late Kumudeshar Barthakur (1893-8th November 1966), a
retired Secondary School teacher under the brand name of Assam Library Association.
The contribution of S.R. Ranganathan is unique and remarkable. He is regarded as the father of Indian
library movement. The idea of an integrated library system was first introduced by him at the first “All
Asia Educational Conference” held at Benerai in 1930. There he presented a model library act that form the
basis of the Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka library legislation and as a whole the subsequent
library legislation in India.
ii) Role of Library Association and Organization: Library association also played a vital role in the
progress and development of library movement in India.
The Andhra Desa Library Association, founded in 1914, is the first of its kind in India. It started the first
full fledged professional periodical in 1925 under the title “Indian Library Journal”.
All Indian Library Association was also set up in 1920, but it could not do anything for libraries and their
development. By Dr. S. R. Ranganathan’s effort Indian Library Association was set up in 1933 in its
present form with its head quarter in Calcutta (Kolkata). The association published a quarterly periodical
named ABGILA.
Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF) was set up in 1972, on the occasion of the bicentenary
of Raja Rammohun Roy who raised the banner of revolt against obscurantism in the society and devoted

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his life to fight against injustice. RRRLF is an autonomous organization of Dept of Culture, Govt of India
and it provides different types of grant to different public libraries.
Bengal Library Association (1925), Madras Library Association (1928), Punjab Library Association
(1929), Assam Library Association (Sadau Assam Puthibharal Sanga) (1938), etc. played vital roles for the
growth and development of public libraries in the respective states of origin.
iii) Role of Union and State Government
* First Five Year Plan (1951-56): The government of India in its first five year plan of educational
development includes the scheme of “Improvement of Library Service”. This scheme envisaged a network
of libraries spread all over the country. The proposal of setting up a National central library at New Delhi
was also made. During the first five year plan nine state governments i.e. Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab,
etc. decided to set up state central libraries.
* Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961): Under the second five year plan the government of India allocated
about Rs. 140 lakhs for setting up a country wide network of libraries in 320 districts. Under this plan, the
“Institute of Library Science” at University of Delhi was also established. The refresher course on “The
public library and national development” on March 2, 1959 also started.
* Third Five Year Plan: During the third plan period besides the Institute of Library science, University of
Delhi other universities also upgraded the facilities for training library personnel and enhanced the facilities
for research in library science.
* Fourth Five Year Plan: The government of India announced on July 16, 1964, appointment of a 16
member education commission to make a compressive review of the entire field of education and advice
the government on evolving a national pattern at all stages of education. The commission has formed
various sub committees to prepare report on various aspect of education including the libraries, which plays
a great role towards the betterment of libraries in India. During the fourth five year plan, the government of
India set up the Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation in 1972 to make the bicentenary of the birth of
Raja Rammohan Roy, the father of modern India.
iv) Role of UGC: The UGC gave a new life to the university and college libraries. It gave librarian a status,
prestige and a better life. The major commission and committees formed by UGC for the growth and
development of college and university libraries are
* Library Committee (1957): The UGC programme (Commission) appointed a committee under the
chairmanship of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan to advise on a wide range of subjects including the standards and
principles for the designing of library building, fitting and furniture, administration of university libraries,
training of librarianship etc.
* Review Committee (1961): In order to consider the question of improving and coordinating the standards
of teaching, and conducting research in the department of library science in Indian Universities under the
chairmanship of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan a review committee was formed in July 1961. The first meeting of
the committee was held on 15th July 1961, in which a questionnaire was finalized on the basis of data
supplied by the Indian Universities. In response to this questionnaire a note was prepared by the UGC,
which form the back bone of many developments in the subject of library science.

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Other mentionable Committees and Commissions are
* Education Commission (1964): Chairman D. S. Kothari.
* Pal Committee (1970): Chairman A. B. Lal.
* Mehrotra Committee (1983): Chairman R. C. Mehrotra.
* Committee on National Network System for Universities (1988): Chairman Yash Pal.
* Curriculum Development Committee on LISc (1990).
* Work Flow Seminar: UGC organized a seminar on “work flow” in libraries in New Delhi from March 4-
7, 1959, Dr. C. D. Deshmukh, the then chairman of UGC, extended assistance to libraries for constructing
building and furniture as well as for the engaging the staff on a scale which is, relatively speaking, larger
than found in many other countries. The recommendations of the seminar were circulated to the
universities and colleges all over the country. These comments were considered by the commission and
were accepted.
* Revision of Pay Scale: Another great improvement in the history of universities and college libraries is
the revision of salary scales of professionally qualified librarian under the third five year plan.
v) Role of UNESCO: The great contribution of UNESCO towards the library profession in India is that it
gave it an international status. UNESCO for the first time started the first pilot project by establishing the
Delhi Public Library in October 1951. The main aim of this project was to provide information on the
problem of public library services for the parts of India in particular and for Asia in general.
The Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) was set up in 1952 by the government of
India with technical assistance from UNESCO. In 1964, UNESCO assisted INSDOC again in setting up its
regional centre in Bangalore.
The second eminent step that the UNESCO took in this direction was the holding of a seminar on the
development of public libraries in Asia in Delhi from October 6-26, 1955. It was the first international
meeting on this subject to be organized in an Asian country. On the whole, the seminar was a great success
for the library profession in India.
Another UNESCO seminar which had far reaching effect on library profession in India was the “Regional
seminar on library development in South Asia”. It was held in the University of Delhi library from 3-14
October 1960. The most significant achievement of this seminar was the “grading of staff”, “salary scales”
and “status of librarian”.
Besides these, the UNESCO honored the Indian librarians by inviting them to advice on various library
projects meant for the member country. The prominent among those are Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, B. S.
Kesavan, S. S. Saith and a few others.
Indian National Commission is the official agency of UNESCO, the National Information System for
Science and Technology (NISSAT) in Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) is the focal
point for UNISIST (PGI) and is also the coordinating centre for ASTINFO programme. NASSDOC of
ICSSR is the focal point for UNESCO supporting APINESS programme.

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Library Network
Library Network: Library networking is an arrangement or a structure that links a group of libraries which
have agreed to work together and / or share their resources in an organized basis to a certain degree. It can
be defined as a “two or more libraries engaged in a common pattern of information exchange through
communication for some functional purposes”. It is meant to promote and facilitate sharing of resources
available within a group of participating libraries.
a) Definition: The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) in its National
Programme Document (1975) defines a network as: “two or more libraries and/or other organizations
engaged in a common pattern of information exchange, through communications, for some functional
purpose. A network usually consists of a formal arrangement whereby materials, information and services
provided by a variety of libraries and other organizations are available to all potential users. Libraries may
be in different jurisdictions but they agree to serve one another on the same basis as each serves its own
constituents. Computer and telecommunications may be among the tools used for facilitating
communication among them”.
b) Precondition for Networking: The agreements between library authorities of different libraries, building
or developing required infrastructure, maintenance of standardization in terms of classification schemes,
cataloguing schemes, uses of some common library management software and so on are some of the
preconditions before developing any kind of network. Some other preconditions are
i) Automation of the Member Library: For the success of network in the long run, each of the member
libraries must have a policy to automate every function of the library – acquisition, cataloguing,
classification, serials control, circulation, SDI, current awareness services, etc. – in the shortest possible
time. This helps the library to have a computer environment which is required to design, develop, maintain
and to operate several databases, to reduce the cost of library operations as well as network operations.
ii) Hardware and Software: The network should be able to recommend to participating libraries the type of
hardware and software they need for their in-house functions and for networking purposes. Hardware
should be selected considering the number of entries the participating libraries can generate within the next
3-5 years.
iii) Trained Manpower: If there is no adequate trained manpower in each of the member libraries, attempts
should be made to train or/and recruit new skilled library personnel.
iv) Standardization: For the purpose of creating databases, it is essential to agree upon a standard. All
libraries should follow a standard MARC format, AACR-II, a standard thesaurus like Library of Congress
Subject Headings (LCSH), etc. uniformly. Although efforts should be made to have one classification
scheme for all participating libraries yet the use of different numbers should not become a hurdle as search
requests are mostly about authors, titles, editors and subject descriptions.
Besides the above, it is preferable to have certain communication facilities such as Fax, Telex, Telephone,
etc. as a part of the network system in each of the member libraries for the effective working of the
network. E-mail and internet facilities should be available with the libraries and they should be able to
access international databases, preferably individually or through the network host to begin with.

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c) Advantages of Networking: The advantages of library networking are as follows:
i) Cooperative Collection Development: In the age of information explosion no individual library, however
resourceful, can be self-sufficient in terms of documents. For a library, however rich it may be impossible
to acquire and store all the documents within its four walls. Networking will help to develop collection in
terms of books, periodicals, patents, standards, audio visual, CDs, etc. and share those resources.
ii) Meets Specialized User Demand: User needs are varied and diversified. To meet the specialized need
one has to approach such special collection or special service that are available in special libraries.
Networking will help in the sharing of experience and expertise of the library personnel.
iii) Breaks Financial Constraint: The library budgets are decreasing. With the provision of library
networking a library can arrange for cooperative staff training, can exchange the staff for performing some
technical works. Sharing of the finance for cooperative acquisition and collection development, processing,
etc, can also be made.
iv) Reduces Unnecessary Duplication of Work: The networking will remove the efforts in duplication of
classification, cataloguing, and such others.
v) Barrier Breaker: Library networking is needed to break the barriers of distance and time. Further, it will
reduce the physical movement of materials.
vi) Sharing of Hardware Resources: Expensive computer equipment, microfilming equipment, digitizing
devices for newspaper, reprographic systems, etc. can be procured by a networking group for the benefit of
all the libraries of the network. Networking is also needed to connect personal computer with the
mainframe or super computer for problem solving.
vii) Sharing of Software Resources: The software that is too expensive to procure by individual libraries
can be procured and shared by the network for solving larger programmes, information retrieval, and so on.
The software can be installed in the central computer and all other computers can be used as client.
viii) Development of Union Catalogue: Network helps in developing union catalogue to refer the user to
the documents in any of the other participating libraries and it can be consulted by the user in order to
know which document is available in which library. For example, Union Catalogue of Social Science
Serials was compiled and published by the NASSDOC (ICSSR), New Delhi in 1980s.
ix) Development of Database: Library network helps in developing special database to meet some special
need by the participatory libraries. Again, through networking the local information which is available over
the network can be controlled locally that satisfies the accuracy. For example, National Union Catalogue of
Scientific Serial in India (1988) was the result of the work of INSDOC in collaboration with several
scientific libraries all over India.
x) Document Delivery Service (DDS): Networks enable librarians, faced with clients’ information needs
beyond their local resources, to identify and obtain materials and services for those clients. The interlibrary
loan, Document Delivery Service (DDS) provides the user the required documents irrespective of its
location.

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xi) Humanware: Manpower training and refresher course facilities – stimulating, promoting and
coordinating research and training programme for library staff- can be arranged by the network members.
d) Development of Library Network in India: At international level Joint Academic NETwork (JANET),
Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC), etc. are functioning properly. The examples of library networks
in the western countries suggest that all networks based on a fee structure can be maintained without grant
and are viable in the long run.
NICNET, established by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1977 was started in the late 1987’s. It is one
of the largest VSAT Networks of its kind in the world. It was launched basically for getting and providing
information from/to district levels to facilitate planning process. It links for regional nodes at Delhi, Pune,
Bhubneswar and Hyderabad and has established 32 nodes at state and union territory levels and 439 nodes
at district headquarters.
At national level INDONET is India’s first data communication and computer network that was started in
March 1986 by CMC Ltd. It was launched as a solution to the growing need for providing timely, well
processed data to various institutions. In the First phase, they have mainly network in Mumbai, Calcutta
and Chennai. Later, Delhi and Hyderabad were also linked as additional stations. INDONET presently has
an international gateway which provides access to the world wide pocket switched networks like USA’s
Global Networks Systems (GNS) and Internet.
Education and Research Network (ERNET) <http://www.eis.ernet.in/> was launched by the Department of
Education (DOE), Govt. of India in late 1986 with financial assistance from United Nationals Development
Programme (UNDP) to provide academic and research institutions with electronic mail facilities. It is
currently used by DSIR Labs, research centres and academic institutions.
Scientific and Industrial Research Network (SIRNET) was established by INSDOC in late 1989 to
interconnect all the CSIR laboratories and other R&D institutions in India.
The success of the above networks and the initiatives taken by NISSAT, UGC, Planning
Commission and other departments of Govt. of India have led to the establishment and development of
library networks in India.
CALIBNET was established by NISSAT in 1986 in Calcutta. It was the first library network visualized. At
present, it has become the centre for CD-ROM databases which are acquired from outside sources.
DELNET was established in 1988 in Delhi by India International Centre with the initial financial support
of NISSAT. It is the first operational library network in India. INFLIBNET was established by UGC in
1988 and its operations began in 1991. It is a network of university and college libraries. MALIBNET is
the result of the need for interconnecting libraries and information centres in Chennai, which was
visualized by INSDOC in 1991. INSDOC undertook a feasibility study which was completed in March
1992. MALIBNET was registered as a society in Chennai in Feb. 1993. Some other library networks in
India are PUNENET (1992) in Pune, ADINET (1993) in Ahmedabad, BONET (1994) in Mumbai,
MYLIBNET (1994) in Mysore (Chennai), and BALNET (1995) in Bangalore.
e) Let Us Sum Up: According to Allen Kent "the success and survival of libraries will much depend on
how much and to what extent the libraries cooperate with each other in future". Further, tremendous

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explosion of information, financial constraints, information in different forms, etc., compelling the libraries
to form network and consortia is an essential facet of modern library practices.
In library network the particular focus is forming online networks by using computers and linking members
to the computer resources by means of telecommunication connections. When a group of libraries using
computers decide to exchange information, a network is developed.
The library network deals with the development of software for library automation, automation of the
member libraries, retro-conversion of records, cooperative acquisition, creating union catalogue,
development of database of the holdings in member libraries, conducting training, workshops and seminar,
providing DDS, Email, CD-ROM, internet access facilities. It also provides reference service, referral
service, and provides technical support to member institutions in the selection of hardware, software, and
technical problem faced by the member libraries. But till now except DELNET and INFLIBNET, most of
the other library networks have yet to develop databases of library holdings in a significant way. Even
these two networks have to go a long way to cover in their databases the entire holdings of all the
participating libraries. Unless this is achieved, the networks would not be able to achieve significant
resource sharing as well as rationalization in library acquisitions.
Library Resource Sharing and Networking
Library Resource Sharing and Networking: The sharing of library resources started with the concept of
inter library loan, under which a library can get a document from another library on loan for a certain
period. It was followed by the term “Library Cooperation”, but now in its revised and improved form it is
called as “Resource Sharing”. Today, it is called “Library Network” or “Library Consortia”, which is one
of the cooperative ways of sharing online resources. The inter library loan means sharing of the resources
of one library by the other libraries on demand, when they are needed by its user i.e sharing one’s assets
with others.
Library Cooperation / Resource Sharing / Networking / Consortia all denote a mode of cooperation
among a number of libraries whereby the library collection, function or services are shared by a number of
libraries. According to Allen Kent the goals are to provide a positive net effect on the library user in terms
of access to more material or services and or on the library budget in terms of providing level service at
less cost, increased service at level cost or much more service at less cost than if undertaken individually.
1. Library Cooperation: Library cooperation is a social phenomenon by which libraries are mutually
engaged to increase the service capabilities of a single library and by which the librarians extend their
option to serve clients. It includes sharing materials or function or services that constitute a library system.
A material includes both documentary and non documentary forms. The function covers the activities
concerning the acquisition, processing, storage, etc.; services include techniques, activities and procedures
employed to establish contact between the document and its consumer i.e. lending, reference,
documentation, translation, etc. Library cooperation also can be looked upon as a broader term than
resource sharing or networking or consortia.
2. Types of Library Cooperation: Based on the geographical area covered, library cooperation may be of

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i) International Level: E.g. Universal Availability of Publication (UAP) programme introduced by IFLA,
Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC)];
ii) National Level: E.g. National Social Science Documentation Center (NASSDOC);
iii) Regional Level and
iv) Local Level.
Based on the functional area covered Library Cooperation may be
i) Sharing of documentary resources (cooperative acquisition, cooperative processing, cooperative storage
for the documents which are less used, cooperative delivery system ie inter library lending, development of
network, developing consortia).
ii) Sharing of manpower resources (arrangement for the cooperative staff training and such).
ii) Sharing of other library facilities or equipment (for eg. sharing of the computer and reprographic
equipment that cannot be afforded by small libraries due to their high cost), and sharing of finance.
Based on subject basis it may be general or subject based.
3. Kinds of Library Cooperation: Following are some of the kinds of library cooperation.
i) Co-operative Acquisition: The process of acquisition involves selecting, placing orders to vendors,
passing of bills, payments, etc. All these activities can be minimized by cooperative acquisition. This will
also result in saving the cost, earning of a larger discount, saving time and clerical labor.
The INSDOC, New Delhi, initiated Centralized Acquisition of Periodicals (CAP) through which it
is acquiring foreign periodicals for about 30 CSIR laboratories.
ii) Cooperative Processing: If each library, within the network of resources sharing, processes a book
through the computer then the job of cataloguing can be shared by all the libraries within the network in the
form of-
- Printed Catalogue Card Service: In this process some libraries, usually of national status, undertake the
responsibility of producing printed catalogue cards which are available on a payment basis for other
libraries. The Library of Congress and BNB are producing printed catalogue card service.
- Prenatal Cataloguing / Cataloguing In Publication (CIP): The term prenatal cataloguing was used by Dr.
S. R. Ranganathan. Prenatal technical work involves completion of technical work by the national central
library of a country on each book before its release by the publisher.
The Cataloguing in Publication (CIP) programme was initiated by Library of Congress (LOC),
USA in 1971 with 27 participating publishers. The process of classification and cataloguing of a
publication is done before the book is released. The cataloguing data provided by the LOC is printed on the
reverse of the title page which helps the individual libraries in copying down the data on their catalogue
card.

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- Centralized Classification and Cataloguing: Centralized classification and cataloguing service of Online
Computer Library Centre (OCLC), and Machine Readable Catalogue (MARC) project of the Library of
Congress are remarkable in this direction. Online cataloguing, retrospective conversion using databases
also lead to economy with quality.
iii) Cooperative Storage: Every library has limited space for storage of books. So the old and less used
books are weeded out regularly to provide space for new acquisition. Moreover, the maintenance of the
unused or little used books not only consumes valuable space of the library but also involves money and
labour. So, by resources sharing a centralized cooperative storage of less used books can be achieved.
The material which is not in active use may be stored on a cooperative basis at a central dormitory. With
the initiative of NASSDOC (ICSSR), New Delhi and Jawarharlal Nehru University, Delhi an Inter Library
Resource Centre (ILRC) was established in New Delhi in 1975. Some 38 libraries of Delhi deposited their
less used serial and government documents at the centre.
Library Rules and Its Components
Library Rules and Its Components: The library rules lay down the privileges and duties of the library
members so that they may know their limits precisely and there may not be any confusion. These rules and
regulations serve as a guideline to deal with the public. In the absence of such rules it may be difficult for
the library to meet the demands of its users. Freedom without any limits cannot be called freedom because
a person who claims freedom to himself to do any act which is injurious to the freedom of another person
will deny the other person his freedom. So the diction “right” implies “duties” and “vigilance is the price of
freedom” should be the guiding factors. The components of the library rules may be as follows:
a) About the Library: A brief description about the library, its history, aims and objectives.
b) Library Hours, Holidays: A library shall be kept open on all days from 9 am to 9 pm except on national
holidays unless decided otherwise by the library committee. The issue counter shall be closed one hour
before the closing of the library.
c) Library Collection: The reference collection, rare books, thesis, periodicals may not be issued out.
d) Library Services / Facilities: Circulation, reservation, reprography, inter library loan, bibliographical
services can be considered as a must in every kind of library.
e) Membership Eligibility: To get enrolled as a member of a library a person shall fill and sign the
enrollment form. The category of members may be administrative staff of the parent institution, teachers,
research scholars, students, and others.
f) Admission to the Library: Only regular members of the library should have the admission privileges.
However, non-members shall be admitted only by special permit to be issued by the librarian or his deputy
during his absence. Membership identity card shall be shown at the counter when requested. Every member
shall enter his name and membership number in the gate register.

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g) Property Counter: Sticks, umbrellas, boxes, personal books and such other items should be left at the
property counter.
h) Membership Privileges: Each category of member shall be given as many reader’s tickets as many
volumes of books he/she is entitled to borrow at one time. The category can be as follows
Administrative Staff – 5 volumes
Teacher – 20 volumes
Research Scholar – 15 volumes
Honors Student – 10 volumes
Students – 5 volumes
The borrowers must satisfy themselves about the physical condition of the books before borrowing. They
shall be held responsible for any damage or mutilation noticed at the time of returning. In the membership
privileges itself the condition of loan, period of loan, overdue charge, condition of renewal should also be
listed out. A member who loses a ticket shall make a written report to the Librarian. He shall be responsible
for the misuse of the reader’s tickets. Duplicate ticket shall be issued after a lapse of two weeks from the
date of such a notice and on payment of Rs. 100. He/she shall also be required to sign an indemnity bond.
A member, who infringes rules, shall be liable to forfeit his privilege of admission to and borrowing
of books from the library.
i) Do’s and don’ts: Library rules include those regarding the prevention of misuse of library resources,
maintenance of silence, prohibiting spitting and smoking, switching of the mobile phone or keeping it in
vibration mode, and so on. The rules also insist that no person shall damage or disfigure books or other
property of the library. A member shall have to replace such books or other properties those are damaged
or must make payment for the value thereof.
j) Others: The rules also include the scope for their modification. The cases of misbehavior or discourtesy
by the staff or unwillingness to provide service shall be reported to the librarian or his deputy during his
absence.
The rules to be framed by a library should be worded in such a way that an average user can understand
them. The main rules should be printed on the library tickets, book label, pocket and the back cover of the
book.

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Library Standards
Library Standards: It is desirable that a library should use standard specification. In this connection the
following standards will be found useful:
i) Indian standard specification for library furniture and fittings: Part I Timber [IS: 1829 (Part I)-1978].
ii) Indian standard specification for library furniture and fittings: Part II Steel [IS: 1892 (Part I)-1977].
Indian Standard Recommendations relating to primary elements in the design of library building
(first revision), Delhi, Indian Standards Institution, 1977 recommend the following
a) Documents: 150 volumes per square metre;
b) Library Staff
i) Librarian and deputy librarian=30 m2
ii) Classifier, cataloguer, accession librarian and maintenance librarian= 9 m2
iii) Administrative and professional staff not at service points = 5 m2
c) Users: Average area per reader in the reading room=2.33 m2
d) Services: Area required for services to users can be calculated on the basis of local requirements;
e) Others: According to Keyes D. Metcalf, Planning academic and research library buildings, New York,
McGraw-Hill, 1965, P. 316 space for stairways, corridors, entrances, lobbies, toilet facilities, walls,
columns, vertical communication and transportation, etc would consists of 30 percent to one-third of area
for documents, readers, and service to readers and staff.
The dimension for table, chair, shelving and card catalogue cabinet can be taken from the Indian standard
specification for library furniture and fittings: Part II Steel (IS: 1829 (Part II)-1977), New Delhi, Indian
Standards Institution, 1978.
Stacks are required for reading room, staff’s room, seminar and meeting hall, for non-book materials and
so on. While selecting stacks for any kind of library, the main consideration should be to ensure maximum
space utilization, user convenience and easy movement with the stack room. The Indian Statistical
Institution, Delhi has laid down a standard for wooden rack vide IS: 1829 (Part 1)-1961 Library Furniture
and Fitting: Part 1 (Timber). These have been reaffirmed by the University Grants Commission’s Library
Committee. These are very much in use.

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Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC)
Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC): MARC format has become a generic term to all MARC formats
including UKMARC, CANMARC, InterMARC, etc. which are used for the identification and arrangement
of bibliographical data for handling by computer.
The first conference on Machine Readable Cataloguing was sponsored by the Library of Congress. The
committee on Automation of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Council of Library
Resources (CLR) was met at the Library of Congress. This conference recommended that
i) MARC records should include additional information to be used as multipurpose records, in addition to
information available on printed card;
ii) The element of MARC data should be standardized;
iii) MARC records should be produced and distributed to libraries which have automated system.
In the second conference held at the Library of Congress in November 1965, Library of Congress
sought funds from CLR and in December 1965 it received a grant to conduct a pilot project.
In early January 1966 the planning for the pilot project began. The third conference was held in February
1966 at the Library of Congress which was considered the official opening of the pilot project for machine
readable cataloguing data. The pilot project was called MARC I. In this way the MARC I format was set
up in April 1966 which was restricted to books only. The distribution of regular weekly service of MARC
tapes started from Nov. 1966. The MARC I format was based entirely on the structure of the Library of
Congress catalogue card. So, BNB (with active collaboration with Library of Congress) made some
operational changes to make it interchangeable record format. As a result, MARC II was developed. It is
capable of containing bibliographic data of all forms of library material such as books, monographs, serial,
map, music, etc. By subscribing to this service a library can acquire Magnetic tapes in machine readable
form.
Due to the differences between the British Library and the Library of Congress MARC II was later split
into two formats - BNB MARC (later UK MARC) and US MARC. The USMARC format becomes the U.
S. National Standard in 1971 (ANSI Z39.2) and an International Standard in 1973 (ISO 2709). The MARC
II also influenced the other countries to develop their own standard format which followed the same
structure but the tags were slightly different. As a result, certain amount of incompatibility exists among
the different countries. To solve this problem IFLA launched a programme known as UNIMARC, but
eventually it failed.
A) Structure of MARC Tapes
a) Leader: It provides information about ensuring such records as total length of the record, the type of
record, etc. It is 24 characters (00-23) long.
b) Record Directory: It shows what variable fields are in the record and what their locations in the record
are. It is of 12 characters long.

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c) Variable Field: The variable fields are of two types- Variable Control Field (001-009) and Variable Data
Field.
B) Advantages of Using MARC:
a) MARC tapes can be used by individual libraries for producing their conventional card catalogue / book
form of catalogue, etc.
b) It helps in the creation of centrally prepared catalogue.
c) Distribution of MARC tapes to the receiving libraries avoid duplication of effort.
d) Uses of MARC tapes make different library softwares compatible to one another.
e) MARC tapes can be used for computerized SDI services.
f) MARC tapes perform sharing of bibliographical information.
Machine Readable Cataloguing 21 (MARC 21)
Machine Readable Cataloguing 21 (MARC 21): The MARC 21 is a standard format for the representation
and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine readable form. The MARC 21 is a
new name of harmonization of CANMARC and USMARC in a single edition. In 1987, the Library of
Congress issued the first edition of the document MARC 21. Subsequent editions were published in 1990,
1994 and 2000.
a) Necessity of MARC 21: Mark 21 is necessary because of the following factors:
i) Lack of standardization among different national MARC formats;
ii) Lack of internationally accepted cataloguing code to MARC record;
iii) Diverse functions of bibliographic agencies;
iv) Lack of agreement among different bibliographic communities.
b) Maintenance of MARC 21: The Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada serve as the
maintenance agency for MARC 21. The MARC 21 format, documentation and reviewing and revision are
done by the Machine Readable Bibliographic Information Committee (MARBI). MARBI is a committee of
the ALA. MARBI meets in conjunction with MARC advisory committee at each American Library
Association (ALA) conference.
c) Standard Used in MARC 21
i) Cataloguing Code: AACR II;

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ii) Subject Heading: LCSH;
iii) Classification Scheme: DDC;
iv) ISO 2709 and ANSI / NISO Z39.2.
Till now, MARC 21 remains the standard one which is widely accepted in different library softwares and
also in different countries
Maintenance Service
Maintenance Service: Documents are acquired, processed, stored and displayed for use. So it is essential
that these are maintained in proper order and in good physical condition fit for being used by the library
users. In fact, the ultimate success of various other functions like acquisition, classification and cataloguing
rests on the efficiency of the maintenance work. Maintenance work involves continuous monitoring or
keeping proper stocking, arrangement and display of books on the shelves in the stack rooms and taking
care of them.
There are always some users who forget to return materials. There are also thieves who prey on
libraries. The public may not always realize how valuable some of the library materials are. Again, the
price to be paid in a retail store for books and other materials is much lower than what it costs for the
library to acquire, process, store, and to maintain records and so on. Besides, some documents are rare and
some go out of print. So the documents that are in the library collection can not be easily replaceable. The
library security section that comes under maintenance should try to ensure that no document is lost, no
document is mutilated and so on. If possible, the thief catching devices should be introduced in a library.
1. Guides: Guides should be put at different places in the library so that a user can find out his / her way
without asking anybody in different parts of the library such as reading room, stacks, etc. Some general
guides should be affixed at the entrance of the stack. It should give an overall view of the arrangements of
books in the stacks. Besides general guides, the following will also need to be introduced, each of which
should show the subjects covered in the particular area giving the inclusive class numbers as well as
equivalent names of the subjects in the natural language / verbal plane.
a) Tier Guide: In case of more than one tier stack, a tier guide should be provided on each tier.

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b) Gangway Guide: Each gangway should be provided a gangway guide.
c) Bay Guide: Bay is the part of the face of rack between two consecutive upright. The bay guide should be
put for each bay in the stack room.
d) Shelf Guide: Each shelf should be provided a shelf guide.
2. Shelf List: A shelf list consists of cards of standard size 7.5 X 12.5 cm. A library can also use the
catalogue cards without lines or colored cards for this purpose, or the duplicate copy of the main entry
catalogue card of the book. For each volume there would be one card. The call number is written on the
leading line in the left hand corner, starting from first vertical. Accession number is written bellow it. In the
next line comes the heading. Last line contains title, edition and year of publication. These cards are then
arranged in a classified order parallel to the corresponding books on the shelves.
Shelf list enables the library to maintain correct sequence on the shelves and to put every book in the
correct place. It can also indicate immediately the position of any book on the self in the library. As such,
the shelf list is an important record; so it should be kept under safety. Further, shelf list may be regarded as
a stock register; therefore, it can be used for stock verification purpose also.
* Shelf Rectification: The maintenance staff at all levels in a library can devote their free time in studying
the books on the shelves so as to develop a fair knowledge of their contents. According to Ranganathan,
shelf rectification is the process of restoring order among the books. In an open access library, users have
the freedom to select books of their choice from the shelves. While doing so, some users may intentionally
or unintentionally misplace the books in the shelves and a book wrongly placed is as good as lost. All these
would require restoration of order. This can be achieved by reading the shelves systematically and shifting
the misplaced books on the shelves to their proper places.
In order to control the movement of books in a library system, we make use of the shelf list. The cards will
move with the books, wherever they are transferred. The regular shelf reading will provide efficient
retrieval of materials and helps in the identification of the damaged books so that they can be removed for
repair and binding.
3. Document Maintenance in and Around the Shelves: When the documents are in the shelves the
following maintenance procedures are implemented
a) Shelving: The documents should be properly arranged in the shelves of the library so that they can be
quickly located. The arrangement may be keyword based, classification based or such other. This practice
should be followed for the new books received in the library, books just returned from circulation, books
taken out by the user to the reading room, books taken out from shelves for carrying out some type of
correction, books received after binding, books that are misplaced, and so on.
b) Maintenance of Document: If tags on books are found missing or get faded, then necessary action should
be taken. Books in need of binding or repair should be taken out from the shelves for maintenance work.
Maintenance of document will include following actions

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i) Mending: Mending means minor restoration, not involving replacement with any new material or the
separation of books from cover. For example, the mending of a tear in a page or the tipping in a loose leaf.
ii) Repairing: Partial rehabilitation of a worn volume, in which the amount of work done being less than the
minimum amount of money involved in rebinding and more than the maximum involved in mending is
called repairing. For example, the repairing of the cover cloth or restoring the lost leaf corners.
iii) Reinforcing: Strengthening the structure of a weakened volume usually by adding material is termed as
reinforcing. For example, the strengthening of a hinge with cloth or the reinforcing of a page by covering it
with tissue.
iv) Recasing: Replacing the cover of a volume, which is still in good condition but come out of its cover or
has loosened in its cover, the sewing can be solved by recasing.
v) Re-backing: Attaching a new shelf back on a volume without any other binding in termed as re-backing.
vi) Re-sewing: The process of making a new cover and of attaching it to the volume.
vii) Re-covering: The process of taking out the volume out of its cover, removing the old sewing, sewing a
new and replacing it in the same cover.
c) Dusting and Cleaning: Dust reduces the life of a book; further, the users will hesitate to take out for
consultation such a volume which is full of dust. Again, the books lying unattended in dark corners for a
long period have a greater possibility of being eaten by silver fish and other insects. To avoid this, dusting
and cleaning of books should be done on a regular basis, at least in an interval of 20-30 days. In a library
where the stack area is very large, cleaning can be done by mechanical devices like vacuum cleaners, etc.
4. Binding: Binding enables the stock to be kept in proper physical conditions. Routine bindings as well as
specification are similar for both books and periodicals publications. Big libraries should have their own
binderies both for binding and repair of books. Other libraries should get their books bound and repaired by
commercial binders.
a) Picking up Books: Damaged books are picked up in the issue or return of the books by the users, during
shelving, shelf rectification and stock verification. New books having weak casing should also be taken out
for binding before being released for use.
b) Noting Details: For each volume the librarian needs to prepare a binding slip. The binding slip should
contain information regarding author, title, call number, accession number, kind of binding required, colour
of binding, lettering (in gold or ink), matter for lettering on the cover page / spine, etc.
c) Sending the Books: The librarian needs to prepare an order copy for binding from the binding slips,
giving instructions to the binder. The order copy along with the books now should be sent to the binders.
d) Receiving Books: On receiving the books, these should be checked with the binding slips to know
whether specifications listed out are followed or not. Specification should cover matter regarding

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assembling (collation, removal of wrappers and advertisement), stitching (sewing, mounting of maps, and
illustrations, use of end papers, cutting of edges), forwarding, lettering, sizes, materials to be used etc. If
everything is found in order then the labelling and pasting should be done, to be followed by shelving and
releasing of the bill of the binders for payment.
In many libraries, the issues of a complete volume of a periodical are bound together in hard covers which
are known as bound volume periodicals. The bound volumes are shelved with other books by classification
number in some libraries. In other libraries they are shelved in a separate periodical area. Some libraries
acquire some of the current copies of periodicals in paper and the back issues in digital form.
5. Stock Verification: Stock verification means a systematic checking of the library holdings with an aim to
find out the missing volumes in the library stock. It is a physical check-up of the documents on record.
a) Need: Books may be mutilated, misplaced, and lost. The damaged books have to be repaired; misplaced
books should be taken out for correct placing, and the lost books should be simply written off. Those
books, which are important and in heavy demand, would need to be replaced. In case too many books are
found to have been lost, mutilated and misplaced, then steps have to be taken to improve the situation. For
all these stock verification will be necessary.
b) Disadvantages: One of the disadvantages of stock verification is that during the stock verification
process many libraries have to close down. The books borrowed by users are recalled for physical
verification and this may cause inconvenience to the users. Again, very often the cost of stock verification
is higher than the cost of the lost book.
c) Stock Verification Procedures: Let us now discuss stock verification procedures as given below:
i) Accession Register: In this method, the accession register is taken to the shelves. One person calls out the
accession numbers of the books on the shelves and another person ticks the same accession number in the
accession register with a pencil. After this, the items on loan, the items sent for binding, etc. are ticked in
the register. At the end of this operation, a list of untraceable books is prepared. An effort is also made to
trace the missing books. This method is time consuming, cumbersome and it spoils the accession register.
ii) Register Listing Accession Numbers: In this procedure a separate register is prepared that contains the
accession numbers. The register is taken to the shelves. One person calls out the accession number from the
book, another person ticks the relevant column against the particular accession number. The rest are same
as that of access register procedure.
For small libraries whose collections are within the range of 25 thousand, they can use any of the
above two methods. They can also use similar method that includes Check Cards, Book cards, and so on.
Large libraries cannot use these procedures.
iii) Loose Sheets Listing Accession Numbers: In case of loose sheet, on each sheet consecutive accession
numbers are written down. A single sheet may contain 100 accession numbers. An accession number called
out is crossed out in the sheet. This procedure has the advantage over the above two in its ability to carry
out the stock verification by more than two people at a time since the loose sheets provide wide flexibility
of taking out by multiple persons.

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iv) Shelf List: When the shelf lists are on cards and the shelf list is up to date and accurate in terms of
details and arrangement, then this procedure can be followed for stock verification. It is also essential that
in this method, stock verification and stock rectification should be combined into a single process for the
ultimate success. In this method also sock verification can be carried out by a number of persons at a time
as portions of shelves to be checked can be allocated to different persons.
v) Numerical Counting of Books: This involves mere counting of books lying on shelves and those on loan.
This number deducted out of total stock based on accession register would lead to number of books lost.
On knowing the average cost of a book, one can calculate the cost of all the lost books.
vi) Sample Stock Verification Method: In this method, a few sections are chosen on the basis of sampling
method (statistics) for stock verification. This gives the figure for annual loss on average basis.
d) Loss of Books: The stock verification is helpful in identifying and determining the loss of books in a
library. Loss of books in an open access library is inevitable. The General Finance Rules 2005, The
Ministry of Finance, Government of India, No. 194 (ii) (P. 74) envisages that “loss of five volumes per one
thousand volumes of books issued / consulted in a year may be taken as reasonable provided such losses
are not attributable to dishonesty or negligence. However, loss of a book of a value exceeding Rs. 1,000/-
(Rupees One thousand only) and rare books irrespective of value shall invariably be investigated and
appropriate action taken”. The authorities should write off such loss of books. In case the loss is higher
than the permissible limit then there will be a need to investigate the mater. Causes for higher loss should
be determined and steps should be taken to improve the situation.
6. Evaluation: Library documents are selected by different people over a long period of time. Librarians
may vary in their perception of the general principles of the selection. Patrons’ interest may change and
what was a good collection a decade ago may no longer meet their needs, or the community itself may
change, bringing entirely new patrons with very different needs. All these factors demand an evaluation of
the total collection.
Collection evaluation is a part of collection development in which the existing collections are
measured, analyzed, and judged according to preset criteria for size, relevance, quality, and use. Evaluation
methodologies may be categorized by their focus (user-centered versus collection-centered) or by the
nature of their findings (objective / quantitative/ statistical versus subjective / qualitative / interpretative).
a) Determining the Worth of the Collection: Various techniques can be used to get some idea of the worth
of a collection. Some of them are
i) Bestsellers, and Reviews: Each year the American Library Association produces lists such as Best Books
for Young Adults, Notable Children’s’ Books, and Notable Books for adult collections. Certain ALA
divisions cooperate to produce University books for secondary school libraries and university press books
for public libraries. Other organizations also produce such lists. With more and more books being
published and reaching the bestseller lists, librarians must check these lists against their holdings. How
many titles were bought, how many were missed? Did the librarian decide consciously not to buy the

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missing titles and if so was the decision correct? Do the titles fall outside the scope of the collection being
developed or have the review media being used to make choices failed to alert the librarian as to their
value? Another point of consideration is that no library can survive with only standard list of titles on its
shelves, since no list can meet the need of diverse patron interest to be found in varying communities.
ii) User Study: The librarian should be alert to study groups within the user community, their movement
and their changing demands from time to time. The users’ need is to be compared with the existing
collection. Soliciting opinions on adequacy and quality of local collections from the users and/or experts
can also prove effective.
iii) Interlibrary Loan Request: Keeping accurate statistics on the number of requests as well as specific
titles and subjects requested will provide an insight into the ways where the users’ needs are shifting.
iv) Questions at the Reference Desk: Requests from patrons will show the relationship between the
patrons’ interest and the library’s collection. When a genuine conflict exists between the two, reevaluation
of the collection development policy is called for.
v) Titles on Reserve: The title on reserve also provides an insight into a patron’s interest. A large number
of reserves for a particular title would alert the librarian to procure more copies of the same title.
vi) Circulation Statistics: Here, the circulation of locally held materials is analyzed to forecast distributions
of future needs.
vii) Request Analysis: In request analysis, the requests for materials that could not be found in local
collections are analyzed to determine the weaknesses while the fulfillment of requests from other libraries
is analyzed to determine the strength.
viii) Bibliographies: No library has enough staff to use all the specialized bibliographies available for
evaluation of a collection. But a wide range of such tools should be owned by libraries for consultation in
reader’s advisory and reference services.
7. Weeding: A garden can hardly attain the goals of beauty and elegance without the removal of the earlier
plants and the planting and nurturing of the new ones. In the same way, a library should weed the obsolete
or unused materials periodically to use its limited space most effectively and for efficient utilization of its
new collections. But, titles from old collection need to be weeded only when the library periodically
acquires new materials, as something is always better than nothing in the library.
a) Why Weeding is not Practised in Libraries: In a service library, the collection loses its value and
significance if the important and valuable documents are mixed up with larger number of outdated and
useless documents. Still, weeding is avoided in many libraries because of the following factors
i) Love for Large Numbers: The glory for numbers in libraries is still there. This is mainly because official
reports to be submitted by the librarian emphasize on numbers.
ii) No Reading is Obsolete: Many feel that every book, however old it may be, has its own value. What
seems superfluous today may contain the essence of our times for the researcher of tomorrow.

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iii) Pressure of Work: Library being a dynamic organization, a work pressure will always be on the library
professionals. Since weeding implies careful, judicious and justifiable action, which needs time, librarians
hesitate to weed out.
iv) Fear of Audit and Clientele Comments: At the time of audit one may face objection that documents for
which amounts were paid are not found in the library. Similarly, the clientele may also comment upon the
documents weeded out of the library saying that some very useful documents are also discarded.
The librarians need to be discouraged by the above factors. A clear and well planned weeding out
policy free from biasness and approved by a committee will clear all hurdles.
b) Weeding Policy: The Council of American Library Association holds the view that in public libraries
“annual withdrawals from the collection should average at least 5 percent of the total collection”. Sinha
Committee Report (1958) holds a similar view in case of Indian Public Libraries in the statement that “a
conscious librarian should discard 5 percent of the fiction and 2 percent of the non-fiction every year”.
According to Ranganathan, many collections lose their relevance in 20 years. After that period such books
should not be preserved in the library but should be weeded out and written off.
c) What should be weeded: The following types of collection can be considered for weeding:
i) Obsolete Collection: In science and technology, the developments are so fast that the books published
twenty or thirty years ago become outdated. Such books have to be weeded out. The books that are
obsolete in content, style or theme also need to be weeded out.
ii) Older Editions: Superseded editions of books might well be eliminated, if the library is not attempting a
historical collection of all the editions of a given title. Almanacs and yearbooks may be discarded after 5
years.
Bibliographies and encyclopaeidas are of little use after ten years, though exceptions may be made in
specific instances such as the famous eleventh edition of Encyclopedia Britannica.
iii) Unused Collection: The books that are not circulated or consulted by any library patron during the last
five years also need to be weeded out.
iv) Mutilated Books: Books that are mutilated because of constant use should be withdrawn. Books that
show signs of wear, books which have become dirty, shabby or just plain worn out should also be
withdrawn. When the heavily used items or the titles with significant content are selected for weeding due
to its physical condition then a new copy if it is still available from the producer or publisher, should be
acquired or it should be replaced with a reproduced / Xeroxed copy (digital conversion).
The weeding should be regularly practised in the library. It might be possible for the selectors to consider
each new title in relation to the possibility of discarding one already on the shelves. In such cases the
weeded collection is replaced with a fresh edition or more contemporary substitute.
d) Space for Weeded out Books: The weeded out books can be stored in a cooperative way, can be
provided to other library as a donation, can be sold out in the market of second hand book or destroy.

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i) Storage: At least one copy of the weeded books should be transferred from active collection to storage
(cooperative or individual), or transferring the title to some network partner. This is for the possible
remedies for preventing the permanent loss of the weeded collection. The provision of cooperative storage
will make the weeded collection available to the user of any other libraries.
ii) Donation: If the books are in good condition, particularly if they are older editions of reference sources
like encyclopedia, handbook, etc, they may be donated to other libraries which are not in a position to go
for such costly books.
iii) Sold: The documents which are completely worn out, mutilated and irreparable should be sold just like
unpreserved old newspapers.
iv) Destroy: Some collection also needs to be destroyed. Ministry of Finance vide its circular of 7/2/1984
says that “there may be no objection to the librarian disposing of mutilated/damaged/obsolete volumes to
the best interest of the library. However, the disposal of such volumes should be made on the
recommendations of a three member committee”.
e) What should not be weeded: The titles that were in the bestsellers list should not be weeded even if its
circulation statistics is not good. The classic books in each subject also should not be weeded out.
8. Let Us Sum Up: If proper care is not taken by the maintenance section in a library, the stock would
deteriorate and become unserviceable very soon. The maintenance section preserves the most valuable or
most-used items in the collection.
In a small library, it is generally possible to carry out stock verification once every year. However, in a
larger library, it is neither feasible nor necessary to do stock verification every year. In such cases it should
be a continuous process, in which regions of shelves are taken for stock verification and the whole process
should be completed in two to three years. Again, the part of the stock which is prone to greater losses can
be subjected to stock verification more frequently. During stock verification, regular library services should
not be affected as far as possible. The use of shelf list for the purpose provides a method of stock
verification, which can be carried out without closing the library.
The library collection in numbers does not tell anything about how the collection relates to the patron
needs. Library collections must be continuously evaluated to go with the user needs. The tools or methods
that are used in selection of materials for library acquisition can also be used in evaluation of the collection
and weeding of the unused collection. The library collection should be evaluated periodically within five to
ten years, depending on the stability of staff doing the selection and patron’s surveys showing major
weaknesses. It should identify what has been missed, what titles in the collection are not relevant to the
users and so on. All evaluation techniques are time consuming and costly.
Library materials may be weeded because of a combination of their out-dated content, unnecessary titles,
their physical condition (scratched, torn, generally ragged), and their use patterns (declining or directly
lost). The weeded titles may be sent to storage

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Management
Management: Right from the dawn of human civilization man has been acquiring and sharpening the
principle of management for better understanding of nature, better exploitation of resources, better human
relations, better organization and governance. As such management is quite dynamic and flexible and
responsible to changes in the social concept and economic condition. Management structure is pyramid, i.e
broadest at the base and tapering towards the top.
The term management as used in business has a fairly precise meaning and includes the four basic
functions of planning, organizing, motivation (personnel) and controlling. In simple, management means
getting things done in a proper manner without conflict or with least conflict. The purpose of management
function is to yield the optimum good result by using the resources at hand. The available resources may
not be sufficient but the management attempts to get the best result in a given situation.
According to ALA Glossary of library and information science “management may be defined as the
process of coordinating the total resources of an organization towards the accomplishment of the desired
goals of that organization through the execution of a group of interrelated function such as planning,
organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
John Franklin Mee has analyzed a number of definitions and arrived at a definition which defines
management as being composed of three elements-
i) Objectives for group effort must exist;
ii) A process based on logic must be followed in attaining objectives and
iii) People must be utilized in the process to attain objectives.
Management is “the function….concerned in the execution of policy within the limits set up by
administration and the employment of the organization for the particular objects before it.” Perhaps the
simplest and most useful definition of management is “achievement of objectives through other people”.
Management has been practiced in some form ever since the dawn of human civilization. However,
systematic study of management as a separate branch of knowledge is a product of 20th century. It was
confined to the study of organization, functions, powers and activities etc. of the public authorities. Later,
attempt was made to determine rules for effective and efficient administrative organization on the basis of
empirical evidence.
Managers are needed to convert disorganized resources of people equipment and finance into a useful
enterprise. The modern library managers are needed to exercise a positive influence to make things happen,
to be a dynamic, innovative force, to initiate change and follow through action. To design job structure
which will satisfy the social need of staff member by providing opportunities for self expression, inner
security and human satisfaction.

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Management School of Thought
Management School of Thought: During the present century, certain schools of management thought have
developed. Each school reflects the problems of the period during which they were popular. Herold Koontz
was the first who have attempted to classify the various approaches on the management in the schools of
management theory. Based on the writings of some of the scholars and Koontz, the management thoughts,
have been classified in the following schools of management theory.
a) Management Process School: This school developed in France. Henri Fayol, a Frenchman is considered
as the father of this school. Sometimes this school is referred to as “Traditional or Universalist” or
Classical school. It regards management as a universal process. The management process is analyzed,
conceptual framework is established, principles are identified and a theory of management in built from it.
Henri Fayol applied scientific approach but looked at administration from the top to down. He focused on a
systematic understanding of the overall management process. It holds that management is a process which
can best be understood by analyzing its function.
The traditional school is also called the rules of thumb, where workers are not given the chance for
decision-making. It is running as usual without any logic. There is not any consideration of scientific
method. The traditional school gives rise to:
i) Narrow work specialization;
ii) Rigid hierarchical structure of management;
iii) Gulf between vision and work due to organizational levels;
iv) Salary and perks determining the structure of management rather than work structure.
b) Scientific Management School: Scientific management is the application of the principles and
methodology of modern science to problems of administration. Scientific management, in brief, involves
certain combination of the following elements-
i) Science instead of rule of thumb;
ii) Co-operation instead of individuation;
iii) Harmony instead of discord;
iv) Maximum output instead of restricted output;
v) The development of each person to his greatest efficiency.
The term scientific management was introduced by Louis Brandeis in 1910 in his appearance before
Interstate Commerce Commission. “The basic assumption of this school is the philosophy that workers are
economically motivated and they will respond with their best emphasis is on maximum output with
minimum effort by eliminating waste and inefficiency at the operative level”.

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The above theory owes its origin to Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is regarded as the father of scientific
management. Efficiency was the central theme of his writing. He aimed at making management a science
based on well organized, clearly defined and fixed principles of management instead of depending on more
or less lazy ideas.
Scientific management is also called Modern management. Modern management gives due emphasis on
Human Resource Development (HRD), so that they can use the existing resources. Existing resources
should be trained so that they can handle the latest technology. Modern management looks into the
personal development of the staff. Welfare of the staff is the objective of modern management.
c) Bureaucratic Theory: This theory was propounded by Max Weber which has profoundly influenced
modern thinking in these areas. Weber developed a bureaucratic model of organization which is essentially
a universal model of efficient organization. Bureaucracy refers to a certain characteristic of organizational
design. This emphasized specialization within an organization and considered hierarchy of the decision
making process of great importance. He analyzed the authority and responsibility of the office rather than
individual. He made monumental contribution to authority structures in a complex organization.
Luther Gulick, an American has described the functions of an executive in terms of an acronym
POSDCORB, representing Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, COordinating, Reporting and
Budgeting.
d) Human Relation School: The human relations approach to management began with the Hawthorne
experiments in the early 1930s. Its findings led to the development of a new hypothesis i.e. motivation to
work, morale and productivity are related to social relations among the workers and the supervision and not
to physical condition of work. The human relation school considers that as managing involves getting
things done through people; therefore management studies should be evolved around interpersonal
relations. Thus the main emphasis is on the individual and the informal group in the formal organization.
The basic concern is to study people as human beings rather than as mere work units. Sociologists and
psychologists have been very active in developing this school of thought.
i) Human Behavior School: The focus of the human behavior school is on behaviour of the individual, the
group and the organization. This theory looks at the human factor as the central theme. It lays greater
emphasis on interpersonal relationship, leadership, group dynamics and motivation of personnel. The basic
assumption is that in case the management can keep the employees happy, then this will result in the
maximum performance.
Elton Mayo and group of industrial Psychologist conducted experiments at the Western Electric Hawthorne
plant in Chicago. They came to the conclusion that social interaction and psychological factors are
important in determining the level of productivity and satisfaction.
ii) Social System School: This theory views organization as a system which is composed of interacting and
inter dependent parts. As a system, an organization is composed of a number of subsystem of parts, each of
which are in itself a system composed of various subsystems which are also in interdependent and
interaction relationship among themselves. The various subsystems of an organization are linked with each
other through its communication network, decisions, authority, responsibility, relationship, objectives,
policies, procedures and other aspects of coordinating mechanism. The social system school encourages

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employees to develop social group on the job, to participate in management and allows democratic
functioning in the enterprise.
e) Decision Theory School: The decision theory school of management, led by Simon looks upon the
management processes as a decision making process. In view of the decision theories, since the
performance of various management functions involved decision making the entire field of management
can be studied from the study of the process of decision making. They have expanded their area of theory
building from the decision making processes to the study of the decision, the decision maker and the social
and psychological environment of the decision maker. The decision theory starts with the small areas of
decision making and then looks at the entire field of management through this keyhole.
f) Democratic Schools: With development, people are now aware about their rights and responsibilities.
Democratic rights are given to the workers. They have the right to oppose to illegal works. They can
demand for the right to oppose to illegal works. They can demand for their rights. All these approaches led
to the development of democratic school of management.
g) Contingency Theory School: This theory emphasizes that there is no best way to manage. It focus on the
inter relationship within and among the subsystems as well as between the organization and its
environment. It emphasizes the multivariate nature of organization and attempts to understand how
organizations operate under varying conditions and in specific situation. It regards management as
situational.
None of the above school provides a comprehensive view. Each has strong and weak points. In the present
time, people don’t support the traditional school, as there is not any scope of right of the workers. It is not
the mentality of workers to work as a toy under the authority. As a result, democratic school has got the
importance. But the contingency school of management includes all other schools of management and so
seems to be more adaptable.
Human relation school should get importance, as for the development of an organization it is most
essential. An organization can fulfill its objectives only when the employees are satisfied. They should get
an environment to work and to get working environment mutual respect for each other is essential.
The most suitable school in the present situation seems to be modern school. This is because personnel
constitute the most important and vital key to the effective functioning of an organization. Their knowledge
and skills have to be constantly upgraded to handle new task to achieve organizational success and the
modern schools feel the necessity of this point.
Similarly scientific schools can also be supported in the present time. Today, the library and information
systems are the complex organizations committed to serve the users demands. Libraries have growth in
times in the social, cultural, scientific and technological environments in which they have been developing
and operating. Modern libraries are not merely store houses of information and knowledge, but are also live
and active institutions involved in a vital service to the society. Today, information and knowledge are
considered as important as energy and biotechnology and hence have to be taken care of and managed well.
Therefore in the libraries, the theories and principles of scientific management are being increasingly
applied to manage them.

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A number of more or less separate schools of management thought have emerged since the end of the 19th
century and each sees management from its own viewpoint. Each of the above school of management
thought reflects the problems of the period during which they were popular and these schools which have
survived today are influencing management thoughts of the present situation.
Marketing of Library and Information Sources and Services
1. Introduction: Marketing is an exchange process where a user who has resources to a nonprofit
information service obtains document or information, the cost of the service being met by the user or the
community through taxes.
Marketing means working with market to actualize potential exchanges for the purpose of
satisfying human needs and wants.
Marketing guru Philip Kotler defines marketing as the analyze, planning, implementation and
control of carefully formulated program, designed to bring about voluntary exchanges of values with target,
markets for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives. It relies having on designing organizations
offering terms of target markets need and desired and on using effective pricing, communication and
distribution to inform, motivate and service, the markets. Marketing brings an element of competition
which will result in providing better services.
According to Zachert and William (1986), “Marketing is planning that focuses on product, place of
mode of delivery, adjustment of cost/price to the market and promotion to specifically targeted segment of
the special librarian’s market.”
According to Golhan (1979), marketing is the process of creating values through the creation of
time place and from activities.
According to Kother et.al (1977), marketing takes the focus off the product and puts it on the user’s
needs, products are developed from the user’s point of view not the producers.
In case of libraries, it is important that marketing product should be adapting to the needs of
markets and not foisting upon it a product though to be useful to it.
2. Why of Marketing: For the libraries and information centre, marketing of product and services are
needed for the following reasons:
a) Maximum Use of Library Resources: Marketing provides an opportunity to use of library resources in a
maximum way.
b) Justifiable Expansion Programme: Due to the limited budget in all libraries irrespective of size and
region, libraries are unable to provide effective library services to the community. Marketing is the only
way to expand the programmes of libraries to satisfy users’ needs. Without any cost, because the cost
involved in the service will be return too and the user also will be satisfied.
c) For Self Survival: Libraries are facing increasing threat from the emerging information industry,
necessitate the use of the marketing techniques in libraries to survive itself in this competitive world.

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d) Generating Funds: Library is not for profit organization but it is also cannot make loss. In the sense they
must remain within the budget, but from marketing at least some funds can be generated by the libraries.
3. What is Marketing: Possible product and services for a library for marketing are:
a) Print Media: Books, Journals, Bibliographies, and Directories etc.
b) Electronic Information Product and Services: Diskette, Floppies etc.
c) Online Information Product and Services: Online journal, networking products etc.
d) Other Services: Xeroxing, translation services.
4. How of Marketing: The marketing can be achieved by following means
a) Market Research: A market research is essential to determine user needs, available services, operation
and cost, longevity of demand etc.
b) Market Segmentation: Market segmentation is the segmentation of the clientele/ users on the basis of
individual differences and group similarities. Segmentation can be by subject/ institution / values of user /
age group (adult, young, children etc.), special interest group such as faculty, student, and research scholar.
Market segmentation involves the identification of actual and potential and their needs assessment
followed by analyzing market segments to determine what they need and how to deliver library services
c) Products: In the development of the product, its periodicity, content aspect, coverage/ scope, pricing, and
promoting, manpower requirement, technology utilization should be consider. The product should be on
demand criteria.
d) Pricing: The pricing shouldn’t be beyond what a user can pay. Price generally depends on objectives of
the product, nature of cost involved, level of demand of the product etc.
5. Promotion: Promotion involves mechanism by which the target groups are informed about the resources
available, services and products offered by the library. So this purpose, word of mouth, mail,
communication through brochure, pamphlets, portal, handbook, news paper, radio, exhibition, social
networking sites, etc. should be and it should be a continuous process. Full scale aggressive and appealing
advertisement is essential even for marketing of information services. Since each mechanism has its own
advantage, it would be ideal if different approaches are adopted. Some of the promotional methods are
a) Propaganda: Propaganda through the newspaper, radio, television can be done in the public community
so that the people may attract towards them.
b) Exhibition: On the occasion of fair, festival, book fair and other programmes in the nearest area of the
libraries, exhibitions of marketing services should be done by proper method.
c) Study Circle: Study circles among the users of the libraries can also be organized to marketing the
information service.
d) Mobile Libraries: Mobile libraries are a great way to reach the unreached.
e) CAS/ SDI Services: The library services can also be marketed through CAS/SDI services.

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6. Distribution: The following major channel for distribution of products can be used:
a) Inter Personnel Delivery: Products that are personally delivered.
b) Group Personnel Delivery: Product delivered at meeting, conference, seminar, demonstration etc.
c) Mass Media: Through newspaper, professional journals, magazines etc.
d) Broadcasting: Through radio, television etc.
e). Information Technology: Telephone, Computer, Email.
7. Evaluation: A continuous built in evaluation procedure should be followed to assess the capabilities and
weakness of the product/service, distribution channel etc. The evaluation should be based on customer
satisfaction of the services/ products etc.
8. Barriers of Marketing: The following can stand as a barrier of marketing
a) Structural: Staff coming into the contact with users is not information professionals; hence there is no
staff to think from the user point or side.
b) Systematic: Library and information system don’t seem to allow the client or client point of view inside
the system.
c) Attitudinal: Libraries remains happy with satisfying a limited user that too when asked for.
d) Environment: The culture still believes in that information should be free.
Metadata
Metadata: Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier
to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or information
about information. Metadata shares many similar characteristics to the cataloguing that takes place in
libraries, museums and archives.
a) Metadata Schema: There are literally hundreds of metadata schemas to choose from and the number is
growing rapidly, as different communities seek to meet the specific needs of their members. Each metadata
schema usually has three main characteristics- A limited number of elements, the name of each element,
and the meaning of each element. Two commonly used metadata schema are Dublin Core
(http://purl.oclc.org/metadata/dublin_core/), and Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR-II).
i) Dublin Core: The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set arose from discussions at a 1995 workshop
sponsored by OCLC and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). As the workshop
was held in Dublin, Ohio, the element set was named the Dublin Core. The continuing development of the
Dublin Core and related specifications is managed by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). The
fifteen-element of Dublin core are Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Publisher, Contributor, Date, Type,
Format, Identifier, Source, Language, Relation, Coverage, and Rights. The fifteen-element "Dublin Core"
achieved wide dissemination as part of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting

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(OAI-PMH) and has been ratified as IETF RFC 5013, ANSI/NISO Standard Z39.85-2007, and ISO
Standard 15836:2009.
b) Creation of Metadata: The metadata can be created and collected at point of creation of a resource or at
point of publication. There are many such tools available and the number continues to grow. Such tools can
be standalone or part of a package of software, usually with a backend database or repository to store and
retrieve the metadata records, some examples include:
i) DC-dot (http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot/). This service will retrieve a Web page and
automatically generate Dublin Core metadata, either as HTML tags or as RDF/XML, suitable for
embedding in the section of the page.
ii) DCmeta (http://www.dstc.edu.au/RDU/MetaWeb/generic_tool.html). Developed by Tasmania Online. It
is based on SuperNoteTab text-editor and can be customized.
iii) HotMeta (http://www.dstc.edu.au/Research/Projects/hotmeta/). A package of software, including
metadata editor, repository and search engine.
National Library
National Library: The governments of most major countries support national libraries. The national library
has a national responsibility. It stands as the apex institution for library services in a country and is funded
by National government. Three noteworthy examples are the U.S. Library of Congress (located in
Washington, D.C.), Canada Library and Archives and the British Library. The countries which wish to
preserve their particular culture, have established a national library, with the provision of legal deposit. In
addition to having a law requiring the publishers to deposit books, those countries with legal deposits
usually have many other incentives for a proper and speedy deposit, such as a tie-in with laws affecting
copyright of the same documents, and/or a cataloguing- in- publication service.
a) Definition: A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a nation to serve
as the preeminent repository of information for that country. According to UNESCO’s definition “National
library of a country is the one responsible for collecting and conserving that country’s book production for
the benefit of future generation.”
According to the ALA glossary of library and information science, a national library is “a library
designated as such by the appropriate national body and funded by the national government. Its functions
may include the comprehensive collection of the publication output of the nation (frequently as a copyright
depository library), the compilation and maintenance of a national bibliography, the comprehensive
collection and organization of publications on an international scale for the scholarly community, the
production of the bibliographic tools, the coordination of a library network, the provision of library
services to the national government or some of its agencies, and other responsibilities delineated by the
national government”. It has a comprehensive collection of the published output of a nation to serve the
nation as a whole. Unlike public libraries, National Library rarely allows citizens to borrow books. Often, it
includes numerous rare, valuable, or significant works.

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b) Objectives: According to International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), IFLA
National Libraries Section, “national libraries often serve as a national forum for international programmes
and projects. They may have a close relationship with national governments, may be concerned with the
development of national information policies, and may act as a conduct for the views of other sectors of the
profession. Occasionally, they also serve the information needs of the legislature directly”. Some of the
objectives of national libraries are
i) To acquire and conserve the whole of the national production via legal deposit (i.e., copyright) of the
national imprint (both print and electronic);
ii) The provision of central services (e.g., reference, bibliography, preservation, lending) to users both
directly and through other library and information centres [(i.e., Inter Library Loan (ILL)];
iii) The preservation and promotion of the national cultural heritage; acquisition of at least a representative
collection of foreign publications;
iv) To undertake the production of current national bibliographies and also of retrospective national
bibliographies;
v) To assemble material for a central register of manuscript collections and to keep it up to date;
vi) To set up a national plan for the acquisition of foreign materials in countries where no such plan exists;
vii) The promotion of national cultural policy; and leadership in national literacy campaigns.
c) Collections: National library is usually notable for its size, compared to that of other libraries. It is
compressive in the extreme but it also concentrates on current, working collection. Its thrust is immediate
use. National libraries are however still trying to collect all significant materials produced in the respective
country as well as important documents published outside the country.
d) Services: Library services available throughout the world vary so much in detail from country to country
that it is impossible to present any thing but the most general picture of their activities. International
organization for Standardization has recognized the following functions of a national library:
i) Responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all significant publications published in the country,
built up by legal deposit or under other arrangement;
ii) Hold and keep up to date a large and representative collection of foreign literature including books about
the country;
iii) Produce a national bibliography;
iv) Publish a retrospective national bibliography;
v) Act as a national bibliographical information centre;
vi) Compile a union catalogue.
To the above basic functions, the following additional functions are identified.

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vii) Provide interlibrary lending and for this purpose develop central loan / photocopy collection of both
national and foreign literature;
viii) Developing and maintaining bibliographic data bases relevant to the country;
ix) Act as a national repository for the receipt, storage, preservation and supply by loan or photocopy of
items withdrawn from other libraries;
x) To conserve the national intellectual and cultural heritage for the benefit of the future generations;
xi) Act as exchange centre, national and international.
The national library is the central agent receiving information and inquiries and initiating library
services for the common good. The national library should be the prime mover in library matters and
should be expected to be the leading library in all fields. It should act as the hub of nation’s research and
reference and referral centre.
National Library Day / National Library Week
National Library Day / National Library Week: Ayyanki Venkata Ramanaiah, Secretary, Andhra Pradesh
Library Association organised an All India Library Meeting on 12th November, 1912 in Madras. This
meeting lead to the formation of Indian Library Association (ILA). Later, ILA gave prominence to the 12th
November meeting and declared 14th November as National Library Day. This was also the Birth day of
our former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Since 1968, 14th-20th November are celebrated as National
Library Week all over India.
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC): An Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is a computerized
online catalogue of the materials held in a library, or a library system. OPACs are often part of an
integrated library management system or software. The library staff and the public can usually access it in
computers within the library, or from home via the Internet. Since the mid-1980s, it has replaced the card
catalog in most libraries. Since the mid-1990s, character-based OPAC interfaces are being replaced by
Web-based interfaces. Today more complex OPACs offer a variety of search capabilities on several
indexes, integrate rich content (book covers, video clips, etc.), and offer interactive request and renewal
functionality.
Most integrated library systems offer a browser-based OPAC module as a standard capability or optional
feature. OPAC modules rely on pulldown menus, popup windows, dialog boxes, mouse operations, and
other graphical user interface components to simplify the entry of search commands and formatting of
retrieved information. Many libraries have their catalogues accessible via Internet; some of them can be
queried using a simple browser, other using a special version of browser (with JavaScript and CSS
features), and some others using Z39.50 clients. If one has few elements to identify a document, then he/

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she can use a meta-searcher where he/she can fill the query form once and spread his/her query over many
library catalogues.
The OPAC has many advantages over card catalogues. It can store entries; it can add new entries, withdraw
entries and print out updated version of a catalogue in book, card or shelf form. It can also be used to
search and produce catalogue in CD, DVD, etc. It itself can be used as a catalogue cabinet with enhance
features i.e information can be stored within the computer and kind of entries required can be easily got as
and when required. It has also the facility to input the data from the point of origin and output data can be
transmitted directly to the place where it is needed by using teleprocessing.
OPAC is more useful than the traditional card formats because:
i) The online catalogue does not need to be sorted statically. Here the user can choose the author, title,
keyword, or systematic order dynamically.
ii) Most online catalogue offer search facility for any word of the title. The goal of the grammatical word
order which is to provide an entry on the word that most users would look for is reached even better.
iii) Many online catalogues allow links between several variants of an author’s name. So, authors can be
found both under the original and the standardized name (if entered properly by the cataloguer).
Online cataloguing has greatly enhanced the usability of catalogues, and its origin from the effort of
MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC) standards in the 1960s. The rules governing the creation of
catalogue MARC records include not only formal cataloging rules like AACR2 but also the special rules
specific to MARC, available from the Library of Congress and also OCLC.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the use or close imitation of the language and ideas of another author and
representation of them as one's own original work. The intentional plagiarism refers to using someone’s
ideas or results without citing the source, using someone’s ideas or results without using quotation marks,
even though he/she cites the source and using someone’s ideas or results without crediting the source. The
accidental plagiarism is when the author does not know what is considered as plagiarism and he/she can’t
think of a better way to say it and so copy sentences, phrases, or even sentence structure from the original
without using quotation marks and in the event while preparing the notes he/she does not put exact wording
in quotation marks and so he/she plagiarizes without realizing it.
a) Why Plagiarism should be Avoided: Plagiarism intentional or accidental is considered academic
misconduct. Plagiarized work can result in a failing course grade, expulsion, rejection of a paper submitted
for publication, denial of an advanced degree, or loss of job. Every year – thousands of research scholars
and students are expelled for committing plagiarism.
b) How Plagiarism can be avoided: The plagiarism in best can be avoided by adopting the following
measure-

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i) As you take notes, put quotation marks around any wording that you copy directly from the source so
that later you can put it into your own words and won’t accidentally plagiarize.
ii) If you copy something word for word, put quotation marks around it and cite it, if you cannot remember
the source, you don’t have the right to use that information.
iii) If you paraphrase by putting ideas into your own words, cite the source of the ideas.
iv) Put the complete bibliographic reference for all citations in the Bibliography (or Works Cited).
v) Use plagiarism detection software on your own text and make necessary correction.
vi) Use some content composing software like Content Composer (http://www.contentcomposer.com/) that
will help in creating plagiarize-proof content.
c) How to Detect Plagiarism: Nowadays there are a number of software packages available in the market to
detect plagiarism. Some of them are mentioned below-
i) CopyTracker (http://copytracker.ec-lille.fr/?lang=en): Copytracker is software to detect plagiarism in text
documents. It can be freely downloaded and used.
ii) Plagiarismdetect (http://www.plagiarismdetect.com): A plugin to MS Office 2007 to check for
plagiarism.
iii) Plagium (http://www.plagium.com): In this software, one can track plagiarism by pasting the original
text in the webpage of the site.
iv) SeeSources (http://seesources.com): SeeSources.com takes a whole text, automatically extracts its
unique signatures and searches the Internet for them. It checks for plagiarism online - no need to install
software.
v) Plagiarism-detector (http://www.plagiarism-detector.com): Plagiarism-Detector (also known as
Plagiarism-Detector Software) is a standalone Microsoft Windows based computer desktop application
created by SkyLine, Inc. Plagiarism-Detector targets mainly individual users, though Institutions (typically
universities and high schools) can acquire licenses to use the software for their own purposes.
vi) SafeAssign (http://www.mydropbox.com): SafeAssign™ is a plagiarism prevention service, offered by
Blackboard to its Blackboard Learning System Enterprise, Vista Enterprise and CE Enterprise clients. This
service helps educators prevent plagiarism by detecting unoriginal content in student papers. In addition to
acting as a plagiarism deterrent, it also has features designed to aid in educating students about plagiarism
and importance of proper attribution of any borrowed content.
vii) Turnitin WriteCycle (http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html): Turnitin (also known as
Turnitin.com) is an Internet-based plagiarism-detection service created by iParadigms, LLC. Institutions
(typically universities and high schools) buy licenses to submit essays to the Turnitin website, which
checks the document for plagiarism. Turnitin WriteCycle is the complete, web-based solution for managing
writing assignments, via multiple phases of feedback and revisions. Its three interrelated services greatly
accelerate the learning process, involving students in their own development, freeing instructors from the
burden of tracking papers, and promoting critical thinking, while maintaining academic integrity.

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viii) Scanmyessay (http://www.scanmyessay.com): Scan My Essay scans over six billion online sources
including websites, online journals, news sources and much more online to detect plagiarism.
ix) Urkund (http://www.urkund.com/int/en/): Urkund is owned and developed by PrioInfo AB. PrioInfo is
a company with over 25 years of experience of the requirements and needs of information intensive
organizations. PrioInfo is an agent for net based services from a multitude of international information
providers and publishers. PrioInfo also delivers a licensed e-book platform to corporations, publishers and
libraries as well as Universities.
x) Copyscape (http://copyscape.com): The Copyscape service makes it easy to find copies of any document
on the Web. Simply one needs to type the URL of the document or web page and paste the address into the
Copyscape. Copyscape finds sites that have copied the content without permission, as well as those that
have copied with quote.
xi) Google (http://www.google.com): One can also check for the plagiarized text by way of using Google.
For this one needs to copy the text with a maximum of 32 words from any article and paste it in the Google
Search box and makes a search to know who have copied those words or from whose work the present
content is copied from. One can also receive Google Alert by way of Email when new instances of the
phrases for which search has been initiated are published on the Internet.
xii) Plagiarism Checker (http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/): One can type one or more phrases from
different parts of a document into the search box of Plagiarism Checker by hitting the Enter key after each
phrase and then can make a search to know from where the present contents has been copied or whom
copied from the present content.
xiii) Glatt Plagiarism Screening Program (GPSP) (http://www.plagiarism.com/screening.htm): A highly
sophisticated Screening Program to detect plagiarism. Typically used in academic institutions or in the
legal profession for cases of copyright infringement.
xiv) Glatt Plagiarism Self-Detection Program (GPSD) (http://www.plagiarism.com/self.detect.htm ): GPSD
test is designed to help one become more sensitive to his/her own writing style. It also helps to gain some
insight into how to detect and avoid plagiarism. One can order a Windows 95/98/NT version of this test for
$65.
xv) JPlag (https://www.ipd.uni-karlsruhe.de/jplag/): JPlag is a system that finds similarities among multiple
sets of source code files. This way it can detect software plagiarism.
xvi) MOSS (http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss): Moss (for a Measure Of Software Similarity) is an
automatic system for determining the similarity of C, C++, Java, Pascal, Ada, ML, Lisp, or Scheme
programs. To date, the main application of Moss has been in detecting plagiarism in programming classes.
Since its development in 1994, Moss has been very effective in this role.
xvii) Plagium (http://www.plagium.com): In Plagium, you can track plagiarism by pasting the original text
in the box.
xviii) AC (http://tangow.ii.uam.es/ac): AC is an anti-plagiarism system for programming assignments. It
aids instructors and graders to detect plagiarism within a group of assignments written in C, C++ or Java.

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AC incorporates multiple similarity detection algorithms found in the scientific literature, and allows their
results to be visualized graphically.
xix) Plaggie (http://www.cs.hut.fi/Software/Plaggie): Plaggie is a stand-alone source code plagiarism
detection engine purposed for Java programming exercises. Plaggie's functionality and graphical user
interface are similar with previously published JPlag web service but unlike JPlag, Plaggie must be
installed locally and its source code is open.
xx) Sherlock (http://www.cs.su.oz.au/~scilect/sherlock): Sherlock is a program which finds similarities
between textual documents. It uses digital signatures to find similar pieces of text. A digital signature is a
number which is formed by turning several words in the input into a series of bits and joining those bits
into a number.
xxi) SID (http://genome.math.uwaterloo.ca/SID): SID stands for Shared Information Distance or Software
Integrity Detection. It detects similarity between programs by computing the shared information between
them.
Planning a Library and Information Science Centre / Library
Planning a Library and Information Science Centre / Library: Plan is regarded as a projected course of
action or the course of action to be done in near future. According to Koont’z and O’Donnell, “planning is
deciding in advance what to do? How to do? When to do? And who is to do it?”. After that planning is a
continuous process requiring constant reappraisal. It is not an end in itself, but a means to an agreed aim
and objective. It involves selecting from alternative future course of actions for the organization as a whole
and for each of its department or section. It might be evaluated and revised in the light of developing
situation, that is to say, a plan is always being brought up-to-date throughout the long or medium term in
which it is based. The planning of library and information centre involves the following steps-
a) Formation of a Committee: A planning committee should be formed in the first step. The head of the
parent institution, architect, librarian, library consultant, and interior designer and, if possible,
representative from the user community should also be included.
Inclusion of the a librarian should be treated as one of the most important components in planning a library
and information science centre because he / she is the best person for planning and equipping the library.
He himself should also be very conscious about his responsibility in planning the library and information
science centre. He should work closely with the building committee. He must identify each and every
factor with reference to which planning has to be made. The librarian should also consult other experienced
librarians if there is any confusion as mistakes made at this stage could prove to be extremely serious.
b) To be Accustomed to the Concept of Library: The planning committee should be accustomed to the
library. To do so they should read the existing literature on planning a library and information centre, visit
some other library and information centre, and so on to assess the existing situation. They should also try to
understand the present strength and weakness of the library in the light of where it stands.

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c) Functionality of the Parent Organization: The committee should study the functionality of the parent
organization, its resources and visualize its future direction and be aware about the changes and the
consequent effect thereof.
d) User’s Identification and his / her Information Need: Libraries and information centers are highly user
oriented and so it should take care of the exact needs of the consumer. The experienced planner
immediately asks for the evidence of the extent and the nature of demand for the libraries and information
centre, going to be planned. Needs of the user may be ascertained by questioning or by carrying out
potential user studies. The nature and extent of local demand will have to be checked by consultation,
surveys and controlled test so that information activities are well directed on demand criteria.
e) Establishment of Plan Premises or Forecasting: Forecasting is estimating or predicting the future internal
and external environment of the information centre. Premises refer to planning assumptions concerning the
expected internal or external environment under which the plan will operate. Since planning is concerned
with the objective to be attained in the future and the provision of the means for their attainment, it is
imperative that various dimensions of the future are explored and estimated.
f) Establishment of Objectives: Objectives are the main factors on which the planning of a modern library
depends. Depending upon the objectives it may be a public, special or academic library. The objective
should be established for the entire organization and then for each subordinate unit i.e. department or
section of a library or information centres then the subordinate parts of the department or section and so on.
Major department objectives in turn control the objectives of the subordinate departments and so on down
the line. The objectives are divided and sub divided into successively smaller components until each
department or section of the library has a definite set of goals for the short as well as long period.
g) Course of Action: The planners should search for and examine and evaluate the alternative course of
action by weighing them in the light of various factors involved i.e cost, time, materials, manpower,
equipment, etc. The use of operation research and mathematical and computing techniques may be helpful
in this regard. Out of the alternatives, a suitable course of action should be selected.
h) Choice of the Site: Choice of the site should be the one conveniently accessible to the community to be
served taking into consideration the future expansion
i) Public Library: For public library, the site should be centrally located where everybody finds it
convenient. This should be the place where normally public visit more often than any other place.
Therefore a place where they go for shopping might be found suitable.
ii) University Library: The site should be centrally located within the campus.
iii) College and School Library: The location of the library does not matter very much if the distances are
small, but if possible the library should be at the entrance path.
iv) Special Library: Library site in case of special library should be near the factory building or the factory
canteen or staff canteen. The ground floor might be preferred for the library.
i) Organizational Structure: Organizing means the establishing of a formal structure of authority that is well
defined and that can co-ordinate towards the attainment of the objectives. Proper job analysis and
assignment of job should be planned in such a manner that no overlapping in duties occur. This can be

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achieved by establishing various departments. The power, function and duties of various departmental
heads must be clearly defined; similar jobs should be put under one department while the jobs which are
dissimilar should be isolated from each other.
j) Financial and Cost Consideration: Without a proper source of finance an information centre will fail to
provide the expected services to its user. It should not depend solely on the grants received from the parent
organization. It should also make provisions for generation of funds by itself.
k) Determination of Requirement of Resources: In this stage the various kinds of resources that would be
required for the implementation of objectives or planning are determined. The resources mainly consist of
the following.
i) Library Building, Equipment and Other Similar Facilities: A library and information centre cannot exist
without a proper building, without the furniture and equipment. So the construction of a library building is
of first and foremost step for planning a library or information centre. The building should be well
equipped and must be free from dust, dirt, cobwebs and also should be water proof, theft proof and
equipped with noise prevention measures, the provision of drinking water, heating and cooling machine
(air conditioned), proper lighting.
The basic aim of the design of a library building should be to achieve flexibility by using the modular
system. The library building has to demonstrate a remarkable ability to grow, to adapt to changing
conditions to meet new demands and to implement new technologies. If these aspects are taken care of then
one need not give much weightage to the predictions made about their future expansion and existence. The
space estimates for the library staff, documents, services, users and for other purposes i.e corridors,
entrances, lobbies, toilet, etc should also be prepared.
ii) Library Staff: Library staff constitutes an important component of the library trinity. The entire staff
structure of a library usually consists of certain ranks of employees of different grades. The ranking of
employees is determined according to the types of work they perform; in other words, it relates to the
number of posts at each level. All the employees in a library are divided into three categories i.e
professional, semi-professional, and non professional.
The professional staff are engaged in performing professional duties whose minimum qualification should
be graduation with at least one year training in library and information science leading to post graduate
degree or diploma. The semi professional staff of the library employees are engaged in performing library
routines and techniques under the guidance of the professional staff and have to receive alternatively
training in library science. Also some non-professional (clerical) and unskilled workers are appointed to
perform certain library works.
Planning for education and training in library and information science and technology is to be given utmost
attention so that a high quality of man power at all levels in adequate quantity and with a variety of skills is
constantly made available to take care of the ever increasing complex of the information institution and the
system. There should also be scope for continuing education, training, and scholarship.

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In order to promote exchange of experience, conference, seminar, workshop etc. should be organized.
Adequate facility for research and development, innovation should be built-up.
iii) Information Technology (Hardware & Software Resources): A modern library and information centre
should give thrust to the application of modern information technology, which involves computer hardware
and software, telecommunication, reprographic, digitization, and micrographic equipment etc and should
also create and develop facilities thereof; otherwise it will find itself handicapped to have access to the
world of information.
iv) Document (information) Resources: A compressive collection of documentary information resources,
whether primary or secondary or tertiary, should be built within the organization. The collection should be
focused on the user’s need. If it is a plan for a university library then importance should be given for post-
graduate students as well as research scholars. Similarly a special library develops its collection and service
according to the requirements of the parent organization.
v) Institutional Resources: A modern library or information centre, however resourceful, cannot be self-
sufficient in respect of information due to the information explosion, so there must be some provision to
link up similar type of institutional resources i.e. libraries or information centre, joining with other library
network, and consortia.
l) Information Product and Services: A library or information centre should also have an option to
bibliographic control, indexing and abstracting services relating to indigenous information, besides the
traditional services. The scope should also be there to provide the service by on line and off line mode. The
scope for document delivery service, translation service, reprographic service, accesses and repackage of
information should also be there. Establishing database of indigenous information, establishing feed back
mechanism and evaluation of the services and products should be made constantly.
m) Standardization: Standardization in terms of methods, procedures, hardware, software, services must be
followed so that exchangeability of information is facilitated in the national network. Standardization will
contribute to overall economy of cost time and effort.
n) Cooperation: Cooperation with other similar institutions and national information system should also be
maintained in the information field to exchange information between institutions.
o) Preparation of Preliminary Plan: A preliminary plan should be prepared at this stage by considering all
of the above considerations.
Besides the above steps the following steps are also required to be taken.
p) Publicity: Every plan has a movable horizon i.e. it is never definitive but can and should be improved in
the light of experience and will inevitably have to be adopted. It is important, therefore, that the initial plan
includes arrangement for education and amendments as necessary. The planning officer should encourage
energetically such studies as help in improving the plan further before its submission to the competent
authority. Considering this view, planning must be free to discussion and public should be asked for
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q) Preparation of Final Plan: In the light of open discussion / advice received the preliminary plan should
be revised or modified and a final plan should be prepared. The final plan should state clearly the list of
equipment needed, stating the sources of funds, budget estimates, time needed for completion of the project
etc.
r) Numberizing Plan by Budgeting: The final step consists of numberizing the plans by converting them to
budget. Each section of a library can have its own budget which may form part of the total budget.
s) Obtaining Approval from the Top Management: After the preparation of the final plan, if the library and
information centre going to be established is a part of the parent institution then it is important to obtain
general approval from the top management.
t) Execution and Evaluation: In course of execution the short term section of the plan will indicate the
urgent and basic problem, legislative, staff training, setting up of executive bodies that must be disposed of
in order to attain the medium and long term objectives. The information centre should have a continuous
user-orientation programme to attract the new users to the system. After the full implementation of the
project it should be periodically evaluated and maintained to keep it up-to-date with time.
Preservation and Conservation of Library Materials
Preservation and Conservation of Library Materials: The library houses the document by considering the
long-term preservation of the items while still allowing the end user to access the material easily. But all
library collections experience damage from use and decay from aging. So there is a need of preservation
and conservation of library materials.
Books and other materials suffer damage or deterioration because of several groups of factors, some
inherent in the materials and others beyond the control of the library. Library holdings may begin to
deteriorate because of the organic materials from which they are made. Each type of material - paper, glue,
plastic, etc. - that goes into the manufacture of a book, recording or optical media has its own combination
of physical and chemical properties, and a life span. The other factors include all of the conditions
surrounding the processing, storage and use of the materials.
Preservation is the task of minimizing or reducing the physical and chemical deterioration of documents.
Conservation is the maintenance of documents in a usable condition through treatment and repairs of
individual items to slow the process of decay or to restore them to a usable state. Conservation includes
study, diagnosis, preventive care, examination, treatment, documentation using any methods that may
prove effective in keeping that property in as close to its original condition as possible and for as long as
possible. The conservation actions are carried out for a variety of reasons including aesthetic choices,
stabilization, needs for structural integrity or for cultural requirements for intangible continuity.

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a) Need of Preservation and Conservation: When an important, often used book is found in a poor physical
condition that restricts its future use and denies the borrower the pleasure of its reading, then the need
arises for its preservation and conservation. The need of preservation and conservation are-
i) Compendium of Information: Books, journals, newspapers are the sources of information. They reflect
social, economic, political and cultural life. They also depict the latest trend on all subjects or topics and, as
such, they are a valuable asset of our society.
ii) Raw Materials of History: The old reading material constitutes the raw materials of our history and
provides background information about an event in history. Nostalgia for such works is another point of
consideration.
iii) Wide Range of Users: Everyone from a child to an old man, from layman to researchers, turns to
information even after hundred years of the publication of the material.
iv) Future and Heavy Use: Hard copies of the old as well as new materials are prone to decay. So, to
provide continuous and wider access to the collection preservation is a must.
v) Rare Materials: Manuscripts and other materials are of immense value from the cultural and historical
point of view and therefore they need to be preserved. Priority should be given to high-value, at-risk
materials of national interest. The purpose shall be to serve preventive preservation, as well as security,
goals by reducing the handling of the originals.
b) Strategies in Preservation and Conservation: The strategies in preservation and conservation of library
material can be viewed in the form of following points-
i) Document Selection: If preservation and conservation practices will be followed then the goal should be
to bring as many worthy collections as possible for the document at risk to improve access.
ii) Options: Choosing the options that will be followed to meet the requirements of the custodial function
of the library as well as its current use.
iii) Budget: Preparing a budget for the preservation and conservation of the reading materials, including
cost in procuring equipments, and others.
iv) Procuring Necessary Infrastructure: According to the option chosen for preservation necessary
infrastructure should be developed. In case of digital preservation necessary hardware and software should
be procured. If possible the archive or library can go for automated management systems that will manage
digital resources for acquisition, use, and archiving automatically.
v) The Conservation Laboratory: Conservators routinely use chemical and scientific analysis for the
examination and treatment of the works. The modern conservation lab uses equipment such as
microscopes, spectrometers, and x-ray machines to understand better the objects and their components. The
data thus collected help in deciding the conservation treatments to be provided to the object.
c) Types of Preservation and Conservation Techniques: The preservation and conservation techniques can
be of the following types:-

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i) Preventive Conservation: Many cultural works are sensitive to environmental conditions such as
temperature, humidity and exposure to light and ultraviolet light. Taking sufficient measures to protect
materials in a controlled environment where such variables are maintained within a range of damage-
limiting levels is called preventive conservation.
ii) Interventive Conservation: Interventive Conservation refers to any act by a conservator that involves a
direct interaction between the conservator and the cultural material. These interventive treatments could
involve cleaning, stabilizing, repair, or even replacement of parts of the original object or consolidation
such as securing flaking paint.
d) Ethics in Conservation: The conservator applies some simple ethical guidelines, such as:
i) Minimal Intervention: It is essential that the conservator should fully justify the intervention for
conservation if necessary before the work is undertaken and if necessary after the work is over.
ii) Reversible Methods: Using appropriate materials and methods that aim to be reversible to reduce the
possible problems with future treatment, investigation, and use is one of the guiding principles of
conservation. It means, that all interventions with the object should be fully reversible, and the object
should be in a position to be returned to the state in which it was, prior to the conservator’s intervention.
This principle nowadays has been widely criticized within the conservation profession itself.
iii) Complete Documentation: Complete documentation of the work carried out before, during, and after
the treatment is necessary. It is a must for all kinds of documents as it will provide what was done with the
document in the past and accordingly it helps in taking the right decision in future treatment process.
Principles of Management
Principles of Management: Principles of Management are generalization based on experience and careful
analysis of case studies. These are universally applicable. These are not rigid; change in circumstances
would require adoption of these.
Principles of management are a powerful tool in the hands of a manager but these must be used rather
carefully after analysis of the problem and its diagnosis. Good management can be learned only through
practice and by solving problem rather than by memorization of principles which may have only limited
relevance to actual problem.
Henri Fayol was the first to put forward a list of general administrative principles. On the whole, his
observations are valid, even today. Fayol used scientific approach. Fayol formulated the following fourteen
management principles. These are the first categorized on management and these have not lost their
relevance in modern management policy. These are the basic management principles.
i) Division of Work: In any organization the division of work, duties, and activities is a must. The division
of work lead to specialization. If possible only that work should be assigned to a person in which field he
has specialization. The principles of division of work are based on common principle of experience that
every person cannot do every job.

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ii) Authority and Responsibility: An individual should be given authority equal to his responsibility.
Possession of authority means responsibility for actions. Actual work in the library may be done by
different persons but the ultimate responsibilities lie with the chief librarian. The responsibilities without
authority will lead to lack of confidence.
iii) Discipline: Discipline encompasses regularity, behaviors, conduct and interpersonal relationship among
the staff workers. In the best interest of the organization there should be complete obedience, diligence,
energy and outward marks respect. This is equally applicable to everybody.
iv) Unity of Command: An organizational structure should be such that each employee is supervised by
only one supervisor. An employee should be responsible to and also receive orders from only one superior.
The command should generally come from the immediate superior.
v) Unity of Direction: In a planned administrative setup, direction should come from one end and one
person should be responsible for similar type of jobs.
vi) Subordination of Individual’s Interest to General Interest: Where there is a conflict of general interest
with individual interest, general interest should get the priority over the individual interest. It is desirable in
any social order.
vii) Remuneration: Remuneration should be reasonable and should commensurate to the qualification,
experience, technical knowledge, seniority, performance and such other factors. Employees should be
given incentives for successful efforts.
viii) Centralization: There should be judicious distribution of work of the library in terms of centralization
and decentralization. Anything that increases the importance of the role of a subordinate should be
decentralized. On the other hand any thing that decreases the importance of the role of a subordinate should
be centralized. For example book selection and managerial function should be decentralized because in
case of book selection the heads of the departmental libraries knows more about their field of
specialization. But ordering should be centralized so that there is no duplication of bibliographical tool.
ix) Scalar Chain: This refers to hierarchy. A hierarchy consists of a series of steps extended in an unbroken
line from the chief librarian to the lowest employee. This principal implies that authority and responsibility
should flow in a clear, unbroken line from the highest executive to the lowest rank. Orders go down the
line traveling from top to bottom. However, information and appeal travel in the reverse direction.
x) Orders: Orders indicate the disciplined flow of discharging the respective duties and the systematic
organization of work flow. It refers to the best possible management to achieve the most efficient operation
of the organization.
xi) Equity: In dealing with employees treatment of equality must be put into practice. Justice must be
combined with friendliness and kindness by those in the executive towards staff.
xii) Stability of Tenure of Personnel: Stability of tenure indicates a longer service period of an employees
and uninterrupted working period. It assures better service, steady growth and systematic planning of work
schedules. Rapid turnover of staff can cause anxiety.

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xiii) Initiative: One should not only do his job assigned to him, but he should feel inspired to perform his
duties. In working situation anybody may have suggestion for improvement and better work or redesigning
the works schedule for better result, all the suggestion should be taken with trust by the management. Due
attention, proper consideration should be given to them. This will inspire the person working with
incentives and ultimately institution will get better result.
xiv) Esprit de Corps: The management should create environment which leads to harmony and unity. The
entire employees should not feel as an assemblage of individuals but recognize their identity with the
institution. Thus a sense of co-operation, a sense of belonging, a feeling of identification with the
institution, a corporate sense over self, a team spirit, a feeling of unity make the institution as a organic
whole.
Besides the principles put forward by Fayol, other principles often included are as follows-
xv) Span of Control: This refers to the persons with whom a manager must deal directly. For efficient
management there should be a few people to be controlled directly by each head.
xvi) Coordination: Aim of co-ordination being to achieve harmony of individual efforts toward
accomplishment of group goals. Co-ordination is concerned with interrelating of the various parts of an
organization so that all procedures, operation and activities lead to maximum contribution to the person to
person relationship. Co-ordination in an organization is balancing and interrelating of the various parts of
an organization and keeping together all the staff for getting best result with the minimum resources at
hand.
xvii) Accountability: Accountability means liable to account. In any organization, the emphasis should be
given to measure the quality and quantity of performance.
Print Material Preservation and Conservation Techniques
Print Material Preservation and Conservation Techniques: In case of print material preservation, the
following remedies can be taken-
a) Environmental Remedies: Poor qualities of building where books are stored and extreme climatic
conditions create damage and decay of the library materials. The key environmental factors include
temperature, relative humidity, pollutants, and light exposure. Books stored in cool, dry, dark areas
generally have a much longer life span than those housed in hot, humid, brightly lighted areas. Constant or
stabilized levels of temperature and humidity are less harmful than the fluctuating levels.
Maintenance of suitable environmental condition is the base on which all other preservation and
conservation activities rest. Each material has its own unique temperature and humidity factor.
Thermometers, Hygrometers, Humidity indicator strips, Hygrothermometer (for monitoring temperature
and relative humidity) are generally used to monitor the environmental factor. Light meter and ultraviolet
meter can be used to measure the exposure of light to the documents. The use of climate-controlled storage
facility is the best way to maintain a suitable environment. Let us discuss these factors in more details-

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i) Temperature: Lower temperature is good for a collection in a library. However, since books and other
materials are often housed in areas with people, a compromise must be struck to accommodate human
comfort. A reasonable temperature to accomplish both goals is 65-68˚F. However, if possible, film and
photography collections should be kept in a segregated area at 55˚F.
ii) Humidity: Books and other materials take up and give off moisture, making themselves sensitive to
relative humidity. Very high humidity encourages mold and insect growth. Low humidity causes materials
to lose their flexibility. Fluctuations in relative humidity are more damaging than a constant humidity in the
middle or low range. Generally, the relative humidity should be between 30-50% with as little variation as
possible, however recommendations on specific levels to maintain vary depending on the type of material,
i.e. paper-based, film, etc.
iii) Light: Exposure to light also has a significant effect on library materials. It is not only the light visible
to humans that can cause damage, but also ultraviolet light and infrared radiation. Light is measured in lux
or the amount of lumens/m2. The generally accepted level of illumination with sensitive materials is
limited to 50 lux per day. Materials receiving more lux than recommended can be placed in dark storage
periodically to prolong the original appearance of the object. Using ultraviolet filter on windows and light
will also help.
iv) Pollutants: Particulate and gaseous pollutants, such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, soot,
can cause dust, soiling, and causing irreversible molecular damage to materials. Pollutants are exceedingly
small and not easily detectable or removable. The introduction of the “Heating, Ventilating, and Air
Conditioning” (HVAC) filtration system in the building will be helpful defence against the pollutants.
b) Controlling Biological Agents: Pests, such as insects and vermin, eat and destroy paper and the adhesive
that secures book bindings. Food and drink in libraries, archives, and museums can increase the attraction
of pests. They are most common in cool, damp, dark, and undisturbed areas of libraries, archives, and
museums
In general, if materials are stored in a clean, cool, and dry environment, and looked at and dusted
occasionally, the risk of damage by insects is greatly reduced, and problems will be detected before a lot of
damage is done. An Integrated Pest Management system is one way to control pests in libraries.
To kill the cockroach or black beetles, Gemmaxene or DDT powder may be used. These insects can
also be repelled by camphor and naphthalene. Fumigation and naphthalene bricks are more effective to kill
bookworms. To eliminate termites or white ants carbon bisulphide or carbon tetrachloride can be used.
Solignum oil may also be used in stack rooms as a precaution. Boric acid and sodium floride and flour (12:
100) can be used against silver fish. Book lice, fish insects can be avoided by using ethylene,
carbondioxide and formaldehyde vapours. A mixture of thymal crystal (100 gm), mercuric bichloride (4
gm), ether (200 cc) and benzene (400 cc) can be used to destroy the fungus layers.
c) Mass Deacidification: Acidic paper especially when exposed to light, air pollution, or high relative
humidity, becomes yellow and brittle over time. Mass deacidification is a possible measure against the
degradation of paper in old books. The purpose of deacidification is to neutralize acids and to deposit in
paper a buffer that will protect the document from the formation of acid in future. During mass
deacidification an alkaline agent is deposited in the paper to neutralize the existing acid and prevent further

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decay. The goal of the process is to increase the pH of acidic paper on a large scale. The deacidification
may be aqueous and non acqueous in nature.
d) Remedies for Poor Qualities of Paper / Binding: Many reading materials that were published before
1950 were printed on very poor quality paper. Print materials in developing countries are often created
using fragile, non-lasting paper product and ink. Creating and adopting a minimum standard of quality in
terms of paper and ink, types of binding, etc is the only viable solution in this regard.
Library binding is the term used to describe the method of binding serials, and re-binding paperback or
hardcover books, for use within libraries. Library binding increases the durability of books, as well as
making the materials easier to use. It is a way to increase the life of the books and periodicals used in
libraries. This is done by sewing the pages in place and by reinforcing the spine for each volume. The goal
of library binding is long-term preservation.
e) Human Being as an Agent of Damaging Books: No type of material which circulates is safe from
possible destruction. The damage to the books and other reading material is also caused by human beings
due to its over-use, neglect, and such factors. The kind of book-return facilities provided and even the
procedures used by the staff members responsible for processing and shelving materials also cause the
deterioration of library materials. Books which are tossed around, dropped in a puddle or gnawed by the
dog are lost to the collection. Therefore, proper care in handling the material should be ensured while the
reading materials are in the hands of the users. The user awareness can do a lot in this regard. Shelvers can
be taught to shelve materials properly, avoiding packing shelves too tightly or placing books with fore-
edges down. When processing new materials, librarians should be careful about their use of tape or paper
clips or other suppliers which might react harmfully with the materials being added to the collection.
f) Preservation Reformatting: Preservation Reformatting is the task of complete conversion of the material
into another format to preserve the library's collections and offer broad public access to at-risk materials. It
means duplication of the material into another stable medium or format. “The goal of preservation
reformatting is to permit ongoing access to that portion of the information embodied in source materials
that has been identified as essential to their continued usefulness for articulated purposes”. “The goal of
preservation reformatting is not necessarily to create an exact replacement copy with the look, feel, and
functionality of the original”.
The goal of preservation reformatting is to make copies that have the features that are required to meet
anticipated needs. This goal may be facilitated by:
i) Instituting a quality control programme using relevant standards and systems to ensure that copies are
complete, legible, and free from artifacts;
ii) Confirming that systems are operating consistently at optimal levels;
iii) Inspecting systematically an appropriate number of samples (in some cases 100%);
iv) Documenting processes.

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Different physical formats (photographs, negatives, and items with color) with different size, (bound and
single-sheet paper materials) and with different characteristics are suitable for preservation reformatting
and with the advent of new technologies this list of physical formats and characteristics are expanding day
by day.
The archive can think of restricting the access to the analog version of the original item, paper
facsimile, or microfilm copy after the reformatting is available for use.
i) Microfilming: Microfilm deals with the reduction of documents to such a small size that it can be read
only with the help of optical assistance. It has slow rate of decay and so can be preserved for hundreds of
years. But, microfilming has limited access possibilities (no searchable text) as compared to the high use
and its competitor digitization. Again, many people consider microfilming as a dying technology taking
consideration of the rare nature of microfilming equipment. Microfilming is governed by carefully crafted
national standard; can be read by the naked eye provided light and magnification systems are there. These
are some of the advantages. The microfilm documents will fulfil the need of creation of duplication from
the Master Negative Collection. The master negative will be accompanied by the reel ID, title, date, S. No.,
etc. In all cases if microfilming is to be followed, then it must adhere to the standards for preservation of
microfilming established by the American National Standard for Image and Information Management
(ANSI), the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the Research Libraries Group
(RLG), and the Library of Congress.
ii) Digitization of Material / Digital Reformatting: Digitization is the process by which analog items (that
include books, journals, newspaper, etc) are converted into computer readable text consisting of a sequence
of 0s and 1s as a surrogate of the original. It is very hard to retrieve specific kind of information from a
huge volume of information as it needs manual scanning page by page and to use the computer for
searching all the information together needs reformatting to digital copies. So for the creation of different
digital access aids that will include guides, indices, and databases to search and browse the huge volume of
information collection, digitization is a must. In short, it will speed up the process of finding relevant
information and extend access and assist the preservation. The digital surrogates perform a preservation
function by reducing or eliminating the use of the original.
Digital reformatting is guided by the best established practices to ensure that materials are being converted
at the highest quality. Reformatting, or in any other way copying an item's contents, raises obvious
copyright issues; so before accepting digitization proper attention should be given in this regard also.
A hybrid approach can also be used for preservation, combing the usefulness of both the options of
microfilm and digitization at the same time. It addresses long term storage through microfilming while the
current use is through digitization. It is the best preservation reformatting option to choose if fund is not a
problem for the library.
g) Environmental Catastrophe: The unpredictable disasters like fires, floors, storms, or even broken pipes
within the library building may lead to very extensive damage of the collection. These are generally beyond
the control of the librarian but it is possible to develop emergency plans for handling the collection and in
some cases for preventing the disaster (fires). If a major catastrophe strikes the library, which actions will
be taken first and who will take them? The responsibilities must be assigned well before the event.

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h) Appointment of Preservation and Conservation Librarian: Some libraries in the world appoint a special
preservation and conservation librarian to look after the works of preservation and conservation. Other
bigger libraries can also think on the same line. Smaller libraries cannot afford such a full time staff
member, but it is still possible for an interested and knowledgeable librarian to be assigned the
responsibility on a part-time basis.
Political instability in some regions in the past led to the destruction of many libraries and collections.
Libraries as an individual institution cannot do much in this regard.
Processing of Books
Processing: Cataloguing is followed by the processing phase. The processing transforms a collection of
books into serviceable items, thus making books fit for use.
a) Stamping: It is necessary to put a library stamp on lower half of the title page, bottom of the last page of
text, bottom of the last page of the volume, and the secret page. In addition each plate, map and other pages
not included in pagination should also be stamped. The stamp should be put properly and carefully without
falling on the printed matter. The stamp should contain the name of the library and its address.
b) Tagging: Paste a tag (spine label) on the back of the volume, after removing the jacket, if any. It should
be fixed one inch above the bottom of the spine of the volume. This is done so that the call number may be
properly visible to the readers when the book is shelved in a books rack.In case the volume is not thick
enough to allow space for a tag then apply it on the front cover close to the back. Gummed white cloth is
cut into round or square pieces of about 1.25 each to make the spine label where class no., book no and
location mark of the book are written. The location marks are written on the left hand upper portion of the
label. Such marks may be Reference, Rare, Text Book, etc.
c) Date Labelling: A date label or slip should be pasted on the first page after the cover. It should be fixed
symmetrically and pasting should be done only along the top edge. In case of reference books, manuscripts
and other books which are not to be issued, this slip is not pasted.
d) Book Pocket Fixing: Near the right hand bottom corner of the inside of the front cover of the book, the
pocket should be fixed. For reference and other non–issuable books, this pocket is not pasted.
e) Book Card: One printed book card of 5X 3 cm size is put in the book pocket of each book.
f) Fixing Ownership Slip: Ownership slip is generally pasted on the inner side of the front cover at left
hand top most corners. The slip may be of 3 X 2.5 cm, made of glazed paper. It may be printed giving the
name of the library, its logo, class number, book number, and accession number.
g) Entering Call Number: The call number should be written in pencil at the back of the title page and also
on the secret page to be decided by the library. Call number can be written in ink over tag, date label and
book card to be put in the book pocket.

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h) Entering Accession Number: Accession number is to be added on the date label, book card and to the
written near the book pocket.
i) Filling Book Card: Author, title, edition and year of publication are written on the book card.
j) Checking: All the call numbers and catalogue entries must be carefully checked. Any mistakes found
must be corrected.
k) Filling of Cards: The catalogue cards should be taken out from the books. From the main cards, a list of
latest additions can be prepared. It is a list of books added to the library. A mimeographed or printed list
can be distributed widely.
The catalogue cards except the shelf cards should be filed in the public catalogue. Shelf cards
should be filed in the shelf list. At this stage, the books can be released for display for a week and then
merged in the general collection. Book releasing work also includes making lists of new additions or
accession list. The accession list may be put up on the notice board and the printed or cyclostyled ad copies
are to be mailed to members, or published in the weekly editions of library newsletter, etc.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT): Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
charts depict task, duration, and dependency information. Each chart starts with an initiation node from
which the first task, or tasks, originates. If multiple tasks begin at the same time, they are all started from
the node or branch, or forked out from the starting point. Each task is represented by a line which states its
name or other identifier, its duration, the number of people assigned to it, and in some cases the initials of
the personnel assigned. The other end of the task line is terminated by another node which identifies the
start of another task, or the beginning of any slack time, that is, waiting time between tasks.
Each task is connected to its successor tasks in this manner forming a network of nodes and connecting
lines. The chart is complete when all final tasks come together at the completion node. When slack time
exists between the end of one task and the start of another, the usual method is to draw a broken or dotted
line between the end of the first task and the start of the next dependent task.
A PERT chart may have multiple parallel or interconnecting networks of tasks. If the scheduled project has
milestones, checkpoints, or review points (all of which are highly recommended in any project schedule),
the PERT chart will note that all tasks up to that point terminate at the review node. It should be noted at
this point that the project review, approvals, user reviews, and so forth all take time. This time should never
be underestimated when drawing up the project plan. It is not unusual for a review to take 1 or 2 weeks.
Obtaining management and user approvals may take even longer.
When drawing up the plan, it should also include tasks for documentation writing, documentation editing,
project report writing and editing, and report reproduction.
PERT charts are usually drawn on ruled paper with the horizontal axis indicating time period divisions in
days, weeks, months, and so on. Although it is possible to draw a PERT chart for an entire project, the

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usual practice is to break the plans into smaller, more meaningful parts. This is very helpful if the chart has
to be redrawn for any reason, such as skipped or incorrectly estimated tasks.
Many PERT charts terminate at the major review points, such as at the end of the analysis. Many
organizations include funding reviews in the projects life cycle. Where this is the case, each chart
terminates in the funding review node.
Funding reviews can affect a project in that they may either increase funding, in which case more people
have to be made available, or they may decrease funding, in which case fewer people may be available.
Obviously more or less people will affect the length of time it takes to complete the project.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Critical Path Method (CPM): Critical Path Method (CPM) charts are similar to PERT charts and are
sometimes known as PERT/CPM. In a CPM chart, the critical path is indicated. A critical path consists of a
set of dependent tasks (each depedent on the preceding one) which together take the longest time to
complete. Although it is not normally done, a CPM chart can define multiple, equally critical paths. Tasks
which fall on the critical path should be noted in some way, so that they may be given special attention.
One way to do this is to draw critical path tasks with a double line instead of a single line.
Tasks which fall on the critical path should receive special attention by both the project manager and the
personnel assigned to them. The critical path for any given method may shift as the project progresses; this
can happen when tasks are completed either behind or ahead of schedule, causing other tasks which may
still be on schedule to fall on the new critical path.
Properties of Information
Properties of Information: Information has an origin. It is communicated from the origin or from a “source”
where information is termed as “message”. The message needs a “medium” for communication. The
message is aimed to be communicated to a “recipient”. At each step the information possesses certain
characteristics. Some of the characteristics or properties of information are listed below
a) General Characteristics
i) Information is Heterogeneous: Information is extremely heterogeneous with virtually infinite variation in
response to individual conjunctions of supplier, processor, user and channel of communication. It is inter-
disciplinary in nature.
ii) Information Itself is Valueless: Information is rarely of value in itself. It always requires a content
structure or model within which it can be interpreted.
iii) Information is Central: The role of information in any organization is central and can be viewed as a
fundamental factor of production like money and manpower.

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iv) Protection: The supplier and the user of information often need special protection by means of
government intervention such as copyright and patent laws, privacy legislation, fraud statutes, etc.
v) Demand Varies: Demand for information is a function of such variables as age, perishability,
convenience, reliability, source, etc.
vi) Un-destroyable: Information is not consumed in its use.
vii) Shareable: It can be shared by many and can be used simultaneously without any loss to anyone.
viii) Democratic Resource: Information is the best democratic resource that can be consumed by the poor
and the rich alike depending upon their intake capacity.
b) Characteristics at the Source of Origin
i) Reliable and Genuine Source: When information is received from a valid, reliable and genuine source
then only it should be considered for communication to the recipient or end user.
ii) Communicability: Information should be in a communicable form.
c) Characteristics as a Message
i) Accuracy: Information should be precise and free from error.
ii) Timeliness: The information should be timely. To achieve this modern electronic device can be used.
iii) Completeness: Information as a message should include all the relevant information.
iv) Explicitness: The message should not leave any doubt in the mind of the user as to its validity,
comprehensiveness, etc.
v) Availability and Accessibility: Information must be available and readily accessible to the user.
vi) Verifiability: The message must be verifiable so that its validity, accuracy, appropriateness, etc can be
assessed.
vii) Bias free: Information should be free from any kind of bias.
d) Characteristics at the end of the Recipient
i) Adaptability: Information should be adaptable for a new use, need, situation, etc.
ii) Cost Effectiveness: Information should improve the performance of a system at an acceptable cost or at
no cost or should reduce the cost without unduly effecting performance.
iii) Currency: The information should be timely available. It should not be obsolete as well. Timely
information will be of high value.
iv) Relevance: Information should be relevant to the user.
v) Conciseness: Information should summarize the relevant data so that it will be useful for the managers

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Public Library or Public Lending Library
Public Library or Public Lending Library: These libraries provide service to the general public and make at
least some of their books available for borrowing, so that readers may use them at home over a period of
days or weeks. Typically these libraries issue library cards to community members wishing to borrow
books. Many public libraries also serve as community organizations that provide free services and events to
the public, such as babysitting classes and story time. The public library system has rural library at its base
to provide services to the rural population.
Public libraries exist in most nations of the world and are often considered an essential part of having an
educated and literate population. It fosters and provides means for maintaining individual’s individuality,
helps in the progressive development of individual’s personality, and individual’s acquisition of know how
of daily life. It believes that a good reader is a better citizen and an asset to the community.
a) Definition: A library that is open to the general public and that provides general library services without
charge to all residents of a given community, district, or region and is supported wholly or in part by public
funds is the public library. It may be operated by civil servants. Public libraries are often funded (mostly)
by taxes. Besides maintaining material collections, they usually play community role. Considering all these
facts the public library is called the people’s university. Each individual in this university begins at his own
level and progresses at his own speed. Today, by public library, we mean a library with the following chief
attributes-
i) Open to all without any distinction of caste, creed or sex;
ii) Free of any charge either in the form of security deposit or membership fee;
iii) Financed from public funds received by way of library rates and government grants;
iv) Supported by library legislation.
Benjamin Franklin not only looked upon the public library as an educational institution and used it
as one, but went further to define it as an institution for the diffusion of knowledge to the end that people
could control their own destinies and become better citizens.
According to Ranganathan, the public library is established out of the public fund; it serves the
general public of its locality; and it is essentially a service library.
The UNESCO Manifesto clearly states that “the public library should be established under the clear
mandate of law, so framed as to ensure nation-wide provision of public library service”. In short, a public
library is a free library for the public, by the people and of the public. According to the UNESCO Public
Library Manifesto 1994 (Revised), "the public library acts as a living force for education, culture and
information and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of
men and women".
b) Objectives: The UNESCO Public Library Manifesto first issued in 1949 and revised in 1972 by the
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions on the occasion of International Book
Year is a broad charter of public library goals. The purposes and objectives of the public library are
described in relation to three basic concerns-

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- The needs of people who use the libraries;
- The need to ensure that the library is located in suitable site; and
- The need to provide for effective means of operating it and developing its services.
c) Collections: Public library should try to procure books on most of the main subject areas. In promoting
the culture of the community the public libraries should include works of disinterested pursuit of truth,
beauty or goodness, even though it is always mixed up with other motivations such as search for social
importance (knowledge is power), or for status and acceptance, or for comfort of a dream world, for the
individual self-realisation. Its contents should be a living demonstration of the evolution of knowledge and
culture, constantly reviewed, kept up-to-date and attractively presented. It should also include works on
literature, art, philosophy, history, biography and topology. In facilitating non-formal education or self-
education, public library should provide educational materials which include introductions or standard
works on a subject. Most users of the public library read for recreation at one time or another and the
provision of this kind of reading is essential. Public libraries not only collect books and periodicals but also
procure other graphic, holistic and acoustic material such as books and journals, maps and charts,
microfilm and the like all designed for use. Today, public libraries have a wide array of other media
including CDs, software, video tapes, and DVDs, as well as facilities to access the Internet.
d) Services: The public library is planned so as to become the hub of social life, a real community centre
around which the daily life and habits of the people are geared. The main function of public libraries is to
serve the public's information needs generally. The public library must offer adults and children the
opportunity to keep in touch with their times, to educate them-selves continuously and keep abreast of
progress in the sciences and arts. It should also help people to form their own opinions, and develop their
creative and critical capacities and powers of appreciation. For illiterates or neo-literates it needs to
organize the audio-visual or mass media communication.
Public libraries are typically lending libraries, circulating book and other materials to the users; they also
have non-circulating reference collections. It typically focuses on popular materials such as popular fiction
and videos, as well as educational and nonfiction materials of interest to the general public; in the larger
cities, they are to some extent reference libraries as well. Public libraries also provide materials for
children, including books, videos and other materials (both fiction and nonfiction), often housed in a
special section. Public libraries may also provide services for other particular groups, such as large print or
Braille materials, young / adult literature and other materials for teenagers, or materials in other than the
national language.
Librarians at most public libraries provide reference and research help to the general public, usually at a
reference desk. Depending on the size of the library, there may be more than one desk; at some smaller
libraries all transactions may occur at one desk, while large urban public libraries may employ subject-
specialist librarians to sit at multiple reference or information desks to answer queries about particular
topics. Often the children's section in a public library has its own reference desk.
Public libraries may also provide other services, such as community meeting rooms, children’s story time
or after-school programme, and space for homework help programmes or other community services. In

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some countries it pays authors when their books are borrowed from libraries. These are known as Public
Lending Right programmes.
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
Really Simple Syndication: Really Simple Syndication, Really Simple Subscribing, Rich Site Summary,
RSS, feed, web feed (guardian.co.uk ) or channel or by whatever name we call it, it is a family of Web feed
formats that publish the contents from the frequently updated websites, blog, podcasts, etc. It is the XML-
based format that allows the syndication of Web content and used to refer to the standards like Rich Site
Summary (RSS 0.91), RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and 1.0), Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0) and
Really Simple Subscribing. RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation
of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved since March 1999 (My Netscape Network), the RSS
icon first gained widespread use in 2005/2006.
1. History: In 1995, Ramanathan V. Guha and others in Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group
developed the Meta Content Framework (MCF) which forms the basic idea of restructuring information
about web sites. RDF Site Summary, the first version of RSS, was created by Guha at Netscape in March
1999 for use on the My.Netscape.Com portal. This version became known as RSS 0.9. (My Netscape
Network). In July 1999, Dan Libby of Netscape produced a new version, RSS 0.91 that simplified the
format by removing RDF elements and incorporating elements from Dave Winer's scriptingNews
syndication format. Libby also renamed RSS to Rich Site Summary and outlined further development of
the format in a “futures document”.
Winer published a modified version of the RSS 0.91 specification on the UserLand web site, covering how
it was being used in his company’s products, and claimed copyright to the document. The RSS-DEV
Working Group, a project whose members included Guha and representatives of O’Reilly Media and
Moreover, produced RSS 1.0 in December 2000. This new version, which reclaimed the name RDF Site
Summary from RSS 0.9, reintroduced support for RDF and added XML namespaces support, adopting
elements from standard metadata vocabularies such as Dublin Core. In December 2000, Winer released
RSS 0.92 a minor set of changes aside from the introduction of the enclosure element, which permitted
audio files to be carried in RSS feeds and helped spark podcasting. In September 2002, Winer released a
major new version of the format, RSS 2.0, which redubbed its initials Really Simple Syndication. RSS 2.0
removed the type attribute added in the RSS 0.94 draft and added support for namespaces.
As neither Winer nor the RSS-DEV Working Group had Netscape’s involvement, they could not make an
official claim on the RSS name or format. This has fueled ongoing controversy in the syndication
development community as to which entity was the proper publisher of RSS. One product of that
contentious debate was the creation of an alternative syndication format, Atom, that began in June 2003.
The Atom syndication format, whose creation was in part motivated by a desire to get a clean start free of
the issues surrounding RSS, has been adopted as IETF Proposed Standard RFC 4287.
In July 2003, Winer and UserLand Software assigned the copyright of the RSS 2.0 specification to
Harvard’s Berkman Center for the Internet & Society, where he had just begun a term as a visiting fellow.
In December 2005, the Microsoft Internet Explorer team and Outlook team announced on their blogs that

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they were adopting the feed icon first used in the Mozilla Firefox browser. A few months later, Opera
Software followed suit. This effectively made the orange square with white radio waves the industry
standard for RSS and Atom feeds, replacing the large variety of icons and text that had been used
previously to identify syndication data. In January 2006, Rogers Cadenhead re-launched the RSS Advisory
Board without Dave Winer’s participation, with a stated desire to continue the development of the RSS
format and resolve ambiguities. In June 2007, the board revised their version of the specification to confirm
that namespaces may extend core elements with namespace attributes, as Microsoft has done in Internet
Explorer 7. In their view, a difference of interpretation left publishers unsure of whether this was permitted
or forbidden.
2. Need of RSS: In the days of the development of internet, users were maintaining bookmark or favorite
(Bookmark in Mozilla Firefox or Favorite in Internet Explorer) folder for the site that they considered
important to revisit after some interval of time to check its updating information. In this case, users were
left with no choice but to check the websites frequently or sometime daily by actually visiting them in the
browser irrespective of whether it is actually updated or not. But due to the time constraint it is not possible
to revisit each site of the bookmark or favorite folder regularly, as each user have many favorite sites.
The development of newsletters or e-zine in the next step solves a general quest of the problem. It helps the
user to subscribe to the e-zine or newsletters of a particular site that in turn contains a summary of all the
latest updates made on the website. But it demands the disclosure of email address to the website owners
for subscribing, which can be easily used by spammers to flood one’s mailbox with lots of junk mails.
Subscribing to many newsletters at a time will also itself flood one’s mail box and demand a considerable
time to find out one’s valuable email out of the whole. The task of reading every email, deleting it or
shifting it to another folder will be also a time consuming process in itself.
In the RSS environment, whenever a website is updated by means of producing an article / news item, it
simultaneously produces a document that contains in it the summary of all the updates made on the
website. This document is in the form of an XML document. This XML document that contains the
summary of all updates is known as a “Feed” or “Atom” and it usually has an “.xml” extension.
Blog that are hosted over Wordpress, Blogger, etc have an inbuilt feature of creating an RSS feed
automatically. So, every time when a blog is updated they create a RSS feed. So, the blogger that hosted
their blog does not require to create an RSS feed separately for their blog.
3. Versions: There are several different versions of RSS, falling into two major branches, 1.* and 2.*.
a) RSS 1.*: The RDF, or RSS 1.* branch includes the following versions:
i) RSS 0.90: It was the original Netscape RSS version. This RSS was called RDF Site Summary, but was
based on an early working draft of the RDF standard, and was not compatible with the final RDF
Recommendation.
ii) RSS 1.0: It is an open format by the RSS-DEV Working Group, again standing for RDF Site Summary.
RSS 1.0 is an RDF format like RSS 0.90, but not fully compatible with it, since 1.0 is based on the final
RDF 1.0 Recommendation.

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iii) RSS 1.1: It is also an open format and is intended to update and replace RSS 1.0. The specification is an
independent draft not supported or endorsed in any way by the RSS-Dev Working Group or any other
organization.
b) The RSS 2.*: This branch (initially UserLand, now Harvard) includes the following versions:
i) RSS 0.91: It is the simplified RSS version released by Netscape, and also the version number of the
simplified version championed by Dave Winer from Userland Software. The Netscape version was now
called Rich Site Summary; this was no longer an RDF format, but was relatively easy to use. It remains the
most common RSS variant.
ii) RSS 0.92 through 0.94: They are expansions of the RSS 0.91 format, which are mostly compatible with
each other and with Winer’s version of RSS 0.91, but are not compatible with RSS 0.90. In all Userland
RSS 0.9x specifications, RSS was no longer an acronym.
iii) RSS 2.0.1: It has the internal version number 2.0. RSS 2.0.1 was proclaimed to be “frozen”, but still
updated shortly after release without changing the version number. RSS now stood for Really Simple
Syndication. The major change in this version is an explicit extension mechanism using XML Namespaces.
For the most part, later versions in each branch are backward-compatible with earlier versions (aside from
non-conformant RDF syntax in 0.90), and both versions include properly documented extension
mechanisms using XML Namespaces, either directly (in the 2.* branch) or through RDF (in the 1.*
branch). Most syndication software supports both branches.
4. RSS Readers: The XML document can not be accessed by eyes, or if it is, it is very difficult. So, there is
a need of software that makes it readable to our eyes. The software that makes the XML document readable
to human eye is known as RSS Readers, feed reader or aggregator. So, an RSS Reader is specialized
software which interprets the RSS feed (written in XML language) and present it in a readable form to end
user. Using an RSS Reader to view the XML document just looks like checking the mail box.
a) Types of RSS Reader: There are mainly two types of RSS reader- Online RSS reader and Offline RSS
reader. Google Reader, Yahoo, Bloglines provides online RSS reader. Google Reader is free, fast and
reliable. It needs not to be download just to do is to create a free account at Google Reader. Alnera Feed
Buster is a commercial offline RSS Reader which cost about $19.95.
b) Subscribing to an RSS feed: If one wants to subscribe to the RSS feed of a blog, then he/she needs to
look for the “Atom” or “RSS” feed icon. After clicking on the RSS feed icon it will show the feed address
(usually right-click on an RSS icon and open it in a new browser window will show the address). The user
then need to copy and paste the address of the RSS feed of the website in the RSS Reader. Now whenever,
the user checks its RSS feed in the RSS reader, it will show the updates that where made in the website of
one’s choice.
Initially, reading various websites through their RSS feed in an RSS reader may appear a little odd to
anyone. However, as one will accustom with this activity he/she will find it as the fastest and the easiest
method to keep abreast with the latest updates of his/her favorite websites / blogs.

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5. Advantages: RSS is creating an earthquake in the online communication environment. It helps one to
filter among the world of blog, to push the latest updating of his/her favorite blog to the RSS Reader at his
own desktop that meet his/her personal, professional, or business needs. Even an RSS aggregator has many
blogs aggregated. Some other benefits are
i) Time Saving: One doesn’t have to save the file in his/her browser’s favorite folder and visit it regularly
to check for its new updates. Checking the RSS reader will save a considerable time from the busy
schedule of heavy net surfer by directly brining the content to his own desktop.
ii) Summary or Full Contents: RSS contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the
full text.
iii) Current Awareness Service (CAS): It will keep abreast with the latest posting to a favorite website
without visiting it.
iv) Filtered Display: RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner
that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.
v) Privacy: In the RSS environment, one doesn’t have to disclose his/her email address to others.
Reference and Information Service
Reference and Information Service: The library is a service institution. The library services fall into two
main categories - information in anticipation and information on demand. Information in anticipation
relates to the current awareness / selective dissemination of information service. The information on
demand relates to the past information sought by a user and for which there is the provision of reference
and information service known as retrospective searching.
The provision of information in anticipation aims to keep the users well informed and up to date in their
field of specialization and also in the related subjects. The service in anticipation can be divided into three
broad categories - technical services, public services, and public relation and extension services.
Technical services are vital for all other services provided by the library. Any library would find it
impossible to provide public service for their patron without the work performed in “the backroom” by
technical staff. The Card Catalogue or in a modern library OPAC is the result of the library technical
services. Other technical work includes classification, preparation of shelf list, preparation of various other
kinds of guides, etc.
Previously, people used to differentiate the reference service from that of information service, but in reality
there is no borderline between the two. The two services cannot be differentiated based on the fact whether
the librarian is referring the user to the sources of information or is directly providing the information
himself. Even, referring the user to the sources of information itself may serve the function of information
service for a particular user. The emergence of web has further changed the whole scenario. Now the
reference and information service goes side by side and they cannot be differentiated as it was done earlier.
If one however likes to differentiate then the information service can be treated as an extended form of
reference service. Infact, the information service is a relatively new term for reference service.

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Characteristically, information service denotes the ultimate existence of the reference work to all kinds of
answers to questions which are based on all sources and which requires the service of the library staff.
However, the library services can be differentiated based on the user approach into two i.e service on
demand and service in anticipation. In case of service on demand, the staff waits for the users to approach
and make a request. The user gets the answer to their specific inquiries pin pointedly, exhaustively and
expeditiously. In the reference and information service in anticipation, the staff goes to the user and the
user waits for the staff / document / information. The information provided is of general type mostly
referred to the document rather than providing exact information.
Reference service in the early years of the twentieth century was limited in general to the instruction and
guidance. The implied policy was of minimal assistance and emphasis on the librarian as instructor.
Librarians, however, soon found themselves increasingly drawn into “fact finding” and providing direct
information service. The need for librarians to become more expert in diverse fields led eventually to a
growing trend towards subject specialization in reference.
The Reference and Information Services Section addresses all aspects of reference works, in all types of
libraries, in all regions of the world. Current interests encompass the new electronic environment and the
resulting changes in reference work, role of the reference librarian, and the quality of reference services.
1. Definition: According to Ranganathan, reference service is personal service to each reader in helping
him to find the document answering his interest at the moment pin pointedly, exhaustively and
expeditiously. It is the process of establishing “contact between the right reader and right book at the right
time and in the right personal way”.
According to James I Wayer, reference work is “that part of library administration which deals with the
assistance given to readers in their use of the resources of the library”. This definition is too narrow
because in these days, the reference librarian assists the readers to use resources outside his/her own
library.
Samuel Rothstein defines reference service as “the personal assistance given by the libraries to individual
readers in pursuit of information”.
According to Hutchins, “reference work includes the direct, personal aid within a library to persons in
search of information for whatever purpose and also various library activities especially aimed at making
information as easily available as possible”.
ALA Glossary states, “reference service is that phase of library work which is directly concerned with
assistance to readers in securing information and in using the resources of the library in study and research”
2. Need and Purpose: The demand for reference and information services in libraries grew exponentially
with the end of World War II and the tremendous growth in higher education that followed. In general, the
need and purpose of reference service arises from the following facts
a) Complex Nature of Library Tools and Techniques: In order to facilitate the use of the library, the
librarian provides various tools like classification numbers, library catalogue (OPAC), shelf list, written
guides of various kinds, bibliographies, indexing and abstracting of journals / books, etc. But all these tools

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are based on complex rules and practices and the users are not supposed to be aware of the ways by which
they can be operated. So, there need to be a reference librarian in the library who can serve as a sort of
canvassing agent for these tools.
b) Increase Volume of Information: A variety of information sources emerged in large numbers. It is so
large that it is impossible for the reader to keep track of its variety and its location. So, there is a need of
reference service for the selection of the right kind of document at less possible time.
c) Peculiarities of Sources of Information: Each kind of information source follows its own practices in the
arrangements of entries, provision of subject headings, preparation of indexes, etc. So, it is not always easy
to get the desired information out of some sources of information (indexing and abstracting journals,
bibliographies, encyclopedia, etc) without the help of the reference librarian.
d) Lack of Time: Information has a value only if they are received in time and put into practice. But many
research teams and others do not have the time required to search for information in their parallel
development. It is also not desirable to expect from a highly paid research scientist to spend time in search
for the literature in libraries. It is also unprofitable for the parent organization. So, the trend is to seek the
help of a reference librarian to get the information in time, for the preparation of bibliographies, indexes,
abstracts, and for arranging for translation etc.
e) Personal Psychology: The users may be of shy nature, gentle, aggressive, and meek; they may be less
educated or highly educated and so on. They need to be taken care of by a person when they come to a
library for the first time. Otherwise, they may feel utterly lost or confused with the result that they may not
come again. Even those who come regularly to the library would need occasional personal assistance. All
these call for an arrangement for reference and information service on demand.
f) Promote and Support Library Service: A good reference and information service is bound to encourage
the use of the library. The satisfied users serve as a friend of the library and can lead to greater library
support. After all, the reference service is treated as the hub of all the activities of the library. It may be
considered as the ultimate manifestation of the laws of library science.
g) National Economy: Sometimes the questions on a subject or topic are repetitive in nature in the event of
some local function. If each answer seekers goes to find the answer on their own, a lot of man – hours will
be wasted. So, in this regard reference service helps the national economy by saving the time for the users.
3. Strategies in Establishing a Reference and Information Service: For establishing the reference and
information service, or to provide the reference and information service, the librarian needs to go through
the following steps:
a) Determining Aims and Objectives of the Library: The kind of reference service being provided would
vary from library to library. The service being rendered would depend upon the type of library, its aims and
objectives, its collection, the objectives of the reference section and the philosophy of the chief librarian.
The librarian should not waste much time in providing answers to the questions that do not come within the
scope of the parent organization, and his library.
b) Staffing: Library and information science professionals should be appointed to look after the on-demand
reference and information service.

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c) Facilities Organization: In addition to an extensive research/reading room, there is also the need of a
multimedia room equipped with high-speed computers with Internet and multimedia capabilities, phone /
fax machine in the reference section so that the Reference Librarian can instantly provide the answers
sought.
d) Building Reference Collection: The maintenance of the print reference collections including dictionaries,
directories, and encyclopedia is a must for any kind of reference service. Compiling bibliographies,
establishing and maintaining vertical files, preparing displays, bulletin boards, and exhibits also often fall
within the scope of the reference staff. Some fugitive materials consisting of newspaper-cuttings, magazine
clippings, folders and collection of some similar kinds of materials should also be included in the reference
section.
e) Gathering Knowledge of the Subject: The librarian should have a sound knowledge about all the
reference collections in his library. He should also know about the search engine, subject directories and so
on.
f) Marketing/Visibility: The library reference services should be marketed extensively to get the attention
of the library users.
g) Origin of the Query: Queries to the Reference Librarian can be made by the library user himself
physically, by post, through phone calls, email, online chat, and so on. The Reference Librarian should be
in a position to answer the queries in a mode suitable for the user. He should be able to provide answer to
the fact-finding question on phone / chat instantly.
h) Reference Interview: A user will feel the need for information. He may approach the Information /
Reference desk and make a request for information in the form of a specific query. In the first attempt the
Reference Librarian should determine the readers’ problem. He should be able to state clearly what the
reader wants.
i) Initiating the Search: The Reference Librarian should pick up the keywords to search in bibliographies,
indexes, online databases, subject search engines and so on. By using the prior knowledge he/she should be
able to decide the order in which each of the various sources available should be consulted and then should
follow the possible short-cut method.
j) Solving the Query: The reference librarian finds out and provides the answer to a specific question raised
by the library user. The information sought by the enquirer, its quality and level will depend on the query
and type of the question. It may take the form of delivering the specific information itself or direct him to
appropriate sources of information. The librarian may also get the concerned information translated and
provide the translated version of the document. He may provide a self prepared subject bibliography,
delivering the result of the literature search and so on. In all cases the reference librarian’s answer should
be user-centric.
k) Ethics and the Provision of High Quality Service: The library users have different psychological
temperaments, some are meek and inert, some have a superiority complex while some are not articulate
enough to express their wants or needs correctly or in a precise manner, and some others may be of limited

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patience. The reference librarian should follow some basic ethics to deal with every one. He should not
share his personal experience about the users with others.
l) Assimilation: In the reference service experience is the most important thing. The librarian should
periodically be able to absorb information and learn from his experience so that in near future if same type
of problem arises his movement should directly lead him to the path most likely to provide the information
he wants.
m) Sharing Experience with Others: A reference librarian should try to share his experience with his
colleagues in the reference section. During his work, he would discover certain weakness in the collection,
in the library catalogue, in the arrangement of documents, etc. He should make suggestions to his
colleagues in various sections of the library to bring about the necessary improvement in the functioning of
the library.
The reference librarian would also be dealing with the indexing and abstracting services prepared
by outside organization, bibliographies, national and international document service. He should also share
and point out the shortcoming of such tools to respective authorities.
n) Continuing Education of Reference Librarians: The reference librarian should be regularly sent for
training. For him training is essential to find the information he needs. Besides, the emergence of the digital
information sources and the rapid changes in technologies make it necessary for the librarians to go for
training periodically.
Reference Sources
Reference Sources: A reference work / book / source is a compendium of information, usually of a specific
type, compiled in a book for easy consultation. The entries are disjointed but arranged in such a way that
the intended information can be quickly found when needed or referred to, the sequence of which is
determined by the scheme of arrangement chosen for that purpose. It might be alphabetical, classified or
some other type of arrangement. Even then the connection between consecutive entries is not as compelling
and continuous or as free from jerks as between the paragraphs in an ordinary book. The writing style used
in these works is informative; the authors avoid use of the first person and emphasize facts. Indexes are
commonly provided in many types of reference work. Updated editions are published as needed, in some
cases annually. Sometimes reference sources are also described as approach material. Broadly speaking,
any book can be called a reference book provided the information contained in it is so organized that it
becomes readily accessible. It may consist mostly of formulae, statistics, diagram, tables, maps, charts or
list of documents with or without abstracts or annotations or other features. All reference sources are also
documentary sources of information.
According to ALA Glossary, a reference book has been defined as “a book designed by its arrangement
and treatment to be consulted for definite item of information rather than to be read consecutively”. Most
of the reference book anticipates a particular need and approach to information.
Generally a reference source bears the following characteristics

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i) Consulted for Definite Item of Information: They are not meant for continuous i.e. cover to cover
reading. They are consulted from time to time (occasional) for particular pieces of information.
ii) Miscellany of Information: It is miscellany of information or facts and consists of disjointed entries of
varying length which are collected from a vast number of sources. One entry in sources may or may not
have any relationship with the other entry.
iii) Bird’s Eye View of the Topic: The books provide only the bird’s eye view of the topics and rarely deal
with them in depth.
iv) Item can be Randomly Located: The arrangement of information is such that it can be conveniently and
quickly recalled.
In the library, reference collections are shelved together in a special location separately from circulating
items. Ordinarily, the reference collections are not lent out (circulated) or checked out from the library
because they contain brief information about the topic in hand and, if needed, can be photocopied and,
therefore, do not need to be borrowed by the users. Its availability in the library assures the provision of
making it accessible on demand to any user to answer questions immediately. Reference books are also too
valuable to permit the borrowers to take them out.
It may be added that the boarder line of demarcation between a reference book and others is not always
sharp. The decision as to whether or not to regard a given book as a reference book will some time differ
from library to library.
1. Classification of Reference Sources: William A. Katz divides the reference sources into two large
categories-
i) Control Access Directional Type: It itself does not contain the required information but directs the user
to the documents which contain the information. It includes bibliographies, catalogue, indexes, abstracts
etc.
ii) Work of Sources Type: It itself contains the information. For example, Encyclopedia, Dictionary etc.
2. Types of Reference Sources: We may generally recognize the following kinds of reference sources based
on the internal characteristics.
a) Dictionary: A dictionary contains the words of a language or the terms of a subject, profession or
vocation arranged according to some definite order usually alphabetical, giving their meanings,
pronunciation, spelling, significance and use. Some times synonyms, antonyms, derivation and history of
the words or terms are also given. Many dictionaries also provide grammatical information, etymologies
(origin and development of the4 meaning of the word), usage guidance and examples in phrases or
sentences. The word "dictionary" comes from neoclassical Latin word “diccio” meaning simply "word".
Therefore, primarily it deals with words and it is produced by lexicographers. A pictorial dictionary
includes illustrations of the objects represented by the words listed; some other types of dictionary may
also list out characters with their glyphs, or an alphabetical list of words with corresponding words in other

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languages. It is most commonly found in the form of a book. However, in recent years some dictionaries
are also found in electronic portable handheld devices. Some examples of English language dictionaries are
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary (descriptive), The American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language, Webster's Third New International Dictionary (descriptive).
i) Lexicon: A dictionary of some ancient language that generally provides more grammatical analysis is
known as lexicon.
ii) Concordance: A concordance is an alphabetical list of the principal words used in a book or body of
work showing location in the text with immediate contexts. Because of the time and difficulty and expense
involved in creating a concordance in the pre-computer era, only works of special importance, such as the
Bible, Qur'an or the works of Shakespeare, had concordances prepared for them.
iii) Glossary: A list of difficult terms along with some explanation or definition in a special field. The
glossary is sometimes also referred to as word book.
b) Thesaurus: It is designed for drawing distinctions between similar words and assisting in choosing
exactly the right word. So entries in a thesaurus should not be taken as a list of synonyms and antonyms. It
also does not define words. That work is left to the dictionary. A formal definition of a thesaurus designed
for indexing is: a list of every important term (single-word or multi-word) in a given domain of knowledge
arranged in a systematic order and manifesting various types of relationship existing between the terms;
and a set of related terms for each term in the list. The word “thesaurus” more commonly means a listing of
words with similar, related, or opposite meanings (this new meaning of thesaurus dates back to Roget's
Thesaurus). For example, a book of jargon for a specialized field; or more technically a list of subject
headings and cross-references used in the filing and retrieval of documents (or indeed papers, certificates,
letters, cards, records, texts, files, articles, essays and perhaps even manuscripts), film, sound recordings,
machine-readable media, etc. Some examples of thesaurus are Thesaurus of English Words & Phrases (ed.
P. Roget); The Synonym Finder (ed. J. I. Rodale); Webster's New World Thesaurus (ed. C. Laird); etc.
c) Encyclopaedia: The word encyclopaedia or encyclopaedia is derived from two Greek words ‘Enkyklios’
which means ‘circle’ and ‘Paideia’ which means “of learning”. The word encyclopaedia itself is
synonymous with cyclopedia which means compendium of information or knowledge or a circle of
knowledge, a work which represents synthesis of knowledge. It contains comprehensive written
information on all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge, with the entries arranged in
alphabetical order. Multi-volume encyclopedias often include an index in the last volume.
The Oxford English dictionary has defined an encyclopaedia as “a literary work containing extensive
information on all branches of knowledge usually arranged in alphabetical order”. ALA Glossary of
Library Terms define encyclopaedia as “a work containing information articles on subject in every field of
knowledge usually arranged in alphabetical order or a similar work limited to a special field of subject”.
Four major characteristics of an encyclopaedia are its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization,
and its method of production. It attempts to bring some order to the knowledge reflecting the state of
knowledge as it exists during the period of its compilation. The included knowledge is related to kind of
readership which an encyclopedia intends to serve. There have historically been two main methods of

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organizing printed encyclopedias: the alphabetical method (consisting of a number of separate articles,
organized in alphabetical order), or organization by hierarchical categories. The former method is the most
common by far, especially for general works. The encyclopedias are written by a number of employed text
writers, usually people with an academic degree but some modern encyclopedia’s articles are
collaboratively written by the experts on the subject.
The fluidity of electronic media, however, allows new possibilities for multiple methods of organization of
the same content in the encyclopedias. Further, electronic media offer previously unimaginable capabilities
for search, indexing, and cross reference.
Encyclopaedias can be general, containing articles on important topics in every field that describe the total
accumulated knowledge on each topic or all that came before them. The general encyclopedias are larger
compendia and often contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and
gazetteers. Every general encyclopaedic work is, of course, an abridged version of all knowledge discussed
in depth However, the discussion of the included topic represents the opinions and worldviews of a
particular time and the target audience is kept in view while discussing the topics. For example, New
Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia Americana, Collier’s encyclopaedia, and German Brockhaus. The
encyclopaedia can also specialize in a particular field such as an encyclopedia of medicine, philosophy, or
law, Encyclopaedia of library and information science, International encyclopaedia of social sciences,
McGraw Hill encyclopaedia of science and technology, etc.
i) Supplement to Encyclopedia: It is an annual or periodical publication issued by the publisher of the
encyclopaedia. The purpose of encyclopedia supplement is to provide up-to-date information about the
articles in the basic set and to bring out a summary of the major events, which have taken place during a
year. But in reality it only serves as general reading and browsing and for summarizing the significant
events. It is extremely useful to determine the trend of development in a particular field during the previous
year. Examples: Britannica Book of the Year, Americana Annual, etc.
d) Bibliographical Sources: The term “bibliography” was first used by Louis Jacod de Saint Charles in his
Bibliographia Parisiana. It is a technique of systematically producing descriptive list of written or
published records or in simple writing and transcription of books. A bibliography is a systematic listing of
the records of human communication. In its most general sense it is the study and description of books or
other multimedia material. Bibliographical works are almost always considered tertiary sources of
information. They differ from library catalogues by including all relevant publications rather than the items
actually found in a particular library. However, the catalogues of some national libraries also serve as
national bibliographies, as they contain almost all the publications of the concerned country. Standard
citation formats are used in writing the bibliographies. The main advantages of bibliographic entries are
that they contain enough information for readers to locate the materials and are presented in a consistent
format. In many cases bibliography is the end result of any literature search. For example, Indian National
Bibliography, Indian Books in Print, etc.
i) Bibliography of Bibliographies: A bibliography of bibliographies lists the bibliographies which direct the
reader to useful bibliographies through subject, place, institution, etc. The bibliographies refereed to may
be in the form of a separately published book or part of the book or part of the periodical article or some
other type of document. Bibliography of bibliographies is highly selective in nature. For example,
Bibliographic Index.

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e) Indexing and Abstracting Periodicals: An index is a systematic guide to i) item contained in or ii)
concept derived from a collection. These items and derived concepts are represented by entries arranged in
a known or stated searchable order. According to Allen Kant, “an abstract is a summary of a publication or
articles accompanied by an adequate bibliographical description to enable the publication or article to be
traced”.
The indexing and abstracting periodicals present a condensed form of the literature of the subject and
provide a scientific or specialist bird’s eye view of the progress and development of the subject so that the
inquirer can select the most relevant documents relating to his work in the hand. An indexing and
abstracting periodical helps to find out specific information in the literature of a subject.
i) Citation Index: A citation index is an index of citations between publications. It allows the user to easily
establish as to which later documents cite which earlier documents. It is an ordered list of cited articles
each of which is accompanied by a list of citing articles. The cited articles are identified as references and
the citing articles as source. In a simple way it can be said that cited articles are ancestors and the citing
articles are descendents and this descending relation of subjects is reflected through the citation index.
Citations provide a further reading list besides paying homage to the pionners and giving credit for their
work; sometimes it also criticises, corrects and disputes the previous contributions. The first citation
indices were legal citators such as Shepard's Citations (1873). In 1960, Eugene Garfield's Institute for
Scientific Information (ISI) introduced the first citation index for papers published in academic journals,
starting with the Science Citation Index (SCI), and later expanding to produce the Social Sciences Citation
Index (SSCI) and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). Examples include ISI citation indexes
(available online under the name “Web of Science”), Scopus published by Elsevier publishers (available
online only), CiteSeer system publish, Google Scholar (GS), etc.
f) Geographical Sources: Geography is the study of the Earth’s surface and its lands, features, inhabitants,
and phenomena, people's responses to topography and climate, and soil and vegetation. Geographical
sources of information can be of the following types:
i) Gazetteer: A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary, an important reference for information about places
and place-names, used in conjunction with an atlas. It typically contains information concerning the
geographical makeup of a country, region or continent, the social statistics and physical features, such as
mountains, waterways, or roads. It also includes information about the location of places, dimensions of
physical features, population, GDP, literacy rate, etc. World gazetteers usually consist of an alphabetical
listing of countries, with pertinent statistics for each one, with some gazetteers listing information on
individual cities, towns, villages and other settlements of varying sizes. Examples include The World
Gazetteer, Worldwide Index, etc.
ii) Guides: According to ALA Glossary of Library Terms, a guide book has been defined as handbook for
travellers that gives information about a city, region or country or a similar handbook about a building,
museum, etc.
A guide to the literature assists a user to use literature of a specific subject. It helps to evaluate and
introduce literature. It lays emphasis on the literature of a subject rather than its content and covers
secondary and tertiary sources. It presents a detailed account of the bibliographical apparatus and tools,
basic literature, agencies, etc. through which it is possible to follow the development, status and progress of

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a subject. It gives the broadest bibliographical view of the subject. A guide to the professional organization
gives the address and a brief description of the organizations engaged in a particular field at the national or
international level. Guides generally include guides to the literature of a subject, guides to the libraries,
guides to organization etc.
iii) Map: A map is defined as “a representation of a part or the whole of the surface of the earth or a
celestial body delineated on a plain surface, earth points in the drawing intended to correspond to a
geographical or a celestial position”. It represents the outer boundaries of a part of the earth or the earth as
a whole on a plain surface. In simple, it is a simplified depiction of a space which highlights relations
between components (objects, regions) of that space. Most usually a map is a two-dimensional,
geometrically accurate representation, normally to scale, of all or a portion of the three-dimensional earth's
surface or of the heavens, or another celestial body. More generally, maps can be devised to represent any
local property of the world or part of it. Maps are usually stored in specially designed cases which allow
them to lie flat.
iv) Atlas: An atlas is a collection of maps, traditionally bound into book form, but also found in multimedia
formats. It gives geographic features, political boundaries and some time geopolitical, social, religious and
economic statistics. ALA Glossary defines atlas as “a volume of map, plates, engraving, tables, etc with or
without descriptive letterpress”. It may be an independent publication or it may have been issued to
accompany one or more volume of text. Some cartographically or commercially important atlases include
Times Atlas of the World (United Kingdom, 1920-present); Atlas Mira (Russia, 1937-present); National
Geographic Atlas of the World (United States, 1963-present); Historical Atlas of China (China). Some
other atlases are thematic. Example: The Times Atlas of World Exploration.
v) Globe: A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth (terrestrial globe) or other spheroid celestial
body such as a planet, star, or moon. It may also refer to a spherical representation of the celestial sphere,
showing the apparent positions of the stars and constellations in the sky (celestial globe).
g) Biographical Sources: A biography is a description or account of the series of events making up of
someone's life, which is usually published in the form of a book or an essay, or in some other form, such as
a film. An autobiography is a biography of a person's life written or told by that same person. The
biographical information also can be obtained from almanacs, biographical dictionary, directories,
encyclopedias, etc. Examples include International Who’s Who, Dictionary of National Biography, etc.
h) Current Sources: Current sources of information are brought out on annual basis that depicts some
important happening in the previous year. It may take the form of the following:
i) Year Book: A year book is an annual compendium of current information which may be sometimes
restricted by subject or country or region. It is mostly used for answering questions involving the recent
trends and current developments. J. K. Cates defines a year book as “a publication which is issued annually
for the purpose of current information in narrative, statistical or descriptive form”. According to ALA
Glossary, a yearbook is “an annual volume of current information in descriptive and or statistical form,
sometimes limited to a special field”.

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ii) Almanac: The word almanac (also spelled almanack) is an annual publication containing tabular
information in a particular field (mostly covering information about rising and setting of moons, periods of
low and high tides, climate or weather related information) often arranged according to the calendar.
According to the ALA Glossary, an almanac is a) an annual publication containing a calendar frequently
accompanied by astronomical data and other information or b) An annual year book of statistics and other
information sometimes in a particular field. It records most of the astronomical data and various statistics,
such as the times of the rising and setting of the sun and moon, eclipses, hours of full tide, stated religious
festivals, terms of courts, etc. Contents also include discussions of topical developments and a summary of
recent historical events. Major topics covered by almanacs (reflected by their tables of contents) include:
geography, government, demographics, agriculture, economics and business, health and medicine, religion,
mass media, transportation, science and technology, sport, and awards/prizes. Sometimes almanac is
grouped with yearbooks as this is also an annual publication giving current events, developments, statistics,
etc. Example: World Almanac and Books of Facts, Whitaker's Almanack, Information Please Almanac,
The Old Farmer's Almanac etc.
i) Directory: A directory is a list of names and addresses of persons, organizations, manufacturers or
periodicals. It may list information in a way which best serves the requirements of its user so as to enable
them to get the required information readily. S. R. Ranganathan defines a directory as “a book containing
the names, address, occupation, etc of the inhabitants of a town or a district, a list of the user of a telephone
system or of the members of a particular profession or trade or a descriptive list of institution, enterprises
or trade”. ALA Glossary of library terms defines a directory as “a list of persons or organizations,
systematically arranged usually in alphabetical or classified order giving address, affiliation etc. for
individual and address, officers, functions and such data for organization”. In a wider sense, even a list of
periodicals or newspapers or places may also be termed a directory. Example: Times of India Directory and
Yearbook including Who’s Who, Bowker Annual of Library and Book Trade Information, World of
Learning, Universities Handbook, etc.
j) List of Research in Progress: A list or directory of research in progress covers the research activities of a
single institution, a laboratory or a group of institutions i.e. universities. The information content usually is
a short description of projects, names of investigators, period of investigation, and names of funding
agencies and, in some cases, reference to sources where preliminary results have already been published or
likely sources of publication of results.
List of research in progress helps an individual information seeker to get in touch with the investigation, to
get additional information about the work or can anticipate as to when and where to get the full report or
results of an investigation and thus to avoid duplication in research. Example: Current research project in
CSIR Laboratories, 1972 and 1976 compiled by INSDOC, R and D Projects in Documentation and
Librarianship of FID.
k) Notification of Forth Coming Conferences: The knowledge of forth-coming meetings, conferences,
symposia, seminar, etc. on a specific field should be notified to the members belonging to that specific
domain. Keeping this purpose in view some organizations publish small booklets giving essential general
information about forth-coming seminar, conference and workshop in a specific field. Example:
Forthcoming International Scientific and Technical Conference, Quarterly published by ASLIB.

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l) Handbook: The term “hand book” literally comes from the German word “handbuch” i.e. a book which
can be held in the hand comfortably. It is a compilation of miscellaneous information in a compact and
handy form. It is a small manual, reference work or other collection of instructions, intended to provide
ready reference regarding procedures, principles, etc. table, graph, diagram and illustration are also
provided. Louis Shores has defined handbook as “a reference book of miscellaneous facts and figures on
one or many subjects assembled for ready use in response to popular interest or to a specific need for
concise handy information”.
m) Manual: The word “manual” is derived from the Latin term “manualis” which means a guide book or
instruction book to pursue an occupation, art or study. The term “manual” in common parlences refers to
instruction to do something with the aid of very explicit step by step directions. It gives instruction by
means of specific and clear direction. Louis Shores opined that “manuals are sources that contain
instruction for doing”. ALA Glossary defines a manual as a) a compact book, a handbook b) a book of
rules for guidance or instructions in how to perform a task, process etc. or make some physical subjects.
Example: Fay, G.S. (1972). Rockhound’s Manual. New York: Harper and Row.
n) Statistical Sources: The statistical information is distributed in other reference sources. The dictionaries
may contain population statistics. The encyclopedia may provide socio-economic data about large
geographical areas, which may be updated by their yearbook; the statistical yearbook may provide some
other kinds of statistics over a longer period of time, and so on. Example includes Demographic Yearbook,
Statesman’s Yearbook, etc.
o) Mathematical Table: In early days before calculators were cheap and plentiful, people were using
mathematical table i.e lists of numbers showing the results of calculation with varying arguments to
simplify and drastically speed up computation. The most common are multiplication tables, which most
people know from their early mathematics classes. Nowadays, peple use logarithm tables and so on.
Some of the reference sources overlap. For instance a supplement to an encyclopedia can be
considered as a part of encyclopedia or separately. Similarly, the sources of statistics can be considered
under yearbook or as a separate category.
Many of the above sources are now available in audio- visual format or as an online publication but still
they can be included under their respective categories. Besides, the traditional reference sources, Search
engine, Meta search engines can also be considered as reference sources of modern times.

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Research
Research: The goal of research is to improve the level of living in society. The word research carries an
atmosphere of respect. As every object has got its own pros and cons, so does research. But the advantages
of research have outnumbered the disadvantages of research and it has a place of its own in the field of
study.
In an academic environment, research activity is five fold i.e Master Dissertation; MPhil
Dissertation; PhD Thesis; DLitt Thesis; and Assigned Research Project (Most universities in North
America call a PhD a dissertation and the Masters a thesis, while most British universities call the PhD a
thesis and the Masters a dissertation).
A Masters dissertation in general does not contribute to the original knowledge that is novel and unique,
and takes a forward step in a particular branch of human knowledge. It is a research work that makes one
experienced with a series of high level education, intellectual and ethical issues, whereby the person doing
the work demonstrates his/her mastery of the skills of data collection, handling, analysis, synthesis,
evaluation, argumentation to a specific topic to arrive at some conclusion, that is in turn recorded with the
honesty of writing, which enlarges or modifies the earlier concept on the topic. The objectives of a
dissertation includes providing a range of learning opportunities to go for original research work in future,
by way of going through different age old tradition of research methodologies; to equip the learner with the
knowledge of managing a project; etc.
In Master of Philosophy, stress is much given to the subject of research rather than on theoretical research
methodologies and the researcher has the full freedom to choose his/her topic of interest. The individual
capability of the students to choose their topic for research gives a Master of Philosophy research a distinct
look in opposition to the Master Dissertation, where student is supposed to look forward to the topic
relevant to their course contents only. Though at Master of Philosophy, the research demands
authoritativeness, it is also not able to contribute to the original knowledge base.
The Master Dissertation and MPhill Dissertation does not belong to pure research work. Besides the above
points, it can also be justified from another point of view. In both cases, the examiner of the research work
gives a percentage or score during evaluation processes to the students based upon their level of doing pure
research in future. It means for example if one student is able to score 80%, it is not a great success, it has
other side also, in regards to the potentiality of doing an original research work i.e. he / she is incapable of
doing the work by 20%. But in case of original research work, only two options are left in the hands of the
examiners, either he / she have to accept or reject the work, there are no steps in between the two i.e the
evaluation of the research work should lead to either 100% or null.
Doctor of Philosophy involves pure individual research where the researcher is assumed to be the world
expert on his / her particular topic. So offering PhD assumes precondition that the researcher promotes the
subject into a new dimension by promoting its greater understanding, producing significant new
information or by way of formulating new theories.
Doctor of Literature is just like the Doctor of Philosophy but with more commitment to the areas of
research with in depth study.

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The research projects are different from that of academic research degree in regards to different scale of
time, resources and extent, pioneering qualities and rigor. Research project actually involves a group work
on a pre-assigned topic by the funding agency; it has wide scope in regards to the greater resource
availability.
a) Definition: Research is composed of two words “re” and “search”, which means to search again or it is a
careful investigation to understand or re-examine the facts or to search for new facts or to modify older
ones in any branch of knowledge. The term research is also used to describe an entire collection of
information about a particular subject, but it is in general used by the students of higher schools.
Research in common parlance refers to search for knowledge; one can also define research as a scientific
and systematic search for pertinent information on as specific topic. Some people consider research as a
movement, a movement from the unknown to known. It is actually a voyage of discovery. Thus research is
an endeavor to discover, develop and verify knowledge.
P. M. Cook attributes the research taking the clue from each initial alphabets of the word “research”.
R= Rational way of thinking;
E= Expert and exhaustive treatment
S= Search for solution;
E= Exactness;
A= Analysis;
R= Relationship of facts;
C= Critical observation, Careful recording; Constructive attributes, and Condensed generalization.
H= Honesty and hard working.
The Webster International Dictionary defines research as “a careful critical enquiry or examination in
seeking facts for principles, diligent investigation in order to ascertain something”.
The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a
careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge”.
J. W. Best opined that research is not only specifically problem solving but is also closely
associated with verification of truth underlying the observed data”.
Thus research is an intellectual act that begins with the asking of questions and progress through the critical
examination of evidence that is both relevant and reliable to the reevaluation of the truth that is
generalization and universal.
b) Need of Research: The need of research is felt due to the following-
i) To discover the truth, which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet;
ii) To discover the solution of a problem;

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iii) To expand the scope of theoretical knowledge;
iv) To discover the new application for old knowledge;
v) To understand, analyze and explore the phenomena;
vi) To know the cause effect relationship;
vii) To improve the level of living in society;
viii) For professional and intellectual development of the researcher by gaining knowledge;
ix) To obtain prestige and respect by a person or by the institution;
x) To obtain a research degree;
xi) As a means of livelihood by way of obtaining the source of finance.
c) Characteristic: Some of the characteristics of research are-
i) Research originates with a question or problem;
ii) Research requires a clear articulation of a goal;
iii) Research is guided by the specific research problem, question, or hypothesis or critical assumption;
iv) Research follows a specific plan of procedure;
v) Research requires the collection and interpretation of data in attempting to resolve the problem that
initiated the research;
vi) Research is, by its nature, cyclical; or more exactly, helical.
Mere information gathering, transportation of facts from one location to another, looking through for
information does not lead to research. It is not a catchword used to get attention.
d) Code of Conduct in Research: The following are some of the code of conduct in research-
i) Self Reflective: The researcher should use only the techniques, tools to which they are familiar.
ii) Taking Permission to Undertake Research: In most countries, the researchers have to take permission to
conduct research or they will be expelled from the field of study or the country as a whole.
iii) Research Participants: Participation is the voluntary contribution by the people towards achieving the
goal of the researcher and by this way a process of involvement in their own development, their lives and
environment. In case of field study, the researcher should go with sufficient imagination, and care to
prevent spoiling the field for himself / herself or for the future researcher. If the researcher makes some
promise with the participants, then he/she must try to keep them. The research participants should also be
given guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity, unless there are clear and overriding researches to do
otherwise.

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* Voluntary Participation: Participants should be voluntary in all types of research. No researcher should
bring the participants under some compulsion. If required the researcher can also sign in consent form from
the respondents.
* Confidentiality and Anonymity: There are a number of ways in which participants can be harmed; it may
be physical, psychological, emotional, embarrassment and so on. So the research data should be aggregated
in such a manner where individuals cannot be identified, if it is necessary to quote the respondents name,
potential harm should be identified and measures should be taken to overcome such harm and necessary
permission should be taken from the respondent to quote their name.
* Right of Review: The participants have every right to review the data before going for publication. So for
a researcher it is good to communicate with them.
* Informed Consent: If a particular research may harm participants, the participants should be informed and
consent should be taken in advance. In publicizing the result of research, personal data may lead to mutual
protection, political sensitivity, and private issues (family affairs, tax avoidance, etc). So the researcher
should take the consent before publicizing any data regarding research participants.
* Risk Assessment: “Science is certainty; research is uncertainty. Science is supposed to be cold, straight
and detached; research is warm, involving and risky. Science puts and end to the vagaries of human
disputes; research creates controversies”. So before publicizing data the researcher should assess the risk
regarding psychological stress, legal liabilities, political, social etc. of the research participants.
iv) Acknowledging Others: The researcher should always acknowledge others who are associated with
their research work. But, including the names of persons, who had little or nothing to do with the research
is deception again.
v) Intellectual Ownership and Plagiarism: Representing some one's work as one's own is called as
plagiarism and it may lead to expulsion from the institution. So, please deal with it properly. “Unless
otherwise stated, what you write will be regarded as your own work; the ideas will be considered you own
unless you say to the contrary” (Walliman, 2005, p. 336). So, one should be honest, fair and respect other's
work and are expected to give same kind of treatment what he/she expects from the readers of their own
publication(s) and it will be good to use other's text, diagram, table, data, picture with their permission only
(generally for academic work, author as well as publisher feels free to grant permission to use their material
in your work). Without permission, single text extract with citation should not cross the limit of 400 words.
For a series of extract, with citation should not cross the limit of 800 words, provided no single extract
exceed 300 words). The worst offence against this ethic is called “Plagiarism” and in order to avoid the
stigma and shame of being labeled as one, acknowledging others work is always needed.
vii) Academic Frauds: Academic fraud involves the intentional misrepresentation of what has been done.
Fabrication, falsification, omitting data and plagiarism constitutes misconduct and academic fraud in any
research practice. So, the researcher should avoid it right from proposal to report of any research work.
Making misleading or deceptive statement also constitutes academic fraud.
viii) Publicizing Results: Publicizing the same article in more than one journal distorts citation indexes and
is therefore a bad practice. It is also a means to degrade your own contribution to the total human
knowledge.

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Some of well designed research codes can be found in American Sociological Association
(http://www.asanet.org/members/ecoderev.html), American Psychological Association Ethical Principles
of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html), American Political
Science Association (http://www.apsanet.org/pubs/ethics.cfm), British Sociological Association Code of
Ethics (1996) (http://www.britsoc.co.uk/index), British Educational Research Association
(http://www.bera.ac.uk/guidelines.htms), National Committee for Ethics in Social Science Research in
Health (India), Office of Research Integrity (ORI) (http://ori.dhhs.gov), Oxford Brookes University (2003)
code; etc.
e) Finding out Unethical Research Work: The following are some of the ways through which unethical
research works can be identified:-
i) Perfect Data: If a reader of some research work finds some work within the documentation of the
research work that reflects the perfect correlation with other sets of data, with which he/she comes across in
his/her past reading then he/she tries to recall them and goes for searching the possibility to find out who
(present or past researcher) tries to hide what. Such type of human behavior leads to finding out the
unethical research work. This type of unethical research identification frequently happens in case when
someone goes with the research work of their peer groups research.
ii) Plagiarized Text: Some times in going through the text of a particular research work, the evaluator or the
expert or other reader is able to recall in the way that “I have read it earlier, is it the same article I am
reading it again?”. What he/she will do in the next step is he/she tries to find out where is the problem?
Such types of intuition for validity also lead to identification of unethical research work.
iii) More Subjects than What Really Exists: In the process of falsification and fabrication of data,
sometimes may lead to an increase number of subjects than what really exist. If such type of things happen
then the readers who are alert with the field can easily identify the work as unethical research work.
Suppose there are 350 colleges in a city, and one’s research study reveals it as 355 then the person who
knows that only 350 colleges are there can easily identify the present work through which he/she has gone
recently as an unethical work.
iv) Data not Supported by Methodologies: There may be occasions when a researcher used methodology
and data reflects opposite direction. If such an occasion happens then the reader is easily able to guess the
work as unethical.
v) Time: If some research finding comes out to the surface within a short amount of time than what it
should consume, there may be occasion where the falsification in the data may be there.
vi) Researcher is Not Capable: The peers know their professional friends and colleagues and their
potentialities very well. So, when one of their colleagues publish some research work, which according to
his/her friend is not capable of working in that level, he/she immediately goes for evidence to justify
his/her points or to identify from which he/she copied the data. Such types of peer to peer competition also
lead to identification of unethical research work.
vii) Hide: When there are missing links in the data, the reader is easily able to guess that the researcher
must hide something to consider for publication in some other journals, or for other purposes.

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viii) Plagiarize Text Checking Tools: Over the web nowadays there are many plagiarize text checking tools
are available that check for text copied from other sources. If a reader of some research work used such
tools then within a minute he/she is able to find out which sentences in the present work is copied from
which sources.
f) Course of Action against Unethical Research Work: Unethical research work includes loss of respect and
recognition from the peers, and society at large. To have some classic examples of course of action against
unethical research you can consult: Hart, Chris (2005). Doing your masters dissertation. New Delhi:
Vistaar Publication. 286-296. The course of action against unethical research work includes the following.
The action taken by school / department / university where research work are undertaken includes dismissal
from school / department / university, dismissal from carrying out further research work, dismissal from
supervising other research work, making correctness to the research work, sending the scholar to ethical
training, and just warning.
Action from the employer includes termination of employment / academic career, suspension with pay,
warning, etc.
Action taken by research funding agencies includes repayment of grant / fund / award, debarred
from future research grant, etc
g) Criticism against Research: Prior to discussing the importance of research, let's have a glance at the
criticism raised against research-
i) Some people think that research is a waste of time, and effort;
ii) Some say that for degree sake, research is being undertaken;
iii) Most of the research deals with human being especially in social science research. But it is being
criticized that human behavior is difficult to study;
iv) Methods used for conducting research is inadequate. This is more so in case of developing countries;
v) It is not always necessary that every research would lead to solution of problems rather it may
complicate the problem further;
vi) It is generally been seen that the problem under investigation may not be an area of interest to the
researcher, rather he / she may take the problem due to peer pressure or ego problem.
h) Let Us Sum Up: “Everywhere, our knowledge is incomplete and problems are waiting to be solved. We
address the void in our knowledge and those unresolved problems by asking relevant questions and seeking
answers to them. The role of research is to provide a method for obtaining those answers by inquiringly
studying the evidence within the parameters of the scientific method.” It will be better to conclude by
Patton (2002, 224) quotes “there is no rule of thumb that tells a researcher precisely how to focus a study.
The extent to which a research question is broad or narrow depends on purpose, the resources available, the
time available, and the interests of those involved. In brief, these are not choices between good and bad, but
choices among alternatives, all of which have merit”.

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Types of Research
Types of Research: The research can be categorized into the following types-
a) Basic Vs Applied: Fundamental research is also known as pure research, theoretical research or basic
research. It belongs to the domain of fundamental, intellectual, natural problem and queries and hence is
quite theoretical in nature and approach. According to Pauline “gathering of knowledge for knowledge’s
sake is termed pure or basic research” i.e studies conducted to achieve a fuller understanding of a
phenomena without considering of how their findings will be applied belongs to basic research. Its major
preoccupation lies with designing the tools of analysis and with discovering universal laws and theories. It
may be note that the scope of the sphere of activity of basic research is extraordinarily wide.
Research concerning some natural phenomena or relating to pure mathematics are examples of
fundamental research. Similarly research studies concerning human behavior carried on with a view to
make generalization about human behavior are also examples of fundamental research. It is also widely
used in the case of environment protection, conflict resolution, crisis prevention, health pandemics, etc.
Again basic research findings can be subsequently used to enrich applied or strategic research.
“Basic research is necessary to develop and question concepts and theories and to bring new perspectives
into the development discourse”. It considers knowledge as an end in itself, and the purpose is to discover
the truth. There is no guarantee of short-term practical gain from basic research that result in low rate of
funding for basic research.
Applied research is pursued for some purpose outside of its own domain, either for an immediate distinct
utility or as an aid to the development of some other subject. Thus the central aim of applied research is to
discover a solution for some pressing practical problems.
Applied research aims to provide knowledge on which the best decisions can be made regarding the
problem associated with serious risks which otherwise can cause disaster. The objective of applied social
research is to use data so that decisions can be made. Its purpose is to understand the nature and sources of
human and social problems. The marketing research or evolution researches are examples of applied
research.
b) Descriptive Vs. Analytical Research: Descriptive research includes surveys and fact findings enquiries
of different kind. It provides description of the conditions / existing relationship / opinions held / process
going on / effects evident / trend developing on the present cases / event with relation to the past. In other
words, descriptive studies are the one whose purpose is to describe accurately the characteristic of a group.
The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affair as it exists at present. The
main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables. He can only
report what happened or what is happening.
Descriptive Studies is used in the following cases-
i) While gathering empirical data regarding certain phenomena so as to interpret them in a broader
perspective of generalization;

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ii) To study psychological phenomena of a group of individuals;
iii) To study relationship between variables under uncontrolled observation.
In analytical research, the researcher has to use facts or information already available and analyze
these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
c) Quantitative Vs. Qualitative Research: Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or
amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.
Qualitative research on the other hand is concerned with qualitative phenomena i.e. phenomena
relating to or involving quality or kind. Research design to find out, how people feel or what they think
about a particular subject or institution is a qualitative research. To apply qualitative research in practice is
relatively a difficult job and therefore one should seek guidance for experimental psychologists.
d) Conceptual Vs. Empirical Research: Conceptual research is that related to some abstract ideas or theory.
It is generally used by philosopher and thinker to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.
Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due respect for system
and theory. It is data based research coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by
observation or experiment.
e) Diagnostic Studies: The diagnostic study is concerned with the discovering and testing certain variables
with respect to their association or disassociation. It enquires into the basic nature and cause of an existing
problem. In its broadest sense, the diagnosis corresponds to the fact finding aspect of the clinical practice.
Diagnostic Studies is applicable to the instances like solution of a specific problem by the discovery of the
relevant variables, discovering or analyzing a specific problem.
f) Explanatory Research: It structures and identifies new problems. Exploratory research is a type of
research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine
the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. Given its fundamental nature,
exploratory research often concludes that a perceived problem does not actually exist. The objective of
explanatory research is the development of hypothesis rather than their testing.
Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data,
or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees, management or
competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods,
case studies or pilot studies. The Internet allows for research methods that are more interactive in nature:
E.g., RSS feeds efficiently supply researchers with up-to-date information; major search engine search
results may be sent by email to researchers by services such as Google Alerts; comprehensive search
results are tracked over lengthy periods of time by services such as Google Trends; and Web sites may be
created to attract worldwide feedback on any subject.
g) Historical Research: Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like documents remains,
etc. to study event or ideas of the past including the philosophy of the person and groups at any remote
point of time.

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h) Action Research: Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by
individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they
address issues and solve problems. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or
institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies,
practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice.
Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term “action research” in about 1944, and it appears
in his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems”. In that paper, he described action research as
“a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading
to social action” that uses “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and
fact-finding about the result of the action”.
Research Design
Research Design: Research design essentially refers to the plan or strategy of shaping the research, or as
Hakim (1987) puts it “design deals primarily with aim, purposes, intentions and plans within the practical
constraints of location, time, money and availability of staff”.
a) Definition: According to Scltiz, Jahoda, Deutsch, and Cook “a research design is an arrangement of the
essential condition for collection and analysis of data in a form that aims to combine relevance to research
purpose with economy in the procedure”.
Suchman has pointed out that “a research design is not a highly specific plan to be followed without
deviation, but rather a series of guide posts to keep one handed in the right direction”.
Decision regarding what, where, when, how much by what means concerning an enquiry or a
research study constitute a research design. So a research design or a plan is a tentative outline of the
proposed research work. The plan is not a very specific one. It is simply a set of guideline to keep the
scholar on the right track.
b) Need of Research Design: The need of research design are-
i) It may result in the desired type of study with useful conclusion;
ii) It reduces inaccuracy;
iii) Helps to get optimum efficiency and reliability;
iv) Minimize wastage of time;
v) Minimize uncertainty confusion and practical haphazard associated with any research problem;

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vi) Helpful for collection of research material and testing of hypothesis;
vii) It is a guide post for giving research a right direction.
c) Characteristic of Research Design: Some of the characteristics of research design are-
i) Regularity: State character or fact of being regular.
ii) Verifiability: To ascertain text, the truth or accuracy of anything opens for verification.
iii) Universality: A state or quality of being universal or general.
iv) Predictability: To predict or tell before with moderate accuracy.
v) Objectivity: Not subjective or unbiased.
vi) Systematization: In a coherent or orderly manner.
d) Components of Research Design: A practical research design has the following steps, however these are
not independent but rather they are interdependent and overlapping in a sense.
i) Title of the Study: The title or name o topic of research should be brief. In order to sharpen the focus if
necessary a subtitle may be added to the main title.
ii) Stating Problem: Stating the problem which surrounds the specific problem will provide a focus on the
chosen topic for research.
iii) Review of Literature: A review of the literature should be made.
iv) Area and Scope of Study: The area and scope of the study should be stated.
v) Objectives of the Study: The objective of the study should be clearly mentioned.
vi) Formulation of Hypothesis: Though it is not mandatory a few hypothesis should be taken.
vii) Definition of Concept and Terminology: The concept and terminologies likely to be used in the
research should be clearly defined.
viii) Methodology: There are several methods of investigation and collection of materials. A researcher is
free to adopt one or several method.
ix) Determining Tools of Data Collection: Determining tools of data collection and formulation of
schedules or questionnaire.
x) Sampling Design: A complete coverage of the unit of the universe selected for research is not possible.
So, sampling design deals with the method of selecting items to be observed for the given study. Sampling
design means determining the research participants.
xi) Determining Techniques for Data Analysis: The collected data should be processed and organized.
xii) Limitation: Limitation in terms of gap in the data, sample should ascertain.

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xiii) Interpretation of Results: The processed and organized data are interpreted for drawing inferences.
e) Limitation of Research Design: The following are some of the limitations of research design-
i) Non availability of sufficient data;
ii) Non availability of resources like money, manpower, etc.;
iii) Inadequate time in the formulation of research design;
iv) Poor skill and ability of the research scholar;
v) Unforeseen development during the course of design, which are uncontrollable as well.
The research design is a tentative statement, so the design is subject to change in the light of the
material available or experience gathered while pursuing the actual work.
Research Methods in Library and Information Science and Services
Research Methods in Library and Information Science and Services: The following research methods are
commonly used in Library and Information Science.
a) Survey Method: Survey research has been widely used in LIS. It deals mainly with collection, analysis
and presentation of data relating to the present time reflecting the present state of affairs in social,
economic and political activities. Survey method is approached through the methods of personal interview,
mailed questionnaires (both surface and Email), telephone, personal discussion, electronic survey, and so
on.
i) Cross Sectional Survey (=Single Short Survey): In this design, peoples are asked questions at one points
of time. It is difficult to establish the time order to variables. It is difficult to exchange over a period of
time.
ii) Panel Study and Trend Study: In a panel study the same peoples are interviewed two or more times. Eg.
Some users are interviewed at different times to seek their views on product. In a trend study two or more
different samples of people are drawn at different times from the same population.
* Panel Study: Panel studies provide information on both the net and gross changes. Panel studies can
describe how the individual members of a population are changing.
* Trend Study: Trend studies involve information on net changes. Trend studies can describe how the
distributions of variable are changes in the population studied.
Some of the characteristics of survey method are-
i) It is directly concerned with social life as it exists there and now. What is observed, described, collected
or a body of facts about current situation and problem.

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ii) It focuses upon given locality or geographical area.
iii) A large volume of information can be collected from a very large population.
iv) The information generally collected through survey is accurate.
Some of the limitation of Survey Method are
i) It demands more money, effort, and time.
ii) It need to train the interviewers, otherwise it will contribute to error.
iii) Survey information touches only the surface of the research field and does not make a deeper thrust into
it.
iv) The respondent’s personal inhibitions, indifference and unawareness of the nature and purpose of
investigation render survey information invalid or at least imprecise.
v) If sample information has not been collected very carefully, the magnitude of sampling error may be too
large to render the sample results reasonably accurate.
Some well known examples of survey research that are applicable to library and information
sciences are-
i) User Study or User Survey: To determine the utilization of library resources, satisfaction of the clientele
and their need.
ii) Community Survey: To know the characteristic of the population being served by a library or to be
served by the proposed library.
iii) Library Survey: To ascertain the resource of a library or a group of libraries and their growth in a
particular period
b) Case Study Method: Case study is a population type of qualitative research and it can be defined as “in
depth investigation of a discrete entity (which may be a single setting, subject, collection or event) on the
assumption that it is possible to derive knowledge of the wide phenomena from intensive investigation of a
specific instance or case”. In the words of Pauline V. Young “a comprehensive study of a social unit- be
that unit a person, a group, a social institution, a district, or a community – is called a case study”.
Case study is a qualitative analysis where careful and complete observation of an individual or a situation
or an institution is done. An effort is made to study each and every aspect of the concerning unit in minute
details, and then from the case data generalization and inferences are drawn.
Case data may be gathered exhaustively on an entire life cycle of a social unit or a definite section
of it whether a section or the whole of a life is studied. The aim is to ascertain the natural history that is an
account of generic development of a person or group, revealing the factors and method of life of the unit
within the cultural setting. Thus, case study aid in studying behavior in specific and in details.
The significance of Case Study Method is:

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i) This method enables us to understand fully the behavior pattern of the concern unit.
ii) Through case study a researcher can obtain a real and enlighten record of personal experiences, which
should reveal man’s inner strivings, tension and motivation that drive into action along with the forces that
direct him to adopt a certain pattern of behavior.
c) Delphi Technique: Delphi method is basically a technique of obtaining consensus among experts opinion
on a given problem. A questionnaire is prepared translating the aims and objectives of research. The
identified problem is put up to the panel of experts in many rounds till a consensus agreement is achieved.
The basic theory behind this technique is that consensus opinion among majority of opinions will have
grater creditability and authority than the guess of only the most articulate / spokespersons in a group of
participating respondent.
In the formulation of library legislations, policy making for libraries, curriculum design, and method of
teaching and evaluation process of decision making and in manpower planning Delphi method can be used
Research Report
Research Report: Research report is the written description of research providing information about its aim
and objectives, scope, limitation, methodologies, source of information used, equipments, findings and all
such necessary information. The writing of the research report is the last and final steps of the research
work done by a researcher without which his/her work remain incomplete.
a) Objectives of Research Report: The result of every research needs communication to others, who
actually needs it. This can only be done by writing the research report. The main objectives of the research
report are:
i) A Permanent Record of the Research: The written report is a permanent record of the research done by
the researcher for the coming generation.
ii) Increase Knowledge Stock: The aim of research report is to make the people aware of the new
information, new standards and new interpretation received from the research. Knowledge of human being
increases if it is in the form which can be communicated to others.
iii) Useful for Researcher: With the help of research report, many other small subjects of research can be
arranged systematically and a definite principle can be formulated. Thus, the report should be written in
such a way that it may help in the formulation of new principles for other researchers.
iv) Validation of Other's Conclusions: Research is the process through which everyone can learn from the
others. In research report by way of writing foot note, references, etc. the views and suggestions of others,
the scholar pays homage to them.
v) Examination of Validity: The validity of any research work can be judged by others based on the
research report only.

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vi) Communication Medium: The aim of research report is to communicate the knowledge of the
researcher to the others.
b) Scope of Research Report: The scope of research report is that through this report one can examine the
validity of the research study. In research report, all the facts should be presented so as to prove the validity
or invalidity of the facts by careful observation and experimentation.
c) Characteristic of a Research Report: In writing a research report, the research scholar should keep in
mind the following points-
i) Communalism: Research results are public property;
ii) Universalism: The results should be independent of gender, race, colour, creed, etc;
iii) Unbiased: Results should not be manipulated to serve some specific profit. In writing a research work,
the research scholar should keep an eye on the political and personal biasness; no way should it influence
the research report.
iv) Share All: It is good to share the results, experience, honor, as well as blame with others.
v) Openness: The government or the research funding agencies have spent the amount collected from tax
payers in the research. So every member of the society has the right to access to the research report
Some other characteristics of research report are:
i) Should be systematic and attractive. The report should be clear to the point and easy in understanding, so
proverb and exaggeration should be avoided;
ii) The title, graph and figures should be presented only when it increases the value of the research study;
iii) Similar type of facts must not be repeated in the report;
iv) Outside resources used should be noted as such so as to increase its retrieval. Pay homage to others
contribution
v) Problem and difficulties faced during the research work should be nicely presented; it will guide the
further researchers.
vi) A research report should be long enough to cover the subject matter and short enough to maintain
interest. The research report should sustain the reader’s interest throughout the chapters.
d) Content of Research Report: The content of the Research Report is as follows:
i) Preliminary Pages: The preliminary pages carry the title and date followed by declaration, foreword and
acknowledgements. Then there should be table of contents followed by list of tables, graphs, charts and
abbreviation used.
The front page should contain the title of the research work, name of the author, date, and names of any
sponsors of the research. The research title should reflect the keywords of the research work, for easy
information retrieval.

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In the preface page, why the researcher undertook the current research work, what was his/her motivation
factor for choosing this topic, etc should be stated.
The researcher may acknowledge the services or guidance of certain individuals, organizations on which
success of the research project has been dependent on the acknowledgement page.
Today, many of the research reports are hosted over institutional repositories. To do so an abstract or
summary is very much felt. Considering this, an abstract or summary of the whole research findings and
recommendations should be enclosed in the research report itself. The abstract or summary should cover
the aim of the research, the methods employed, the outcome of the research, and any theoretical
implications. A two hundred worded abstract is more than enough.
ii) Main Text: The main text of the report carries the following item:
* Introduction: Introduction should mention the background of the topic (from, where the research problem
emerges), aim and objective of the research work, and an explanation of the methodology adopted in
accomplishing the research. There should be a steady flow of ideas with the introduction page and the
research documentation as a whole.
* Literature Review: The literature review is not only a summary or series of annotation or description of
others work, rather it is a critical judgment on others work. The researcher should judge the literature like a
judge appraising the argument of a lawyer making a case and should conclude it by making a note of
summing up. The result of the hard working, reading, notes taking and analysis of others work will give to
fruitful results in the form of literature review. The literature review can be arranged according to the
chronological order as well as development of ideas.
* Main Report: The main body of the report should be presented in logical sequence and broken down into
identifiable sections. One can use table, graphs and charts regarding primary data collection in this chapter.
In data analysis it would be better if the researcher uses the whole numbers instead of percentage, using
percentage will lose the actual power of the data. Whenever the research scholar provides arguments, it
should always be supported by data gathered.
* Conclusion: Towards the end of the main text, the researcher should again put down the results of his /
her research clearly and precisely. In this chapter nothing new should be introduced. Its whole content
should be based on the content of the preceding chapters. In conclusion chapter the research scholar should
also justify whether the hypothesis that has been adopted proved or not, methodology used is alright or not,
mention the problems encountered and lastly, should point out the researcher scholars own contribution to
the world of knowledge or what the readers will benefit from the current research work. Ideas for further
research should also be mentioned including the skill, attitude, capabilities, and qualities to conduct such
type of research work. Possible recommendation for other research workers working on the same line
should be stated. What existing practices should be revised in the light of the current research, and so on
should be made statement wise in the recommendations pages.
* References / Bibliographies: All the sources of information from which information have been taken
should clearly be described so that any person can verify these.

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* End Report: At the end of the report, appendices should be enlisted in respect of all technical data. Any
extensive list should be included in an appendix rather than in the actual report.
It is expected that the report completed for the course is original for the class and completed solely by the
researcher. It is unethical to prepare a report that is the same, or basically similar, to a report completed for
another purpose.
The research report must be legible and word processed; appropriate margins and other formatting as
outlined in the research manual should be followed. The report must adhere to appropriate rules of
grammar, sentence structure, transitions between paragraphs, etc.
Finally, before submission of the research report to the competent authority, the research scholar should
check and recheck it for several times for errors and omission, consistency and so on. If he/she is not a
literature expert then he/she can also consider sending the research documentation for editing to a literature
expert before its submission to the competent authority.
e) Conclusion: A research report is an eye-opener to others to judge the work done by the researcher in the
field of given research. The research report consists of research that one does on the topic as well as
interpretation of the information, including applicability to the teaching assignment. It explains how one
will use the information that comes to the focus, how it will impact on teaching pedagogy, discipline
methods, curriculum development, assessment, etc.
Research Supervisors / Monitoring and Evaluation
a) Research Supervisor: “Although supervisors want their students to succeed, there are clearly limits to the
amount of help which they may provide for their students”. (Oliver, 2004, p. 52). Supervisors’ role
includes:-
i) Tutorial about research work in general;
ii) Advice on research methodology and design;
iii) Advice on structuring the thesis;
iv) Reading the thesis and finding out its pitfall;
Supervisors also have the experience of examining other thesis as well, so he/she can have a fair idea about
the possible questions regarding the thesis, and will communicate the same to the scholar, so that he / she
can prepare for it in advance.
If a supervisor disagrees about some content in the research report, only a little scope is left in the
hands of the researcher to discuss it in length to arrive at a definite answer. If such a thing happens it would
be better if the researcher tries to explain his/her position in front of the supervisor.
b) Research Monitoring Agency: Monitoring means keeping track with the overall progress and
achievement of objectives of the ongoing research work and progress in the use of allocated fund to
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c) Evaluation of Research Report: In case of any research work, evaluation is a process of determining the
worth or significance or value of the work in regards to the objectives, the efficacy of design, resource use
and the sustainability of results. It should also enable the incorporation of lessons learned, credible and
useful thought to help the funding agencies to make correct judgment. Evaluation leads to decision-making
process and probable implementation of the research result. The supervisor(s) are not normally involved in
the approval process of a thesis. There will usually be both two or three examiners, and at least one from
other institutes / organizations to which the thesis was submitted.
The role of research evaluator includes the following-
i) Social Engineer: The evaluator is a social engineer, and is neutral;
ii) Controller: They attempt to hold the implementing agencies responsible for their decision and actions.
iii) Advisor: He/She is the advisor to the researcher;
iv) Mediator: The research evaluator is the mediator between the research findings and its applicability,
between the researcher and the implementer.
v) Facilitator: By way of supporting the results.
The evaluator in general judges the value of the thesis in regard to the following.
i) Inputs: Human, physical and financial resource that are used to undertake the research;
ii) Outcome: Consequence / results of an intervention;
iii) Output: Results for implementation;
iv) Performance: Whether the results are justified in comparison to different performance indicator;
Before the oral interview, the researcher should read the thesis fully; anticipate the question that may be
asked. Once the thesis is approved by the examiners, a copy of the thesis is usually sent to the university /
college library.
In case of thesis, it is good to see that only two options are left in the hands of the examiners, either he / she
have to accept it or otherwise reject it. The degree is only offered to the candidate, who have critically
investigated and evaluated an approved topic by using the research methods appropriate to the chosen field,
and makes an independent and original contribution to the existing knowledge base and has presented and
defended the research work in the oral and verbal examination to the satisfaction of the examiner(s).

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Resource Description and Access (RDA)
Resource Description and Access (RDA): In June, 2010, the Resource Description and Access (RDA) was
published, which will completely take over the place of AACR-2. RDA is built on the foundations
established by the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR). Instructions derived from AACR have
been reworked to produce RDA which is easier to use, more adaptable, and more cost-efficient in its
application. The RDA has been developed to replace AACR. It has flexible and extensible framework for
the description of digital and non-digital resources. The AACR-2 was mainly for the non-digital resources.
RDA uses MARC 21 as encoding standard (Format for Bibliographic Data, and Format for Authority Data)
and International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) as display standard. ISBD is also used by
AACR-2 for display of record. The RDA element set is compatible with ISBD, MARC 21, and Dublin
Core.
A key element in the design of RDA is its alignment with the conceptual models for bibliographic and
authority data [Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), and Functional Requirements
for Authority Data (FRAD)] developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA).
The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) is responsible for maintaining “RDA:
Resource Description and Access”. JSC was previously responsible for maintenance of the Anglo-
American Cataloguing Rules (AACR). The constituent organizations represented on the Joint Steering
Committee are The American Library Association, The Australian Committee on Cataloguing, The British
Library, The Canadian Committee on Cataloguing, CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information
Professionals, and The Library of Congress. The current Chair of JSC is Alan Danskin, the British Library
representative. RDA is published by: The American Library Association, The Canadian Library
Association, and CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
The RDA is now available over the RDA Toolkit Web site (http://www.rdatoolkit.org). It will help you
navigate from AACR2 to RDA at no charge.
Role of Information
Role of Information: From the primitive days of human civilization to the present day information has
always been a component of growth and development and improvement of the living standard. Nowadays,
the information has come to occupy the central position to be reckoned as the driving force for all human
development. It is clearly interlinked with the growth and development in economic, political, social,
occupational, cultural and other sectors of the society. Information and knowledge have become the
principal generator of wealth in the form of educational institutions, research and development
establishment, scientific and technological centres and other similar knowledge oriented bodies.
The impact of information and knowledge is seen in a number of human activities centering on
information. Some of these which will give a cursory account of societal changes taking place in a few
sectors are as follows:

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a) Education: Education is the process of acquiring general and specialized knowledge by means of study
and learning that develop intellectual power of reasoning and judgment. At no point of time in the life of a
person does education really terminate and in real sense it is a continuous process. While IT provides easy
and effective access to the different types of educational kits, information is the life blood of education. It
is the essential ingredient in new ideas, in course content and curriculum development, and in the creation
of material and methods of technology and learning. Students need information for pursuing academic
studies; teachers need information for teaching their students.
b) Research and Development: Research is a never ending spiral activity. It aims to provide solution to
problems. The inputs as well as the output of research are information. So information is the life blood for
research and development. The quality of information content alone will determine the success or growth
and development of research. Researchers need information on a continuous basis for conducting research
works.
c) Management and Decision Making: We are living in a world of change. We face complexities,
uncertainties and risks unknown to our predecessors. The list of activities in our private life and its
associated problems are virtually endless. In each of these personal activities decisions are required to be
taken and information is needed to support the decision. People need information to make the best possible
decision. People with information are likely to have better career opportunities and to be better equipped to
make personal decision.
Information provides a means of improving the management of enterprises and services of all
kinds. Information is needed by the decision makers in organizations. A common need basic to all decision
makers is an understanding of the purpose of the organization, that is, its policies, programmes, plans and
goals. The decisions to be made in an organization do vary and the information needs also vary. A manager
needs information to choose the possible alternatives presented in terms of ranges of values of particular
attributes. Information provides a wider knowledge base for the solution of any problem; it gives new
alternatives and approaches to the solution of technical problems and opinions for minimizing future fault.
It improves effectiveness and efficiency of technical activities in the production and service sector. So
information is used for better decision making in all sectors and at all levels of responsibilities.
Governmental officials of different levels need information for decision making. They need census,
weather and other related information. Legislators need information of different types to argue a point on
the floor of the legislature.
d) Daily Life of a Person: Naturally, living today is quite different from what life was about a generation
ago. Nowadays people in different situations require information on a subject in different forms and with
different emphasis and different depth of explanation. An ordinary person in his daily life needs to have
access to information on many of his daily activities. It may pertain to the quality, availability or cost of a
number of things like articles of foods, health care, education, entertainment, travel, social security, etc.
One may need information on cooking, gardening, house decoration and maintenance, and a host of other
subjects. In private life one needs information to organize vacation activities, to make intelligent purchases,
fertilize a lawn, soup up an engine, prune a shrub, groom a pet, select a garment, vote for a candidate,
choose a doctor or lawyer, protest a tax increase, evaluate career opportunities, pick an investment, select a
course, make a trip, plan meals and so on. The list of activities in a private life is virtually endless.

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e) Business and Industry: Information and knowledge are getting their appropriate place in enterprises that
are not static, because it is increasingly being recognized today that external information on market,
competitors, social and political environment, government regulations and trade and tariffs etc. are
invaluable if an enterprise is to thrive. It is only due to the central role of information that business and
industries are day by day inclined to invest in R & D to generate new knowledge which would ultimately
provide them an edge over their competitors.
In business sector, information helps in telemarketing, better financial management, customer
service, training, sales, product development, market intelligence, looking for customers, etc.
In industry, the types of information needed are not limited to production, but cover all aspects of
industrial activity. The major types are: identification of product, determination of technical and economic
feasibility including the potential for use of indigenous resources; outlets for disposal of waste either as
saleable by-products or for further processing, market or marketing, etc.
f) Scientific Development: The increase in population has resulted in mounting social pressure for
increased production, but as population increases, natural and near natural commodities start depleting. So
there is an urgent need for exploitation of new resources, creation of artificial commodities. All these
developments are impossible without the use of proper information and immediate use of new scientific
discoveries.
Air transportation, the concept of global village, satellite communication, nuclear energy,
exploitation of outer space, improvement in agriculture, health, environment, etc are some of the results
due to exclusive use of information in the field of science and technology.
g) Government: Information improves the capacity of a country to take advantage of the existing
knowledge and “know how” to achieve success in various fields. So, the governments of almost all the
countries of the world are the largest consumers of information and knowledge. In their commitment and
responsibility to create a welfare state, they need information and knowledge on every conceivable subject.
They collect, organize and disseminate statistical data on all its activities which constitute the most
important and vital information resources for their planning and later implementation and execution.
All ministries of the government need up to date and timely information on the overall management of the
country’s resources and general administration. Management Information System (MIS), Decision Support
System (DDS) are widely used in planning and policy making.
h) Socio-Economic Development: The role of information in socio-economic development can be viewed
from the following angles
i) Entertainment: With the viewer’s complete control over programmes, interactive television (watch a
missed TV show).
ii) Health Care: With information sharing and even diagnosis and treatment by means of interactive video
link-up.
iii) News: With consumers able to point and click to select information for personally tailored news items.

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iv) Home Shopping: With a 24 hours a day, virtual global mall accessed by two way video and digitized
sales.
v) Security: Electronic fingerprint, retina scanning, voice recognition, DNA finger print, signature
dynamics.
Today, information has become a great source of power as a principal driving force for the acquisition of
wealth, political strength and more knowledge etc. Information-rich countries of today are becoming even
more powerful than the colonial powers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, on account of their
expertise in creating new information and knowledge and exploiting them for their advantage. Information
is not only the source of power but also an effective power in itself if released in appropriate time.
Sampling Technique
Sampling Technique: Survey is an important research method used to acquire knowledge systematically
from a context of human experience. But the entire context, i.e. the entire population of interest cannot be
acquired always as because one can neither afford money or time nor resources for scientifically covering
the entire universe. Hence a sample is chosen from the entire population to project the result of the sample
surveyed to its universe. The method through which a sample is chosen from a population is known as
“Sampling Technique”.
a) Definition: Sampling is a technique where the sampler selects some of the elements with the intention of
finding out a conclusion about the total population from which they are taken. It may be defined as the
selection of some part of an aggregate or totality on the basis of which a judgment about the aggregate or
totality is made. In other words, it is the process of obtaining information about an entire population by
examining only a part of it.
b) Need for Sampling: The need for sampling is felt due to the following reasons-
i) It is generally more economical in time, effort and money to use sampling;
ii) If sampling is conducted by trained and experienced investigators then sampling may enable more
accurate measurements for a sample study.
iii) Sampling remains the only way when population contains infinitely many numbers.
iv) Sampling remains the only choice when a test involves the destruction of the item under study.
v) Sampling usually enables to estimate the sampling error and thus, assists in obtaining information
concerning some characteristic of the population.
c) Characteristic of Good Sampling: If the sample results are to have any worth while meaning, it is
necessary that a sample possesses the following essentials characteristics.
i) Representativeness;
ii) Adequate;

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iii) Independence;
iv) Homogeneity.
d) Types of Sampling: Sampling can be categorized into the following-
i) Nonprobability Sampling: Non probability sampling methods are those which do not provide every item
in the universe with a known chance of being included in the sample. The selection process is at least
partially subjective. Nonprobability sampling again can be categorized into the following types
* Convenient Sampling: A convenience sample is obtained by selecting “convenient” population units i.e.
the peoples who are convenient to response.
* Judgment Sampling or Purposive Sampling: In this method of sampling the choice of sample items
depends exclusively on the judgment of the investigator. In other words, the investigator exercises his
judgment in the choice and includes those items in the sample which he thinks are most typical of the
universe with regard to the characteristic under investigation.
* Quota Sampling: In a quota sampling, quotas are set up according to some specified characteristic such as
based on income, age, political or religious affiliations and so on. In the next step within each quota the
selection of sample items depends on personal judgment of the researcher. It is the most commonly used
sampling technique in non probability category.
* Snowball Sampling: It is a technique in which an initial group of respondent is selected randomly, and
then subsequent respondent are identified based on the referrals provided by the initial respondents.
ii) Probability Sampling: Probability sampling methods are those in which every item in the universe has a
known chance or probability of being chosen for the sample. This implies that the selection of sample item
is independent of the person making the study that is the sampling operation is controlled so objectively
that the items will be chosen strictly at random. Probability sampling can be grouped into the following
* Simple or Unrestricted Random Sampling: Simple random sampling refers to that sampling technique in
which each and every unit of the population has an equal opportunity of being selected in the sample. In
simple random sampling which item gets selected in the sample is just a matter of chance – personal bias of
the investigator does not influence the selection. To ensure randomness of selection one may adopt either
the lottery method or consult table of random numbers. The advantages of simple random sampling
includes-
- It requires only a minimum of knowledge of the population in advance;
- It is more representative of the population as compared to judgment sampling;
- It is free from personal bias and prejudice;
- The method is simple to use;

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- The analyst can easily assess the accuracy of this estimate because sampling errors follow the principle of
chance.
* Systematic Sampling: If a population can be accurately listed or is finite, systematic sampling technique
can be used. The lists are firstly prepared in alphabetical, geographical, numerical or some other order. The
items are then serially numbered. The first item is selected at random generally by following the lottery
method. Subsequent items are selected by taking every nth item from the list.
* Stratified Sampling: In stratified sampling the population of the universe is divided into smaller
homogeneous groups, or strata by some characteristic and form and from each of these similar
homogeneous groups draw at random a predetermined number of units. The usual stratification factors are
sex, age, socio, economic status, educational background, residence (urban or rural), occupation, etc. In the
standardization of test and public opinion polls, the method of stratification is necessary.
* Cluster Sampling: In multi-stage or cluster sampling, the random selection is made of primary,
intermediate and final (or the ultimate) units from a given population or stratum. There are several stages in
which the sampling process is carried out. At first, the first stage units are sampled by some suitable
method, and then a sample of second stage unit is selected from each of the selected first stage unit, again
by some suitable method, which may or may not be the same as that of the first method. Further stages may
be added as required.
e) Limitations of the Sampling: Despite the various advantages of sampling, it is not completely free from
limitations. Some of the difficulties involved in sampling are stated as follows:-
i) A sample survey must be carefully planned and executed otherwise the results obtained may be
inaccurate and misleading.
ii) If sampling is not conducted by qualified and experienced persons, the information obtained from
sample survey cannot be relied upon.
iii) If the information is required for each and every unit in the domain of study a complete enumeration
survey is necessary.
Scientific Method
Scientific Method: The term Scientific Method can be understood from the two words "Science" and
"Method". The term Science has been used as an accumulation of systematic knowledge, where knowledge
refers to the goal of science and systematic refers to the method that is used in reaching that goal.
a) Definition: According to Karl Pearson, scientific method is the pursuit of truth as determined by logical
consideration. The idea of science is to achieve a systematic interaction of facts. Scientific methods
attempts to achieve this idea by experimentation, observation, logical arguments from accepted postulates
and a combination of these three in varying proportion.

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A scientific method is the way in which one can test opinion, impression or guess by examining the
available evidence both for and against them. It is simply pursuit of truth which is determined by logical
consideration.
To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and
measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the
collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
b) Role of Scientific Method in Research: The Scientific Method plays the following role in the conduct of
organized research
i) Verifiability: The conclusion drawn in research through a scientific method is subject to verification at
any time. Verifiability presupposes that the phenomenon must be capable of being observed and measured.
This will bring greater accuracy to the conclusion being reached in research
ii) Generality: Scientific laws are universal in their application. So, the conclusion drawn from scientific
methods should be universal i.e. it should be applicable to the whole group.
iii) Predictability: The role of scientific method is that the results to be determined in research can be
predicted with sufficient accuracy. Thus predictability depends on one hand upon the phenomenon
observed in the given research and on the other hand upon the application of various scientific methods.
iv) Objectivity: Objectivity is fundamental to all research as the very purpose of research is to arrive at the
truth. The results of scientific method should not be affected by observer’s own views i.e. it should be
unbiased by personal feelings. The main criterion of objectivity is that all people should arrive at the same
conclusion about the phenomena. Eg. Coal is black but not like sentences like coal is the most useful
material, as because for some other person there may be some other material which are most useful.
v) System: The scientific mode of investigation should be followed from the first step to the last step of
scientific investigation, because the results arrived at by haphazard method even if true cannot be called
scientific because their accuracy is purely accidental. Scientific Method helps a researcher to do his
research in a systematic manner. It saves the researcher from going to non-directional path in course of his
research.
According to Cohen and Manion (1994) there are five major assumptions underlying scientific method.
i) Order: There is some kind of order in the universe. So the researcher has to make an idea to determine it.
ii) External Reality
iii) Reliability: Human perceptions and intellect can be reliable despite the many ways in which it can be
tricked.
iv) Parsimony: Phenomena should be explained in an economic manner.
v) Generality: There can be valid relationships between what is achieved and general situation in the world.

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c) Benefits from Scientific Method: Scientific method in research ensures systematic investigation of
subject. It makes possible an orderly process of investigation, the exercise of analytical thinking and a
critical approach to the study and development of a subject. So it can be said that the Scientific Method
helps in the systematic and orderly conduct of research. It helps to arrive at truth without any kind of
fallacy in the process of deduction of truth while conducting the research.
d) Limitation of Scientific Methods in Research: Scientific method is never complete. At every stage there
are some basic principles which remain unexplained. Further, scientific method involves abstraction.
Again, science has a limited scope. Each science is concerned with a particular area and is based on certain
assumptions.
Search Engines
Search Engines: A search engine is a program or information retrieval system designed to help one in
retrieving a list of references or information, meeting a specific criterion from its own databases that are
stored on a computer. The computer may be a public server on the World Wide Web, a computer inside a
corporate or proprietary network, or a personal computer.
The earliest Internet search engine was Archie, which was created in 1990 by Alan Emtage a
student at Mc Gill University in Montreal for anonymous FTP sites. This is the grandfather of all search
engines. In 1993, the University of Navada System Computing Service group developed Veronica, which
was created as a type of searching device similar to Archie but for gopher files. This is treated as the
grandmother of search engines.
In June 1993, Matthew Gray, then at MIT, produced what was probably the first web robot, the Perl-based
World Wide Web Wanderer, and used it to generate an index called “Wandex”. The purpose of the
Wanderer was to measure the size of the World Wide Web, which it did until late 1995. The web's second
search engine Archie-Like Indexing on the Web (Aliweb) appeared in November 1993 due to the effort of
Martgn Koster. Aliweb did not use a web robot, but instead depended on being notified by website
administrators of the existence at each site of an index file in a particular format. ALIWEB is no longer
maintained.
In December 2003, Orase (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=1716) published the
first version of its new real time search technology. It comes with many new functions and the performance
increased a lot.
a) Component of a Search Engine: A general search engine typically functions by considering three
components.
i) Crawler / Spider / robots: Web crawling is the process of locating, fetching, and storing Web pages. The
Web crawler or spider or robot is a computer program. It starts from a seed pages to locate new pages by
parsing the downloaded pages and extracting the hyperlinks within. Extracted hyperlinks are stored in a
FIFO fetch queue for further retrieval. Crawling continues until the fetch queue gets empty or a satisfactory
number of pages are downloaded. Each time a spider visits a web page it scans all the text and follows
every link it sees.

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Some search engines such as Google store all the scan pages but some like Altavista store only the words
of the scan pages in an ever increasing databases. Theses store pages are known as cached pages. The
contents of each page are then analyzed and it catalogues the URL and a list of words in an index database
for use in later queries.
ii) Indexer: The downloaded content is concurrently parsed by an indexer and transformed into an inverted
index. It represents the downloaded collection in a compact and efficiently queryable form. The indexes are
regularly updated to operate quickly and efficiently. The database of search engine is most often created by
spiders or robots automatically.
iii) Query Processor: The query processor is responsible for evaluating user queries and returning to the
users the pages relevant to their query. The search engine allows one to ask for content meeting specific
criteria (typically those containing a given word or phrase) into a search “box”. When a user makes a query
typically by giving keywords the engine looks up the index and provides a listing of the best matching web
page according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document’s title and sometimes
a part of the text. The list is often sorted with respect to some measure of relevance of the results. Because
these databases are very large, search engines often return thousands of results.
b) Ranking of Site at Search Engine: Best matches and what order the results should be shown in, varies
widely from one search engine to another. The method also changes over time as internet usage changes
and new techniques evolve but people at large accepted Google to be more useful in this regard. But,
researchers at NEC Research Institute claim to have improved upon Google’s patented page rank
technology by using web crawler to find “Communities” of website. This technology instead of ranking
pages uses an algorithm that follows link on a webpage to find other pages that link back to the first one
and so on from page to page. The algorithms “remember” where it has been and index the number of cross
links and relate these into grouping. In this way virtual communities of web pages are found.
c) Types of Search Engine: Configurable Unified Search Index (CUSI) search engines, like All-in One
Search Page and W3 Search Engines are pages which list search engines.
The search engines can be categorized based on the coverage as-
i) Web Search Engine: It searches for information on the public Web.
ii) Enterprise Search Engines: They search on intranets.
iii) Personal search Engines: It searches individual personal computers.
iv) Custom Search Engine: Search within the contents defined by the user(s)
v) Meta Search Engine: The content of search engines indexes and databases will vary. So if the same
query is typed into several search engines it is likely to produce different results, Because of this in
searching a topic a user often wants to see results from various sources. One way to compare the results of
several search engines is to type and retype a query into individual search engines one at a time. However,
this can be very time consuming. A Meta searcher helps to make this task more efficient by providing a

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central location where the query is typed in once and the result can be obtained from multiple search
engines. Meta Crawler, Search.Com (http://www.search.com), etc. are examples of Meta search engines.
Based on the contents that are considered for search, search engine can be-
i) Web Search Engine: Search all types of contents over the web. Eg. Google (http://www.google.com).
ii) Discussion Group Search Engine: Search only discussion groups. For example Google groups
(http://groups.google.co.in), Yahoo groups (http://in.groups.yahoo.com/).
iii) Blog Search Engines: Search only Blogs. For example, Google blogs (http://blogsearch.google.co.in),
etc
iv) Image Search Engine: For example, Google images (http://images.google.co.in), etc.
v) Maps Search Engine: For example, Google maps (http://maps.google.co.in), etc.
vi) Video Search Engine: For example, blinkx (http://www.blinkx.com/), fooooo (http://en.fooooo.com/),
Truveo (http://in.truveo.com/), Google videos (http://video.google.com/), etc.
vii) Hypermail Search Engine: It searches for mailing lists.
viii) Hypernews Search Engine: It searches for USENET newsgroups.
ix) News Search Engine: For example, Google news (http://news.google.co.in).
x) Books Search Engine: For example, Google books (http://books.google.co.in).
xi) Subject Directory Search Engine: They search Web directories which are maintained by human editors.
They include a keyword search option which usually eliminates the need to work through numerous levels
of topics and subtopics. For example, DMOZ.org, Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/), Looksmart
(http://www.looksmart.com/), etc.
Some other types of search engines are-
i) Crawler based Search Engine: WebCrawler that was launched in April 1994 was the first “robot”
keyword search engine. Its robot program indexes the entire content of pages retrieved but not URLs
embedded in those pages. WebCrawler acquired by America Online in June 1995. World Wide Web Word
was also a robot based search engine; it indexes only HTML document titles, text explaining page links and
URL’s.
ii) Human-Powered Search Engines: The Human-Powered Search engines search the pages or websites that
are collected for index by the human. The examples of such type of search engine include: Anoox
<http://www.anoox.com/>, ChaCha <http://www.chacha.com/>, Collarity <http://www.collarity.com/>,
Earthfrisk <http://earthfrisk.org/>, iRazoo <http://www.irazoo.com/>, Mahalo <http://www.mahalo.com/>,
Sproose <http://www.sproose.com/>, Wikia Search <http://alpha.search.wikia.com/>, etc.
iii) Mobile Search Engines: For example, Google mobile (http://www.google.com/mobile).

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iv) Simultaneous Unified Search Engine (SUSI): The WebCompass acts as a personal SUSI search engine,
where the user defines a set of search engines in a local database, defines a concept map of terms with
associated search word, and then configure WebCompass to keyword search. A personal edition of
WebCompass and other shareware packaged with similar capabilities are freely available. Other SUSI
based services like SavvySearch or MetaCrawler search a range of search engines at a time. The drawback
of SUSI is that their response time is slower.
v) Personalized Web Search: Google developed a personalized web search whereby the user can set up a
profile and retrieve the results based on their interests.
vi) Grid Search Engine: A grid search engine can be defined as “a type of a parallel and distributed system
that enables sharing, selection, and aggregation of geographically distributed autonomous resources
dynamically at runtime depending on their availability, capability, performance, cost, and users’ quality-of-
service requirements”. In a grid search engine, for each user query an individual crawl is started over the
fresh copies of the Web document i.e the original one but not the cached one, and the relevant pages are
selected. In this way, up-to date versions of the pages are evaluated and accuracy of the resulting answer
set of pages is enforced. The grid search engines are sometimes known as Real Time Search Engine. For
example, in December 2003, Orase published the first version of its new real time search technology.
vii) Natural Language Queries (Index Crawling): For example, Altavista, Ask Jeevas.
viii) Freeware Search Software: Freeware Search Softwares are used via a WWW servers CGI, like
freeways, Glimpse and SWISH (Simple Web Indexing System for Humans).
In near future it is no doubt that some subject search engines will come out to overcome the problem of
general search engines.
d) Importance of Search Engine: Search engines are the most popular destination on the internet. Again, the
cached pages maintained by some search engines are very useful when the content of the web page has
been updated and the search terms are no longer in it, or the web page is no longer available or the site’s
server is down. So, in such cases when a particular website is withdrawn one can search for cached pages
for the data that may no longer be available elsewhere.
Without search engine, to try to find what you need can be like finding a needle in a haystack. To use
search engines effectively, it is essential to apply techniques that narrow the results and push the most
relevant pages to the top of the results list.
e) Examples of Search Engine: Nowadays, we have thousands of search engines for searching over
internet. Each of the search engines makes an appearance over the web; continues for some time, then the
new one emerges and the old one falls to decay and disuse. Some of the popular types of search engines,
which create new milestone in the origin and development of search engines, are discussed below
i) Lycos: Lycos (http://www.lycos.com/) was started at Carnegi Mellon University as a research project in
1994 and it was one of the first engines. It ceases crawling the web for its own listing in April 1999 and
instead uses crawler based results provided by Fast i.e All the Web.com. Now it is owned by Terra Lycos,
a company formed with Lycos and Terra Networks merged in October 2000.

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ii) Altavista: Altavista (http://www.altavista.com/) was originated in 1995. It was the first search engine to
use natural language queries (index crawling), meaning a user could type in a sentence like “Who is the
Prime Minister of India” and does not get a million pages containing the word “Who”. AltaVista also offers
a number of powerful search features not found elsewhere. One very effective tool available on the
Advanced Search page is the NEAR search. A NEAR search limits the results to pages where the keywords
appear within 10 words of each other. This can be extremely helpful in situations where an AND search
produces too many results and a phrase search (" ") produces too few results. Altavista also provides news
and multimedia which was owned by Digital Equipment Corporation.
iii) Ask Jeevas: Ask Jeevas (http://www.ask.com/) initially gained fame in 1998 and 1999 as being the
natural language search engine that lets one to search by asking questions and being responded with what
seemed to be the right answer to everything. i.e it can be said that it delivers search results based on one’s
question.
iv) Google: Google (http://www.google.com) was originally a Stanford University project by student Larry
Page and Sergey Brain called Back Rub. In 1998 the name had been changed to Google and the project
jumped off campus and became private company. In around 2001 the Google search engines rose to
prominence. Its success was based in part on the concept of link popularity and page rank which is very
adept at returning the relevant results. Page rank is based on citation analysis that was developed in the
1950s by Dr. Eugene Garfield at the University of Pennsylvania. The page rank takes into consideration
how many other websites and web page linking pages and the number of links on theses pages contribute to
the page rank of the linked page. This makes it possible for Google to order its results by how many
website links to each found page. Finally, unlike other search engines, Google offers a cached copy of each
result.
v) Yahoo: Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), the huge subject tree was started by two Stanford graduate
students David Flo and Jerry Yang. They created a list of their favorite site. The list grew bigger and bigger
and in time has become the Yahoo. In 2002, Yahoo acquired Inktomi and in 2003 Overtune, which owned
All the web and Altavista. In 2004 Yahoo launched its own search engines based on the combined
technologies of its acquisition and providing a service that gave pre-eminence to the web search engine
over the directory.
The other popular search engines include All the Web (http://www.alltheweb.com/), HotBot
(http://www.hotbot.com), Excite (http://www.excite.com/), etc.
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan: Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was born on 12th August 1892 in the
rural village of Shiyali (also known as Sirkazhi), in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. He was an
innovative mathematician and librarian from India. His most notable contributions to the field were his five
laws of library science (1931) and the development of the first major analytico-synthetic classification
system, the Colon classification (1933). He helped to found the Madras Library Association, and lobbied
actively for the establishment of free public libraries throughout India and for the creation of a
comprehensive national library. Ranganathan's another major achievement was the establishment of the

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Documentation Research and Training Centre at Bangalore in 1962. Ranganthan was considered by many
to be a workaholic. During his two decades in Madras, he consistently worked 13-hour a days, seven days a
week, without taking a vacation for the entire time. He is considered to be the father of library science in
India. The Government of India awarded padmashree to Dr. S. R. Ranganathan for valuable contribution in
Library Science. In 1965, he was honored by the Indian government for his contributions to the field with
the title of "National Research Professor." On September 27, 1972 at Bangalore, he died of complications
from bronchitis. Upon the centenary of his birth in 1992, several autobiographical volumes and collections
of essays on Ranganathan's influence were published in his honor. Ranganathan's autobiography, published
serially during his life, is titled A Librarian Looks Back.
Selection of Vendor
Selection of Vendor: Before placing the book for order the librarians should consider whether the particular
title can be acquired by gift, donation, by virtue of membership and so on. If not, then only should it be
considered for acquisition by way of purchase.
The vendor to be selected should be the one that is known to provide prompt and satisfactory service. He
should be honest in his dealings and must have a good reputation. In case of titles published by learned
societies, organizations, and institutions, it is often preferable to place order directly to them for availing
huge discounts.
The Good Offices Committee (GOC), New Delhi is a voluntary organization formed by
representatives of the book trade and libraries to standardize and introduce uniform terms of book and
periodical supplies to libraries. The committee meets at regular intervals and after taking into consideration
the fluctuations in currency rates it decides the rates conversion. It has also laid down discount rates for
different categories of books and periodical publications as well as other terms for the book suppliers. As a
result, there should be ordinarily no necessity for calling for tenders and quotations, etc. for purchase of
books and periodicals from Indian vendors. A library should agree to abide by the terms laid down by the
Good Offices Committee and place order with the vendor who agrees to these terms
The different practices followed by libraries in the choice of the supplier are:
i) Tender Method: In tender method, every book list of finally selected items is circulated among a number
of booksellers who are invited to quote their lowest prices for each item. The order is placed for each item
with the firm offering the lowest price.
ii) Quotation Method: In this method, quotations are invited for various categories of documents along with
trade discounts admissible in each case. This is done usually prior to the beginning of the financial year.
The supplier for each category is fixed finally on the basis of the most economic terms offered.
iii) Standing Vendor Method: A standing vendor is one who is appointed as the authorized supplier to
library for a specified time, generally for a year or two, under prescribed terms and conditions of supply.
iv) Books – on – Approval Method: In this case reputed publishers will be sending their new titles as and
when published to the library directly. These items are accepted after due process of selection. The formal
order will be placed with the local bookseller named by each publisher. Sometimes the local booksellers, at

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frequent intervals, bring some recent publications for approval and ordering. The selected items are
included in a formal order and accepted while the others are returned.
v) Open Purchase: Purchasing from the book fairs and buying from any bookseller from the open market
comes under this method.
vi) Direct Ordering with Publisher: Direct ordering with publishers or their representatives is done by some
libraries
Sources of Information
Sources of Documentary Information: A document constitutes embodied thought which is a record of work
on paper or other material fit for physical handling, transport across space and preservation through time. It
may include manuscripts, handwritten and engraved materials including printed books, periodical,
microform, photograph, gramophone records, tape records, etc. The recent advances in science and
technology helps originate another kind of document i.e. computer readable forms that includes C.D.,
DVD, pen drive, hard disk, web resources etc. All documents are the records of human observation and
thought and in its creation direct human intervention is necessary. They provide some information to its
readers or users. A library as a gateway of knowledge provides access to a variety of such documentary
sources of information.
The sources of documentary information can also be termed as an information product. It is generated out
of a service to be provided to the user. It is a kind of consolidation and presentation process giving
tangibility to information.
1. Classification of Documentary Sources of Information: Different authors classified the documentary
sources of information into different categories. Some popular classifications are listed bellow
a) C. W. Hanson Classification: C. W. Hanson (1971) in the article “Introduction to science Information
work” published in ASLIB (previously Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureau but now
known as Association for Information Management) divides documentary sources of information into two
categories i.e. primary and secondary.
i) Primary: The primary documents exist of their own and usually contain original information on the first
formulation of any new observation, experiment, ideas, etc. Thus, according to C. W. Hanson, a
monograph, an article in periodical, text book, and encyclopaedia are all primary documents. An article in
encyclopedia or text book may not contain any new information on the subject but it presents the
information in the particular form for the first time. The articles concerned are not a condensation or
rewriting in any way of any existing document but has been written specifically for the text book or the
encyclopedia.
ii) Secondary: All secondary publications present the contents of primary document in a condensed form or
list them in a helpful way so that the existence of a primary document can be known and access to it can be
made.

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iii) Primary / Secondary Sources of Information: Conference proceedings, theses and dissertations,
monographs, etc. have the characteristics of both primary and secondary sources of information. Those of
documents representing new facts can be regarded as primary publication and those having the character of
reviews can be grouped as secondary publication. As a result of such mixing of primary and secondary
sources of information some expert doesn’t consider this division to be much practical utility.
b) Denis Grogan Classification: Denis Grogan, on the basis of level of reorganization, has classified the
documents into three categories. They are: primary, secondary and tertiary.
i) Primary Sources: Primary publications are those in which the author for the first time supplies evidence,
describes a discovery, makes or drives a new proposition or brings forward new evidence about previous
proposition. It was created at or near the time being studied, often by the people being studied. It is a
fundamental, authoritative document related to a subject of inquiry, used in the preparation of a later
derivative work. Thus, the primary sources of information are basic sources of new information which are
not passed through any filtering mechanism like condensation, interpretation or evaluation and are the
original work of the author.
UNESCO (1968) defines a primary publication as “original scientific paper describing new research,
techniques or apparatus.” Primary does not mean superior. It refers to the creation by the primary players,
and is distinguished from a secondary source, which is a historical work, like a scholarly book or article,
built up from primary sources.
Primary sources may include periodicals, patent, standard, report, reprint, trade journal, classic book,
letters, diaries, and other personal papers, photographs, interviews and transcripts, government and
historical records, newspaper clippings, and other original sources. The significance of primary
publications is as follows:
a) A subject becomes a discipline in its own right when independent primary sources begin to be produced
in that area. The progress and development of a country directly depend on the primary literature that
reports a new discovery.
b) The information published in primary sources are newly generated, recent, current, full and up-to-date
for all other investigators working in the same field.
c) When any research or investigation or its any concept is first published in primary sources only it
becomes the basic and original sources of communication of information and reports quickly to be used by
other users.
d) Publication of primary sources of information avoids doubling and duplication in the research, thus
saves time, money and labour to be spent on it. It also acts as a guide to the researcher engaged in the same
field by pointing out what has been done? And up to what level? etc.
e) The primary sources of information help in the compilation of secondary and tertiary sources of
information. Often primary sources of information may be the only sources of information in existence.
There are certain primary sources of information, which remain unpublished. Very often these may be
consulted for historical interest. Such materials include laboratory note book, memoranda, diaries, letters to

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and from a particular individual, company, etc. The library also tries to procure such type of material if it
comes within its scope of area or is relevant to its purpose.
ii) Secondary Sources: A document concerning a particular subject of inquiry which is derived from or
based on the study and analysis of the primary source of information is called the secondary source of
information. In the secondary source of information the original information is selected, modified and
arranged in a suitable format for the purpose of easy location by the user. The secondary sources of
information thus provide digested information and also serve as bibliographical key to primary sources of
information. Secondary publication includes text book, reference book, review of the literature, etc.
iii) Tertiary Sources: The tertiary sources of information are last to appear and mostly do not contain
subject knowledge. It is designed to provide information about information and so acts as a guide to the
primary and secondary sources of information. The main function of tertiary sources is to aid the user in
using primary and secondary sources of information. The tertiary sources of information are bibliography
of bibliographies, guides to libraries, other organizations, indexing and abstracting periodicals, list of
accession, list of research in progress, directories, etc.
Eventually there is no rigid line of demarcation between primary, secondary and tertiary sources of
information.
c) S. R. Ranganathan Classification: Based on the physical characteristics of documents S. R. Ranganathan
classified documentary sources of information into four categories. These also reflect the chronological
order of their development. They are:
i) Conventional: Books, periodicals, Map etc.;
ii) Neo Conventional: Standards, specification, patent etc.;
iii) Non Conventional: Audio visual, microcopy etc.;
iv) Meta Document: Direct records unmediated by human mind.
2. Types of Documentary Sources of Information: The documentary sources of information can be of the
following types
a) Newspaper: Newspapers are usually published as dailies or weeklies. The type of paper they are printed
on, called newsprint is not meant to last. They are usually preserved on microfilm for this reason. Libraries
usually keep paper copies of newspapers until the microfilm copies arrive. Nowadays many newspapers are
available on the Internet, some for free, and others by subscription.
b) Periodical: Periodicals are issued at intervals and numbered consecutively. They are given volume
designations, several issues making up a volume. Periodicals include journals and magazines.
i) Journal: Journal is a scholarly publication devoted to disseminating current information about research
and developments in a specific field or subfield of human knowledge. Journal is usually regularly
published at interval. Most journal articles are long and include a paragraph at the beginning, called an
abstract which summarizes the main points of the article and at the end a bibliography or list of works
cited. The writings of the journals are most often peer-reviewed.

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ii) Magazine: The magazine usually refers to the non-scholarly publications written for an educated
audience and contains popular reading.
c) Reprint: Once an article is published in a journal additional copies are taken out separately and provided
to the author. A fixed number is generally supplied free of charge. Additional copies are supplied at a cost;
these copies are known as reprints and used for exchange with other scientists working in the same field.
d) House Journal: It is a publication issued by an organization to inform the public of its performance and
style of function and also to know the reaction, opinions of its public. Generally house journals are of two
types:
i) External House Journals: The external house journal is meant for the external audience of an
organization. The external audience of an organization refers to those who do not work under the roof of
the organization, but are interested in it.
ii) Internal House Journal: Internal house journals are meant for the employees under the roof of an
organization. Broadly speaking, it aims to inform and educate the employees of all levels about the
organization’s activities, functions, etc.
e) Newsletter: Newsletter is a publication issued by an organization often simple in format and crisp in
style to provide speedy information for a definite audience. Newsletters are always issued regularly and
have a short life span. It is a modest publication containing limited pages say four to eight and a few
pictures and illustrations. Generally, the organizations that do not go for house journals find a good
substitute in newsletters. While some newsletters are intended for the employees, others are meant for the
external public.
f) Patents: A patent presents a detailed account of a new manufacturing process or improvement of an
existing process, a new product, a new method of testing and control etc. Generally, when some kind of
invention is made the manufacturer wants to protect his invention and the patent offices in various
countries on the request of the manufacturer generally issue the patent, which provides an exclusive right to
the manufacturer on the invention. It takes the form of an official document having the seal of the
government attached to it, which confesses an exclusive privilege or right over a period of time to the
proceeds of an invention.
g) Standards: Standards are units or measures in terms of weight, size, length, quality, composition, process
of production, etc., established by National and International Organizations. Standards are often finalized
through testing, research, and study and prescribe the accepted quality or performance value of a product.
h) Research Report: Research reports are published as part of the annual report of an organization or as a
separate report published at periodical intervals by individual and agencies that obtain research grants and
have to produce them as a condition of such grants. The research reports are generally produced in limited
number of copies and the distribution is also restricted and controlled.
i) Trade and Product Bulletin / Journal: Trade journals contain primary articles but of the nature of applied
research. It contains the particulars of goods manufactured by or sold by a firm. Frequently illustrated and
containing prices, it also often contains application oriented description rather than theoretical description.

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These are published by Research and Development Organizations, Trade Associations etc. The original
objectives of all trade journals are product advertisement. The complete description, principles and working
of a newly developed and highly sophisticated instrument may for quite time be available only in the
manufacturer trade journals. Eg.: International Product Finder. Bombay: Business press.
j) Conference Proceedings: Many conference proceedings present new findings or results of work for the
first time or at least months before they are published in scientific journals. Some times, conference
proceedings also include questions from participants and answers and clarifications from the authors of the
papers. The conference proceedings generally contain the statement of objectives, opening address or
presidential address, list of participants or conference’s who’s who, resolutions or recommendations, etc.
k) Thesis and Dissertation: Thesis and dissertation are the results of purely academic pursuit. It reports
some original work in a specific field. Among all the primary sources of information thesis and dissertation
are probably least used mainly because their existence is not known in many cases and also due to the
limited number of copies of the document.
l) Treatise: A treatise provides an exhaustive treatment of a broad subject. It is encyclopaedic in coverage
of the subject but different in its treatment. It presents in a systematic and consolidated manner the result of
work and research in the field with full reference to the primary sources.
m) Monograph: The scope of a monograph is narrower than that of a treatise. Monograph is on a single
topic whereas a treatise is on a broad subject. Research monographs are separately published reports on an
original research that is too long, too specialized or otherwise unsuitable for publication in one of the
standard journals. Each monograph is self contained which frequently summarizes the particular existing
theory or practice along with the author’s original work.
n) Review: A review is actually a narrative account or critical synthesis of the progress of a particular field
of study prepared by an expert in the field. It shifts, evaluates and puts each significant contribution into its
proper perspective. It indicates interrelationship of ideas, significance and possible areas of application and
so on, so that one can easily get an expert view of the subject without having to go through the mass of
literature.
o) Text Book: A text book is made of continuous exposition, sentences mount into paragraph, paragraphs
into chapter, chapters get woven into a single swelling exposition in the continuous pursuit of a single idea,
simple or complex, and text books are read consecutively for inspiration, enjoyment or information. There
is a link at each stage. There is an element of continuity. According to Grogan, “a text book is a teaching
instrument; its primary aim is not to import information about its subject but to develop understanding of it.
It concentrates on demonstrating principles rather than recounting detail”.
p) State of the Art Report: These are types of reviews which do not have all embracing scope and historical
orientation. These present information assembled from various sources and subjects to the operation of
analysis, consolidation, extraction and evaluation in a formal presentation representing the most advanced
degree of technical achievement in its field at the present time. Some owe their existence to a specific
query while others are issued on a regular basis, in many cases once in a year. State of the Art report
emphasizes on the recent and up-to-date ideas.

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q) Trend Report: Trend report gives an account of the general direction of research in the subject based on
a review of the documents on current development.
r) Technical Digests: A digest service is directed to executives, engineers, technical worker, etc. working in
industries. It provides up to date technical information. It presents descriptive text of information in a
condensed form and on the core ideas in brief and orderly form.
Special Library
Special Library: The libraries that are run by private businesses and public organizations, including
hospitals, museums, research laboratories, law firms, and many government departments and agencies, fall
into this category. Branches of a large academic or research libraries dealing with particular subjects are
also usually called "special libraries": they are generally associated with one or more academic
departments.
a) Definition: The special library is concerned with the literature of a particular subject or group of
subjects. According to R. Astall, “special libraries serve a specialist clientele, located within a single
establishment or group, and all engaged in working towards one common purpose”. The Association of
Special Libraries and Information Bureau (ASLIB) defined special library as “a department/ faculty
responsible for the acquisition, indexing, and distribution (dissemination) of recorded knowledge directly
concerned with the work of a specialized organization or a special group of users”.
In simple, a special library exists as a service unit within an organization having non-library objectives.
Special libraries may be designated in different ways such as scientific library, technical library, etc. It may
also be designated by subject as agriculture library, medical library, etc in relation to its parent institution
as research organization, government agency and similar others.
b) Objectives: The objectives of the special library in general are determined by those of the parent
organizations which established it. Mainly it is “putting knowledge to work” and it exists to serve its parent
organization. Therefore the aim of a special library is to further the interests of its parent body by means of
the following-
i) Provides information service, which enable the members of the organization to keep track of the
significant developments in their field of interest;
ii) The librarian searches literature exhaustively and brings it to the notice of the organization;
iii) Provides information pin pointedly, exhaustively and promptly, thereby saving time of the users;
iv) Provides inspiration and stimulation to users by means of balanced collections and fine services.
c) Collections: Collections of the special libraries are developed to support their information services, both
current and retrospective. It contains collections of unique materials to support the needs of advanced and
highly specialized scholarship including internally generated information and information available from
sources outside the parent organization. These collections may include rare manuscripts, pamphlets and
books, scientific documents, important printings of literary works, regional histories, original musical

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scores, journals, technical and research reports, translations, dissertations, patents, abstracts, directories, or
other distinctive scholarly resources.
d) Services: As the collection of special libraries may contain many rare and valuable materials, their use is
typically confined to the library buildings. It also may or may not be accessible to some identified part of
the general public. Special libraries also often publish scholarly materials in their collections, sponsored
lectures, colloquia, and arrange exhibitions of their most important holdings. Information service is an
integral part of the special libraries. The nature and extent of information services offered by the individual
special libraries varies according to the need of its primary users and according to its own resources in staff
and collections. At the minimal level of information service it disseminates information and materials;
answers reference questions, directs users to appropriate sources, and deals with such simple current
awareness services as periodical routing. At the intermediate level, it offers literature searches, prepares
bibliographies, selects and transmits research materials and provides current awareness services such as
acquisition bulletins. At the maximums level it offers evaluative and comprehensive literature searches and
more complex current awareness services such as Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) services.
Many institutions make a distinction between circulating libraries (where materials are expected and
intended to be loaned to patrons, institutions, or other libraries) and collecting libraries (where the materials
are selected on a basis of their nature or subject matter). Many modern libraries are a mixture of both, as
they contain a general collection for circulation, and a reference collection which is often more specialized,
as well as restricted to the library premises. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the
services of librarians who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information
needs
Standard Bibliographic Format
Standard Bibliographic Format: Standardization is the process of formulating and applying rules for an
orderly approach to a specific activity for the benefit of all taking due account of the functional conditions
and safety requirements.
The needs for standardization of bibliographic description are as follows
i) To bring uniformity and order in the description of library materials of different kinds;
ii) For handling of data in an automated computer aided machine;
iii) To produce a centralized database;
iv) To exchange bibliographic information between and among different countries;
v) To overcome the problem of language barrier;
vi) To economise on time, space, effort, material, manpower and money.
Let Us Sum Up: The different bibliographic standards are helpful in maintaining uniformity in the data so
that exchange and compilation can be done easily. The ISBD (G) serves as a single framework for the
description of all types of publications in all types of media. Later on, IFLA brought out different ISBDs on

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the basis of ISBD (G). The ISBD (G) is incorporated into AACR II as a general framework for
bibliographic description.
MARC format has become a generic term to all MARC formats including UKMARC, CANMARC,
InterMARC and is used for the identification, arrangement of bibliographical data for handling by
computer. The USMARC format became the U. S. National Standard in 1971 (ANSI Z39.2) and an
International Standard in 1973 (ISO 2709). To solve the problem of incompatible nature among different
countries, IFLA launched a programme known as UNIMARC. UNIMARC followed the ISO
communication format ISO-2709 (1981), but it failed. The UNESCO also came up with CCF, which is the
implementation of ISO-2709 to solve the problem of incompatibility. Several countries have adopted this
standard for exchange and creation of bibliographic record at national level. The MARC 21 is a new name
of harmonization of CANMARC and USMARC in a single edition. It uses the standard AACR II, LCSH,
DDC, ISO 2709 and ANSI/NISO Z39.2. Till now, MARC 21 remains the standard one which is widely
accepted in different library softwares and also in different countries
Standard Citation Styles
Standard Citation Styles: A citation or bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or
other published item, with sufficient detail to allow a reader to locate it. The citation style refers to the rules
and conventions established by the authoritative body for documenting sources of information used in
write-up of any kind. The citation identifies and credits the sources that are used in writing a paper and
allow the reader of the article to further verify and access the cited work. The citation is a list of sources
used in writing a work (article) that are alphabetically arranged by author surname, works without authors
are arranged alphabetically by title [omitting the article (a, an, the)] within the same list giving essential
general information to trace the sources. Citations Styles are also known as Citation Formats or Style
Guide.
To maintain the honesty in academic pursuit it is important to cite the works of others, otherwise
knowingly representing the work of others as one’s own is treated as demanding the work as his/her own.
Failure to give credit for quotes or unique ideas will result in a null in a research as well as other
disciplinary actions. So, to avoid such disciplinary action always credit should be given to the original
author of information that is not generally known, unique, or research data.
1. Types of Citation: All citation styles require two types of citation elements for citing consulted work.
They are - citing sources in the text and citing sources in bibliography or references.
a) Citing Sources in the Text: In citing sources in the text, citations to sources are placed in the text of the
work i.e within sentences and paragraphs in order to briefly identify sources by the readers so that they can
enable them to locate it in the Reference or Bibliography portion. In general, citing sources in the text,
citations are placed within parentheses. This type of citation helps to know whose sentences or words are
quoted.
b) Citing Sources in References or Bibliography: References are the cited work in the text, and the
Bibliography is the list of sources not cited in the text but which are relevant to the subject with which the
article or work deals with. References cited in the text of a research paper also appear at the end of the

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paper that are arranged in alphabetical order by authors’ surname, works without authors are arranged
alphabetically by title (omitting the articles) within the same list. This list provides the information
necessary to identify and retrieve the particular document.
Citation to consulted online works generally demands detailed information than that of print sources of
information. Again, in case of online sources, currently few standards are there, governing the organization
and presentation of it. In addition to the above points, in citing online sources the following are considered
important
i) Whenever possible attempt should be made to identify the author(s) of the document.
ii) The citation should direct the readers to the information sources immediately. So if possible citation to
the specific webpage [Uniform Resource Locator (URL)] should be made rather than home or menu pages.
iii) One should try to mention the “date” (i.e the dates of publication, update, or date of retrieval).
2. Types of Author: In studying the citation behavior, authors can be divided into three groups based upon
their expertise and qualification in citing sources.
i) Academician: It includes Lecturer, Reader and Professor of different academic and research departments.
They are generally treated as well qualified in citing sources and sometimes also teaches the student about
it. So, any kind of deviation in citing sources on their part is treated as gross negligence towards their work.
b) Researcher: It includes those persons who acquire the Doctorate degree but do not come within the
preview of the first category or those who are doing Ph.D. under different universities and research
institutions. The researchers are generally aware of citing sources within their papers, so any kind of
deviation in citing sources are also not acceptable on their part.
c) Others: It includes those persons who are neither Ph. D. holders nor teaching staff and generally lack the
knowledge of citing sources. Deviations in citing sources in their papers are the result of their lack of
knowledge. So, if any kind of deviation is there in their papers, it is the duty of the editors, compilers, etc.
to decide whether the articles are considered for publication and to correct the deviation in citing sources in
consultation with the authors. In due course, the editors can also take the responsibility to educate the
authors in citing sources and the authors should also come forward to learn this.
3. Deviation in Citing Sources: Deviation is a term used to describe the incorrectness. It is often used
interchangeably with error. It means the amount of error or variation in comparison to the standard or
expectation.
The expertise of the author(s) are wrongly justified by the number of publications in many cases and so the
authors give more emphasis in producing a mass volume of work by ignoring its quality. The origin and
development of Internet helps them in this regard. Some times, some authors even produce an article within
a day itself. If it is so, one can imagine what its quality will be? It will be nothing but cut and paste. Not to
speak about general writing, even many seminar and conference proceedings are nowadays full of such
type of works (deviation in quality as well as citing sources).
a) Common Deviation Types: The common types of deviation in citing sources fall into the following
types-

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i) Deviation in Alphabetical Arrangement: The cited works are generally not arranged alphabetically.
ii) Deviation in Maintaining Consistency: If in one reference ‘and’ is used in the other ‘&’ is used; If in one
abbreviation ‘p.’ is used in the other ‘pp.’ is used to designate page numbers of articles; deviation in
maintaining italics and underlining for titles of books and journals is also common in many articles. In case
of online sources, if in one source the date of access is there in the other source it is absent; if in one source
the home page is cited in another the complete URL is cited.
iii) Citing Irrelevant Sources of Information: Some authors cite the search engine URL but not the actual
information sources, which they have consulted.
iv) Duplication in Citing Sources: Some authors cite even a single work in two places, in one case starts
with “http://” and in the other case it starts with “www” (in place of http://www.).
v) Exclusion of Sources Used: Some authors do not cite the original sources that they consulted as they cut
and paste major portion from the work.
b) Why Deviation: The deviation in citing sources mainly occurs due to the following-
i) Lack of Any Standard Format: In most cases the editorial body of any journal, seminar or conference
proceedings does not ask the author to cite his /her consulted work according to any standard format, and
so in the absence of it, the authors are forced to follow their own format. Even many Ph.D and M.Phil
offering Indian universities do bother to follow any such standard practices.
ii) Wrong Point of Justification: Generally, people think the bigger the volume of seminar or conference
preceding, the more it will be treated as a successful one. Such type of wrong thinking pushes the editorial
body to accept articles that are otherwise not appropriate for inclusion in the proceeding.
iii) Lack of Time: Lack of time from the author and editorial body is another point to be considered.
Authors are justified by volume of information they produce, so they give more emphasis in volume rather
than its quality. Many authors are also very busy with their routine work so they cannot devote much time
towards their papers. Lack of time to recheck the work is another reason on their part to be considered.
Deviation in maintaining consistency arises due to this factor.
iv) Lack of Knowledge about Citation Style: Many authors and editors are not aware about different types
of citation styles and how these need to be followed.
v) Lack of Knowledge about Different Types of Sources: There are different types of online sources over
internet like website, blog, wiki, etc. and many authors and editors are not aware about it and cannot
differentiate one from another. Even some authors thought that if they found any sources of information
relevant to their query by consulting some search engine then the search engine itself should be cited.
vi) Gross Negligence towards the Work: Those authors who are well qualified in citing sources as well as
about different types of online sources, deviation in maintaining consistency and alphabetical arrangement
on their part arises due to the gross negligence towards their work.
vii) Wrong Personal Psychology: Many authors think that they are more intelligent and computer savvy
than the others and so if they cut and paste some portion of the online sources or other work without citing

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them then the editorial body or reader will not be able to trace them out. So, they are quite unaware of the
fact that tracing the plagiarized text in any article is just a matter of single minutes job and even less so for
an internet savvy person, as many online tools are available that perform such activities. Such type of
personal psychology results in the omission of the consulted sources from the reference and bibliography
page of the work and also degrades the quality of the paper as well.
c) How Deviation in Citing Sources can be Avoided: Some of the ways by which deviation in citing
sources can be avoided are-
i) Chapter on Citation Should be included in the Course Curriculum: The Knowledge about citing sources
should be treated as essential for all types of students and attempts should be made by the concerning body
for its inclusion in the course curriculum itself. If we can achieve it in the grass root level itself, we can
think of achieving a truly knowledge culture society, thereof.
ii) Universities and Colleges Should Adopt one Standard Format: The Universities and Colleges can think
of adopting one specific type of citation style and attempt should be made accordingly to follow this format
in the journals, magazines published from that institution. The students and faculties should be encouraged
to follow the adopted format in their writing that may be a thesis and dissertations work or even in case of
assignment, report, etc.
iii) Library and Information Science (LIS) Professional Should Transfer Their Knowledge to Others: In the
field of Library and Information Science, citing consulted sources has been taught rigorously, and so the
professionals are generally treated as academically or professionally well qualified in this regard. As an
expert in the subject, it is their duty to take initiative in making their expertise accessible to others students
and authors from different field.
iv) Editorial and Publishing Body Should Adopt One Specific Standard Citation Format: Every Seminar,
Conference organized by different institutions should ask the authors to prepare their article by following a
specific citation style. The articles, whose citation are not in the specified format must be rejected or if no
preference is specified, it is the duty of the editorial body to use one specific citation style and
rearrangement and preparation of the cited works in all papers accordingly (consistently and accurately).
v) Knowledge About Citation Should be Made Mandatory for Research Scholar: Knowledge about major
type of citation styles should be made mandatory for all types of Research Scholars, after all they are the
pillar for the subsequent development of the society.
vi) Research Guide Should Recommend the Researcher: It is the duty of the research guides to recommend
the preferred citation format for the thesis and dissertation and communication of the same with the
researchers.
vii) Authors Should be Very Careful in Citing Sources: In the absence of any of the above, the research
scholar or the authors can ask reference staff of the library or the faculties and students of the Library and
Information Science Schools for the assistance or he/she can think of logging on to the internet for the
major type of citation styles.
viii) Organizing Seminars, Conferences and Workshops in Citing Sources: The Library and Information
Science Schools of different universities can think of organizing workshops and seminars in citing sources

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to educate all types of authors and peoples in general. Other bodies in consultation with Library and
Information Science Professional can also think in this regard.
4. Different Citation Styles: Different organizations or institutions develop their own citation styles to fit
their individual needs. Though, there is a considerable overlap in different citation styles, individual
publishers have their own in-house variations. In general, all citation styles can be divided into two broad
categories, i.e. the Humanities and the Sciences. Some important citation styles from both the categories
are listed below.
i) The American Chemical Society (ACS) style: The ACS style is developed by the American Chemical
Society (ACS). It is often used in chemical literature.
ii) The American Institute of Physics (AIP) style: American Institute of Physics, references is most
commonly used in physics journals. It is devised by the American Institute of Physics.
iii) The American Mathematical Society (AMS) styles: The American Mathematical Society AMS styles
(e.g., AMS-LaTeX) are styles developed for the American Mathematical Society (AMS). It is typically
implemented by using the BibTeX tool in the LaTeX typesetting environment. Brackets with author’s
initials and year are inserted in the text and at the beginning of the reference. Typical citations are listed in-
line with alphabetic-label format, e.g., [AB79].
iv) American Psychological Association (APA) Citation Style: APA citation style is established by the
American Psychological Association. It is mainly used for psychology, education, and social science
bibliographies. APA style specifies the names and order of headings, formatting, and organization of
citations and references, and the arrangement of tables, figures, footnotes, and appendices, as well as other
manuscript and documentation features. It uses parenthetical citation within the text, listing the author’s
surname and the year of publication of the work, which is more or less same as that of MLA style’s
parenthetical citations. It lists sources at the end of the paper, on a References Page. Listing electronic
sources of information is more detailed in APA style than in MLA style. APA style uses Harvard
referencing, also known as the author-date system of citations and parenthetical referencing, keyed to a
subsequent list of References.
v) American Sociological Association (ASA) style: The American Sociological Association Citation Style
is mainly used in sociological publications.
vi) The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook: The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, is a
style and usage guide for the newspapers and in journalism classes in the United States.
vii) Bluebook: The Bluebook (or similar systems derived from it) is a citation system traditionally used in
American academic legal writing.
viii) Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide: The Chicago Manual of Style (abbreviated as CMS or
CMOS, or verbally as Chicago) is a style guide for American English published by the University of
Chicago Press. The CMS deals with all aspects of editorial practice, from American English grammar and
usage to document preparation. It is used for all subjects. Some social sciences and humanities scholars
prefer to use the nearly identical Turabian style instead of it.

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ix) Columbia Guide to Online Style: The Columbia Style was made by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
to give detailed guidelines for citing internet sources. It offers models for both the humanities and the
sciences.
x) Hart’s Rules for the 21st Century: Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press,
Oxford is a reference book and style guide first published in England by Oxford University Press in 1893.
It is renamed as ‘The Oxford Guide to Style (OGS)’, in 2002, then from 2005 it came to be known as ‘New
Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors’ and has been promoted as ‘Hart's Rules for
the 21st Century’.
xi) Harvard Citation Style: The Harvard Style (or author-date system) is recommended by the British
Standards Institution and involves a short reference [e.g (Barman, 2007)] being inserted after the cited text
in parenthesis and the full reference being listed at the end of the article. It is mainly used for social science
bibliographies.
xii) ISO 690: ISO 690 is an ISO standard for bibliographic referencing in documents of all sorts. It includes
electronic documents as well as other published documents, and specifies the elements to be included in
references, and the order in which the elements of the reference should be stated.
xiii) Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) Style Guide: The MHRA Style Guide (formerly
the MHRA Style Book) is the Modern Humanities Research Association style format and is most often
used in the arts and humanities, particularly in the United Kingdom where the MHRA is based. It is fairly
similar to the MLA style, but with some differences. The style guide uses footnotes that fully reference a
citation and has a bibliography at the end. Its major advantage is that a reader does not need to consult the
bibliography to find a reference as the footnote provides all the details.
xiv) Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation Style: MLA style was developed by The Modern
Language Association and is most often used in English studies, comparative literature, foreign-language
literary criticism, media studies, cultural studies, and some other fields in the humanities. It uses a Works
Cited Page to list works at the end of the paper, brief parenthetical citations, which include an author and
page (if applicable), are used within the text. These direct readers to the work of the author on the list of
works cited, and the page of the work where the information is located [e.g. (Barman 98) refers the reader
to page 98 of the work made by someone with surname “Barman”).
xv) The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage is
a style guide by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. Although it was written for The New York
Times journalists, it has also been published for use by others and much of the information is specific to
neither ‘The Times’ nor ‘New York’.
xvi) Style Manual for Political Science: ‘Style Manual for Political Science’ is the publication on citing by
The American Political Science Association (APSA). It is often used by political science scholars and
historians and is largely based on that of the Chicago Manual of Style.

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xvii) Turabian Citation Style: Turabian Citation Style is based on the Chicago Manual of Style. It offers the
authors and writers of all subjects the option of using an author-date system with notes and parenthetical
references.
xviii) Vancouver System: The Vancouver system, recommended by the Council of Science Editors, is used
in medical and scientific papers and research. In one of its major variant, citation numbers are included in
the text in square brackets rather than as superscripts. All bibliographical information is exclusively
included in the list of references at the end of the document, next to the respective citation number.
5. Achieving Proper Citation: Two methods are available for citing consulted works. They are
a) Manual Citation: It is the process in which the researcher or academician or authors prepare their citation
by manual means in consultation with the standard format or handbook.
b) Automatic Citation: Nowadays there are many bibliographic citation management program available
that automatically generate citations in appropriate citation style. They allow one to create a bibliography,
or list of references, by importing references from text files or online databases and automatically
formatting it in a preferred style. Such types of packages are also known as “Reference Management
Software”. Example includes: Refworks, EndNote Web, etc.
6. Conclusion: In the event of different citation style, it will be better not to think of designing and
developing any new standard format, rather if deviations are there in already established format attempt
should be made to correct it, since in many cases scope is there.
The human being is in the present position only due to the fact that it is able to learn from the knowledge
base of past generation and during his/her life time he/she shifts it to another new dimension that form the
base for the next generation. Unlike other animals every time, every generation doesn’t start from the
knowledge base with zero. But, during our progress in stream line we should not forget the contribution of
the people that some times devote their entire life to build our own knowledge base. Whenever we take
help from the knowledge base of others we must acknowledge them in the form of citing their work in our
own work (papers). After all why should not we, since it costs nothing, rather it gives an authoritative look
to our own work.
State Library Associations
State Library Associations: In case of state level library association, Assam Library Association, Sadau
Asom Gramya Puthibharal Santha, Gujarat Library Association (Gujarat Granthalaya-Seva Sangh -
GGSS), Karnataka State Library Association, Kerala Library Association, Punjab Library Association,
Uttar Pradesh Library Association, Bengal Library Association (Bangiya Granthagar Parishad), etc are
functioning regularly. Among the state level associations the Andhra Pradesh Library Association’s
“Granthalaya sarvaswamu (1915)” is the oldest professional journal which is still in publication.

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Statistical Inference:
Statistical Inference is concerned with the various tests of significance for testing hypothesis in order to
determine with what validity data can be said to indicate some conclusion or conclusions. It is also
concerned with the estimation of values. It is mainly on the basis of inferential analysis that the task of
interpretation is performed.
In modern times, with the availability of computer facilities, there has been a rapid development of
multivariate analysis which may be defined as all statistical methods which simultaneously analyze more
than two variables on a sample of observations. Usually the following analyses are involved when we make
a reference of multivariate analysis:
i) Multiple Regression Analysis
ii) Multiple Discriminant Analysis
iii) Multivariate Analysis of Variance
iv) Canonical Analysis
a) Chi-Square Test: The chi-square test is an important test amongst the several tests of significance
developed by statisticians. Chi-square, symbolically written as X2 is a statistical measure used in the
context of sampling analysis for comparing variance to a theoretical variance. As a “non-paramatric test”, it
can be used to determine if categorical data shows dependency or the two classifications are independent. It
can also be used to make comparisons between theoretical population and actual data when categories are
used. Thus Chi square is applicable in large number of problems.
Statistical Method
Statistical Method: Statistical method is the systematic method which is used to organize, present, analyze
and interpret the large or small volume of numerical information effectively. It is nothing but the method
by which statistical data are analyzed.
Statistical method ranges from the most elementary descriptive devices which may be understood by the
common man to those complicated mathematical procedure which can be apprehended only by the expert
theoreticians.
According to Croxlon and Cowden statistics may be defined as “the collection, presentation, analysis and
interpretation of numerical data”, however what they missed in their definition is the organization of data.
Thus statistical method is the “science of collection, organization, presentation, analysis and interpretation
of numerical data” and for a statistical method above five stages are essential and comprehensive.

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Steps in Compilation of a Subject Bibliography
1. Introduction: The various steps that are necessary in the work of compilation of subject bibliography are:
2. Planning: Planning is the first stage in the compilation. Planning involves the preparation of provisional
plant. It would be subject to modification in the light of experienced gained as the work goes on. The
following are the steps involves in planning, a. definition of the subject. B. Scope of the subject etc.
3. Definition of the Subject: This can be collected from a general dictionary, an encyclopedia, a standard
subject dictionary and form a standard text book or from the subject experts.
4. Scope of the Subject: It depends upon some factors as:
a) Comprehensiveness or selectivity: The subject bibliography taken to be compilation may be
comprehensive or selective and it should be precisely.
b) Period: It should state the time covered and also indicate if it is current or retrospective.
c) Form: The compiler should also state if he should consider the inner form of the document or physical
form like books, periodicals, encyclopedias, dictionaries, microfiche, pamphlet, manuscripts, gramophone
records etc.
d) Level: the bibliography going to compile is for whom, whether it is for ordinary reader or scholars and
researchers.
e) Language: The decision as to which language should be covered whether it should be universal or
bilingual or multilingual.
f) Area: The area can be interpreted a either the area of coverage of the subject or geographical place from
where the document published, i. e. place of publication
5. Search for Material: The starting point of any search for document is library catalogue then books,
periodicals, micro documents etc.
6. Item of Information: If it is a bibliography for ordinary readers brief bibliographical information is
sufficient. But is should be descriptive in the case of bibliographies for scholars and researchers. Never less
we can follow some standards observed by some standard institution. Information is generally collected in
slips, or data entry sheet or cards because that helps in the arrangement.
7. Selection: Selection of required document which suit the purpose of compilation of bibliography should
be done in the next step.
8. Kinds of Entries: It is essential to satisfy the approaches through author, collaborator, title (occasionally)
and subject. Sufficient member of references should also be provided to take care of alternative approaches.
9. The Arrangement: Some of the possible arrangements are alphabetical, classified, combination of
alphabetical and classified, chronological etc. However arrangement of bibliography for a researcher would
be different from that of a general reader.
10. Other Adjuncts: The following other adjuncts can be provided to a bibliography

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a) Preface
b) List of Contents
c) Method of arrangement
d) Outline of classification used.
e) List of periodicals and other document consulted.
f) List of abbreviation
g) How to use the bibliography with examples.
h) Directory of Publisher etc.
11. Form of Final Presentation: The final form of the presentation of the bibliography may be ob slip cards
or magnetic tapes. It may be typed, micro graphed or printed. The decision depends upon the number of
users to be served and the amount of resources (manpower and finance) available for their purpose.
Steps in the Selection of Hardware
Selection of Hardware and Software: The mechanical and electronic devices of a computer system that can
be seen and touched are known as hardware. It is the physical component of the computer system. The
hardware consists of transistors, capacitors, resistors, diodes, printed circuit, integrated circuit, main and
auxiliary storage system, various types of magnetic media, communication media for carrying and
transformation of data, coded instruction, equipment for computing function, etc.
Steps in the Selection of Hardware: During the course of hardware selection the following steps may be
useful:
i) Identification of the function / activities of the library which is to be automated;
ii) Compute the hardware requirement for each of the activities. The hardware requirements depend upon
the number of terminal required for data entry, word processing, OPAC searching, internet searching and
browsing, etc.;
iii) Tabulation of the total hardware requirements which are essential for libraries and for networking;
iv)Procuring the latest version of the hardware.
Some of the essential qualities of a good hardware are
i) Minimum hardware redundancy;
ii) Provision for a clear upgrade path for the phased implementation strategy;

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iii) Scope for accommodating additional terminal;
iv)High computing facility;
v) Capacity to be compatible with the best available software on library automation and networking;
vi)Be functional with mini and micro computer to suit all types of libraries.
Structure of Subjects
Structure of Subjects: The structure of subjects can be viewed from the following angles-
a) Dichotomy: Dichotomy refers to a division into two. This is also referred to as binary classification. In
this system of divisions, the subjects are divided into two broad categories, each broad category are again
divided into two sub categories, and so on. Immanuel Kant gave a dichotomous picture of the entire
universe of subjects; however dichotomy is insufficient for designing a scheme of classification for the
existing universe of subjects. “Tree of Porphyry” is a schematic representation of dichotomy.
b) Decachotomy: Decachotomy refers to a division into ten. Melvil Dewey Classification is the best
example of this kind of division. Dewey divided the field of knowledge into nine main classes and tenth
class was formed for general documents not belonging to any of the main classes. This process of division
into ten at each stage is continued until the required subdivisions have been obtained. From the point of
nature of growth and development of knowledge it is unrealistic to bind the universe of subjects to a
decachotomy, because it grows in different directions and at different stages.
c) Polychotomy: Polychotomy refers to a division into many. In 1893 C. A. Cutter in Expansive
Classification introduced polychotomy in a limited way by stipulating the number of division (at each stage
of division) to be 24. But the restriction to 24, by the middle of twentieth century was found to be an
impediment. The lesson is that the number of division to be incorporated at a given stage of division should
not be predetermined.
d) Proliferation: It is not possible to predict the maximum number of division to be provided for in a
particular array or stage of division, because various are the ways in which the universe of subjects gets
proliferated. The extensive proliferation creates problems for the designers of schemes of classification.
Subject Bibliography
1. Introduction: A subject bibliography is a comprehensive list of all books, periodical articles, pamphlets
and other analytical materials that have appeared on that subject such a bibliography is international in
scope since it covers everything that has appeared on the subject in different languages and in different
languages and in different countries of the world.
2. Definition: According to Ranganathan, “A subject bibliography is a document bibliography confined to a
specific subject field only, instead of covering the entire universe of subjects.” The subject may be a
person, geographical entity such as study of locality or an area study, form of a material, form of literature

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etc. Ranganthan explains document bibliography further by saying that, it is “a list of embodied macro and/
or micro ideas – that is, of books and/ or of articles in periodicals- on a specialized subject or any number
or on even all the subject” which is a record of work on paper or other material fit for physical handling,
transport across space and preservation through time. Thus document refers to printed, handwritten and
engraved material, including books, periodical, publication, microfilms, photographs etc.
3. Examples:
a) The Cambridge bibliography of English Literature, ed. by F. W. Bateson, 4 V cam, University Press,
1940; supplement, edited by G. Watson, Cambridge, 1957.
b) Education Abstracts, 1949 to date. Paris, UNESCO.
c) Bibliography of Ideology, Vol. 1- Indian Anthropology, compiled by J. M. Kanitkar and others,
Calcutta, National Library, 1960.
4. Present Situation: Subject bibliography is considered to be a weak link in bibliographic control. This is
especially true in the fields of the humanities and social sciences. There are many areas where subject
bibliography are not exists.
The universal and the national bibliography form a base for a subject bibliography. There are many
countries where a national bibliography doesn’t exist. In case of countries with national bibliographies a
complete current national bibliography is lacking. The same is true for retrospective national bibliography
and there is no universal bibliography in true sense. The printed catalogues of the great national libraries
taken together can serve as a universal bibliography to some extent and thus we may conclude that the base
for a subject bibliography is weak. Also there are many areas where subject bibliographies aren’t exist and
again there are only a few fields where subject bibliography is well organized. So considering the above
points we may conclude that the subject bibliography is the weakest link in bibliographic control.
5. Usefulness:
a) It enables scholars and researchers to know how far knowledge has been unfolded or research has been
done on the subject.
b) Without it much of a scholar’s work may turn to fruitless labour at the end. In the absence of subject
bibliography they may work hard for long on the subject only to realize at length to their utter dismay that
what they have been doing so long was done long ago by some other scholars.
c) The scholars and researchers consult subject bibliography before undertaking any project of research.
d) The approach of the bibliography is generally through subject rather than author. So the role of subject
bibliography becomes very important.
e) Of the various types of bibliography, a subject bibliography is of greatest direct as well as exact service
to a reference librarian.
6. Limitation:
a) Most subject bibliography becomes out of date after they are released.

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b) Those subject bibliographies which are not comprehensive in their coverage often miss material in
related fields.
System
System: The word system was coined from the Greek word “Systema” the meaning of which is the
interactive collection of various processes of achieving the common goal. The meaning in short is a defined
method of performing any work. Thus system is the collection of various operations and components for
achieving some common objectives which are interrelated.
a) Definition: The system composed of a hierarchy of subsystem i.e. each system may be made up of
subsystem and in turn each subsystem can itself be composed of subsystem, and thus every system except
the largest has a supra system (environment) and every system except the smallest has subsystem.
According to Martin a system is simply an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a
complex whole.
According to Richard Johnson, “a system is an organized complex whole”.
According to Ludwing, “a system is a set of units with relationship among them”.
According to Johnson, Kast and Rosenzwig, “a system is an organized or complex whole, an assemblage or
combination of things or parts forming a complex unitary whole”.
According to Hickey, “a system is an assemblage of object united by some form of regular interaction or
interdependence which collectively contributes towards an important and complex function”.
So by considering all the above definition, a system could be defined as an entity, conceptual or physical
which consists of interrelated, interacting or interdependent parts. In functional element, it may be regarded
separately from each other but is not independent of the environment in which it exists.
b) Characteristic of a System: Any system has the following characteristics
i) Simple
ii) Functional
iii) Systematic
iv) Resourceful
v) Flexibility
vi) Adaptability
vii) Dependability
viii) Acceptability

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c) Elements of a System: The main elements of a system are-
i) Input: The input devices bring anything to the main memory of a system.
ii) Storage: It is the work space area within the system where data and instruction are stored.
iii) Processing Unit: Major calculation and comparison are made within the processing unit.
iv) Output: Output presents the information in a form which is intelligible to the user.
v) Boundaries and Interface: A system is defined by its boundaries –limit that identifies its components and
process. Every system should have boundaries which are distinguishable from the environment (Supra
system) in which it resides. The points where inputs pass into system and output pass into environment are
called interfaces. In other words, interfaces are those boundaries where the system interacts with
environment.
vi) Environment: Every system has an environment surrounding it. The environment is the supra system
within which an organization or system operates. Anything outside the boundary of a system constitutes its
environment.
d) Classification of a System: System may be classified in many different ways, some of them are-
i) Natural System: The systems which are beyond the control of human are natural system. Example:
Physical and biological system.
ii) Man Made System: The system which is under the control of human beings. Example: Social,
economic, political, library system, etc.
The distinction between the above two are blurred these days because nothing is left behind the
control or effect of human beings.
The system can also be classified as follows
i) Open System: The system that exchange material energies or information with their environment.
ii) Closed System: The system where there is no import and export of energies in any of its forms such as
information, heat, physical material, etc.
iii) Adaptive System: The adaptive system responds to the environment changes. They react to the
environmental changes in a way that is desirable, considering the purpose.
iv) Non Adaptive System: The system which does not respond to the environmental changes.
v) Physical System: It includes human digestive system and the blood circulatory system.
vi) Abstract System: It includes the purchasing system and shipping system of an enterprise.

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System Approach (System Procedure)
1. Definition: System approach consists of applying a synthetic mode of thinking as well as analytical
mode of thinking for designing, developing, operating, controlling, explaining, understanding or evaluating
a system. A system approach is an activity involving an orderly scientific analysis of the components that
can be identified with a functioning entity or contribute to its maintenance. This entity may be as
microscopic as the electron or as macroscopic as the entire universe.
The system approach may be deductive or inductive in nature. When system approach progresses
from general objectives to plan, then it are called as deductive process, the reverse process is inductive.
2. Steps in System Approach: System approach consists of the following steps
a) Define the system
b) Analyze the operation.
c) Define the problem and its environment
d) Analyze problem and generate specific objectives.
e) Synthesis alternate solution.
f) Select solution strategy from alternatives by evaluating the alternative according to defined criteria.
g) Implement solution strategy
h) Evaluate the performance of the system.
i) Feedback data for modification.
j) Modify the system if it doesn’t adequately solve the problem. System approach can be grouped into
three phase which again consisting of following ten steps.
Phase 1: Preparation effort.
Step 1: View the firm as a system.
Step 2: Recognize the environmental system (environment study)
Step 3: Identify the firm’s subsystem. (Functional Area)
Phase 2: Definition Effort
Step 4: Proceed from a system to subsystem level.(Problem identification)

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Step 5: Analyze system parts in a certain sequence.( Problem Understanding)
Phase 3: Solution Effort
Step 6: Identify alternative solutions
Step 7: Evaluate the alternative solution
Step 8: Select best solution.
Step 9: Implement the solution.
Step 10: Follow up to ensure that the solution is effective.
3. Advantages of System Approach: System approach have the following advantages
a) Increases appreciation for the total problem.
b) Gives a realistic look to the system.
c) Identifies the ingredients and output
d) Brings order and desirable model of operation.
e) Gives uniformity of action and formalizes the work.
f) Emphasizes accurate and reliable control.
g) Isolates and identifies problem areas.
h) Reduction of human effort.
i) Improves the services by achieving maximum efficiency.
j) Helps to achieve maximum profit with minimum effort and resources. i.e. Man, material, money and
machine.
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC): The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual
model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system
development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application.
The SDLC is used by a systems analyst to develop an information system, including requirements,
validation, training, and user ownership through investigation, analysis, design, implementation, and
maintenance. SDLC is also known as information systems development or application development. An
SDLC should result in a high quality system that meets or exceeds customer expectations, within time and
cost estimates, works effectively and efficiently in the current and planned information technology

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infrastructure, and is cheap to maintain and cost-effective to enhance. SDLC is a systematic approach to
problem solving and is composed of several phases, each comprising multiple steps.
a) Definition: Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) or sometimes just (SLC) is defined by the U.S.
Department of Justice (DoJ) as a software development process, although it is also a distinct process
independent of software or other Information Technology considerations.
b) SDLC Methodologies: Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes
involved, including the following:
i) Waterfall model (which was the original SDLC method);
ii) Rapid Application Development (RAD);
iii) Joint Application Development (JAD);
iv) The fountain model;
v) The spiral model;
vi) Build and fix; And
vii) Synchronize-and-stabilize.
Frequently, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology.
Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is
usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of
projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely
the particular plan was followed.
c) The Systems Life Cycle (UK Version): The SDLC is referred to as the Systems Life Cycle (SLC) in the
United Kingdom, whereby the following names are used for each stage:
i) Terms of Reference: The management will decide what capabilities and objectives they wish in the new
system to incorporate;
ii) Feasibility Study: Asks whether the managements' concept of their desired new system is actually an
achievable, realistic goal, in-terms of money, time and end result difference to the original system. Often, it
may be decided to simply update an existing system, rather than to completely replace one;
iii) Fact Finding and Recording: How is the current system used? Often questionnaires are used here, but
also just monitoring (watching) the staff to see how they work is better, as people will often be reluctant to
be entirely honest through embarrassment about the parts of the existing system they have trouble with and
find difficult if merely asked.
iv) Analysis: Free from any cost or unrealistic constraints, this stage lets minds run wild as “wonder
systems” can be thought-up, though all must incorporate everything asked for by the management in the
terms of reference section.

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v) Design: Designers will produce one or more “models” of what they see a system eventually look like,
with ideas from the analysis section either used or discarded. A document will be produced with a
description of the system, but nothing is specific - they might say “touchscreen” or “GUI operating
system”, but not mention any specific brands.
vi) System Specification: Having generically decided on which software packages to use and hardware to
incorporate, you now have to be very specific, choosing exact models, brands and suppliers for each
software application and hardware device.
vii) Implementation and Review: Set-up and install the new system (including writing any custom
(bespoke) code required}, train staff to use it and then monitor how it operates for initial problems, and
then regularly maintain thereafter. During this stage, any old system that was in-use will usually be
discarded once the new one has proved it is reliable and as usable
Technological Gatekeepers
1. Technological Gatekeepers: Technological gatekeeper may be defined as “expert both internal and
external communication star having much higher incidence of exposure to the professional literatures,
attend more conferences and has more professional affiliation”. There are many industrial undertaking
large and small that only pay lip-service to establishing in house facilities and procedures to make the best
possible use of external sources of information. In such organization technological gatekeeper perform vital
informational roles and are approach in presence to documentary or computer – based information sources
due to both inherent inadequacies of other information media and to a need for interpersonal interaction in
the discussion of complex technical problem.
Theories of Information
Theories of Information: At different times, different people in different context propose various theories of
information. Some of them are listed below:
a) Communication: The communication process requires at least three elements - source, message and
destination.
i) Mathematical Theory: According to Shannon and Weaver the amount of information in a message is
related to the size of the vocabulary. If one is restricted to “yes” or “no” then the recipient has the fifty
percent chance of guessing correctly. If the vocabulary has ten signals then the recipient has less chance of
guessing and so amount of information in a message is increased.
ii) Semantic Theory: Fairthorne proposed the “phlogiston theory of information”. According to this theory,
information is something that can be squeezed out like water from a sponge. Information will obviously be
affected by the prior state of knowledge of the recipient.
As an alternative to the above theory Y. Barttiller and R. Carnap came out with semantic
information theory. They suggested that a prior knowledge may increase information from a message (how
precisely do the transmitted symbols convey the desired meaning).

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iii) Information for Decision Making: M. C. Yovits proposed that “information is data of value to decision
making”. Information involves reduction of uncertainty that is what the decision makers accept from the
information system.
b) Commodity: Information is a commodity that is needed to do a job and so acquiring, storing and
retrieving objects identified as information are important for our jobs and daily life.
i) Zipf’s Law: George Kingsely Zipf proposes a relationship that exists between the frequency in the use of
words and their distribution in books, reports, documents and other printed matter. The Zipf’s law was
published in the book Psycho-biology of Language: An Introduction to Dynamic Philosophy, Cambridge,
Mass MIT press, 1935. According to this law if the number of different words occurring once in a given
sample is taken as X, the number of different words occurring twice, three times, four times, n times in the
sample is respectively 1/2., 1/3, 1/4, 1/n of n upto, though not including, few most frequently used words.
ii) Bradfords Law: Samuel Clement Bradford in 1948 proposed another law. According to him if scientific
journals are arranged in order of decreasing productivity of articles on a given subject they may be divided
into a nucleus of periodicals, more particularly devoted to the subject and several groups of zones
containing the same number of articles as the nucleus. When the number of periodicals in the nucleus and
successive zones will be as 1:n:n2 where n=5, that is, the second zones has five times the number of
journals of the first zone and the third zones has 52 or twenty five times the number of journals in the first
or nucleus zone. This law was extended by many, notably B. C. Vikery, F. Leimkuhler and B. C. Brookes.
iii) Lotka’s Law: Alfred J. Lotka produced his law in 1926. Lotka’s law states that there is an exponential
relationship between the number of items contributed to the literature and the total contribution by those
who contributed two, three or more papers. Lotka developed a general formula for the relationship between
the frequency of y persons making n contribution as xny=constant. Finding the value of constant when n=2,
he observed that “the number of persons making 2 contribution is about one fourth of those making one
(1/22), the number making 3 contribution is about (1/32) of those making one. The number making n
contribution is bout 1/42 of those making one, etc.
iv) Law of Economics: According to the followers of this theory, information is analogous to energy (Meta
energy). So it is also a resource that can be handled as a utility. It can be packaged, stored and distributed in
various forms. In this sense information has value and the laws of economics can be applied to it.
c) State of Process: Information represents the state of an organism following the reception of energy from
the environment in the form of a symbol or datum. Information reaches the highest known competence in
the human being through the activities of the central nervous system and electronics devices such as
computer extends these capabilities.
d) Cognitive Process: Much of the human behaviour can be seen as information processing. Thinking,
memory, learning and perception are in fact the function of processing information. A. Turing proposed
automata theory. Scholars have applied this theory to the study of behavior. According to these studies,
information can be considered as a process intrinsic to all organism activities and can be replicated by
machines.

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Thesaurus
Thesaurus: The word thesaurus more commonly means a listing of words with similar, related, or opposite
meanings. It is designed for drawing distinctions between similar words and assisting in choosing exactly
the right word. A formal definition of a thesaurus designed for indexing is: a list of every important term
(single-word or multi-word) in a given domain of knowledge arranged in a systematic order and
manifesting various types of relationship existing between the terms; and a set of related terms for each
term in the list. Some examples of thesaurus are Thesaurus of English Words & Phrases (ed. P. Roget); The
Synonym Finder (ed. J. I. Rodale); Webster's New World Thesaurus (ed. C. Laird); etc.
The thesaurus consists of descriptors and non-descriptors. Descriptors are indexing terms consisting of one
or more words, and representing always one and the same concept. Non-descriptors are terms which help
the user to find the appropriate descriptor(s). They appear followed by a reference (USE operator) to the
descriptor, which is the preferred term, and the only one which may be used for indexing. When a term is
ambiguous, a “scope note” can be added to ensure consistency, and give direction on how to interpret the
term. Naturally, not every term needs a scope note, but their presence is of considerable help in using a
thesaurus correctly and reaching a correct understanding of the given field of knowledge.
Term relationships are links between terms that often describe synonyms, near-synonyms, or hierarchical
relations. Hierarchical relationships are used to indicate terms which are narrower and broader in scope.
i) Related Term (RT): Synonyms and near-synonyms are indicated by a Related Term (RT). The way the
term "Cybernetics" is related to the term "Computers" is an example of such a relationship.
ii) Broader Term (BT): A Broader Term (BT) is a more general term, e.g. “Apparatus” is a generalization
of “Computers”.
iii) Narrower Term (NT): A Narrower Term (NT) is a more specific term, e.g. “Digital Computer” is a
specialization of “Computer”.
BT and NT are reciprocals; a broader term necessarily implies at least one other term which is narrower.
Thesaurus designers are generally careful to ensure that BT and NT indicate class relationships, as
distinguished from part-whole relationships. Some thesauri also include Use (USE) and Used For (UF)
indicators when an authorized term is to be used for another, unauthorized, term; for example the entry for
the authorized term "Bird" could have the indicator "UF Aves". Reciprocally, the entry for the
unauthorized term "Aves" would have the indicator "USE Bird".
Symbol Meaning Type
BT Broader Term Descriptor
NT Narrower Term Descriptor
RT Related Term Descriptor
USE Use Non-descriptor
UF Used For Descriptor
Symbols used in the word blocks of descriptors and non-descriptors

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Tools and Techniques of Data or Information Collection
Data Collection: Collection of data constitutes the first step in a statistical investigation. Utmost care must
be exercised in collecting data as because they form the foundation of statistical method. If data are faulty,
the conclusion drawn can never be reliable.
1. Types of Data: Generally data are of two types-
a) Primary Data: The data which are originally collected by an agency for the first time for any statistical
investigation are said to be primary data.
b) Secondary Data: The data which have already been collected by some agency and taken over from there
and used by any other agency for their statistical work are termed as secondary data. So in simple if a
primary data collected for a statistical investigation are used in other statistical investigation then those data
are called as secondary data.
2. Tools and Techniques of Data or Information Collection: The primary data or information can be
collected by the following means-
a) Observing Behaviors of Participants: This method specifies the conditions and methods at making
observation. In this method, the information is sought by way of investigator’s own direct observation
without asking from the respondent. The main advantage of this method is that subjective bias is
eliminated, if observations are done accurately. It is the most commonly used method especially in studies
relating to behavioral science.
b) Questionnaire Method: Under this method, a list of questions pertaining to the survey (known as
questionnaire) is prepared and sent to the various informants by post. The questionnaire contains questions
and provides space for answer. A request is made to the informants through a covering letter to fill up the
questionnaire and sent it back within a specified time. The respondents have to answer the questions on
their own. The questionnaire can be delivered directly hand by hand, through surface post or as an
electronic questionnaire.
In preparing a research questionnaire general question, question wording to collect personal information,
use of unfamiliar terms and jargon, etc. should be avoided. Further, before distribution of a research
questionnaire at least two pre-tests should be conducted and it is very much needed.
c) Interview Method: This involves listening to or integrating informants. The interview method of
collecting data involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral – verbal responses.
So, under this method of collecting data, there is a face to face contact with the persons from whom the
information is to be collected. The interviewer asks them question pertaining to the survey and collects the
desired information. This method can be used through personal interview, telephone interview, Chat,
Audio Conferencing, Video Conferencing, etc. The interview can be structured, semi structured or open
interview.

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d) Schedules Method: In this method of data collection, the ennumerator or interviewers who are specially
appointed for the purpose along with schedules, go to the respondents, put to them the questions from the
Performa in the order the questionnaire are listed and record the replies in the space meant for the same in
the Performa. In certain situation, schedules may be handed over to respondents and ennumerators may
help them in recording their answer to various questions in the said schedules. Ennumerator explains the
aims and objectives of the investigation and also removes the difficulties which respondents may feel in
relation to understanding the implication of a particular question or a definition or concept of difficult term.
This method has the advantage over the questionnaire method in the sense that the respondents have no
scope to misunderstand any question and thereby putting irrelevant answer.
e) Information from Correspondents: Under this method, the investigator appoints local agent or
correspondents in different places to collect information. These correspondents collect and transmit
information to the central office where the data are processed. The special advantage of this method is that
it is cheap and appropriate for extensive investigation. However, it may not always ensure accurate results
because of the personal prejudice and bias of the correspondents. Newspaper agencies generally adopt this
method.
Besides the above methods, nowadays many big companies also follow some other method for
primary data collection like warranty card, Distributor or Store Audit, Consumer Panels, Projective
Techniques, Depth Interview, Content analysis, etc.
In most of the studies the investigator finds it impracticable to collect first hand information on all related
issues and as such he/she makes use of the data collected by others. The secondary data can be col