CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Education aims to impart knowledge and makes good citizens.

Libraries are the repositories of knowledge and form an integral part of

education. Libraries have a long history, starting with the chained and

closed access libraries of earlier times to the present- day hybrid, digital

and virtual libraries that use the latest technology for provision of

information through various services. Accordingly, librarians have also

changed from storekeepers who were concerned with protection of books

against theft, mutilation and pilferage, to that of information officers,

navigators and cybrarians who find themselves in the vast ocean of reading

material and are busy in satisfying their clients who want information

anytime and anywhere.

With the advent of computers, the nature of libraries has changed

dramatically. Computers are being used in libraries to process, store

retrieve and disseminate information. As a result, the traditional concept of

library is being redefined from a place to access books to one which houses

the most advanced media including, CD-ROM, Internet and Remote access

to a wide range of resources. Libraries have now metamorphosed into

digital institutions. Gone are the days when a library was judged by its

quantitative resources. Today libraries are surrounded by networked data

that is connected to a vast ocean of internet based services. Moreover,

electronic resources relevant to the professions are developing at an

unprecedented pace.1

In any human endeavour systematic and assured development can

take place only if it is based on careful planning and faithful

implementation of programmes. In the matter of library development in

India, planning and programming efforts have been many since

Independence. While their outcome may be of varying degrees of

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accomplishment, there is no doubt that the country has been able to

develop and extensive infrastructure for library and information services on

the basis of plans and programs embarked upon at various levels. One

should have a good understanding of the country's library policies,

planning processes and programming endeavours in order to get a good

grasp of the organization of libraries in the country.

Systematic library development started in India only after 1947. The

establishment and development of the National library at Calcutta, public

library legislation in a few states leading to the creation of public library

systems, a growth in the number of university and college libraries and the

rapid development of special libraries and information centers in science

and technology, medicine, agriculture, social sciences and the humanities

are some of the landmarks achieved during the last five decades.

Impressive as these seem to be, they are, inadequate to meet the increasing

demand for knowledge and information required for our socio-economic

development, higher and technical education, higher industrial

productivity, and scientific and technological research, development and

progress. All these points to be need for integrated planning and

programming of activities and tasks on the basis of a national library and

information policy.

The national policy on the library and information system,

formulated by the Department of Culture, and this policy document spells

out an integrated approach to the development of all types of libraries and

information systems. As a sequel to this effort, a national commission on

libraries has been proposed. National policies in other sectors, such as

education, science and technology and information (communication) also

have a bearing on library development in the country.

Several ad hoc committees appointed by appropriate bodies in the

country have made recommendations with reference to the development of

public, academic, medical and agricultural libraries.

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The Five Year plans have given considerable attention to library and

information system development, particularly the Seventh Five Year Plan.

Sectoral plans in science and technology, education, health and family

welfare, environment, biotechnology etc., have also dealt with library and

information systems in their respective areas.

Notwithstanding this impressive record of progress and

development, the present situation of library and information system

development appears to be uneven, piecemeal and uncoordinated. The

application of computer and communication technologies for creating a

network of library and information systems is sure to provide the necessary

coordination and integration. The National Policy on Library and

Information System, excepted to be in force soon, will hopefully result in

an integrated development of the library and information system in

appropriate quality and quantity. But a glance at historical study of

academic libraries in India from ancient period down to modern period will

be helpful in understanding the development of academic libraries in

India.2

Brief History

In the Vedic age instructions were imparted "orally, without the

medium of books." Taxila from 700 B.C. to 300 A.D. was considered to be

the most respected seat of higher learning and education in India but still

there is no evidence found so far in the archeological excavations at Taxila

that there had been a good library system in the Taxila University. Fa-Hien

noticed such libraries at Jetavana monastery at Sravasti (U.P.). In 400 A.D.,

there came into being one of the biggest known universities, the Nalanda

University, which by 450 A.D. became a renowned seat of learning, its

fame spreading beyond the boundaries of India. Nalanda near Patna grew

to be the foremost Buddhist monastery and an educational centre. Most of

what we know of the Nalanda University during the 6 th and the 7th centuries

A.D. is due to the accounts left by Hiuen-tsang, who lived in the institution

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for three years in the first half of the 7th century, and I-tsing who also

stayed there for ten years towards the latter part of the same century.

Information on the Nalanda University Library is also found in the Tibetan

accounts, from which we understand that the library was situated in a

special area known by the poetical name the Dharmaganja, (Piety Mart)

which comprised three huge buildings, called the Ratnasagara, the

Ratnodadhi and the Ratnaranjaka of which the Ratnasagara was a nine-

storied building and housed the collection of manuscripts and rare sacred

works like Prajnaparamita Sutra etc. The library at Nalanda had a rich

stock of manuscripts on philosophy and religion and contained texts

relating to grammar, logic, literature, the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the

Samkhya philosophy, the Dharmasastras, the Puranas, Astronomy,

Astrology and Medicine.

The University of Nalanda and its library flourished down to the

12th century A.D. until BakhtiyarKhalji sacked it in 1197-1203 A.D. 7 and

set fire to the establishment of Nalanda. The world famous universities,

such as, the Vikramasila, the Vallabhi and the Kanchi were coming up in

other parts of the country during the period from the 5th century A.D. to the

8th century A.D. All these universities possessed rich libraries

(Pustakabhandaras) and in the hall containing such books there used to be

an image of the goddess Saraswati with a book in her hand. The Nalanda

and the Vikramshila Universities were under the control of king

Dharmapala. He founded the Vikramshila monastery in the 8 th century A.D.

It had a rich collection of texts in the Sanskrit, the Prakrit and the Tibetan

languages. Regarding the library of the university, the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri

informs us that there were great number of books on the religion of Hindus

(Buddhists) there; and when all these books came under the observation of

the Mussalamans, they summoned, a number of Hindus that they might

give them information regarding the import of these books; but the whole

of the Hindu community was killed in the war. Muslim vandalism caused

the disappearance of the excellent collection at Vikramashila. The

JaggadalVihara in Varendrabhumi was also an important centre of learning

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with considerable collection of the reading material. It was established by

the King Kampala, who ruled from 1084 to 1130 A.D. The provision of

facilities for reading, writing, editing and translating manuscripts shows

that this library was in no way less than its contemporary libraries in

importance. Though not as large as the library of Nalanda, it abounded in

private collection of texts. Likewise Mithila had been famous for its

scholars since the days of Rajrishi Janaka and had a rich collection of

various commentaries on the different branches of the Hindu Shastras. The

library of its university played an important role in teaching and learning.

A needle (Shalaka) was pierced through the manuscript on the subject of

the student’s specialization and he was expected to explain the last page

pierced. In this way the students all round mastery of the subject was

tested. Mithila continued to enjoy its all India importance in the field of

learning till the end of the 15th century A.D.

The university at Sompuri, like that of Vikramshila, occupied a

significant position since the days of Dharampala (769-867 A.D.). Like

Nalanda, this university also had its own library. Atisa Dipankar, a noted

scholar, lived there. He with the help of other scholars, translated into the

Tibetan, the Madhyamkaratnapradipa of Bhavaviveka. This university was

destroyed by fire in the middle of the 11th century A.D. Efforts were made

by the monk Vipulsrimitra to renovate the university but it could not regain

its past glory. At a time when Nalanda was famous for its Mahayana

courses of study, the Maitrakakings (475 to 775 A.D.) provided their

patronage to the Mahavihara of Vallabhi. This university was famous for

its Hinayana studies.

University Libraries in Medieval India

The existence of academic libraries during the medieval period of

Indian history is not known, though the Muslim rulers did patronize

libraries in their own palaces. A lone exception, however, was a library

attached to a college at Bidar, having a collection of 3000 books on

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different subjects. Aurangzeb got this library transferred to Delhi to merge

it with his palace library. During the medieval period, due to Muslim

invasions and political troubles, the powerful empires and kingdoms of

Indian rulers fell one by one. This affected higher education and the

development of academic libraries as well.3

When the Muslims established their rule in India at the beginning of

the 13th century, Muslim emperors paid special attention to libraries, taking

care to establish libraries in educational institutions. They constructed no

separate library buildings; rather, books were deposited and preserved in

educational institutions, mosques, and Khangahs. Many Muslim rulers

were from the East, and they helped enrich libraries with Oriental

literature. Paper began be used as a writing material in the 12 thcentury, and

this helped book production in this periods. Mughal sovereigns and their

courtiers were educated and accomplished, and some maintained personal

libraries. The Muslim sovereigns collected and preserve the Vedas, the

Ramayana, and other Hindu religious books. They also translated a variety

of books in Hindi in to Persian and Arabic, and helped disseminate Hindu

art and culture.

After the establishment of Sultans of Delhi in 1202, a new

period in the history of Oriental libraries came in to existence. These minor

Muslim rulers and nobles encouraged Islamic learning and established

maktabs (primary schools), madrasas (schools of higher learning), libraries,

and mosques. They encouraged Arabic and Persian literatures in all

branches of learning, and enriched Oriental literature in the libraries. They

gave shelter and protection to scholars, who brought literature from other

parts of the world to India.

Shah Jahan (1658-1667), like his predecessors, patronized

learning and education and built a library with a rich collection of Arabic

and Persian manuscripts. Dara Shikkoh, Aurangzeb, and Bahadur Shah

Zafar also contributed to the development of libraries. Mughal rule was a

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period of literary excellence. Most of the emperors were themselves

scholars, and also extended their patronage to scholarship and learning.4

University Libraries in Modern India

During the British rule in India, numbers of academic Institutions

were established by the East India Company, and by the Christian

missionaries. Some of the worth mentioning events which led to the growth

and development of higher education in India during this period were the

establishment of the Calcutta College in 1781, Jonathan Duncan, then a

British agent, founded the Benaras Sanskrit College in 1792. The Calcutta

Fort William College was founded in 1800. All these colleges were having

their own libraries. The Charter Act of 1813, the foundation of Fort

William and Serampore Colleges, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay

universities and their libraries, Hunter, Raleigh and Calcutta University

Commissions, library training programmes, the establishment of Inter

University Board, Sargent Report and appointment of the University Grants

Committee, the establishment of Madras University, University of

Bombay, University of Calcutta and their libraries, the constitution of Inter-

University Board, the appointment of Hartog Committee, the Montague-

Chelmsford reforms of 1919, the Government of India Act of 1935, and the

Sargent Committee Report etc. laid foundation for establishment of

libraries in various parts of the country.

The Fort William College was founded in Calcutta on 18th August

1800 by the Marquis of Welleselay, the Governor-General of India during

1798-1805. Reverend David Brown, Provost of the college was

instrumental in setting up the library which had a well rounded collection

of Eastern manuscripts. In the absence of adequate financial support, the

library could not survive for long and in 1835 it was decided to close the

library and its valuable collection was transferred to the Asiatic Society

Library in Calcutta between 1835- 39.The Charter Act of 1813 passed by

the British Parliament gave the East India Company complete

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responsibility for educating Indians. The establishment of C.M.S. College

in Kottayam, Hindu (Presidency) college in Calcutta in 1816 and Raven

Shaw College in Cuttack in 1816 was the immediate result of the Charter

Act 1813. These and other colleges came into existence thereafter had their

own libraries the day they were established.

The Charles Wood dispatch of 1854 popularly known as the ‘Magna

Carta of English Education' in India also paved the way for the

establishment of the universities in the presidency towns, and this led to

establishment of libraries in India.5

Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University was initially

founded as “Anglo Oriental College (MAOC) at Aligarh in 1875 and raised

to the status of a university in 1920. The personal collection of Maulana

Azad also enriches the library. The library has a total collection of over 1

million volumes and 14,571 manuscripts. The Maulana Azad Library has

the largest collection of Urdu books in the Indian subcontinent, which is

perhaps largest in the world as well.

Hakim Mohammad Syed Library, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi is a

leading university founded in 1906. It has a well known Oriental library,

which has a number of special collections.

Osmania University Library was established in 1918 and is

considered seventh oldest in India, the third oldest in South India, and the

first to be established in state of Hyderabad. The library has collection of

rare books and manuscripts including Palm Leaf manuscripts, and

KhudaBaksh library has been recognized as a research center by seven

Indian universities. The collection has a rich repository of Persian and

Arabic manuscripts.

As it is clear from the title of the study and the historical survey of

libraries that the study deals with academic libraries so, a compendious

discussion of academic library becomes prerequisite here.6

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Academic Library

An academic library is a library that is attached to academic

institutions above the secondary level, serving the teaching and research

needs of students and staff. These libraries serve two complementary

purposes: to support the school's curriculum and to support the research of

the university faculty and students.7

Academic libraries include school, college, university and research

libraries. All these cater to the needs of academic community for

supplementing the study and research programmes of the institution and

help conserve and disseminate knowledge. Although there academic

libraries share certain common features and characteristics, they differ

enormously in the value and content from one another. Academic libraries

do not exist by themselves: they exist to serve the objectives of the

education system of which they form a part. The primary

objectives of any academic institution are: conservation and preservation of

knowledge, expansion of ideas and dissemination of knowledge with the

help of interpretation, research and publication; and dissemination of

knowledge through teaching and extension services. The libraries in

academic institutions help to achieve these objectives.8

Purposes

Academic libraries have a primary obligation to meet the

information needs of the members of their institution. Functions outside

this, such as availability to the general public, are secondary, through FEE-

BASED SERVICES are becoming significant. Academic libraries therefore

always have two purposes:

1- Providing for the educational needs of students, both those arising

directly from the curriculum and those of a more general nature.

2- Supporting the teaching staff in their need for up-to-date material

required for their teaching role.

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In most universities, a third purpose can be added:

3- Providing for research (where the institution undertakes this), both

higher degree work and research activity of academic staff.

Numerically the students’ needs are paramount, and this aspect of

work predominates in most academic libraries; but depending on the

mission of the institution the other purposes- especially the support of

research are also of great importance.9

Nature and characteristics

Academic libraries are dynamic instruments of education. They

support the institutions, to which they belong, in fulfilling the objectives

and advances their aims. They support the faculty in teaching and research

programmes. The primary objective of these libraries is conservation and

preservation of knowledge. The basic components of academic libraries

are: Collection of information resources; Services; Users; and Staff.10

Meeting Needs:

Students

Students’ needs are largely predictable and the librarian should ensure

that adequate numbers of books, journals and other information sources are

available within the appropriate subject areas. This now involves co-ordination

of library and computing resources, including experiments in the DIGITAL

LIBRARY and the hybrid library. The growth in project-based work and

dissertations calling for research means that students often want a wider variety

of material than the library can provide, and provision must be made for

interlibrary loan or access to collections elsewhere; but for basic student

material the library should be more or less self-sufficient. Teaching staff must

therefore be involved in the selection, but not exclusively: librarians have direct

experience of students’ use of the library and can often better judge the whole

range of literature and the number of copies needed. The widespread adoption

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of student- centered learning (partly as a strategy for dealing with the growth of

student numbers) has made new demands on librarians and libraries. In addition

to provide relevant materials and high quality advice on information searching,

libraries have to provide space for group study and a significant number of

public access workstations.

Teaching Staff

The library must support a high standard of teaching in the

institution, providing up-to-date and wide-ranging material. Teachers may

have their own specialized personal collections of books and journals, but

still rely on the library for material not in their immediate field of interest

or too expensive for them to purchase. A good teacher is not restricted to

what is already known about, and a lively acquisition policy on the part of

the librarian can enhance the quality of teaching. CURRENT

AWARENESS services are helpful in ensuring that teaching staff are up to

date in their own and in related fields; such provision must include helping

teaching staff to remain abreast of new electronic resources, websites and

discussion lists in their disciplines.

Research

Providing material for research needs is the most difficult and the

most expensive part of an academic library's work. In most fields, the

primary medium for research is the scholarly journal; in many disciplines

in the humanities and social sciences, however, the library contains the

basic material of research, whether in the form of historical source material

(including rare book and archive collections), literary works or published

statistical data.

Libraries outside major research institutions often find it impossible

to acquire and house substantial collections across whole disciplines, and

have to be more selective. However, alternatives to print-on-paper are now

commonplace, particularly with the greater availability of electronic data,

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whether held locally as CD-ROM or accessed over the INTERNET, and

with improved DOCUMENT DELIVERY services. In turn, this needs to

be supported by the provision of ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING

services; these also are now typically provided online by giving access to

the appropriate commercial databases.

Services

Special services have developed to serve users of academic

libraries. USER EDUCATION of all kinds is essential as information

sources become more complex and as students move into new fields of

study. Intensive use of lending services is characteristic of academic

libraries, particularly short-loan collections, to ensure rapid circulation of

heavy-demand texts and self-service photocopiers are heavily used. Long

opening hours are desirable, and growth in part-time and mature students,

who cannot always use the library during the normal working day, requires

more flexibility. In universities and colleges that offer distance-learning

programmes, some of them internationally, the library and associated

network services have to make appropriate provision for this group of

students as well. The right balance in use of staff resources is necessary to

ensure that all users are best served. Networked integrated systems have

allowed libraries to offer fuller services in all parts of the institution and to

interface with campus information systems, giving wider access to

catalogues and circulation data, as well as to electronic information

sources, even outside the library.

Administration

The organization of an academic library depends on its size and

range of activities; a library operating on several sites, while aiming to

meet the same needs, cannot easily be managed in the same way as a more

compact library. Automated system help in providing equitable levels of

service across the whole institution and to distant users, but they are only

fully effective when all library staff have the appropriate expertise to

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exploit them both for users and for administrative purposes. Use of subject

specialization also varies, but most libraries provide services tailored to the

needs of different subject groups. Budgetary allocation is normally under

the librarian's control, within funds allocated by the institution; but

consultation with different interest groups is desirable, through a committee

structure or in other ways. Monitoring the library's activity is important,

both as a measure of performance for internal management, and for

external purposes such as statistical series and 'political' arguments within

the institution or more widely.11

Types of Academic Libraries

School Libraries

College Libraries

University Libraries

School Libraries

School libraries are usually part of a school system and serve students

between Kindergarten and grade 12. Many are called media centers and

libraries are often required to have a second degree in education or a

certificate in school media.

School libraries are primarily meant to collect and arrange syllabi

based books and some books for general reading and entertainment that

may include classics, biographies, adventure and travel books, fiction, etc.

Cultivating lifelong reading habits and opening of windows of knowledge

to the students are the main objectives of school libraries. To achieve these

main objectives, they have to build up their collections with print and non-

print information sources, and act as media centres. They have to serve

adequately the needs of students and teachers with a number of services

like reference, storytelling, debates, film shows, book reading clubs etc.

The school libraries have still a greater role where there are no public

libraries, as they have to perform the role of public library also. As their

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collections may include multimedia documents, they are often referred to

as 'media centres’ also.

This chapter will discuss in detail the issues related to college and

university libraries, since there are central to the advancement of academic

activities in higher education system.

College Libraries

Colleges form the integral part of higher education and libraries in

colleges are the primary source for learning process. With the shift of

emphasis from teaching to learning, libraries must play their role

effectively. A landmark in the development of college libraries was the

appointment of Library Committee of the University Grants Commission

and publication of its Report in 1965. Some of the important

recommendations of the Committee relate to the financial support of

college libraries by UGC (India) and State Government include staff

strength and qualifications; book selection and collection, measures to

promote reading habit proposal for library building etc.. The National

Education Commission 1964-66 (popularly known as Kothari

Commission) recognized the importance of libraries in colleges and stated

that no new college or department should be started without adequate

provision for its library. However, there is a great change in the education

system and information environment over the past fifty years. Now the

colleges are not confined to graduate teaching. Some colleges offer post

graduate courses in addition to undergraduate courses. The student

population of these colleges is exploding and the library is a place for them

to learn about different information sources and acquire knowledge beyond

curriculum. This is the place where they can set their future goals and

shape their career. Hence college libraries have a vital role to play in the

graduate and postgraduate education programmes.

College library is the most important adjunct of a college. It aims at

realisation of institutional objectives. It strives to generate enthusiasm and

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eagerness among the students and faculty and help them to make use of the

available reading materials. The primary objectives of college library are

to:

support implementation of objectives of parent institution i.e. the

college;

supplement the curricular taught in the institution to which it is

attached;

give students a wider and deeper understanding of the universe of

knowledge; and

work as an independent agency and encourage life-long learning

beyond the prescribed syllabi so that the students can be more

enlightened and knowledgeable.

So far, college libraries have been mainly concerned with their use

by the undergraduates in connection with prescribed reading. However the

need is to encourage students to make wider use of library, including

perusal of journals, microforms and use of Internet. Browsing good

collection is a valuable exercise for the purpose exploiting information

resources and broadening one's horizons.12

University Libraries

A university stands for truth, reason, tolerance and humanism. It

helps in the progress of the society in general through advancement of

knowledge. The function of university are: creation of new knowledge

through research and interpretation with existing knowledge (research); to

impart knowledge to students in all fields of universe of knowledge and

give professional and vocational training (education and training);

dissemination of knowledge and reduce the social and cultural gap

(publication); to diffuse and foster the real values and attitudes in society

through various extension activities (extension). A university is rightly

described as a community where scholars and teachers are the head,

students are the body and library its heart. In India, the importance of

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library in university education has been often emphasized by educationists,

librarians, scholars and committees. Report of the Radha Krishnan

Commission on University Education (1948-1949) stated that:

“The library is the heart of all University's work, directly so, as

regards its research work, and indirectly as regards its educational

work which derives its life from research work. Scientific research

needs a library as well as its laboratories, while for humanistic

research the library is both library and laboratory in one. Training in

higher branches of learning and research is mainly a question of

learning how to use the tools, and if the library tools are not there

how can the student learn to use them?”

The Kothari Commission in its Report on Education and National

Development (1964-66) further emphasized that:

“No university, college or department should be set up without

taking into account its library needs in terms of staff, journals,

space, etc. Nothing could be more damaging to a growing

department than to neglect its library, the library should be an

important centre of attraction on the college or university campus.”

Thus, the university library system is established to strive for

fulfillment of the ideas and objectives of the university. Since the

university library functions as an integral part of university, its growth and

development is solely dependent on the growth and development of

educational and research programmes of the university.

Though the university system in India has its roots in ancient and

medieval centres of learning like gurukulas, parishads and

viswavidyalayas, centres of ancient Brahmin, Buddhist and Muslim

cultures, the Western model of university system, that is in practice now

was initiated in 1857 with the establishment of three universities at

Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. There were 18 universities in existence

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before independence and now the number has increased to above 300,

including deemed universities. The modern university, characterised by

large number of faculty, tremendous enrolment of students and huge

resources, has a library attached to it to support its objectives and

programmes.13

According to University Grants Committee (United Kingdom)

Report of 1921 “The character and efficiency of a university may be

gauged by its treatment of its central organ-the Library”. The U G C

(United Kingdom) regarded the fullest provision for library maintenance as

the primary and most vital need in the equipment of a university. The Parry

Revert of 1967endorsed this tribute as “true today, after forty five years as

it was written”. The Atkinson Report of 1976 enlisted the importance of

library by saying “The library is the core of a university. As a resource, it

occupies the central and primary place, because it serves all the functions

of a university teaching and research, the creation of new knowledge and

transmission to posterity of the learning and culture of the present and the

past”.

The basic function of a library is educative. It is not merely store-

house of reading material collected for preservation, but it also functions

‘as a dynamic instrument of education, to feed the intellect of the student,

encourage the researchers of the faculty and invite all who enter its house

to partake fully of its intellectual and cultural contents. The simple fact is

that if a university library fails to perform its function of communicating its

contents to those who are in need of them it turns out to be a bad library

and that a bad library in turn ‘tends to produce a bad university. A bad

library is likely to effect the development of scholarship in its particular

region or perhaps even compel its scholars to go elsewhere in search of

what they need. It is for this reason, perhaps, a university always needs a

great library, even if no student enters it to meet the demands of the

faculty; and as long as the library in a university is outstanding, it will have

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an extremely valuable advantage over other institutions in holding the best

of scholars and teachers within its fold.

Realising the importance of libraries in the fulfillment of the

objectives of higher education, the University Education Commission says,

‘the library is the heart of all the university’s work; directly so, as regards

its research work, and indirectly as regards its educational work, which

derives its life from research work. Scientific research needs a library as

well as its laboratories, while for humanistic research the library is both

library and laboratory in one’.

The phenomenon often referred to as the “Information explosion

and the literature explosion” has obvious repurcussions on library

provisions of universities. The sum of human knowledge is increasing at a

much faster pace than anything that mankind has ever known. All over the

world men are extending the traditional boundaries and lines of

investigations and developing new ones, into all branches of learning,

particularly in sciences. This has a bearing on the university library system

in two ways viz., firstly university libraries must undertake the

responsibility of collecting and supplying the right type of literature to the

scholar at the appropriate time pinpointedly, exhaustively and

expeditiously and secondly, they must then endeavour as far as possible, to

organise and give access to information and make the selection and control

as easy, acceptable and quick as posssible.

Paul Buck has given the importance to the university library utility

and said;

‘First the library is the heart of education. Every educational

advance depends upon its resources and, in large measure, the degree of

advance is proportionate to the potential of the library to respond;

‘Second, methods and fashions in education change from generation

to generation, but each generation uses the library as a means of realising

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its aims; hence the library remains a great conservator of learning. An

investment in a library is a permanent investment, guaranteeing returns for

centuries to come;

'Third, a quality education is impossible without a quality library;

'Fourth, you cannot have a quality faculty without a quality library;

'Fifth, a library, is vital to proper exploitation of our intellectual

resources; and

'Sixth, the library is essential to maintenance of free access to ideas,

and to the functioning of untrammelled mind. Control will never be

successful so long as books are freely and widely available. Here the

laboratory can never take the place of the library’.

It is beyond doubt, established the point that ‘University Library is

the heart of the institution’ and it is the primary responsibility of the

authorities at the national level, teachers and students realize the

importance and fulfill the obligations required for optimum utilization.14

Development of University Libraries in India

The history and development of university Library System in India

reveals that University libraries are far beyond any sound system of their

set-up. Since the inception of the university education i.e. 1857 India

lacked in the development of a proper school, public and special library

system. Even today, barring the field of special library system, Indian

school and public libraries are far behind the minimum standards. There is

no national library system although India has a national library at Calcutta

and four of the important libraries of the country have been recognized as

national libraries for the purpose of Copyright Act. Cooperation and

coordination among libraries in the utilization of their resources is a rare

phenomenon which is found in the printed literature only. The highest form

19

of cooperation is in the field of interlibrary-loan and that too is ineffective

because of the nonexistence of union catalogues of periodicals and books.

University Libraries in India have lagged far behind since the very

beginning. As early as 1902, the University Commission appointed by the

then Government of India observed, ‘of the present university libraries

there is not much to be said. The library at Madras appears to be entirely

neglected; Bombay has a good collection of oriental and other books - but

the library is little used by graduates and hardly at all by students. Calcutta

has a library and fluids have been granted for the purpose of making it

supplementary to other libraries in Calcutta. It is open to fellows and to

persons permitted by the syndicate to use it for purpose of literary research.

The Allahabad University has no library.

Similarly, the RadhaKrishnan Commission (1948-49) voiced its

concern over the unsatisfactory position of university

libraries has written, while at a few universities the libraries

are fairly well-stocked, grants for their upkeep are more or less reasonable,

arrangements for lending books to teachers and students are efficient and

the reading room space is reasonably adequate it was distressing to find

that in most colleges and universities the library facilities were very poor

indeed. Not only was the provision for keeping the library up-to-date very

inadequate, but at one place no attempt had been made to weed out old and

obsolete books or old editions and replace them with new editions of same

books.

The Kothari Commission on Education (1964-66) has laid

stress on the proper development of university library system in the country

and has recommended that the library should;

provide resources necessary for research in fields of special interest

to the university

aid the university teacher in keeping abreast of development in his

field

20

Provide library facilities and services necessary for the success of

all formal programmes of instruction; and

open the doors to the wide world of books that lie beyond the

borders of ones own field of specialization; and

To bring books, students and scholars together under conditions

which encourage reading for pleasure, self discovery, personal

growth and the sharpening of intellectual curiosity.

University libraries in India have to put up a lot of imperfections

from practically all quarters and as such are not effective as one would

wish. In some cases they exist merely because the authorities feel that

without them they will be looked upon as old creatures. Obviously, it is felt

that these are avoidable luxuries which may be indulged in when there is

enough money to spare. The result is that even today Bhopal has no

university library. University libraries at Agra, Lucknow and Allahabad are

under the charge of Hon. Librarians non-Professionals. University libraries

at Udaipur, Vikram, Indore, Jabalpur, Rewa, Khairagarh, Shivaji, Meerut,

Rabindra Bharati, Baroda, Jiwaji, Jabalpur Agrl., Marathwada, Guru

Nanak, Sagar, Saurashtra, South Gujarat, Haryana Agrl., Utkal, and many

others are being controlled by the librarians, who are not in professor’s

grade even though UGC had recommended a Professor’s grade for the

university librarians as early as 1965.

The image of university libraries in India is very poor. Most of the

university libraries lack of funds. To improve the condition of university

libraries, number of commissions and committees has been set up from

time to time such as:

Pre- Independence Period-The First Education Commission (1882

by Lord Ripon)

Pre- Independence Period-The Second Education Commission (1885

by Lord Curzon)

21

The Education Policy (1913)

The Calcutta University Commission (1917 by Government of India)

Simon Commission (1919 by Government of India Act)

Sargeant Report on Education (1944)

Post Independence Period-First Education Commission (1948)

Post Independence Period-Second Education Commission (1964-66)

Gajendragadkar Committee (1969-70)15

Objectives of University Libraries

The university library strives for the fulfillment of objectives of its

parent body — the university. Therefore it is necessary to understand the

objectives of university in general. The objectives of university are to:

seek and cultivate new knowledge, to engage vigorously in pursuit

of truth, and to work towards new discoveries;

provide intellectual managerial leadership in all walks of life and

imbibe the people with a sense of social purpose;

strive and promote equality and social justice and to reduce social

cultural difference through diffusion of education; and

guide research workers in all the areas of universe of knowledge

and to disseminate the research results for the benefit of mankind.

The university library’s objectives reflect that of their parent

institution, as they have been established to support fulfillment of parent

body’s goals. Hence, the objectives of university library are to:

set up policies, procedures, and standards for acquisition and

accessing information /knowledge that support teaching;

create collections both print and online, including expertise from

outside the library to support research;

22

explore funding opportunities and collaborative projects with other

institutions;

provide services that meet the pertinent information needs of

members of university; and

to conserve knowledge and ideas for posterity.16

Functions of University Libraries

In order to achieve the objectives of university education, university

libraries design their activities in such a way that they prove to be

significant partners in conservation of knowledge through teaching and

learning, research and interpretation and application of research results for

the benefit of society, extension and service programmes. The library exists

to help instructional and research programmes of the university. Hence the

basic function of library in a university is educative and, as Gelfand puts it,

a library also functions “as dynamic instruments of education, to feed the

intellect of student, encourage researchers of the faculty and invite all who

enter its house to partake fully of its intellectual and culturalcontents”.

The Kothari Commission on Education (1964-66) laid much emphasis on

university library system and recommended that the library should:

provide resources necessary for research in the fields of interest to

university;

help the university faculty in keeping abreast of developments in

their disciplines;

provide library facilities for the success of all formal instructional

programmes;

open the doors to the wide world of books that lie beyond the

borders of one’s own specialisation; and

bring books, students and scholars together under conditions which

encourage reading for pleasure, self-discovery, personal growth and

sharpening of intellectual curiosity.17

23

Malcolm S. Adiseshaiah expressed that “if the purpose of all

education is learning, then the library is the fountain source of all learning

and there is no replacement to it. If the purpose of higher education at the

higher levels — post graduation, doctorate and post doctorate —is to

develop new sources of knowledge and new knowledge, then there should

be no alternative to the library. The scholar will have to plough his way

through to attain the end of knowledge acquisition and knowledge

building”.18

Paul Buck has stated that quality of education in universities is

impossible without a quality library; further quality faculty is not possible

without a quality library and library is essential to maintenance of free

access to ideas. He classified the functions of university library under the

heads: resources; retrieval of information; coordination and staff capability.

He summarises them all in the word ‘responsiveness’ to the university

needs. Nigel Cox analyses the functions of university library under five

headings as follows:

control — covering acquisition, accession, processing and shelving;

archive — building up collection;

service — including professional guidance to the readers;

cooperation — linking the local and national network of library resources;

and

research and development — enhancing the library techniques.

Thus the purpose of university libraries is expansion of knowledge

for truth, enlightenment and standards of excellence, etc. Srivastava and

Verma sum up the functions of the library in university as – “it serves the

adult scholarship”. On the one hand there is knowledge explosion and

heavy inflow of information, on the other there is heavy demand for pin-

pointed information without the loss of time. Manual methods for the

24

retrieval and dissemination of information are becoming inadequate, and

these are being replaced. Information technology is being applied

increasingly to provide access to information. Libraries are not operating in

isolation now, but are becoming partners of various networks for mutual

benefit. 19

Impact of Information Technology (IT) on Academic Library

Functions

The 21st century is the age of information science and technology.

Due to the development of the computer technology, and the fast

advancement in space communication techniques, the new information and

the advanced knowledge are spreading worldwide and penetrating into

every part of the world. Knowledge is power; one who is able to achieve

and master the information would definitely succeed and so would the

society and the country. The Internet becomes a huge treasure mountain

that provides variety of information in the forms of database, pictures,

movies, and multimedia or the interactive displays, etc. Many academic

and research institutions and leading universities in the world edit their

own homepages to demonstrate their educational goals, academic activities,

excellent training programmes, and the innovative and important research

results.

Therefore, the functioning of academic libraries changes from time

to tune to be suitable to the ever-changing information environment. The

change is at slow pace in school and college libraries, however, university

libraries, with the support of INFLIBNET.20

INFLIBNET

INFLIBNET is an Inter University Centre of University Grants

Commission have made steady progress in the application of IT in their

house-keeping and information retrieval activities. It is a major National

25

Programme initiated by the UGC in 1991 with its Head Quarter at Gujarat

UniversityCampus, Ahmedabad. Initially started as a project under

the IUCAA, it became an independent Inter-University Centre in 1996. It is

involved in creating infrastructure for sharing of library and information

resources and services among academic and research Institutions. It works

collaboratively with Indian university libraries to shape the future of the

academic libraries in the evolving information environment. It is involved

in modernizing university libraries in India and connecting them to

information centres in the country through a nation-wide high speed

data network using the state-of-art technologies for the optimum utilisation

of information. It is set out to be a major player in promoting scholarly

communication among academicians and researchers in India. It promotes

automation of libraries, develops standards, creates union catalogues of

serials, theses, books, monographs and non-book materials; provides access

to bibliographic information sources; creates database of projects,

institutions, specialists; provides training, etc. Almost all academic

libraries, especially university libraries, are members of INFLIBNET. It

has also developed library automation software called SOUL (Software for

University Libraries) and has distributed the same free of cost to its

member libraries.21

26

Fig.-1

Functional Group of INFLIBNET

Other Networks

Besides INFLIBNET, a number of other national networks and

various library networks have also been developed including NICNET

(National Informatic Center’s network), INDONET, ERNET (Education

and Research Network), CALIBNET (Calcutta Library Network),

DELNET (Developing Library Network), etc. ADINET is associated with

INFLIBNET, DELNET with NIC and MALIBNET with CFTRI. A number

of educational institutions are members of such networks. These networks,

27

especially DELNET (which has 752member libraries including 742 from

India and 10 from outside), are engaged in compiling union catalogues,

creating various databases of experts, providing training to library staff ,

ILL, online facilities, reference service, assistance in retrospective

conversion etc.

Library Consortia

Due to a financial crunch and the rising costs of journals, many

Indian university and college libraries cannot subscribe to all the required

journals and databases. To overcome this problem, libraries are forming

consortia. Some special libraries and organizations like the Indian Institute

of Astrophysics (IIA) Library, Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and

Astrophysics (IUCAA) Library, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics

(NCRA) Library, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Library, Raman

Research Institute (RRI) Library, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

(TIFR) Library, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department

of Atomic Energy, etc., have established consortia to share electronic

access to journal literature. NISCAIR (formed by the merger of INSDOC

and NISCOM) is developing a consortium for CSIR labs for accessing e-

journals.

Consortia in India are still a new concept that requires proper

guidelines and methodologies. In a survey by UGC in 2001, it was noted

that although 142 university libraries had computer and Internet facilities

and were interlinked to INFLIBNET, they were subscribing to printed

journals only. In order to solve this problem, UGC launched a major

initiative called UGC-INFONET that provides high speed Internet

connections so as to have electronic access to professional literature

including research journals, abstracts, review publications, and databases

from all areas in science and technology, as well as in social sciences and

humanities. Today, a number of professional journals are available over

UGC-Infonet to all universities. The e-subscription initiative under UGC-

28

Infonet is an important portal for sharing print as well as electronic

resources amongst university libraries. INFLIBNET functions as a resource

center with an aim to cater to the needs of its members for resources not

accessible to them in electronic media or are available in print media.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set up

the “Indian National Digital Library in Science and Technology (INDEST)

Consortium”. The ministry provides funds required for the subscription to

electronic resources for 38 academic institutions, including the Indian

Institute of Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Regional Engineering

Colleges,

Indian Institute of Managements, and about 60 centrally-funded/aided

government institutions through the consortium. The INDEST consortium

is the most ambitious initiative so far in the area of engineering and

technology disciplines.

The primary objective of libraries is to organize and provide access

to information, and it remains the same although the format and methods

have changed drastically. Under the present scenario of declining budgets

and higher subscription costs of journals in India, it is becoming very

difficult to meet the demands of library/information users. The only

solution to the problem is the pooling and sharing of resources—print as

well as electronic—by way of consortia. New technology has provided

great opportunities for delivery of services within consortia. More and

more libraries must unite, which of course requires a change in the

attitudes, practices, and policies to get the maximum benefit.22

Shodhganga

"Shodhganga" is the name coined to denote digital repository of

Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertations set-up by the INFLIBNET

Centre. The word "Shodh" originates from Sanskrit and stands for research

and discovery. The "Ganga" is the holiest, largest and longest of all rivers

29

in Indian subcontinent. The Ganga is the symbol of India's age-long culture

and civilisation, everchanging, ever-flowing, ever-loved and revered by its

people, and has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to

her banks since the dawn of history. Shodhganga stands for the reservoir of

Indian intellectual output stored in a repository hosted and maintained by

the INFLIBNET Centre. The Shodhganga INFLIBNET Centre provides a

platform for research students to deposit their Ph.D. theses and make it

available to the entire scholarly community in open access. The repository

has the ability to capture, index, store, disseminate and preserve ETDs

submitted by the researchers.23

ShodhGangotri

The word “Shodh”originates from Sanskrit and stands for “research

and discovery”. “Gangotri” is one of the largest glacier in the Himalayas

and source of origination of Ganges, the holiest, longest and largest of

rivers in India. The Ganges is the symbol of age-long culture, civilization,

ever-aging, ever-flowing, ever-loving and loved by its people.

Under the initiative called “ShodhGangotri”, research scholars /

research supervisors in universities are requested to deposit electronic

version of approved synopsis submitted by research scholars to the

universities for registering themselves for the Ph.D programme. The

repository on one hand, would reveal the trends and directions of research

being conducted in Indian universities, on the other hand it would avoid

duplication of research. Synopsis in “ShodhGangotri” would later be

mapped to full-text theses in"ShodhGanga". As such, once the full-text

thesis is submitted for a synopsis, a link to the full-text theses would be

provided from ShodhGangotri to"ShodhGanga".24

University libraries nowadays are making great efforts to build up their

information infrastructure in order to provide a fast and efficient

information highway to help their users in sharing and utilising the

information all over the world. Because of providing a fast, efficient and

30

easy way to access and search for the information, through the web pages

and the resources linking with other websites, users can easily obtain new

information, fresh knowledge and solutions to their problems. This

revolution has changed the functioning of university libraries in India.

Indeed it has added some more technology based functions to keep their

users abreast of global developments. The new functions include:

Providing Internet facility to all users to access global information

in their specific discipline.

Creating and maintaining library website.

Maintaining OPAC of their library to provide access to its collection

not only to its users through campus networks but also to users’

world over.

Taking part in establishment of e-journal consortia to share journal

resources through a central agency. e.g. UGC-Infonet.

Providing access to wide variety of information resources including

reference sources, indexes, full text articles and complete journals.

Building specific electronic collections of the library with CD-ROM

collections and in-house databases.

Promoting the use of information technology, and speeding up the

document retrieval.

Taking up digitalization projects to preserve the manuscripts and

other rare documents.

The value of libraries rests in the efficient performance of defined

functions, which is complex because it involves coordination of various

components. Hence, the library has to handle the following components

with efficiency to perform these functions.

Information Resources

Quality of education depends on the quality of information. The

information materials in university libraries exist to support the curriculum

and related research of the University. The university library has to acquire

31

and organise reading material with the advice of the faculty and in

accordance with the goals and objectives of university. Acquisition of, and

access to, information resources, which have multiple uses, are the chief

responsibility of university libraries. The collections should strike a balance

between traditional print formats and emerging electronic formats. The

collections are usually a combination of textbooks, reference books,

manuscripts, monographs, theses, manuals, conference proceedings,

scientific and technical reports, periodicals, institutional serial publications,

patents, etc. in print, microform, audio - visual or electronic formats. In

addition, the collections include programs or data files, software, etc. The

library must have access to appropriate equipment for the use of materials

requiring readers, players, projectors, computer systems or other devices.

Finances

Finance is important for the effective functioning of library.

Efficient performance of libraries is directly related to adequate funds. The

financial constraints result in ineffective library systems. Since libraries are

non-revenue generating and nonprofit making institutions they have to

depend on financial grants from governments, both central and state. The

university libraries receive funds from the following sources:

Grants from UGC;

Grants from Central and State governments;

Grants allocated from the university budget;

Endowments and donations; and

Internal resources collected through subscription fees, fines, sale of

publications, etc.

Besides the regular grants, the university libraries are benefited by

adhoc grants from UGC, assistance from organisations like Ford

Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Asia Foundation, Carnegie Mellon

University Million Book Project, etc.

32

Staff

The next important element in the functional organisation of a

university library is the provision of adequate and professionally trained

library staff. The library manpower should be capable of organising the

library on sound scientific lines. The UGC prescribes the nomenclature,

qualifications and salary structure of library professional staff. The

nomenclature underwent changes from time to time considering the

changing information environment. The professional staffs of a university

library are accorded status and salary on par with university teaching staff,

and are required to possess the qualifications also on par with teachers i.e.

postgraduate degree in a subject and also in Library and Information

Science.

The functioning of library staff is supported by the University

Library Committee in formulation of library policies, rules and regulations,

preparation of annual budget, allocation of funds, preparation of annual

report, advice in matters of day-to-day administration, etc.

Services

The nature and efficiency of services of university libraries vary

from one to another owing to the nature of curricular programmes, research

activities and local needs of users. Traditionally the libraries are offering

reference, current awareness and lending services to their users. With the

application of information technologies now they are able to offer a wide

variety of information services. While continuing to provide many

traditional information services, librarians are developing new skills and

accepting the new roles that are necessary to support technology-based

services. They include:

Reference service;

Current Awareness and SDI;

Lending and inter library loan;

33

Newspaper clippings;

Reprography;

User education and information literacy;

Internet access and assistance in searching the websites; and

Access to c-journals through c-journals consortia.

The buzzword of present day digital environment is ‘consortia’ that

is intended to share the resources though collaboration within the member

libraries. This helps academicians in acquiring information quickly at

affordable rates. An e-consortium harbours a large number of content

creators sharing a common interest through a set of interlinked web pages.

Infrastructure and Maintenance

The most important part of university library system is a functional

building where the allocation of space for books and other reading

materials, staff and readers could conveniently be made. UGC (India) has

given support to the development of university and college library

buildings during l960s and 1970s. However the accelerated growth of

libraries in their collections and users, the emerging information

technologies and their application to library operations necessitates

redesigning and expanding the library buildings suitable to current

requirements. For example, the public access catalogue cabinets of

university libraries have been replaced with Online Public Access

Catalogue (OPAC), which requires a different type of space allocation.

Hence the designing of library building should be modular, keeping in view

factors like rate of increase in the student population, selling up of new

department, possible new methods and techniques of library operations and

expected changes in local needs in near future.

The present day university library system ought to be equipped with

more number of computers and communication links and their proper

maintenance. The computer systems are necessary for library staff for

house-keeping operations, and for users for internet access and information

34

retrieval, and for providing facilities. So, maintenance of printed

documents, non-book and electronic documents is necessary, and it should

be according to latest techniques.25

User Study

The efficiency and the effectiveness of any library will not be

measured by merely its collection and infrastructure, but by the service it

renders to its users.

According to Wilson Davis, one of the most important

developments of research in the libraries and information field has been the

growing emphasis on the user. This trend means that the focus today is not

so much on the system per se, but on the system and its response to the

needs of its users. One important consequence of this shift in emphasis to

users and their need has been the production of a great quantity of user

surveys of different types and of varying quality.

In simple terms 'user study' means a study of the user of

information. The kind of information required by the user, the ways and

means used for searching for the required information, the use of the

information obtained, the satisfaction/dissatisfaction arising from the use of

the information obtained, the flow of the information and the relationship

of the user with the system (Information provider) all come under the

purview of user studies.

User study is the means for systematic examination of the

characteristics and behaviour of the users of the systems and services. User

study can be summed up as WHO says WHAT to WHOM through What

MEDIUM and with work EFFECT, WHO demands (needs/receives)

WHAT from WHOM and WHY.26

Historical Background

35

The foundation for the user studies was laid down in 1948 in the

Scientific Information Conference of the Royal Society, where Urquhart

and Bernal reported their research findings. Urquhart (1948) conducted his

study on the distribution and use of scientific and technical information.

The purpose of counseling, the borrowed item, and the usefulness of the

item in relation to factors like year of publication and its form.27 Bernal

(1948) describes the objectives of his study: as "to find out directly from

working scientists what they had read. Why they read it and what use they

made of the information”.28 Unlike Urquhart's (1948) study Bernal

provided a general profile of his sample by using a questionnaire, including

their professional back ground and status, as well as reading habits. Also

Bernal restricted his research to the use of journals, excluding other forms

of literature. As paisley comments "In spite of its small compass and

ambiguous data, this study was important as a precedent for more

satisfactory efforts of the early 50s".

Earlier user studies were mainly related to scientists involved with

biochemistry, medicine, engineering, physics etc. This resulted in the

earlier development of information handling tools like abstracts and

indexes. 29 Fussler (1949) investigated the use of literature by American

Chemists and physicists by using the "reference counting" method.30

Tornudd (1953) undertook an analysis of the professional reading habits of

130 research scientists.31 Thorne (1954) conducted a quite similar research

to Tornudd's investigating the reading habits of scientist at the Royal

Aircraft Establishment.32 Shaw (1956) investigated the use of scientific

literature by a group of scientists consisting of chemists, physicists,

engineers and botanical scientists of the US Forest Service. He applied the

same gathering techniques as Bernal (1948) by using a questionnaire and

two diary cards.33 Maizell (1957) examined the creativity and information

gathering techniques used by chemists.34 Fishenden (1959) examined, by

means of diaries and interviews, the information seeking techniques of

scientists at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell.35

36

Some of the most representative examples, of user studies during

the 1950s, regarding methodological issues and areas of interest are

examined below. Herner (1954) examined the information gathering habits

of 606 pure and applied science at the Johns Hopkins University with the

use of personal interviews.36 Menzel (1958) as described by Paisley (1966)

undertook a study for the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia

University, in order to problems of scientific information exchange.37

Paisley (1966) expressing his opinion on Menzel's work states: "It may be

said that Menzel's study Marked the end of the beginning of research on

scientific information. Together with other studies of the mid- fifties it

emphasized the importance of interpersonal information sources showed

low percentages of use of many esteemed formal systems and revealed the

role that happenstance plays in acquisition of information’.38

The early 1960s seem to be something of a take off point for user

studies. A look at the literature shows that the number of studies increased

rapidly. In 1963 the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted

a series of studies concerning psychologists, which was one of the first and

most important projects carried out in Social and behavioural Sciences.39

Menzel (1966) was one of the researchers who located these problems very

early and saw the potential usage of alternative research methods. He

indicate that, "it is inevitable that the techniques available to date are not

adequate to many of the complex tasks one would like to see performed in

this intricate field it is therefore wasteful not to take advantage of the

reservoir of relevant substantive theory as well as of research methods and

techniques that are available primarily in communication behavior research

and other branches of sociology and psychology".40 Mote (1962)

investigated the reasons that cause the variations in the information request

of scientists.41 Flowers (1965) investigated the information needs of

physicists and chemists.42 Mullins (1967) examined the informal

communications among scientists within the framework of the "invisible

college” where a group of scientists known to each other creates a network

that helps them to exchange and share information.43 Allen (1964)

37

examined the use of information sources during the preparation of research

and development proposals for a government contract.44 Berul et al. (1965)

carried out a critical incident study for the U.S. Department of Defence in

order to determine how research, development, technical and evaluation

personnel obtain and utilize technical and scientific information related to

their work.45 INFROSS was a project conducted by Line (1971) on the

information use and needs of social scientists in government employment.46

Moving towards the 1970s, user studies flourished and introduced a

diversity of target user groups like magistrates, urban citizens, personnel

working in local authorities, university students, etc. 47 An important

development in the history of user studies was the establishment of the

Centre for Research on User Studies (CRUS) at Sheffield University in

1975. The British Library Research and Development Department

(BLRDD) funded CRUS. It conducted a number of projects on various

subjects provided training courses and seminars in research methods and

published occasional papers and guides on research methods for user

studies.48 Wilson (1994) carried out a study on the information needs of

citizens in Baltimore. Although this project does not relate to researchers

and scientific information.49

The 1980s were a decade that was characterized by an increasing

awareness surrounding the conceptual framework and methodological

issues of user studies. One of the first attempts at articulating the awareness

was the publication, in the journal Social Science Information Studies of

the papers presented in a symposium of qualitative approaches to the study

of information problems.50 Belkin (1980) formulated the theory of the

Anomalous State knowledge for information retrieval, which gave another

dimension to the concept of information need and the origin of this need.

Also the 1980s was the decade when information technology "invaded" the

area of user studies and established a permanent place within the interest of

the field. 51 More and more studies were undertaken in order to determine

the needs of users in relation to different software and information retrieval

38

systems like OPACs, databases, etc. Price (1984) examined the information

use end needs of advice centres in London.52 Trott (1986) carried out a

project from Feb.1984 to Feb 1986 in order to explore the information

needs of small firms in Suffolk Country.53 Martyn (1987) investigated the

information seeking techniques of researchers working in industrial,

government and academic establishments.54 Belkin (1982) undertook a

study to investigate the application of the anomalous state of knowledge

(ASK) theory in information retrieval.55 Ellis (1987) carried out a study in

order to establish a pattern of information seeking behaviour among

academic researchers.56 Kuhlthau (1988) conducted a study examining the

application of library skill in assigned library research by high school

seniors. The objectives of the projects were "to explore the experience of

students in the library search process, to reveal evidence supporting the

hypothesis that there are a sequence of stages to an information search and

to propose a model of the user's stage within the search process".57

The 1990s also witnessed the tremendous growth and establishment

of the Internet as an information provider in the information community.

Tillman et al. (1993) carried out a survey and monitored four discussions

lists over a period of six months in order to determine the use of the

Internet as a reference tool by special librarians.58 Cromer and Johnson

(1994) examined the impact of electronic communication among reference

librarians.59 Bane and Melheim (1995) conducted a large-scale survey in

order to examine the use of the Internet by users in higher education

establishment.60 Adams and Bonk (1995) conducted a survey at the SUNY

University Center Libraries. The aim of the study was to assess the need of

faculty members for electronic information resources and to "determine the

readiness of faculty to utilize electronic networked information

resources”.61 Reneker (1992) investigated the information seeking

behaviour of academics.62 Eager and Oppenheim (1996) undertook a small

case study examining the information needs of academics. The main

purpose of the study was to test an alternative observation technique.63

39

A recent study (Abels et. al. 199664 : Liebscher et. al. 199765) was

published examining the factors that influence the use and adoption of

Electronic networks by science and engineering faculty at small

institutions.

Information Seeking Behavior

The term information seeking often serves as an umbrella

overarching a set of related concepts and issues. Information-seeking

behaviour is expressed in various forms, from reading printed material to

research and experimentation. Scholars, students, and faculty actively seek

current information from the various sources available in libraries, e.g.,

encyclopaedias, journals and, more currently, electronic media.

Information-seeking behavior depends on the reasons for seeking

information and the starting knowledge of the individual. Marchionini

describes it as, “Information-seeking is a special case of problem solving. It

includes recognizing and interpreting the information problem, establishing

a plan of search, conducting the search, evaluating the results, and if

necessary through the process again.” Information-seeking behavior differs

among user groups. Academic libraries must understand the information

needs of faculty and students in order to address those needs. This study

explores the information-seeking behavior of users such as undergraduates,

postgraduate students, and researchers in university libraries.

Models of Information-Seeking Behavior

Many models have been framed in order to explain the information

seeking process. Important among them are: Wilson's (1981) model of

information-seeking behavior; Dervin's (1983) sense-making theory; Ellis's

(1989 and 1993) behavioral model of information seeking strategies;

Kuhlthau's (1991) model of the stages of information-seeking behaviour;

and Wilson's (1996) model.

Factors Affecting information seeking behavior

40

The means that an individual resorts to in order to satisfy an

information need will depend on certain factors. Certain points will have to

be considered when an individual decides on a certain course of action,

they include:

1. Whether the source is within reach

2. Whether money will be involved-if so, how much money

3. Whether time will be involved, if so, how much time

4. Whether the source will have the answer to their problem

5. Whether they will understand what the source provides as answer

Other factors include social, political, geographical, educational, etc. 66

Pattern of User’s Behavior

1. Users of information belong to the identifiable groups with

characteristic patterns of information requirements.

2. The role of the user is an important determinant of information

need.

3. Accessibility is a key factor determining the use of an information

source.

4. The user’s awareness of and ability to use, information sources are

often imperfect.

5. Interpersonal communication is one of the most important means of

transmitting information.

6. The amount of information required varies considerably between

persons.

7. Users often require information to be supplied at short notice;

decisions may have to be made at a given time regarding of the

availability of information.67

All people are individuals and will seek and use information

in different ways. Much of our daily life is spent in information

gathering and shifting of one kind or another-merely looking at

41

people involves an information process; since we notice things

about them and do a rapid assessment. Most of this information

gathering is carried out automatically, and is not perceived as such;

it is an integral part of our personalities and we all do it differently.

There is no such thing as a homogeneous body of information users.

A group of people with the same level of education may be working

on the same subject at the same time; but they will use information

in different ways. Some information will obviously be relevant to

all of them, some to only one or two. Some of the group will scan

and absorb vast quantities of materials, others will read much less.

Some will prefer oral channels, some will prefer to see information

in print so that they can pore over it; some always prefer to ask

other people; some find it a waste of time and energy. Some enjoy

computer searching, some have technophobia; and when people do

search, they use the Internet in very different ways.

To sum up, it can be said that information-seeking

behaviour, pattern of user’s behavior, use studies, utilization studies

and use pattern are closely related and often not precisely defined.

In an effort to understand use pattern of academic libraries of Uttar

Pradesh relevant in today’s environment of ubiquitous electronic

access this initiative has been taken. This study explores the use

pattern of sources and services available in university libraries of

Uttar Pradesh with special reference to libraries of Lucknow

University, Lucknow and BBAU, Lucknow. Besides that study will

also focus on libraries of twelve other universities of Uttar Pradesh.

In addition, the study will also concentrate on satisfaction and

problems of users, and answers to problems in the form of

suggestions.

42

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