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The International Information & Library Review (2007) 39, 1–11

The InternationalInformation & Library Review

1057-2317/$ - sdoi:10.1016/j.i

�CorrespondiE-mail addr

smtcd@rediffm(V. Patkar).

www.elsevier.com/locate/iilr

ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning processand library services in India

Smita Chandraa,�, Vivek Patkarb

aIndian Institute of Geomagnetism, Kalamboli Highway, New Panvel, Navi Mumbai 410 218, IndiabD-1, Anita CHS., # 612, Sector 6, Charkop, Kandivali (W), Mumbai 400 067, India

Summary The advances in ICTs have decisively changed the library and learningenvironment. On the one hand, ICTs have enhanced the variety and accessibility tolibrary collections and services to break the barriers of location and time. On theother, the e-Learning has emerged as an additional medium for imparting educationin many disciplines to overcome the constraint of physical capacity associated withthe traditional classroom methods. For a vast developing country like India, thisprovides an immense opportunity to provide even higher education to remote placesbesides extending the library services through networking. Thanks to the recentinitiatives by the public and private institutions in this direction, a few web-basedinstruction courses are now running in the country. This paper reviews differentaspects of e-Learning and emerging learning landscapes. It further presents thelibrary scene and new opportunities for its participation in the e-Learning process.How these ICTs driven advances can contribute to the comprehensive learningprocess in India is highlighted.& 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The information and communications technologies(ICTs) have pervaded lives of even common citizensof a developing country like India. Realizing thepower of these advances, a plethora of policies andprojects on ICTs for development (ICT4D) have beeninitiated by the governments in developing coun-tries to reap the benefit. The objective is to enable

ee front matter & 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservilr.2006.11.001

ng author.esses: smitac_in@yahoo.com,ail.com (S. Chandra), vnpatkar2004@yahoo.co.in

the citizens to learn and participate in thedevelopment activities using the new technologicalmeans. The highly computer-mediated processes ofproduction, storage and dissemination of informa-tion have made a far-reaching impact on thelibraries and library professionals too. The ICTs ingeneral are expected to make available moreubiquitous and extensive knowledge environmentsthat would enable individuals to have access toquality information and facilities for discovery andlearning. Continuous learning or education thatwould be the prime requirement in the futuresociety is also well served by the ICTs. Web-basededucation that overcomes some of the capacity

ed.

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S. Chandra, V. Patkar2

limitations inherent in the traditional classroommethod of teaching and learning is now introducedin India and would help spreading education topeople located even in remote places. The web andInternet, the core of the ICTs, are playing a crucialrole in supplementing the library services andimparting education through e-Learning.

Internet access to information has now entered itssecond ‘‘phase’’ or ‘‘edition’’ as is evident from thesomewhat audacious use of the term Web 2.0. Incontrast to Web 1.0 where information and datawere merely sought after, in the Web 2.0 environ-ment people are looking to a new set of tools toaggregate, mix, modify, own and exchange micro-content in innovative ways (Alexander, 2006).‘‘Openness’’ both in the terms of technologies usedand the ideologies employed is yet another impor-tant characteristic of the Web 2.0. The ‘‘n-gen’’ or‘‘digital natives’’ as the Web 2.0 communities arecalled, share contents because of their pervasivebelief that sharing content or information is notunethical, though piling them up so as to make themredundant over time is antisocial (Downes). These‘‘n-gens’’ have learned through networking thatthey can get far better support and informationfrom one another, thus making redundant the roleof any intermediary. The ‘‘use-centric’’ approachof ‘‘blogs’’, ‘‘wikis’’, ‘‘RSS feeds’’ and folksonomicmetadata (metadata generated by users by attach-ing or tagging self-descriptive words to contents),are providing new avenues of social networking.

How such technological developments will im-pact the learning process is first analyzed here. It isfollowed by discussion about the changing libraryscene and emerging opportunities for its contribu-tion to e-Learning in general. An overview of theIndian e-learning and library development scenariois presented next, and actions for strengthening theprocess are discussed to round off the paper.

e-Learning

The concept of distance education evolved primar-ily to overcome the problem of limited brick andmortar infrastructure and a need for the simulta-neous physical presence of teacher and learner thatcharacterize the classical classroom-based learningmodel. The development of ICTs provided a greatfillip to this learning mode especially because ofincreased avenue for interaction between teacherand learner and among the learners through e-mailand web postings. Due to these advantages, thee-Learning, a term initially applied to distancelearning via electronic media, is now well estab-lished. It is now extended to incorporate traditional

research, learning and teaching in the digitalworld, and a blend of face-to-face and onlineinstruction and course materials. From its earlierversion of computer-based training (CBT), wherematerials were stored on CD-ROMs, the digital formwas converted to web-based training (WBT), whichcould be accessed via a browser from any desktopwith internet connectivity. Various stages in thee-Learning process are (Ghosh, 23):

1.

Pre-authoring: Content owners and developersassess the contents as per the learning objec-tives of a course. Much of this content is offlineand needs to be converted to WBT material. Thisincludes assessing needs and defining roles andskill requirements.

2.

Content development: It includes designing anddeveloping courses and contents. The organiza-tion might be required to integrate existingprograms with new courses and identify meth-odologies to adapt, such as blended or pure web-based or traditional courses.

3.

Course management: Done by people trained inlearning management systems (LMS), who un-derstand the functionality of the system and canact as administrators.

4.

External database interface: This involves therole of the learning organization to capture andaccess knowledge. Knowledge management re-quires capturing ‘‘tacit’’ knowledge and learninginto the system so as to keep the knowledgerepository, or base, updated.

5.

Delivery: Ways by which e-Learning can bedelivered through standard software like brow-sers, collaborative tools like chat and onlinediscussion boards.

According to Downes, in the evolving Web 2.0environment, the e-Learning is expected to shape as‘‘a shared domain of interest’’ where ‘‘membersinteract and learn together’’ and ‘‘develop a sharedrepertoire of resources’’ (Downes). Therefore, as theweb turns into a content-authoring tool, onlinelearning ceases to be a medium alone and becomesa platform where students and teachers create thelearning contents. Such a web-node becomes apersonal learning center where content is reusedand remixed according to the student’s own needs orinterests. In other words, it becomes a collection ofinteroperable open-source applications, used byeducational institutions at large, resulting in acontradictory mix of technological and ideologicalopenness on the one hand and university governancerestrictions the other. An example of such ane-Learning initiative is the Information ManagementResource Kit (IMARK) [http://www.imarkgroup.org/

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ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning process 3

index_en.asp] in the subject area of agriculturalinformation management. This kit, developed in fivelanguages by the UNESCO, FAO and partner organiza-tions, aims at mobilizing and building upon theexisting scattered material to create a comprehen-sive suite of distance learning resources for informa-tion management and exchange amongst farmers,agricultural scientists and technologists, students,meteorologists, geologists and any allied subject ofimportance to the agricultural domain worldwide.

In the US, 70% of all institutions offer distancelearning and 80% offer hybrid courses where instruc-tors post material on web for students for furtherdiscussion (OCLC, 2003). In Canada, e-Learningenvironments have an estimated growth rate of20–30% per year (CARL e-Learning Working Group,2005). Countries like the UK and Hungary have anational policy to encourage people to be familiarwith new technologies that impart education. Lifelonglearning through distance education programs ande-Learning is therefore fast catching up (Informationfor All Programme (IFAP), 2005). Though access tosuitable information technology is a prerequisite fore-Learning, the skills needed to close the digitaldivide honed in by e-Learning makes it a viablecommunication media for the developing world(Detecon and Diebold, 2006). By addressing thecultural issues, e-Learning can minimize the genderbias in many developing nations that have high ratesof female school drop outs. The illustrative andpersuasive capabilities of the modern multimediacan address a number of environmental issues bycombining an interactive exploration of topics andrich visualizations. For example, models and graphicson diseases like HIV and AIDS and tuberculosis; thoseon farming using the latest scientific equipments andtechniques; or those on natural or terrorist disasterpreparedness and mitigation can help in increasing anindividual’s awareness and changing the mindset andbehavior. It is envisaged that e-Learning will movebeyond the classroom-oriented teaching or learning tolife-long training and workplace learning (Rosenberg).For realizing such a scenario a host of technologicalsolutions and novel approaches by the institutionsimparting both formal and informal training would benecessary. The irreplaceable role of libraries, parti-cularly the public libraries, as knowledge and culturalinstitutions cannot be ignored.

Learning landscapes

e-Portfolio

An electronic portfolio or e-Portfolio is one way toenhance quality in an education system. A ‘‘web-

folio’’ as it is often referred to, is a web-publishedcollection of documents, information, audio andvideo clips that showcases the abilities of compre-hension and organization of knowledge gained byan individual with respect to any topic or course(Good, 2006). With no restrictions on the amount ofinformation to be added, deleted, or shared, itgives students a personal space to pose questions,put up drafts, link to and comment on relevantsources, and to link with other learners with similarinterests and create an ad-hoc learning community.

In Fig. 1 Tosh and Werdmuller, have modeled acomprehensive learning landscape that illustratesthe evolution of a learner’s e-Portfolio throughdifferent types of interactions. Such an e-Portfolio,according to them, is a place where a student canconstruct a digital identity which connects re-sources, experiences and tutors. It creates com-munities of knowledge transfer and development,allowing users to become contributors as well asrecipients. Therefore, a personal digital diarywould have a learner-centric portfolio for assess-ment, accreditation, presentation, employment,reflection or deep learning, and personal develop-ment. Open access to such material for assessment,sharing, reviewing, and commenting anytime wouldenrich the learning of all those involved andinterested in the topic. Incorporating elements ofe-portfolios, webloging and social networking thuscreates extended learning landscapes.

Learning objects repositories (LOR)

Institutions with functional Open Access Institu-tional Repositories (IR) have a role in furtherenhancing e-Learning environments (Dempsey,2006). Apart from supporting open access andpreserving the intellectual assets of an institution,such IRs facilitate the members’ efforts to developtheir own work further, that is, to organize theirresources, link their writing to others and workwith co-authors, goals akin to e-Portfolios. Whensuch webfolios are integrated with IRs, they can actas LOR, supporting the use and exploitation ofinteroperable collections and objects of geo-graphic, cultural, scholarly or scientific naturefrom libraries, archives and museums. In turn, theyfacilitate exposure, discovery, and retrieval ofthese resources, which can be harvested bye-Portfolios, thus completing the circle.

As depicted in Fig. 2, such LORs could act aspreservation and collection building tools (ELAG,2005). The role of the librarian could be metadataediting, evaluation, and providing access to materialsheld therein, administering IPR and other licenses.

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Figure 1 A learning landscape (Source: Tosh and Werdmuller).

EVALUATE/ MONITOR

PRESERVATION

METADATA EDITING

COLLETION MNGT.

PROVIDE ACCESS

PROVIDE SUPPORT

ADMINISTER

IPR/ LICENCES

Figure 2 Learning object repository system and services (Source: ELAG, 2005).

S. Chandra, V. Patkar4

Cyberinfrastrucutre

The ‘‘cyberinfrastructure’’ as reported in the Atkinset al report (2003) aims at empowering radical newways of conducting research through the applica-tions of information technology. Physical infra-structure embedded and hidden in the use ofhigh-speed networks and advanced computingforms one layer. Intangibles like software, designprocesses, raw data and processed informationconstitute another layer. The cyberinfrastructurelayer, in the broadest sense, constitutes the in-between layer of enabling hardware, algorithms,software, communications, institutions and person-nel. By integrating both these layers, the cyberin-

frastructure layer develops and deploys applica-tions that contribute to enhancing the total qualityof information processing. Such a layer can act asan enabler by hosting the technologies that servethe entire learning landscape comprising of digitallibraries (DLs) and e-portfolios. Such grid technol-ogies have the capability of facilitating moresecure, efficient and better e-Learning solutions.The cyberinfrastructure would promote extensivenetworking and multidisciplinary research leadingultimately to the formation of e-science/e-re-search communities (Patkar & Chandra, 2006).The grid technologies are facilitating a secondphase of DL, by not only providing more securesolutions for implementations but also more secure

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ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning process 5

environments for better DL services. Similarly,these grids could act as hosts to the LORs, storingcomplex digital objects, thus rendering enhancedrole for the librarians towards the long-termpreservation and curation of data (Messerchmitte,2003).

E-Learning and libraries

E-Learning, in the wider perspective, connotes aknowledge-centric rather than a course-centricapproach. Such an approach allows the user toquery the knowledge base to learn about any topic.This knowledge base builds on a variety ofresources such as documents, websites, experts,communities, tools and events. Libraries as hosts tomany of the elements of this knowledge base act asan enabler to the e-Learning process. Providingaccess to information sources and repositories suchas archives, print and electronic collections anddatabases could educate users further. It would beinteresting to understand the role of the library insuch a learning milieu.

Current library services

Library resources and services act as primaryknowledge resource for both research and training,and therefore, libraries as institutional accesspoints play an important role in the learningprocess. Research productivity has generally beenfound directly related to access to the libraryresource. Libraries have traditionally been focusingon infrastructure development to create system-wide efficiencies by providing integrated librarycatalogs and openly available metadata-based on-line support and access to journals and otherinformation sources for resource sharing. Theseefforts are directed at enhancing the effectivenessof technologies in the library operations; however,the issue today is how technology will influence theway library users behave and expect (Dempsey,2006, p. 30) The current ‘‘pull’’ type libraryservices have aimed at bringing together servicesand data holdings from different sources to meetthe user demand. Integrated library systems,openly available abstracting and indexing servicesand electronic journals supporting the library web-sites have traditionally been operated as stand-alone systems. Such library systems shared re-sources across networks but limited user interac-tions for co-creation, and modification, tailored toindividual needs.

The omnipresent web has given the user acreative expression and a feeling of fulfillment, ofhaving searched all the information ever producedfor their information needs. In order to serve theclients in such an environment the library isincreasingly required to adopt the ‘‘push’’ typeapproach for library services. For example, li-braries today are gathering data regarding users(like checked-out items, preferred searches andsearch alerts), RSS aggregators, bookmarks, tool-bars, plug-ins and various mechanisms and employ-ing them to configure, shape and integrate thelibrary resources and extend services to the net-works and even personal digital diaries of theinterested users. In other words the library is tocompete with other information sources andservice providers.

Future library services in e-Learningenvironments

The cultural renaissance brought about by Web 2.0,a term first coined by Tim O’Reilly and DaleDougherty, is being extended to techniques oflibrarianship. The term ‘‘Library 2.0’’ is beingcoined and deliberated upon (Mannes, 2006). Theworld today is driven by access, information, andspeed. Integration of the Library 2.0 environmentwith the IT enablement of the learning processpromises eliminating barriers of time and distance,creating on-demand services and providing univer-sal learning opportunities for people—an extensiveassortment of information and education at theclick of a mouse. Such a scenario raises thequestion as to how libraries can blend or redefinetheir own services and systems so as to address theneeds of the new e-Learning environments.

The e-Learning environments provide librariesthe collaborative possibilities of exposing libraryservices, creating and maintaining digital assetrepositories and creating standards for interoper-ability. Libraries have the challenge of deployingtheir services in new learning environments, using atechnology that is constantly evolving. Librarianshave a vital role to play in each of the stages of thee-Learning process. Working in synchronizationwith the faculty members, IT specialists andinstructional designers, library professionals, inparticular, can gainfully contribute to the pre-authoring process, as also with metadata schemasfor content development and management (CARLe-Learning Working Group, 2005, p. 22).

Further, creation and sharing of peer-reviewedlearning resources with colleagues in specificdisciplines can lead to continuous improvement of

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S. Chandra, V. Patkar6

the learning resource. This can reap economicbenefits by avoiding duplication of common learn-ing material. Thus, digital rights management(DRM) that harps on the critical mechanism ofintellectual property can be efficiently performedas libraries with their long-standing experience indealing with copyright issues can provide significantinput.

As shown in Table 1, collaborative opportunitiesalso exist towards integrating existing and newlibrary services into the e-Learning infrastructureby offering new form of delivery like displaying avariety of information windows in the digital diariesof users in customized formats. Introducing copyrightinformation and software that checks plagiarism,providing virtual reference services (VRS) and third-party commercial information services, and embed-ding training modules to assist in informationseeking, are some other library services in e-Learningenvironments. Library services should be integratedwith LMS such as WebCt, Blackboard, DesireLearn,ANGEL or Moodle at the point of need to be mosteffective. It should be incorporated in such a mannerthat a single login makes possible access to all coursecomponents, direct links to e-journal articles, inter-library loan, online interactive reference servicesand content resources to the LMS (CARL e-LearningWorking Group, 2005, 22). Librarians could work inconjunction with faculty to:

�

offer classes or embed courses to sharpen theinformation-seeking skills of students, � help them to explore, besides finding, the most

useful information resource,

� guide in the consolidation of sharable resource

libraries,

� assess and evaluate a resource critically, and � organize metadata for online resources

Indian e-Learning scenario

As the second largest populous nation in the world,India has the dubious distinction of having the

Table 1 e-Learning and library.

Stage of e-Learning process Library involvement

Pre-authoring Selecting/evaluating/aContent development Metadata/information

library systemsCourse management Plagiarism, intellectuaExternal database interface Knowledge managemeDelivery Delivery

world’s largest illiterate population. A recentamendment to the Indian constitution makeseducation a fundamental right for children in theage group of six to fourteen. However to meet theeducational demand of over 300 million students inthis age group, provision of adequate educationalinfrastructure like classrooms and laboratories inschools and colleges has hardly been possible. Theliteracy rate in the rural areas is just 56% (Singh,2002). India has 192 million illiterate women, whichis nearly one-third of illiterate women in the world.There is also an acute shortage of good teachers.The average teacher to student ratio is 1:58 in ruralareas. No wonder inexperienced and not socompetent teachers are being employed manytimes resulting in poor quality of teaching. Despiteall such limitations, the country has a large turnaround of a far more enthusiastic younger genera-tion that strives to acquire skills, particularly in theIT domain and reading and writing in Englishlanguage. Still there remains a huge challenge ofproviding basic education to all. Moreover, in theemerging economic scenario, learning will have tobe a continuous activity, as against a ‘‘one-time’’activity in the past. There would be nothing as the‘‘right’’ skills forever.

To meet the requirement of basic education onthe one hand and that of upgrading and renewal ofskills of such a large workforce on the other, e-Learning is seen as one of the best options for Indiaas:

�

ssesee

l pnt

a few good teachers can reach a whole lot ofpopulation, without restrictions of geography,time, sex, religion, caste or creed,

� better quality of study material and collabora-

tive tools like discussion boards, chats and emailsupport give students more interactivity,

� the self-paced nature of the e-Learning modules

allows even the slow learners to catch up withthe rest of the class,

� e-Learning emphasizes continuous learning and

promotes ‘‘just-in-time’’ and ‘‘just enough’’learning for busy professionals or executives,

ssing learning objectsking training modules/federation of integrated

roperty rights/copyright/digital rights managementactivities and virtual reference service

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ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning process 7

�

the scalability and ubiquity enables employeesto be trained on a variety of skills andtechnologies conveniently and cost effectively.

The rhetoric apart, the reality is that e-Learningis still a new phenomenon to a vast majority of theIndian universities and institutions. It is currentlymore prevalent in the IT sector with most IT firmsoffering online training courses for their employeesstationed at geographically dispersed locations.

Several universities in India do have a distanceeducation program for undergraduates and post-graduates in disciplines of arts, commerce andmathematics using some form of communicationmedia, however, their intake and growth has beenfar from the desired proportion (Ghosh). Thesecourses by and large still supply traditional paper-based notes and reading material and supplementthat by organizing once a week physical contactwith local designated instructors for the registeredstudents. Some of the major reasons for the non-use of ICTs for this purpose are as follows:

�

lack of penetration of ICTs in semi-urban andrural India, � lack of reliable communications infrastructure

and insufficient bandwidth,

� lack of course content, except in the field of IT, � lack of content in vernacular Indian languages as

most of the content is still in English,

� lack of psychological acceptance due to absence

of the ‘‘personal touch’’ associated with class-room lessons,

� lack of teachers and experts for development,

deployment and delivery of the e-Learningsolutions, as also a lack of experience andunderstanding of the e-Learning market,

� lack of standards and a long gestation period for

implementation.

A few educational institutions in India that offere-Learning courses are (Patel, 2006):

1.

Birla Institute of Technology and Science(BITS), Pilani,

2.

Indian Institute(s) of Technology (IITs), 3. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies

(NMIMS), Mumbai,

4. Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU),

Bangalore, Karnataka,

5. Y.B.Chavan State Open University, Maharash-

tra,

6. Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Madhya

Pradesh,

7. Indira Gandhi National Open University

(IGNOU),

8.

All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE),

9.

Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), 10. National Council of Educational Research and

Training (NCERT),

11. University Grants Commission (UGC).

These institutions of higher learning have where-withal to set up on-line video conference facilitiesand virtual laboratories to give the feel of a reallaboratory. India is the first country to have anexclusive satellite namely, the EDUSAT for educa-tional purposes that was launched in September2004. EDUSAT networking is being implementedthrough the apex institutions (the last five in theabove list) to expand the educational facilities tothe remotest areas where a college-level educa-tional institution is located. For example, thestudents and faculty of 120 engineering collegesaffiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological Universityspread over urban and rural parts of the state ofKarnataka are greatly benefited by the sessions ontechnical topics conducted daily through theEDUSAT as they get an opportunity to interact withthe experts and also see the best visual representa-tions of the concepts and working of instrumentsand machines that is otherwise not possible. About2700 schools in the backward districts of thecountry are also using this facility with advantage.It is noteworthy that ten schools for blind areserved by the special transmission organized viaEDUSAT in the state of Gujarat (SPACE, 2005).

LIS services and e-Learningdevelopments in India

The concept of e-Learning has not yet been fullyconceived in the LIS field though there are a fewexceptions of prototype development of e-Learningmodules for library management. Libraries in Indiain general are not yet equipped with the necessaryinfrastructure, both hardware and software, toface the challenges of e-Learning in the broaderterm. So far only a handful initiatives and experi-ences with library networking and collaboration,DLs (including one on traditional knowledge andexperiments), IRs and open access publishing areavailable in the Indian context.

The ‘‘Digital Library of India’’ project is onedevelopment under which digitizing books predomi-nantly in the Indian language is undertaken as acontribution to the digitization of one million booksproject initiated by Carnegie Mellon University(Balakrishnan, 2005). This is done using the specially

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S. Chandra, V. Patkar8

developed ‘‘Om’’ language transliteration package.Application of Next Generation technology andimproved quality of scanning and transliterationsoftware employed in such projects would help bringdigital audio and video beyond text to the millions ofilliterate and semi-literate rural masses. Similarly astrategic plan for a digital library for Indian farmers(DLIF) (Jain and Goria, 2006), if implemented, couldopen the gates for online publication and dissemina-tion of multilingual text, audio and video documentsfor farmers. Besides providing authentic informationand agricultural literacy programs to the 103 millionfarm families spread across 127 agro-climatic zoneson the subjects of crops and animals, such a DL couldbe a source of authentic extension literature for theagricultural extension workers. Each DL course and orproject could be so structured so as to havecomponents of information literacy for these work-ers. Besides addressing the professional informationneeds of individuals, such information literacymodules could incorporate training on legal issuesfor example, issues related to land rights or thoserelated to marriage and dowry, bank loan procedures,employment advice, education information by beinglinked to university systems, etc. Such a DL could playa pro-active role of a public library linking farmersat the local level to the national and then theinternational level.

IRs in the country, though few at present, offerthe promise of opening the gates of knowledge foracademics, researchers and students by supplyingrelevant information at affordable price. Some ofthe important open digital repository initiatives inIndia are:

1.

Eprints of the Indian Institute of Science(http://eprints.iisc.ernet.in),

2.

National Chemical Laboratory (http://dspa-ce.ncl.res.in/dspace/index.jsp),

3.

National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (http://ncralib.ncra.tifr.res.in/dspace),

4.

University of Hyderabad (http://202.41.85.207:8080/dspace/index.jsp),

5.

Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore (http://library.isibang.ac.in:8080/dspace/),

6.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi(http://eprint.iitd.ac.in/dspace).

In addition, open access publishing in India iscoming up in a significant way. This can be seenfrom the availability of several open accessjournals brought out by the,

�

Indian National Science Academy (http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/insa), � OpenMED (http://openmed.nic.in).

Such open archiving IRs and DLs in the countrycould be harnessed to aggregate, create anddisseminate a knowledge base that is merged withlocal content wherever possible. They could leveragee-Learning environments in the country using theincreased bandwidth and improved services to buildvarious customized training applications for ruralIndia. The cyberinfrastructure efforts of the countrynamely, GARUDA, that is a collaboration of physicaland natural science researchers and experimenterson a nationwide grid of computational nodes, massstorage and scientific instruments, can play animportant role in technological enhancement topermit ubiquitous environments (Mohan & Ramkrish-nan, 2006). While the Indian government hasstressed the role of books in the learning process,the role of libraries towards literacy has receivedlesser attention. The current framework for distanceeducation programs in the country should incorpo-rate access to library resources and services equiva-lent to the students in campus settings. Besidesstudents could be offered VRS by libraries to assistthem in searching online catalogs, finding journalarticles, ways of effectively using the internet to findquality, reliable and authentic sources. Such servicescould also enlighten students on issues of plagiarismand copyrights. These type of environments couldhelp the national literacy mission too by enabling aparallel learning process, thereby breaking upon theneed for the cycle of literacy followed by computerand/or information literacy.

A modular approach to the curriculum forInformation studies, proposed by Lang in 1982 in aUNESCO report, and later advocated by C.R.Kar-isiddappa (Karisiddappa, 2004), building uponVasant Gowariker, proposes an LIS graduate course-work with six core modules and one electivemodule. The worked out modules as stated bythem are:

Module-1: Foundations of Library and Informa-tion Science,Module-2: Knowledge Organization, InformationProcessing and Retrieval,Module-3: Information Sources, Products andServices,Module-4: Management of Library and Informa-tion Centers/Institutions,Module-5: Information Technology: Basics andApplications,Module-6: Research Methods and StatisticalTechniques,Module-7: Electives: Information Systems.

Each of these modules can be developed into aweb-based e-Learning component as is evident by

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ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning process 9

some segments of the LEEP /http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/leepS program for the LIS coursebeing offered by the University of Illinois Urbana—

Champaign. This way of imparting learning wouldfurther enhance effectiveness.

Library and Information Science faculty in thecountry have already started exploration of theeffective medium of the web to enhanced learning.VidyaOnline a prototype web-based hybrid, mod-ular, interactive learning system for the library andinformation science courses was developed byVidyasagar University, in the state of West Bengal(Mukhopadhyay, 2006). VidyaOnline supports all theforms of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)namely, WBT, online learning and a digitallyinteractive student management subsystem. Thesoftware architecture is comprised of Free andOpen Source Software (FOSS): Linux as operatingsystem, Apache as a web server, MySQL as arelational database, PHP as a scripting language(LAMP) architecture and the Moodle course man-agement system. To begin with, a course on theMARC 21 Bibliographic Format and KOHA, the firstopen source web integrated 4th generation librarymanagement software was introduced. The futureextensions envisage development of a Benaglilanguage based courseware on KOHA, in view ofthe immense possibilities that the software offersfor automation of public libraries in West Bengal.

Similarly, the Department of Library and Infor-mation Science of IGNOU developed an e-Learningsystem for LIS courses under the National Informa-tion System for Science and Technology (NISSAT)project. The e-Learning module was aimed atproviding skills to the learners in practical work ofcreating and searching databases for the Windowsversion (WINIS) of the CDS/ISIS software that is aninformation retrieval package developed by UN-ESCO (Kanjilal & Ghosh). Keeping in mind the factthat a vast majority of learners may not haveInternet accessibility, the e-Learning course forWINIS was developed in a dual mode, via Web andon CD-ROM. The LMS incorporates e-mails, chats,discussion forums, automatic assessment, studenttracking and feedback generation with greatemphasis being paid on helping the learner in aguided learning process.

Recently an interesting web-based e-Learninginitiative in the LIS was launched namely, the Indo-German ‘‘eGurukul’’ on DLs. This is a jointe-Learning initiative of the Document Researchand Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore using theMoodle software (http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/mmb).A host of courses are offered. Registered studentsreceive attention by individual instructors, fol-lowed by an online assessment. However, the true

capabilities of this initiative would be achieved byincorporating practical experience with its theore-tical courses, for example, by creating a DL.Students stand to gain further if this initiativecould be linked with international projects forcourse credits and certificates, thus also acting as asource of continuing education program for theworking professionals.

Concluding remarks

The vast potential of ICTs application in develop-ment in general and in education in particular, ifexploited suitably, can do wonders for a countrylike India. For instance, the virtual classes and DLsembedded with a local language interface canenhance access to knowledge for the rural Indianyouth to compete reasonably well with others(Yajnik). Since e-Learning modules offer richvisualizations they could help even ordinary peopleto march on the information literacy path irrespec-tive of their socio-economic status.

It is envisaged that e-Learning can be success-fully used to re-skill large workforces that becomeredundant, for example in the wake of closure ofoutdated industrial units or their diversification(Detecon and Diebold, 2002). It can also helpacquiring necessary details and develop entrepre-neurial attitude among the unemployed youngpersons who can look beyond jobs at the CallCenters. Experience available from a pilot projecton networking of six villages by ICTs to develop adatabase about relevant local information and itsdissemination shows promising results (Chandra,2002).

The workplace training of technical and otherstaff is becoming essential for firms to remaincompetitive. And they can suitably use e-Learningand allied methods for training purposes becausethat can be done with the least disruption of thenormal activities.

Libraries will have the challenge to remainrelevant in the Internet-driven information explo-sion era. They will be required to constantly adaptto the changes brought about by advances in ICTs(Patkar, 2006). Library professionals would also playa significant part in e-Learning process as discussedin the section ‘‘Future library services in e-Learningenvironments’’. For this purpose tailored programsfor the professional staff are to be organized toupdate their knowledge periodically. Movingfurther, the libraries can contribute markedly tomulti-disciplinary research by employing numerousfeatures of the cyberinfrastructure (Patkar &Chandra, 2006).

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There are more than 54,000 public libraries inIndia and sizable numbers of them are languishing.They deserve special attention because they canact as vital nodes in spreading literacy andproviding local information. Time-bound programsare needed to modernize these public libraries atthe earliest. Coverage of the public librariesthrough EDUSAT network could also prove bene-ficial. Efforts by the organization like DELNET—

Developing Library Network, New Delhi (www.delnet.nic.in) to establish ‘‘knowledge centers’’by bringing together the public libraries andlearning institutions in each region of India is onenoteworthy initiative (Kaul, 2006). However, it is astupendous task and would require substantialcontribution by private organizations too.

It happens that like any other new medium,e-Learning, while solving the problems of theprevious media, creates new ones of its own(Levinson, 1997). The problems of limited class-room and lack of other infrastructure in impartingtraining and education on a massive scale isovercome by the e-Learning mode, but, it alsogives rise to a ‘‘copy-paste’’ tendency on part ofthe students, for example. It is therefore necessaryto develop standards and guidelines to establish thecredibility of the e-Learning courses to gain wideracceptance by the employers. Of course otherproblems like non-availability of reliable electricitysupply, high prices of computer and low networkconnectivity and bandwidth are to be addressed bythe authorities to make the best use of the ICTs byindividuals and institutions located in any part ofthe country.

In our view, e-learning, which encompasses lit-eracy, technical skill and intellectual capital forma-tion support by the modern library services, wouldgive an opportunity to a large Indian populace to jointhe mainstream of development and contribute tobuild a civic society. Due to their several advanta-geous features, the ICTs, if implemented withprofessional care, would certainly facilitate in bring-ing about such a transformation. To that endadequate investments in ICTs and concerted effortsfor promoting their applications in learning environ-ments should get the highest priority.

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