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90 The Professional Manager 13th Issue October 201790 The Professional Manager 13th Issue October 2017

Libraries have been around for 5,000

years. If they were not essential in-

stitutions, they would have died out

long ago. The pre-historic record in-

dicate that the first formal library ap-

peared in what’s known as the “fertile

crescent” or “cradle of civilization” in

Southwest Asia. In Sri Lanka a tradi-

tion of establishing libraries in seats

of learning had continued to date.

The ‘Pothgul Vihares’ or ‘Pothgulas’

(libraries) are a case in point. The

Polonnaruwa Pothgul Viharaya and

the Hanguranketha Pothgul Maliga

Raja MahaViharaya are some living

examples of the tradition of libraries

in the country. These were monastic

libraries.

The current library system is, there-

fore, the outcome of a slow and

steady process of evolution. A major

transition in the country has been

shifting from the arena of operation

of libraries from religious centres to

social institutions. Some say that the

internet and e-books make libraries

unnecessary. But it has been proved a

myth and a fallacy. A modern library

is a synthesis of both electronically in-

duced as well as published collections

of information.

In this backdrop a modern library in

essence is, in fact, a hybrid system, a

confluence of both recorded knowl-

edge found in published works as well

as transient current knowledge made

accessible through electronic inter-

faces. The PIM’s Prof. Uditha Liyanage

Memorial Library (PULML) stands

tall as the most accomplished man-

agement library in the South Asian

region.

PULML is Economically Efficient by Going Lean and GreenThe planning of the PIM building put

up in 1996, wouldn’t have envisaged

the current expansion both student

October 2017 13th Issue The Professional Manager 91

number-wise and subject-wise. In

these circumstances PULML has gone

‘green’ while being economically effi-

cient. Its model of sharing, therefore,

allows serving many customers with

the available resources. It’s a fine bal-

ance maintained between economy

and efficiency. Herein 5S has been in-

strumental in enhancing the utility at

least cost especially in the usage of its

physical assets. The PULML has gone

‘green’ by making most of its opera-

tions electronically efficient, especial-

ly by setting up a paperless documen-

tation process.

What is Unique at the PULML

The PIM offers a wide range of post-

graduate degrees focusing on Busi-

ness Management and Business

Administration. These courses are

sought after a wide segment of middle

to senior level executives and manag-

ers who are required to go through a

rigorous course of learning, hands on

experiences on real and conceptual

issues, presentations of assignments

and extensive discussions. Among the

various types of libraries the PULML

falls into the category of Academic Li-

braries.

An academic library is a library that is

attached to a higher education insti-

tution which serves two complemen-

tary purposes to support the school’s

curriculum, and to support the re-

search endeavours of the university

faculty and students. As a specialized

library it serves a well-defined branch

of study, namely management, un-

der a higher educational institution.

Therefore, the PULML is ready to ca-

ter to most of the needs of students

and researchers, while responding

positively to the changing demands of

our main client groups- postgraduate

students, faculty and research super-

visors, students in interdisciplinary

studies, PIM alumni and corporate

readers.

PULML is a Special Library

The PULML is a special library. Any

common library has special col-

lections on different subjects. The

PULML differs as it is uniquely placed

as the most specialized library cov-

ering comprehensively publications

coming within the broad spectrum

of management. A rich collection of

publications on almost every facet of

management including Information

92 The Professional Manager 13th Issue October 2017

systems, Micro and macroeconom-

ics. Managerial finance, Business and

Commercial Law, General Manage-

ment, Organizational Behaviour, Man-

agerial Skills and Communication,

Business Policy and Strategy, Market-

ing, Research Methods, Managerial

Economics, Data Analytics, Human

Resource Management, Consumer

Behaviour, and Entrepreneurship, are

among the major components of man-

agement found within its precincts.

A further specialty is that any publi-

cation on management that sees the

light of day get accessed and settled in

its due place. So quick is the process

of searching, discovering and procur-

ing the relevant publications, and the

user population has only to ask what

they wish.

Functions of the PULMLThe PULML being a part of the uni-

versity system it has a very vital role

to play in meeting the multi- dimen-

sional demands for information and

knowledge of students, teachers and

research scholars.The mission of this

library is, therefore, to provide sup-

port for teaching, learning, research,

and community engagement, and

more specifically to meet research

and informational needs of the insti-

tution’s academic programmes and

research activities by collecting pre-

serving and making available an ar-

ray of information relevant to the ac-

ademics and professionals, students,

Faculty and the research community.

In order to make resources available

to users easily and conveniently the

library plays a vital role in collecting,

processing, preserving and dissemi-

nating information. However, within

this broad user-interface priority is

obviously given to the largest stu-

dent-learner community. Programme

curricula provides the basis for en-

riching its periodic accessions.

Further, the PULML serves the us-

er-community by facilitating lending,

reference, periodical information ser-

vices, interlibrary loans, while provid-

ing emerging technology-based ser-

vices such as e-journal databases, Web

QPACs, Internet and servicing other

allied inputs. The collection compris-

es of books, periodicals, newspapers,

theses, reports and special collection

of government documents and wide

range of electronic resources.

Different Sections of the PULML

Similar to any full-fledged library the

PULML has seven departments name-

ly; Circulation, Reference, Serials,

Cataloguing, Acquisition, Technical,

and Administration. The Circulation

department is responsible for the

circulation of materials. The Refer-

ence department answers reference

regarding research and information

and assists patrons with research

materials and strategies. The Seri-

als Department manages all aspects

of serial publications of magazines,

scholarly journals, etc. The Cataloging

department is responsible for classi-

fication and creating metadata for in-

formation resources. The Acquisitions

department purchases materials and

is often combined with cataloguing

or serializing since the workflow

is closely interconnected with both

these functions. The Technical Depart-

ment is basically the library’s IT unit.

The Administration department is re-

sponsible for the overall operations

and management of library services.

Apart from these the library compris-

es of specialized unit for document

deliveries, interlibrary loans, user ed-

ucation and services, preservations,

as well as an enclave responsible for

institutional repositories. The PULML

also interacts with different informa-

tion networks to give easy access to

e-resources to more users so that they

could access the desired information

even from their workplace.


The PULML’s Customer-centric Services

During any academic year, the PULML

caters to about 1500 postgraduate

students of Business Management

and Public Sector management cours-

es. The course content is periodically

updated, and has a wide array of ref-

erencing materials (mandatory and

supplementary readings) for students

to explore in relevant subjects. Ac-

cordingly, it provides the student with

the state of the art materials, such as,

educational videos, e-books and full

text online databases, case studies,

periodicals, and books etc., The latest

best seller collections on manage-

ment are also stacked along with the

current settings.

The kind of services provided for

those who patronize the library range

from borrowing, referencing, infor-

mation inquiries etc. to research as-

sistance and multimedia support. At

the same time, it is also a fact that the

demand for such services fluctuate

heavily in tandem with the demand

from the academic activities, for an

example examination time, assign-

ment submissions, dissertation pe-

riods etc. As a result, there is a con-

siderable pressure on the resources,

systems and the personnel especially

during peak times.

The PULML has its own automated li-

brary system developed in collaborat-

ing with the Institute’s IT department

since 2008.Students also have access

to the “online catalogue” which is the

library web system that can be ac-

cessed through the PIM Learning Por-

tal (Prajna). Further, it has been de-

signed to provide essential comforts/

conveniences for the adult learner.

Thus the system adopted in it is a self-

served operation for them, and hence,

it is expected that all users will access

the catalogue and search for require-

ments in a professional manner. The

Library map is displayed at the en-

trance for users to get quick access to

specific collections. In order to locate

a book in the library, the readers need

to follow the Dewy Decimal Classifi-

cation (DDC) system. The shelf-ar-

rangement is designed especially to

avoid air congestion, and provide con-

venience for users when searching for

books.

For the PULML Service Excellence is Quality in ActionThe library team is committed to the

ongoing assessment of user-satisfac-

tion with the resources and services.

With a view to providing an ever im-

proving-service, the knowledge-base

as well as the access and facilities of

the library are continually enriched

and expanded in every semester,

while conducting online surveys twice

a year in order to get user feedbacks/

evaluations of the services provided.

The PULML team always make an ex-

tra effort to continuously improve the

service by carefully going through the

recommendations and suggestions

made by its users.

How does the Stakeholders Benefit by the PULMLBased on an ongoing rapport with the

PIM community, the PULML builds

and maintains collections and servic-

es to meet the Institution’s curricula

and research needs. The Library does

this by acquiring and organizing re-

sources, providing direct as well as

mediated access to information, par-

ticipating in cooperative programmes

with other libraries, and teaching

users to locate, obtain and evaluate

information. The Library works with

the Institute’s administration and fac-

ulty in the continual development of

its information basis.


Serving and servicing the Institute’s

academic and student communities

will take place parallel to the other at-

tempts made to make it a full-fledged

library. Among these attempts are

��

through examination of materials

in any format, and recommending

new titles for purchase as well as

titles for de-selection or “weed-

ing”.

��

the Institute’s administration to

continuously upgrade collections.

�� -

ties to partner with parallel insti-

tutions in the university system

for consortiums for purchase of re-

sources and access to information.

�� !-

ing with the IT department, and

continuing to redesign and re-

structuring internal lay out and

reviewing of Library policies and

procedures.

PULML’s Resources, Facilities

The PULML provides access to over

20000 volumes. The general collec-

tion comprises 99% in English. The

main part of the collection consists

of approximately 15000 volumes,

and they aim at postgraduate stud-

ies in different facets of business and

management. New acquisitions are

displayed for one month. There are

currently around 20 periodical titles

available in physical collection. These

are kept on display till the next issues

are received. Past issues of periodicals

are kept in pamphlet boxes for usage

when requested. The reference collec-

tion comprise of more than 5000 vol-

umes of most valuable publications. It

also includes ready reference sources

such as Dictionaries, Encyclopedias

and thesauruses etc.

Some special collections are available

only for referencing, and these include

Annual reports of corporates, videos,

PIM and Sri Lanka collections as well

as leisure-reading collections, includ-

ing a modest collection of fiction both

English and Sinhala.

Online access to many Full text articles and books including the PIM’s SLJMThe library offers many scholarly da-

tabases such as The Ebscohost, Em-

erald research databases. To provide

online access to many full text articles

and books. The PIM’s journal “Sri Lan-

kan Journal of management” (SLJM)

is also hosted on the Ebsco database

since 2016.

The Wisdom WindowThe “Wisdom Window” is a monthly

e- newsletter that provides a resource

base for information/knowledge

deemed important and essential for

the academic pursuits of the PIM com-

munity. With a view to improve the li-

brary communication it will continue

to appear as a monthly e- newsletter,

aimed at providing a bridge between

the Institute’s academic and student

communities specifically in provid-

ing vital information on the new ac-

quisitions to the PULML’s folds. The

Wisdom Window may be treated as a

unique introduction to the library sys-

tem as it provides an additional depth

to the more common communication

process.

The ‘Wisdom Window’ well accepted

by the faculty is on a path of contin-

uous improvement, the key concepts

adhered to being Kaizen, Creativi-ty and Innovation. In its continuous

march towards excellence the library

team has paid heed to the dictum,

“When it is obvious that the goals can-not be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust their action steps.”


Current digitalization processes

It is vitally important for all research

libraries to be engaging with digital

repository development projects in

some fashion. Libraries are making

diverse contributions to the develop-

ment of many types of digital repos-

itories, particularly those housing

locally created digital content. The

digital content of the Institute’s pub-

lished articles in the PIM’s journal “Sri

Lankan Journal of management” and

the magazine” Professional Manager”

and also the abstracts of theses from

its inception are managed in the PIM’s

own online repositories for easy ac-

cess.

The PULML is more open than usual

To provide convenient access for stu-

dents of the managerial working pop-

ulation, the PULML functions from

0830h to 2000h on weekdays and

from 0830h to 1800h on weekends

and public holidays. Seating space for

60 students is available in the Library,

ranging from individual study carrels

to open study tables with Wi-fi facili-

ty. The institute provides ample study

spaces where students can use for

discussion-related learning purposes.

The room “Logos” is especially dedi-

cated to the PhD student community

for their research discussions 24x7

hours, following a ‘more open than

usual’ policy.

A Holy Marriage between 5S and the PULML

If the above describes the PULML’s

contribution to the intellectual en-

hancement of its user-communi-

ty, its physical base has been made

productive and user-friendly by the

PIM’s ongoing 5S programme. In fact,

the introduction of 5S systems have

enlivened the PULML’s operational

structure. It is indeed appropriate for

a library to begin adopting well es-

tablished and easy-to-follow environ-

mental management technique as the

role of a library is to facilitate, sustain

and enhance learning and creation of

knowledge.

The Library has implemented the 5S

system in 2014 in its march towards

TQM (total quality management). It

has helped the library management

sort, straighten, shine, standardize

and sustain the PULML’s physical

structure and operational efficiency.

Its ultimate aim is to create a qual-

ity library. Space creation through

relocation and elimination of clutter

through continuous Seiri has been the

major contribution of the application

of 5S.

Conducting a thorough elimination

process through a Seiri campaign in


the year 2014 gave the much need-

ed space for the better utilization

of space in library. Relocations that

followed gave birth to a more ergo-

nomically friendly work station. Work

standards/KPIs were introduced for

cleaning and shelf-maintenance as

well as for notice boards-manage-

ment. Visual management techniques

such as the 3 D Library map /signage’s

/Course text book collection/Mis-

placed book identification/File man-

agement were also managed carefully

with the subsequent kaizen projects.

In short, the PULML reached its high-

est 5S achievement by receiving the

final 5th Star in March 2016, fulfilling

the requirements of the PIM’s 5SStar

Competition.

The PIM’s Heart named the Prof. Uditha Liyanage Memorial Library (PULML)

The true knowledge-base of a univer-

sity is its library. The PIM’S library

continues to fulfill its role as the heart

of the Institute, and its efficient func-

tioning contributes directly to the

PIM’s mission by equipping students

with the skills and knowledge they

need to achieve their academic objec-

tive, and ultimately to maximize their

adaptability, employability as well

as their contribution to the society.

Therefore, naming of the PIM library

as the Professor Uditha Liyanage Me-

morial Library PULML) on August 16,

2017, was for certain, an appropriate

climax of the events that had been

lined up on the second death anniver-

sary of the late Prof. Uditha Liyanage,

former Director of the Institute and a

thought leader of our times.

The PIM Library was named the Prof. Uditha Liyanage Memorial Library

The new student-centred paradigm

and new learning and teaching ap-

proaches have created the need for a

reconceptualisation of the roles and

responsibilities of universities and

their libraries. The PULML and the

PIM are conscious and alive to these

emerging trends.

pulml is economically efficient by going lean and green · herein 5s has been in- ... of government...

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