BIOLOGÍA Y GEOLOGÍA DE 1º DE BACHILLERATO

This section examines how the LIM field is regarded within Vietnamese society. I have drawn on documentary evidence, and have used data from the interviewees about the views of people who work inside and outside the LIM field, regarding the LIM field’s roles in educational, economic and cultural development.

In an article in the Vietnam Library Journal an official of the Beta Ministry who works for a department that supervises universities made a positive comment, claiming that the library is an important element of a university (B. N. Vu, 2009). She stated that the teaching and learning activities should be developed around the library:

It is time for the library to become the pride of the university. It is the centre of all activities in the university. We cannot change and develop the national education system to international levels without significant change and deep reform in the academic libraries. They have to become an important criterion in verifying and evaluating universities in Vietnam. (B. N.Vu, 2009)

The Manager of Hoa Binh Library supported the above view, providing evidence of society’s interest in the LIM field. He said the library system had, in recent years, been given a significant budget for developing infrastructure and enhancing libraries’

177 capacities. “I can see the government and society have changed their views on the LIM field. Budgets for libraries have been increased. Libraries are now the heart of universities.”

However, although there is a high expectation from society in terms of the role and the contribution of libraries to national development, the capacity of libraries, especially the academic library system, still does not meet the demands of university development nor the demands of national education development. The report of MOET in 2010 showed a negative image of academic libraries:

The libraries have poor resources. The information resources in libraries do not meet the demands of information users in terms of quality and quantity. The teaching methods mostly focus on theory rather than on practice and are based on teacher-centred methods. As a result the ability of self-study among students is not good. Libraries have to play an important role in changing education. (MOET, 2010c)

The Chairperson of the Gamma Association shared his experience about the viewpoint of society on the LIM field, and explained why libraries and information centres still do not meet the demands of society. He said:

The LIM field plays an important role in community and social development. In theory, people said information resources were very important for the development of the nation. However, the fact is different. In our society, I can see that although people do not use LIM organisations, they still complete their tasks at organisations or universities. The say they can be successful without using information from the LIM organisations. (GA-Official)

He continued that one of the roles of LIM associations was to heighten public awareness of the value of LIM organisations. The Manager of Kim Ma Library commented on the attitude of one professor about using the library. The professor had said he and his students did not need to use materials in the library and could still complete their teaching and learning tasks. The Manager concluded, “we have to change this attitude. However, it is a difficult mission because it involves many stakeholders including the government, universities, libraries and lecturers.” A LIM practitioner stated:

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We have to carry out reform in education. In particular, we have to change our current teaching methods and learning styles so that they require the active and creative participation of teachers and students. To do that, we have to have effective libraries, otherwise it is very hard to change the current teaching and learning methods. (KM-Staff2)

Pointing out reasons why people do not use much information from LIM organisations, the Chairperson of the Gamma Association addressed the following issues. First, this was because of the ways people study, teach and do research in universities and other institutions. People could work with limited information resources. He said:

For example, when someone is doing research, he first has to explore whether the topic has been done or not, or who has done similar work, or at least he has to have an adequate list of references. In fact, however, he implements his research without doing this step. People said they are still successful without using information resources from the LIM organisation. (GA-Official)

Some academic library managers said that a similar situation exists because of teacher- centred methods which are still popular in universities in Vietnam. As a result, students just used course books that lecturers gave them, and repeated what they learned from the book in the final exams in order to pass the exams.

The second reason is that the information resources held in LIM organisations are poor in terms of quality and quantity. They do not meet the demands of information users. As a result, people cannot rely on information resources in LIM organisations. A lecturer from Hoan Kiem School said she normally had to buy books for her work, and sometimes asked for help from overseas friends. A manager said that academic libraries had introduced some international data resources, but they bought limited access databases rather than a full database. Therefore, this resource could not fully meet customer needs.

There was an attitude that libraries were organisations which did not need skilled staff. This could be seen at all levels of government management. The Vice-Director of Gia Lam Library claimed that leaders still thought that people who worked in libraries were not qualified staff and that people did not need to have a LIM education to work in libraries because they could learn after being employed.

179 This viewpoint also appeared in the top level of leadership in government. A statement made by a Vice-Director of a MOET department raised a formidable reaction from the LIM community. He said in an interview about enhancing the quality of teachers that if teachers did not meet the required standards, MOET would ask them to be school drummers (to beat drums at schools to remind teachers and students of the time to start and finish a learning session) or librarians. A LIM practitioner commented that this perception would destroy the LIM field. Another LIM practitioner was disappointed with the viewpoint of the Vice-Director, and he said people who work in libraries have to be educated in LIM competencies. If the top leadership holds this view, the LIM field would not have a bright future, the librarian commented. The Director of a public library reported on comments made by its governing department Director about human resource management. The LIM Manager said:

It is so disappointing; the Director looks at our library as a rubbish bin. People who cannot work will be sent to our organisation. Those people all the time like to chat and gossip. They hold Bachelor’s degrees but do not have any knowledge about LIM science. They are not willing to undertake tasks that they have to do in the library. (CC-Manager)

Another perception was that LIM career was mostly suitable for women. A senior practitioner observed that “people still think this job is suitable only for women, and the fact is that the number of women is much greater than of men” (GL-Staff4). The official of Alpha Ministry explained that the reason for this view was that the general image of a librarian’s job was that it consisted of keeping books and allowing readers to borrow them; it was not a busy and hard job. For many library employees, having a job in a library means they have more time to do other work outside the library. She pointed out that “in Vietnamese culture women still take the main responsibility for housework. So people think a librarian's job is good for women” (AM-Official). The issue of the majority of staff in LIM being women was examined in Section 5.3.

The views discussed above show the need to change society’s perceptions about the LIM field. The Director of the LIM Department at the Alpha Ministry said that the image of people who work in the LIM field has been changing in society and the role of LIM organisations was being acknowledged. She believed, however, that it was necessary for

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the LIM field to get people in society to understand more about the role of LIM organisations as well as LIM practitioners. The Director shared her experience:

For developing the image of the LIM field in society, I recently mobilised all the resources from LIM organisations, government departments, and people to develop a “reading culture” for Vietnamese people. The society emphasises education, but people do not like reading. It is very surprising. I organised some communication campaigns and marketing for the national reading days. Many national and international media broadcasted the campaigns. The effect was very good and it spread through the whole community. (AM-Official)

From the data analysis, it can be seen that society still does not have a real respect for people who work in the LIM field, although LIM organisations play an important role in educational and cultural developments. LIM practitioners recognise that they have to take action to change the attitude of society. LIM practitioners who are knowledgeable in technology and have digital competence would improve the image of librarians. In addition, LIM practitioners needed to make an effort to change their image. The effects of these views on the development of the LIM field and DLE as well as the investment and policies for the field are discussed further in Chapter 8.