ESCENARIOS DE PRUEBAS

3.2 Changing Role of the Librarian in the ICT World 4.0 Conclusion

5.0 Summary

6.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This Unit will educate you with the understanding of the impact of ICT to library and information services. This unit does not intend to make you an ICT expert rather to help you explore the impact of ICT and give you a working knowledge of what ICT can do to facilitate the provision of information resources and services in libraries. It is also meant to encourage you on how you would experiment ICT in library operations.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to understand

• The impact of ICT on library collection.

• The impact of ICT on library staff

• The impact of ICT on library users

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Impact of Ict To Library and Information Services

Rapid advances in ICT have brought revolutionary changes in the concepts, organization, functioning and management of libraries. The impact of these changes is affecting all the aspects of library operations, information resources and services, staff skills requirement and users expectations. Some of the notable impacts on libraries, staff, and users are:

1. Impact of ICT on Library Collection: Library collection goes beyond the print materials and includes the CDs/DVDs,audio &

video cassettes, e-books e-journals and e-databases. The traditional paper as a medium of storage is getting replaced with electronic media. In India, many national and international origin

and Koha, NewGenLib etc. Open Source Software) are available for library automation. In India, UGC-INFONET, DELNET, and INDEST etc. consortiums are in action. Internet technology provides a wide scope for communication and information search across the globe.

2. Impact on Library Staff: Information and communication technology has changed the duties, responsibilities, andfunctions of the library professionals. The changing environment forces the librarian to become ICT skilled, dynamic, ready to accept the changes and challenges and outfit the requirements of library users, because, without change, management of library could not be survived.

3. Impact on Library Users: Library users can remote access the worldwide information through their desktops without anytime and distance limitations (24 x 7 x 365 days). Current users need to possess basic technical skills to access the information in electronic media. In the age of technology, users have multiple sources of information such as the Internet, commercial and non-commercial information service providers. As a result, the library is not the only source of information provider for users

4. Impact of ICT on Society: Development in ICT have brought about the merger of the computing, information,Communications, entertainment, and mass media industries thereby providing a means of exchanging information anytime, anywhere in the digital format used by computers. This technological convergence has brought about an enormous impact on the way we live, work, think and play. These changes are quite prevalent in our everyday lives such as the use of e-mail and cellular phones at home and in the workplace and also linked to all facets of society: business, education, military, recreation, transportation, communication, scientific exploration, knowledge management, etc.

5. Impact of ICT to Change the Scenario of Libraries: ICT has changed the nature of academic libraries. A variety of termssuch as hybrid, digital and virtual library are used to refer to the academic library. A digital library can be defined as a “Managed collection of information with associated services where the information is stored in digital format and accessible over a network”. The virtual library has been defined as “Remote access to the content and services of libraries and other information resources, combining an on-site collection of current heavily used materials both print and in electronic form with an electronic network which provides access to and delivers from the external

electronic resources and paper-based resources”. From the definitions, it is clear that most of today’s academic libraries fall in the hybrid category. The internet has made information access and retrieval both simple and complex. Information retrieval systems are being designed to suit the need of end users and therefore try to simplify the process. Simultaneously however the user is overwhelmed with so much information resources and choices that the process becomes complex.

 ICT made information creation in digital format possible.

 ICT made online access and file transfer possible.

 ICT made networking and sharing of information resources possible.

The shift from print to digital information has a high impact on libraries, information centers and other institutions directly involved in processing information. This shift is generally attributed to the merging of computing, telecommunications technologies, and other industries.

Computers have permeated society because of their ability to perform high volume error-free repetitive tasks at speeds much faster than human beings, while recent and emerging developments in the area of computing; telecommunications, networking and resource sharing made access to information anytime, anywhere possible.

With the developments and application of ICT, the whole scenario of libraries has changed. There is a shift from traditional libraries to hybrid libraries. We see the emergence of libraries with different nomenclatures operating in the universe of knowledge. These libraries are automated libraries, electronic libraries, digital libraries or ubiquitous virtual libraries. In the web environment there has emerged the concept of Library 2.0. All these libraries are using different information technology applications for performing activities ranging from the acquisition of materials to the dissemination of information.

6. Impact of ICT on Library Collection Management: In this age of information explosion electronic resources has made collection management a very complex and challenging task. There is a budgetary constraint, numerous formats, everchanging user needs. Collection management implies involvement in tasks such as analysis of needs, negotiation of contracts and evaluation of resources:

Electronic Resources: ICT has fundamentally changed academic/college library collections. Forever gone is theera when academic library’s physical collection determined its stature. In the modern networked technological era, the emphasis is shifted from

print or paper-based journal which isdisseminated electronically in some form or other directly to the user. Since its inception in 1665 the printed journal remained the primary vehicle for communication among academics and researchers but there had been major increases in the cost of journal subscription during the last decades. Between 1986 and 1996 the average increase per journal subscription had been 147%. The advent of the internet transformed publishing radically made it possible to publish cheaply. The Internet also made access universally available.

E-Books: E-Books are essentially published books and reference