CALIBER-97, 6-8 March 1997, Patiala. pp. 1-4© INFLIBNET Centre. Ahmedabad

Theme Paper

Automation of Academic Libraries in India:Status, Problems and Future

LK. Ravichandra Rao

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses status. problems and future of the automation in academic librariesin India. Automation activities have picked up, at last! Challenges-manpower requirement,creation of machine readable catalogues, availability of fund-remain unchanged.

1. INTRODUCTION

INFLIBNET with an objective to promoteautomation activities in university libraries started in1991. Since then 70 universities have been funded byUGC under INFLIBNET programme; some moreuniversities have been funded for creating core facilitiesfor information access. Creation of National UnionCatalogues, development of software packages forlibraries, conducting training programmes for libraryprofessionals, providing help, guidance and on-site

. training to academic libraries in computerization andnetworking, etc are some of the major activities of theINFLIBNET.

With all these supports, academic libraries inIndia still face several challenges in automating thelibraries. Major challenges include [1,2]:

(a) Manpower requirement/development,(b) Availability of a suitable and adequate IT

infrastructure,(c) Design, development and maintenance of machine-

readable catalogues with certain standards,(d) Lack of proper AMC services, consultancy

services, especially in those libraries which areat remote places,

(e) Lack of proper infrastructure-space, continuouspower supply, telecommunication facility, etc, and

(f) Availability of limited budget and increasingcost of the systems.

2. PRESENT STATUS

Microcomputers are now available in India ataffordable prices. They are reliable and sufficient for

automating a number of library operations such asacquisition, circulation, serial control, etc. In a surveyconducted in 94-95 to evaluate technologicalinfrastructure of Government funded academic andresearch libraries, Biradar [1] observed :

"Of the total 1213 government-funded academiclibraries in the institutions, 339 libraries responded;among them 64 per cent have PCs, 16 per centhave LAN, 9 per cent have UNIX systems, 46per cent have library automation packages, 23per cent have CD-ROM drive, 2 per cent haveCD-NET, 11 per cent have online facility, 45per cent have microfiche reader/printers and 23per cent of them are members of a librarynetwork."

Further, it may be observed from his study thatout of the 156 universities, 72 universities haveresponded and 60 per cent of them have PCs, 7 percent have LAN, 6 per cent have UNIX, 43 per centhave library automation packages, 17 per cent haveCD-ROM drives, 3 per cent have CD-Net, 1 per centhavejmline facility, 42 per cent have microfichereader-printers and 64 per cent of them are membersof library networks. They subscribe to 34 CD-ROMdatabases.

Table 1 gives the availability of technologicalinfrastructure in university libraries/deemed universities,institutions of national imporatnce, etc [3].'

This report indicates that, although the availableinfrastructure is fairly good in certain type of libraries,only 31 universities have library automation packages.However, it does not indicate whether they have onlyCDS/ISIS or something else for automation. Comparing

Professor, Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, 8th Mile, Mysore Road,Bangalore-560059.

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Table 1. Availability of IT infrastructure in libraries

No. of PCs LAN Urr x Lib. CD-ROM No. of On- Mem- Micro-Institutions libraries auto data- line bers fiche

S/W bases faci- ofCon- Res- Drives Net Sub. -Iity lib.tacted ponded net

Universities 156 72 43 5 4 31 12 2 34 1 14 30Deemed univ. 30 10 4 2 - 4 - - - - 2 6Institutions of nat imp 15 9 8 3 3 7 6 2 8 2 3 7Engineering colleges 342 36 24 6 1 20 5 I 4 4 3 7

Medical colleges 148 47 15 4 - 9 12 - 5 I 1 16DAE 15 9 7 2 - 7 4 - 8 2 - 4CSIR 42 21 17 7 3 12 II - 6 6 2 ISDRDO 51 9 8 4 2 7 5 - I 4 2 7

ICAR 61 33 16 - 4 14 4 - - - - 14ICMR 26 8 8 2 3 3 3 1 I I I 4DOE Organisation 8 3 3 2 1 3 2 I 5 I 2 8Ministry of S&T 33 12 3 4 3 8 5 - 15 1 - 9

Ministry of E&F 21 6 3 I - - I - 3 - - 2Other Ministers 265 64 38 12 5 32 7 I 13 10 1 24Total 1213 339 216 54 29 157 77 8 103 33 31 153

to early 90s, infrastructure in academic libraries isslowly improving and encouraging for library automationacti vities.

The survey clearly indicates that hardware andother IT facilities are available; but software is hardlyavailable.

3. MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS!DEVELOPMENTA successful implementation of automation

programme requires team efforts with higher degreeof cooperation and co-ordination between librarystaff and IT experts. Further, librarians must havebasic knowledge on working as well as operations ofcomputers including basics of software and itsapplications. Some believe that a few of these problemscan be tackled by hiring IT experts! Yes, one can dothis. But, in reality librarians have failed to seek theircooperation in this regard. IT experts no doubt aregood at installing turn-key projects. But, to carry outits continuous smooth operations, computer-skilledlibrarians are required. One cannot depend on ITexperts forever.

Librarians, depending upon the levels at whichthey are working, require to know certain computer-skills. They are:

(a) Selection of hardware and software for librarypurposes,

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(b) Design and development of databases, particularlythe machine-readable catalogues,

(c) Ability to upgrade the systems,

(d) Skills related to Internet and digital libraries;particularly, it is required to know installationaspects and operation of Internet (there are anumber of information sources on Internet;librarians need to know how to accessthem?),

(e) Capability to search CD-ROM databases,and

(f) Knowledge about software like DOS, Windows,UNIX, etc, network software, communicationsoftware, particularly for E-mail and for otheroperations such as file transfer; etc and applicationssoftware, such as CDS!ISIS, dBASE, BASISPlus, SPSS, etc.

Skills in IT can be acquired only when one getshands-on experience in laboratories or in real-lifesituations. Students of the library schools do notpossess adequate skills to design, develop and.implement automated systems, since the library schoolshardly have sufficient facilities for this purpose.Other problems in this area are due to non-cooperationand lack of 'information sharing culture' among thecomputer-skilled librarians and also due to the tradesecrecy.

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One needs to undergo a series of traimngprogrammes periodically at different levels to acquirethese skills. For speedy implementation of the automation,at least five to six staff members must undergo suchtraining programmes and a team effort should bemade to study, understand and implement automationprogramme in large academic libraries.

4. CREA TION OF MACHINE-READABLECATALOGUES

The other major problem in automation is tocreate a machine-readable catalogue of inhousecollections. For various reasons, it is not a simpletask. For example, (i) data elements in bibliographicalrecords vary from document to document-dependingon serials, monographs, A/V materials, patents, standards,reports, etc and (ii) even information for a dataelement vary from record to record-author field mayhave single author, multiple authors, more than onename for the same author, etc; Title may have subtitle,translated title, transliterated title, etc. These types ofproblems can be tackled only by following certainstandards (such as CCF, MARC, etc) and by followingcertain codes (such as AACR, CCC, etc). Withoutthese standards, a machine-readable catalogue willnot serve the purpose in a library.

In creating a bibliographical record, the firststep is to fill-in a well-designed data sheet. Often, oneignores this step. While, filling-in, it may be requiredto physically examine the documents. The next stepis to key-in and edit the data; the third step is torevalidate the data, preferably by another operator.This step is very much necessary to have accuracy inthe bibliographical information. Thus, 30 to 45minutes may require to keying in only a singlerecord.

In terms of expenditure, it may cost Rs 10 to15 to create a single record, provided a well-testedand proven software is available. At present, CDS/ISIS undoubtedly serves this purpose-to create librarycatalogues.

There are other methods to create a librarycatalogue-by downloading the relevant records(and editing appropriately) from the CD-ROMdatabases of OCLC or LC; this requires a high levelof computer skill and it is equally time consuming.The other approach may be based on cooperativeefforts. In such cases, a few libraries may createdatabases and other libraries in the region may downloadthe records and edit them appropriately. This approachis totally dependent on the cooperation among thelibrarians.

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5. WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR AUTOMATION?Information technology is used for several purposes

in academic libraries. For instance, IT is now beingused for library automation, information retrieval!DBMS activities, networking, and managementinformation system/services. In the absence of propercomputer culture, one has to carefully decide theorder in which the activities to be computerised.Computerization of library activities may be startedwith library automation of house-keeping operations,including IR services based on CD-ROMs. Libraryautomation may again perhaps be started withcomputerization of cataloguing, circulation, onlineaccess of catalogues, acquisition activities, serialscontrol, and maintenance of accession file, shelf-list,etc.

Once the automation activities are well progressed,IR and DBMS activities, including the Internet-basedinformation services can be strengthened and thenmove over to networking aspects. Finally, when allthe three activities (library automation, IR & DBMS,and networking) are implemented successfully, librarianscan plan to use the systems to generate and processvarious library statistics to strengthen MIS activities,especially in large academic libraries.

Thus, in any computerization activity, one hasto properly set the goals and objectives with requiredlevel of automation. This requires a total commitmentby the management and users' supports/demand forcomputerization of library activities. Further, design,development and implementation of each of theseactivities should be time-bound.

All these require a free flow of funds-a totalsupport from the management. At present, budgetaryconstraints are too much. Funding agencies providefinancial support mostly to buy hardware. This is notenough. Sufficient funds are required, toprocure necessary software, AMC for both hardwareand software, upgradation of the existingsystems, to acquire new technology, as and whenrequired, and for training and also for 'little bit of'experiments.

Over the decades, in many institutions, automationprogrammes were started and implemented as a piece-meal and on experimental basis. Moreover, results ofsuch implementations and experiments are not madeknown to others to achieve cumulative growth. Atleast, here onwards, efforts should be made to publishsuch activities with all its merits and demerits.INFLIBNET can perhaps take initiative in this regardthrough its newsletter. This will go a long way inhelping academic libraries in their automationprogramme.

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6. FUTURE OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION 7. CONCLUSION

Automation activities in academic libraries inIndia slowly picked up with the support fromINFLIBNET, UOC, NISSAT and other similar agenciescombined with increased awareness of IT and itsapplications among librarians. Academic librarians inIndia are beginning to use E-mail, CD-ROMs, LAN,machine-readable catalogue, etc for resource sharing.This change in academic libraries is due to a rapidlychanging telecommunication and technologicalenvironment, a desire for progress and decliningresources. Perhaps the key to change is the willingnessto share resources and to work together to bring a'change' .

Many metropolitan networks are fast emergingand they are taking keen interest on automationactivities in their respective regions. DELNET, a welldeveloped library network in New Delhi region, hascreated a union catalogue of books, union list ofserials and specialists' databases.

Untill now library automation refers only tocomputerization of house-keeping operations. Becauseof the developments in IT [4], it also covers informationservices based on CD-ROM databases, E-mail, etc. Inthe immediate future, most of the academic librariesin India will have a number of both bibliographicaland full text CD-ROM databases, and access to Internet-users can access local, regional, national and internationalsources; such sources also will be used/accessed bylibrarians to answer a variety of reference queries. Insuch an environment, academic librarians must befamiliar with Internet and its operations, availabilityof sources in Internet, operation of online databases-bibliographic, fulltext, CD-ROM, public access catalogue,and spreadsheet, DTP, etc.

Library automation seems to be inevitable. Themajor challenge now onwards will be providing sufficientresources to manage and operate an automated library.

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Automation activities in academic libraries inIndia have slowly picked up. Funding agencies havenow started providing hardware facilities. Softwarefacilities are not adequate enough to start automationactivities at a reasonable pace. Further, CD-ROMbased information services and E-mail services arebecoming popular. However, the challenges remainsame over the last two-three decades-manpowerrequirements, preparation of machine-readablecatalogues, free flow of funds, etc. Librarians have toovercome these challenges for a successfulimplementation of automation.

REFERENCES

I. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology,15(2&3), 1995. '

2. Ravichandra Rao, I.K. Library automation. WileyEasten, New Delhi, 1993.

3. Biradar, S.K. A report on organisation studyand market research for evaluation of technologicalinfrastructure of government, academic andresearch libraries for dissemination of informationto users. The survey was conducted at Informatics(India) Pvt Ltd, Bangalore; supervised by L.K.Venkatesh and A.H. Chachadi. The report wassubmitted to the Kousali Institute of ManagementStudies, Dharwad, as a part of the MBA-Programme, 1994-95.

Ravichandra Rao. I.K. Advanced informationtechnologies for libraries in India: Status andproblems. Paper presented at the DRTC Workshop(30) on Advances in Information Technology:Impact on Library and Information Field, 29-31October 1996. Bangalore, DRTC, 1996. PaperAA.

4.