National seminars on need-based innovative programmes for education and training of LIS personnel

Citation

Satija, M. (1999), "National seminars on need-based innovative programmes for education and training of LIS personnel", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.17308dab.002

National seminars on need-based innovative programmes for education and training of LIS personnel

National seminars on need-based innovative programmes for education and training of LIS personnelInformation provided by M.P. Satija

To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of the University of Delhi, its Dean of Library and Information Science organised a two day national seminar on the theme, "Need-based innovative programmes for education and training of LIS personnel", on 27-28 March 1998. Sub-themes of the seminar included: specialised courses; expectations of library managers from library graduates; expectations of library authorities from library schools; and short term courses in LIS. Professor Abad Ahmed, pro-vice chancellor of the university, stressed the need to keep pace with today's technologies and presented a brief scenario of the economy of the information society. The inaugural session was followed by a panel discussion on the theme. The consensus was on anticipating the trends in the library market and educating our graduates accordingly to fulfil the expectations of the employees.

In all 24 people were presented in four technical sessions covering all the subthemes. Speaker after speaker stressed the need for restructuring of LIS course in India and some offered draft syllabi for short-term courses especially in IT. Senior librarians lamented the fall of standards in LIS education and suggested that the remedy lies in developing specific competencies in LIS graduates. Techniques were suggested in gauging and anticipating the expectations of potential employees. For this a constant coordination between library schools and employment market was suggested. The emphasis was on developing skills in the use of IT in full cognisance of the social and academic purpose of libraries.

There were 160 participants from Delhi and adjoining states. Professor Krishan Kumar, Head of the Department, University of Delhi directed the seminar. Professor C.P. Vashissh and Dr S. R. Gupta were the convenors.