The National Library of India, Its Collection Development and ICT Based User Services: An Overview Uraon Amit1, Prof. Sinha Manoj Kumar2* 1Assistant Librarian, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, 788011, India E-mail: amitbhu007@gmail.com 2Professor & Head, Department of Library and Information Science & Dean, Swami Vivekananda School of Library Sciences, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, 788011, India E-mail: mksinha1965@gmail.com *Corresponding Author: Manoj Kumar Sinha, Department of Library and Information Science & Dean, Swami Vivekananda School of Library Sciences, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, 788011, India. E-mail: mksinha1965@gmail.com
Abstract Public library is the nerve of the education and culture and the National Library is in core center in the system and it has resulted ongoing changes in a society's economy, education, policy, tradition and religion.In the public library system, National Library is the apex library and extensive use of Information Communication Technology (ICT)in its housekeeping operations and activities has tremendously impacted the type of services delivered by public libraries in the society.In present study the ICT based library services provided in a public library has beendiscussedwith special reference to the National Library of India. The paper also explores thepossibility of introducing other modern ICT based user services where the National Library can initiate those facilities to its users. The main objective of this study is toexamine theservices provided by National Library of India to its esteemed users. Top Keywords Information Communication Technology, Library Service, National Library of India. Top |
Introduction A public library has been regarded as an integral part of the social framework from the very beginning. In the public library system, comprising of a National Library and State public libraries to District Public Libraries, the application of ICT has changed the type of services delivered through public libraries in the society. Most of the Public Libraries are not full-fledged in terms of implementing ICT based applications in their services, but there has been an obvious change in the attitudes of library professionals towards ICT application. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the science of information handling and processing, particularly by computers used to support communication of knowledge in scientific and technical, economic and social fields. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have brought significant changes in all-round development of the society through transmission of information. Library automation, development of digital libraries and application of innovative information and communication technologies (ICT) have tremendously increased because it provides enhanced user satisfaction, cost effectiveness, rapid responses and easier operationalprocedures. |
Public library A public library is a cultural center and serves as a center for self-education. It is a kind of library which is accessible by general public and is generally funded from public sources such as taxes. UNESCO manifesto proclaims public library as a living for education, culture and informs as an essential agent for the fostering of peace andunderstanding between people and between nations. According to Ranganathan (1940), a library is a public institution or establishmentcharged with the care of a collection of books, the duty of making them accessibleto those who require the use of them and the task of converting every person in itsneighborhood into a habitual library visitor and reader of books. Top Review of literature For the present study, a systematic review of literature pertaining to the theoretical perspective has been conducted to enable the author to get a clear understanding about the topic.Studies on ICT based library service in public libraries in India and abroad and other studies connected with the title have also been consulted. |
Fielding (2000) particularly examined the public library's role as an internet access provider. The article also mentioned new roles for the library brought about by the new information context: promoting network literacy, research services, disseminating government and other public information, etc. |
Jay and Webber (2005) investigated the impact of the internet on reference services in public libraries in England. |
Olorunsola (1997) states in his study that “the use of information technologies in the provision of information and communication in libraries has had a far- reaching effect on libraries and users of libraries that provision of information can be made more effective and efficient with the use of electronic information resources”. |
Sugie (2001) assessed the present state and characteristics of reference service in Japanese public libraries. |
Biswas (2009) discussed about the old system of providing library services to its users and emphasized that the National Library should implement the new technologies of ICT to fasten the library services as the need of present society. He also stressed to recruit more skilled staffs in National Library so that they may be able to handle thecurrent situations andcope up with the implementing modern technologies in this information explosion era. |
Indira Koneru (2007) discusses about modernizing Public Library with necessary Information Communication Technology infrastructure alone cannot guarantee easy and equitable access to information, as envisioned by National Knowledge Commission. |
Ranganathan (1963) also advocated for the development of effective public library systems to reach India's masses in his study. Inspired by the ethic of spreading knowledge and providing “books for all” he had a vision, based on his Five Laws of Library Science, to spread knowledge far and wide through India's public libraries. |
Top The National Library of India The National Library, Kolkata came into existence in 1948. The origin of the library, however, can be traced dating back to March 1836 when the Calcutta Public Library was established and opened to the public at 30 Esplanade Row, Calcutta. The Imperial Library was founded in 1891 by combining a number of Secretariat libraries. Later with the efforts of Lord Curzon, Governor General of India Calcutta public Library also merged into Imperial Library and the new library, called Imperial Library, was formally opened to the public on 30 January 1903 at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata. The aims and objectives of the Imperial Library were well defined in a notification in the Gazette of India. The policy of acquisition broadly adhered to by the Imperial Library was outlined by Lord Curzon in his speech at the inauguration. At the opening Lord Curzon declared: |
“It is intended that it should be a library of reference, a working place for students, and a repository of material for the future historians of India, in which, so far as possible, every work written about India at any time can be seen and read.” ∼ Curzon (1903) |
After Independence, the Government of India changed the name of the Imperial Library to the National Library with the enactment of the Imperial Library (Change of Name) Act, 1948. B. S. Kesavan appointed as Librarian and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Minister for Education at that time, inaugurated the library at its new location on 1 February 1953. |
At present, the National Library enjoys the status of an Institution of National Importance under Article-62 in the Seventh Schedule of the Union List of the Indian Constitution and functions as a subordinate office of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is the largest library in the country. Membership is free, and the library provides every possible library service, traditional as well as modern, to the users using latest ICT tools to meet every information related requirements of the countrymen. It functions as both public library as well as a repository library and it provides variety of user service to the library users. |
Collection Development In 1954 the Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act, also known as DB Act, was passed whereby a copy of books published in India and all documents authored by Indians, or authored by foreigners but concerning India, wherever published had to be deposited with the National Library and three other designated public libraries within 30 days of publication. The Act was amended in 1956 to bring newspapers and periodicals within its purview. Apart from DB Act the National library also procures many foreign books, journals (print + online) databases to fulfill the readers need. It has also signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with many countries under gift and exchange policy. Under this policy the library receives institutional publications as gift of those foreign institutions. Important collections of the library are Indian, English &Foreign language books, Rare Books, Science and Technology, Indian Official Documents, Foreign Official Documents, Newspapers and Periodicals, Manuscripts, Maps and Prints, Microforms. The library has over 88,000 maps, a substantial collection of microfilms and microfiche, over 9000 digitized books covering over 3 million pages, electronic databases such as ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Texts, Early English Books On-line, Oxford Bibliographies On-line, and Oxford English Dictionary On-line. It also subscribes to around 6000 e-journals. It also serves readers through electronic catalogue on-line (Web-OPAC) and in-situ thin clients. Library collections available in National Library are given below in detail (Table 1). Top Major Library Services Available in National Library for Public Library Users The library and information service provided by a public library depends on large extent of facilities available to users. The library services available in the National library are listed in the table below in two categories viz. a) Traditional Library service and b) ICT based modern library service and further the ICT based library services are discussed in detail. |
ICT based Library Services Today, the main challenge for a library is how to deliver the right information to the right user at right time. In academic libraries there are limited user groups and user themselves come to the library for their information needs. But in case of public library users are scattered, their information needs also vary from the academic library users. To meet the user's expectations, a public library is very much dependent on modern ICT tools which can be used in the library effectively. Some of the ICT based modern library services which can be implemented in a public library to fulfil the users need are listed below and also status of its implementation in the National Library of India is discussed as under: Web OPAC To know the status of availability of any document or information in the library, a user looks into the library catalogue. Traditional library catalogues were kept inside the library and a user needs to visit to the library to access them. But now libraries are maintaining Online Public Access Catalogues (OPAC) and making it available to the users either within the campus through LAN or on the web (Web OPAC). Web OPACs can be accessed worldwide and 24 × 7 so that a user can search his document from anywhere and anytime. The National Library of India regularly updates its database (bibliographic) in the VIRTUA Integrated Library Management Software and facilitates online catalogue search for its holdings through Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). It has published its almost hundred percent of bibliographical data in the public domain through Web OPAC which can be accessed at http://opac.nationallibrary.gov.in/24×7 throughout the world.The web-OPAC now has around 8,50,000 records, including books in foreign languages, bound journals, and maps. Online Circulation System Circulation service is one of the important activities of a library. Manual circulation system is time consuming as well as there are many chances of human error during maintaining the circulation records. Online circulation system reduces the human error and takes less time. Many libraries including public libraries are moving towards automation and implementing the online circulation in their libraries. National Library of India is yet to start the automated circulation system with VIRTUA ILMS which the National Library has already purchased and implemented some of its modules. Book reservation or Hold through OPAC A user can reserve the book if it is already issued to somebody else and that book will be kept reserved for him for next time. In automated library a user can be provided this facility to make reservation of books through OPAC. This can be done through users own account after login into OPAC. At this point also the National Library failed to facilitate this service to its users. E-Journal Due to space problem and complicated record maintenance issues now many libraries are moving towards e-journals from space consuming and bulky printed journals. E-journals save the library space as well as it saves the users time as it can be accessed from anywhere and anytime. Users need not to come physically in the library for journal access but they can access it from their home and can take print also as and when required. Once it is published, real time access of journal articles is also a big advantage of e-journals which is not possible in case of print journal as it takes minimum 15–30 days to reach in the library. The National Library provides a large number of e–journals (current issue) which is accessible through the IP range of National Library. It subscribes around 6000 e-journals from different subject area. To facilitate uninterrupted access to e-journals the National Library has established a separate e– resource section having 72 numbers of PCs dedicated to the e-resource access. (Source- National library website). Apart from the current journals the National Library also subscribes archival access of those current titles which can also be accessed within the library campus either through personal laptops or through the dedicated PCs kept in the e-resource section. E-Book As after the advent of ICT, with other industries, the publishing industry has also changed its traditional mode of publishing from print publishing to e-publishing and many renowned book publishers has started publishing books in electronic form called as E-Books. It also helped libraries in terms of quick delivery of book access to the users and it saved lot of library space. To provide the ebook facility to users the National Library has subscribed large number of E-book packages like Cambridge University Press e-books, Early English Books Online (EEBO), Gale: 18th century collections online, OUP online, Pearson Education etc. Multimedia and Audio-VisualService Many books especially science and technology books now come with CD/DVD which contains some audio visuals, textual information, special diagrams etc. These information materials also need to be maintained properly in the library and the access of it should be provided to the users on demand. National library also maintains and provides this type of service to the users on demand. National library has special facility of audio speakers and headphones for visually impaired persons through which the user can listen and learn through audio visual materials. Internet Facility Today internet has become essential part of our life. In this present information age internet is only the medium which makes it possible to disseminate and access to the information which are mostly available on the web. Public libraries are playing a good role as public internet access and information centre for its users where a user can access full text e-journals, e-books, e-papers, e-reference materials and even they can make simple mail communications.The National Library provides free Internet access for the users of National Library so that they can access e-resources subscribed by the library. For this purpose, National Library have high speed leased line connection provided by BSNL under NKN. The library also facilitates Wi-Fi connection to the users having their own laptops. Electronic Document Delivery Service (E-DDS) The prime objective of a library is to meet the information requirement of its users and for a public library it is quite tough to fulfil all requirements of the readers by its own collection. Hence, to meet the information requirement of the user libraries usually go for Inter- Library Loan service which is changed by Electronic Document Delivery Service in the present ICT environment. National Library of India also provides this kind of service to the users on demand. The international cooperation policy of the National Library makes this service most effective and the members of the library get more benefitted by this. Current Awareness Service (CAS) The main purpose of Current Awareness Service in the library is to keep users up to date in their field and also regarding inclusion of library collection. In special libraries it is more effective because of the same kind of user category. But for public libraries it is little difficult to provide CAS for different category of the people. A public library can make digital display of new arrivals through electronic boards or through its OPAC. The National Library displays the New Arrivals for users in traditional mode only. But it should also use ICT tools to make it more effective. Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) Service Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) service is a personal current awareness service to provide pin pointed information for the special users as per their requirement. CAS is generalised service whereas SDI is personalised service. It works on three components namely User profile, Document profile or database and Matching Software. It is fully ICT based library service and the mode of dissemination of information can be through E-mail, Instant message or text message. The National Library of India has not started any such kind of service. Web Portal and Library Website Library web portal is the main virtual face of any library in the present internet age. It provides information about the library, its services and other facilities available to the users. A library website may also include information related to its collection and its bibliographic information through linking with OPAC, Online tutorials and Virtual tour, Link of online resources. The National Library of India website is well designed and the information regarding the library and its user service is well organised and maintained by NIC in user friendly manner. It is available and accessible throughout the world and round the clock. Top Digital Library Initiatives A Digital library is a library in which library collections are stored in digital format and can be accessed by the users with the help of ICT tools. The access can be provided worldwide round the clock or within the intranet as per the policy. |
One of the basic functions of the National Library is to conserve the printed heritage for future generations. For this purpose, the library has separate divisions for physical, chemical, reprographic and digital preservation. As per the information available in library website the scanning and archiving of old, rare and brittle documents of the library started during 1998–99. English books and documents published before 1900 and Indian publications preceding 1920 are considered for digitization. 9140 selected books in Indian and English languages i.e. over 3.2 million pages have already been scanned and stored in CDs and DVD and serving the public through the designated clients. |
In later stage 3,200 Bengali books scanned and they are also uploaded in digital archive of the National Library. Presently English books are in progress. The project targeted for 20 lakhs pages in 12 months.All these e-books (subscribed or uploaded after digitization), e-journals and other electronic materials can be accessed through LAN within the National Library campus. |
Top Conclusion It is concluded that the National Library is a apex library of India which is a sub-ordinate office of Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. As per the mandate of Delivery of Book Act, all publications published by the Indian Publishers have to submit four copies of the publications for preserving in the four National Repositories including National Libraries of India. On the basis of collection received by the National Library, Central Reference Library compiles the monthly and cumulative annual Indian National Bibliography which is one of the important book selection tools in India. |
It has developed huge collections in all subjects. Many rare books and manuscripts are also available. National Library developed its very good ICT infrastructure and digitization units to preserve the rare manuscripts and publications in digital format. Digital Library initiatives have been taken in National Library to digitize rare and valuable collections for future generations. The collections of National Libraries have been extensively used by the scholars, student's researchers and general public at large. It is a premier National Library of India which is our pride. It is one of the important memory institutions of India. |
Top Figures | Figure 1:: Web OPAC of National Library
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| | Figure 2:: Home page of National Library Website
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Tables | Table 1:: Details of Library Collection in National Library
| | Sr. No | Library Collections | Total no. | | 1 | Total collection available in the library | 25,12,564 | | 2 | Books in Indian Languages | 7,44,703 | | 3 | Total books in Foreign Language (East Asian, West Asian and African, Germanic, Romanic, Salvic language) | 86,810 | | 4 | English Acquisition Books | 7,26,521 | | 5 | Indian Official Documents | 2,17,522 | | 6 | Foreign Official Documents | 1,32,288 | | 7 | Imperial Library Collection | 1,67,145 | | 8 | Ashutosh Collection | 87,500 | | 9 | Publication received under Gift & Exchange | 5,49,545* | | 10 | Publication received under the DB Act | 10,98259* | | 11 | Current Periodical Title | 17,667* | | 12 | Bound Periodicals | 1,47,613* | | 13 | Parliamentary Collection | 21,223 | | 14 | Maps and Prints | 88,316 | | 15 | Digital Collection | 21,700 | | 16 | Manuscripts | 3,780 | | 17 | Microfilms & Microfiches | 1,04,388* |
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| (Source: Primary source collected from questionnaire, 2016) | | | Table 2:: Library Services Available in National Library
| | (a) Traditional Library services | (b) ICT based modern Library services | | Reference service | Web OPAC | | Reading room | E-Journal (current) | | Lending service | E-Journal (archive) | | Catalogue search | E-Book | | Current periodicals (print) | Multimedia (CD/DVD) service | | Back volume journals | Internet Facility | | Newspapers and Magazines | Library website | | Reprography | Digital library | | Display of new arrivals | Online databases (Full text) | | Micro film/Micro fiche | Article print | | Inter Library Loan | Access to rare collections (digitized) |
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