Academic Libraries

Academic Libraries in India: Challenges and Opportunities


Dr. Ravinder Kumar Chadha
Joint Secretary,
Parliament of India,
Lok sabha Secretariat
New Delhi 110001

Academic libraries in India face many challenges and quandaries. Regular budget cuts, shortage of staff, lack of in-service training programmes, integrating new technologies, lack of leadership & support at national level, lack of coordination, no standard practices for implementation of new model of services, etc. Academic libraries in India hardly have any practice of collecting data on users and usage, carrying out assessment of library services and obtaining feed back of users on various aspects of functioning of libraries.
2.0 Higher Education
Higher education has made a significant contribution to economic development, social progress and political democracy in independent India. But there is serious cause for concern at this juncture. The proportion of our population, in the relevant age group, that enters the world of higher education is about 7 per cent. The opportunities for higher education in terms of the number of places in universities are simply not adequate in relation to our needs. Large segments of our population just do not have access to higher education. What is more, the quality of higher education in most of our universities leaves much to be desired. (National knowledge Commission Report 2007)
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh termed Eleventh Plan as "Education Plan" and described it as "Second Wave" in the development of higher education. The second wave in development of higher education is reflected in setting a target 15 percent of enrolment rate, which is backed by a quantum jump in the financial allocation from Rs.3294 crores during the Tenth Plan to Rs. 46,449 crores in the Eleventh Plan. The unprecedented expansion in institutional capacity is reflected in setting up of about 1464 new educational institutions – comprising 30 central universities, 8 IITs, 7 IIM, 20 NITs, 20 IIIT's, 3 IISER, 2 Schools of Planning & Architecture, 374 model colleges and 1000 Polytechnics.
Over past six decades, India has covered a long distance on the path of expanding the institutional capacity in higher education. In the year 1950, the country had just 25 university-level institutions; this figure has gone up to 534 in 2010, - nearly 20-fold increase. The growth of degree colleges during the period has been even larger, more than 30-times. The number of colleges has gone up from 700 to 25,951
1950 2009
Universities 25 534 (2010)
Colleges 700 25951
Teachers 15000 5.88 Lakhs
Students 1.00 Lakh 136 Lakhs
(Higher education in India; Strategies and Schemes during Eleventh Plan Period (2007-2012) for Universities and Colleges. New Delhi, UGC. Jan2011).
National knowledge Commission has recommended that higher education system needs a massive expansion of opportunities, to around 1500 universities nationwide, that would enable India to attain a gross enrolment ratio of at least 15 per cent by 2015. The focus would have to be on new universities, but some clusters of affiliated colleges could also become universities. Such expansion would require major changes in the structure of regulation.
Profound improvements are needed in the higher education system in India. There must be a shift from rote learning to resource-based student-centred learning. 'The 11th plan recommends reorientation of the higher education system to make it vibrant, competitive, meaniningful and relevant, and to enable its growth, both in terms of quantity as well as quality. There is an urgent need for broadening access to higher education by expanding it and by making it affordable". We need to develop independent learners and critical thinkers. For that radical reforms are required to restructure and revamp the higher education system in India.
3.0 Shrinking Library Resources
The organization culture, library leadership and trained library personnel play a pivotal role in determining the role and status of academic libraries. Indian academic libraries are under constant threat of their shrinking resources viz., Staff, Space, Sum (budget) and Services and look for Standardization, Sustenance and Survey (feedback) of services (7S) to remain in business of information handling. A number of surveys have proved that "Good Universities have Good Libraries". I would like to add here that "Good Libraries make Good Universities" and would further mention that "Good Librarians make Good Libraries'. It is the dynamic leadership and vision of a good professional who can develop a good library. Unfortunately in India most of the positions of University Librarians are lying vacant for the years together. The problem is more serious in the Universities of northern India. Here the positions are lying vacant since decades. Professor in-charge of the libraries is not very keen to vacate the positions in most of the Universities. Further, a large number of middle and lower level of professional positions remain vacant for years together in the academic libraries.
3.1 Human Resource Development
In order to harness the benefits of technological advancements and provide new services library and information professionals must acquaint themselves with the latest developments taking place in the Library & Information Services. This calls for planning and organization of highly specialized human resource development programmes for LIS professionals at senior, middle and junior level. These continuous education programmes need to be reviewed at regular intervals for their relevance and usefulness. I strongly feel relevance of traditional programmes like Refresher Courses, Orientation Courses being conducted by Academic Staff Colleges of UGC need to be reviewed in the context of current technological developments.
3.2 Infrastructure
A library has to be an inviting and happening place. This calls for proper physical facilities including well-knitted reading areas, attractive circulation-reference area, comfortable furniture for long seating, high speed internet connectivity, Lounges for discussions, multi-media rooms, a small cafeteria, etc. Most important is entry of library which has to be elegant, inviting and spacious. Rest of the library area need to vibrant and colourful having proper signage system. Unfortunately, most of the Indian University libraries are not able to provide good physical facilities to its users due to lack of funding, coordination with maintenance agencies and proper planning. Libraries being Service Organisation should provide good environment including furniture, high speed network, etc. to make readers comfortable. The interiors should be changed at least once in five years so as to keep the area attractive and modern.
3.3 Budget
Academic libraries in India are treated as Cost Centres adding overhead of the institution. Administrative cost has increased manifold with implementation of Sixth Pay Commission for staff, rising cost of Publications and maintenance of infrastructure. We have no statistics on library expenditures and the educational and general expenditure of their parent institutions but it is estimated that library share of total budget of parent institution is around 1% only. In order to improve quality of academic library services University must spend a minimum of 4-5% of its total budget on library and information Services.
4.0 Library as strategic investment
In January 2007, Paula Kaufman, Librarian University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, began a Elsevier sponsored study of "Library as Strategic Investment," emphasizing Return On Investment (ROI) [http://hdl.handle.net/2142/12031]. This study related the university's investment in the library to the value of research grants obtained. Kaufman stated: "Our goal was to develop a formula that could be applied at other institutions in order to demonstrate library value using metrics of universal relevance within the academic community." Achievement of the goal required using hard data on the university's investment in the library and the return on that investment to the university. The results showed that for every dollar invested in the library, the university received $4.38 in research grants and contracts. In discussing next steps, Kaufman observed: "We should expand the scope of revenue-generating activities considered to include patents and technology transfer programs, as well as other relevant revenue streams." [http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/whitepapers/0108/lcwpo101.pdf].
Tenopir conducted Phase II of this project, expanding the research to eight additional libraries in eight countries [http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/whitepapers/roi2/2010-06-white paper-roi2.pdf]. A key finding of the Tenopir study was that the ROI was between 15.54:1 and 0.64:1 in research grant income. In six of the eight universities, the return exceeded 1:1.
Another finding demonstrates that the ROI continues over time. "In two North American universities regression analyzing using 10 years of data shows that an increase in the library budget is correlated with an increase in grant funding," Tenopir added. "Return on investment in the grants process is one important and convenient way to quantify the value of the academic library but it underestimates the total value of the library." The ROI approach related solely to research income. It takes no account of the library's contribution to teaching and learning, which are not as easily measured. The outcomes of teaching and learning are not quantitative. They may be apparent in the quality of teaching and the achievements of students and may increase in value over time.
In September 2010, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published "The Value of Libraries" [http://www.acrl.ala.org/value], a literature review on the current state of value research and how to apply it to measuring the value of libraries. The study was prepared by Megan Oakleaf, assistant professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. Oakleaf pointed out that different stakeholders have different goals and rely on the institution not only to achieve those goals but also to "demonstrate evidence" that the goals were achieved. Said Oakleaf: "Libraries cannot demonstrate institutional value to the maximum effect until they define outcomes of institutional relevance and then measure the degree to which they attain them." The study recommends 22 steps that librarians can use to demonstrate that library outcomes are aligned with those of the institution.
It is clear from the above studies that librarians need to develop a variety of measures to demonstrate their value. At the same time, librarians need to collect anecdotal information and success stories that add a qualitative dimension and provide the basis for library publicity. It is high time that such studies are conducted by academic libraries in India so as to demonstrate their usefulness and contribution to the academics and research in Indian Universities. A pilot study recently conducted by INFLIBNET has revealed that research output of most of the Indian Universities have increased substantially after subscribing to e-journals under UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium.
An example about a faculty success or significant cost saving resulting from interaction with a librarian can be a powerful partner to quantitative measures. Librarians working departments or research labs can add significant value through their knowledge of sources and people. In large universities, it is not unusual for a faculty member in one department to not know that a faculty member in another department is working on a similar problem. Librarians can help bridge these gaps, as well as lead people to the best sources.
5.0 The Challenges
Information is power. A lot of money has been invested in the expansion of the Internet, multimedia, development and electronic publishing. Academic libraries have to compete in this world of e-learning and e-resources. They seek to do business on new terms with database vendors, electronic publishers and commercial service providers. The new copyright laws could have severe consequences for library activities. Libraries are no longer setting the rules of information storage and retrieval. They are only one stakeholder in a large field. Let us see the challenges being faced by the librarians?
Change of information needs: The users need more precise current and factual information and they need it fast.
Change of information habits: The users especially the younger users are more comfortable with digital resources than printed bibliographies or traditional Publication..
Openness: The 'library without walls' is not just a term. Via Open Public Access Catalogue and homepages, libraries become more visible and accessible than ever before.
Networking: It is no longer important what a library has in stock, but ever more important to what sources a library can provide access.
OCLC hasrecently conducted a study, "Research Libraries, Risk and Systemic Change" [http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2010/2010-03.pdf]. It defined risk as "the possibility that an event will occur and adversely affect achievement of the library's objectives." One high-risk area was that Google and other resources may weaken "the visibility and necessity of the library." Changes in the ways students and faculty use libraries and demands of administration for greater accountability add to the dilemmas faced by many library directors. Many university administrators suffer from the same illusion as corporate executives who believe that the availability of Google means that all the information they need is available at no cost to the user or the university. The study identified the following major challenges:
Availability of online information resources (Google, Wiki, etc.) weakens visibility and value of library.
User base erodes because library value proposition is not effectively communicated.
Conservative nature of library inhibits timely adaptation to changed circumstances.
Library cannot adjust fast enough to keep up with rapidly changing technology and user needs.
Increased inefficiencies and expenses due to lack of functionality of legacy systems and IT support.
Due diligence and sustainability assessment of local or third party services is not completed, tracked or analyzed.
Recruitment and retention of resources is difficult due to reduction in pool of qualified candidates.
Human resources are not allocated appropriately to manage change in the current environment.
Human resources and organizational culture, including a lack of attention to cross-training and reallocation of existing staff
Current human resources lack skill set for future needs (changing technology, etc).
Difficulty identifying candidates for evolving library management roles.
Uncertainties about the appropriate qualifications for library managers who may require skills developed in other sectors .
Lack of critical skill sets for managing data sets, engaging directly with research faculty, or retooling technological infrastructure
Difficulty in attracting and retaining staff in a competitive environment where fewer credentialed library professionals are available
An organizational culture that inhibits innovation
The biggest challenge is from the young users, the so-called 'millennials', 'Generation Z', and 'Generation@', and now the 'thumb generation'. These people can access sources of information without going near or via a physical library. Librarians need to convince young people why they should use the physical library and once they are there offer them a range of effective services to which they will return physically or virtually. Libraries can act as a gateway to e-resources that facilitates use of such services – in this way the user may not make that many visits to the physical library but see the virtual presence of the library as vital to meeting their information needs.
6.0 Changing Role of Academic Librarians:
Every challenge is a new opportunity. Academic librarians have to prove that they are taking up the opportunities offered by emerging technologies rather than seeing them as threats and are aiming to keep the library at the heart of such development within the university. Traditional constrains of space and time has collapsed and information is now available 24x7x365 from anywhere. Library professionals have the opportunity to provide global reach to the indigenous knowledge. Similarly, we can get access to world's knowledge and information through the Internet, provided we have the will, skill, and the appropriate attitude. These opportunities and challenges can be handled effectively by competent library personnel. Sound knowledge base, pertinent skills and pro-active positive mind set are the essential components of a competent library and information professional.
6.1 Libraries
Users' perceptions of library services have been slow to change and many people still tend to think of libraries as collections of books rather than providers of electronic resources. Academic libraries serve many constituencies with different needs and behaviours, such as academic discipline, research experience, demographic category and information-seeking context. Libraries need to understand those needs and adapt to meet them in a flexible manner.
Library systems must do better at providing seamless access to resources such as full-text e-journals, online foreign-language materials, e-books, a variety of electronic publishers' platforms and virtual reference desk services
Library catalogues need to include more direct links to resources and more online content
Libraries should provide more digital resources of all kinds, from e-journals to curated data sets, as well as emerging services such as virtual research environments (VREs), open source materials, non-text-based and multimedia objects, and blogs
Library systems must be prepared for changing user behaviours, which include advanced search options, demands for immediate access and quick perusal of resources
Library systems need to look and function more like search engines (eg Google) and popular web services (eg Amazon.com), as these are familiar to users who are comfortable and confident in using them
High-quality metadata is becoming more important for discovery of appropriate resources
Librarians must now consider the implications of power browsing behaviours
Students need more guidance and clarity on how to find content and how to assess its worth as well as its relevance
The library must advertise its brand and its resources better to academics, researchers and students, demonstrating its value clearly and unambiguously.
6.2 Services
Traditional libraries maintain their resources, authorities, information on the shelves or behind a login that are known and managed by librarians. Collection (print or electronic) in libraries is catalogued and classified and made accessible through Library OPAC to users to explore. Users are given open access to these resources within libraries, they are also allowed to borrow these resources to be returned for someone else to use. In a modern Library and Internal system the content and information should come from the users also. Although, traditional libraries maintain manuscripts and unpublished works by local authors and researchers, but it did not have a way to provide a platform to their users to publish their own ideas, thoughts, and experiences. With availability of technological solutions, libraries are now adopting tools and techniques to collaborate with its users with an aim to preserve its collective knowledge and experience.
The librarians, being the earliest inhabitants on the web, following their professional instincts and immediately began to create subject gateways for all sorts of subjects. However, most of what libraries adopted during the early days of Web was static. The Library web sites consisted of a number of static web pages with provision of e-mail-based "feedback". Although, the online public access catalogues (OPACs) facilitate users to search for information, they do not have more dynamic features like Amazon.com offers. Similarly, the first generation of online library instruction was provided via text-based tutorials that are static and do not respond to users' needs nor allow users to interact with one another. These tutorials are now evolving into more interactive, media-rich tutorials, using animation programming and more sophisticated database quizzes. The librarians and libraries should recognize the fact that Internet and search engines are now the main source of information for users. Instead of trying to change the behaviour of users, the libraries should change its approach and deliver their services through Internet using tools users enjoy the most. Besides, modern libraries also recognize that human beings do not seek and utilize information as individuals, but as communities.
The best conception of a modern Library would be a social network interface that a user designs him / her-self. It is a personalized OPAC that includes access to IM, RSS feeds, blogs, wikis, tags, public and private profiles within the library's network. It is virtual reality of the library, a place where one can not only search for books and journals, but interact with a community, a librarian, and share knowledge and understanding with them. Digital Library moved collections and services into the online environment, and the modern Library will move the full suite of library services into this electronic medium. The library has had a web-presence for many years, and with advances in technology, its patrons will be joining it.
Some examples of the move from Digital Library to Modern Library include:

Digital Library Services and Applications
Modern Library Services and Applications
Digital reference service (email-based)
Real-time reference service using Instant messaging
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)
Personalization (RSS Feeds, HTML Feeds, Atom)
Text-based tutorials
Multimedia tutorials (Streaming media)
Mailing Lists, Listservs
Blogs and Wikis
Catalogue of reliable subscribed print or electronic collections
Catalogue of reliable subscribed print or electronic collections as well as web pages, blogs, wikis, etc.
OPAC
Personalized social network infrastructure
Taxonomies (classification)
Folksonomy (Tagging)
Controlled classification schemes
Tagging
Encyclopaedia
Wikipedia
Content Management System
Wikis, Wikipedia
Information as commodity
Information as conversations
Integrated Library System as core operation
User service as core operation
Address books, Contact lists
Online social networks
Authenticated and validated print and e-resources
Resources created by people through their collective intelligence on blogs and wikis
Delivery mechanism: Library (physical) + Internet
Delivery through Internet using wikis, blogs, podcasting, etc.

6.3 Users
Today's student of digital age works and study in a different way. He relies on digital resources and mobile devices. They rely less on traditional reading and more on browsing, visuals, graphics, and video presentations. They work in groups and are users of library commons, where they can gather and work in an electronic environment. While students learn from each other, they also can go astray in their searching and thinking. Librarians need to be visible in these areas and available for consultation. The studies reveal that about 80% of users use goggle as their first search and then they use their own personal networks to find the information they need. These networks vary: academics are more likely to turn to co-workers, colleagues and other professionals, whereas students will turn to other students, classmates, family or friends for information." This reliance on classmates and co-workers underscores the need for librarians to communicate early and often to new students and new faculty members about the library's resources and how to access them. The librarians need to work with faculty in the classroom to inform students about the library's electronic resources, how to access them, and how to use them. Faculty/librarian collaborations may deliver great dividends to librarians and library users. In-person training can be enhanced by Facebook pages, Second Life scenarios, and online availability of reference librarians.
Further, google should be integrated into library systems. Google can be library search engine and Google Books, Google Scholar can be made available on the library's web page. As google is being extensively used by students and faculty it should be integrated with the library system for easy understanding and improved access. This will help in ensuring that library users access Library's Web page as their first search option. Librarians can use Facebook, Twitter, wikis, blogs, and other social media to communicate with the university community. At Penn State, Eaton indicated, "We use both Facebook and Twitter, as well as IM, email, and networked reference. We have a library site on Facebook that acts as a gateway into the library system. We have a task force working on updating our support for hand-held devices."
6.4 Feedback
Most Indian academic libraries continue to direct resources in traditional ways towards operations that are marginal to institutional priorities, towards processes and services that are ignored or undervalued by their users and towards staff activities that are driven more by legacy professional concerns than user needs. To properly respond to the risks identified here, academic libraries need to come together around an action agenda aimed at participation of users they serve.
Academic libraries need to move to the next generation Systems and Services to remain relevant in this information age. The current services being offered need to be constantly reviewed and new services need to be launched from time to time. Users' perception and participation is the key for reviewing existing services and introducing new services. Web 2.0 provides ample opportunities for a regular interaction with the library users and obtain their feedback on each and every service on a regular basis. Each university should constitute a Library Assessment and Metrics team with the following objectives-
initiate and support library assessment efforts within the University Libraries;
identify user needs and assess Libraries efforts at meeting them;
foster a culture of assessment within the Libraries;
provide support as needed for assessment efforts conducted by other library staff;
develop expertise and understanding of assessment measures and techniques and share these with library staff as needed;
communicate assessment activities and results to appropriate individuals and groups;
assist in assessing organizational performance through the development of outcomes and success metrics;
help develop a management information infrastructure to make data and key statistics available to staff and the public;
maintain the library assessment Web sites;
and plan the library assessment forums.
6.5 Preservation and Repositories
Today librarian is facing the challenge of rapid developments taking place in the field of ICT. We need to keep ourselves up-to-date with technological advancements and its applications in developing new and new services. In this ICT era we have to undertake the responsibility of archiving, including preservation, digitizing, repositories, and, in some cases, records, history, and scholarly output. Libraries need to digitize special collections to provide access and preservation of the university's history and scholarly output .A large number of Indian universities has unique special collections. Prior to digitization, scholars had no choice but to physically go to the library to use these materials. A library housing needed material may be reached by a short walk on campus or, if many miles away, may require a special trip, time, and money.
Institutional repositories are aimed at preserving the scholarly output of faculty and students in digital form and making this output available electronically. A repository may include theses, dissertations, technical reports, white papers, journal articles, and other materials. Some faculty members initially resist deposit of their journal articles because they fear for the future of the journals where they publish. Most faculty members want to publish in the best journals with the highest impact factors in their field. There is no evidence that repositories have negatively affected journal publishing. Faculty members value their autonomy and independence. They also will complain that they do not need another task to do.
Mizoram University and a few more Universities mandate faculty members and students to deposit their scholarly output in institutional repositories. Librarians and faculty who value and believe in open access repositories need to do the marketing to make the repository work. Deposit or transfer of material to the repository should be made as quick and easy as possible for faculty. The open access repository opens the work to people who do not have ready access to a research library.

7.0 Conclusion
Academic libraries will be working in a challenging environment for years to come. Academic libraries need to respond to the growing and diversifying information needs of the end-users. Academic libraries must become a local gateway to world's knowledge and information.
Studies of library value will continue. The Elsevier studies demonstrate that the library returns income to the university from research grants. Researchers and librarians may not be able to easily measure the library's contribution to teaching and learning in quantitative terms. User feedback and stories can show how students, faculty, and others benefit from the library. Some libraries will follow the medical libraries and assign librarians to groups, departments, and research labs. Seeing a librarian on the scene every day will create those very useful positive anecdotes and continually provide data needed to demonstrate the value of librarians and information professionals.
Librarians should expand the use of social networking tools and mobile devices because students rely on them. At the same time, librarians need to provide services appropriate to the needs of faculty who may span 2 or more generations. As technology continues to develop, different generations will be working in different ways and will need continuous training.
Digitization and open access to special collections, archives, and the university's scholarly output have brought new people to the library. This increased use opens unanticipated doors, brings scholarly literature to people who do not have ready access, creates happy surprises, and ensures that faculty work will be used to feed the minds of future generations.
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