Public Library and Digital Divide Opportunities & Challenges
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ii Public Library and Digital Divide PUBLIC LIBRARY AND DIGITAL DIVIDE OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES Editor Abhaya Kumar Padhi ODISHA STATE OPEN UNIVERSITY SAMBALPUR Public Library and Digital Divide iii PUBLIC LIBRARY AND DIGITAL DIVIDE: OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES Published by Odisha State Open University Sambalpur www.osou.ac.in First Edition 2020 OSOU, 2020. Public Library and Digital Divide:Opportunities & Challenges is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licences/by -sa/4.0 Printed by: Shree Mandir Publications Type Setting: Mr Abhinandan Tripathy Cover Design: Mr Abhinandan Tripathy ISBN: 978-81-944673-0-4 iv Public Library and Digital Divide CONTENT Foreword Prof Srikant Mohapatra vi Editor's Note Abhaya Kumar Padhi viii Public Libraries and Bridging Digital Divide in Pravakar Rath 1 Indian Perspective Digital Divide and Public Libraries: Role of S. Ravi 8 Professionals in Skill Development Role of Public Library in Promotion of Digital Manoj Kumar Joshi 14 Literacy Public Library and Digital Divide: Opportunities Rajesh Singh and Raji 20 and Challenges Nayan Innovative Technologies in Public Libraries B. Ravi 29 Implementing E-Governance Services: Issues and Abubakar Ladan and 35 Challenges of Public Libraries in Nigeria P Rajendran Changing Role of Public Libraries in Bridging the R. N. Mishra and 42 Digital Divide for Effective E-Governance R. K. Ngurtinkhuma. Role of Public Library for the Sustenance of Digital R. K. Ngurtinkhuma 54 India: Perspectives from Public Library Manifesto Social Responsibility of Public Libraries and Niranjan Mohapatra, 61 Information Centres in Odisha: A Statistical Abinash Dash and Analysis B. Chandrabati Emerging Technologies for Library Management T. Swapna Chander and 73 Sunil Kumar Padhi Effects of Using Mobile Phones in Accessing Esther Lalnunpuii and 79 Information: A Study of National Institute of R.K.Ngurtinkhuma Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), Aizawl Library Website of Central Universities in India: Rudra Narayan and 88 An Evaluative Study Rabindra Kumar Mahapatra Public Library and Digital Divide v E-Resources and Its Impact in The New Basanta Kumar Das and 97 Information Age Rabindra Kumar Mahapatra Use of Electronic Journals at IIT Libraries Priyanka Roychowdhury 107 and Subarna Kumar Das Information Needs of a Disadvantaged Monoj Tudu and 115 Community in Mayurbhanj District, Odisha: A Subarna Kumar Das Case Study on Lodha at Sansasole Village Scholarly Communication Through Institutional Bharati Pati 127 Repositories: A Case Study of NIT Rourkela. Digital Library Development and Digital Library Dhruba Jyoti Borgohain 134 Initiatives in India Open Source Philosophy and Initiatives in India Lianhmingthangi Hnamte 143 and the World Assistive Technologies for Users with Visual Shibashis Pradhan and 149 Impairment in Library & Information Centres Rudra Narayan Application of ICT in Public Library: A Study of Prof. S.N. Singh 157 Mizoram State Library Florida J. Ngurhmingliani and Esther Lalruatpuii List of Contributors 163 vi Public Library and Digital Divide FOREWORD This book is the result of a two-day National Seminar on the theme ‘Public Library and Digital Divide: Opportunities and Challenges’ held at Sambalpur. Many teachers and practitioners of library science from various universities and institutions of national repute participated and presented papers in the Seminar bringing out the professional nuances and current trends in library management in the digital milieu. This slender volume is an attempt to collate some chosen papers for the benefit of teachers, students, library and information science enthusiasts, and general readers who evince interest in books and libraries. The theme strongly underlines the ‘Digital Divide’, otherwise, perceived as a ‘digital split’ that has become a fundamental social issue signifying the sense of the different genre and quantum of information between those who have access to the Internet, especially broadband access, and those who are deprived of it for various reasons. The phrase is also indicative of the gap between the demographics and the regions having access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and those who are deprived of such essential facilities. The primary objective of the Seminar was to cater value-added services through ICT to the educators and the learners both in-house and in distant mode. Librarians amidst globalization of education, availability of huge corpus of literature in the cyber-space, prevalence of multidimensional research have reshaped the resource collection to meet the varied demands of the patrons. The current trend and practice in providing information by the public libraries in a knowledge-based society powerfully linked to decision making, strategic planning, structured management, competitive advantages, innovation, and research and development are of paramount importance. In an age driven by ever-emerging technology, only the accumulation of resources does not count. Rather, there is a need for a mechanism to organize with the help of proper technology for accelerating services, seamless access on the web by the end-users, make successful the true notion of digital India, and obliterating the gap between the resources and the users. Emergence, growth, development, and popularity of the internet in information society has an immediate effect on transformation to a knowledge-society which has posed several challenges for the library professionals to change their management operations and service delivery which will truly justify the library service. The discussions, deliberations, expressions of thoughts, sharing of experiences and expertise including panel discussions on the current issues by the resource persons in the Seminar not only enhanced the knowledge domain of the participants and others present in the Seminar but also provided a means to excel the functioning of the public library using ICT in a more dignified manner and these exertions have proved to be a viable gateway and contributed new insights for the development of the profession. It, also, added value to the professional communities of Odisha and the learning platform as well to the entire Library and Information Science communities. The true value of learning and the untiring performance of the librarian in the present context has shifted from that of a document manager to an information manager and which in turn has been reshaped into information and knowledge Public Library and Digital Divide vii disseminator and facilitator. This has been possible due to the desired prevalence of ICT in every stage of its operation like acquisition, organization, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge leading thereby to a new horizon in the service domain. Therefore, tomorrow’s organizations will only thrive if they recognize the uncertainty that faces them and actively imagine the possible threats and opportunities that will emerge under different circumstances. The theme and concept of the Seminar were mooted by the Sambalpur Public Library, and Odisha State Open University (OSOU) readily agreed to be the joint host. The main architect in this project was Prof. Aditya Prasad Padhi, a former Vice-Chancellor of Berhampur University who is the incumbent President of the Sambalpur Public Library. OSOU is not only engaged in the process of ‘distant learning’ (DL) but also is a champion of ‘Digital Learning’ (DL). The subject of the Seminar was in sync with the vision and mission of OSOU. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development; Pandit Madam Mohan Malvia National Mission on Teachers and Training, National Resource Centre Teaching- Learning; Ramanujan College, University of Delhi and the Department of Culture, Government of Odisha stepped in and offered much-needed help in holding the Seminar in a befitting manner. Odisha State Open University expresses gratitude to all participating institutions and the participants for their generous help and scholarly contribution This volume is an aggregate of twenty number of papers submitted and presented by teachers, students, and practitioners of Library and Information Science. They deal with various aspects of the theme of the Seminar, “Public Library and Digital Divide: Opportunities and Challenges’. The focus in most of the papers are on the public library, technology applications in library management, digital drive, institutional repositories, use electronic devices like mobile phones in the library and library websites along with case studies. The book will be instrumental for both the library professionals and the end-users to enhance the effective library services using the technology. It also will be the gateway to the professionals to reach the information at the grassroots level. I thank Abhaya Kumar Padhi, a former senior executive of Prasar Bharati, and a bibliophile for having agreed to organise and edit the book to make it presentable. Thanks are due to Prof R N Mishra, Organizing Secretary of the Seminar, and all those who are associated directly or indirectly with the publication of the book. The opinions expressed in the papers are that of the authors and the editor and publisher of the book are not responsible for the content. However, any error and omissions in print are humbly owned by us and necessary corrections will be carried out in the next edition. Dr. Srikant Mohapatra Sambalpur Vice-Chancellor Dated the 10th June 2020 Odisha State Open University viii Public Library and Digital