impact of IT on information services, with special reference to india

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Impact of IT on information services, with special reference to India





~ By Ms. Neeraj Karandikar


Information is a vital resource & serves as an essential input to the effective pursuit of national policies on economic, scientific, technological & social development. It is a perennial resource, unlike natural & industrial resources & is characterized by its inherent potential for perpetual growth. The last few decades have witnessed incredible advances in information & communication technology (ICT) � which is the potent combination of computers in which information can be stored & processed & telecommunications by which information can be transmitted to anybody, anywhere in the world.


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We are living in an information-intense society, in which the quality of life as well as prospects for social change & economic development depends increasingly on information & its exploitation. Living standards, patterns of work & leisure, education systems & market place are all influenced prominently by advances in information & knowledge. To be in a position to exploit information, society will have to shift its perception & abilities related to information formats. Individuals will have to acquire a new bundle of information skills necessary to function in society.


In practice, they will have to expand the traditional skills of literacy. This new level of literacy has to do with understanding the role & power of information in society, its use & misuse in society & most importantly understanding the systems/intermediaries involved in organizing & disseminating information, namely � libraries & information centers. As a fast growing & changing technology, IT is all-pervasive & has impacted the functioning of libraries in various ways. Implicit in this process of modernization is an increase in efficiency, effectiveness & reduction in cost per unit of library services.


Traditionally dominated by print, libraries have been vast warehouses of published knowledge, storing publications “just in case” users might need them. But now with the evolution of the Internet, electronic databases, CD-ROM technologies, libraries are becoming access points to knowledge, which is not in print form & not held in the library itself. Distributed access of electronic information sources creates a scenario in which ownership of publications becomes less critical then acquiring access rights. The librarian may acquire access rights freely, at a fee or a mix of both. While some information is completely free, a lot of it is commercially priced. Free information sources include electronic newsletters & discussion groups, some electronic journals, reports & library catalogues.


Highlighting the change in emphasis from collection to organizing, Kenneth Arnold refers to the librarian as a verb. “[This] is a useful image, I think, because it implies movement. In the past the librarian, unlike most professionals, has been associated with a place, the library, a building. In the future, the librarian will be a vector, searching for & establishing connections. The library in which this librarian works is more a state of mind than a location. It is a set of neural connectors. And that is why the place called library is not the sentence in which the electronic librarian dwells.”1


Digital technology incorporates multimedia & hypertext capabilities that allow the fluid combination of text, still & moving pictures, speech & musical sounds. As the medium of recording thoughts & the packaging of ideas changes, the roles of the intermediaries involved in the scholarly communication process, are getting merged. Traditionally, publishers saw that books & journals were manufactured & physically delivered, while libraries catalogued & archived books & journals from many publishers & made them available to one user at a time.


With the Internet it has become easier for individuals “to make public” what they wish to, without the help of a publisher. Publishers are no longer restricted to using only paper, but can also publish on-line, on CD-ROM, on film, on interactive laser discs. Publishers of electronic information offer search facilities & access to specific sections in their publications, maintain databases of their own publications on the Internet, thereby entering the zones of dissemination, archiving & preservation which has so far been among the responsibilities of the librarians.


Libraries on the other hand, no longer restricted to having bibliographic data of their own collection have mounted other electronic sources on their servers - first acquired indexes, abstracts, followed by full text-journals, textbooks & still later, in-house prepared bibliographies, compilations etc. In a sense with this “publishing” the libraries are moving into the zone of the publishers.


However, it may be added that the new does not necessarily replace the old, but can co-exist with the old. Technology should always be seen from the perspective of organizational purpose. Modernised library services should be as far as possible logical extensions of traditional services taking into account the receptivity of the overall system of which the library is a part. This is especially true in the case of a developing country like India.


India today has states & 6 centrally administered union territories & the pattern of library development & history varies from one state to another. An overall scenario of library development provides an uneven & rather dismal picture. 10 states have already enacted Public Library Legislation. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal have made commendable development in the field of public libraries. Most other states are lagging behind pathetically.


Surprisingly, certain states such as Haryana, Punjab that have progressed well economically have not paid due attention to the development of libraries in their respective regions. Other states, particularly Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, which are highly populated & are spread over a large geographical area have yet to start the basic infrastructure in this field.


The process of modernization of libraries in India has been sketchy during the last 50 years. The national efforts for modernization of libraries after independence can be traced to the 158 Scientific Policy Resolution, which emphasized the fostering of scientific temper in people. It was adopted at the instance of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In pursuance of this agenda, several committees & commissions were appointed to look into specific issues & come up with necessary recommendations, i.e. The Sinha Committee’s report (15), Ranganathan Committee Report (165) which has served as a Bible for University & College Libraries till this day, Peter Lazar Report & V.A. Kamath Report (17). The 18 Technology Policy Statement emphasized the need for a technology information base. In July 184, the Working Group of the Planning Commission headed by Dr. N Seshagiri recommended to the government the need for modernization of library services & informatics during the Seventh Five Year Plan of 185-10.4


The National Policy on Library & Information System submitted in 188 recommended using information technology on a national level. In subsequent years various networks were established, prominent amongst those, being DELNET in Delhi (188) & INFLIBNET (188). The Working Group of the Planning Commission on Libraries & Informatics for the Ninth Five-Year Plan, 17-00, under the chairmanship of B. P. Singh (Department of Culture) made important recommendations for the modernization & networking of libraries.


Among other things, it laid stress on the integrated cohesive development of libraries at the national level. “All the components of the national library system have developed in isolation so far, thereby contributing to its non-effectiveness. It is recommended that there should be a National Library System (NLM) comprising the National Library, Calcutta, the national depository libraries in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, the national subject libraries such as National Science Library, National Medical Library & national documentation centers like INSDOC (Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre), NASSDOC (National Social Science Documentation Centre) etc. & such libraries of national importance.”


It remains to be seen as to how many of these recommendations will be finally considered for financial assistance by the Government.


The World Information Report of the UNESCO, 17-8 had made the following observations about India, Pakistan, Indonesia & Philippines5


· Bulk of the population in not information-dependent in day-to-day work & living.


· A large proportion of the population cannot consume information, especially if it is delivered in written form.


· Vast majority of the population does not have the means to access information


· People in general are not accustomed to pay, cannot pay or are unwilling to pay for information. In fact information does not even figure in their lists of wants.


· The existing pattern of economic activities does not favor a growth in information consumption


· The country does not have sufficient capacity to invest in infrastructural development


However, the findings of this report have to be viewed against the fact that India’s population, according to the 001 Census is1,07,015,47 (www.censusindia.net)


Almost three-fourth of this teeming population resides in over 575,000 villages. Planning for such a vast, linguistically & culturally diverse country is by no means a simple task. The government of India has taken various initiatives for infrastructure development in the country, with special emphasis on telecommunications. This is now universally acknowledged as one of the prime movers of the modern day economy, hence its vital importance for a developing country like India.


The National Telecom Policy (NTP) 14 had envisaged the objective of having a Public Call Office (PCO) for every 500 persons in the urban areas. As on Oct.1, 000 there were 740,000 PCO’s in the country. According to the New Telecom Policy, 1 the government has opened the National Long Distance Service to private operators without any restriction on the no. of operators, with effect from Aug.1, 000. categories of infrastructure providers have been allowed, viz Category I - to provide dark fiber, right of way, towers, duct space & Category II - to provide end-to-end bandwidth.6


Two service providing departments of the Telecom Sector have been corporatised viz. Department of Telecom Services (DTS) & Department of Telecom Operations (DTO). Public Sector Co. “Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.” has now taken up all service providing functions of these two departments with effect from Oct.1, 000. This initiative is expected to provide a level playing field in all areas of telecom services between government operators & private operators. Telecommunication network of the public sector (BSNL & MTNL) is one of the largest telecom networks in Asia. There were 5 million lines & 8.4 million working connections comprising 8,6 telephone exchanges in the country as On Oct.1, 000


Termination of monopoly of VSNL for international (ILD) services has been preponed to Mar.1, 00 from Mar.1, 004. Fixed service providers have been given limited mobility in the form of Wireless in Local Loop (WILL). Other initiatives include customs duty reduction to boost infotech, telecom industries & other knowledge-based industries.


Information technology is highly dynamic & new developments become quickly obsolete. However, in conclusion it may be added that the growth in the use of IT has some in-built paradoxes.7 On the one hand, access to information & communication is becoming easier & computers are better, faster & cheaper. These factors may be considered as a global trend in democratization. On the other hand, the development of technology, software & data processing requires more & more capital investment, & this is leading to global monopolies among producers & vendors.


Another paradox stemming from the enhanced access to IT is the emergence of a new type of illiterates � those who have not grown up with the technology and are therefore at a disadvantage in the employment market. From this point of view the use of a PC (personal computer) may be compared with the mastery of a foreign language, which requires regular practice. Libraries can play an important role in fighting this form of illiteracy by giving all users access to PC’s and to the networks. In some Western European countries, there is an ongoing discussion about whether public libraries should give all users free access to the Internet.


The development of IT has taken principally in the capitalist world & within the framework of capitalist economies. In this context, one driving force is the substitution of relatively expensive labor by machines leading to reductions in the costs of production & services. However developments are so rapid that there is a general lack of qualified personnel. This gives qualified groups of professionals opportunities for very good salaries & working conditions. As IT spreads to other parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe & developing countries, there will also be a lack of professionals in these regions. Market forces will continue to tempt qualified personnel from developing countries to move to Western Europe & North America. The situation arising in these countries due to the “brain-drain” is going to get only worse.


1 Arnold, Kenneth The Electronic Librarian is a Verb the Electronic Library is not a Sentence. A lecture


delivered at the New York Public Library, The Gilbert A Cam Memorial Lecture Series, Oct.14


Sridhar, M.S. Modernising of library service using IT potential & trends (Herald of Library Science.


Vol., Nos.1-, Jan-April000; p.0)


Mangla, P.B.; Kala, D.R.; Jagannathan, Neela (eds) Library & information services in India states &


Union territories. 001. Shipra Publications, Delhi, p.xiv


4 Kaul, H.K. Resource sharing in Indian libraries the emerging laws, the growing agenda & DELNET


experience [in Kaul, H.K (ed.) Library &information networking, NACLIN 8, proceedings.


1.DELNET, New Delhi, p.5]


5 UNESCO World Information Report, 17/8. 17.UNESCO, Paris, p.5


6 Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India Economic Survey, 000-001; p.178


7 UNESCO World Communication & Information Report, 1/000 �


http//www.unesco.org/webworld/wcir/en/report.html


The author is associated with the Jawaharlal Nehru Library, University of Mumbai





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