Collection building in academic libraries in India: status, challenges and way forward

Published date26 September 2019
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/CC-09-2017-0043
Pages103-111
Date26 September 2019
AuthorMehtab Alam Ansari
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Collection building & management
Collection building in academic libraries
in India: status, challenges and
way forward
Mehtab Alam Ansari
Department of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the status and application of automated acquisition in central university libraries in north India.
North India is a loosely dened region consisting of northern parts of India. Signicantly, all the libraries are having very rich col lections of different
types of documents.
Design/methodology/approach Data for the present study have been collected using questionnaire. Interview and observation
techniques have also been used to bring more objectivity in the present study. MS-Excel has been used for analysis of the data. Results
show that varying levels of progress has been made with respect to implementation of acquisition system in the surveyed libraries.
Findings Expectations of user community have been increased manifold in the wired world. Furthermore, suggest that the staff morale is boost up
in the automated environment.
Research limitations/implications The study covers select academic libraries of north India. Application of various features of acquisition
module is examined in this paper along with the staff perspective about automation. Automation process in these univ ersity libraries has been
started with the selection of different library management software package in different universities . Notably, all the prominent central universities
are located in north India.
Practical implications The evaluation shed light on the current automation scenario in prominent academic libraries of India.
Social implications All the surveyed libraries must explore the fullest potentials of all the features available in the software to provide better
services. This will help in heading toward and information rich society.
Originality/value There have been a couple of studies in the past on library automation in academic libraries, but none have inten ded to cover
collection building or acquisition activities in central university libraries of north India.
Keywords India, Acquisition, Library automation, Libsys, Virtua, Library software package
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Libraries in India have witnessed automation very late in
comparison to the developed world. Notably, central
universities in India have rst introduced computer and
software for creation oflibrarydatabase[1][2]. There are
three categories of universities in India, namely, central
universities, state universities deemed to be universities
and state private universities. Central universities are
established by an act of Parliament and are under the
purview of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry
of Human Resource Development. Currently, UGC lists
47 central universities (University Grants Commission,
2018). Notably, central universities receive more funds
from the Government in comparison to state and deemed
universities. The present study examines status of
automated acquisition system in eight central universities
located in the northern India. It will also outline the staff
response vis-à-vis automation process. A brief description
about surveyed libraries will also be given. This paper also
analyzes the reasons some of the libraries have not yet
started using the acquisition system. North India is a
loosely dened region consisting of the northern part of
India. The term north Indiaofcially refers to the states
of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the union
territories of Delhi and Chandigarh. The languages that
have ofcial status in one or more of the states and union
territories located in north India are Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi
and English (Ministry of Minority Affairs, 2013).
The dictionary for Library and Information Science
denes information technology as, A very broad term
encompassing all aspects of the management and processing
of information by computer, including the hardware and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9326.htm
Collection and Curation
38/4 (2019) 103111
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-09-2017-0043]
I am very thankful to Shahwar Fatima (Research Scholar, Department of
Library and Information Science at Aligarh Muslim University) for helping
me in proof read of this article.
Received 26 September 2017
Revised 12 February 2018
Accepted 2 May 2018
103

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