USE OF WWW FOR TEACHING-LEARNING OF LIS THROUGH DISTANCE – PERCEPTIONS OF A DISTANCE LEARNER

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

USE OF WWW FOR TEACHING-LEARNING OF LIS THROUGH DISTANCE – PERCEPTIONS OF A DISTANCE LEARNER - Yadagiri, N. - MLISc 2010-11 Dr.BRAOU - Assistant Librarian, NITHM. 0. Introduction

In the emerging Information and knowledge society, Information Science Education has witnessed tremendous challenges. The rapid advancements in the Internet and Web technologies have opened up new communication channels promoting more active interaction between the teaching and learning communities. E-learning practices are slowly gaining prominence in India.

In this fast changing environment, it is necessary to review the present efforts of Teaching and Learning practices and processes of the LIS departments.

This paper presents an overview of the state of the art LIS Education in India, discusses the problems and opportunities of distance learners, with special reference to Dr.BRAOU and outlines the experiences of 2010-2011 batch MLIS students of BRAOU from the student’s perspective.

The objectives of the present study are to: Discuss the Characteristics of Distance Learning in India: Present an overview of LIS education in BRAOU Discuss the problems of BRAOU learners Examine the Impact of WWW for Teaching and Learning of LIS through distance

I.

LIS EDUCATION IN INDIA

Presently, In India, LIS education is imparted through more than 118 universities and institutions. A total of 105 universities provide Bachelor of Library and Information Science (BLIS) courses, 78 universities provide the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) courses, 21 are offering two-year integrated courses, 16 universities provide M.Phil in Library and Information Science, 46 universities provide Ph.D. Two universities provide D.Litt Degree.

Besides, the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi and Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

provides Associateship courses in Information Science, which are equivalent to MLIS degree.

From 2010 DRTC started offering M.Sc. (Information Sciences) in the place of BLSc. To meet the growing demand for higher education, a number of programmes are being offered through distance mode of education. Out of the 14 Open Universities in the country (Annexure1), five universities namely – IGNOU, Dr.BRAOU, YCMOU, Nalanda Open University and Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University are offering LIS courses at Bachelor's and Master's Level. Nalanda Open University offers LIS course at the Certificate level and Kota Open University, Rajasthan offers LIS education as PG Diploma Course. In addition, IGNOU offers PDLAN – one year PG Diploma course in Library Automation and Networking. Ph.D. in Library & Information Sciences is being offered by IGNOU since 1996. In 2008 Dr.BRAOU has introduced M.Phil. and Ph.D. Programmes in LIS. Apart from these, LIS courses are offered in distance mode by the Directorates of Distance education by several universities.

II.

Characteristics of Distance Learners

Significant differences exist in the study habits of distance learners especially with regard to their marital status, social class, academic subjects, employment status, and levels of self motivation. Significant attitudinal differences also exist between the distance and conventional learners. Some of the factors that characterize the distance learners are given below: Isolated – Distance learners are often at a distance from the University and also from other learners Self-motivation – Distance learners have to be self motivated and sustain the motivation till the completion of the course Lack of skills - Those distance learners who are persuing their studies after a long gap often suffer from lack of confidence, Reading and writing skills.

Availability of time – Most of the distance learners are working. Making time for studies is difficult for them.

Distance Learners are from different Socio Economic Backgrounds and hence they possess different levels of understanding of the subject.

In the light of the specific characteristics of the distance learners, the distance education institutions need to develop a mechanism to promote student & teacher and student to student interaction. This can be done by using World Wide Web which has immense potential to foster connectivity, communication and interaction. Present study presents the experiences of BRAOU students in using the WWW to share information and interactivity.

III.

LIS Education in BRAOU –An Overview

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), formally known as Andhra Pradesh Open University, is located in the city of Hyderabad. With a wide network of 206 study centre spread through out the state of Andhra Pradesh, the University has for its motto “Education at Your Doorstep”. The University, the first of its kind in the country was brought onto being through an act of Andhra Pradesh State Legislature in august, 1982.

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers� February 3-4, 2012

Department of Library & Information Science of Dr.BRAOU has been offering B.L.I.Sc., M.L.I.Sc. programmes from 1985 and 1998 respectively. BLISc., a one year programme was initially offered only in English Medium and since 1986 it is offering BLISc in both English and Telugu media keeping in view the preference of vast majority of students of the state. The programme consists of the following eight courses.

1. Library and Society 2. Management of Library and Information Centers 3. Library Classification Theory 4. Library Cataloguing Theory 5. Information Sources & Services 6. Information Technology Basics 7. Library Classification Practices 8. Library Cataloguing Practices

MLISc., is offered in English medium as a one year programme consisting of the following eight courses.

1. Information, Communication and Society 2. Management of Information System and Centers 3. Information Processing and Retrieval 4. Information Systems and Programmes 5. Application of Information Technology 6. Research Methodology 7. Elective ( Any ONE of the following to be Chosen) 7A. Academic Libraries 7B. Special Libraries 7C. Public Libraries 7D. Digital Libraries 8. Computer Practical The optional course Digital Libraries is introduced in 2011.

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

M.Phil. & Ph.D. degrees are offered since 2008. So far 6 M.Phil degrees and One Ph.D. degrees are awarded.

IV.

Problems of LIS Learners through Distance Educations – Students Perspective

Distance is perceived to be the main barrier in obtaining and sharing information by the MLIS students. The student has to approach the study centre which is not very well equipped.

The limited number of study centres offering LIS courses is also a major problem. LIS courses are offered only at 5 study centres. The students from 28 districts of the state have to attend counseling sessions only at these 5 study centres. Most students may have to travel long distances to attend the counseling sessions. LIS is a professional programme and difficult to follow without attending the counseling classes held at study centres. Apart from these, the following problems are perceived by the students –

Location of University Library – No Library facility at the study centre and as the University library is at a distance access is difficult.

Student to Counselor Interaction is very limited Transportation Expenditure is also a problem From Purchasing of application Form to End of the course students have to visit the Study Centre and sometimes they have to visit the University. The purpose of visit may be for: o Purchase of application forms o Submission Application o Tuition Fee Payment o Material Collection o Examination Fee payment o Change of address o Change of Elective subjects o Collecting of Old Question Papers o Collecting duplicate Id Cards 4

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

o Collecting Audio-Visual Disks o Any Spelling Mistakes in Name or Data Entry Computer Lab Facility not Available at Study Centre On Sundays the University has Interactive Teleconferencing on the Regional Channel of Doordarshan. But at Study Centers there no Television Viewing Facilities.

Lack communication due to postal delays There is no information about postponed classes Exchange of classes by the Counselors A general survey of the study centres offering LIS courses reveals some interesting findings, as detailed below: 1. Govt. Degree College for Women, Begumpet, and Hyderabad: Study Centre covers nearly 10 districts. The maximum distance being 350kms. (Adilabad) and the minimum distance is 10 Km. (RangaReddy Dt.)

2. University Arts and Science College, Hanamkonda, Warangal : Study Centre covers two districts – Warangal and Khamman (154kms)

3. S V Arts College Tirupati: Study Centre caters to students of three districts – Chittoor, Cuddapah (200Km), Nellore.

4. P.B.Siddhartha College of Arts and Science Vijayawada: study centre caters to districts namely Guntur, Krishna and West Godavari.

5. Dr VS Krishna Government College Maddilapalem, Visakhapatnam: Study centre caters to students of Andhra Regions like – Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, and East Godavari etc.

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

It can be observed that there is unequal representation of all the regions as shown in figure-1.

However, the learners have a choice to opt and attend counseling classes at the study centre of their preference.

V.

Use of World Wide Web for Teaching-Learning of LIS through Distance

World Wide Web offers several advantages for the Teaching – Learning. The Institution can utilize the web applications to send information alerts, notifications regarding admissions, examinations, results etc. to their students. The Course Materials, Assignments, Audio-Visual lessons etc. can be made accessible to the students by creating an Institutional Repository. Online fee payments, downloading and submission of application forms online will help the students to save the time spent on travelling long distances.

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers� February 3-4, 2012

VI.

BRAOU Students of MLISc 2010-11 Experience with Yolasite.com

All the BRAOU students of MLISc. (2010 batch) discussed the problems and thought of ways to overcome the problems of communication and interaction. Students first shared their E-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers and created a database. To share information, students have used the email effectively. Way 2 SMS proved to be very useful in sending alerts and short messages regarding change of time table, exam schedule etc. The students also experimented with Group Mail (BRAOUMLISC2010-11@googlegroups.com), wherein all the students and counselors are included as members. The messages are moderated before they are circulated or published. This really helped the students to share valuable information pertaining to the MLIS course (figure-2).

Group Mail ID: BRAOUMLISC2010-11@googlegroups.com

Dr. BRAOU - MLISC 2010-11 Batch Google Group Account Further, the students thought of creating a website. By using the free space provided by Yola (www.yolasite.com) Website was created. This facilitated storage and access to more information in different formats. Documents: Ms. Doc, PDF, Excel, PPT Multimedia: MPGE, jpg, Videos and Audios are included in the website. Website address:

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

The information included in the website is as follows: 1. Home : In the home page the information like - about the University, and group mail Id, and about Father library science Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, one video on 15th Memorial Lecture about Dr. G. Ram Reddy prepared by the IGNOU) are included.

2. Schedules: time table is updated from time to time on the site 1.Practical Exam time table, 2. Winter Classes time Table 3. Digital library classes time table, 4. Examination time table in different formats like- PDF, Image, jpg, etc.

3. Assignments: 1st and 2nd Assignment Question Papers of MLISc 2010-11 batch.

4. Old question papers: MLISc old Question Papers of BRAOU of different Years i.e.

November 2006, November 2008, May 2011, and Dec 2011 including 8th Paper Practical Question Papers in the form of PDF file.

5. Notes: MLISc Course material (PPT’s and PDF).

6. LIS Education: Details of the Courses in the library Science from Basic Level to Ph.D.; names of universities offering them and eligibility details are also included in the website.

7. Digital libraries : Links provided to: a. Digital Library of India http://www.dli.gov.in/ b. Osmnia University Digital library http://oudl.osmania.ac.in c. NYPL Digital Gallery : http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

8. Seminar updates: Workshop and seminar updates are kept on the site, For example, 1.

Academic of library science and Documentation Centre Conducted training programme for UGC-NET appearing students 2. Dr. BRAOU - DLIS - a Two- Day National Seminar on Impact of World Wide Web on libraries and information Centre on 3rd-4th Feb 2012.These details are available on the website.

9. Felicitation: felicitation to Prof. Chandrashekar Rao Head of LIS Dr. BRAOU and Counselor of MLISc Students 2010-11 batch.

10. E-Books : related to Library and Information Science books, 11. Catalogues: Hyperlinks provided to: a. The National Library of India: http://www.nationallibrary.gov.in/SearchIndex.php b. The Library of Congress; http://catalog.loc.gov/ c. The World Catalog : http://www.worldcat.org/ d. Indcat :INFLIBNET: http://indcat.inflibnet.ac.in/indcat/ e. National Library Board Singapore : http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/ f. Delnet : http://164.100.247.21/cgi/nph-bwcgi/BASIS/union/cat/main/SF 12. Photos gallery: winter Class- room Photos and Multimedia Lab Practical Classes photos and Felicitation Programme photos are kept on the website.

13. Videos: which available on you tube related to Library & Information Science and they are provided by different universities are available on You Tube. These videos are linked to the website. The topics of videos: 1. Role of the libraries 2.Library Automation Practical Tips 3.Type of Libraries and functions 4. RFID Library 14.

15. LIS Network: Library Organizations and Hyperlinks provided. a. IFLA : http://www.ifla.org/ b. ALA : http://ala.org/ c. The Library Association, UK : http://www.libraryassociation.org.uk/ d. Indian Library Association : http://www.ilaindia.net/ e. IASLIC : http://iaslic1955.org.in f. ASLIB : http://www.aslib.co.uk g. Australian Lib. & Inf. Association : http://alia.org.au h. Society for Information Science : http://www.sis.org.in i. Developing Library Network : http://delnet.nic.in j. INFLIBNET : http://www.inflibnet.ac.in k. Kerala Library Association : http://www.keralalibraryassociation.org l. Gujrat Library Association : http://ggss.org.in m. Madras Library Association : http://www.accel-india.com/mala n. Bengal Library Association : http://www.blacal.org o. Delhi Library Association : http://www.dlaindia.org p. Ahmedabad Library Network : http://www.alibnet.org q. Bombay Science Librarian's Association :http://www.bosla.org.in r. Library and Information Science Gateway :http://www.lisgateway.in s. Society for Advancement of LIS : http://autolib-india.net/salis t. Special Library Association : http://www.sla.org u. SLA - Asian Chapter : http://units.sla.org/chapter/cas

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

16. Best Libraries in the World : a. The British Library: http://www.bl.uk b. Library of Congress : http://www.loc.gov/index.html c. The Queen’s Library : http://www.queenslibrary.org d. Cuyahoga County Public Library : http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org 17. Useful links to: Some Useful Resources for Library and Information Professionals a. Free online Journals sites b. Institutional Repositories c. Indian discussion forums, list services d. Resource lists e. Free Software f. Licensing, IPR, Consortia 18. Contact Us: Proforma for contacting the website Creator and for offering the suggestions is included. If any information is required relating to library ad information science anybody can contact the website creator.

19. Feedback : Student Speak V. Conclusions and Suggestions Based on the observations, study recommends the following measures 1. Increase the number Study Centers offering LIS Education through BRAOU 2. In the University webpage should maintain students’ information and interactive modules 3. Online banking facilities for easy fee payments 4. Organizing orientation classes at the beginning of the course to give an overview of the course and introduction to the counselors; 5. Study material should be made available on the website 6. BRAOU follows a multi-media teaching-learning approach which broadly comprises self-learning audio, video lessons and regular broadcast of lessons through all India Radio and Doordarshan. All videos and Audio Classes should be made available to the students though the website.

7. Provide Television at every Study Centre for viewing of Sunday teleconference Classes.

8. Computer lab facility should be provided at study centers with internet connectivity Department should introduce interactive websites to access and share the ideas, information and notes, clarification of student’s doubts by counselors.

9. Dr. BRAOU’s motto is – “Education at Your Doorstep”. University shall fulfill the motto by using of the World Wide Web to avoid the communication gap between students and University. University should use all the ICT tools likeInteractive websites, email Alerts, SMS 24/7 as most of the students (80%) have mobile phones.

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University A Two- Day National Seminar On “Impact of World Wide Web on Library and Information Centers” February 3-4, 2012

References: 1. Bidyarthi Dutta, Anup Kumar Das, INSDOC, Higher Education In Library & Information Science In India, ILA Bulletin 2011, 37(1), 25-30 2. Ramesha, & Ramesh Babu, B. (2007). Trends, Challenges and Future of Library and Information Science Education in India. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology 27 (5), 17-26.

3. Singh, S. (2000). Library and Information Science Education in India: Growth and Trends. University News, 38 (6), 45-48.

4. University Grants Commission. (2001). UGC Model Curriculum: Library and Information Science. New Delhi: UGC. 5. Varalakshmi, R. S. (2007). Need For National Consensus on Library and Information Science Education in India. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology, 27 (2), 1320.

6. Naushad Ali, P. M., & Bakhshi, S. I. (2006). Problems and Prospects of LIS Education in India with Special Reference to Distance Mode. Retrieved March 14,2010,From http://www.bibliotheksportal.de/fileadmin/0bibliotheken/bibliotheken_international/doku mente/indien_1.pdf 7. David, T. L. (2001). ICT for Library and Information Professionals: A Training Package for Developing Countries (ICTLIP). Retrieved June 26, 2009, From E-library Download page: http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/ publications/ICTLIP/index.htm 8. Baby, M. D., & Sreekala, S. (2007). Library and Information Science Education in Kerala: Quantity Vs Quality: A Case Study Of Rajagiri School of Library and Information science. NACLIN 2007 (Pp. 506-513). New Delhi: DELNET. 9. Distance Education and The WWW, Distance Education At A Glance, Guide 11, October 1995, This Guide Was Developed By Tania Gottschalk For University Of Idaho Engineering Outreach 10. Mathew K. 10 Chapter, 1.02 Library And Information Science Education Page No 2 11. Rath P. University Of Delhi 2010, 2.2 Growth And Development of LIS Education In India 12. Sivakumaren, K.S. Elanchezhiyan, T. and Jayapragash, B. (2005). Library and Information Science Education Through E-Learning (International Conference on Information Management in a Knowledge Socity, Vol-1, Page no. 101-108.

13. Allen, Barbara(2002) E-Lerning and Teaching in Library and Information services.

London:facet Publishing 273p. E-Learning and the LIS profession: Implications of ELearning and Teaching.

14. Cox, Andrew(1997) Using the WWW for library User education a review article, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Vol 209, No. 1, March 1997, p39-43

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