Paper presented at SIS 2012 Conference held at NIT Silchar organised by Dr. K C Satpathy

1. Information Literacy in Library and Information
Science Curriculum in Northern India: An
Analytical Study
By
Abdul Rashid
Librarian,
National Institute of Technology
Srinagar

2. Information
THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE
Is it used with the purpose in our Libraries?

3. Educational System
Role of Teacher
Dictating Notes
Prescribing Textbook
Job Security
Question Bank

4. Library Profession
Library not conducive place
Status of librarian
Terrifying Technology
Lack of Support
Shortage/Unskilled Staff
Over domination by Un professional Staff
Changing wheels
Curriculum of Library Schools

5. Finance
No judicious Collection
Cost
Constant budget

6. What To Do
•Course work/Project Work
•No CAS but Research Papers/Consultancy
•Deserve and Desire
•Hierarchy of needs
•Autonomy to Librarian
•Balanced Collection
•Collection Development: Judicious and time
•Training and retraining-marketing; ITS, Info Seeking
•Syllabus

7. Introduction
Dissemination
Preservation
Processing
Acquisition

8. Sources of Information
Tertiary
Secondary
Primary

9. Evolution of Libraries

10. Digital Library
A library in which the collection and services of a
standard library have been translated into purely
digital form

11. Problems Faced By the User are due to
Technological
complexities
and Technical
complexities
Different
formats of
documents
Information
explosion

12. INFORMATION EXPLOSION
Too much information is A weekly edition of “ The New
generated in the world. A view York Times” contain more It is estimated that there are
is presented here: information than the average 295 Exabytes of information in
person was likely to come the world.
across in a life time in the 17th •1 Exabyte = 20 zero’s
century England.
world produces 1.5 billion gigabytes of unique information
every year. Approximately it equates to roughly 250 megabytes
for every man, woman and child on the earth or the equal
textual content of 250 books each (Lymen & Varian, 2000).

13. INFORMATION OVERLOAD
“Information overload occurs when
information received becomes a hindrance
rather than a help when the information is
potentially useful”.
“An excess of information that results in
the loss of ability to make decisions, process
information expeditiously, and prioritize
tasks effectively.”

14. INFORMATION ANXIETY
Impact of information overload and
digital divide results in developing
anxiety among the consumers of
information. This is due to:
 Time is wasted.
 Delayed decision making.
 Distraction from main task.

15. Information Literate person should be able to:
• Recognize the need for information.
• Recognize that accurate information is the basis for intelligent decision-
making.
• Identify potential sources of information.
• Develop successful search strategies.
• Access sources of information.
• Evaluate information and organize information.
• Integrate new information into an existing body of knowledge .
• Use information in critical thinking and problem solving.

16. Research Question
Present study highlights the concept of IL in the
curriculum of LIS schools in Northern India with the
following research question.
RQ 1: Whether IL is incorporated by the LIS
departments in the curriculum?
RQ 2: If yes, what are the contents being taught by LIS
departments in the facet of IL?

17. Scope of the Study
S.No. Name of Institution
1 University of Kashmir
2 Jammu University
Guru Nank Dev
3
University
4 Punjab University
5 Punjabi University
6 Kurukshetra University
7 Delhi University
8 Aligarh Muslim University
9 Lucknow University
10 Banaras Hindu University
11 IGNOU
12 NISCAIR
13 BBAU Central University
14 Jami Milia Islamia

18. Methodology Adopted
Thorough literature review has been carried out in order to
know the meaning and scope of IL.
In order to know the inclusion of different facets of IL in the
curriculum of LIS schools a questionnaire was framed and
distributed among the selected schools.
Besides questionnaire, contents of the curriculum adopted
by these LIS schools was analyzed and compared with each
other. Data thus generated is analyzed and presented in the
present paper.

19. Analysis and Discussion

20. LIS departments and Information Literacy
Information Literacy Incorporated
S.No. Name of Institution
Yes No
1 University of Kashmir √
2 Jammu University √
Guru Nank Dev √
3
University
4 Punjab University √
5 Punjabi University √
6 Kurukshetra University √
7 Delhi University √
8 Aligarh Muslim University √
9 Lucknow University √
10 Banaras Hindu University √
11 IGNOU √
12 NISCAIR √
13 BBAU Central University √
14 Jami Milia Islamia √

21. Information Literacy Status in Curriculum
Adopted Information Literacy as
S.No Name of University
Full Paper Unit of a Paper Section of a
Unit
1 University of Kashmir × × √
2 Jammu University × × √
3 Guru Nank Dev University × × √
4 Punjabi University × × √
5 Kurukshetra University × × √
6 Delhi University √* × √**
7 NISCAIR × × √
Total 1 Nil 7

22. Information Literacy incorporated in Paper
Name of
S.No Paper in which IL is incorporated
University
1 University of Kashmir Reference and Information Services
2 Jammu University Reference and Information Sources
Guru Nank Dev Information and Communication
3
University
4 Punjabi University Library and Users
5 Kurukshetra University Users and Information Services
Information Sources and Services (BLIS)
6 Delhi University
Information Literacy Applications in LIS (MLIS)
7 NISCAIR Information, Knowledge and Society

23. Information Literacy Contents
S.No Name of University Contents incorporated in IL
1 University of Kashmir Information Literacy Skills: An Introduction
Information Literacy: What, Why & How?
2 Jammu University
Guru Nank Dev Information Literacy: Definition , skill and programmes
3
University
Information literacy : Definition, need, Purpose, Programmes
4 Punjabi University
Information Literacy and User Education: Concepts and Methods.
5 Kurukshetra University
Fundamental of Information Literacy
Information Literacy Programmes
Methodology of Information Literacy
6 Delhi University Application of Information Literacy in Library and information Centers
NISCAIR Information Literacy
7

24. Conclusion
Findings of the study reveal that the importance of IL has not
been realized fully by the departments of LIS in Northern
India. Only 50% departments have adopted IL in the
curriculum. Thus there is need for making the LIS
academicians aware about the importance of IL, so that they
can incorporate it in the curriculum. Organizations like
ILA, IASLIC, ITALIS, SIS, and UGC etc can play an important role
by organizing conferences, seminars, workshops on the
theme of IL. Such programs will sensitize the concerned
authorities about the importance of IL. It is the responsibility
of UGC that Model curriculum for library and information
science published in 2001 must be revisited with special
attention given for including IL in the curriculum.