Re-engineering and Re-defining University Libraries in the context of modern Information and Communication Technologies: a study with special reference to the University Libraries in Kerala

Information and communication technologies are the tools that underpin the emerging “Knowledge Society”. Exchange of information or knowledge between people and through networks of people has always taken place. But the ICT has radically changed the magnitude of this exchange, and thus factors such as timeliness of information and information dissemination patterns have become more important than ever.Since information and knowledge are so vital for the all round human development, libraries and institutions that manage these resources are indeed invaluable. So, the Library and Information Centres have a key role in the acquisition, processing, preservation and dissemination of information and knowledge. ln the modern context, library is providing service based on different types of documents such as manuscripts, printed, digital, etc. At the same time, acquisition, access, process, service etc. of these resources have become complicated now than ever before. The lCT made instrumental to extend libraries beyond the physical walls of a building and providing assistance in navigating and analyzing tremendous amounts of knowledge with a variety of digital tools. Thus, modern libraries are increasingly being re-defined as places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.The research was conducted in the university libraries in Kerala State, India. lt was identified that even though the information resources are flooding world over and several technologies have emerged to manage the situation for providing effective services to its clientele, most of the university libraries in Kerala were unable to exploit these technologies at maximum level. Though the libraries have automated many of their functions, wide gap prevails between the possible services and provided services. There are many good examples world over in the application of lCTs in libraries for the maximization of services and many such libraries have adopted the principles of reengineering and re-defining as a management strategy. Hence this study was targeted to look into how effectively adopted the modern lCTs in our libraries for maximizing the efficiency of operations and services and whether the principles of re-engineering and- redefining can be applied towards this.Data‘ was collected from library users, viz; student as well as faculty users; library ,professionals and university librarians, using structured questionnaires. This has been .supplemented by-observation of working of the libraries, discussions and interviews with the different types of users and staff, review of literature, etc. Personal observation of the organization set up, management practices, functions, facilities, resources, utilization of information resources and facilities by the users, etc. of the university libraries in Kerala have been made. Statistical techniques like percentage, mean, weighted mean, standard deviation, correlation, trend analysis, etc. have been used to analyse data.All the libraries could exploit only a very few possibilities of modern lCTs and hence they could not achieve effective Universal Bibliographic Control and desired efficiency and effectiveness in services. Because of this, the users as well as professionals are dissatisfied. Functional effectiveness in acquisition, access and process of information resources in various formats, development and maintenance of OPAC and WebOPAC, digital document delivery to remote users, Web based clearing of library counter services and resources, development of full-text databases, digital libraries and institutional repositories, consortia based operations for e-journals and databases, user education and information literacy, professional development with stress on lCTs, network administration and website maintenance, marketing of information, etc. are major areas need special attention to improve the situation. Finance, knowledge level on ICTs among library staff, professional dynamism and leadership, vision and support of the administrators and policy makers, prevailing educational set up and social environment in the state, etc. are some of the major hurdles in reaping the maximum possibilities of lCTs by the university libraries in Kerala. The principles of Business Process Re-engineering are found suitable to effectively apply to re-structure and redefine the operations and service system of the libraries. Most of the conventional departments or divisions prevailing in the university libraries were functioning as watertight compartments and their existing management system was more rigid to adopt the principles of change management. Hence, a thorough re-structuring of the divisions was indicated. Consortia based activities and pooling and sharing of information resources was advocated to meet the varied needs of the users in the main campuses and off campuses of the universities, affiliated colleges and remote stations. A uniform staff policy similar to that prevailing in CSIR, DRDO, ISRO, etc. has been proposed by the study not only in the university libraries in kerala but for the entire country.Restructuring of Lis education,integrated and Planned development of school,college,research and public library systems,etc.were also justified for reaping maximum benefits of the modern ICTs.

Development Planning at the State Level in India - A Case Study with Reference to Kerala, 1957-'84

This thesis entitled “Development planning at the state level in india a case study with reference to kerala1957-84.Planning in India is a concurrent subject with the Centre and the States having well-defined domains of jurisdiction with regard to planning functions and sources of resource mobilisation.The genesis of the lack of academic interest in state level planning is in the widely held belief that in the extent scheme of Centre-State economic relations, the states have little scope for initiative in planning.Both at the theoretical and empirical levels, Kerala has attached very great importance to planning.It has been the localeof wide and deep discussions on the various dimensions of planning.In Kerala's development process, the leading sector consists of social services such as education and public healthOne point that needs special emphasis in this regard is that the high demand for education in Kerala cannot be attributed to the Keralites' ‘unique urge‘ for education. Rather, it is related to the very high level of unemployment in the state (Kerala has the highest level of unemployment in the country.In resource allocation under the Five Year Plans, Kerala attached the highest weightage to power generation, hydro-electric projects being the major source of power in the state. Nearly one-fourth of the plan resources has been claimed by hydro-electric projects.In the agricultural sector, Kera1a's level of productive use of electric power is one of the lowest.As is evident.from above, planning in Kerala has not enabled us to solve the basic problems of the state. More 'scientific' planning in the sense of applying mre sophisticated planning techniques is obviously not the answer. It, on the contrary, consists of more fundamental changes some of which can be brought about through an effective use of measures well within the power of the State Government.

Predicted impact of the sea-level rise at VellareColeroon estuarine region of Tamil Nadu coast in India: Mainstreaming adaptation as a coastal zone management option

Low-lying coastal areas are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as they are highly prone for inundation to SLR (Sea-Level Rise). This study presents an appraisal of the impacts of SLR on the coastal natural resources and its dependent social communities in the low-lying area of VellareColeroon estuarine region of the Tamil Nadu coast, India. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from SRTM 90M (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission) data, along with GIS (Geographic Information System) techniques are used to identify an area of inundation in the study site. The vulnerability of coastal areas in Vellar-Coleroon estuarine region of Tamil Nadu coast to inundation was calculated based on the projected SLR scenarios of 0.5 m and 1 m. The results demonstrated that about 1570 ha of the LULC (Land use and Land cover) of the study area would be permanently inundated to 0.5 m and 2407 ha for 1 m SLR and has also resulted in the loss of three major coastal natural resources like coastal agriculture, mangroves and aquaculture. It has been identified that six hamlets of the social communities who depend on these resources are at high-risk and vulnerable to 0.5 m SLR and 12 hamlets for 1 m SLR. From the study, it has been emphasized that mainstreaming adaptation options to SLR should be embedded within a coastal zone management and planning effort, which includes all coastal natural resources (ecosystem-based adaptation), and its dependent social communities (community-based adaptation) involved through capacity building