Annals of Library Science and Documentation 1987,34(3), 119·124

RESEARCH WORK AT POST-GRADUATELEVEL IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATIONSCIENCE - DISSERTATION STUDY OFD.U.&P.U.

Research in Library and Information Sciencestarts with master's degree programme withthe objective of educating & traini1'}g the person-nel to function in senior professional capacitiesin libraries and information centres. This arti-cle analyses the M. Lib. Sc. dissertation workssubmitted up to 1983 to Delhi University &Punjab University since their inception. Strongand weak areas of research in terms of subjectand research trends in the field have been dealtwith. Further, discusses the need to communi-cate outcome of the research to the actual users.

INTRODUCTION

Research has become an important part of so-cietal changes. The information infrastructurecontributes to and guides the social change inthe desired direction. Therefore, it should becontinually accelerated to meet the changesfor the needs and demands of society. Theresearch programme for the library and infor-mation science (L & I S) should providenew ideas and solutions to meet the society ina better way at the national level. Researchin L & I S starts with master's degree prog-ramme with the objectives to educate and trainthe personnel to function in senior professionalcapacities in libraries and information centres.In this capacity they would be required to haveplan, design, develop and manage these librariesand information systems etc., according to thechanging environment.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The Master of Library Science (M.Lib.Sc.)Course was started by the University of Delhiin 1948. It was perhaps the first advancedcourse in library science to be started by anyother University in the Commonwealth. Un-fortunately this course had to be suspended in1955 and was restarted in 1959. The Punjab

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SHAILENDRA KUMARINSDOCNew Delhi 110067

RAVINDER KUMAR SHARMANational Institute of PublicFinance and PolicyNew Delhi 110067

University started M.Lih.Sc. Course in 1970-7l.The submission of dissertation on any problemof library science formed an integral part ofthese courses.

Dissertation work at M. Lib. Sc. level isprimarily to acquaint the students as to how toconduct research. In this study, an attempt ismade to analyse the M.Lib.Sc. dissertationssubmitted to the University of Delhi (DU) andPunjab University, Chandigarh (PU) from theirinception to the year 1983. The total numberof dissertations included in this study is 53l.There are 332 dissertations submitted to theDelhi University and 199 dissertations to thePunjab University, Chandigarh.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the study are: (i) tofocus strong and weak areas in research atM.Lib.Sc. level in terms of subject, and (ii)to give research trends in the field of L & I S.

METHODOLOGY

The data about the number of dissertationsin L &) S under different subjects have beencollected, on the basis of information avail-able in departmental records and cataloguesavailable in the Delhi University and PunjabUniversity, Chandigarh. Representation ofdissertations in different areas is classifiedaccording to the Dewey Decimal Classifica-tion (DDC. 19th ed.) and the work has beenarranged in a classified order.

Dissertations available on the shelves havebeen scanned and after proper comprehensionof the contents of literature on a particularsegment the review on research trends hasbeen made. Further, the data and variouscalculated values of some parameters have

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been analysed and presented in the differenttables.

RESEARCH AREAS

Delhi University dissertations have wide cover-age of the research in the field of L & I S where-as in areas such as libraries devoted to specificdisciplines, reading interest and habits, bio-graphy of librarians, and computer applica-tions Punjab University has taken the lead.

SUBJECT ANALYSIS

Distribution of research under various subjectheadings is presented in the tables 1 and 2.Much stress is given on the bibliographicalwork which accounts for 27.28% of the totalwork. Compilation of subject bibliographies,bibliographies of reference books and cata-logues comprise 23.72%, 1.31% and 2.25%respectively. Library and information science,including organization, library education, andbiography of librarians constitutes 9.6% ofthe total study. User survey and evaluation ofreference and information services in differentlibraries hold 8.09% of the total research workdone. Library classification and designing ofdepth schedule for classification, public libra-ries, acquisition and collection developmenthold 5.83%, 4.89% and 3.76% respectively.More than 3% of the total research is devotedto the bibliographic control, cataloguing, andindexing and abstracting each. Only 3.01% ofthe total work is done on library cooperation,library and community, and library buildingtogether.

Topics such as citation analysis, translationservices, reprography, school libraries, readinginterest and habits, and computer applicationsare poorly dealt with ranging from 0.18% to1.3% of the total research.

RESEARCH TRENDS

Research is devoted to the preparation ofannotated bibliographies of reference sourceswith special treatment of Indian ones. Selectedsources are evaluated using standard methodsand their importance is given. Subject biblio-graphies are prepared on the basis of periodi-cal literature, textbooks, Ph.D. dissertations

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and works of leading personalities. The ques-tionnaire method and the standard list are usedto know the quality and quantity of the insti-tutional collection alongwith the growth, de-velopment, gaps, and duplication.

Studies emphasising the organization andcompilation of union catalogues, also preparedthe cl~ssified union catalogue of periodicals invarious subjects. Union catalogues of serialsin India by various agencies like INSDOC,ICSSR, ILA, and ICLD have been studied.

Librarianship in its entirety is studiedincluding library standards, outstanding inter-national conferences of 20th century in L &I S, 5 year plans in the establishment of libra-ries; role of unesco, national and internationalprofessional associations; library education andpatterns of L & I S courses; and biography oflibrarians.

The relationship of libraries are describedwith reference to ancient and modern India,adult education services, agencies of communi-cation, their cooperations at national andinternational level.

Research on library buildings evaluatescritically the library buildings of colleges anduniversities with ISI specification alongwiththe need of standardization in library equip-ments.

Research in personnel management pre-sents a status 'Of professional staff of the uni-.versities libraries on the basis of available litera-ture in the case of USA and on the basis ofa questionnaire in case of India. Job analysisof different sections of library, in-service train-ing .and its possibilities of induction in Indianlibraries, personnel management in DU librarysystem and JNU library, and preparation ofstaff manual are the areas of thrust here.

Studies in library operations examine thebook acquisition policy, measures for enhanc-ing effectiveness; price trends of the Indianbooks in various subjects alongwith the patternof price rise in the periodical publications. Tech-nical processes involved in the organisationof non-book materials and their impact on exist-ing setup are studied with ICSSR- data archievesand serial literature. Acquisition of reading

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ANALYSIS OF L&IS DISSERTATIONS

Table 1

Subjeetwise breakup of dissertations (M.L.l.Se) submitted to the Delhi University andPunjab University ( 1983).

Dissertation Delhi Dnertation Punjab Dissertation

D.D.C. Univenity University Delhi +Punjab

(19th Ed) Subject Number Percentage Number Percan-: Number Percen·Class out of 332 tlge tage ofNumber out of total work

199 i.e. 531

2 3 4 5 56 7 8

010 Bibliographies and 107 34.32 38 19.08 145 27.28Catalogs

020 Library &: Information 16 4.81 35 17.58 51 9.6Science

021 Libraries &: Community 6 1.80 6 3.01 12 2.25

022 library Buildings 6 1.80 1 0.50 7 1.31

023 Personnel &: Positions 8 2.4 6 3.01 14 2.63

025 Library Operations 91 27.41 38 19.09 129 24.29

026 Libraries devoted tospecific disciplines 7 2.10 13 6.53 20 3.76

027 General Library 38 11.44 27 13.66 65 12.24

028 Reeding in teresta 6 2.51 5 0.94&: habits

029 Documentation 5 1.50 6 3.01 11 2.07

029.1 Bibliographic Contrvl 16 1.81 5 2.51 21 3.95

029.11 Trend Report 1 0.50 1 0.18

029.12 Citation Analysis 4 1.20 1 0.50 5 0.94

029.2 Indexing 8 2.40 2 1.00 10 1.88

029.3 Abstracting 7 2.10 7 1.31

029.4 Tranalation 1 0.30 1 0;18

029.5 Reprography 3 0.90 2 1.00 5 0.94

029.6 Documentation Centres 4 1.20 1 0.50 5 0.94

029.8 Computers 1 0.39 4 2.00 6 0.94

070.6 Publiahing 2 0.60 1 0.60 3 0.66

079.64 New.paper &:Joumaliam 1 0.62 1 0.33

301.072 3ociology·Reaearch 2 1.00 2 0.37

341.07682 Copy right 1 0.30 1 0.60 2 0.37

370.7806 Educational researchorganizations 3 1.60 3 0.56

389.60964 Standardization 1 0.30 1 0.18

332 100.00 199 100.00 631 100.00

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Table 2

Major Areas of Research in Master of Library & Information Science(M.L.l.Sc.) Level

Area of ResearchNumber ofDissertations

Percentage out oftotal work i.e. 531

145 27.28

24.29

Bibliographies and catalogs

Library Operations

Library organization, education& bibliography of librarians

Users survey and evaluation ofreferences and informationservices in different libraries

Library classification anddesigning of depth schedule

Public libraries

Bibliographic control

Acquisition and collectiondevelopment

Cataloguing

Indexing and abstracting

Library cooperation, Library andcommunity and library building

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51 9.6

43 8.09

31 5.83

26 4.89

21 3.95

20 3.76

19 3.57

17 3.19

16 3.01

materials through exchange of publications atnational and international levels, governmentdepartments and their bibliographical control,UN documents with reference to their orga-nization are studied. Citation analysis makingranked list of periodicals in the various subjectsare performed. Research also traces the de-velopment in cataloguing since 1950 to on-line cataloguing and network systems likeOCLC, RLIN, and UTLAS. Cataloguing studiesexamine the CCC and AACR with referenceto rules relating to the various entries. Theevolution of Indic names too is surveyed. Somegive proposed rules for microform, maps andsound recording and bring out the basis for costand time analysis for cataloguing. Research inclassification sketches the development of

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Dewey, CC, BC, UDC, DRTC and Broad Systemof Ordering (BSO). Many comparative studiesof the schedule on various subjects in differentsystems are done. Several works on designingof depth schedules for different subjects asper CC are made.

Comparison and examination of collection,and reference & information services renderedby different college and university librariesare taken up by questionnaire method. Someworks survey the process of initiation, object-ive and significance in promoting the use oflibrary particularly for the college students.Treatment for the problem of deteriorationof documents in the library is also made.

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ANALYSIS OF L&IS DISSERTATIONS

Several research works are devoted totrace the growth and development of speciallibraries like National Medical Library, IndianAgricultural Research Institute Library, FineArts Library and Polytechnic Libraries,Public Library-Systems in foreign countriesand in various states in India, Governmentlibraries like Central Secretariat Library, Na-tional Libraries, Children Libraries, ForeignMission Libraries in India and Indian Libra-ries Abroad, Business and Industrial Organiza-tion Libraries, College and University Libraries,and School Libraries.

An important study suggests, on the basisof a survey, the ways and means for inculcat-ing regarding habits among the users in uni-versity libraries.

Research in documentation describes work-ing of various documentation centres in India,the bibliographic control available there, roleof international organizations like FID, UNO,UNESCO etc., indexing and abstracting ser-vices in the subjects and in India in variousareas alongwith annotated bibliographies ofarticles; translation and reprography servicesof USA, UK and of India in various institu-tions.

Study on computer discusses computer andits impact on the library procedures with spe-cial reference to India's performance.

Besides L & I S, research is also carriedout on the subjects like publishing, tracing thedevelopment of relations of publishers andlibraries; newspaper and journalism, surveying itsliterature; sociology-making research trends inIndian sociology, copyright, working in UK,US and India and its contribution towardsthe enrichment of the libraries, education-tracing the history of education in Africaand the role of UNESCO in it, and Standardi-zation-discussing the role of Indian StandardsInstitution (ISI) in the field of library scienceand documentation.

DISCUSSION

Research work of DU and PU, Chandigarh atM.Lib.Sc. level shows predominant use of two

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types of research methodologies, (i) descriptiveand empirical research based on survey of asystem and on observation by a questionnaire,(ii) historical research traces the growth anddevelopment of library systems by literaturesurvey. India to-date is deficient in the type ofknowledge about current conditions producedby the first method intoto.

Besides giving inset to the students as to howto proceed with the research problem perhapsthe dissertation work does not surve any pur-pose. There is neither practical applicationof the research work nor much stress is givento prepare paper based on research study.

Often the outcome of the research workis never communicated to the libraries studiedand moreover the information about evaluatedsources has never been shown to the real userin the subject. Research in L & I S must findits way so as to work done for other disciplinesusing information science techniques mustreach them. One suggestion in this aspect isthat such work should be encouraged to pub-lish in research journals of the respective dis-cipline after proper reviews.

There must be a bibliographic control ofthe dissertations either through submitting acopy of the work at the central place or throughpublishing a work in the regular professionaljournals.

Areas like informetrics, scientometrics bib-liometrics, information technology, librarydevelopment in rural areas and grey literatureshould also be given due attention.

Increasing use of computer for storage andretrieval of information has strongly changedthe methods of information handling thuscreating change in the theoretical concepts ofinformation representation. Research at M.Lib.Sc level should concentrate on literature surveyand practical exposition of the situations exist-ing in computer based libraries and informationcentres.

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INSDOC

ICSSR

ILA

ICLD

OCLC

RLIN

UTLAS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

- Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre

- Indian Council of Social Science Research.

- Indian Library Association.

- Indian Council for Library Development.

- Ohio College Library Centre.

- Research Libraries Information Network.

- University of Toronto Library Automated Systems.

APPENDIX

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