Information and Communication Technology Literacy among Library Professionals in the Medical College

Libraries of Assam: A Study

Prafulla Kumar MahantaLibrarian

Assam down town UniversityGuwahati-26, Assam

 

• In 1974, Paul Zurkowski, the president of the information industry association advocated to

establishment of a national program for achieving information literacy people trained in the

application of information resources to their work be called information literates.

• According to American Library Association, “To be information literate, a person must be

able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and

use effectively the needed information’’.

• Information and Communications Technology Literacy (ICTL) emerged in 2002. It

comprises literacy of both Information technology and communication technology. In an

academic, higher education or research institution, it increases the skills of teachers,

students and librarians for problem solving and appropriate decision making. ICT

proficiency is the ability to use digital technology, communication tools and/or networks to

define an information need, access, manage, integrate and evaluate information, create new

information or knowledge and being able to communicate this information to others

(International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002).

Continued…..

Introduction

• Awareness of Information and Communication Technology Literacy (ICTL) among library professionals helps them groom to develop new skills and gain competencies that are required to cope up with the exponential growth rate of information. The library professionals have a need to possess ample knowledge to handle ICT oriented library services such as automation, management of electronic resources, searching and analyzing the databases, and internet resources. The component of Information and Communication Technology literacy is shown below:

• Define: Using ICT tools to identify and appropriately represent an information need.

• Access: Collecting and or retrieving information in digital environments.

• Manage: Using ICT tools to apply an existing organizational or classification scheme for information.

• Integrate: Interpreting and representing information, such as by using ICT tools to synthesize, summarize, compare and contrast information from multiple sources.

• Evaluate: Judging the degree to which information satisfies the needs of the task in ICT environments, including determining authority, bias and timeliness of materials.

• Create: Adapting, applying, designing or inventing information in ICT environments.

• Communicate: Communicating information properly in its context (audience, media) in ICT environments.

Continued…..

Objectives of the study

• To assess the computer literacy skills among the library professionals in the medical college libraries

of Assam.

• To assess the current use of ICT-based resources and services by the library professionals of medical

college libraries of Assam.

• To identify the training or orientation needs of the library professionals in ICT-based resources,

services and tools.

• To find out the status of constraints in acquiring ICT skills by the professionals of medical college

libraries in Assam.

Continued…..

• The scope of the study encompasses the ICT literacy of LIS professionals in the Medical

College libraries of Assam. However the study has following limitations. 

• The study is limited to Assam only and not any other states of India.

• The study includes only the govt. medical colleges of Assam.

• The study covers only LIS professionals and not any other category of staff in

medical college libraries

Scope and Limitation

METHODOLOGY

The methodology used for the paper is based on the survey method. For the authenticity of the

data, a structured questionnaire method is used to collect data from the library professional.

The data obtained from the filled in questionnaires, is classified, analyzed, tabulated and

logically interpreted in this paper.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Analysis of data collected from the questionnaires is presented in the research paper.

Analysis of data is the ultimate step in research process. It is the link between raw data

and significant results leading to conclusions. Medical colleges and institutes are used to

promote medical education and research. There are 9 medical colleges in Assam. The

Basic information of the Medical Colleges in Assam is shown below:

Continued……

S. No Name of the college Year of Estd Place Professional staff

1 Assam Medical College 1947 Dibrugarh 04

2Assam Govt. Ayurvedic College 1948 Guwahati 01

3 Gauhati Medical College 1962 Guwahati 02

4 Silchar Medical College 1968 Silchar 02

5Swahid Jadavnath Govt. Homoeopathic Medical College

1976 Guwahati 01

6 Jorhat Medical College 2009 Jorhat 06

7 Barpeta Medical College 2011 Barpeta 01

8Dr. J.K. Saikia Homeopathic medical college

1975 Jorhat 01

9Assam Homeopathic Medical College 1968 Nagaon 01

From this Table-1, it is found that there are 19 library professionals working in the medical college libraries of Assam. Out of 19 professionals, 18 are respondent. The percentage of response rate is 94.73.

Computer Courses undertaken

Computer Skill

Computer course Number Percentage

DCA 16 88.89

PGDCA 02 11.11

Degree Nil Nil

Total 18 100.00

S. No Types of Skill Number Percentage

1 Computer fundamentals 18 100.00

2 Programming 04 22.22

3 Internet 18 100.00

4 Multimedia 17 94.44

Knowledge of Operating System

Handling of internet tasks

S. No Types of Skill Number Percentage

1 MS-DOS 16 88.89

2 Windows 16 88.89

3 Linux 06 33.33

S. No Internet tasks Number Percentage

1 Get in to the internet 18 100.00

2 Copy or download files from internet 18 100.00

3 Attach a file to an e-mail message 17 94.44

4 Download music 18 100.00

5 Write and send e-mail 18 100.00

Knowledge of Library Automation Software

Knowledge of general purpose application software

S. No Library Automation Software Number Percentage

1 SOUL 13 72.22%

2 Libsys 03 16.67%

3 CDS/ISIS 09 50.00%

4 KOHA 04 22.22%

S. No Application software Number Percentage

1 MS-word 18 100.00

2 MS-Exel 18 100.00

3 MS-Power point 18 100.00

4 Photoshop 09 50.00

5 Page maker 09 50.00

6 WinRAR 04 22.22

7 PDF Creator 12 66.67

Knowledge of Digital Library/ Institutional Repository Software

Use of Search tools

S. No Digital library software Number Percentage

1 GSDL 02 11.11

2 DSpace 00 00

3 E-Print 02 22.11

4 NewGen Lib 00 00

S. No Search Tools Number Percentage

1 Search Engines 17 94.44

2 Meta Search Engines 08 44.44

3 Online bibliographic database 16 88.89

4 Web portals/ Subject portals/Subject gateway 08 44.44

Use of Search Engines:

Use of Storage Media

S. No Types of Storage Media Number Percentage

1 Compact Disc 17 94.44

2 Digital Video Disc 17 94.44

3 Pen Drives 17 94.44

S. No Name of Search Engines Number Percentage

1 Yahoo 17 94.44

2 Google 17 94.44

3 Rediff 11 61.11

4 Alta Vista 03 16.67

5 Lycos 02 11.11

6 Bingo 02 11.11

7 HotBot 02 11.11

8 Sify 07 38.89

9 Ask.com 04 22.22

Skills in using OPAC and Web-OPAC

Types of Training Needs

Response Number Percentage

Yes 13 72.22

No 05 27.78

Total 100.00

S. No Training needs Number Percentage

1 Use of bibliographic resources 14 77.78

2 Use of on-line catalogue 16 88.89

3 E-books / E-journals/E-database 16 88.89

4 Internet tools and techniques 16 88.89

5 Search techniques and strategies 16 88.89

6 Library management software package 14 77.78

7 Digital library software 14 77.78

8 Evaluation of information resources 12 66.67

9Handling of preservation and conservation of books and non book materials 16 88.89

Training needs by the Professionals

Constraints in acquiring ICT Skills

S. No Constraints Number Percentage

1 Tight working schedule 1372.22

2 Poor infrastructure 0422.22

3 Lack of cooperation from the authority 0633.33

4 Poor service training provision 0633.33

5 Personal inabilities 0316.67

Constraints in acquiring ICT Skills

• It is found that 88.89% professionals have undergone DCA course and 11.11% PGDCA course.

No professional has possessed degree in Computer Science. It shows that 100.00% professionals

have knowledge in computer fundamentals, 22.22% professionals have knowledge in computer

programming, 100.00% professionals possessed in internet skill and 94.44% have the knowledge

of using multimedia.

• It shows that 89.89% library professionals are well familiar with MS-DOS and MS- Windows.

Only the 33.33 % professionals are having the knowledge of Linux operating system.

• It reveals that 100% professionals can get into the internet, copy or download files from internet,

download music and write and send e-mail. It also shows that 94.44% professionals can attach a

file to an e-mail message.

• In relation with the knowledge of Library management software, it is found that 72.22%

professionals possessed the knowledge of SOUL software followed by CDS/ISIS as 50.00%

percent, KOHA as 22.22% and Libsys as 16.67%.

Continued…

Findings

• It shows that 100% professionals have the knowledge of MS-office followed by PDF Creator

as 66.67%. 50% professionals have the knowledge of Photoshop and Page maker. It also

shows that only 22.22% professionals possessed WinRAR software.

• It is found that only 11.11% professionals have possessed the knowledge of GSDL software,

22.11% professionals have possessed the knowledge of E-print.

• It shows that 94.44% professionals are using search engines followed by 88.89% professionals

using online bibliographic databases. 44.44% professionals are using meta search engines and

web portals/ subject portals/subject gateway.

• It indicates that 94.44% respondents use Yahoo and Google search engines followed by

61.11% use Rediff, 38.89% percent use Sify, 22.22% use Ask.com and 11.11% use Lycos,

Bingo and HotBot.

• Regarding the knowledge of using storage media, it shows that 94.44% professionals are using

CD, DVD and Pen Drive.

• It is shows that 72.22% professionals have the knowledge of OPAC and Web-OPAC, while

the 27.78% professionals do not have skill to use OPAC and Web-OPAC.Continued…

• It reveals that 88.89% professionals need training on Use of on-line catalogue, E-books / E-

journals/E-database, Internet tools and techniques, Search techniques and Handling of

preservation and conservation of books and non book materials. 77.78% professionals need

training on Use of bibliographic resources, Library management software package and Digital

library software followed by Evaluation of information resources as 66.67%.

• It is found that the main constraint in acquiring ICT skills by library professionals is tight

working schedule as 72.22% professionals responded. 33.33% professionals facing constraints

in acquiring ICT skills in Lack of cooperation from the authority and Poor service training

provision followed by Poor infrastructure as 22.22% and Personal inabilities as 16.67%.

Continued…

• The authority should encouraged and deputed to the professionals to attend seminars, workshops, conferences, training programmes on library management software, IT tools, Search techniques etc.

• The library authorities need to provide necessary scope and motivation to upgrade the ICT literacy of library professionals.

• The colleges need to develop the ICT infrastructural facilities of their libraries so that the ICT literacy of library professionals can be best used.

Suggestions

ICT literacy is very essential for being productive information professional in a knowledge driven society. There is a growing concern over library professionals’ insufficient level of ICT literacy. The aim of the study is to ascertain the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy among the professionals of Medical college libraries of Assam. It is observed from the findings that the professionals need to be trained with the latest developments to keep them up-to-date and enabled them to provide better and improved services.

Conclusion

Thank You