A Survey of Collection and Services of Medical College Libraries

A Survey of Collection and Services of Medical9) To study the problems and challenges faced by
College Libraries in Uttar Pradesh: Prospects, Problemslibrarians in the process of digitization and networking
and Proposal for their Modernizationin the libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.
Introduction10) To make suggestions for improvement in the
Libraries are the soul of any research or academicprocess of digitization and networking in the libraries
institution. They form the most vital forum ofof Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.
education, especially in the field of technical education.11) To discover the limitations in the process of
Due to the rapid pace of development taking place indigitization and networking in the libraries of Allopathic
various fields of science and technology (S and T) itMedical Colleges in U.P.
become imperative for the libraries to remainScope
up-to-date with the latest advances in technology soThis study will be based on the survey of the libraries
that the dissemination of information becomesof the Allopathic Medical Colleges in Uttar Pradesh. For
efficient, quick, feasible, economic, accessible andthis purpose the libraries of only those Allopathic
useful.Medical Colleges are included which have been
The utility of a library depends largely on its collection.approved by the Medical Council of India (MCI) to run
Therefore, it is very important that utmost careMBBS course of study and entitled to award the
should be taken to select and maintain a good anddegree of MBBS and other degrees related to
strong collection of documents such as books,Allopathic Medicine and Surgery. The names of such
periodicals, hand books, reference books, dictionaries,Allopathic Medical Colleges selected for the proposed
directories, encyclopedias and various other relatedstudy are given below: -
information. Building and developing a library collection
able to meet the needs of users, such as scientists,1. S.N. Medical College, Agra.
students, research scholars and others adequately is2. G.S.V.M. Medical College, Kanpur.
a major task of a good library. The quality of3. Institute of Medical sciences, B.H.U, Varanasi.
services provided and the satisfaction of the users4. Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad.
depend a great deal upon the kinds of collections5. Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh.
made available. A comprehensive, balanced and6. L.L.R.M. Medical College, Meerut.
up-to-date collection is to have documents of7. Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi.
different types in various physical forms to satisfy8. B.R.D. Medical College, Gorakhpur.
the informational needs of the users.9. Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad.
The basic aim of a library is to provide efficient10. Sardar Patel Institute of Dental and Medical
services to its users. Therefore, user satisfactionSciences, Lucknow.
should be the main goal of a good librarian. This goal11. Era Lucknow Medical College, Lucknow.
can not be achieved unless and until the library12. Subharati Medical College, Meerut
management has got a clear idea about the userHYPOTHESES
needs and demands. The library should beA hypothesis may be considered as a tentative
well-equipped besides having a good and stronggeneralization of the problem under investigation. It is
collection of documents. Variety of services shouldmeant to provide the researcher with an opportunity
be offered to cater to the needs of its users. Latest(prior to the actual data collection) to predict the
and up-to-date technology should be adopted inresults of the study. A hypothesis is an expectation
order to provide better services.about events or a shrewd guess or a prediction of
In the modern era of information explosion which hasthe results of the study.
led to the evolution of multidisciplinary domains in theAs hypotheses are predictions, therefore, these are
different fields of S and T the user demand andformulated before the collection of data. No
expectations have grown tremendously. In order tohypothesis should be formulated once the data are
meet this challenge the library should be well equippedknown.
with the modern tools of information storage and itsThe following hypotheses have been formulated for
retrieval so that the right information is madethe proposed study: -
available to the right user at the right place and at1) The libraries of the Allopathic Medical Colleges in
the right time.Uttar Pradesh are having a rich collection of
With the advent of computers and Internet adocuments.
transformation is taking place in the information2) The Allopathic Medical Colleges' Libraries are
infrastructure leading to the development of digital orproviding a variety of services to their users.
electronic libraries. The latest advances in the field of3) The libraries of the Allopathic Medical Colleges in
information technology, telecommunications,Uttar Pradesh are facing certain problems.
software, networking, multimedia and scanning4) There is an urgent need for the modernization of
technology have produced a revolutionary change inthe libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in Uttar
the field of library and information technology.Pradesh according to the latest techniques such as
Networking technologies have resulted in the creationdigitization and networking of libraries.
of virtual or on-line libraries which are immenselyMethodology
popular with the users and proving to be a boon forIt is planned to adopt the following method for the
the society as a whole due to the instant access ofcompletion of the proposed study: -
information anytime and anywhere in the world. Thus1) Literature Search: - It shall be done by consulting
the barriers of time and space have been shatteredthe vast literature existing on the subject of
and the vast world has been reduced into a "globaldigitization and networking. For this purpose different
village" where anyone can have immediate access tobooks by noted authors as well as journals and
the information of his/her choice by using theseminar papers will be studied thoroughly.
techniques of computer software, networking and2) Questionnaire: - In order to conduct the proposed
scanning technologies.study the most important tool for the collection of
A digital library may be defined as an electronicdata is the questionnaire. Therefore, a comprehensive
version of a traditional library where all thequestionnaire shall be designed to collect all the
information is stored and preserved in digital form. Inimportant and relevant data. This questionnaire shall
a digital library the data accessed includes non-textbe sent to the librarians of the concerned libraries.
information such as photographs, drawings,After obtaining the filled questionnaire the data shall
illustrations, works of art; streams of numeric databe analyzed and interpreted according to the
(satellite information, cosmological data); digitizedobjectives of the proposed study.
sound and moving visual images and 3 D3) Library Survey: - It is planned to conduct library
representations (holograms) besides traditional textsurvey for a systematic collection of data concerning
based information.libraries, their activities, operations, staff, use and
There are many Allopathic Medical Colleges in Uttarusers, at a given time or over a given period.
Pradesh where digitization and networking of libraries4) Interview of Librarians: - In order to collect the
can give a big boost not only to the enhancement ofaccurate data and obtain the views and opinion of
the quality and standard of services available in thethe librarians of the concerned libraries it is also
hospitals but also help to a great extent in theproposed to conduct personal interviews of the
promotion of medical studies and research. But theconcerned librarians.
implementation of this process of digitization andUTILITY OF THE STUDY
networking of libraries depends a great deal upon theThe following may be the utilities of the proposed
role and attitude of the librarians towards thisstudy: -
comprehensive process for its success.1) It may be helpful in finding out the problems and
Review of literaturedifficulties faced by the librarians of the libraries of
Many sources of information both published andAllopathic Medical Colleges in Uttar Pradesh.
unpublished have been consulted to develop a clear2) It may be helpful to the concerned authorities in
concept of the proposed study. It has beenthe effective implementation of the digitization and
observed that the digitization and networking processnetworking process.
in the field of library and information science has3) It may be helpful in finding out the prospects of
helped to a great extent in the effective and instantthe adoption digitization and networking process of
dissemination of right information at right cost at rightthe libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in Uttar
time to the right user.Pradesh.
OBJECTIVES4) It may help in finding out the solution to some of
The objectives of the proposed study are as follows:those problems, which are retarding the progress of
-the digitization and networking process in the libraries.
1) To assess the role and attitude of librarians in the5) It may be helpful to the libraries of Allopathic
success of the digitization and networking process inMedical Colleges in resource sharing and connecting
the libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.with each other via networking.
2) To study the size and nature of collection in theCHAPTER WISE BREAKUP
libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.The proposed study will be divided into seven
3) To examine the level of digitization in the librarieschapters, which are as follows: -
of Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.Chapter - One Introduction
4) To study the methods employed for digitizationChapter - Two Medical Council of India (MCI) and the
and networking in the libraries of Allopathic MedicalAllopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.: An overview.
Colleges in U.P.Chapter -Three Allopathic Medical Colleges' libraries in
5) To study the existing library services and facilitiesU.P.: Present status and functions
offered by the libraries of Allopathic Medical CollegesChapter- Four Digitization and Networking process in
in U.P.libraries and information centers: A brief background.
6) To study the digitization and networking processChapter-Five Present status of digitization and
in the libraries of Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.networking process in the libraries of Allopathic
7) To study the effectiveness and efficiency of theMedical colleges in U.P.
digitization and networking process in the libraries ofChapter-Six Comparative study of the status of the
Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.digitization and networking process in the libraries of
8) To assess the demand and popularity of theAllopathic Medical colleges in U.P.
digitization and networking process in the libraries ofChapter - Seven Conclusion and Suggestions.
Allopathic Medical Colleges in U.P.