The changing voice of the librarian
In response to the evolving digital climate, there is a clear shift in the role and responsibilities of the librarian. In a series of interviews, librarians at: South Asian University; Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH); Indian Social Institute; Delhi Technological University; Jawaharlal Nehru University and National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna provide Taylor & Francis with their perspectives on the multi-faceted role of the librarian. These interviews introduce the digital librarian as "educator," "knowledge navigator" and as the central point for virtual social interaction.
The way librarians are interacting with users now extends beyond the library’s physical space. Social media and library websites were pinpointed, during the interviews as being the most common tools for user engagement and for increasing awareness of the library's products and services. Use of social media in the library, according to Abdulah Amudabin, Librarian, South Asian University also serves a different purpose - to connect patrons not only with librarians but also with each other.
Librarians also play a critical role in helping users spend less time researching and more time finding and reading the content. In a climate of digital change, where information can be accessed from a number of sources, Dr Gaur, Jawaharlal Nehru University, highlights how one of the key challenges facing librarians is to "to change their ways of working and [provide] the information" to adapt to the new role, as a, "knowledge navigator" to assist the researcher in acquiring the relevant information.
There is a clear teaching element attached to the role of the librarian who is, "not only providing books and journals, but [is] teaching the teachers, students and even the public," as stated by Abdulah Amudabin, Librarian, South Asian University. Some of the librarians featured offer a structured and detailed information literacy program. A key concern is to support research outputs at the institutions and often librarians run training courses on plagiarism, reference management and online resource tools available at the library.
As well as identifying and filtering content for their users and teaching patrons how to use the many resources offered, librarians are looking at the different ways that users access their research. Rameshwar Dayal explains that the majority of users are, "using the library online either through the computers or using their mobile device." In response to this need, the Indian Social Institute are planning to launch their own mobile app. Librarians are continually adapting the services they offer to meet the technological needs of their researchers. As Rameshwar Dayal at Indian Social Institute goes on to say, "Time is changing and technology is growing very fast. In this fast moving world, we have to connect with our users and act according to change."
As Dr Mahesh Sign comments, "Earlier librarians were the custodians of reading material, but now librarians are the key contacts for any academic institute which disseminates information." Dr Ramesh C. Gaur, Librarian, Jawaharlal Nehru University attributes the main change in the evolving role of the librarian to the need to offer more "personalised services rather than the physical services." It is clear from these interviews that the librarian’s role is expanding to cater to digital demands.
Watch the video interviews to explore how librarians in India are reacting to the new trends in digital librarianship.
Many thanks to: Abdulah Amudabin, Dr. Ramesh C. Gaur, Shri Rama Kant Shukla, Nasreem Begum, Rameshwar Dayal and Dr. Mahesh Singh for taking the time to be interviewed.
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Jodie Bell
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