Rajendra Kumar Gupta
Assistant Librarian
Banasthali University (Rajasthan)
Introduction :

The move from print to digital information has made profound impact on library
operations, information resources and services, staff capability and users expectations.
The most common library functions/ areas that got effected by IT are changing formats
of information resources, automated library transactions, transformation from physical
access to online/ remote access, revolution in storage devices, improved library
professional capabilities, changing needs of users and pressure on financial allocations.

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of IT on selected 50 libraries of
Engineering Colleges/ Institutions in Rajasthan in terms of library functions, services,
and library professionals.

Data gathering tools include questionnaire, observation and interviews for collecting
the data.
Need of Awareness for Impact of IT on Libraries:

Major reasons to know impact of IT include expensive buildings, valuable IT
infrastructure, costly IT services and collection, high salaried staff, and versatile
users’ satisfaction level.

Library funding agency wants confirmation of positive effects.

‘Roswitha Poll’ observes that new services, resources, expenses and workload
for new information resources and services are rising. Libraries need to justify
the investment and to prove the efficiency and positive impact of the new
resources and services.
The collective responses from library professionals about impact of IT on
libraries of engineering colleges/ institutions in Rajasthan are:
 Impact
of IT on Document Collection Development:
Library collection goes beyond the print materials and includes the CDs/ DVDs,
audio-video cassettes, e-books, e-journals and online databases etc. Many
e-resources are freely available on the Internet. These additional sources of
collection development reduces the space requirement of the library.
Table 1 shows Non print collection in libraries of the engineering colleges/
institutions in Rajasthan.
Table : Library Collection of Non Print Resources
S.
No.
Name of College/
Institution
1
AGI, Jaipur
2
AIET, Kukas
46
47
48
49
50
SKIT , Jaipur
SWIET, Ajmer
VIET, Jodhpur
VIT-East, Jaipur
YIT, Jaipur
Total
CDs/ DVDs E-Journals
E-Books
E-Projects
E-Databases
256
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1612
05
750
1350
2500
489
-
89
-
05
-
425
28
-
42, 413
37, 812
20, 639
407
53

Level of Library Automation:
The most important area in which librarians notice the impact of IT and visible
changes is library automation. Library automation is needed to reduce the efforts
and time required for various library related jobs.
Table 2 shows level of library automation in respondent libraries:
Table 2: Level of Library Automation
S. No.
Level
Number of
Libraries
16
Percentage
1.
Fully Computerized
32
2.
Partially Computerized
28
56
3.
Planning of Computerization
06
12
Impact
of IT on Housekeeping Services:
IT serves as a powerful tool in the management of library housekeeping operations. Inhouse operations in the library are changed from manual to automatic.
Automated
Acquisition System: Manually acquisition process is a difficult and time-
consuming process as it involves many clerical, routine, repetitive and labour intensive
activities. Computerization helps in maintaining records accurately and systematically.
Automated
Cataloguing System: Computerized catalogue is an efficient tool in
retrieving information about the documents in the library easily and quickly.
Automated
Circulation System: Automated circulation system improved accuracy and
control over circulation activities like quick issue-return with use of barcode reader, fast
membership work, fine calculation, easy renewal and reservation of items, speedily nodues work, and sending timely overdue notices and reminder letters, calculation and
printing of statistics of various types.
Automated
Serials Management: Computerization offers various benefits in serials
subscriptions and subsequent monitoring of the receipt of individual issues. successful
implementation of automated serials control, including check-in, binding control and
routing of materials more feasible.
Automated
Stock Verification: Automated library stock verification could be performed
easily with less manpower. Once the data capturing is over, the verification and generation
of report with library automation software could be done in a short period of time
Table 3 : Automated Library Housekeeping Services
S. No.
Library Function
Number of Libraries
Percentage
1
Acquisition
20
40
2
Cataloguing
44
88
3
Circulation
44
88
4
Serials Control
22
44
5
Stock Verification
21
42
An automated library provides following information services:

Online Public Access Catalogue: OPAC is a computerized database of the
library holdings, which can be searched in many powerful ways than manual card
catalogue. 80 per cent of the respondent libraries provide OPAC service.

Membership of Library Networks/ Consortia : Library networks and
consortia membership is essential for effective resource sharing among the
libraries. About 84 per cent of the libraries of the engineering colleges/
institutions in Rajasthan have membership with library networks or consortium.
Table 4 shows respondent’s membership of library networks and consortia .
Networks/Consortia
S. No.
Libraries
Percentage
1
DELNET
37
74
2
INDEST-AICTE Consortium
15
30
3
UGC-INFONET Consortium
03
06
4
No Membership of any Library Network/
Consortium
08
16
Internet Services: Libraries use Internet for information searching and
communication with vendors, publishers and professionals through e-mail,
facebook, and web page. 64 per cent of the respondent libraries use Wi-Fi
technology for wireless Internet. All the respondent libraries have Internet
connection.
Impact
on Storage Media and Space Capacity : IT has been the invention of
huge storage capacity electronic devices. Now, libraries are changing the way in
which information is stored and disseminated to users. Libraries can save much
storage space by acquiring back volumes of journals, dissertations and books in
digital form.
Reprography
and Printing Facilities: The technology of reprography makes a
big impact on the document delivery systems. Table 5 shows the reprography and
printing facilities in the respondent libraries :
Table 5 : Reprography and Printing Facilities in the Libraries
Photocopy Machine
Printer
Scanner
CD/ DVD Writer
45 (90 per cent)
50 (100 per cent)
32 (64 per cent)
46 (92 per cent)

Impact of IT on Library Professionals:
The biggest challenges facing the library profession today is preparing the
professionals to use technology effectively.
IT
Skilled Library Staff : An academic library professional will be required to
serve as an information service consultant with specific IT skills.
Following table shows IT skilled library professionals in the respondent libraries:
Table 6 : IT Skilled Library Professionals
Library Professionals (326)
IT Skilled
Non IT Skilled
190 (58.29 per cent)
136 (41.71 Per cent)
Continuous
Staff Training for IT Use and Implementation: Continuous training
in emerging technologies is necessary to develop, maintain and improve skills of
library staff. In India as well as Rajasthan many IT based courses are conducted by
IT departments, universities and library networks and consortiums.
Changed
Job Structure and Workload: In the IT environment most of the extra
work is concerned with record conversion, inputting of data, bar-coding,
maintenance and back-up of software. Maximum librarians replied that technology
has increased their workload and has added more responsibilities to their job.
Improved
Job Satisfaction and support IT: IT improves their speed, efficiency
and accuracy in library works and services. Staff becomes more capable of
providing proficient and accurate information/ services to the users.

Use of Electronic Security System:
Most of the libraries with open access facility have a problem with security and
documents theft. CCTV camera, censor gate and RFID technologies have been in
use for tracking and in theft detection in libraries. Few of the respondent libraries
use CCTV cameras as security devices but none uses the RFID technology.

Future Plans of Libraries towards IT:
Respondent librarians have expressed future plans encouragingly towards
implementation of IT based resources and services. Table 7 indicates that
respondents future plans as follows.
Table 7 : Future Plans of Libraries towards IT
S. No
Plans
No. of Libraries
Percentage
1.
Up-gradation of IT Skills in Library Staff
35
70
2.
Digital Library
24
48
3.
RFID
12
24
4.
CD-ROM Databases
04
08
5.
Automation
02
04
6.
Bar Coding
01
02
7.
Library Consortia
01
02
8.
Wi-Fi Technology
01
02

Negative Impact, Problems and Solution:
Regarding negative effects, staff trained in the use of IT reported high
expenditure on systems maintenance, reduced inter-personal communication,
frequent systems breakdown, frequent virus problems, information overflow,
supplier’s/ vendor’s after sales service problems, electricity problems,
management support problems, IT trained staff problems, health problems,
users awareness problems, increased violation of copyright act, constant
change in IT at regular interval, and techno stress as the major negative effect
of using IT in the libraries.
‘A. Statham and E. Bravo’ suggest that better communication, better staff
training, staff involvement in planning, and careful timing of installations as
some ways to prevent problems.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
This study discusses impact of IT on library functions, services quality and staff.
The study reveals that the majority of the staff agrees that computer-based
information services are better than manual services because they are accurate,
consistent, and can be provided/ received in much less time. The library
professionals have also drawn attention to the negative effects with the use of IT.
Based on the findings and views of the library professional and library surveys
following suggestions and recommendations are made:

Libraries of Engineering colleges/ institutions in Rajasthan need to separate
budget to initiate the action on IT applications, library automation and up-date
IT infrastructures.

The libraries should purchase more e-resources like e-books and e-journals.

The library staff should try accessing free e-resources available in public
domain for the benefit of the users.

To develop competitive personnel in a technologically advanced world, high
priority must be given to develop skills in IT applications, library management
and soft skills in library professionals.

Library science schools and teaching departments across the country have to
take significant steps to revise library science curriculum regarding latest IT
resources and services.

The libraries should go for complete automation and use all modules of the
software. The libraries should take full use of software for housekeeping
operations and user oriented services.

In view of the increased pressure on libraries of the engineering colleges/
institutions in Rajasthan for the provision of variety of e-resources and services,
they are forced to depend on other library’s resources. Therefore, it is suggested
that the libraries shall share both hardcopy and e-resources and become member
of library networks and consortium.
THANK YOU