'Learn to respect, value to develop knowledge society'

57th all India library conference begins in Mangalore

Knowledge is something that an individual ‘knows’ and when it is communicated, made available and can be used by others in different contexts, it is understood as ‘information,’ said University of Tennessee School of Information Science Associate Professor Bharat Mehra.

He was delivering the key-note address at the 57th All India Library Conference of Indian Library Association on theme ‘Knowledge Society: Innovations in Librarianship,’ at St Agnes College in Mangalore on Thursday.

“To truly develop a knowledge society, that is relevant in the 21st century, we have to learn to respect, value, appreciate and embrace each other as individuals and provide opportunities that will allow each person to tap his inner and outer strengths. One important innovation that needs to be done in librarianship is to shape one’s thinking as a collective profession and identify the potentialities of every person as an asset and potential resource. With this, we can examine on how we can tap into that potentiality to further the profession and collaborate with them,” said Mehra.

Quantity and quality control in Library Information Science education and practice is extremely important to ensure that the librarians exceed expectations and establish center stage in the global work-force, he added.

“At present, we are witnessing the transition of the information society to ‘knowledge society’. Libraries have to grow in tandem with the societal development,” said Mysore University Vice-Chancellor Professor V G Talwar.

By virtue of being a service institution, the libraries have to constantly change on priority, the tone and tenor of their activities. The librarians have to quickly develop creative and innovative competencies. The development of creative competencies is closely related to librarians’ active appropriation of media and ICTs, he said.

“With technology, many have a notion that books will disappear. The books won’t disappear. It shall only have different shape,” opined Manipal University former Vice-Chancellor Professor B M Hegde.

“Today there are e-books which can be available through e-libraries. There are also talking books, a great boon to the visually challenged and old people who cannot read,” he said.

The highest education is humility. Knowledge can only be taken forward by refuting the dogmas and not by repeating it.

Today’s education system has made education exclusive. Today, we try to create disciplined minds in a limited framework. We forget that every child is born genius and his knowledge will be limited after he joins school, said Hegde.

The inauguration was followed by a technical session on theme “Technology enabled knowledge society” chaired by Professor Kemparaju T D from Department of Library and Information Science, Bangalore University.