A study of the library system and service in colleges of Pune, Maharashtra

The world has witnessed several information revolutions in the past and at the beginning art of writing was developed about six thousand years ago which pave the way for the development of communication through manuscripts. Further there were many languages and symbols used to write and indeed it was a great source to store and transfer the knowledge from one person to another, one society to another society and one generation to another generation using printing. The printed books were started publishing after 13th century. Latter there was a big milestone that brought out the revolution in the information and knowledge sharing activities.[1] These developments led to the establishment of libraries to collect, store and circulate printed materials to the public. In the ancient period, libraries served to share knowledge only among the specific royal patronage but printing activities shared knowledge and became important to the educational societies, missionaries, social groups etc. This scenario was changed due to initiation of educational activities. In India, till 18th century the education was spread only among higher classes of scholars of the knowledge society.[2] The library profession is also witnessed constant changes from time to time and professionals have accepted the changes and tried to modernize the libraries. In case of Higher Education Sector the role of academic libraries especially college and university libraries is very important which caters to the need of students, teachers, and researchers who needs current and retrospective information. College libraries are playing basic role of initiating Higher Education like Arts, Commerce and Science libraries. University libraries impart and provide facilities to post graduation and research workers.[3]

Education is the most powerful instrument for bringing out effective changes in society. It is also the most important factor that caters to the total development of human personality. It is no understatement that learning enables the individual to put his potentials to optimal use. Human brain development is limited by the lack of formal education. No one can call themselves a human being in the workplace until they have received the required training. Education is a learning process and involves gathering of knowledge. Higher education includes activities like teaching, research and social service activities of universities. Education is a process whereby information is provided and communicated to educators and trainees to build innovative concepts for a developing society. Education, research and training have received more value in an information society. Along with the formal education system, new practices like distance learning is gaining importance. [4]

deposit or guarantees are asked for and no subscription is charged. The intending borrower has only to spend his identity. The units of service are so framed that, all over the country, both in urban and rural areas, no citizen is made to walk for more than fifteen minutes or so to reach the nearest unit of service from home or his place of work. Through the nearest unit, and a nation-wide system of inter library lending, he can have access to the entire book resources of the nation, a person holding membership of a public library can borrow books from any public library in the country. [5] The library provides special service to the business and industry units in its vicinity. The factories are regularly visited by the library staff to assess the demand. As expected specialized service need to be rendered to meet such requirement. In India, the Public Technical Library, at Peenya, a suburb of Bangalore is an example of such type. This type needs specialists and specialized been able to develop these and have raised the image of the public libraries in the eyes of the people. Another concept that has emerged is departmentalization. [6] The material is held in trust by the depository libraries and the participating libraries continue to hold proprietary right over the material deposited by them. In most countries 85 % of public libraries are of small size in terms of their resources, buildings, stock and personnel. In other to help raise the standards of the substandard libraries, minimum standards of service have been devised and enforced through enunciation of national policies on library and information systems. Provision of service of minimum standard is made obligatory and mandatory on the part of the local library authorities. Hence, library enactments have been reviewed and amended, incorporating necessary reforms. [7]

It is envisaged that library use would expand in India in the next years, though not at a quick pace, due to our socioeconomic situation and the exorbitant cost of their construction and upkeep. A computer is a device that can automatically take information or data and apply a set of predetermined operations to it. Input & output devices, storage arithmetic & local units, and a control unit are frequently included. The computer is a tool made up of several components that are intricately integrated. [8] There are various ancillaries known as peripherals in addition to the primary machine, the central processing unit. The computer is employed in practically every sector due to its high computational power, speed, ability to conduct complicated processing operations, storage capacity, and dependability. The great advances in these subject disciplines made such quick changes in computer technology that it could be considered to have ushered in a revolution. Computer technology, including software and hardware, has reaped all gains from the previous few decades. The technological

Human society cannot survive without reference to the past intellectual contributions of men. He has also to keep himself up to date with the growing and ever adding knowledge in the domain of disciplines such as humanities, social sciences, science and technology, engineering, defence science etc. This can be done only with the help of libraries. Today libraries are at forefront of knowledge gathering. [11] A review of libraries working in similar areas and regions needs to follow trends to cooperate at maximum level. This is possible only when a survey of the libraries is conducted and their contribution to the society, evaluated. Modern aspects of technology have led to the transformation of the libraries. Libraries are passing through various stages of modernization due to constant changes, as technology and new management techniques are being implemented to achieve economy in the processes as well as speedy dissemination of information to users. Hence the role of libraries is shifting towards modernization and librarians are facing new challenges due to the emergence of new technology and management practices. [12]

Research methodology is the totality of the procedures followed by the investigator to make it scientific and valid. It is very crucial that the success of any research depends on the method adopted and the measures and technique employed for data collection and analysis.

The following are some of the most important elements of the survey approach: -  It focuses on the here and now of social life.

• A specific location or geographic area is the subject of this type of study.

• A huge number of people can yield a large amount of data, & information gathered this way is usually correct.

• A small area is selected as a sample and result are generalized as a whole.

The questionnaire was prepared in consultation with the librarians, faculty members and also going through the literature on the subject. 2.3 Sample Size There are 50 government colleges under the scope of this study and the libraries attached them are the subject of enquiry. All the colleges are affiliated to the Savitribai Phule Pune University. There are11 post graduate colleges and remaining colleges are undergraduates. Three Colleges are autonomous which belongs to Pune city. One college is specialized to only Sanskrit subject and one college is known as Institute of Excellent in Higher Education, Pune. Thus researcher selected all the colleges of Pune division and distributed 50Questionnaire to collect the library data. More than 280 questionnaires were distributed to faculty members (Prof. & A.P.) of the colleges to collect data to know the information seeking behavior.

In order to ensure the meaningfulness and standardization of the questionnaire, a pilot study was undertaken in the government colleges of Vashi District, both type of questionnaire were circulated to the librarians and clientele (faculty members) of the library. Efforts were made to make the quest ions can be made.

The data collected through two type of questionnaire. The first questionnaire concern with the librarian while second questionnaire concern with the users. We present the empirical data collected through the distribution of the questionnaire among the colleges selected for the study. The responses obtained are characterized by year of establishment, type of colleges of Pune division.

Table-1 indicates information about how librarian keeps abreast of current development in the field of library science in selected area. 42 % librarians use only internet followed by 28% librarians use library and internet, 14% librarians use library, dialogue with colleague and internet, 8% librarians use internet and dialogue with colleague, 8% librarians are depends on only library for keep abreast. It is observed that internet is the best option for keep abreast; most of the librarians are using internet facility.

Table-2 indicates information about library building in selected area. It is observed that 22% colleges has building followed by 22% in Navi Mumbai district, 20% in Vashi district and 14. 28 % in Lonavla district. Colleges of Khandala district do not has separate building for library. It is clear that colleges of Pune district are older than other districts and gettingmore grants than other districts.

Table-3 indicates information about library committee in selected area. 86 % colleges has library committee and 14% colleges do not has any library committee. It is observe that 100% colleges of Pune and Navi Mumbai district has library committee followed by 84.71% in Lonavla district, 83 .33% in Khandala district and 60% in Vashi district has library committee. Table also indicates information about librarian is the member of library committee or not. In 62. 79% colleges, librarian is the member of library committee and in 37.21 college‘ s librarian is not the member of library committee. It is also observe that 91. 66% librarians are the member in library committee in Pune district followed by 77 .77 % in Navi Mumbai district, 50% in Lonavla and Vashi district and 30% in Khandala district. It is also observed that only full time librarians are the member of library committee in the entire district excluding Lonavla district.

Table-4 indicates information about purpose of visit to library in selected area. 29. 57% users visit the library for read magazine, newspaper and books, 17.39% users visit library for read books and use internet facility. 4.35% users visit library to read newspaper only.

Table-5 indicates information about adequate library space in selected area. 44. 22% users get mostly, 23.91% users get always, 18. 26 % users get some times and 12.61 users do not get adequate space in library.

Table-6 indicates information about satisfaction with the opening hours of the library in selected area. 44. 22% users indicates mostly, 26.95% users indicates always, 16.09% users indicates some times and 11.74% users not satisfy with the opening hours of the library.

Table-7 indicates information about good borrowing facilities in selected area. 37.39% users indicates mostly, 24. 78% users indicates always, 21.74% users indicates some times and 16.09% users are not get good borrowing facilities in the library .

Table-8 indicates information about availability of e - resources in library in selected area. 29.56 % users get e-resources facility and 70 .44 % users are do not get e- resources facility in the library.

On the basis of this study it is concluded that Savitribai Phule Pune University, Maximum post of very necessary in each colleges. Library resources are very expansive. The librarians need to manage these resources and make them accessible to all users.

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Research Scholar, Kalinga University, Raipur