Chennai:
As the Internet becomes the platform to study and research, and libraries are trying to keep pace with the digital wave, librarians in the city talk of adapting to this change on National Library Day.
Meenakshi Murugan, assistant librarian at Connemara public library in Egmore for the last 32 years, says, “Changing reading habits and increased dependence on internet are some of the changes happening across the domain,” but asserts that the responsibility of the librarian remains unaltered. “The librarian is still the guide when it comes to conveying to the reader the know-how of which books to refer and where.”
The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of S. R. Ranganathan, mathematician and librarian, and also the father of library sciences in India.
T. Vijayalakshmi, librarian at the British Council, for the past 11 years seconds the opinion and adds, “We are looking at integrating physical resources (books) with online academic material.”
Speaking of the cause that led her to her choice of profession she says, “My interests since childhood were books and that triggered the choice.”
She says, “Being a librarians is a profession where being updated about a new book and what is of interest to the reader is imperative.”
Talking of the new tech in the library, Vijayalakshmi adds, “At the British Council library, books are enabled with radio frequency identification technology which minuses the librarian’s role of issuing a book; a swipe with the chip fitted on the book is all that’s needed.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by Jackson Jose, DC / August 13th, 2013