Competencies of LIS Professionals in Engineering Colleges of Karnataka in Automating their Library

Abstract

In today's society, one of the most significant buzzwords is information and communication technology, or ICT. Our way of life  and society have been transformed into the Information Society.  In order to process, save, and retrieve information more quickly and efficiently, ICT—which includes computers and communication technology—has been incorporated into every aspect of life. Education facilities now use information and communication technology for online education, instruction, and research cooperation, as well as for the introduction of innovative teaching and research methodologies. Investigating the ICT proficiency of LIS professionals employed by Karnataka engineering college libraries and drawing conclusions for library improvement are the goals of the research. A structured questionnaire was used in the survey approach to get data from the participants in this research. Through the consortium, these connected colleges have access to a substantial amount of digital and printed content, as well as subscription e-resources and technological platforms that support the university's and colleges' teaching, learning, and innovation initiatives. A structured questionnaire was issued to 128 libraries at engineering colleges in order to gather information; 102 (79.69%) of these librarians got the questionnaire properly completed and with all the pertinent information required. It was found that 13.73% of the libraries lacked automation for a variety of reasons, including insufficient computer facilities, budgetary constraints, a shortage of skilled personnel, and a weak collection. The automated libraries of engineering colleges in Karnataka were the exclusive focus of the research, which provides a status picture of the software packages used by various libraries as well as the librarians' and library staff's opinions about the program's performance. To determine the state of the software and associated issues that engineering college libraries in India confront, no thorough national or local study has been carried out. Although the present research only looks at libraries in the state of Karnataka, its findings may be applicable to the whole nation and should be helpful in identifying difficulties and challenges with library software.