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Embedded librarianship is an old concept in new context. It is an old phenomenon to initiate a new range of services in the present environment. This paper defines the attributes of embedded library services such as user-oriented, no physical proximity required, miniature group centric, expertise, etc. It also endows with suggestions to the future embedded librarians which embraces acting as a group and not as an individual, support from the organisation and associates, commercial outlook, risk taking competence, etc. This paper also explains the practicing embedded librarianship process which starts with the identification of a faculty member who is library-friendly and ends with providing with embedded library services in the hi-tech era. It is a transformation process of traditional librarian to embedded librarian. As compared to traditional librarianship which is based on transaction, embedded librarianship is based on relationship with the faculty, or user community. When an embedded librarian initiate interacting with the patrons, it takes them to the another level of understanding with the user. Librarianship with the help of IT has developed into a fruitful affiliation. Most of the high-flying libraries in India are providing embedded library services to its users, some of the libraries are Delhi University Library system, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University, etc. The success of embedded librarianship depends not only on the understanding of librarian and the faculty members but also on the support from the organisation.

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Library & Information Science has completed its 100 years of education in India. Research has always been regarded as the most important intellectual activity in the higher education system, therefore this research article aims to provide a comprehensive picture of doctoral research carried out by various LIS departments of India. Universities offering regular PhD programme were identified using various primary/secondary, online/offline sources. A questionnaire was designed for data collection and the same was sent to the heads and faculty members of LIS departments of these universities by e-mail/in print. Based on data collected from 81 departments located in 22 states of India, the growth and development of LIS research in India since the award of first PhD in 1950 till 2012 is traced.

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the research output of library and information science of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations during the ten year period, i.e. 2005-2014, as reflected through the Web of Science database. Design/methodology/approach This study used Social Science Index (SSCI) of Web of Science (WoS) citation database to collect data for the ten year period. All records indexed in SSCI were refined by subject area of “Information Science and Library Science” and selected countries. The downloaded results were analyzed by using specific parameters. Findings WoS indexes different kinds of documents, such as articles, conference proceedings, biographical items, book reviews, corrections, editorial material, letters, reprints and reviews. Out of the BRICS output, almost 90 per cent of papers were articles. Other types of documents included conference papers, review papers and book reviews. China contributed nearly half of the documents followed by Brazil, South Africa, India and Russia. On an average, a document had cited 34 references. More than one-third of records did not receive any citations. It has been observed that the titles that had 11-16 words attracted the most number of citations. The top ten publishers in whose journals the researchers published included Emerald, Elsevier and Springer. The primary subject areas were information science and library science, information systems, interdisciplinary applications and management. About 85 per cent of the documents were published in English. Around 93 per cent of the non-English research publications were in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. Originality/value There are not many studies on BRICS countries and that too about Library and Information Science (LIS) research output. This study may reveal insights into how LIS researchers interact with local and global issues in a specific spectrum of the world community.