The Technology Challenge and Continuing Education for Pakistani Librarians

Abstract

Participation in continuing education is essential if Pakistan's librarians are to keep abreast of new information technology. Khalid Mahmood INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A CHALLENGE FOR LIBRARIANSI begin with an assumption from general systems theory: that libraries and information services -and the people who design and manage them -are not alone in the universe. They are part of the wider society and are affected by the changes taking place there. Every time there has been a spurt forward in technology, technological advancement has tremendously improved man's life and the services available to him. This is an era of 'information explosion.' There is an exponential growth in information. The Library of Congress requires 3.5 kilometres of new book shelving every year to accommodate all the new publications. It has also been estimated that the total of mankind's published material doubles every three years. 1 Mankind needs technology to help in navigating through this growing field of information. Technology is categorized into low, medium and high, with low technology being things like blackboards, charts and pictures; medium technology includes projected media slides, film strips and motion pictures; while high technology comprises computers and their applications. High technology -sometimes referred to as modern technology -has had a great impact in the fields of librarianship and information handling.Early computers, large, slow, and used primarily for numerical calculation, were built up just before World War 2. General purpose computers were not available until some twenty years later. During a short span of time there has been a quantum growth in the use of computers. In 1960, there were fewer than 50,000 computers installed around the world. Today, more than 50,000 computers are sold every day. In 1975, there were more than 500,000 computers installed worldwide. Today, there are more than 15 million. 2 There has also been an extraordinary growth in communication networks. The Internet, developed from research-related university and government communications systems, is now doubling in size each year, reaching 2 million hosts in July 1997. 3 Commercial networks have also proliferated. It is estimated that, at the end of this decade, internetworks will link several hundred million computers together, and the total number of users with access to the global electronic information matrix will exceed 500 million. 4

ICT training for LIS professionals in Pakistan: a needs assessment

“…The only way to orientate existing librarians was by continuing education (CE). Mahmood (1998) counted 105 courses and workshops held in various cities between 1988 and 1996 on using ICT in libraries. It was also found that professional associations and foreign agencies were the major ICT training for LIS professionals in Pakistan organisers of these activities.…”

Interpersonal relationships: students, teachers and librarians in university libraries of Pakistan

“…Mahmood (1998, p. 128), notes, “There is a lack of enthusiasm and appreciation of the need for continuing education at both government and professional levels”.…”