Library and information policy at national and international 1

LIS Policy at National and International Level

1. Library and information policy at national and international level Prepared By:- Saurabh kaushik Department:- LIS Roll No:- 6553

2. Meaning and definition of national policy A national policy is a set of decision taken by the government through laws and regulations in order to satisfy the information need of the country. A national policy would ensure access to professional and specialized knowledge at global level as development of country depends upon planning and policies followed by the government of the country. Todays society is known as information society which require information at every step Progress of any nation depends on the information generation, disseminating it to the user. In context of India, national information policy must necessarily be governed by and form an integral part of the social, economic, educational, research.

3. Library and information policy for india Library in our country function under a variety of ownership and jurisdiction. There is generally no coordination in their development. The progress of library has been very slow due to following factors. Neglect of library services during the British period . Resource constraints in the post independence era. Dependency on government funds for library development. To overcome this problem integrated library system or policy for india was felt. In this direction the first attempt was taken by Dr.S.R.Ranganathan ,father of library science in 1944. He suggested that primary libraries are to be attached to regional centers, regional centers to the provisional central libraries, these again to the national central libraries of the other countries and international centres .

4. Contd… The government of India made various attempts to improve the library services. Under the national library of India act,1948 the imperial library was renamed to national library. In 1951, the Delhi public library was setup. Indian national scientific documentation center (INSDOC) was established in 1951. In 1957 the advisory committee suggested library services “ free to every citizen of India”.

5. National policy on library and information system (naplis) NAPLIS was formulated by RRRLF (Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation) which was setup in 1972and also by the ILA. The dept. of culture, ministry of HRD, Govt. of India appointed a committee of senior library scientists and other specialist with Prof. D.P. Chattopadhyaya as chairman to prepare a draft document on national policy in October 1985. The committee submitted a draft document to the government on may31, 1986. Two important events of far reaching implications are Freedom of information act 2002. Information technology action plan.

6. Freedom of information act 2002 Every citizen of India have freedom of information to obtain information. The act defines information as material in any form relating to the administration. Request of information has to be made in writing and a fee will be charged for the service. Public bodies have to publish details about their function and activities at prescribed intervals. Exception of certain types of information that might harm the interest of the public bodies are to be stated. Promotional measures including the provision of information officers are to be given. Individual who release information on wrong doing whistleblowers must be protected.

7. Recommendations Constitution of national commission on library. Creation of all India library services. Active role of central government in public library development in state. Public library has also to be supported by agencies involved in education, social and rural development. National library of India should be strengthened. Development of system of national libraries. Features: To establish, maintain and strengthen the free public libraries. Every school or college established should have a library and qualified librarian. Expansion of national, regional, sectorial and local level of NISSAT.

8. Contd… Similar system are organized in social science, humanities and languages. Development of information system and data banks in different fields. Parent bodies should be committed to provide support for libraries. Policy recommends for system of national library consisting of national library at Calcutta. Manpower, planning and development. Library legislation should be made. Use of technology. Removal of communication barriers. National network of libraries.

9. Information technology action plan Govt. of I ndia constituted a national task force on IT and s/w development in May 1988. It covers 108 recommendations for boosting ICT in India. Salient features: covers issue relating to the telecommunication, finance, banking, revenue, commerce, electronics etc. Address critical national need in area of information, internet access. S/W exports get special attention. The recommendation aims at enabling Indian exporter to capture a large share of s/w market . Launch of “Operation Knowledge "to universalize computer literacy.

10. Information policy: efforts at international level UNESCO, IFLA and FID have been actively involved in developing library and information activities for more than a half century. UNESCO guiding, assisting to members countries to develop their libraries. IFLA and FID have been providing guidance to buildup library and information center. IFLA initiated the UAP (universal availability of publication) to provide possible availability of published material in any format to users. UAP was closely linked to IFLA(UBC) that include issues such as metadata and international standards. Put efforts on advent of ICT. FID prepare a handbook on the formulation, approval, implementation and operation of national policy for UNESCO in 1990.

11. Contd… I t was closely related to Information superhighway: It is a physical and technical network of information connected through millions of computer. Cyberspace: It is a conceptual and virtual area where file, image, data, text, fly back and forth. Information society: It is the concept where the information is the primary force that activate all other force in developing material. Handbook is organized in two main subdivision. Part A: contains cyberspace, information infrastructure, national information policy. Part B: deals with methodology that provide procedural framework.