Normalcy in Library: The Stakeholders Prediction, Expectation and Librarian Activism on Post Covid-19 Pandemic Period

Authors

  • A. Bagavathi The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51983/ajist-2021.11.2.3003

Keywords:

Library Collections, Library Services, Copyright/Fair Use, OER, Online Teaching, Artificial Intelligence, Librarian Activism

Abstract

Due to the spread of the novel corona virus (Covid-19) disease and the subsequent global lockdown presented unique challenges to everybody and in particular to all the stakeholders of education system. This contagious virus changed working Style of all in the institutions from offline to online because of the stoppage in all walk of life. The sudden and unexpected outbreak of the virus forced the institutions especially the library, to find out ways of working within a rapid time frame to embrace technology like shifting to online platform wherever possible and to provide remote services adequately to the users. The Lockdown started in India in the third week of March-2020 and it still continues after a brief relaxation. Still Educational Institutions are not opened and are not allowed to operate physically almost for more than a year. In this scenario almost all higher education institutions continue to function remotely. Faculties, Students, Research Scholars and Library Professionals adapt to this change and are used to this technology enabled remote functioning. This situation cannot continue for long and normalcy has to return. In this study online survey research design used and covers the stake holders of The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University and 5 of its affiliated institutions which are functioning in tire 2 or tire 3 cities. The collected data were analysed. Findings also revealed that highest percentage (97%) of the Library users and Library professionals have supported and are in favour of “New Normal” changes and only few respondents are relying on traditional services and printed collections. The study concluded that in this new information era library staff should always be ready to face a challenging situation. Further, most of the respondents suggested that the higher educational institutions should continue to adopt webinars services and focused on motivating, encouraging the librarians to enhance their digital skills to be in pace with the present digital age. The Article also suggested for Librarian Activism, and suggested the mobilization of librarians across the country to document and shares the challenges faced, their responses and their best practices during the Covid-19 crisis and during revival.

References

Balachandar, P., & Ramesh, R. (2019). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Library operations resources and services in university libraries. International Journal of Recent Academic Research, 1(8), 472-474.

Bansode, N. N., & Shinde, M. G. (2019). Impact of new technologies in the digital libraries. Journal of Advancements in Library Sciences, 6(1), 279-283.

Cox, C. (2020, June 5). Changed, Changed Utterly - Academic libraries will change in significant ways as a result of the pandemic (opinion). Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/06/05/academic-libraries-will-change-significant-ways-result-pandemic-opinion.

Featherstone, R. M., Lyon, B. J., & Ruffin, A. B. (2008). Library roles in disaster response: an oral history project by the National Library of Medicine. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 96(4), 343–350. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.96.4.009.

Ishtiaq, S., Sehar, N., & Shahid, A. (2020). Information Dissemination during Covid-19 and Lockdown: The Role of University libraries of Sindh, Pakistan. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 4280. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/4280.

Mahadevan, B., & Kumar, K. V. (2020). Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Dependence on Various Sources of information among the Faculty Members of Pharmacy Colleges in Tamil Nadu (South India). Sustainable Humanosphere, 16(1), 157-166.

Mandal, S., & Dasgupta, S. (2019). Changing Role of Academic Librarians in 21st Century: A Literature Review. Pearl: A Journal of Library and Information Science, 13(1), 35-44.

Perappadan, B. S. (2020, January 30). India’s first coronavirus infection confirmed in Kerala. The Hindu, p. 1.

Dadhe Pooja, P., & Dubey Manju, N. (2020). Library Services provided during Covid-19 Pandemic: content analysis of websites of premier technological institutions of India. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 4445. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/4445.

Samanta, M. (2020). Library Access Policies Post COVID-19 Pandemic. Available at SSRN 3610042.

Times of India (2020, March 16). Govt announces closure of all educational establishments across India till March 31.

Tu-Keefner, F., Hartnett, E., & Hastings Samantha, K. (2017). Health Information Services and Technology Access during and after a Disaster: Lessons Learned by Public Librarians in South Carolina. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 21(1), 26-39.

World Health Organization. (2020, January 12). Novel Coronavirus - China (who.int). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2020-ON233.

Downloads

Published

12-12-2021

How to Cite

Bagavathi, A. (2021). Normalcy in Library: The Stakeholders Prediction, Expectation and Librarian Activism on Post Covid-19 Pandemic Period. Asian Journal of Information Science and Technology, 11(2), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.51983/ajist-2021.11.2.3003