QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION

CENTRES WITH REGARD TO “NAAC” COMMITTEE

STANDARDS FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: A STUDY

SYNOPSIS

Submitted for approval as part of the syllabus for MLIS Programme of IGNOU

By

K. MADHAVI LATHAMLIS

Enrollment No.105074772

Project Guide

Dr.M. RAMCHANDERAssociate Professor/OSD (LIS)

P.S. Telugu University, Hyderabad

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

NEW DELHI

QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION

CENTRES WITH REGARD TO “NAAC” COMMITTEE

STANDARDS FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: A STUDY

Chapter 1

1. INTRODUCTION

The word Quality has many different meanings ranging from conventional

to those that are strategic in nature.  Conventional meaning of quality usually

describe a quality as one which looks good, works well, which is reliable etc., 

Strategic meaning of quality is concerned with "meeting customer requirements". 

Academic libraries are considered to be the nerve centres of academic

institutions, and must support teaching, research, and other academic

programmes. The situation in academic libraries of India is the same as that of

academic libraries the world over; however, Indian libraries must provide

maximum information with limited resources.

The increasing expectations of users have challenged libraries to improve

their quality of services. Limited by increasingly tighter budgetary restrictions,

library managers feel more pressure to fully exploit available resources.

Therefore, several libraries and information services have adopted quality

management practices in recent years. Among the various initiatives

implemented include ISO 9000 standards (Johannsen1996), 5S movement

(Taipei Municipal Library 1996), and benchmarking (Zairi and Hutton

1995;Garrod and Kinnell 1996; Garrod and Kinnell1997; Buchanan and Marshall

1996). By adopting quality management, the library’s image and service quality

can be improved, and librarian can increase productivity while focusing on the

student’s needs .

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1.1 QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN COLLEGE LIBRARIES

Education aims to impart knowledge and makes good citizens. Libraries

are the repositories of knowledge and form an integral part of education.

Libraries have a long history, starting with the chained and closed-access

libraries of earlier times to the present-day hybrid, digital, and virtual libraries that

use the latest technology for provision of information through various services.

Accordingly, librarians have also changed from storekeepers who were

concerned with protection of books against theft, mutilation, and pilferage, to that

of information officers, navigators, and cybrarians who find themselves in the

vast ocean of reading material and are busy in satisfying their clients who want

anytime and anywhere information.

With the advent of computers, the nature of libraries has changed

dramatically. Computers are being used in libraries to process, store, retrieve

and disseminate information. As a result, the traditional concept of library is being

redefined from a place to access books to one which houses the most advanced

media including CD-ROM, Internet, and remote access to a wide range of

resources. Libraries have now metamorphosed into digital institutions. Gone are

the days when a library was judged by its quantitative resources. Today, libraries

are surrounded by networked data that is connected to a vast ocean of Internet-

based services. Moreover, electronic resources relevant to the professions are

developing at an unprecedented pace.

Quality management is increasingly integrated into library services,

following their perceived success, with particular emphasis on improving service

quality. Libraries have developed numerous programs to fulfill user requirements.

In general, libraries concentrate mainly on maintaining administrative activities,

building the collection, and serving the users. Therefore, the functions of a library

can be broadly categorized as administrative management, technical services

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and public services. Administrative management defines the objectives of the

library, allocates the resources to achieving such objectives, co-ordinates related

activities, and assesses the performance of related services.

Technical services largely focus on building the collection and making

the collection more accessible for users. The activities of technical services

include acquisition, information organization, and preservation. Circulation,

reference and access services.

1.2 NAAC COMMITTEE STANDARDIZATION ACCORDING TO UGC FOR

COLLEGE LIBRARY

The NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL

(NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants

Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher

education in the country. It is an outcome of the recommendations of the National

Policy in Education (1986) that laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of

higher education in India.

The system of higher education in India has expanded rapidly during the

last fifty years. In spite of the built-in regulatory mechanisms that ensure

satisfactory levels of quality in the functioning of higher education institutions,

there have been criticisms that the country has permitted the mushrooming of

institutions of higher education with fancy programme and substandard facilities

and consequent dilution of standards. To address the issues of deterioration in

quality, the National Policy on Education (1986) and the Plan of Action (POA-

1992) that spelt out the strategic plans for the policies, advocated the

establishment of an independent national accreditation body. Consequently, the

NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bangalore.

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Vision and Mission

The activities and future plans of the NAAC are guided by its vision and

mission that focus on making quality assurance an integral part of the functioning

of higher education institutions.

The vision of the NAAC is:

To make quality the defining element of higher education in India through

a combination of self and external quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance

initiatives. The mission statements of the NAAC aim at translating the NAAC's

vision into reality, defining the following key tasks of the organization:

To arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of

higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programme or

projects.

To stimulate the academic environment for promotion of quality of

teaching-learning and research in higher education institutions.

To encourage self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovations in

higher education.

To undertake quality-related research studies,consultancy and training

programme.

To collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality

evaluation, promotion and sustenance.

Guided by its vision and striving to achieve its mission, the NAAC primarily

assesses the quality of institutions of higher education that volunteer for the

process, through an internationally accepted methodology. The National

Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body set up by

the UGC to establish quality in higher education in India the genesis of NAAC

and. Sarkhel (2004) traced evaluated the processes adopted in the assessment

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and accreditation of the collegiate education in India.

The NAAC has already completed the process of assessment and

accreditation in a number of universities and colleges. In the present system of

NAAC. Concerted efforts for the improvement of the quality of LIS education in

Indian universities are evident in the recommendations of various Committees

constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) since the

recommendations made by these committees at different points of time provide

valuable guidelines in respect of standardization of curriculum, enrolment,

infrastructure, quality of teachers, teaching and evaluation methodology,

research programs, etc. But very little has been done to implement the

recommendations.

1.3. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN INDIA ACCORDING TO NATIONAL

ACCREDITATION AND ASSESSMENT COUNCIL (NAAC).

University Grants Commission created a higher education body, whose job

is to assess the quality of university and college institutions in 1994 in Bangalore

on the recommendation of National Policy of Education (NPE) in 1986. This is

National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) which strives for quality

and excellence in higher education and advocates for enhancing the role of

library and Information Services in improving academic environment. Document

prepared by NAAC for “Best Practices in Academic Libraries says : “Best practice

may be innovative and be a philosophy, policy, strategy, program, process or

practice that solves a problem or create new opportunities and positively impact

on organizations. “NAAC developed a set of best practices followed in academic

libraries and presented under the following four broad areas

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1. Management and Administration of Library.

2. Collection and Services.

3. Extent of User Services.

4. Use of Technology.

A database of documented practices is available on NAAC website and

they assure that regular updating will be made with consultations on contributing

institutions. For college libraries NAAC has developed the following set of best

practices for college libraries:

Computerization of library with standard software.

Inclusion of sufficient information about the library in the college

prospectus.

Compiling student / teacher statistics

Displaying newspaper clippings and a clipping file maintained periodically.

Career/ employment information services

Internet facility to different user groups

Information literacy programmes

Suggestion Box

Displaying New Arrivals

Conduct book exhibition on different occasions

Organizing book talks

Instituting Annual Best Use Award for students

Organizing competitions annually

Conduct user survey periodically

2. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Chapter: 2

The functions of any library are to acquire, organize, display transmit and

disseminate the information more effectively by making them available to the

needs of the users. These functions are usually dictated by the objectives of

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Libraries. This can be achieved by increasing the efficiency and quality of the

standard day-to-day operations.To create constancy of purpose for improvement

of product and service. Constancy of purpose requires innovation, investment in

research and education, continuous improvement of product and service,

maintenance of equipment, furniture and fixtures, and new aids to production. 

This Project work has been confined to the Quality Management of Libraries

and Information centers only 'college' libraries are considered. Systematic

implementation of quality management in LIS requires a concise and exhaustive

framework.

1. Define quality criterion for the service.

2. Feedback from the users of the service is important for improving the

quality.

3. Decide upon the measures to achieve quality.

4. Decide whether involvement of staff at different levels is necessary.

5. Review the resources for implementing the measures for improvement of

quality.

6. Ensure commitment and support of top management at all stages of

quality Implementation.

5. LITERATURE SEARCH

NAAC in its publication Library and Information Services: Case

Presentation (2006) explained its efforts towards quality. Prof. A.C. Tikekar’s

comment about the examples of best practices given under four significant areas

of LIS “are from a very few and stray and from of the same universities and

colleges. Some of them are very peripheral and not of core nature. It is a matter

of discussion that the institutions included in the list are the only the best

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academic libraries. The name of the colleges and universities listed arenot well

known except few.” It is recommended that NAAC should hold a National

Seminar on Best Practices in academic libraries every year.

The participation in the conference should be by paper presentation.

Selection of papers for presentation is subject to peer review. Academic libraries

are part of the large academic bodies. Generation, organization and

dissemination of information and knowledge are subject to constant change since

1980s. Most academic libraries have the facility of Internet resources which

supplement the print collection of the library. These changes are substantial.

The problem with us is that many changes we come across, we immediately take

it as a part of routine. Internet facility helps in saving time, repetition and

redundancy, time lag and delays. We can communicate with information service

providers within no time in case of any problem, change or adding new things to

existing collection or services. Library management has to become more

integrated through software. Librarians will have to study the potential of library

software as many features are still not known to us.

An Example of Experience of Best Practices in Academic and Research

Libraries Dr. S. R. Ranganathan writes that he brought to the notice of Sir C.V.

Raman about Raman Effect which was published in a foreign journal. This

incident happened in Madras University Library in early thirties. Sir C.V. Raman

received the Nobel Prize for his work on the scattering of light which is called

Raman scattering or Raman Effect.

1. Making of a Path Finder to the library

2. Keeping the library premises neat and clean

3. Compiling a list of Current Serials/ catalogue of journals.

4. Updating and maintaining library website

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5. Maintaining useful statistics regarding the use of the library and displaying

them on the library walls

6. Compiling checklists on different subject/topics as a part of documentation

service

7. Library Committee formation

8. Distribution of useful handouts

3. OBJECTIVES Chapter: 3

The objectives for the Quality Management of The Libraries:

 To understand modern techniques/ methods used in library operations

Adopt the new philosophy. Management must undergo a transformation

and begin to believe in quality products and services

To be cost effective

To avoid duplication of efforts and eliminate undo and repetitive works.

Cease dependence on mass inspection. Inspect products and services

only enough to be able to identify ways to improve the process

4. METHODOLOGY Chapter: 4

The tools that will be used in the proposed study include: -

1. Questionnaire Method

2. Interviews and introduction with the college librarian and

management to study their experience and background

3. Literature Search

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4.1 Data Collection:

The study on Quality Management of Libraries and Information Centre

at “NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITION COUNCIL committee

standardization according to UGC for college libraries” .will be based on the

data, which will be collected from different sources and all the fields are

comprehensively and analytically examined to gain knowledge about the

quality management of libraries and Information Centers. The data will be

obtained from structured interviews and questionnaires. Literature survey will

be conducts, including the websites on Library.

Librarians will be contacted and interviewed to gather the relevant

data. The interviews will be conducted for selected sample of persons. The

questionnaires will include only close-ended questions.

The students of faculty will be interacted to collect the data about the

“Quality Management in Libraries and Information Centers “in there college

Library by gathering their requirement to create the provisions to provide

effective services and the sample size will be of 150 persons.

6. CHAPTERIZATION Chapter: 6

The project study has been divided into the following chapters.

Chapter: 1 Introduction

Chapter: 2 Scope of the Study

Chapter: 3 Objectives

Chapter: 4 Methodology

Chapter: 5 Literature search

Chapter: 6 Chapterization

Chapter:7 Conclusion

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6. CONCLUSION Chapter: 6

Libraries are ideal places to implement Quality Management. They are

service organizations dedicated to their customers, the patrons. By formulating a

strategic plan, and following it with a commitment to continuous quality

improvement, library managers can transform and improve their organizations.

Quality management approaches and techniques can help libraries, but do

not always guarantee the outcome. Libraries wanting to continuously improve

their service quality and completely satisfy customers must create a customer

oriented culture in their organization. First, a framework of total quality

management must be established for the library by promoting a quality culture

before applying any particular technique

The techniques must be considered as an integral part of the total quality

system. Importantly, managers must identify and suggest appropriate methods

by analyzing issues such as organizational culture, competence, slills, missions,

and commitment of senior management to make the application of these

approaches and techniques meaningful and useful.

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