Assam University

“No matter what question you ask a librarian, you can trust he / she will find you the right answer. This is what the Library Profession is.”

Library and information professionals are needed not only to gather, organize and coordinate access and use of the best and rich available information resources but also to package, repackage and market them to ensure their effective access and utilization by the target audience. The application of ICTs, particularly the computers, Internet, Intranet and other network technologies have continued to impact positively on the methodologies of library and information service delivery, education and training of information service providers as well as the information needs and seeking behaviors of the information seekers. This leads to a shift of paradigm of the library and information profession, education, training, and services from the traditional type of librarianship to the modern/hybrid type of librarianship characterized by client-oriented professionalism. In Assam, only two state universities i.e., Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University have started regular courses in library and information science till 2009. However, there are various centers in Assam set up by different universities for LIS education to study in distance mode. Gauhati University is the first in the history of LIS education in Assam which had been established in 1967 with all possible infrastructural facilities along with full-time faculty members. The department in Dibrugarh University has been established in 2005 and named CLISS (Centre for Library and Information Science Studies) but without any full-time faculty members. Both these departments have shown the paths to the students to accept LIS as a profession. But none of these universities have yet started an MPhil course.

Here, in the southern part of Assam, the Department of Library and Information Science has been set up by Assam University in 2009 with its specific vision and missions. The department started its first batch in 2010.

It is a remarkable addition in LIS education not only for NE Region but also for the country with its unique features as well as its own new building and infrastructure. As declared by the former Honb’le Vice-Chancellor Prof. Topodhir Bhattacharjee on its university’s foundation day on 21st January 2011 the department has got its own separate school named as ‘Swami Vivekananda School of Library Sciences’ and will have different centers for specialized LIS education. Of course, the establishment of this department at Assam University is a step towards excellence in LIS education.

The Department of Library and Information Science at Assam University, Silchar educates students in the principles, practices, and ethics of library and information science, imbues them with a sense of service to diverse populations, and prepares them to be life-long learners and active leaders in a rapidly changing information and knowledge society.

The Department of Library and Information Science of Assam University is committed to the University’s mission of teaching, learning, research, and community services. As a professional department, it will be the department of choice in Assam in general and Barak Valley in particular, which will educate its students, in both theory and practice, to identify, acquire, organize, and disseminate information. By integrating technology across the curriculum, the department will impart the knowledge and skills of the profession in preserving and providing access to the records of our cultural heritage and the documents of scholarly research. By nurturing research, innovation, and service, the department will strive to offer high-quality student-centered programs necessary to prepare library and information professionals in the knowledge society of the 21st century.

The Department of Library and Information Science will be respected both nationally and internationally as a leader in producing information professionals. The department will be noted for its production of trained and professionally qualified librarians and other information professionals who are motivated to leadership and service. Those LIS Professionals would be knowledgeable and ethical in their professional practice. While recognizing the rich cultural and technological heritage of their fields, they will be prepared to make themselves adaptable in changing environments and also would be lifelong learners.

The department started its functioning in 2009 under the School of Information Science with three regular faculty members. This department has been the thirty-fourth department under the nine different schools of Assam University. The department was started from a temporary building near the Bipin Chandra Paul Auditorium with three rooms only. Dr. Manoj Kumar Sinha who had been working as Assistant Librarian in Rabindra Library appointed as Reader cum Head.