The history of libraries is very old and dates back to thousands of years. .... and librarians more than book collectors, catalogers, and custodians". ... In the 1980s networking technologies, optical discs, CD-ROMs ..... along with shar-ing and editing, allows users to record, download and upload the. ..... New Delhi: S. Chand &.
PLA and SPIL's conferences and ve for this noble cause also. IS observed that due to rotation of versely. PLA's record and fmancial : imperative that PLA's permanent :one should be elected or nominated ;plendid success in their pursuit of
)dul Moid offered US $3,000.00 Dr. Abdul Moid Memorial Library" lepartment at University of Karachi. er and stabilizer as desired by the ;he refused to accept the books and conveyed to us, of refusal was that post graduate teaching. List of the Dr. Abdul Moid was conveyed this nputer to Karachi University Library arial Collection" in the library. Thus JniversityLibrary. ~ of Abdul Hafeez Akhtar, Ex-D.G. :hief Librarian, International Islamic que, Assistant Librarian, Islamia ns who worked on several positions Library of Pakistan, International :ityat Bahawalpur. We pray for their them with a high place in Jannah,
ed librarians and faculty members: i Mahmood, Muhammad Arif, Dr. n Zia, D~. Rais A.. Samdani, Birjis
Ikramul Haq Ateeb Ahmed
nising students and librarians who eport of National Conference at Bara
Ghaniul Akram Sabzwari
The Changing Philosophy of LibrarianshipAn Overview
Abstract:
Dr. Muhammad Ijaz Mairaj Prof. Dr. Widad Mustafa EI-Hadi
This paper presents a historical overview of distinct phases of the philosophy of librarianship through ages. It is divided into four periods including: (a) early period before 1500, showing cOllservativerole of librarian, (b) early modern period during 1500 to 1900, examining his struggling role as bridge maker between information and users, (c) twentieth century, identifying his user-focused role for information dissemination, and (d) the contemporary age, exploring an interactive and collaborative role of librarian and users for knowledge organization and management. The paper is based on the literature and explores the significant shift in the philosophy of librarianship. The passive role of librarian as a custodian and conservator of knowledge in the past has been shifted towards more active role as a mediator and disseminator of knowledge. The paper shows an active contribution and sharing of knowledge by librarians and users of Web 2.0 tech-nologies; and concludes a paradigm shift in the philosophy of librarianship. Keywords: Librarianship--Philosophy; Knowledge Organization; Knowledge dissemination; Web 2:0
Introduction: The history of libraries is very old and dates back to thousands of years. Libraries are organizing human knowledge since long and have witnessed various phases through ages. Earlier, more emphasize was on preservation or conservation of knowledge and until 19th century, it was a dominating factor. Librarian was a custodian and conservator of knowledge. Twentieth century is regarded as the century of information revolution due to advancement in technology. The librarians started performing an active role. for dis-semination of information and users got personal attention. Early phase of the 21st century brought another revolution and along with dissemination, a more social approach of collaboration and sharing began to emerge. Librarianship as a profession deals with knowledge organization. Libraries organize knowledge for an easy retrieval and use. The various methods used for this' pur-pose are: cataloguing, classification, inde'!ing, abstracting, bibliography, record manage-ment and knowledge management. The advancement in technologies especially the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW) and prevailing Web 2.0 have made a magnificent impact on knowledge organization. It has changed the role of library from a store house to information resource centre, and the role of librarian from conservator to disseminator and collaborator of knowledge. .. - . -.. - .
Philosophy of Librarianship through Ages:
Chief Editor
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Man, the most important living being of the world has continuously made pro-gress with time and today's all kinds of achievements are the result of his continuous efforts. In the early ages, he was a wander; shifted again and again from one place to another to meet his basic needs of living like water, food and shelter. He, by nature is a social animal and cannot live separately. With the passage of time, he developed himself, formed societies and started civilized life. He leamed from his
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September 2012
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Th? Changing Philosophy of Librarianship An Overview
The Changing Philosophy of Librarianship An Overview
','surroundings and started writing 1:lisexperiefic~~ and thaughts. In this way.the khowledgebegan ta graw;he want~d tapreserve and arganiz~ it far ijIture generatlan. I-Jestarted writing artd"builLbigstore hauses ta preserve that kriawledg~, Tp~se wert? the libra#es anhat age.2 , .,,' ",', ',' , ' . , :' Libraries .ofthe prevailingerataakthausands .ofyears ta perform. mar@actlve andsacialrole in saciety ta serve knawledge seekers. Thamsan3 has identified three phases'anhe changmg tqle'aflibraries inthe'fallawing wards: ,"The identificatian and'articulatian aI the main principles underlying the , practi'-cal aperatians .of libl-ari~~aJ}d infarmation se~ices, in particular tha.se re~at~g tacallec-tian palicies, cansel'vl:l:tiOJ:},access,functIOns and the rale .of lIbranes 10 saciety; These principles haveevalved aver a periad, .ofmare than 2,500 years and.fall braadly inta three histarical phases: early periad,nineteenth century and twentIeth century." , The emergence .of infarmatianand cammunicatian technalagies (lCT) jn 20th ,century, especially the Internet and WWW made a significant impact an librarianship. These technolagies are develaping cantinuously and 21 st century braught anather , revolu-tian af'Web 2.0. This technalagy has identified a new callabarativ.e and sacial rale .of librarian. The changing philasaphy .of librarianship fram canservation tQ disseminatian and thenta mare sacial appraach .of callabaratian and distribution has changed the whale concept .of library fram a mere stare hause ta Library 2.0 and t~e rale .oflibrarians fram a canservatar and custadian ta dissemina,tat and callabaratarll1 knowledge building and sharing. This paradigm shift in the philasaphy .oflibrarianship . is nat an immediate phenamenan. It has lang histary, and may be classified inta faur . phases as fallows:
Librarlanship in the Early Period (Before 1500): Earlier, libraries were established by kings, rulers and daminant peaple .of saci-ety. The first ,library .of clay table!s was established, in Nineveh by Ashurbani~al, the Assyrian ruler .of thatagem 668-624 B.C. an4 the second was the Alexandrian Library .ofpapyrus rolls develaped aroun4 300 B.C. by P,tolemySater. Hawever,' these libraries were accesSibleta certain privileged people and laymen haq na aut1}arityta use them. There was mare emphasis an preservatian .of knawledge thliJ,nPI} disseminatian. This trend cantinued even after centuries.4 , In the ancient periad, the grawth of knawledge was' slaw; recorded knawledge was rare andcoIisidered as preciaus and sacred.JJ1?lib~aries called.stare haus.eSs';,ere es-tablished ta preserve knawledge and had large callectIOn.Accardmg ta Rubm, ,the camprehensiveness .of the callectian was beyand camparisan far its time". A library which had mare callectian was given mare impartance and regarded as a treasure hause. Muslims during 500-1500 established large number .of persanal, rayal and Madrassah libraries in Caira, Baghdad, Cardava, Spain, Damascus.6-7 Histary .of libraries daces back ta eight thausands years in Inda-Pak subcantinent and links with the famaus civilizatian .of Sindh. The arrival .of Muslims in eighth century in Sindh .opened the daars .of masque, Madrassah and persanal libraries in the regian.8-9 The elite dass .ofthe saciety in Eurape established persanal libraries in Rame and building a library was a status symbal in Greece. These libraries were rich in callectian.IO-11 The librarian was suppased ta be a guardian, c:ustadian, .or canservatar .of knawl-edge. He was happy ta adapt this rale and proud ta keep the library callectian aut .of the reach .of camman peaple. He aimed ta pratect it from damage &aused by 6
P.L.I.S.J.43(3)
men, i.nsects, and ather ele~ents. He had camprehensive knawledg callectlOn and was a schalar hImself. He laved the callectian he had but serve users. He always tried ta keep himself away fram readers and aiso tJ aut .oftheir way..He did nat like ta share the library haldings with users 1 .oncehe shared hISknowl-edge and haldings with them; he wauld lase his na langer wauld be needed and never be respected. He believed that his based an. keeping himself and his passes sian away fram users. As knawle( and cansldere~ sacred, therefare, libraries were rare and their rale was pa were the archlves and .onlythe elite class .ofsaciety cauld access the knaw] wa~ monopaly .ofcertain privileged peaple such as nables lards religiaus kings. 12-IS ' ,
Librarianship in the Early Modern Period (1500-1900):
!he in,:ention .of pr~ting press in Germany by Gutenberg in 144 r~V-QluhQnwhIch resulted m mare baaks praductian in Europe. DemaI increased and university libraries started develaping large callectian.1 grawth ~f gr~phic recards urged the need .of their arganizatian far effecti ro~e .of hbranes began ta change during this periad and librarian was re bndg~ between rec.arded knawledge and the seeker .ofknawledge. He left guardIan .or custodian and became a bridge maker .ormatch maker. He tri the needs .ofusers with re-carded knawledge .of the library. He technicall t~e .callec~ian. and develaped baak and card catalags, general a blbhagraphles, mdexes and reading lists; and made efforts ta encaurage a readers. He began ta interpret the library callectian ta thase wha came Hawever, ~he majarity afpeaple remained ignarant abaut the bridge. It , the lang hlstary .of canservative rale .of librarians that affected peaple's b they were reluctant ta use his services. They did nat realize that a libra useful ta guide and provide them the desired infarmatian. On the ather sid in past were remained away fram peaple, therefare they cauld nat und cl1&ngingtrends .of saciety as haw effectively to present their services a relatians with users. 17-18 The growth of printed literatureresulted in the developmentof more lit United States (US) and Europe. Libraryof Congressin 1800 in the US and Bri Library in 1837 in the United Kingdom (UK) were establishedto preserveknO got attention, public libraries began to establish and for better knowl-edgeorga need of formallibraryeducationwas felt.19 Librarianshipwas regarded as an apprenticeshipfor centuries in past I professionand it was assumedthat a librarian required some training within the need of formal education in librarianship was not realized in a true sense. Tl literature urged librarians to equip themselves with certain skills and orga collection in a better way. Therefore, the need of advanced library educati University of Gottingen in 1886 started formal library education in German CollegecurrentlyrenownedColumbiaUniversityin the next year started library; America. The library professionals like Melvil Dewey, Charles Arnie Cutter l FrederickPoole developedschemesto organizecollectionfor better use.20-22
Librarianship in the Twentieth Century:
. . Lib.raries .observed substantial develapment during 20th cc lIbrananship became a renawned prafessian due ta revalutianary deve September2012
The Changing Philosophy
hip An Overview
and thoughts. In this way the organ~ it for fjJture generation. rve that knowledge. T}1~se werc~ of years to perform mor~ active . Thomson3 has identified thre~ g words: main principles underlying the ices, in particular those relating ions and the role of libraries in of more than 2,500 years and fall ineteenth century and twentieth cation technologies (lCT) .in 20th gnificant impact on librarianship. d ? 1st gentury br()ught an.other d a new coUaborativ~ and social arianship from conservation to ollaboration and distribution has tore house to Library 2.0 and the dissemiMtor and collaborator in the philosophy of librarianship ry, and may be classified into four
m
00): , rulers and dominant people of hed in Nineveh by Ashurbanipal, the second was the Alexandrian by Ptolemy Soter. However, these e and laymen had no aut~ority to rvatiQn of knowledge th~!1 OQ .
nes.
4
.
ige was slow; recorded knowledge ;libraries called store houses wen~ 1lection. According to Rubin,s "the omparison for its time". A library rtance and regarded as a treasure ~e number of personal, royal and. , Spain, Damascus.6-7 History of lo-Pak subcontinent and links with [uslims in eighth century in Sindh anal libraries in the region.8-9 The mal libraries in Rome and building :ies were rich in collection.lO-1I lian, Gustodian, or conservator of lroud to keep the library collection protect it from damage .9aused by P.L.I.S.J.43 (3)
of Librarianship
An Overview
men, insects, and other elements. He had comprehensive knowledge about the collection and was a. scholar himself. He loved the collection he had, but reluctant to serve users. He always tried to keep himself away from readers and also the collection out of their way. He did not like to share the library holdings with users thinking that once he shared his knowl-edge and holdings with them; he would lose his importance, no longer would be needed and never be respected. He believed that his respect was based on keeping himself and his possession away from users. As knowledge was rare and considered sacred, therefore, libraries were rare and their role was passive: These were the arohives and only the elite class of society could access the knowledge. There wa!'l monopoly of certain privileged people such as nobles, lords, religious persons and kings. 12-15
Librarianship in the Early Modern Period (1500-1900): The invention of printing press in Germany by Gutenberg in 1440 brought a r~Y-Qluti(m which resulted in more books production in Europe. Demand of books increased and university libraries started developing large collection.16 The mass . growth of graphic records urged the need of their organization for effective use. The role of libraries began to change during this period and librarian was regarded as a bridge between recorded knowledge and the seeker of knowledge. He left the post of guardian or custodian and became a bridge maker or match maker. He tried to match the needs of users with re-corded knowledge of the library. He technically organized the collection and developed book and card catalogs, general and subject bibliographies, indexes and reading lists; and made efforts to encourage and facilitate readers. He began to interpret the library collection to those who came to his door. However, the majority of people remained ignorant about the bridge. It was perhaps the long history of conservative role of librarians that affected people's behavior and they were reluctant to use his services. They did not realize that a librarian can be useful to guide and provide them the desired information. On the other side, librarians in past were remained away from people, therefore they could not understand the changing trends of society as how effectively to present their services and develop relations with users.17-l8 The growth of printed literature resulted in the development of more libraries in the United States (US) and Europe. Library of Congress in 1800 in the US and British Museum Library in 1837 in the United Kingdom (UK) were established to preserve knowledge. Users got attention, public libraries began to establish and for better knowl-edge organization, the need of formal library education was felt.19 , Librarianship was regarded as an apprenticeship for centuries in past rather than a profession and it was assumed that a librarian required some training within the library. The need of formal education in librarianship was not realized in a true sense. The growth of literature urged librarians to equip themselves with certain skills and organize library collection in a better way. Therefore, the need of advanced library education was felt. University of Gottingen in 1886 started formal library education in Germany. Columbia College currently renowned Columbia University in the next year started library educa-tion in America. The library professionals like Melvil Dewey, Charles Arnie Cutter and William Frederick Poole developed schemes to organize collection for better use.20-22 .
Librarianship in the Twentieth Century:. Libraries observed substantial development during 20th century and librarianship became a renowned profession due to revolutionary development in September 2012
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The Changing Philosophy
of Librarianship
The Changing Philosophy of Librarianship
An Overview
education, science and technology. Evans, Amodeo and Carter23 express that "only in the twentieth century did libraries become something other than storehouses for books, and librarians more than book collectors, catalogers, and custodians". After the Second World War, the US and Europe diverted their attention towards socio-economic development and made mea-ningful progress in every domain of life. Compulsory education resulted in the growth of literacy rate, more readers were produced and use of libraries increased. The philosophy of librarianship began to divert towards user-centered. UNESCO supported education for all, prepared Public Library Manifesto in 1949 and encouraged for free access to informa-tion. Library users got attention and researchers conducted users' studies of various dis-ciplines for information needs and information seeking.24-25 . The concept of reference service emerged in 20th century and librarians started giving personal attention to users. Earlier, there was trend of collecting, organizing and. preserving knowledge but its use was not in the priorities of librarians. Later, increase in literacy, improvement in printing technologies and organized book trade in developed world brought an information revolution. The layman got access to knowledge; libraries opened the doors for users and librarians attended per&onallyto readers. Green was the first person who in 1876 in his article urged the need of personal a&sis~~nceof librarians to users. Later on in 1931, Ranganathan framed his famous five Laws of Librarianship. The users were the main focus of these laws that strengthened the emerging philosophy of librarianship.26-28 . Laws of Ranganathan described a new user-focused role of librarians and , infor-mation professionals. Shera29 considers it the social role of librarian and states: "the li-brarian is a mediator between man and the graphic record [...] the goal of the , librarian is to maximize the social utility of graphic records for the benefit of humanity". Modern technologies enabled librarians to perform effective social role expressed by Shera four decades ago. ~ ' ,
Librarianship in the Contemporary Age: The advent of computer in the mid-twentieth century and related technological developments in 1980s-90s, especially the Internet and WWW have revolutionized the concept of librarianship. Internet now has become an integral part of a library and digiti-zation
of libraries is being carried out in greater pace. Rarnzan and Singh30 discuss the
applications of ICT in libraries during the last four decades in the following words: .. , In the 1970s, libraries started adopting software applications and machine read-able cataloguing. In the 1980s networking technologies, optical discs, CD-ROMs and communicat~on~technologies were introduced. The primary objective of the early tech-nology applIcatIOnswas to automate circulation, acquisitions and the catalogue to bring efficiency' and effectiveness in library operations and services. The 1990s witnessed revo':lutionary changes in the application of ICT in libraries such as the internet, World ~ideWeb protocols, information retrieval standards, integrated library systems and onlIne da-tabases. The 2000s are an era of digital libraries, virtual collections, paperless environ-ment and round the clock instant remote access to ~unlimited resources. . '.' Th.ese ~evelopments have contributed significantly in strengthening ; relatIOns~lps wIth users for fulfilling their information needs. Due to prevailing techliolo~lcal devel-opment, the priorities of users are changing. They have become more actIve now and pre-fer desktop's access to knowledge. Physical boundaries of 8 \_1
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P.L.LS.J.43
(3)
An Overview
conventional libraries are not a matter of concern; electronic, digital and v concept has emerged. Libraries organize and offer their resources n . . ' ~erYI9~!',etc,. usmg Internet via web sites and users can access them f p1.i:lr;:~~. The roJe ofthc:: li~rarian has become im-perative for prompt < dissemmation of knowl~4ge to u~ers.- '" , The emerging technological development urged librarians to c'dte W fl:H¥w~¥.while, W~b 2.Q affers shar-mg and dIstnbutmg culture. It ~p.vItespeppl~ ~g t~~~';:H1ft~tIve P~r1:t4rq\lgh interactian, callabaratian, sharing and editing in,fo.nnatiau,:3~-36 Accaniil1g to. Chu~ &Gah,37 "Web 2.0 represen~s an ~merging suii~ af a,ppHe~ti.ons that hold immense patential in ~~rlfh~P& cgm!ll~n~~'\npn; @n~pHn.g 99Halwratian and fostering innavatian". It enables' onlim; in!@r:(l~H9nl £qJwe.rsatilm~ Qr verbal communicatian with athers. In~~flnt Me~s~ging (1M) thraugh text, audio. and videa, and mare interactive streaming media like Flickr, Yau- Tube, blags, twitters, woos, RSS feeds, tagging, padcasts and sacial netwarks like Face-baak, Knawtex, Li!1k~dln, DaYauBuz, MySpace, Mashups, Frapper, Netlag, etc. are the gift af We~ ~.O technalagy.
Library 2.0
,
',.c.
"
. The ~~er?ing r~f~mal?~y?of W~~ ~.9 ::qso. yall.erary 2.0 'is a vital taal af librarians far users' infarmatian literacy and innava-tian and they have became Librarians 2.0. It also. enables users as Users 2.0 to. participate and share their knawledge and experiences, use the callective intelligence and give feed-back abaut the resaurces and servic.e~ affered. -" " , 39
Maness is af the apinian that Library 2.0 has four ~~~~nH~l~l~m~mt~, ~l.lch as: (a) it is user-centered (effe'?t~ve users' p~rticiB!1tl~l1in co'rit~nt £r~f\tiafl)~ (b) ~oQially rich (both synchranaus e.g. C~~! rpam, ~M,et~. 'a.Jl4~~yp
