Page 27 - DLIS101_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SOCIETY

Library and Information Society

Notes 5. Go through catalogues of books and magazines periodically and raise indents for
procurement
6. Get the worn out books repaired, bound, and if necessary get replacements.
It is very important for man to preserve and maintain the valuable knowledge and information
contained in the books and documents because we want to preserve our knowledge and wisdom
for the coming generations. By preserving the documents in a library this knowledge can be made
available to others so that they can benefit from it. Establishment of libraries is not a new concept.
The oldest library dates to around 2700 years ago in Sennacherib’s Palace in Nineveh which shows
how long ago the concept of leaving a piece of your wisdom behind started being formed into the
organized collection to preserve the work.
With the invention of printing press, it became easier to preserve the knowledge in the form of
printed documents. This led to the generation of a large number of books. The need for the
preservation and dissemination of information led to the establishment of more and more libraries.
Thus libraries acquired a great importance in the civilized society for education and research.
Libraries play a vital role in the development of any society by enhancing the cause of education
and academic research. They cater to the information needs of thousands of peoples.
The development of Science and Technology (S & T) in the last two centuries has led to an information
explosion. Rapid changes have taken place at a great pace. In order to meet the growing needs of
users the library system has been greatly improved and upgraded to meet the new challenges. The
services offered by libraries have also undergone a great change.
With the advent of new technologies in the field of computers and telecommunications, revolutionary
changes have taken place in the field of Library and Information Science. The shape of traditional
libraries containing a large number of printed documents is in the process of being transformed to
paper less libraries containing a large number of digitized documents. The facilities offered by
networking have not left libraries untouched. Modern libraries are not only digitized but networked
also. This has led to the creation of virtual libraries i.e. libraries without walls through which the
user has access to information at anytime, anywhere in the world by using the modern tools of
communications, such as computers and Internet facilities.
In modem societies, every human activity is organized through institutions. Every major social
task, whether economic performance or health care, education or research, business or industry is
institutionalized. The protection of the environment or defence is today invariably entrusted to
institutions and organizations. Libraries and other similar types of institutions are those that collect,
stock, process, organize, disseminate and distribute information/knowledge recorded in documents.
Since knowledge and information are so vital for all round human development, libraries and other
institutions that handle and manage knowledge and information are indeed invaluable.

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
3. Which one of the following is not a function of library.
(a) Collection of books and magazines
(b) Issue them to the members when they need it
(c) Get them back and place them in proper location
(d) Put them in a conventional approach.
4. The code the library compries is usually in the form of:
(a) Machine code (b) Binary code
(c) Decimal code (d) Optimal code.

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