Page 66 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 3: Basic Knowledge of Library Software

Notes
Language Collection (%)
Punjabi 52,632 (95.95%)
English 1,278 (2.32%)
Hindi 500 (0.91%)
Urdu 400 (0.72%)
Persian 40 (0.07%)

In recent years the budget for this library has doubled; out of that, 85% is spent on the
purchase of books and 15% on journals, magazines, and newspapers. The collection is
purchased on the criteria passed by the university authorities which encourage purchase
of two copies of books on Punjab history, religion, culture etc. in Punjabi language and
only one copy in Hindi, English, and Urdu language. In addition to the purchased collection,
there is a Special Collection Section that houses rare collections gifted by 54 different
famous historians, writers, singers, artists, theatre personalities etc. in different languages.
The books are classified according to Dewey Decimal Classification 21st edition and
cataloguing is done according to AACR II. Majority of the users of this library are researchers
and scholars from all over India and even foreign countries who are well conversant with
Punjabi language. Library staff feels that the library use is not completely justified due to
lack of planning, promotion and publicity of resources of this unique library. Another
suggestion given by the library staff was to involve prominent personalities and authors
of Punjabi language in forming a committee which could develop a plan for promoting
the resources and services of this Punjabi Reference library all over the world.
Standards and Guidelines for Developing Multilingual Collection

Many countries like Australia, Canada, South Africa, U.S.A. and international associations
like ALA and IFLA have formulated guidelines and standards for developing multicultural
and multilingual collections in different types of libraries. Unfortunately, in India there
are no such guidelines and standards – yet guidelines and standards are most essential in
a diverse country like India. These are simple guidelines that will facilitate in serving
multilingual users of any library. Templates have been designed for developing
multicultural and multilingual collections that are easy to follow. There is lack of awareness
and initiatives on part of library and information professionals in his regard.

Initiatives in India
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC), first of its kind in the world, was set up in
2005 by the Prime Minister of India with the challenging mandate to transform India of
the 21st century into a knowledge society. It was to advise on matters relating to knowledge
creation, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application within the diversity of
the Indian scenario. NKC proposed to set up a National Translation Mission (hereafter
NTM) that would urgently take up the task of identifying gaps, promoting good quality
translation, training, disseminating information about translation and translators, and
co-ordinating ongoing work by public and private organisations. Translation has been
going on between different pairs of languages in the Indian subcontinent for a long time.
According to the report, “As a passion, translation has seen many great minds in action in
different speech communities in India and elsewhere. As a multilingual and multicultural
country, and as one of the oldest knowledge bases, India has been leading in translation
for many centuries. With many languages and cultures, this country also provides a rich
testing ground for all major theoretical initiatives in both literary and machine translation.
It is expected that the proposed NTM will fulfil a long-felt need that would satisfy different
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