Multidisciplinary – A New 21st Century Librarianship Skill

Among all of the skills that I’ve pointed out as a new 21st Century librarianship skill, this one seems to encompass many of them, but if considered only in a “DUH Ya!” sort of way, one misses the depth of what being a multidisciplinary librarian really means. It really is far from DUH Ya! It’s more like “Whoaaaaaaa!”

Most often people talk about the concept of interdisciplinary skills and learning about other subjects outside of one’s primary discipline. Normally, interdisciplinary refers to study that draws from two fields and combines their various aspects together and studies the interrelations, interactions and synergies.

To me, the concept of multidisciplinary librarianship means that the librarian takes elements from all applicable areas of study as they relate to librarianship, and combines them into a practice that takes advantage of those interrelations, interactions and synergies from all disciplines, not just two.

For example; a highly effective library director (or any librarian in any position), in addition to understanding the “science” of their profession, needs to understand and be able to practice leadership, management, organizational dynamics, politics, and all the other new skills;
• Business Acumen
• Cloud Computing
• Crowdsourcing
• Customer Targeting
• Digital Discovery
• Discontinuous Thinking
• Gaming
• Likenomics
• Open Innovation
• Planned Abandonment
• Social Networking
• Subject Matter Expert in Community

The best graphical analogy that I can think of to show this distinguishing characteristic of a 21st Century librarian http://21stcenturylibrary.com/2012/04/03/multidisciplinary-a-new-21st-century-librarianship-skill/is the Hindu God Ganesa, with the legendary memory of an elephant, multiple arms and ample tools. If you feel like this, then probably you are a multidisciplinary librarian.

Especially in the 21st Century, virtually no other profession requires the kind of multidisciplinary skills that librarianship requires. How long is your list of professional skills?

Curricular framework to be drafted

Minister makes announcement in Assembly to tone up quality of school education

The School Education Department will draft the ‘Tamil Nadu Curricular Framework 2012' to set high standards for the State, School Education Minister N. R. Sivapathy told the Assembly on Wednesday.

While the National Curricular Framework (NCF) 2005 lays down parameters for improving quality of school education in the country, each State is expected to draw a specific framework for itself, keeping in mind local challenges. The Tamil Nadu Curricular Framework 2012 is a step in that direction.

The announcement is significant in the context of Tamil Nadu, for it has not had a separate curricular framework in the past few decades. According to education activist S.S. Rajagopalan, in the late 1940s, a vision document was prepared for Madras, which spoke of introducing social studies and citizenship training in the curriculum. “It was a great document, but unfortunately, it is not available today. In the late 1970s the Tamil Nadu Planning Commission, with Malcolm Adiseshiah as member, prepared a document titled ‘Towards a learning society'. We have not had such a document specific to the State after that,” he said.

In the last few years, however, the State has been following the NCF-2005 closely, while introducing pedagogical interventions such as the Activity Based Learning and Active Learning methodologies for primary and middle school students. But, a document which specifically looks at curriculum and curricular reform keeping in mind certain challenges specific to Tamil Nadu is in a good position to contribute further to the overall quality.

Additionally, an experts' committee will be constituted to look at the overall quality of school education, and another team of experts will reflect on the current higher secondary syllabus and suggest necessary changes to upgrade it and equip students to cope with challenges in higher education, the Minister said. In an attempt to raise awareness and improve quality, the government will launch a special education as part of the Arasu Cable Television Network. The channel will feature tutorials, seminars and special lectures.

In addition to spelling out the Department's commitment to implementing the Right to Education Act, the Minister said the Directorate of Teacher Education Research and Training (DTERT) was upgraded to form the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). The move, he said, was aimed at further professionalising teacher training and equipping them with specific skills in areas such as motivation, attitude and communication.

The Teachers Recruitment Board, the nodal agency for conducting the Teacher Eligibility Test – an RTE Act mandate – will recruit efficient teachers in a transparent manner, the Minister said.

Other announcements included introduction of mobile library services for the benefit of students, enhancing science education by holding special programmes at cluster, block and district level and smart cards for students, in addition to free uniforms, footwear, school bags and stationery. This year, the government earmarked a record sum of Rs.14,553 crore for the School Education department.

Underground Robotic Library

Research Libraries are facing an unexpected challenge too many books, Despite Digitization, Bound collection s continue to grow. Some libraries house their stacks offsite, which can create multi day delays between request and retrieval. Last June, the Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago which accumulates 150,000 books every year introduced a system of robotic stacks capable of holding 3.5 million volumes in one seventh the space required by conventional stacks. DEMATIC

Digital Ethics

Globethics.net is a global network of persons and institutions interested in various fields of applied ethics. It offers access to a large number of resources on ethics, especially through its leading global digital ethics library and facilitates collaborative web-based research, conferences, online publishing and information sharing.

ICSSR-NASSDOC

It is my pleasure to announce that, ICSSR-NASSDOC has revised the amount for acquisition of theses to Rs. 3000/- for both hard copy with soft version and Rs. 2000/- for hard copy only. 

National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC), ICSSR has a library for the social science community. Ph.D. Theses in social sciences (approved by the Indian universities) form a part of its core collection. Research scholars from different region visit NASSDOC to consult this collection. As a national institution, NASSDOC aims to build a truly representative collection of Ph.D. theses in each of the areas that make up the social sciences. Ph.D. dissertations on India by Indian / foreign students approved by the foreign universities are also acquired.

Procedure for Acquisition

NASSDOC closely scrutinises the announcements made by the universities regarding award of Ph.D. degree. The periodical 'University News' is also scanned regularly for this purpose.
Thereafter, a letter is sent to the scholars requesting them to send the details of his research work, i.e. synopsis containing scope, methodology , objectives and major findings. The details are examined by a screening committee. Final decision on acquisition of these is taken on the basis of the recommendations of this committee.

Terms and Conditions

Scholars are required to fill in a proforma. This is sent along with the synopsis.

(Click on the following link to download the form)
http://www.icssr.org/doc_acq%20_thesis_annexure1.htm 

A formal order for purchase of a copy of thesis is sent to the scholar after receiving the recommendation of the screening committee.
An amount of Rs.1500/- is paid to a scholar for the thesis sent to NASSDOC. It is necessary to send the text of the thesis in electronic form alongwith a hard copy (Print) version of the work. A scholar who submits only the print version of the thesis is paid Rs. 750/- only.

The scholars who have received publication grant from ICSSR are required to submit a complimentary copy of their Ph.D. theses.

As on today NASSDOC has collection of 5650 Ph.D. these in the field of social science.

Very USEFUL Information

1. If you see children Begging anywhere in INDIA , please contact:
"RED SOCIETY" at 9940217816. They will help the children for their studies.

2. Where you can search for any BLOOD GROUP, you will get thousand's
of donor address. www..friendstosupport.org

3. Engineering Students can register in www.campuscouncil.com to
attend Off Campus for 40 Companies.

4. Free Education and Free hostel for Handicapped/Physically
Challenged children.
Contact:- 9842062501 & 9894067506.

5. If you find any important documents like Driving license, Ration
card, Passport, Bank Pass Book, etc., missed by someone, simply put
them into any near by Post Boxes. They will automatically reach the
owner and Fine will be collected from them.

6. By the next 10 months, our earth will become 4 degrees hotter than
what it is now. Our Himalayan glaciers are melting at rapid rate. So
let all of us lend our hands to fight GLOBAL WARMING.
-Plant more Trees.
-Don't waste Water & Electricity.
-Don't use or burn Plastics

7. It costs 38 Trillion dollars to create OXYGEN for 6 months for all
Human beings on earth.
"TREES DO IT FOR FREE"
"Respect them and Save them"

8. Special phone number for Eye bank and Eye donation: 04428281919
and 04428271616 (Sankara Nethralaya Eye Bank). For More information
about how to donate eyes plz visit these sites. http://ruraleye.org/

9. Heart Surgery free of cost for children (0-10 yr) Sri Valli Baba
Institute Banglore. 10.
Contact : 9916737471

10. Medicine for Blood Cancer!!!!
'Imitinef Mercilet' is a medicine which cures blood cancer. Its
available free of cost at "Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai". Create
Awareness. It might help someone.
Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai
Category: Cancer
Address:
East Canal Bank Road , Gandhi Nagar
Adyar
Chennai -600020
Landmark: Near Michael School
Phone: 044-24910754 044-24910754 , 044-24911526 044-24911526 ,
044-22350241 044-22350241

11. Please CHECK WASTAGE OF FOOD
If you have a function/party at your home in India and food gets
wasted, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - Its not a Joke,
This is the number of Child helpline.
They will come and collect the food. Please circulate this message
which can help feed many children.
AND LETS TRY TO HELP INDIA BE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN
Please Save Our Mother Nature for
"OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS"

20 Clever Apps and Services That Make Great Use of the Cloud

20 Clever Apps and Services That Make Great Use of the Cloud

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Top Story: 20 Clever Apps and Services That Make Great Use of the CloudLots of mobile apps and Web services are available to help people who want all their digital content--not just documents--at their fingertips at any time. We look at 20 that are fun, useful, or both. News Google's 'Project Glass' Teases Augmented Reality GlassesGoogle takes the wraps off its long-rumored augmented reality glasses that overlays messaging, weather data, maps, video chat, and more within a pair of glasses. Mac Malware Outbreak Is Bigger than 'Conficker'The Flashback Trojan has compromised an estimated 600,000 plus Macs, making it comparable to the massive Conficker worm botnet that affected Windows PCs. REad More

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Digital Libraries Federation

DLF initiatives change with needs; as some projects come to fruition or find new support, the DLF invests in others, staying flexible as a catalyst for experiment and change. For example, the DLF has promoted work on the following:

• Digital library structures, standards, preservation, and use
• Archives for electronic journals
• Online collections for use in teaching
• Internet services that expand access to resources of use to scholars
• Assessments of the future roles of libraries.