Fifty Years Library and Information Services in India

Citation

Mahmood, K. (1999), "Fifty Years Library and Information Services in India", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 58-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.8.2.58.4

This volume contains 27 articles by eminent and well‐experienced library professionals in India. Arranged into nine sections the articles include the following: national policy on libraries, information systems and services; public libraries; public library legislation; 50 years of the American libraries in India; university libraries; libraries in distance teaching universities; college libraries from ancient times; college libraries since independence; school libraries; development of school libraries; government of India libraries; library services for the blind; newspaper libraries; growth of the humanities libraries; national library: programmes; agricultural libraries; medical libraries; Asiatic Society of Bengal Library; classification and indexing; reference and information services; Internet and library services; information technology and Indian libraries; from printed bibliographies to online databases; resource sharing and library networking; library and information science education; language dictionaries in library and information science; LIS literature.

All articles include abstracts, are well documented and contain appropriate tables and figures. Some of the articles are very good indeed and actually achieve their purpose of narrating the 50‐year history of the area under study. Others are merely descriptions of the present situation or of a more theoretical nature. Any book of this kind is never without flaws. Though the contributions discuss important aspects of librarianship in India, the compilation fails to paint a comprehensive picture of LIS developments during the past 50 years. The main concentration is on library services, while information services are not given proper coverage.

In view of the coverage and quality of contributions in this book, it is useful for library professionals, LIS students, educators, planners and decision makers in particular in India. In general this addition to the literature is recommended for library school collections and scholars of international and comparative librarianship. It needs to be added, however, that an extensive study of various LIS developments during this half‐century history of India is still required.