The gatekeepers of the ‘information age’
Abdur Rokib discovers the scope for the profession of information management and tells us about the real power of the managers of the real wealth in this age - information
The gatekeepers of the ‘information age’
Abdur Rokib discovers the scope for the profession of
information management and tells us about the real power of the managers of the
real wealth in this age - information
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“As
an information scientist it is our duty to stop information explosion, we are
jack of all track but master of information”, is what S.M.Mannan, a former
chairman of the department of Information Science and Library Management,
University of Dhaka had to say about the profession of an information scientist,
as well as the roles any information science graduate plays .
The primary role of an information officer is that of
creating as much ease in the access of information, as possible. Because he is
an employee of an information organization as well as a library, he is an
important member of the team engaged in research or activities of crucial
importance to the parent body. We can go to the extent of saying that he is an
indispensable member of his team.
An information officer’s fundamental job is to provide
information promptly, specifically, exhaustively and accurately to any member of
the parent organization. He provides information on demand and in anticipation.
An information officer should have high qualities and
qualifications. Information service is certainly a vocation which demands a
special attitude of mind and certain qualities, which cannot always be acquired
at will or through training. Therefore everybody can not possibly become a good
information officer.
An information officer should possess the following
qualities and qualification:
He should be brief, clean in thinking and possess good
power of observation, a logical and analytical mind and be able to draw
scientific conclusions on the basis of induction.
He should possess a fine sense of judgment. An individual’s
integrity is no less important than his academic and professional qualifications
because in many an instance a person with lesser qualifications has performed
better on a job because of sheer hard work.
He should possess a flair for accuracy of details and also
not despise the matter of details and should be a natural psychologist, so that
he can understand and appreciate the needs of the research scholars. He should
possess gift for searching information clarity in expression and flair for good
writing. Being widely read and an ability to keep up with the literature of
library and information science, and the subject of specialization of his parent
organization.
An information officer must be intellectually honest like
any genuine scholar. He should possess subject knowledge, especially of
technical terms concerning the field of specialization of the parent body.
Therefore, a degree in the subject can prove to be an asset. He should have
knowledge of at least languages besides his mother tongue. The higher the
proficiency in the language better it is. In science and technology, languages
like English, German, French, Russian and Japanese have special importance. One
year’s certificate may be good for cataloguing and classification purposes but
searching for information this would prove to be inadequate.
He should possess skill in library techniques like
indexing, abstracting, and writing of reports. He should be familiar with
organizing of information materials or library materials and possess knowledge
about the sources of information. These techniques can be acquired effectively,
if one has done an M.A degree course in Information Science and Library
Management. Experience on the job is an important qualification. It can help an
information officer to overcome lack of knowledge of the subject.
To acquire both quality and qualification, in
Bangladesh, Dhaka
University Department of Information Science & Library Management has been
providing four year Hon’s degree and one year Master degree since 1997. Rajshahi
University also provides Hon’s and Master degree in this subject.
Simultaneously 12 colleges are providing B.A (pass) degree
under national university in this subject in
Khulna, Chitagong, Barisal, Tangail, Narsindi,
Sirajgong, Jessore, Mymensingh and Kurigram.
Recently three private universities have started giving
circular that they are starting this subject.
For higher education any one can take M Phil and Ph.D.
degree from various foreign universities of the world, as well as from
Dhaka University.
After passing Hon’s degree from any department, it is
possible for any one to take a diploma course to acquire skills in this
profession. Library Training Institute of Library Association in
Bangladesh has been providing
such kind of trainings since 1989. Institute of Library & Information Science
located at Nilkhet High School (3rd floor) in Dhaka University campus also
provides post Hon’s Diploma courses.
This profession is dynamic. After finishing master’s degree
any one can involve in this profession as an information officer in various
organizations all over the world or regional organizations in
Bangladesh. There are many
sources to get a job in Bangladesh.
INSIDER’S TALE
‘All
about being service cultured’
M. Shamsul Islam Khan Head, of the DISC (Dissemination
of Information center in the ICDDR,B in Mohakhali is one of the most experienced
man in the field of information science and as head of the information wing of a
world wide research organization center he has gained invaluable experience in
the field. New Age Careers Desk talks to him on the prospects of this
profession
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M.
Shamsul Islam Khan feels that information officer/librarian is a profession 'all
about being qualified and being service cultured'.
Regarding the future of the profession, he feels that it
will be IT based in the future and mention that recently we are just observing
the effect of ICT. All over the world developed countries professionals in this
sector are trying their bst to serve their users in as many ways as possible. A
user does not need to go the library or information center for his required
information rather he can get his information easily by the invention of
Information Technology. Mr Khan also provides such services from his
organization by e-mail.
The future of this profession in Bangladesh is very good.
He thinks it is the best profession in Bangladesh with a very good prospect. "We
are a developing country and we are trying to develop our education sector. The
more educated people we have, the more researchers and also a growth in readers
or users. So we will get more libraries and information centers. The government
is also sincere about this sector as they have proclaimed 2002 as Book Year and
2003 as Library Year and they also proclaimed 2004 as juvenile literature year",
explained Shamsul Islam Khan. The government is trying to appreciate this
profession and they are considering creating a separatelibrary commission. At
the same time they are working on improving book policies and also discussing
about copyright laws. Government in recognition of the field conferred the
Shadhinota Podok for 2004 to M. Siddique for education. He was the father of
Information Science and Library Management teaching in Bangladesh.
Mr Khan always encourages the choice of a career in this
profession. It is possible to earn anything in the range of 12-50 thousand taka
per month and even 1-1.5 lakh taka per month from foreign organizations. He
adds, “So its up to you how you build up your career in the information age.”
RESOURCE BANK
Information gateways
ABDUR ROKIB
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In Bangladesh,
at present, we have one National Library and one National Archives (which is
waiting to be transferred and housed in a vast multi-storied new building in
Agargaon). There are two subjective special libraries - Bangladesh National
Scientific and Technical Documentation Center and National Health &
Documentation Center. Along with this AIC, SAIC, ICTVTR, SSRC, BIDS, CIRDAP, NBC,
Bangladesh Bank, BTV all have either libraries or extensive archives. 68
Governmental Public Libraries, 1100 non - governmental public libraries, nearly
75 public and private universities, 3344 general colleges, 26 medical colleges,
40 agriculture colleges, 40 law colleges, 20 Polly technical institutes, 44
nursing institutes, 700 special libraries, 52 vocational institutes along with a
host of NGOs and private organizations such as schools, madrassahs have
information disseminating facilities. All newspapers and TV channels/radios
require a reference editor or librarian/information officer. Any new educational
institution needs to accommodate a library on a compulsory basis. So it is very
easy to build up a career as a librarian or information officer.
This sector is changing dynamically and creating a lot of
posts for this profession. Most ministries require an information officer. All
multinational companies need an information officer compilation and archiving.
Banks create scope for such professionals to accumulate and compile information
such as the World Bank. Multilateral organizations like UN Information Center,
DISC of ICDDRB have operations in information gathering.
Internet based information organizations like virtual
libraries are providing a lot of options favouring IS graduates. As a record
manager, archivist, cataloguer, information officer, abstracter, indexing
officer, bibliographer, public information officer, knowledge management officer
the scope is almost boundless.
We live in a time termed as the ‘information age’. For any
country information is power. Information is an asset. So to develop a country
this profession is remarkable and in the context of Bangladesh its prospect as a
career is just simply bright
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