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.
“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.
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