Mohammed M. Aman

Development of Library and Information Science Education in South Asia with Emphasis on India: Strengths, Problems and Suggestions

Library and information science (LIS) education was introduced in India in 1903, followed by other South Asian countries. During the past one-hundred years, progress in the field has been rather slow with the exception of the last twenty years of the twentieth century and the reforms introduced since the beginning of the twenty-first century. This article traces the history of LIS education developments in all South Asian countries with emphasis on India. It deals with the contributions of S.R. Ranganathan, who was instrumental in introducing many much-needed reforms in the field in India, the largest country in South Asia. Introduction of technology since the 1990s certainly has changed the field in many countries of the region. The article includes a discussion of strengths and weaknesses of the program, with a few suggestions to improve the field further for the benefit of LIS programs in all South Asian countries. The emphasis is on maintaining quality and high standards, rather than expansion only, in the present century with strong leadership, team work and vision.

Use of arabic in computerized information interchange

There is a growing demand in the Arab world for the use of Arabic script in inputting and accessing information systems and the establishment of Arab databases. In all Arab countries, Arabic is the working language In management, business, accounting, education, arts, and literature and to a lesser extent in science, medicine, and engineering. Arab member countries in the International Information System for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (AGRIS), whose carrler language is English, face some difficulties in preparing documents in the Arabic language for AGRIS input. The method of script conversion through transliteration, which is used by AGRIS and the Library of Congress is neither helpful or acceptable to Arab librarians and Information specialists. These and similar complaints have prompted information and computer specialists to address the issues of Arabization of computer terminals and Input/output procedures. This article addresses the problem of Arabic computerized Information exchange and highlights the basic differences between treatment of Arabic and English. It also discusses the various Arab attempts to formulate standards for coding Arabic letters and vowels points and their sorting sequence. Another area that this article explores is the high degree of syntactical flexibility which characterizes the Arabic language and complicates data retrieval, computer aided translation, and human machine interface. A unified standard for the Arab/Latin Computer Code known as CODAR‐UFD based on the ASCII Code was adopted in 1982. This article discusses this new code and describes some of the existing terminals that use other codes.

Document delivery and interlibrary lending in the Arab countries

Examines efforts currently underway in Arab libraries to establish a formalized document delivery system across the regions, taking advantage of new technology and modern methods of information transmission. Argues that more data on regional and national ILL and document delivery patterns are needed, and the possibility of establishing national and regional clearing houses, as well as exploring verification and location tools. Concludes that progress is being made, albeit somewhat slowly, but there are no easy answers to some of the questions raised.

International library education

We define what social pluralism implies from the point of view of library development and discuss the implications of these social features for library education