The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Gurukula' system of education is giving way to `shishyakula'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 27, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Gurukula' system of education is giving way to `shishyakula'

Staff Reporter

"Digital libraries taking education to the doorsteps of students" With learning material available online, students study from midnight to early morning and raise questions about the relevance of the conventional hours of teaching

CHENNAI: Nowadays, professors at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras seldom sit back after marking assignments to students. An important part of their job begins then: run a Google search and be prepared to evaluate assignments for which the students had accessed the Internet.

This is not the only challenge facing the faculty, in the backdrop of the information revolution. They also find it difficult to hold the attention of students. With learning material available in digital format and online, many students study from midnight to early morning and, in the process, raise questions about the relevance of the conventional hours of teaching.

These trends symbolise a sea change from the time when getting information was the most difficult thing for the students. IIT-M Director M.S. Ananth on Monday described it as a shift from the "gurukula" to "shisyakula" system of education.

Information technology, particularly digital libraries, was taking education to the doorsteps of students, he said, inaugurating the 25th all-India conference of the Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC) here on Monday.

Noting that academics were worried about the role of educational institutions in the age of knowledge revolution, he said besides providing simultaneous access to information to many persons, digital libraries posed a major challenge — how to maintain the respect of the Gurus.

The IIT-M had an enviable library, besides the digital version, with an annual budget of Rs.5 crore. He hoped that the four-day conference would find newer ways to use conventional libraries. "The conference should come up with ideas on how to keep them buzzing with students."

The concluding part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Association, the conference will deliberate on various challenges before librarians. The theme, "LIS profession in India-vision for 2010," has been split into six sub-themes, including one on digital library resource management.

Leaders of the Association, including S. Mandal, Director, National Library in Kolkata, Dipak Kumar Nag, general secretary, IASLIC, Harish Chandra, organising secretary, and S. Narayanan, Dean (academic research), IIT-M, highlighted the role of librarians in the development of society.

Conference president S. Seetharama said: "If we librarians are to survive in the new information economy, we must accept the challenge and respond proactively."

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