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Library and Informaton Science Profession
Profession
Professional
Professionalism
Librarianship as a profession  

                                                                                                                                                                       

     Library and Information Science Profession     


 Profession                                                                                            

 A profession requires a degree or completed studies at a university or other institution of higher education. It involves extensive training and special knowledge. 

 Examples of professions include : - Accountant, Architect, Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Teacher, you need a degree to work in these areas. 

 Occupation, practice or vocation requiring mastery of a complex set of knowledge and skills through formal education and/or practical experience. Every organized profession (accounting, law, medicine, etc) is governed by its respective professional body. 

 • A paid occupation. 

 • A profession as a vocation requiring advanced education, training and skills. 

 • A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards. 


 Professional                                                                                         

 • Relating to or belonging to a profession. 

 • A person engaged or qualified in a profession. Examples of professional in a sentence 

 • Do you have any professional experience? 

 • You should seek professional advice. 

 • I was impressed by the calm and professional way she handled the crisis. 

 • The presentation was very professional. 


 Professionalism                                                                                    

 • Professionalism... in a word - it's an attitude. 

 • The way in which an individual conducts oneself in certain situations... The way you speak The way you dress The way you are organized etc. 

 • It is setting standards and complying with them. 


 Library and Information Science as a Profession                             

 Librarianship is a distinct and distinguished profession in modern society. It is engaged in public service and plays an important role in national development, Librarianship today is termed as "Library and Information Profession" since the concept of librarianship has changed in view of the changing information needs of the society. 

 However, S. R. Ranganathan contributed to the development of library profession in india by developing standard terminology, theoretical priciples, LIS education- from certificate to research level, and introducing specialisation and standardized practices. Library profession in Indian owns a lot to his contributions. To quote Ranganathan "Librarianship is noble Profession. A librarian derives his joy by seeing the dawn of joy in the face of the readers who were helped in their search for the right information at the right time". 



 LIS Profession                                                                           LIS Professional 

 Custodian.                                                                              Library Administrator. 

 Librarian.                                                                               Classifier 

 Documentation officer.                                                          Cataloguer 

 Information officer/Scientist.                                                Classificationist 

 Digital librarian.                                                                    Indexer 

                                                                                                Reference librarian 

                                                                                                LIS Teacher 

                                                                                               Thesaurus Designer 

                                                                                               Bibliographer 

                                                                                               Librametrician 

                                                                                               Bibliometrician 

                                                                                              Content Developer 


 Librarianship as a profession                                                             

with the industrial revolution and universalisation of education, knowledge production had increased. The academic institutions considered libraries as centres of knowledge activity. Further the establishment of British Museum (London), Bibliotheca Nationale (Paris) and the Library of Congress (washington D. C.) inspired for the development of public libraries and other types of libraries. The library legislation in UK that enacted public library Act also boosted the situation consequent to the increase in number of libraries and the librarians, associations were developed in USA (American Library Association) and UK (Library Association), Library Science courses were offered by universities as graduate or post graduate programmes. Library science got its own knowledge base when codes like cutter's "Rules for a Dictionary catalogue" and "Dewey Decimal classification" were developed to achieve standardisation in the technical aspects of librarianship. Thus librarianship emerged as a profession from vocation. 

 Professional Ethics Professional ethics are a code of conduct that govern how members of a profession deal with each other and with third parties. 

 Professional ethics encompass the personal and corporate standards of behavior expected by professionals. The word professionalism originally applied to vows of a riligious order.















                                                                     Notes                                                                









                                                                     Question                                                           

1. Assertion (A): LIS profession is not considered at par with medical and legal professions.
Reason (R): There is no constitutional body for LIS profession like Medical Council of India (MCI) and Bar Council of India (BCI). 
Codes : 
A. Both (A) and (R) are true 
B. Both (A) and (R) are false 
C. (A) is true but (R) is false 
D. (A) is false but (R) is true 
Ans: 

2. Whether librarianship is a profession? 
A. Yes, as the librarian serves different types of the users, and gets salary 
B. No, as the librarian is not qualified, and gets salary 
C. Yes, as the librarian is the senior most member, and gets salary 
D. Yes, as the librarian is the incharge of the library, and gets salary
Ans: 

3. What is the aim of a professional organisation ? 
A  Development of professional techniques                        B. Functions like the labour organisation 
C. Functions for its members for their development           D. Functions as employment exchange
Ans: 

4.  What is the meaning of profession? 
A. Operations executed with the help of others                                B. Operations executed oneself 
C. Occupational operations executed with the help of others           D. None of the above
Ans: 

5. Assertion (A): Library association are learned societies. 
Reason (R): Their aim is to provide a common forum for library professionals for exchange of information, ideas, experiences and expertise, work for the betterment of salaries, grades, service conditions, status etc. of library professionals. 
Codes: 
A. (A) is true, but (R) is false 
B. (A) is false, but (R) is true 
C. Both (A) and (R) are true 
D. Both (A) and (R) are false
Ans: 

6. According to UGC Library Committee, the librarians are grouped under which category of library staff? 
A. Professional                B. Semi-Professional 
C. Administrative            D. Academic
Ans: 

7. Assertion (A): Para-professional staff support the professional staff in Library routines. 
Reason (R): Para-professional staff acquire skill by experience. 
Codes : 
A. (A) is false, but (R) is true 
B. (A) is true, but (R) is false 
C. Both (A) and (R) are false 
D. Both (A) and (R) are true
Ans: 

8. The fundamental equation of Information Science has been put forward by 
A. Michael Buckland                  B. Robert Brooks 
C. Marc Porat                             D. Wersig Gernot
Ans: 

9. Assertion (A): Training programme for library and information professionals can be developed on the lines of proportional education and continuing education. 
Reason (R ) : Continuing education programme must take care of information demands of the clientele of the parent organisation from time to time. 
Codes : 
A. Both (A) and (R) are True, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A) 
B. Both (A) and (R) are False 
C (A) is False and (R) is True 
D. (A) is True and (R) is False
Ans: 

10.