Lis Education in South India in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges

We are living in the Information age. Information is the basic requirement for every human activity and it is important as food, air and water. Information is itself has no value, but its value lies in its communication and use. Librarianship is a people profession; a librarian's job is to connect people with the information they are seeking, whatever format that may take. In the digital age, when information is increasingly becoming available online, there is a propensity to say that libraries and librarians are redundant. This is not the case. The article assesses the status of formal library and information science (LIS) education provided in South India to meet the demand for library services in 21st century. Taking an example of four top universities LIS programs in South India (University of Madras, University of Mysore, Kerala university and Andhra University), this article makes some practical suggestions for LIS instructors to promote changes in LIS syllabus and curriculum. It is obvious from the analysis that the curricula of Andhra university (M.L.I.Sc.) is outstanding with optimum balance on the new roles of LIS professional in the merging service-oriented and user centered library environment while compared with University of Madras. The article recommends to establish a national accreditation body for LIS education to monitor the quality and standard in LIS courses; to develop e-learning packages to facilitate self learning; to outsource the teaching faculties from IT and ICT industries; to include more of the technology oriented practical components as well as scope to develop soft skill and professional ethics in the syllabus; uniformity in LIS curriculum throughout the country.