Abstract
The purpose of the chapter is to investigate the gender differences of ICT skills of LIS professionals working in the Universities of Tamil Nadu. The study covered 47 universities including 19 state universities, 2 central universities, and 26 deemed universities. In the present study, the data was collected from the respondents through a structured questionnaire using survey method and adopted simple random sampling. The questionnaire contains attitudes of communication skills, use of ICT and related gadgets, level of awareness/skill in the computer applications/services, attitude towards ICT implications, problems of implications of ICT, and areas of ICT skills where training is required among male and female respondents. Totally, 441 respondents are selected from these 47 universities including 325 male and 116 female respondents. The study used SPSS Ver. 23 was used for performing necessary statistical analysis means, s Ranks, Independent ‘T' Test, and Chi-Square Analysis the collected data to draw necessary inferences. It is brought to light that 100% of male and female respondents agree that they would like to know more about ICT. Around 90% of male and female respondents agree that ICT helps them to present research articles in the seminars/workshops/conferences and find it easy to select appropriate ICT resources related to work environment. About 85-90% of both female and male respondents agree that ICT motivates the library staff to learn effectively, it saves the time of the library staff in many ways, it provides high level security for library resources, and it facilitates easy information exchanges. Further, the chapter also provided a platform to LIS professionals to find out the area of focus to learn and update their ICT skills in digital environment and electronic resources by LIS professionals for efficient delivery of library services for the betterment of the library as a whole.
TopReview Of Literature
Angeline (2019) conducted the engineering LIS professionals today needs to acquire knowledge and skills in ICT as the services of more and more libraries are now cantering around information technology, especially in educational institutions. The study found that the investigate the Internet and Computer Communication Network skills of library professionals. Questionnaire was used to collect data for this research. 190 library professionals participated in the study. Results show an improved computer literacy level for Library Professionals in the study. Jeyshankar, Nachiappan and Lavanya (2018) were studied the post graduate students of Alagappa University, applied their Information Retrieval skills in accessing electronic resources. The samples are collected from the 252 of four faculties’ postgraduate students of Alagappa University. With the help of filled questionnaire, the collected data was further analysed by using simple percentage, standard deviations and Chi-Square test. This study mainly focused on information retrieving skill among graduate students of Alagappa University. Female respondents are more compare than male students. It aspires to measure the postgraduate graduates’ use and access of searching the information using web tools, techniques and resources. This study finds that female respondents are high information retrieval skills compared to male. This study also emphasis most of the respondents Searching the electronic catalogue (OPAC) through theauthor, title and shelf searches.” has highest mean score as far as both male and female respondents 4.54 (S.D. 0.789) and male respondents 4.35 (0.957) are concerned.
Thanuskodi (2015) examined ICT in library activities and services providing new dimensions for teaching, learning and research in higher educational institutions. With the help of ICT tools, it is possible to store, retrieve, disseminate and organize information by creating websites and databases. Information is now published both electronically and by print making it accessible to users according to their demands. The study shows that that out of the total 172 respondents, 53.48 per cent of them belong to the age group of 30-40 years and 20.93per cent of them come under the age group of below 30 years. In this study, 22.58 per cent of the respondents have above 4 hours of access to internet. Majority of the respondents (37.03%) in the age group 40-50 years have above 4 hours of access to internet. The study reveals that librarian take the first position in their overall expertise in system analysis and design, assistant librarian the second, deputy librarian the third, technical staff the fourth and ministerial staff the last.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ICT Skills: It is the ability to use tools of information and communication technology to define one’s information problem clearly, access information efficiently, evaluate the reliability, authority and bias of the sources, organize and synthesize one’s information with the best ICT tools available in order to use it effectively and responsibly and communicate one’s new ideas effectively and ethically with the appropriate ICT tools available.
Universities: The term comprises of State Government aided Universities, Central Government funded universities or organizations and private universities of Tamil Nadu. The teachers in the LIS Schools and Library professionals in these universities are covered in the study.
Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bound by the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Palakkad on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar, and the Palk Strait in the south east, and by the Indian Ocean in the south. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state in India by area and seventh most populous state.