Information Control and Management in Digital Environment (Essays in Honour of Prof. Krishna Chandra Panda) (Hardbound - 2012)

The World Wide Web, information consortiums and the Internet have paved the way to communicate, acquire and share knowledge at a much faster pace than expected. Availability of a variety of e-resources, OSS, Institutional Repositories, Web OPAC, digital archives, and the mushrooming growth of information consortiums, etc. not only enable remote access, but are also becoming a reality in the academic realm of India. Contextually, 21st century librarians are facing unanswered questions, unsolved problems and new challenges, forcing the libraries and information centers of the nuclear world to adapt new techniques and tools, to go digital, to become paperless, to overcome distance barrier, to upload their resources on the web and to become more flexible and adaptable to emerging changes. Thus, the LIS professionals who are in place to handle such vital tasks have a right to receive better education, effective teaching in LIS schools having sound infrastructural resources and good faculty.

This festschrift in honour of Professor K.C. Panda intends to provide a comprehensive look on diverse issues that shape the future of the 21st century libraries and their effective management. The editors have a strong conviction that the rich experience and intellect of the learned contributors as reflected in their contributions would provide an excellent dividend to the contemporary librarians, information managers and people of library ilk.

C.R. Karisiddappa is a retired professor and visiting professor of the Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnataka University, Dharwad. He also served as a Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences (2005-07) and UGC-emeritus professor (2008-10) including University Librarian as additional charge. He has been associated with 55 universities of the country and served on several committees and boards. Prof. Karisiddappa was a convener of the UGC-Curriculum Development Committee (Library and Information Science) and completed the task of designing the UGC Model LIS Curriculum which is now implemented in majority of the Indian universities. He is a prolific writer and has to his credit over 200 research papers. He has also edited 10 books including 3 translations. Under his guidance, 34 scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degrees and 5 are in progress.

Pitambara Padhi, a retired Professor in the PG Dept. of Library and Information Science, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha is the founder teacher of the department and is responsible for opening BLIS, MLIS and Ph.D. programme in the university. He was also the visiting professor at BHU and visiting fellow at Mizoram Central University and Manipur University. He is credited with drafting Orissa Public Library Bill, 1997 as its Chairman. He also served as the Director of UGC Academic Staff College, Utkal University. He has participated in a number of conferences and seminars at national and international levels and published about 100 papers. He has authored one textbook Reference Sources in Modern Indian Languages. Under his able guidance, 3 research scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degree and 5 more scholars are currently pursuing their doctoral research under his supervision.