Web 2.0 in LIS Curriculum :A Preliminary Study

Abstract

LIS schools today face a greater challenge in updating their curriculum to accommodate the new technological innovations, necessitated by the market demands. Web 2.0 applications have not only transformed the nature of scholarly communication but is constantly reshaping the ways in which users search, find, access and utilize the information with the help of tools facilitated by open source software and user friendly web programming languages including AJAX. This preliminary survey shows how well the latest technologies are getting embedded into daily library services for the benefit of users and the feasibility of their coverage in LIS curriculum, with reference to Mumbai libraries. Practicing librarians are struggling everyday to keep themselves up-to-date with new Web 2.0 resources and utilities, to implement the same in their personal and professional work domains and hence expect the fresh graduates to be skilled with requisite technical competency to meet the challenges of the growing market demands. As for the LIS schools, bridging the gap between traditional librarianship and modern technologies will forever be a challenging issue.