User:Raminanikesh

I am Ramina Nikesh

I work for Cochin Refineries School, Ambalamugal, Ernakulum.as Librarian

The Role of a Librarian
A librarian is responsible for locating, acquiring, disseminating and tracking information resources which include database searching, Interlibrary loans, monitoring newsgroups, or maintenance of a library and information system.Librarians or of late the Information center managers look more to online and other electronic sources to meet the information needs of students and teachers.His role is to provide the most pertinent information to patrons in their most relevant time. Access to information, whether by CD-ROM, Internet, online database, video, telefacsimile, microform or traditional print, is overtaking ownership of information as an evaluation benchmark.

Library in an academic institution
An important aspect of the Library's educational mission is to promote and develop information literacy in its users. Information literacy, in general, is the ability to identify, locate, use and interpret information effectively.

The Library can play an important role in educating students on the fair use of information. We can teach students research skills that emphasize the importance of staying organized, keeping record of where and how you located resources, and how to quote these resources fairly and accurately in their projects and papers.

The School Librarian's Role in this Electronic Age
We live in the Information Era. A world renowned Information Scientist Dr. F.W.Lancaster wrote as long back as in the late 1960's in one of his research articles on Informatics, that " there is going to exist a paperless information society in the next 50 years to come and then Information will be on your fingertips". This was quite an exaggerated bit of statement at that point of time. But,of late we are indeed witnnessing such a societal transformation.In this age of information, the position of a school librarian is less of a warehouse manager and more of an information specialist. Farmer (1995) characterizes the position as the educational equivalent to business' CIO - chief information officer.

As schools change from passive learning environments into active ones, the role of the librarian has to adjust as well. School restructuring requires that the librarian venture from the library to collaborate with teachers and administrators. New, more student-centered teaching methods demand the support of information resources and training in their use. All these tasks involve managerial expertise equivalent to that required of corporate information center managers. Library technology reaches beyond the library walls via computer networks to put information resources into the hands of end users. With networks linking all areas of the modern schools, the best place to access information may no longer be within the walls of the traditional library.

The addition of technology into the learning environment enhances information retrieval. The librarian acts as a resource person in the students quest for supporting information

Conclusion
The school librarian in the electronic age expands the services available from the library to include computer-based data and sophisticated information-seeking strategies. Working in concert with classroom teachers and curriculum experts, librarians form a comprehensive team designed to enhance student academic achievement and critical thinking skills necessary for success in lifelong endeavors.