SCERT
LIBRARY
The
Library, formerly known as the State Educational
Library and attached to the State Council of
Educational Research and Training (SCERT),
plays a pivotal role in academic enrichment
and specializes in books on education and allied
subjects.
The
available records show that the State Educational
Library had had so many avatars before, all
thanks to the changes the parent organisation
itself underwent. The library’s oldest book
dates back to 1890s and one has to presume that
the collection had been built up over a period
of 70-80 years.
The Library has a collection of more than 38,000
books including some 1500 reference books. Mainly
intended as a support system for the academics
engaged in textbook preparation and educational
research the library has books in all subjects
with special thrust on education and its allied
subjects. It has a full-time Librarian Grade
I, 4 temporary professional assistants and 5
non-professionals to look after the library
and other services, including photocopying,
sales and cleaning.
Modernisation
The
library was shifted from the Ground Floor to
the Science Museum Hall on the III Floor in
2000. It was further extended in 2003/4 and
now occupies one wing of the floor. The fully
carpeted library has a circulation counter,
a spacious reading-cum-lecture hall, two separate
halls for English and Malayalam sections and
a stack room. At any given time, 60 users can
sit and use the library and adequate lighting
and ventilation is also provided. It provides
a quiet and dignified ambience for those who
are in search of a calm place to sit and browse.
Computerisation
/ Networked Environment
The
library’s efforts at modernisation started in
2000 and its catalogue is fully computerised
now. The library uses Alice for Windows (Australian
library software) and has Online Public Access
Catalogue (OPAC) facility. There are 5 computers,
all of which are networked. Digitisation of
selected materials is being planned now.
Internet
There
is 24-hour net search facility at the library,
which is available free of cost to the members.
It is very useful at the time of textbook preparation
and even for research purposes.
Collection
The
collection reflects the evolution of educational
methods, management and reforms over the years
with special reference to India and dates as
back as to 1890. According to expert estimate,
the very rare, out-of-print books in Sanskrit,
English and Malayalam in the collection are
best preserved in archives for future use. The
library has books in English, Malayalam, Hindi,
Urdu, Arabic, Kannada and Tamil.
The
library holdings at a glance:
Books
44,000
Journals
50
CDs
230
Theses
800
(M
Ed/M Phil/PhD)
Reports
635
Organisation
of the Collection
90%
of the collection is classified and catalogued.
The library follows Dewey Decimal Classification
Scheme and the AACR 2 format for catalogue.
The technical processing of the books that started
in 1999 was completed by 2001. The catalogue
cards are arranged in two sequences – by their
numbers and by author/title – in the catalogue
cabinet and the data is available online as
well. The library has computerised catalogue
and offers OPAC facility now. It is an ongoing
work and requires technical expertise.
Collection
Development
Every
year nearly Rs. 4 to 5 lakhs are spent on purchase
of books and about one and a half lakhs on journals.
The books are brought on approval basis and
the selection is made by the Book Selection
Committee. This year, an amount of 5 lakhs has
been earmarked for books and multimedia and
the process of selection has already begun.
Every
Monday 15 new books are put out on display and
the users can borrow them the following week.
The new arrivals thus get the attention of the
public and reservation facility is also available.
The list is available online at http://www.scert.kerala.gov.in/newarrivals.htm
Journals
The
library subscribes to about 50 journals out
of which there are about 24 foreign journals.
The list is given at the end of this report.
Membership
The
library membership, which was once restricted
to the academic and non-academic staff of SCERT,
is now open to the public and at present it
has about 200 members, including 5 institutional
members. There are 6 categories of membership:
A
ACADEMIC STAFF (SCERT) 8 Books
B
MINISTERIAL STAFF (SCERT) 3 Books
Subscription-
Annual
C TEACHERS
3 Books
150.00
D
EMPLOYEES 2 Books
150.00
E
RFs & PG STUDENTS 2 Books
100.00
I
INSTITUTION 10 Books
1000.00
Services
Lending;
reference; Internet Search; ERIC Search; Photocopy;
Contents Page; Pressclips
Sale of Handbooks
Since
August 2002, the sale all the teacher’s handbooks
and other publications (Standard I to XII) has
been entrusted to the library.
Other
Work
The
Library works in an advisory capacity in matters
relating to school libraries in the state. SCERT
Library had an active role in the Expert Committee
for School Libraries set up by the Government
and also in the centralised book selection process
for scools in the state. In April 2002, a 4-day
training programme for DIET and school librarians
was held at SCERT and could motivate the participants
to organise such training programmes for other
school librarians in their locality. The Librarian,
SCERT, also undertakes training for principals
and school librarians in library organization
and management. SCERT Library acts as a consultancy
in these matters.
