LIBRARY AS A LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRES IN MODERN ERA.

1. S. Rinaldi Amalraj
Asst. Prof, Dept of English,
Mahendra Arts and Science College,
Kalippatti, Namakkal.

The present education scenario is mainly motivated by technology which can expand the
learning possibilities in a multiple way. Even though some novelty is needed for enhanced
learning. The reason behind this is the learning community are tracking down a library and
equipping oneself to meet the challenges in this competitive world. The library is a source which
makes the senses to work in a progressive way by keen study and fresh learning in all subjects.
So library is a Learning Resource Center (LRC). The Learning Resource Center’s (LRC) mission
is to facilitate and enhance learning by providing essential resources and services, access to
innovative technology, instruction in library usage and access to adequate facilities and
personnel. The library seeks to promote research activities that meet the informational,
educational, societal and cultural interests of the faculties, student and researchers. This paper
focuses on the exploration of multiple ways in the utilization of the library as a learning resource
centre in this modern era.

Learning Resource Centre

The Learning Resource Center’s (LRC) mission is to facilitate and enhance learning by
providing essential resources and services, access to innovative technology, instruction in library
usage and access to adequate facilities and personnel. The library seeks to promote research
activities that meet the informational, educational, and cultural interests of the faculty, students,
and staff.
In recognizing the critical importance of support services and resources to the success of
the education programs offered by the College, the Learning Resource Centers are designed,
stuffed, and evaluated efficiently to meet the needs and various ability levels of diverse student
population.

To accomplish this mission, the Learning Resource Centers provide:

  Well-organized, developed, relevant collections of primary and secondary materials
 Organized and accessible collections of audiovisual materials and online databases
 Well-equipped facilities of adequate size to encourage maximum utilization
 Highly competent and professional staff to assist users and carry out the
responsibilities of acquisition, organization, and disbursement of resources
 Adequate hours of operation to ensure accessibility to users
 Professional instruction in the utilization of all services and resources
 Coordination of the administration, faculty, staff, and students concerning library
resources and services on each campus.

The library provides monographs (print and electronic), information literacy instruction,
audiovisuals, on-line databases, computers, copier services, and equipment to support the
education programs for students, faculty, and staff.

Library is one of those resources which are essential to support and strengthen the
educational quality. Over the centuries, libraries are the source of keeping and distributing the
information through books, journals, maps and other resources that are used by students in their
learning process.

A library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it
is housed. Ogbebor (2011) defined library as an organized collection of published and
unpublished books and audiovisual materials with the aid of services of staff who are able to
provide and interpret such material as required, to meet the informative research, educational and
recreational needs of its users. In the same context Adeoye and Popoola (2011) added that library
information resources can be in both printed and electronic formats including textbooks,
journals, indexes, abstracts, newspapers, magazines, reports, CD-ROM databases, internet,
email, video tapes/cassettes, diskettes, computers and microforms. Ezeala and Yusuff (2011)
added the electronic resources as: functional computers, photocopying machines, CD-ROM,
microforms, microform readers, fax machines, internet, local area network, radio messages,
telephone, lighting and computer workstations for library users which has to be measured
periodically by librarians to ensure that the resources and services of their libraries as a way of
ensuring that they are meeting the set objectives of the library. Based on the above information,
Library resources can be divided into two categories i.e., traditional printed material or resources
and non-printed or electronic resources (Lance, Rodney & Pennell, 2005).

Resource management time

Resource management time is crucial for the teacher Iibrarian to manage,facilitate and
develop the library’s resources.Resource management includes the following activities:
 Locating, selecting and ordering resources to support teaching and learning
 Employment of strategies to maximize access to print and electronic resources
 Original cataloguing (creating personalised, high-quality metadata)
 Collection analysis and weeding to ensure the library collection to meet the needs of the
research community
 Development and administration of resource budgets and reporting administration
 Development, documentation and review of library resource centrepolicies to reflect the
system priorities
 Day-to-day administration of the collection (when no library technician,assistant, or
volunteer support is available). This includes loans, returns,losses, shelving, SCIS
cataloguing, book covering, resource repairs

OPAC
An online public access catalog (often abbreviated as OPAC or simply library catalog) is
an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries. Users search a library
catalog principally to locate books and other material available at a library. In simple language it
is an electronic version of the card catalogue. OPAC is the gateway to library's collection.

There are number of systems that share much in common with library catalogs, but have
traditionally been distinguished from them. Libraries utilize these systems to search for items not
traditionally covered by a library catalog. These include bibliographic databases—such as
Medline, ERIC, PsycINFO, and many others—which index journal articles and other research
data. There are also a number of applications aimed at managing documents, photographs, and
other digitized or born-digital items such as Digital Commons and DSpace. Particularly in
academic libraries, these systems (often known as digital library systems or institutional
repository systems) assist with efforts to preserve documents created by faculty and students.

LIBRARY REFFERENCE SECTION

The reference desk or information desk of a library is a public service counter where
professional librarians provide library users with direction to library materials, advice on library
collections and services, and expertise on multiple kinds of information from multiple sources.

Library users can consult the staff at the reference desk for help in finding information. Using a
structured reference interview, the librarian works with the library user to clarify their needs and
determine what information sources will fill them.[1][2] To borrow a medical analogy, reference
librarians diagnose and treat information deficiencies.

The ultimate help provided may consist of reading material in the form of a book or journal
article, instruction in the use of specific searchable information resources such as the library's
online catalog or subscription bibliographic/fulltext databases, or simply factual information
drawn from the library's print or online reference collection. Information is also provided to
patrons through electronic resources.[2] Typically, a reference desk can be consulted either in
person, by telephone, through email or online chat, although a library user may be asked to come
to the library in person for help with more involved research questions. A staffed and
knowledgeable reference desk is an essential part of a library.

The services that are provided at a reference desk may vary depending on the type of library, its
purpose, its resources, and its staff.

SERVICES

Services that are often available at a library reference desk include:

 A sign up sheet for reserving computers with Internet access, or word processing
software.
  The ability to place the book 'on hold', which prevents the person who has borrowed it
from renewing it. The person who placed the 'hold' is notified when the book has been
returned. (Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.)
 The ability to request interlibrary loan of books and other material from other branch
libraries in the same library system, or from a cooperating library anywhere in the world.
(Some libraries provide this service at the circulation desk.)
 The opportunity to recommend that the library purchase something for its collection that
it doesn't have, which may be needed or of interest to other library users.

The librarian who staffs the reference desk can usually do the following by virtue of their
professional training and experience:

 The librarian can look up a brief, factual answer to a specific question.

 The librarian can use the catalogue to find out whether the library owns an item with a
particular title or author, or that contains a short story, chapter, song, or poem with a
particular title, or to compile a list of books by a particular author or on a particular
subject.
 The librarian can briefly teach the user how to use the catalogue and how to use its
advanced features, or recommend the proper subject words or terms that are used in the
catalogue for the topic the user has in mind.
 The librarian can often take the library user directly to the shelves with books on a certain
topic without using the catalogue.
 The librarian is familiar with the contents of hundreds of reference books, and can
recommend books that might contain the answer to a particular question.
 The librarian can teach the library user to use online databases such as magazine and
newspaper articles, and recommend words and search strategies for the topic the user has
in mind.
 The librarian can recommend reliable web sites, give advice on searching the Internet for
information, and evaluate the reliability of the information on web sites.
 If the library doesn't have information on a given topic, or if the library user wants more
information, the librarian can refer the library user to another library or to an organization
that can be contacted by phone or mail.
  Offer aid with devices such as tablets and e-readers. This can range from general
assistance with questions on how to navigate e-reader and tablet devices to instructing
classes. Questions can vary from what devices are compatible with the library's e-book
platform, how to check out books, and how to read electronic books.

ELECTRONIC REFERENCE SERVICES

With the development of the Web, digital reference services are beginning to take over
some of the roles of the traditional reference desk in a library. There is disagreement over
whether or not this development is desirable or inevitable.

AV ROOM
Audio and Video room is called AV room, this is used for the beneficiary reference for
the students and faculties. In this room the faculty members are able to understand the nook and
corners of concepts, theories and perception. This will be useful for the students to understand
the perfect picture of the lesson they are studying. The present education mainly focuses on the
practicality of things, so as to enhance the students for the purpose of world theorems. This room
is more preferable by students and faculties for the extensive thinking and learning process.

Conclusion
In this present situation all the people are moving towards e-learning but whereas they are
relaxing the habit of book reading. Even this will be modified by the modern libraries because
they are providing both text and online book for learning. The above mentioned ideas are all
useful for the institution and already in use at some colleges. So an institution should express this
kind of formatic library in their campus which will facilitate and enhance learning by providing
essential resources and services, access to innovative technology, instruction in library usage and
access to adequate facilities and personnel. There are so many resources available in libraries,
but how they have been used makes a great difference in the management system.