SHILLONG: Promotion of Library Automation and Networking in North-Eastern Region (PLANNER) was organised on the theme, ‘Disruptive innovations for libraries: Adopt, adapt and evolve”, at Multi-Use Convention Hall, NEHU, on Wednesday.
PLANNER 2016 is spearheaded by Inflibnet with an aim to improve academic libraries in the North-Eastern region.
Delivering the inaugural address of the three day programme, R.G. Lyngdoh, Vice Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU), said “The importance of libraries cannot be underestimated and with education undergoing a change, libraries will have to adapt and be able to feed on the needs of the scholars.”
Voicing a concern that traditional knowledge is not properly documented in the North East, he said, “There is so much traditional knowledge here which needs to be documented to give it a rightful place in the information data found across the country. We see information being misused and abused to benefit a few at the expense of locals.”
In this connection, he observed that whatever information is entered in the knowledge world should be properly copyrighted and patented to protect the rights of the scholars as according to him, some people will misuse the knowledge for personal gain.
Observing that the youth are more inclined towards computer and mobile generated information as they rarely visit the library, he said that libraries have to be made accessible to them at the comfort of their homes.
The first PLANNER was held in North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya in 2003.
