About the ReviewersSocial Science Information in India: Efforts Towards Bibliographical Control. By S.D. Vyas. New Delhi: Concept Publishing House, 1992. 276 p. ISBN 8–170–22445–4. (Concepts in Communication Informatics and Librarianship, 41) Rs. 300.
With its unique civilisation, history, and culture, India provides an attractive work arena to social scientists all over the world. As a typical developing country full of paradoxes and amazing contrasts, India has won the attention of anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and other social scientists. The government has of late realised the importance of planned and organized research to the economic and social development of the country. Hence social science research in India is comparatively recent.
The book under review studies the status and problems of catering to the information needs of social science scholars in India. Besides three appendices and a bibliography, the whole book has been divided into eight chapters including the introduction and conclusion. The first chapter mainly defines bibliographical control and lists its tools. The second chapter provides a historical perspective on the development of the various social sciences in India in the 20th century. Contrasting trends of unification and diversification are noted in the social studies. Research trends were studied using indicators such as doctoral dissertations, growth of journals, and professional associations. At present in India about 1,000 doctoral dissertations are being awarded annually in the social sciences. Before India’s independence in 1947, there were only 106 social science journals, but now the number touches 3,000. Social science research was put on an even keel with the establishment of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 1969, modeled on the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1942.
The third chapter makes a survey of the bibliographical activities of 61 social science institutions in India. It finds that only 6.3 percent of the institutions have more than 300,000 books; 3.3 percent subscribe to more than 2,000 current journals; and, only 57 percent provide bibliographical services. Most regrettably, only 50 percent of the institutions are aware of the services provided by the National Social Science Documentation Centre (NASSDOC, established in 1970) of the ICSSR.
The fourth chapter lists the national–level documentation activities in the social sciences. In fact it is a catalogue of the information services and reference tools provided by the NASSDOC/ICSSR, and some individual social institutions. There are national–level bibliographies, union catalogues, and documentation lists described in general and by subject (pp. 135–155). Thereafter, the focus shifts to documents, such as trade bibliographies, accession lists, directories, and government publications. The descriptions of the bibliographic services are non–evaluative, but it is clear that most of them are less than comprehensive, not punctual, and short lived. The author emphasises the need for coordination of efforts to eliminate duplication and to fill the gaps in such services.
Chapter 5, ”Major bibliographical tools,“ makes an in–depth and critical study of major reference works, such as the Guide to Indian Periodical Literature (1964–), Index India (Rajasthan University Library, 1967–), Indian National Bibliography (1959–), Documentation on Asia (Indian Council of World Affairs, 1960–), and Indian Press Index (Delhi Library Association, 1968–). The common problems being faced by these and other such services are paucity of funds, lack of skilled and motivated workforce, user problems with using information technology, lack of marketability to sell their products and services, and above all lack of coordination. Of these only the Guide to Indian Periodical Literature has as many as 500 subscribers.
The sixth chapter, “Information needs and expectations of social science scholars and researchers,” reports on a questionnaire survey of a sample of 22 Indian institutions. Of 500 questionnaires mailed, 148 were returned by 16 institutions. A useful feature of this chapter is a ranked list of information tools (p. 215) and libraries (pp. 216–217). Lastly, the respondents’ suggestions for improvement of libraries and information services have been listed. The very first suggestion is startling and revealing: “Nowadays libraries are not being managed well. The staff of the libraries are irresponsible. They do not help the visitors. They have to have service motto.”
The seventh chapter formulates a model based on the existing infrastructure of the National Information System for Social Sciences (NISS) on the model of India’s National Information System in Science and Technology (NISSAT, 1977). At the end there is a useful bibliography of about 250 references — books, journal articles, and dissertations — and a list of 160 social science institutions.
The book suffers from inadequate and dated data. India is a vast country with poor communication services. Most of the professionals are unaware of their obligations to help researchers. Hence no survey can present a true and clear picture. Nevertheless, this is the only book which portrays the social science information situation in India on a large canvas. Hence, it is useful for students and social science librarians, to whom it may provide a mirror to see a situation characteristically summed up in his foreword by S.P. Agarwal (former director of NASSDOC) as “Situation normal, all fouled up.”
M.P. Satija has been a Lecturer since 1984 in the Department of Library and Information Science, Guru Nanak Deve University, Amritsar, India. For 12 years before going into teaching, he was a librarian in various professional capacities. He is a prolific author, with 14 books; plus 50 articles and 60 book reviews in European, Indian, and American journals. Dr. Satija has presented papers at 15 international conferences. His fields of interest include cataloging and classification, bibliography, and management.
R.S. Sandhu teaches library and information science at Guru Nanak Deve University, Amritsar, India.
© 1993 M.P. Satija and R.S. Sandhu.
Citation
Satija, M.P., and R.S. Sandhu, “Review of Social Science Information in India: Efforts towards Bibliographical Control, by S.D. Vyas,” Third World Libraries, Volume 4, Number 1 (Fall 1993).