Abstract

Author(s): T. Usha Kirthi

The UGC-Academic Staff Colleges (ASCs) have been actively conducting Orientation Programmes (First Level Programme) and Refresher Courses (Second level programme) for the in-service academic staff. The Orientation Programmes are of general in nature and Refresher Courses are subject specific and advance training programmes in specific fields. There are several training programmes for library professionals in India. Education for library science started as far back as first decade of twentieth century. UGC is endeavoring to a great extent to train academic staff. It also collects feedback from the participants course-wise. A consolidated study based on feedback would present a comprehensive picture of role of ASC Programmes in developing the skills and knowledge of academic staff. When it comes to the library science courses they need to meet the training needs of both teaching and library professionals. As the result of this study, in-service training helps the professionals to a great extent in broadening their approach. Only 45.0% of the participants opined that the training extends possibilities of implementation of the knowledge they gained from the training programmes to a great extent and 55% of them opined that it is to some extent and none opined that it is not at all possible. The quality of the contents of the in-service training, by and large, is good as only a higher percentage (59%) of the participants only stated that the quality is “very good” and 41% stated that it is “good”. Majority of the participants did not state give high rating for all the aspects, however, by and large the resource persons are experts in their field with required capabilities.