3 Review(s)

Students of history in general and the library world in particular have recognised a continuous need to study Indian librarianship and library science. The few attempts to satisfy this need have limited coverage; there remains no single source that comprehensively covers the topics comprehensive, that is, in the sense that it treats all developments of theory and practice throughout the ages. The present work spans the historical periods from ancient through medieval and modern India, thus covering the development in the field comprehensively. This brief, but complete history, is based on primary and secondary sources available in English and other languages. Although this work will fill a great void in the world history of librarianship and library science, it too is only a beginning. As an outline, it serves as a kind of synthesis and bibliographic essay that ties together the long story of libraries in India and points the reader to the existing literature. Students of library science in South Asia and elsewhere will benefit the most from this effort. However, as a contribution to the study of international and comparative librarianship, the work should initiate and facilitate in-depth research in areas which are identified as understudied and in areas which are still unexplored. About the Author Dr. Mohamed Taher (b. 1955), is presently an information scientist and consultant in the Middle East. During all theses years Dr. Taher has conducted extensive surveys of libraries in USA, UK, India, Middle East, and continues search for user friendly libraries, a rare commodity in the Third world. He is also resource person and associated with various international institutions and academies. Being exposed to Internet and net training programmes, he has developed expertise in web page development, as well as, in the area of indexing of the Internet sites and other electronic publications. He is presently working towards bridging the gaps between the information haves and the have nots. To fulfil this idea he is developing simple processes, that would ease accessing information and called as, gateway or directory, one sample at: www.asrc.freeservers.com. Aimed at save the time of the surer, it presents a short cut to find relevant information for a student, researcher, and scholar in the field of American studies. Such gateways are being planned in other fields. Prof. Donal D G. Davis is at Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin, Los Angeles, USA. Davis has been an active participant in professional and scholarly societies since the mid-1960s. His positions have included two terms on the American Library Association's International Relations committee and the executive committees of the Association's Library History Round Table and the International Relations Round Table, as well as round tables dealing with library history and professional journal editing of the international Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Davis edits the quarterly journal Library and Culture, formerly the Journal of Library history. Among his books are The Association of American Library Schools, 1915-1968; an Analytical History (1974); four co-authored volumes: Reference Books in the Social Sciences and Humanities, 4th ed. (1977), American Library History; A Bibliography (1978), ARBA Guide to Library Science Literature, 1970-1983 (1987), and American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature (1989); and four edited volumes of conferences proceedings and collected papers. In addition he has published over eighty articles, chapters, and repots, as well as nearly 200 book reviews.