1 Volume 1, Issue 1

Info@PULISAA
A Quarterly Newsletter of Punjab University Library & Information Science Alumni Association

Info@PULISAA Editorial
Volume: 2010-11
From PULSAA News to Info@PULISAA: A travel from offline to online
Issue: March, 2010

Patron In-chief
Muhammad Shafiq Rana
President PULISAA Dear Professionals!
Chief Editor Assalam-u-Alaikum!!
Farzana Shafique
Editorial Team
I am pleased to share with you the first issue of PULISAA newsletter. Hope you will like
M. Sajid Mirza
its new name Info@PULISAA. After oath taking of PULISAA executive body, I was
Amna Irfan
Asif Munir asked to bring out the first issue of PULISAA newsletter in March, 2010. The time was
Nousheen W. short and challenge was big, but the encouragement and advice of my seniors en-
Abid Gill abled me to meet this challenge in time (Alhamdulillah). Here I would also like to ad-
Tariq Najmi mire the efforts of Madam Bushra Jaswal who set a good example for us by introduc-
ing the PLAP News Online. No doubt she has produced a quality newsletter.
Design & Graphics
There will be many shortcomings in the first issue of Info@PULISAA due to short of
Farzana Shafique
time, lack of experience etc. but your feedback and cooperation will enable us to im-
prove the coming issues. This issue is basically the introduction of its members, its
Inside This Issue oath taking ceremony, and two main seminars in which PULISAA collaborated with PLA
Editorial (pnj) and others.
Other sections are meant to highlight the views, activities and achievements of PULIS-
Activities of Sians, such as the section of Have Your Say in PULISAA is basically for adding up your
PULISAA views and/or suggestions. You can write Feature Article for the newsletter or can send
news related to your professional activities and achievements. You can also send us
Have Your Say your CVs for inclusion in Who is Who. For the continuing education of our profession-
in PULISAA als, we have also added the section of E-Learning.
Soon this issue will be uploaded on PULISAA website, which is yet under construction.
Who is Who Print copy will also be tried to make available soon.
in PULISAA Looking forward for your feedback!!!

Feature Article Have a Nice Day!!!

E-Learning FARZANA SHAFIQUE

NEWS
Contact: Editor, Info@PULISAA, Deptt. Of Library and Information Science, The Isla-
mia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Phone: 03468788766
2
Activities of PULISAA
Oath taking of newly elected office-barriers of PULISAA
PULISAA Oath Taking Ceremony and Seminar
The Newly elected Executive Council took its oath on 2nd
February 2010. A grand ceremony held at the auditorium
of Central Library of University of the Punjab, Lahore. The
presence of well known and senior library and information
science professionals from Lahore and other cities of
Pakistan made the occasion remarkable. Dr. Abdul Sattar
Chaudhry and Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman especially came to
Pakistan to attend the ceremony. The patron of PULISAA
Dr. Khalid Mahmood hosted the stage. The ceremony
started with the recitation of Holy Quran and then with the
Naat-Rasool-e-Maqbool. Dr. Khalid invited the Chief
Guests Prof. Afzal Haq Qarshi and the Dr. Mumtaz Ali An-
war on the stage. He then gave an introduction of the PU-
LISAA and also paid special tribute to the team member of
previous PULSAA (See details on P.7).
Dr. Mumtaz was then requested to administer the oath of
newly elected office-barriers of PULISAA. The team came
on the stage and took their oaths. After oath taking, Dr.
Khalid gave the stage responsibilities to the secretary of
the new executive council Ms. Amna Irfan. She also in-
vited the President PULISAA to be seated on the stage.
Dr. Mumtaz shared his views about the previous PULSAA
and stressed on the newly elected PULISAA team mem-
bers to work hard with devotion for the uplifting of the
Info@PULISAA
profession in the country. He also shared the historical mile-
stones of the Department of Library and Information science,
University of the Punjab, Lahore (See details on P.6). He
shared his personal experiences rather than a power point
presentation. Same Pattern was followed by other two re-
source persons, Dr. Abdul Sattar and Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman.
After his address, Dr. Abdul Sattar came on the stage to talk
on the topic “Empowering professionals in Social Context”.
He stressed that unlearning should take place before the
actual learning process. The next stages are of self learning,
e-learning and then collaborative learning. Dr. Sajjad again
shared his memories of Ex-PULSAA (See details on P.7).
Later on souvenirs were distributed among all the members
of PULISAA Executive Council and other honorable guests Dr.
Mumtaz Ali Anwar, Dr. Abdul Sattar, Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman,
Prof. Afzal Haq Qarshi, Dr. Khalid Mahmood, Ch. Hanif, Yaqub
Ali Ch., Muhammad Ramzan, Madam Bushra Jaswal, M. An-
war Ch., Rana Zia Javed. Representatives of Publishers and
booksellers also received their souvenirs. The ceremony
ended after the meeting of General Body of PULISAA with the
high tea served at the end.
Report by
Farzana Shafique
3 Volume 1, Issue 1
Pictures of PULISAA Oath Taking Ceremony and Seminar
4
Info@PULISAA

Social Tagging and Library Practices for Knowledge Organization

One Day Workshop organized by PLA (pb), PULISAA, KIMA and UMT Library

This is the age of Library 2.0. Library 2.0 is more than the traditional use of library collection. It is more interactive and cre-
ates multi sensory communication between Librarian and library Patrons. User responds to the system, system to the user.
Library 2.0 offers a new paradigm for libraries, a travel from taxonomies to folksonomies. It is basically the use of Web2.0
technology in libraries. Web 2.0 technologies such as Social tagging, social networks, Synchronous messaging, and stream-
ing media, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, mashups have substantial implications for librarians and libraries. They can open a new
era for librarians. But these technologies are beneficial for our librarians only if they have detailed knowledge of them.

To make our librarians aware of these modern trends, a workshop was arranged by PLA Punjab and PULISAA in collaboration
with Knowledge and Information Management Academy (KIMA), and University of Management and Technology (UMT). The
workshop held on “Social Tagging and Library Practices for Knowledge Organizations” on Monday, February 1, 2010.

The workshop was based on ideas that Social Networks and Social Tagging are two most promising and embracing features
of Library 2.0. These can change our whole World. Social Networks can enable librarians not only to interact but to share
and change resources dynamically while Social Tagging allows users to create their own subject heading for the object at
hand. It is just like our traditional subject heading but more users friendly. It makes the searching easy. The workshop was
jointly designed and conducted by Dr. Abdus Sattar Chaudhry, Associate Professor, Kuwait University and Dr. Sajjad-ur-
Rehman, Professor, Kuwait University.

The workshop was divided into small interactive sessions. All the sessions were very informative having practical knowledge
of social tagging and social networking. The resource persons introduced different tools of Social Network and Social Tag-
ging like Face Book, Wikis, Twitter, Del.icio.us, Flicker, Library Thing, My Space and Weblogs, etc. Discussion was made with
the participants about the implications of these tools in different areas of library to improve the current level of services.
The workshop has been tremendous experience and was attended by a large number of information professionals from all
over the Pakistan. All the participants were keen to know these new technologies. They participated in discussions actively
and shared their experiences and problems related to the implications of these tools. They said that such workshops are of
great value for them and should be conducted frequently.
After the last session, Ch. Muhammad Anwar, Secretary PLA and Chair of CEC (PULISAA), (PLA, pb) invited Ch. Muhammad
Hanif, President PLA to address the audience. In his address, Ch. Muhammad Hanif appreciated the spirit of participants.
He said that our main objective is to equip our librarians with modern technologies and trends. So that they may create a
difference in their organizations. We have different plans to achieve this objective. This workshop is also a part of it while
other things are also in pipeline. He also congratulated the CEC Team of (PULISAA) and (PLA, pb) for arranging such an infor-
mative workshop.
Dr. Rashid Kausar, Pro Rector, UMT also addressed the audience. He said that organizational culture is a set of procedures
by which organizations develop their performance. This performance can be maintained only through social networking as it
needs strong relationship among the organization and its customers. Libraries are the central point of an organization which
can develop these networks. He emphasized that Information technology offers several possibilities for making social net-
works. So our librarians should be equipped with the new tools of information technology to strengthen this relationship. He
liked the spirit of organizers who managed the function in a very good way.
Ch. Muhammad Anwar, Chair CEC, appreciated the efforts of his team members who extended their invaluable cooperation
in organizing the workshop. He specially thanked Ms. Amna Irfan and Ms. Hina Batool for handling pre-registrations. Ms.
Azra Rafique and Ms. Ammara Malik for handling on the spot registration, Mr. Nadim Sohail for printing of certificates and
Lunch arrangements, Mr. Tufail Khan for IT support and overall support of all the team members on the day of event. He
also extended a special thanks to valuable resource persons who spared enough time from their busy schedule to facilitate
our librarians‟ community. At the end certificates were distributed among participants and organizing body.
5 Volume 1, Issue 1
Pictures of One Day Workshop at UMT

Report by
Amna Irfan
6
Info@PULISAA

Have Your Say in PULISAA

Dr. Mumtaz Ali Anwar Narrates the History

of the Department (DLIS, PU) and PULISAA

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected office-bearers of the PULISAA, Dr. Mumtaz Ali shared the history of the
Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore. He said that Department was started in
1915. On the other hand such formal education of library science started in Britain in 1919. Asa Don Dickinson was appointed
on monthly salary of 1000/Rs. (which indicates the importance of the profession). The first training class was consisted of 16
students only male. Mr. Dickinson wrote a text book of library science entitled “Punjab Library Primer”, which was published in
1916. It‟s the first text book of library science ever written in the world (“Manual of Library Economy” was published in 1929 in
America).

Asa Don Dickinson gathered his students and developed an association named “Punjab Library Association” in 1919, which
was the first library association in India. In 1928, syllabus was rearranged for graduation program. The Punjab Library Associa-
tion was revived in 1929. This association published the first academic and professional newsletter entitled “Modern Librar-
ian” in 1930. The newsletter was the first one of its type in India. Khan Bahadur Muhammad Asadullah joined library, com-
pleted course from here and left to India, where he worked as a prominent librarian till 1946. He developed Indian Library As-
sociation (ILA). ILA showed its desire for working together with „Modern librarian‟ team.

In 1945, post-graduate diploma was approved and was about to start in 1946 but could not be started. Due to political insta-
bility in entire India, most of the professionals who were Hindus left Lahore. So the library was in the hands of non-professional
librarians. Political powers hindered the appointment of competent professionals (i.e. Dr. Asad-ullah, Fazal Ellahi etc.).

In 1950, Syed Muhammad Abdullah, an honorary librarian started library science certificate program at PU. Even in Karachi,
Punjab University Alumni worked for the survival of association. A. Rahim took the charge of university librarian in the year
1955 and revised the syllabus. In 1961, a full time professor, Robert P. Lang started teaching and suggested master program
in Library Science. Pakistan Library Association (PLA) was developed in 1958. In 1961 PLA conference was arranged and Fazal
-e- Allahi was its secretary general. PLA office was shifted to Lahore. In 1962, LIS departments at Karachi and Dhaka started
Masters Program.

In 1962, LIBSAA was formed. A campaign was launched by LIBSAA for Master classes in 1963. As a result a committee was
formed comprising Khwaja Noor Allahi and Abdul Raheem and it was decided to start MA in 1964, but due to many reasons
the master classes finally started in 1965. In 1963, Dr. Mumtaz Ali Anwar was the first full time lecturer at the DLIS, PU. IN
1965, the positions of professor, lecturer and other staff members were created in the budget, which was another milestone.
Due to war, more classes were seized. In 1973, Mumtaz Ali Anwar got Phd and became first chairman of the Department. In
1988, PULSAA was revived by Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman and M. Asghar. Thus PULISAA is the 3rd generation of alumni association,
which was revived in 2009.
7 Volume 1, Issue 1

Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman Recalls the Memories

of PULSAA

Dr. sajjad mentioned that in early 70s, Dr. Mumtaz came back to Pakistan and joined the Department. He put the stone of
Master classes. In 1988, the PULSAA was revived. Many training programs, conferences and seminars were arranged by the
PULSAA. He mentioned the name of Muhammad Asghar as one of the most committed contributors of PULSAA, who also
kept the PULSAA alive by continuously editing and publishing the PULSAA Newsletter.

Dr. Khalid Mahmood Pays Tribute to the

Contributors of PULSAA (now PULISAA)

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood in his address on the day of „PULISAA Oath Taking‟ paid tribute to the contributors of PULISAA. He
mentioned the efforts of Dr. Sajjad-ur-Rehman, Prof. Afzal Haq Qarshi, Mr. Muhammad Asghar and other members. He high-
lighted the different academic and professional activities of the PULSAA team. He also shared the efforts of current leader-
ship of DLIS, University of the Punjab in the revival of PULSAA (now PULISAA).

Dr. Kanwal Ameen Shares the Milestones of

PULISAA Revival in her Online Message
Dear ones, AOA

It gives me immense pleasure to read that everything went so well. It definitely was a historic occasion with the ex-
presidents over there also. I really missed being part of it. It reminded me the times when we were lead by Prof. Sajjad, then
Prof. Sattar. Even the grand-grand teacher, alumni Prof Mumtaz was part of this occasion, Sir Qarshi and Dr Khalid sit-
ting on stage. Moreover, faces representing almost every generation of PU Alumni, ranging from the most senior to the
youngest one, made it real significant. CHEERS!

In early 2006, I still remember inviting the then office bearers/representatives of PLA, Pb., Punjab College Library Associa-
tion, PULSAA, PU Librarian Organization for a panel discussion in the Dept. with the first batch of M. Phil Leading to PhD
class to cover the topic, "Role of library associations in Pakistan", which I was teaching. The aim was to discuss
the dormant status of these organizations, raise some questions, seek answers and initiate open discussion on how to
come out of the static situation.
Within three years, we have witnessed the revival of PLA and PULSAA. Needless to mention that these developments took
place with the shear efforts of our committed senior and young professionals. You know all that.

My congratulations to all of us, and very best wishes for our collective growth through individual devotion and commitment
to our professional obligations.

Every participant, Well done!

Prof. Kanwal Ameen, PhD. Report by
Farzana Shafique
8
Info@PULISAA

Who’s Who in PULISAA 2009-2011

President

Muhammad Shafiq Rana

Deputy Director,
Securities & Exchange
Commission of Pakistan, Islamabad
Cell: 0333-5216165
Email: cyberarianpk@gmail.com
muhammad.shafiq@secp.gov.pk
www.shafiqpk.blogspot.com

Mr. Shafiq is a proactive and object oriented professional, who received Business & Finance Div International
Travel Award 2006 in SLA annual conference in Denver, USA, 2007 and InfoShare Membership Award 2007-
2008 from ASIS&T, USA. He is also the Alumni of International Leadership Program 2007 of the state department
of the United States of America.
The 37 years old Shafiq holds dual master degrees in Library & Information Science and Economics from Univer-
sity of Punjab, Lahore.
He has delivered and organized trainings, seminars and workshops for library science and management profes-
sionals. Besides having Executive Membership of Pakistan Library Association (Federal Branch) Council, He is con-
tributing in other national and international associations and networks. He got international certifications in the
LIS field too. Shafiq is married and has four kids.

Vice President
Muhammad Asif Cheema

Assistant Manager Electronic Resources

Lahore University of Management Sciences, DHA, Lahore Cantt.
Cell: 03454651047
Email: asifch@lums.edu.pk

Mr. Asif is a young and energetic professional serving at LUMS since the completion of his Masters in Library &
Information Science from University of the Punjab, Lahore in 2006 with distinction. He is a member of Pakistan
Library Association.
9 Volume 1, Issue 1

Secretary

Amna Irfan

Librarian
Forman Christian College – A chartered University, Lahore
Ph. Office: 9231581-325
Email: amnairfan@fccollege.edu.pk

Ms. Amna did her Masters in LIS from University of the Punjab in 2005 with distinction and started her career with
Punjab Public Library. Currently she is working at Forman Christian College – A chartered University, Lahore.
She is a very committed and active professional. She is a member of editorial team of PLAP News as well as Pub-
lic Relation and Image Building Committee of Pakistan Library Association (Punjab Branch).

Joint Secretary

Ghulam Yasin Malik

Assistant Librarian
The Punjab Assembly Library, Lahore
Cell: 03334155898
Email: yasinmlk@yahoo.com

Mr. Malik, completed his Masters in Library and Information Science from University of the Punjab in 2006. As an
Executive Member of PLA Punjab Branch, he actively contributed in organizing the PLA International Golden Jubi-
lee Conference held in November 2007.

Treasurer
M. Asif Munir

Library Officer
SMEDA, Lahore
Cell: 03334348494
Email: masifmunir@gmail.com

asifm@smeda.org.pk

Mr. Asif is an energetic LIS professional. He completed his M. Phil. in 2005 from Centre for South Asian Studies,
University of the Punjab, Lahore. He served PLA as Assistant Secretary and played a very active role in its revival.
Besides working as Secretary of Pakistan Librarian Welfare Organization (PLWO); a non profit organization, he is
also serving PLA Punjab as Member of the Executive Council.
10
Info@PULISAA

Executive Members

Amara Malik
Librarian
Institute of Administrative Science
University of the Punjab, Lahore
Email: dove_amara@yahoo.com

Ms. Ammara is a dynamic and young LIS professional. She did her MLIS in 2007 from University of the Punjab,
Lahore with Gold Medal. She has attended various workshops and conferences at national level. She has contrib-
uted a research paper at PLA Conference 2009. Her one paper has also been published in Webology, Volume 6,
Number 2, June, 2009 on “Web search behavior of university students: A case study at University of the Punjab”.
She is also an M. Phil scholar at Department of Library & Information Science, University of the Punjab.

Farrukh Inayat
Librarian – Reference and Systems
Forman Christian College – A Chartered University, Ferozepur
Road, Lahore
Cell: 03334647547
Email: furrukh-inayat@yahoo.com

Mr. Farrukh is young professional. He did his Masters in Library & Information Science from University of the Pun-
jab in 2005 and joined Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore. He has participated in seven
national and international training programs, workshops and conferences.

Farzana Shafique
Lecturer
Department of Library and Information Science
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. Pakistan.
Email: alakhdarem2001@yahoo.com

Farzana Shafique did her MLIS (2004), and MPhil Leading to PhD (2005-2009) course works with distinctions.
From DLIS, PU. She has submitted her PhD thesis entitled “Model Information System for Educational Administra-
tors in Pakistan” on 1st October 2009, which is now in evaluation process. The number of her published and/or in
press articles is more than twenty. She has presented many conference papers and supervised many master‟s
theses at IUB and PU. She is currently teaching the MLIS and M. Phil classes at DLIS, IUB and working as the edi-
tor chief of Info@PULISAA.
11 Volume 1, Issue 1

Hina Batool
Lecturer
Department of Library & Information Science
University of the Punjab, Lahore
Email: hina@dlis.pu.edu.pk

Hina did her MLIS with distinction in 2001 and is perusing M.Phill in Library & Information Science from University
of the Punjab. She is the Managing Editor of Pakistan Journal of Library & Information Science (PJLIS). Her aca-
demic interests are in Library management, LIS research, IT in libraries, Information Literacy programs, Library
promotion activities and designing digital libraries. She is the research supervisor and coordinator of academic
events and activities at the Department.

Javeria Javed
Librarian
University of Education, Bank Road Campus, Lahore
Email: hellojavaria@yahoo.com

Ms. Javeria completed her MLIS from University of the Punjab in 2004 and joined Allama Iqbal Medical College as
Assistant Librarian. Currently she is working as a Librarian in the University of Education, Bank Road Campus, La-
hore. She is also tutor of LIS at Allama Iqbal Open University.

M. Ashraf Shakoori
Librarian
Beaconhouse School System, Lahore
Cell:03349763374
Email: lotus7862002@yahoo.com

Mr. Shakoori is a young LIS professional. He did his MLIS from University of the Punjab in 2003. He has served in
Gujrat Law College, Gujrat; Iqra University, Lahore; City School and presently he is rendering his services in Bea-
con House School System.

Saira Hassan
Librarian
University of Lahore Medical College and Avicenna Medical
College. Lahore
Email: sairahassan@yahoo.com

Saira completed her Bachelor‟s Degree from the Lahore College for Women University and Masters in Library &
Information Science from the University of the Punjab (2004-2006). She has actively participated in many profes-
sional seminars, workshops and conferences. Apart from member Executive Council of PULISAA, she is also mem-
ber of Image Building & PR Committee of Pakistan Library Association (Punjab).
12
Info@PULISAA

Muhammad Sajid Mirza

Senior Librraian
International Islamic University, Sector H-10, Islamabad
Cell: 03335385235
Email: m.sajid@iiu.edu.pk
msajidmirza@gmail.com

Mr. Sajid is Head of Technical Services Division at International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He has 11
years of working experience both in public and private sector‟s higher education institutions. He did his Masters in
Library Science from University of the Punjab in 1997. Presently he is a PhD scholar at Centre for South Asian
Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. His four research papers have been published in journals of
repute. He has participated in 20 national and international conferences / workshops / trainings. His areas of in-
terest are bibliometric studies, information literacy and use of IT in libraries. He is Assistant Secretary PLA (Federal
Branch), Country Contact for Infolit Global (An initiative of International Federation of Library Associations). ); and
Ex- Secretary Information, Officers Welfare Association, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

Shahbaz Ali
Librarian
Abdus Salam School of Mathematics Sciences
Govt. College University, Lahore
Cell: 03004060172

Mr. Shahbaz is very young information professional. He has completed his MLIS in 2008. He is serving at Abdus
Salam School of Mathematics Sciences, Govt. College University, Lahore.

Shazia Yasmin Mirza

Assistant Librarian
National Library of Engineering Sciences, University of Engineering
and Technology, Lahore
Email: shazi_lib@yahoo.com

Ms. Shazia is an active LIS professional, working at National Library of Engineering Sciences, UET, Lahore. She
has dual masters degree in Library & Information Science (2001) and Persian. She has also B.Ed on her credit.
She is tutor of LIS at Allama Iqbal Open University.

Report by
Sajid Mirza
13 Volume 1, Issue 1

Feature Article
Role of College Libraries in the Promotion of Research and Scholarship
It is a fact that the progress of a country depends upon education and research. The countries who have
given due importance to education and research are now leading the entire world in every sphere of life. Keeping
in view this vital force of development and progress when we look at the Muslim World, it presents a gloomy pic-
ture.
There is no denying the fact that almost all the Muslim countries have been bestowed upon with tremen-
dous natural resources. The Muslim Ummah consisting on 57 countries having ¼ population of the world posses
¼ of the total natural resources, but it is also a distress reality that the total GNP of this rich Ummah is only 1200
Billion dollars per annum. Only France has GDP of 2500 Billion dollars and Japan which lacks natural resources
has GNP of 5500 Billion dollars. The main reason of this horrible difference is quite simple. These countries have
realized the fact that the real source of a country is its people and the money spent on their educational advance-
ment. They have given due importance to the development of human resources through education and research.
The Muslim countries having the ¼ of the total resources of the world, have not realized their duty for uplifting
their people through education, research and technological development. There is lack of awareness about the
significance of education in these oil rich countries.
Seen in this perspective, the situation in Pakistan is more alarming rather disappointing. Pakistan came
into being in 1947, even after a passage of 62 years it lacks a progressive education system. Numerous education
policies have been formulated in the country but no real progress has been made in this direction. The result is
that Pakistan has one of lowest literacy rate in the world. Many of the countries who got independence after Paki-
stan have higher literacy rate than our country. The standard of education and research is going down with every
passing day. Our government has yet to give top priority to its quality of education, which is the bedrock of our pro-
gress.
The higher education institutions play an important role in the promotion of research culture in the country.
Moreover, the role of academic libraries in the promotion of research and development has been accepted all over
the world, but the situation in Pakistan is not encouraging. Colleges are the building stones of the higher educa-
tion. They can play an important role in the development of research culture; similarly college libraries can also
play an important role in this regard. The main objective of a college library is to support and strengthen the educa-
tional and research program of a college. It is supposed to make all out efforts to make the college‟s educational
research program a success. Contrarily, the situation of college libraries is dormant in our country. I would like to
express it in late Dr. Haider‟s words that the resources of college libraries are neither adequate nor up-to-date.
Their collections consist largely of gifts from organizations and individuals, and hence are of miscellaneous charac-
ter. Annual additions are limited. The services provided are just lending of the few text books for a limited period.
Mostly libraries are run by a single librarian and the access to the material is closed. Almost all the libraries are
faced with the shortage of accommodation (1).
Keeping this bitter reality and the important role of college libraries in view, I would like to request the col-
lege librarians to play an active role in the promotion of research culture in their institutions. It is not only their pro-
fessional duty but it would also be a good contribution for the uplifting of Muslim Ummah in the time of horrible
crisis.
1. Haider, S. J. (1996). Libraries and library agencies in Pakistan: Part II. Libri, 46, 209-216.
*Ramooz A. Khan, Head, Department of library and Information Science, By
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. Ramooz A. Khan
14
Info@PULISAA

E-Learning

RSS – A useful tool for Library Professionals

Internet users are familiar with the word RSS. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a very useful tool in this age
where the management of information is itself a challenge for library professionals. Many people do not know
that this orange icon can change their information browsing attitude.
Consider our daily searching techniques. Whenever we want to get the latest news or blog posts from a website,
we logon to that website. For example if we want to read the top stories from BBC Urdu or Daily Jang, we will
open a web browser, open that website and check if there is some new news. Similarly if we want to get the list
of articles of a current issue of D-Lib magazine, we have to visit their website to check the updates. This process
of visiting websites is time consuming. And if there is no update available at that time, it is useless too.
Here is a new method of doing all that.
Just open Google Reader by visiting http://www.google.com/reader. It will prompt for username and password if
you are not already logged in as shown below:
Enter username and password or sign-up for new Gmail account. Now visit the site / news group from where you
want o bring latest news/posts in your reader and locate the RSS link or icon.
For today's session of e-learning, we will use the example of Jang News.
Open Jang Group website by visiting http://www.jang.com.pk/. Now click on
RSS link as shown below. A new page will be opened as shown below. Right
click on RSS link and Copy Link Location (IE users will find the link Copy Short-
cut). This shortcut is a link to an XML or rdf page.

Now switch to Google Reader and click on the link “Add a Subscription” and
paste the copNow click on RSS link as shown below. A new page will be
opened as shown below. Right click on RSS link and Copy Link Location (IE
users will find the link Copy Shortcut). This shortcut is a link to an XML or rdf
page.

Now switch to Google Reader and click on the link “Add

a Subscription” and paste the copied link in the text box
as shown in the following given graphics:
15 Volume 1, Issue 1

Now click on Add button. This subscription will be added in your reader. Repeat this process for other news-
groups too. Most of the journals/magazines, news groups, TVs offer RSS feeds.

Examples are given below:

BBC Urdu: http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/index.xml

Readers‟ Digest Jokes: http://feeds.rd.com/ReadersDigestJokes

Business Week Magazine: http://rss.businessweek.com/bw_rss/magazine
Library Review (Emerald): http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/RSSFeeds/InsightFeeds/lr_rss.xml

After updating your reader may look like this:

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By
Ata ur Rehman
16
Info@PULISAA

NEWS
Achievements

Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program 2010:

OCLC, along with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the American Theo-
logical Library Association named Miss Sidra Shan (Assistant Librarian, International Islamic University Islamabad,
Pakistan) to participate in the Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program for 2010. During
the five-week program, which will run from April 10 through May 15, 2010, the Fellows will visit the libraries and par-
ticipate in discussions with library and information science leaders, and other professional development activities.
Four weeks will be based at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, USA, and one week will be based at OCLC in Leiden,
Netherlands. Miss Sidra Shan completed her MLIS from University of Punjab, Lahore in 2005. It is also notable that
pervious two winners of this fellowship; Muhammad Rafiq (Fellow 2004) and Saima Qutab (Fellow 2009) were also
library science graduates from University of the Punjab.

Conference papers:
 The GC University Library got opportunity to represent all libraries of Pakistan at a three-day international conference enti-
tled „Third International Conference on Digital Libraries (ICDL 2010)‟. As many as 105 speakers from about 54 countries
were invited to contribute their papers at the conference held from February 23 to 26 February 2010 in New Delhi, In-
dia. The theme of this year conference was „Shaping the Information Paradigm. The papers of GCU Chief Librarian Mr.
Abdul Waheed entitled “Collection Management of E-books: A Developing Country Perspective” and Muhammad Rafique
(The senior Librarian) entitled "The perceptions of South Asian LIS Community towards Open Source Software Adoption in
Libraries". Their tour was sponsored by TERI and American Centre, New Delhi.
 Farzana Shafique and Shafique-ur-Rehman got an opportunity to present their paper on 18th Feb 2010, in IEEE Confer-
ence (SIIE 2010) held at Tunisia. Paper title: “Social Problems Hindering the Successful Implementation of an MIS: A Case
Study”.

Books published:
Following Mphil theses of students from DLIS, University of the Punjab got published in book form by German Pub-
lisher VDM Publishing House Ltd in year 2010.
 Muhammad Arif, "The role of libraries in distance education: a case of Allama Iqbal Open University ".
 Muzammil Tahira, “Information needs and seeking behavior of science academics: A case of the University of the Punjab,
Lahore-Pakistan”.
 Haroon Idrees, “A review of library classification schemes on Islam: A Pakistani perspective”.

Obituaries

 Mr. Abdul Waheed‟s (The Chief Librarian, GCU) real brother Engineer Abdul Hameed died in the month of February.
 Mother of Mr. Talib Hussain (Assistant Librarian Supreme Court of Pakistan Islamabad) has passed away on March 25,
2010.
It is a time of grief for both the families. We all pray that may departed souls rest in
peace (Ameen).
Report by
Saima Qutab
Disclaimer

This newsletter is for general information purposes only. The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of
Info@PULISAA. Info@PULISAA has taken all practical measures to ensure that the material contained in this newsletter
is correct. However, Info@PULISAA gives no pledge and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or the completeness of
the material. Info@PULISAA reserves the right at any time to make changes as it deems necessary.