Importance of Practical Courses for a Professional Degree: A Case of Library & Information Science (LIS)

The purpose of this study is to seek the opinion of Pakistani library professionals employed in different types of libraries and organizations about importance of practical courses, theory courses and practical-cum-theory courses they had studied for the fulfillment of their professional degree. It is a survey research based on a structured questionnaire. The survey reveals that the library schools of Pakistan design and develop their courses of their own accord to fulfill the local needs but they also follow the curriculum designed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). While designing curricula, the international standard and uniformity is taken into consideration and the core courses to be taught in the first year of Masters program remain more or less same in all library schools. The theory and practical courses are also the part of curricula and imparting practical education is given due consideration. The professionals identified some courses in which more practical factor should be included so that the graduates should not face problems after joining the professional field.


Introduction
To meet the varying needs of the environment, the emphasis of LIS education has been laid on producing capable and competent manpower. History of librarianship and library education has seen a number of developmental changes from 1887 (when first library school was established in United States by the originator of Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme, Melvil Dewey) to date. During this period, the significance of courses of studies has been realized for the present-day information atmosphere, with more importance and weightage given to LIS curriculum than traineeship. LIS academicians realize the need of up-to-date curriculum that produces professionals compatible with the changing information arena. The varying job market of information and library professionals demands new proficiencies in LIS graduates to augment employability. Curriculum models contain the designing and the actions, the resources' support and the examination required. They are primarily layout to give undeviating educational methods and anticipated outcomes of students. The level of flexibility in curriculum models varies that is provided to educators. Few curriculum models provide teachers a detailed script to proceed while others outline the principles providing an open path to make the best use of these principles over the students. Even some schools modify these curriculum models as per the needs and trends of local market.
In the present times, the importance of libraries and librarians has assumed high priority. In the West, the opportunity in business community, suggest a boost in professional status of Library and Information Science. Separate distinct positions of library professionals in corporate and business libraries are created under some attractive titles like Information Manager, Chief Information Officer or Knowledge Officer. However, the information's success depends upon the selection and analysis of information to meet the desired needs of the organization. Here the effectiveness of Library and Information Science could play its important role. The skills of the librarians can help the employees saving their valuable time on activities; as Internet surfing, information access and acquisition of previous information on the subject. Realizing the value of Library & Information Science, many universities in almost every country are offering it as a part of their curricula.
is a severe scarcity of DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification) and LCC (Library of Congress Classification) schedules. Although latest edition of DDC is purchased but only 8-10 sets are acquired due to shortage of financial resources. Students do practice in groups and 2-3 students share one set of the schedule. Suggestions comprise: curricula revision, organizing training of teachers for cataloging and classification courses in developed countries, improvement of laboratories, and the organization of continuing education programs. Mahmood (2003) describes the literature present on the required competencies of academic librarians in the Asia/Pacific region and discusses the academic librarianship in Pakistan with respect to its circumstances, providing skills required for entry-level librarians at academic level, designed with the help of reviewed literature and crossed by 70 chief librarians belonging to public and private universities and postgraduate colleges which was then matched with the LIS programs' curricula. It also highlighted the major weaknesses of curricula and mentioned ways to implement and recommend for the betterment. Curriculum development has not been taken seriously in library schools, the practitioners criticize the curriculum as outdated and irrelevant. Some important courses are not included e.g. Knowledge Management, Change Management, Resource Development Skills. Some referencing skills and digital competencies carry less importance in the practicing curricula. Also scheming webbased material and utilization of digital technologies are not incorporated by any library school, except one, that offers the practical approach of curriculum for its students. Mahmood and Sharif (2001) in a study inquired respondents (i.e. Alumni, Pakistan Library Association's Computer Training Center in Lahore), in order to identify the affects occurred by the CLA (Certificate in Library Automation) on the librarianship of Pakistan. While the results disclose that young professional librarians especially those who are working in Lahore majorly attended the course. The respondents revealed that their computer training was very much helpful for them for switching over to better job positions. Many of them avail computer facilities at their workplace and exercise a regular use and also participate in activities regarding automation in libraries. Majority of the respondents revealed that their knowledge of computer is applied at writing articles and books, lecture delivering and in provision of consultancy services.
Library & Information Science education has developed to a large extent during the last two decades of 20 th century and this journey is still continued in 21 st century all over the world. The introduction of modern information technology and the associated concepts of digitization, automation, virtualization, mechanization, computerization etc. have accelerated the change in the services and organization of libraries. In the developed countries and continents like Europe, America and Canada, remarkable development has been witnessed in LIS education during the last three decades. Plans have been chalked out to cope with the challenges of globalization and internationalization. For this purpose, major and drastic changes have been brought out not only in the education but also in the curricula of library and information science and all this is to revolutionize the schemes of studies for competing the global employment market. These competencies are associated with the research skills, IT skills, online and networking skills. The curricula also incorporate the changes occurred in library organization and services from traditional set up to digital form.

Methodology
Data about the importance of practical courses offered at Masters level by the library schools of Pakistan and implementation of these courses in the professional field was collected through questionnaires filled by the library professionals working in different types of libraries of all the provinces, Azad Kashmir, FATA, and federal capital Islamabad. On the basis of literature review and discussion with some eminent library educationists and senior professionals, a structured questionnaire was designed to obtain required data. The questionnaire was composed of following parts: a) Demographic: It intends to seek information about the name (optional), designation, organization, type of library working in, working experience, name of the university studied in, highest professional degree obtained, and year of passing of the respondents. b) Classified: It contains: i. Questions based on level of measurement ii. Dichotomous questions and iii. Openended questions The population to respond the questions was identified as all library professionals working in different types of libraries (including academic, school, national, public, and special) but holding necessarily a postgraduate library science degree. The respondents had been graduated from any university of Pakistan irrespective of the year of passing as opinions of professionals from junior most to senior were intended to be attained. After contacting the respondents, questionnaires were sent by e-mail, by surface mail and by personal visits. To remove any ambiguity or confusion, the questions were also explained on phone or personally to the respondents. Although the population was randomly selected but the following points were taken into consideration: a) Graduates of all the library schools should be approached b) Working librarians of all the provinces and federal capital should be covered c) Library professionals working in all types of libraries should be contacted d) Professionals should be the representatives of all age groups ranging from 25 to 60 e) They should have different working experience.
A total 300 questionnaires were distributed among the professionals of all four provinces and federal capital. Of them, 250 questionnaires were received back and it was a rigorous exercise to remind and pursue the respondents.
Besides demographic information, the other information sought from the participants were opinion about usefulness and utilization and non-utilization of practical training in the profession, implementation or nonimplementation of theory courses in the profession, importance of modern communication and information technology in the field, views about theory-practical ratio of the courses offered by library schools. They were also asked to identify the courses in which practical training is necessary but is not imparted presently in any or all the library schools.
The data of questionnaires were statistically analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) computer software. Various statistical procedures used in the data analysis include Frequency distribution, and Descriptive statistics.

Data Analysis and Interpretation
Following is the analysis and interpretation of the data collected through questionnaire:

Demographic Characteristics
The targeted population of the ongoing research is library professionals working in different types of libraries in Pakistan covering all four provinces and federal capital Islamabad. .6 A total 250 filled questionnaires were received from library professionals across Pakistan. Of these, 166 respondents (66.4%) were male and 84 (33.6%) were female. With respect to their age, three categories were formed: those who were less than 31 years of age were 51 (20.4%), the age group between 31 and 40 was composed of 134 respondents (53.6%) and this is the largest group whereas those who were more than 40 years of age were 65 (26.0%).

Name of Degree Awarding Province/Federal Capital
There are one or more library schools in all the four provinces and federal capital Islamabad. These schools professionally train the librarians and award them degrees from postgraduate to doctorate level. The professionals rendering their services in the libraries at home or abroad are the graduates of these schools. The universities from where the respondents got professional degrees are located in all four provinces, and federal capital, Islamabad. Of them, 97 (38.8%) belonged to Punjab, 67 (26.8%) from Khyber PakhtoonKhawah, 46 (18.4%) belonged to Sindh, 24 (9.6%) represented Islamabad, and remaining 16 (6.4%) from Baluchistan. Although they got their professional education from the universities of above four provinces and federal capital but they are working in a different or same area.

Type of Library of the participants
Primarily, there are four types of library viz. academic, national, public, and special. The graduates of library schools are providing professional services in all types of library.

Working Experience
As the targeted population of this research comprises all library professionals irrespective of their professional experience, from junior most to senior most working professionals took part. Following four categories were developed to show the years of their involvement in the profession. The targeted population was composed of professionals having working experience of different years. This experience has been categorized into: 1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years and more than 15 years. There were 53 participants (21.2%) having experience of 1-5 years and they were comparatively young professionals working at junior positions. In the category of 6-10 years of experience, the number of participants was 90 (36.0%). Professionals with relatively plentiful experience and senior position, had working experience from 11-15 years and among the total participants of the study, their number was 48 (19.2%). Those who fall in the last category of more than 15 years of experience were working at the positions of senior librarian, chief librarian or head of the department. They had a vast professional experience and were well-versed with all the activities and functions of a library. The number of such respondents was 59 (23.6%).

Implementation of theory courses in profession
In a practical and professional discipline, the courses are designed in such a way that they are either fully or partially implemented in the field. The majority of the courses taught at postgraduate level in all the library schools are composed of theory and practical. The practical training of any course is, no doubt, applied in the profession but to strengthen the professional knowledge and to understand the philosophy of the subject, theory courses also deserve equal importance. Without apprehending and grasping the subject matter and exhibiting command on the roots of the text, better professional services cannot be rendered. To get the viewpoint of the respondents about the usefulness of the theory courses they studied during their university, they were asked to prioritize All, Some, or None of the courses: Regarding the usefulness of the theory courses studied at postgraduate level for the professional career, 82 respondents (32.8%) replied for all the courses, 155 (62.0%) replied for some of the courses, and only 13 (5.2%) respondents replied for none of the courses.

Usefulness of the practical courses
There is a list of courses which are partially or wholly based on practical work. Some of such courses are classification, cataloguing, bibliography, reference sources and services, library operations, information and communication technology, digital library etc. The viewpoint of the respondents about the usefulness of practical of these courses is diversified. Classification is a core subject of librarianship and is taught in all library schools. As regards the usefulness of classification practical in the job, 115 (46.0%) respondents were of the view that it is highly useful, 120 (48.0%) opined that it is useful whereas only 15 (6.0%) respondents termed it somewhat useful. When the same question of usefulness of cataloguing practical in the profession was asked, almost the similar ratio of responses was received. 100 (40%) of total respondents replied that it is highly useful, 116 (46.4%) declared the course useful however 34 (13.6%) respondents proclaimed the course as somewhat useful. Reference Sources and Services is also another useful course which is considered as the backbone of librarianship. About realizing the usefulness of the practical of the course, 115 (46.0%) participants termed it highly useful, 108 respondents (43.2%) identified it as useful while the remaining 27 (10.8%) observed that it is somewhat useful. When the opinion of respondents with respect to usefulness of practical training of the course of Bibliography was sought, only 54 (21.6%) declared it highly useful, 128 respondents (51.2%) termed it useful whereas 68 (27.2%) respondents considered it somewhat useful. The course of Library Operations covers almost all the pursuits and professional activities performed in a library. Practical training is also the part of this course. When inquired about the usefulness of practical training of this course in the job, 112 (44.8%) respondents called it highly useful, 123 respondents (49.2%) named it useful and the rest 15 (6.0%) respondents labeled it somewhat useful. In respect of same question about the usefulness of practical of ICT/Digital Libraries in the job, 122 (48.8%) respondents termed it highly suitable, 106 (42.4%) dubbed it useful while the remaining 22 (8.8%) designated it somewhat useful.

Utilization of Practical Training in the field
A variety of responses were received about the implementation of practical training in the profession. The respondents (total number 250) identified total 644 either titles of courses or parts of courses which they had studied under different courses. The respondents had their own choice to give as many as possible number of titles. The frequencies of their responses are calculated in two ways; out of total identified titles and out of total respondents. Communication. These responses are respectively 14.4%, 14.3%, 14.1%, and 13.8% of the total responses and 37.2%, 36.8%, 36.4%, and 35.6% of the target population responded for the practical trainings of these courses or part of courses which is being applied in their profession.
Then the next maximum responses were received respectively for Classification (DDC) and Cataloguing of book material. For Classification there were 56 responses (8.7%) and for Cataloguing 33 (5.1%). The responses indicate that for 22.4% respondents, the learning and training of Classification is being applied in their profession whereas 13.2% of respondents are applying training of Cataloguing at their work. The application of other remarkable trainings in the profession is of Library Management (2.1%), KOHA (2.0%), and Reference Services (1.6%), and Bibliography (1.6%).

Non-Application of Practical Training in Profession
The opinions about non-application of practical training in the profession, diversified responses were received. The respondents (total number 250) identified total 588 either titles of courses or parts of courses which they had studied under different courses. The respondents had their own choice to give as many as possible number of titles. The frequencies of their responses are calculated in two ways; out of total identified titles and out of total respondents. The maximum responses for non-application of courses in the profession are received for Indexing (175 responses out of total 588). This comes to 29.7% of the responses whereas 70.0% of the respondents. The other courses are Abstracting for which 171 (29.1%) responses were received from 68.4% of respondents, and History of Books and Libraries for which 172 (29.2%) responses were received from 68.8% of the respondents. The other notable responses are for Library Automation (2.4% from 5.6% population), Information Technology (1.8 % from 4.4% population) and Cataloguing (1.2% from 2.8% population). Rest of all title of courses/training is inconsiderable.

Satisfaction with theory-practical ratio
As the curricula of all the universities comprise theory-based, practical-based, and theory-cum-practical-based courses. The curricula seem to be balanced with respect to theory-practical ratio: Table 10: Satisfaction with theory-practical ratio Satisfaction with the theory/ practical ratio of the courses

Theory-based courses and Practical-based courses
There are some courses which are only theory-based and some courses which are practical-based and all the universities are treating them as per their nature. Opinion of the professionals was sought to identify such courses which are against their nature:

Table 11: Satisfaction with theory-based and practical-based courses
Opinion about the courses to be based on only theory work

Recommendations about needed practical training
In a number of courses, practical training is integral part and students are involved in hands-on practice to get the maximum output of their studies. The participants were asked to give their feedback if they still need any practical training in some areas which are ignored in the curricula of universities of the country. In all 229 titles were identified by the total population (250). The frequencies of their responses are calculated out of total identified titles and out of total respondents: participants were sought about the practical training(s) in librarianship in the course(s) which they deem necessary but not imparted in any university of Pakistan. A variety of subjects and courses were detected by the respondents but a number of the courses were wrongly identified as some or all the library schools are giving their practical trainings. Majority of the responses 59 (25.9% of total responses) were for ICT and 23.6% respondents identified the course. Open source software technology got 25 (11.0%) responses by 10.0% respondents. 21 (9.2%) responses are for Management Skills identified by 8.4% population. 18 (7.9%) responses are identified for Library Automation by 7.2% participants. The course of Development of Digital Library received 15 (6.6%) responses by 7.2% respondents. Classification 9 (3.9%), Cataloguing 8 (3.5%), and Information Literacy 8 (3.5%) were other notable courses identified respectively by 3.6%, 3.2%, and 3.2% respondents. 7 (3.1%) responses are for Archival Management identified by 2.8% participants, whereas Web Development and Database Development both got 6 (2.6%) responses each by 2.4% respondents. The remaining identified courses are inconsiderable.

Key Findings
 Majority of the respondents declared some of the theory courses are useful for professional career.  Majority of the participants declared usefulness of practical of Classification, Cataloguing, Reference Sources and Services, Library Operations, ICT/Digital Library, Library Automation, Software, Software Training, Digitization, etc. in profession.  Majority was satisfied with Theory-Practical ratio of the courses.
 Majority declared the courses of Indexing, and Abstracting as the courses of non-application in the practical field.  Majority of the respondents was satisfied with the existing set-up of theory-based and practical-based courses offered by all library schools of Pakistan.  Some of the identified courses recommended by the participants in which practical training is needed include: ICT, Open Source Software Technology, Management Skills, Library Automation, and Development of Digital Library.

Discussion
The survey reveals that the professionals who had done their Masters more than 15 years ago and are working in one or another type of library, deem the courses they had studied incompatible with the modern requirements. According to them, at that time the courses were more theoretical and a very small fraction of the courses was practical one except the courses of technical section like classification, cataloguing, indexing, abstracting, bibliography etc. They were of the view that due to a little trend towards automation and computerization in libraries at that time, the library schools were also lacking in the relevant courses. The professionals who have got opportunity of applying their knowledge of practical of a course or another in their profession, consider it suitable and those who have not got a chance, deem it unsuitable or useless. They recommended to include more practical work in some of the existing courses and to introduce some new courses which should be compatible with the ongoing demands. Even though practice of all the courses is applied in the professional field but the most important courses with respect to application and usefulness of their practical are classification, library operations, ICT/digital libraries. The courses which come at the second place in this regard are cataloguing, reference sources and services, bibliography etc.
The courses which were identified to have only practical work include Digital Library Development, Classification, Cataloguing, Reference Services, Information Retrieval, Bibliography. The results of the survey about practical courses the respondents studied are hopeful but they also recommended some more practical work in identified courses. Although the practical work has been amplified and almost all the library schools are paying heed towards this important task but the financial constraints, lack of lab facilities, scarcity of trained lab staff, problems of loadshedding, etc. are some identified hurdles in attaining the target.

Conclusion
The majority of the courses taught in all the library schools are composed of theory and practical. The theorypractical ratio varies from course to course and from school to school. Although due to the demand, some of the courses have been bifurcated into theory and practical but there is no proper ratio of credits and marks between the two, nor do they have separate passing heads. The curriculum designed by HEC, indicates ratio between theory and practice but either the universities are not practicing the HEC curriculum or if practicing, they do not follow the standard ratio of HEC. The practical training of any course is, no doubt, applied in the profession but to strengthen the professional knowledge and to understand the philosophy of the subject, theory courses also deserve equal importance. Without apprehending and grasping the subject matter and exhibiting command on the roots of the text, better professional services cannot be rendered. Similarly, one cannot deny the importance of theory courses in a profession as general opinion is that the philosophical and fundamental knowledge should continue to be imparted.
Since Library and Information Science is a professional discipline which focuses, besides theoretical and philosophical approaches, more on practical training. As far as practical courses are concerned, the professionals have different point of views with respect to the implementation of those courses in their profession. Those who have got chance to apply/implement the knowledge of such courses in their profession, declare the courses superb whereas those who could not get an opportunity, consider the courses unsuitable to be offered. The courses taught along with practical training and assignments have positive and useful impact in profession. Certain courses which are only theoretical-based enrich the enlightened and logical vision of the subject whereas those which are practical-based have implementation in running the routines and different administrative and technical operations of the library. The practical training imparted in the courses of Classification, Cataloguing, Reference Sources and Services, Bibliography, ICT, Digital Libraries, etc. is highly useful in the profession so they suggested not to only continue these trainings but should also expand to the use of modern techniques and equipment. To produce efficient, competent, updated and capable reference librarians, the research reveals that almost all library schools are paying special attention to the course of reference sources and services and besides theoretical concepts, practical work is also taken into consideration. The researcher identified certain courses whose practical training is almost not being applied in the profession. Of such courses, on the top are Indexing and Abstracting.