Three Dimensional Library
: an essential
element of evidence based education
Abstract
[The Three dimensional library - A “flag
down” for the Value Based education which fosters human
values- is the successfully running project of the Library
University of Jaffna to improve the
reading habits of any readers especially student at school or undergraduate level. 3DL
is the new concept conceived as the outcome of the research done in the Jaffna
Keywords: Three dimensional library;
Evidence based education
Introduction
The present
world is characterised by the popular concepts like information age,
Information society, global village, expansion and fragmentation of knowledge. For
a developing nation like Sri Lanka, these new developments will be a
challenge. While trying to cope up with
these new developments, she has to face the additional challenges of Escalation of civil war, Thirst for learning, acceleration of
social change, isolation of individuals, poor reader habits.
Primary element of a society is Human
being. No resource in the world, even in this age of microchips and
globalisation, is more important than human resource. Well informed capable
citizenry can improve the total ability of a society, and virtually of a
country, of a nation.
Access to information is crucial to
individual advancement as well as corporate educational development.
Information is indispensable and bridges the gap between knowledge and
ignorance. One of the major avenues for acquiring information is reading.
Reading is the foundation upon which other academic skills are built. It offers
a productive approach to improving vocabulary, word power, and language skills.
The ability to read is at the heart of self-education and lifelong learning and
that it is an art capable of transforming life and society.
Generally
Libraries are in a position to extend their service in a range of development
in addition to the traditional practices of maintaining the collection of books
and other information sources that they have acquired. Within this context Sri
Lankan Libraries irrespective of their nature and functions have to set their objectives to meet the needs
of the society as a whole. This will be a continuous process with both
formulation and implementation of new services either within the library itself
or within the parent organization. Indeed the planning process can be
considered as the mechanism by which the library adapts itself to changing
environment in which operates.
This
is something that every library will have to do whether or not it decides to do
it through a formal plan. The main benefits of producing such a plan for
someone engaged in the process of starting a new library service is that it will help to provide an over all policy
frame work against which decisions can be judged.
The beginning of the 21st century has
been called the Information Age because of the explosion of information output
and information sources. In the education system it has become increasingly
clear that students cannot learn everything they need to know in their field of
study in a few years of their study. The political state of affairs that
prevailed in our country during the last decade resulted in the loss of well
reading habit among the society. Information literacy equips them with the
critical skills necessary to become independent lifelong learners.
Laboriously though, the library has to
function as the driving force not only in achieving the target of the parent
institution but also to increase the
Information Literacy among the readers and their concern community. Information
Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use
information. Library orientation programmes are conducted at the beginning of
each academic year for new students. They are taught to
·
How
to familiarize with different types of reading materials
·
Ways
of using them and Means of locating the document with the help of
classification and cataloguing.
It is responsibility to the Library to
plan to increase the information literacy of these students and to guide to how
the library could be used to obtain maximum benefit.
The students should be taught to
·
Understanding an information need and availability
·
Understanding how to find and evaluate information
·
Understand how to work with or handle the information
·
Understand how to communicate or share and manage their
findings
·
Understand ethics and responsibility of use
Accordingly, the Library University of
Jaffna introduces a new service as 3D Library to show the various dimensions of
Information to the readers. It Introduces three dimensional role of library
with information, information materials and the realia and artefacts of a specific subject. Students can earn a
new knowledge in a subject with an attraction and concentration.
In the celebration of the reading month
of the year 2009 October, the Library organizes an exhibition corner at the
centre part of the library with the Model of a 3D Library in some specific
subjects.
Defining Background of the concept
The Tamil society living in the northern
and eastern parts of Sri Lanka was a
society famed for its intellectual acumen with a relentless thirst for
knowledge for centuries. A considerable proportion of its members have been
affected by numerous constraints due to political upheaval in the recent past.
The civil war which prolonged for more than thirty something years affected the
normal thinking process of the members of the society. The physical, mental and
emotional hardships experienced by its members changed their attitude towards gathering
knowledge by reading considerably. Many people, including children have
developed an attitude averse to serious readership. A serious attempt of
gathering knowledge through reading became a painful exercise in the minds and
brains of many people. A book with a serious argument on a particular subject
became the most unwanted thing in the society. The urge to survive physically
and emotionally in unpredictable conditions created by civil war made a
tremendous impact in the attitude of the people towards reading. The habit of
reading a book with the purpose of gathering knowledge started sliding down
considerably throughout the years.
As the civil war in Sri Lanka was brought
to an end and a peaceful situation prevailing for a considerable period of time,
the re-emergence of the normal thinking process of this particular society
became visible through the attitude of its members. Realising the changes
taking place in the society, the teaching fraternity of University of Jaffna,
has embarked on a missionary task of making a society, which was strewn apart
in various directions as a result of civil war, into a learned one. It is
continuously trying harder to develop various methods which can be applied with
the aim of making education paramount for the intellectual as well as material
advancement of the society.
The university library, as ever playing
the role of principal source of knowledge, has also taken various steps and
developed various methods with the aim of promoting the habit of reading a book
for knowledge among the university community with students as primary
beneficiaries.
The administration of the university
library considers that the library has to play a vital and central role towards
transforming University of Jaffna into a leading centre of academic excellence.
This aim could be achieved by making the university a place for innovative
research and scholarship. The future graduates completing their studies at
University of Jaffna would be able to become professionally as well as
intellectually competent members of the society.
With this aim as their mission, the
library administrators have developed an innovative project named The Three
Dimensional Library ( The 3D Library). The primary aim of this project is to
promote and to increase the habit of reading with the purpose of gathering
knowledge. It aims to serve the student (reader) community through the existing
systems of library management.
Reading
habit among the society
Access to information is crucial to
individual advancement as well as corporate educational development.
Information is indispensable and bridges the gap between knowledge and
ignorance. One of the major avenues for acquiring information is reading. Reading
Education
in the Information Age
The beginning of the 21st century has
been called the Information Age because of the explosion of information output
and information sources. In the education system it has become increasingly
clear that students cannot learn everything they need to know in their field of
study in a few years of their study. The political state of affairs that
prevailed in our country during the last decade resulted in the loss of well
reading habit among the society. Information literacy equips them with the
critical skills necessary to become independent lifelong learners.
New responsibilities of Libraries
Laboriously though, the library has to
function as the driving force not only in achieving the target of the parent
institution but also to increase the
Information Literacy among the readers and their concern community. Information
Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use
information. Library orientation programmes are conducted at the beginning of
each academic year for new students. They are taught to
·
How
to familiarize with different types of reading materials
·
Ways
of using them and Means of locating the document with the help of
classification and cataloguing.
It is responsibility to the Library to
plan to increase the information literacy of these students and to guide to how
the library could be used to obtain maximum benefit.
The students should be taught to
·
Understanding an information need and availability
·
Understanding how to find and evaluate information
·
Understand how to work with or handle the information
·
Understand how to communicate or share and manage their
findings
·
Understand ethics and responsibility of use
Definition
3D library is the new concept consisting
of three important elements in a unique discipline arranged in a meaningful
manner to explore information for self learning process.
According to the concept of the 3D
Library, there are three important elements
arranged in a meaningful manner. This arrangement is made with the sole
purpose of promoting self-learning and knowledge gathering with one’s own
initiative through visualising by senses first and then conceptualizing through
reading.
Taking humanity’s endless capabilities
into consideration, this project aims to place all its tasks on humanity as its
primary element. A well-informed society of people will nonetheless improve its
total ability to think and perform in a learned manner. The project places
reading as one of the major avenues for acquiring knowledge and information.
Need of the
project
·
In our society over the last 30 years or so the tide
in reading has been on the upsurge.
reading promotion programmes in national library levels, school
education level are all are symptoms of the persisting interest in reading.
·
Changing Background in Sri
Lanka – user-oriented pattern of
library services
·
Limitations of the University education system -
Time frame of the courses .
·
New responsibilities of
Librarianship in Sri Lanka - Importance of Information literacy
·
Need of a suitable solution
to attract the readers - maximum benefit with minimum input
Objectives
The following are the major objectives of
the project:
1.
Increasing
the standard of literacy of readers.
2.
Guiding
the readers to identify the various dimensions of information.
3.
Making
a specific subject familiar by displaying of corresponding script, picture and
physical objects.
4.
Encouraging
the reader to observe the practice of evidence based research and education.
By working towards attaining these
objectives, the project aims to transform the library from its traditional role
of a place of knowledge preservation into a new functional role of a of a place
of knowledge experimentation. The project also considers that the practice of
object-oriented knowledge gathering will help to develop the practice of
preservation of valuable ( cultural & historical ) objects available in the
society.
The three basic elements of The 3D
Library are as follows:
1.
Objects
and their meaning – as primary resources.
2.
Documents
and related materials – as secondary resources
3.
Information
bits – as tertiary resources.
Application
of the concept
Accordingly, the Library University of
Jaffna introduces a new service as 3D Library to show the various dimensions of
Information to the readers. It Introduces three dimensional role of library
with information, information materials and the realia and artefacts of a specific subject. Students can earn a
new knowledge in a subject with an attraction and concentration.
In the celebration of the reading month
of the year 2009 October, the Library organizes an exhibition corner at the
centre part of the library with the Model of a 3D Library in some specific
subjects.
Formation
of the project -About the 3DL
3D library is the new concept consisting
of three important elements in a unique discipline arranged in a meaningful
manner to explore information for self learning process.
- Increasing the information literacy
of readers.
- Showing the various dimensions of
Information to the readers
- Introducing three dimensional role
of library with information, information materials and the realia of a specific subject
According to the concept of The 3D
Library, there are three important elements
arranged in a meaningful manner. This arrangement is made with the sole
purpose of promoting self-learning and knowledge gathering with one’s own
initiative through visualising by senses first and then conceptualizing through
reading.
Taking humanity’s endless capabilities
into consideration, this project aims to place all its tasks on humanity as its
primary element. A well-informed society of people will nonetheless improve its
total ability to think and perform in a learned manner. The project places
reading as one of the major avenues for acquiring knowledge and information.
Need
and Rationality
The following thoughts emphasis the need
of this project:
v
In
our society over the last 30 years or so the tide in reading has been on the
upsurge. Reading promotion programmes in
national library levels, school education level all are symptoms of the persisting
interest in reading.
v
Changing Background in Sri Lanka
v
Limitations
of the University education system - Time frame of the courses.
v
New responsibilities of Librarianship in Sri Lanka
v
Need of a suitable solution to attract the readers - maximum benefit with minimum input
The following are the major objectives of
the project:
v
Increasing
the standard of literacy of readers.
v
Guiding
the readers to identify the various dimensions of information.
v
Making
a specific subject familiar by displaying of corresponding script, picture and
physical objects.
v
Encouraging
the reader to observe the practice of evidence based research and education.
By working towards attaining these
objectives, the project aims to transform the library from its traditional role
of a place of knowledge preservation into a new functional role of a of a place
of knowledge experimentation. The project also considers that the practice of
object-oriented knowledge gathering will help to develop the practice of
preservation of valuable ( cultural & historical ) objects available in the
society.
Definition
of basic elements
The three basic elements of The 3D
Library are as follows:
4.
Objects
and their meaning – as primary resources.
5.
Documents
and related materials – as secondary resources
6.
Information
bits – as tertiary resources.
Objects
and their meaning (1st dimension)
Objects runs the gamut
of human experience from the stone axes and spear-heads of primitive man to the
most sophisticated electronic mechanisms of today’s scientists and engineers.
Objects, as
the first dimension of 3d library, reach the readers as primary resources
through the faculty of body in the form of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting
and touching and occupy their location in the low
level of the pyramid. Objects representing all the cultures and sub
cultures in the form of artefact (realia or models ) could be taken into
consideration. All the objects already been produced or being made in a
particular subjects could be collected from all the members of the society and
placed here . It would be more useful to collect the artefacts available in each subject since artefacts
have the ability to motivate the readers and are more powerful to induce the interest to read.
For example
all the objects with regard to sculpture could be arranged by material
and the process. All the objects based on materials from stone age to present
times could be collected and arranged according to the base materials used.
Based on the process the objects related to sculpture could be arranged as
objects related to carving and casting.
According to materials Physical objects, used to explain a specific
subject, can be in the form of models or realia which can be collected from
society.
The object oriented display has another inherent
characteristics which leads to a new
concept ‘social equilibrium’. Since any library whether academic or public are prepared to give a
space for all the products for the knowledge as well as skills of all members of the society irrespective of
literates or illiterates for the
production of the objects, the considerable coordination and the cooperation
of the human resources of the society reaches the libraries through this object
display.
The object display has
an outstanding quality of having the formation of reading community at various
levels since the contribution of all members of the society from farming to
carpentry, welding etc is needed for the object display. Since the libraries whether public or academic
provide opportunity not only to knowledge
but to skills, the object oriented display will pave the way to
accommodate all the skill based objects produced by the members from all the
social strata such as farmers, welders, carpenters etc irrespective of their
education. The formation of reading society at various level is the outstanding
features of this object oriented display since it warrants for
considerable support and cooperation of
these human resources at various
level
Resources
and their formats (2nd dimension)
The
description about the objects used can be found in the form of script,
documents, books etc. and they reach the reader as secondary resources. They
could be either in the form of book form materials such as books, journal articles, pamphlets,
dissertations or non book materials as micro forms, audio video tapes ,internet
etc. They are considered as secondary resources for the purpose of knowledge
gathering as second dimension of the 3 D library and placed in
the middle of the pyramid. Contribution from the selective members of the
society whether in book form or non book form. Such display of documents help
the readers for the the easy access to information since all the relavent
materials hidden in the shelves and the materials scattered everywhere due to
the techniques of broken order brought together and displayed here.
While the first dimension focuses social equilibrium by bringing the skills
of all the members of the particular
society, the second dimension helps to select the members who can contribute to
the knowledge of the society by their writings. At the same time the document
part will be helpful to identify the
gaps of the book production in the subjects and concentrate more in producing
the materials by the society.
Information
and their standards (3rd dimension)
Formation of information is
considered as the third dimension of this 3d library and treated as tertiary
resources and occupy its location in the top level of the pyramid reflecting
the density in quality. Information could be either produced from the object as
primary information through the observations,
interviews with regard to the creators of objects, etc or abstracted or
extracted from the object related materials in the form of bits, abstracts,,
etc. Since the documents are produced in different
language and different style of writing the main advantage of this part is to
help the readers to overcome all the barriers to the access to information in a
particular subjects.
The information needed for the third
dimension could be obtained in the following ways.
·
display of the graphs, diagrams, laboratory process,
photographs etc.
·
display of the interviews made with the human
resources
·
Compiling information from other relevant resources.
·
Producing information through translating from foreign
languages
·
Getting the information from websites.
·
Display of the materials borrowed from other sources
if the library doesn’t have the same.
It is expected that the formation of
the third dimension is the contribution from the library professionals since
the responsibility of finding the proper location for a particular subject which have already been
formed through the mode of formation and the subject which are being formed due
to the new research and development in the particular discipline and need to do
information search to fulfill the
information need of the readers have
increase the responsibility of the library
professionals in the generation of tertiary information of the third
dimension. This could be done by providing translation services to the
materials displayed in the second dimension of the pyramid written in foreign
languages and compilative services in the form of abstracts, digests etc.
Suppose if it is identified that the document part is very weak in a particular
subject it is the responsibility of the librarians to gather and produce
information regarding the objects from
various sources – materials in other libraries, information included in
other relevant documents, related websites. if this is too not enough to fill
the information part human resources could be approached and the interviews,
opinions of these human resources will be of great assets to fulfil the
information part of the pyramid.
Steps involved
•
Any library can introduce
and adopt this kind of display.
•
Small space which could be
the readers attraction is well enough to
conduct this program. This may be either the corner of a reference section or
center of the section . Even a corner of the class room is useful to have this
•
The Topic of this display
could be made once in a week based on the curriculum.
•
It must be realized the
fact that the objects will be produced for each and every subject. At the same
times it will be very difficult to collect the objects which are given up by
the society. In this contexts picture oriented display will be of more helpful
in place of objects to attract the readers. The subjects like literature,
philosophy in the field of humanity have very less opportunity for the objects.
In this case picture oriented materials will be more helpful. for example if we
chose the topic ‘poetry’ for the 3D library
we will have to collect the objects in the form of statues of great
poets worldwide. If we find it difficult to collect this we could at least
display the pictures of them.
•
Every library should
establish storage for the objects. One class front cabinet will be enough for a
small school library. The collection of objects could be used to form an art gallery
and preserve in the centre of the school.
Outputs
of the project
The followings are the notable outputs of
this project
·
Remarkable
increase in number of visit of readers.
·
According
to the opinion book and feedback form most of the viewers were attracted by 3DL
with a positive manner and they felt their IL also enriched by this concept.
·
Moral
support of the departments to develop such kind of service.
·
Appreciation
and collaboration of departments to continue the service to improve the
Information Literacy of their students by providing related images and objects
of their subject.
·
Development
of Library awareness at society level through the requested visits of the
schools
·
Re-
origination of documentation culture among the readers society
As a total view, feedbacks
of the viewers have shown the effectiveness of such service and the need of
emerge to spread the idea all over the country.
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