Dakshinamurti

[Cookie Grosky]

She believes that the basic goal of information literacy is still unchanged irrespective of limited resources in the past and the exponential growth of information sources and tools in the present. She is of the view that there is no foreseeable end to this explosion of information sources and therefore educating the patrons about the effective use of resources is necessary.

You moved to Winnipeg from the USA in 1965 and have been over there ever since. In the same year, you started your professional career as Librarian at the Red River Community College in 1965. What was the status of librarianship in colleges then?

The sixties were good years to join the academic workforce in Canada, and accredited librarians, along with teachers, were readily welcomed and accepted in schools and colleges. The very next day of my arrival in Winnipeg in April 1965*, I was invited for an interview at the Manitoba Institute of Technology (now Red River College), and after a quick in-person interview, was readily offered the position of Librarian in charge of establishing a college library.

The status of college librarian even then was equivalent to teaching instructors. As a newly established library, the emphasis was on acquisition and organisation of materials needed for retrieval by students and faculty. I was also fully involved as the library representative to the College systems group in establishing an in-house developed computer system for the library. During the second decade of my stay in the College, I took up the position of Instructor of Library Technicians in the College Technology program, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the intricacies of the then new AACR2 in teaching cataloguing, and how MARC records enabled copy cataloguing. I also took a keen interest in matching retrieval data with the information needs of the users, which helped me immensely later in my career with my direct interaction with library users.

You worked in college for over two decades and then joined University of Manitoba Libraries in 1988 when technology was at its infancy. What was the status of information literacy programmes in the university environment those days? Was that totally different from what you experienced in a college environment in Winnipeg?

With my practical and teaching experiences of cataloguing and acquisition in the community college, I joined the University of Manitoba Libraries as the Technical Services Coordinator, in charge of areas working on acquisition and cataloguing of books and serials. Of all the areas of service in the Library, cataloguing was the most automated area then and emphasis was placed on increasing copy cataloguing to augment making catalogued materials available to users more readily, particularly needed at the time of increase in acquisition of information sources in the University Library. Information literacy was in its infancy, outlining keyword search through automated catalogue records.

My interest in information literacy increased as I explored more ways to increase the ways catalogued records serve the diverse interests and needs of the users. I remember being asked by Systems personnel why would we need subject retrieval if we could retrieve through keyword search of the title; and I was able to convince them by showing a book titled What do you do with a Lemon, that dealt with car mechanics!

Before the advent of the Internet, information search skills and data retrieval in automated libraries were dependent on the information available from automated catalogued records of library materials through keyword search of author, title and subject headings of the catalogued records. To provide good service to users, it was necessary to have good communication and rapport between Reference and Cataloguing staff, to ensure that the catalogued items were retrievable more readily. I used to hold information sessions for librarians to discuss the intricacies of MARC records and the ways and means to improve retrieval of relevant information from automated records.

Once the Internet opened up the resources of the world through keyword search, emphasis of service to patrons in libraries shifted from Technical Services area covering acquisition and cataloguing to Public Services area covering Reference and Information retrieval functions. With less in-house work of direct acquisition and original cataloguing in individual libraries and more of outsourcing of acquisition and cataloguing work to outside sources, I was actually part of the management team that shifted workload and personnel from Technical Services to Public Services for effective use of trained personnel with knowledge of automation, thereby outsourcing my own position! This is when I had also completed the requirements for my Ph.D. thesis titled Human Resources Development of Academic Librarians in Post-Secondary Institutions in Manitoba and was requested to join the Management Library in the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba as the Instructional Services Librarian, in order to use my academic knowledge-base more purposefully. My focus of responsibility also shifted from being a provider of information records to a user and a teacher of information retrieval.

Asper Business School at the University of Manitoba is known for its significant number of foreign students, particularly from China and India. When I offered seminars on information literacy for first year Business students, I noted that those from India were always ready to attend. They invariably had a good understanding of the mechanical process of information retrieval but had to be taught and initiated into the process of questioning and analysing information obtained for bias and reliability. Often, I found them using information obtained readily and fully without proper acknowledgement of sources. So, I changed my information literacy seminar into two parts: the first would cover relevant information sources, effective retrieval of information and acknowledgement of sources; and the second would cover analysis and usage of information itself, and the dangers of plagiarism to avoid, and protocols to follow, while retrieving and using information. I found the Indian students to be very receptive to this and often made a point of letting me know later how they have used my lessons in their works. Several of them, now employed in various companies all over Canada, continue to keep in touch with me to let me know how they fare.

Another area where I found students newly arrived from India needed encouragement was in the area of questioning, and challenging data, when in doubt; and initiating and voluntarily participating in discussion. Vocal participation is a necessary trait in classes here, and at the University level a student has to be vocal to be noticed and credited for participation. I always made a point of referring to this need at my initial meetings with students from India, and have often been told it has served them well.

I welcome this totally! Learning that is flowing like a river in a well cultivated area, shaped for it to flow freely, and kept unblemished and allowed for more to be added on its way, is there for the benefit of all to grow further!

They are all essential building blocks of information literacy. One cannot have understanding of a particular set of acceptable information from a reliable source without thinking about, and reasoning out the parts of the subject, and critically examining the information source for unbiased, complete and up-to-date relevant information.

To serve researchers effectively, it demands a higher level of competence and knowledge about the research process for Librarians. What is your take on making researchers information literate?

In an academic or research setting, it is highly important that the librarian concerned is fully aware of the research process as well as the subject matter involved. This will facilitate the librarian to first prepare a preliminary list of relevant sources and then undertake to have a series of conversation with the researcher/s concerned to bring about more awareness of these sources and their possible uses. Such an ongoing discussion, handled in a cordial manner, will enable the researcher to accept the librarian as a knowledgeable and friendly ally in the research process, and in due course, become information literate. A true researcher HAS to be information literate!

Ganga has long been associated with the Canadian Library Association. She has been fully involved with the American Library Association through many committees, often as Chair. She has served as the President of Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and was active as a member of the Steering Committee that organised a conference on coloured people in 2006 in Dallas.

Cite Hulagabali, Santosh C. (2020 December, 30). Ganga Dakshinamurti: A true researcher has to be information literate. [Blog post]. Retrieved from -dakshinamurti-a-true-researcher-has-to-be-information-literate/

Santosh C Hulagabali, PhD is Moderator of Open Interview and Editor of Open Commentaries. He heads Central Library of Central University of Haryana. He is passionate about anything that is creative, challenging and positively impacts self and others. Email: san...@cuh.ac.in

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A benevolent manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva, Dakshinamurti is believed to be the supreme teacher of the shastras (scriptures), yoga and music. Dakshinamurti figures are typically situated in a niche on the southern wall of a temple shrine.

Scholars have identified four main types of dakshinamurtis, based on the four types of teaching the figure is associated with. Of these, the Vyakhyana Dakshinamurti is most frequently represented in temple architecture. The deity is represented near a banyan tree, seated on a seat covered with tiger skin in the virasana pose, where the right leg hangs and the left leg rests on the right. The figure is represented with four arms, the front right held in the gyana mudra and the front left in varada or danda mudra. The back right hand holds an akshamala (string of beads) and the back left has either agni (fire) or a snake. The hair of the figure is matted, with a mukuta (headdress) decorated with flowers. The centre of the mukuta may feature the face of the goddess Ganga. The deity is shown with one foot on top of an apasmara purusha (dwarf). Another type, the Gyana Dakshinamurti, is represented similarly, with the difference being in the back left hand, which holds an utpala flower.

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