Collaboration Process between the Department of Library and Information Science and the Main Library: a Case Study based on University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Collaboration is the process which any organization in society can engage based on mutually agreed policies and practices with any other organization or group of organizations. Without a proper collaboration with other allied bodies and the profession of Library and Information Science (LIS), the Department of Library and Information Science (DLIS), University of Kelaniya is unlikely to keep up with these developments and deliver a good education and service in line with the international standards of teaching, research and information management. As a very good example, the establishment of DLISs in the main libraries in certain Indian university can be demonstrated. Professor Ranganathan was the creator of this concept. In that situation, building a good collaboration is very valuable for both the DLIS and with other related institutions specially the Main Library, University of Kelaniya. According to these situations the principle purpose of this paper is to study the collaboration process between the DLIS and the Main Library University of Kelaniya. The other objective are to explore what are the collaborative activities conducted by both institutes, to identify additional collaborative activities they can start, to examine what are the barriers for collaboration and to explore how such collaborative activities would impact for student academic and moral success. Method adopted is a case study followed by mixed research approach hence primary qualitative and quantitative data will be collected conducting interviews with both academic staff at the DLIS and the Main Library, of University of Kelaniya library. Focus group discussion method will also be used for further collecting data and information related to study. Secondary sources like DLIS and the Main Library records and reports will be given much impact for the study when secondary data collection. Results, findings and conclusions will be used for effective functioning of the collaboration between DLIS and Main Library.