A National Level Seminar held at Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU)

Ahasan, Dhaka, 23 September 2018

A daylong Seminar on “A National-level network for agricultural library and information centers in Bangladesh” organized by the Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) Central Library was held on 16 September 2018 at Conference Hall (4th floor) Administrative Building of CVASU.

Inaugural session:

Prof. Dr Md. Rayhan Faruque, Dean, FFST was the chief guest, while Prof. Dr M. Nurul Absar Khan, dean  FoF, CVASU and Prof. Md. A Halim, Dean FVM were the special guests. Md. Habibur Rahman, SPM, CP 2184 and Librarian, CVASU chaired the session. Prof. Dr Md. Shiful Islam, Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Dr Md. Nazim Uddin, Senior Manager, Library and Information Services Unit, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Institute Bangladesh(icddr,b), Dr Md. Anwarul Islam, Librarian, Sher e Bangla Agricultural University also spoke in the inaugural session.

First technical session:

There were several technical sessions at the event. In the first technical session Dr Md. Nazim Uddin Chaired the session and two papers were presented in this session. The first and keynote paper was presented by Mr Md. Habibur Rahman, Librarian, CVASU and titled “A national -level network for agricultural library and information centers in Bangladesh.” Another paper was Libraries in the Digital Plus Era” presented by Dr Md. Zillur Rahman, Librarian, Head, Library and Learning Resources Center, Chittagong Independent University.

 

Second technical session:

The chair of this technical session was Prof. Dr Shiful Islam and two papers were presented. Mr Md. Jahangir Alam, Librarian (In-Charge) International Islamic University Chittagong was given a presentation on “Measuring User Satisfaction of Integrated Library Systems in the Public University Libraries of Bangladesh.” Another one was presented by Dr Md. Nazim Uddin on “New Role of Academic and Research Libraries to Bridge Technical Issues of Conducting Research in Bangladesh: observations from last 15 years.“ authors the title; Mr Md. Shafiur Rahman, icddr,b, Farzana Sultana, Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons(BCPS), and Md. Moniruzzaman, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Dhaka.

Third technical session:

In the third technical session Mr Md. Ahasan Habib, Library Officer, Islamic University of Technology (IUT) presented a paper on “Content Management and Web-Based Library Services: a case study of selected universities of Bangladesh” and another one was presented by Ms Dil Rukshana Basunia, Deputy Librarian, the University of Chittagong on “IFLA WLIC 2018: IFLA Congress is an absolute platform of professional development and networking for library professionals.”  Dr Md. Anwarul Islam conducted this session as the chair.

Fourth technical session:

Three important papers were presented in the fourth technical session. The first one was presented by Prof. Dr Shiful Islam, Dept. of ISLM, DU and co-author Md. Habibur Rahman, Librarian, CVASU on “Towards Building a model for Digital Content Management of Agricultural University Libraries in Bangladesh” and another paper on “Proposing a multi-disciplinary nationwide information network in Bangladesh: a review” which was presented by Mr Mohammed Nashiruzzaman, Deputy Librarian, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology(CUET). The final one of this session presented by Dr Md. Anwarul Islam, Librarian, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University on “A pilot plan for e-network of Bangladesh agricultural institute libraries” Mr Md. Minhaz Uddin Ahmed, Adjunct Faculty, Royal University, Dhaka was the session chair but he handed over this role to Dr Md. Nazim Uddin.

Fifth technical session:

Dr Md. Zillur Rahman, Librarian, Chittagong Independent University conducted the fifth technical session where Dr Md. Azizur Rahman, and co-author Mr Md. Fazlul Kader Chowdhury presented a paper on “Networking and Resource Sharing among Agricultural Libraries: Bangladesh Perspective” and another paper was presented by Mr Md. Monirul Islam, Librarian, Army Medical College, Chittagong, co-authors Prof. Dr Nasiruddin Munshi, Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka and Mr Nurul Islam, Part-time Faculty Member, Library and Information Science, International Islamic University, Chittagong on “Digital preservation activities through Institutional Repository in some selected Public University Libraries of Bangladesh: an analysis.” Ms Dil Ruksana Basunia worked a rapporteur.

In short, the focus of the seminar was to build agricultural Library and information Centres first and then spread out to others sectors as well.  Further, the said seminar aims to help library professionals to understand the major issues and challenges in the implementation of networking in agricultural libraries and information centres in Bangladesh. It brought together academics, researchers, library practitioners and eminent scholars in the field of information science and library management to share their knowledge and experiences. As well as it helps to find solutions to the problems of implementation of networking and resource sharing in agricultural libraries to attain the ultimate goals of the respective institutions.

The seminar was held under the higher education quality enhancement project (HEQEP) sub-project complete proposals for supplementary funding (CPSF) 2184: Modernization of central library and establishment of an e-resource centre at CVASU.