For this month’s librarian spotlight, we have the pleasure to present Dr. Nandkishor Motewar, the director of the Knowledge Resource Center at Mumbai University. A librarian with over 20 years of experience in the field and a desire to meet the ever changing needs of library patrons.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the field of librarianship?
I am in the Library profession since 24 years ago.
(Lecturer in Library and Information Science: 1 year, College Librarian: 20+ years, Director, Knowledge Resource Center/ University librarian: 3 Years)
Reading is one of my favorite habits. I came to know the library profession and higher education in library science from one of my friends who was studying library science. So I decided to enter in the Library Profession after my graduation.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities as the Director of the Knowledge Resource Center?
Planning and Management of the Library i.e. Acquisition/purchase/subscription of print books/Journals and e-resources, management of classification and cataloguing of books , E-resource access management including remote access, plagiarism checking, digitization of Ph.D. Theses and uploading to Shodhganga. Automation and modernization of the library, planning and organizing training programs for the library users, planning and implementing modern infrastructure for the library and overall management of the university library.
What are some of the major challenges you faced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?
During the pandemic I was working as Director of the Knowledge Resource Center in Gondwana University Gadchiroli where I found difficulty in providing remote access/ off campus access to e-resources and print resources, as that time the physical teaching learning process was stopped and the library users were not allowed to physically enter the library .
How have you been able to overcome or adjust to the challenges faced?
During that time at Gondwana University we implemented the Myloft remote access tool and now in the University of Mumbai. During the covid pandemic the remote access facility helped all the academicians to access the e-content for the teaching learning and research process. It helped to increase the usage of e-resources subscribed by the university. With this remote access tool users can access the e-resources anywhere, any time.
What subject, topic or issue has piqued your interest recently? What are you doing to further your learning as a librarian?
Modernization and renovation of the University Library is in process, implementation of new technologies like remote access to e-resources, discovery services, electronic resource management, library automation and digitization of Ph.D. Theses etc. are few recent areas of my interest.
I use to read books and journals, attend training programs to learn and understand new concepts.
What would you consider the most rewarding parts of your job?
Satisfying user (Students, Teachers and Researchers) needs with traditional and modern techniques and implementing new technologies for information storage, retrieval and dissemination are the most rewarding parts of my job.
If you could take a trip right now to visit any library in the world, which would it be and why?
I would like to visit Library of Congress USA (The de facto national library of the United States.) As the LC is one of the oldest libraries with a large collection. Its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages.
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