Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement in Higher Academic Libraries: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

Quality is a process of continuous improvements and developments which focuses on small details, that leads to satisfaction of the end user over the products and services. Quality is defining element of any process, product of the system. Particularly, the present knowledge society warrants the phase of rapid developments which needs continuous and systematic quality assurance and sustenanceinitiatives in all spheres of domains and activities. Higher education being recognized as global service even in developing countries, it needs to adopt international standards in teaching learning and research practices so as to elope with the higher education institutions across the globe. The corporate and industrial sector emphasis to establish their stake even in remotest of the remote locations in Asian and African continent. It necessitates skilled and qualified human resource potentials with international outlook and it could be attained by provision of quality education. Government of India initiated quality assurance and accreditation system by establishing formal organizations such as NAAC & NBA in the year 1994 to assess and accredit Higher Education institutions and the porgrammes. During the last two decades, the quality assurance, sustenance and enhancement parameters, standards of these organizations have been changed and revised as to the prevailing conditions and expectations at the national and international level. Standards and quality indicators for higher academic libraries also have been changed and revised many times by giving more emphasize on the output of accreditation and quality of the institutions. It paves the ways and means for a great number of higher academic libraries to improve the quality of LIS. This paper aimed at identifying and bringing out quality initiatives, accreditation parameters, best practices and academic libraries standards that were exercised and the impact made on improving the quality of Library and Information environment. The work also highlights the standards of library set by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), National Board of Accreditation (NBA), and Distance Education Council (DEC), State government Higher Education agencies of India in comparison with global library accreditation parameters. This study also reveals the scores of library accreditation and its correlation with the overall institutional assessment. It is found that a good number of Indian Higher Education institutions libraries were gone for third cycle of Accreditation.