CHENNAI: The library department of MOP Vaishnav College for Women organised its first event on Friday. Titled ResearchScape, the symposium threw the spotlight on why there must be more focus on research. The event was put together by students across departments. One of the speakers at the event, Dr Sumathi S, head of Anthropology department, University of Madras, said, “One must read a lot and ask questions. We have the habit of accepting what is told to us.
We skim through many books but it would be better if we read one book thoroughly instead.” The symposium also focused on how resources should be used by researchers, and the resource base, which is usually the library, should also evolve technologically. Parthasarathy Iyengar, former director of Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, said, “Technology has evolved but it is also important to have an efficient head of the institution everywhere.
Why are our institutions not on par with global standards? That is because we do not have autonomy as such. All colleges are governed by some university. We need people to think of research. That is when we will excel.” Other speakers were Samyuktha R, librarian, Pondicherry University, Ramanathan Muthuganapthy, professor, IIT-M and Fazlunnisa Syed H, Library and Information Science Department of University of Madras.