Library Herald Year : 2019, Volume : 57, Issue : 1 First page : ( 19) Last page : ( 45) Print ISSN : 0024-2292. Online ISSN : 0976-2469. Article DOI : 10.5958/0976-2469.2019.00002.2
Information Services for the Visually Challenged Students in Medinipur Division of West Bengal: An Anlytical Study
Pradhan Sudipta1, Dr Sahu Nivedita Bhattacharyya2
1Ph. D. Research Scholar, Department of Library and Information Science, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore-721102. E-mail: spradhan.lisc@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore-721102. E-mail: nives.b22@gmail.com
Abstract
The present study highlights the information services for the visually challenged students provided by the special schools in the Medinipur division under the Districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram and Purba Medinipur for providing services to the visually challenged students of secondary and higher secondary level. There are eleven (11) such schools in the division spread over the districts and only Jhargram district has no such special school. The study reveals that the institutes meant for the visually challenged should increase access, availability and funding for assistive technology through efforts and initiatives. Only one institute Vivekananda Mission Asram (VMA) uses sufficient Braille resources and Assistive technology. It has been revealed from the study that due to improper information about the assistance from the Government level (both Central and State) these institutes are suffering from shortage of funds. Also shortage of teaching faculty in these institutes is another hindrance in the overall development of the visually challenged students. Only in two institutes, VMA and AAHS trained librarians are recruited to run the library. The study also focuses that only in 5 institutes out of the 11 institutes the visually challenged students are very much satisfied with at least one service of the library.
Keywords Visually challenged, Braille resources, assistive technology, Medinipur division, library services, information services.