Linda Parker, US embassy official, at the seminar in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Feb. 15: Librarians from different institutions in the capital got an opportunity to learn about the latest digital facilities and free websites relating to different subjects at a seminar organised by the Bihar Industries Association here today.

The daylong seminar on “Free Internet resources for professionals” was organised to familiarise librarians with Internet facilities so that they can assist the library visitors and students with information on available on the net.

The seminar was address by Linda Parker, information resource officer, public affairs section, US Embassy. Linda is responsibile for all American libraries in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Librarians of different institutions, including Patna Women’s College, BIT, Patna, Cybotech, Sinha Library, St Michael’s High School and DAV Academy, took part in the seminar. The panel at the seminar included Sushanta Banerjee, director, American Library, Calcutta, Rohit Singh, executive director, IIBM and Zakir Hussain Group of Institution, U.K. Singh, director-general of IIBM and ZHI grup of Institution and the Global university, Nagaland, and A. K. Nayak, director, IIBM and ZHI group of institutions.

In her address, Linda said: “Reading is very important for librarians. What today’s librarians do is that they read books but don’t go into detail. Of course, there are many technologies today where one can access websites for free and learn new things, but it is also true that much more information is present in books which are lying unsed on shelves. Try to read from books as much as you can but do not try to learn it rather grasp the knowledge. At the same time, try to learn the functioning of computer along with the knowledge of information and technology.”

“How many of you go to Google and cross-check facts on any website when it opens before you? Have you ever tried to know its updating status? The answer perhaps is no. Most of you never mind to check this fact while browsing the various sites,” said Parker.