Library Management

Purpose – The paper aims to study the status and future trend of outsourcing in science and technology libraries in Delhi.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper is the result of the detailed literature survey and a survey conducted on 40 science and technology libraries of Delhi, India. Questionnaire and interview tools of survey were used to collect the primary data.

Findings – The paper reveals that most Indian libraries have been using selective outsourcing for many years, which has had favorable impact on these libraries. The majority of libraries outsource professional-automated and non-professional activities and services. They are still not ready to outsource professional traditional library activities and services, whereas the literature shows that internationally libraries outsourced tradition activities and services equally. Indian libraries also want to continue and expand the use of outsourcing in the future, especially digitization, RFID tagging and maintenance.

Originality/value – The Indian library science literature gives just the reflections of outsourcing being practiced in various libraries and no traces of survey(s) conducted in this area. This paper is the first attempt to glance at this widely used concept in almost all types of libraries in one way or another. This paper may open discussions on an area that is being used by all, although they refrain from accepting it, considering outsourcing as an anti-professional activity.