Prof. Furqan Qamar, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rajasthan, recently spoke about the role of digital spaces in universities. He emphasized that while universities will make use of digitalization, traditional brick-and-mortar universities will still be important.
Despite the availability of online educational resources, Prof. Qamar believes that physical presence of teachers in classrooms will continue to be necessary for effective education. He expressed these thoughts during the inaugural session of a two-week refresher course in library science at Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
The course, organized by the Malviya Mission Teachers’ Training Centre, was attended by over 60 participants. Prof. Qamar, who also served as the secretary-general of the Association of Indian Universities, highlighted the importance of libraries in helping students and faculty members distinguish between information and knowledge.
Dr. Akhtar Pervez, the university librarian, discussed the objectives of the course, emphasizing the future significance of open access resources. He also mentioned the challenge of managing and integrating both print and electronic resources. Prof. Saneem Fatima, the director of UGC-MMTTC, also spoke at the event.
