Dr. K. G. Sudhier Presented Research Paper at ETD 2026 International Symposium

Dear All,

We are delighted to share you that Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur participated in the 29th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD 2026), held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi from 23rd to 25th October 2026. The symposium focused on the theme “ETD in the Age of AI.”

Dr. Sudhier presented a research paper titled “Digital Repositories for ETDs: A Case Study using Zotero Group Libraries for Developing Academic Repositories,” co-authored with Goutham N., Research Scholar. The session was chaired by Prof. Sewa Singh from Amritsar.

In addition to presenting his research, Dr. Sudhier served as the Session Coordinator for a technical session titled “Global ETD Ecosystem: Consortia, Networks, Platforms & Institutional Practices.”

His participation in the international symposium reflects the Department's engagement with contemporary developments in electronic theses and dissertations, digital repositories, and the application of emerging technologies in academic information management.

Padma Shri Dr. S. R. Ranganathan's 134th Birth Anniversary Celebrated on 15th August 2026

Dear All, 

We are delighted to share you that the Department of Library & Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Thiruvarur in association with the Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC), Kolkata (Zone 1), organized a national webinar to commemorate National Librarians’ Day 2026 on 15 August 2026 at 4:00 PM via Google Meet. The webinar was organized on the theme “Library and Information Science Education in India at Crossroads.” The programme was presided over by Prof. S. Thanuskodi, Head, Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN, and coordinated by Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Vice President, IASLIC.

The eminent speaker, Prof. N. Laxman Rao, UGC Emeritus Fellow and Former Head, Department of Library and Information Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, delivered the keynote address. He discussed major issues and emerging needs in Library and Information Science (LIS) education, with particular emphasis on curriculum reform, digital integration, faculty development, industry collaboration, open access, continuing professional development, employability, and research orientation. Following the keynote address, Prof. P. G. Tadasad, Department of Library and Information Science, Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University, Vijayapura; Dr. K. P. Vijayakumar, Former Head, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kerala; and Dr. S. Ravi Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN, shared their views, observations, and suggestions on the theme. 

The webinar concluded with the concluding remarks by Prof. Akhandanand Shukla, Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN. Dr. S. Ravi Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN, proposed the formal vote of thanks and expressed gratitude to the keynote speaker, dignitaries, organizers, and participants for their valuable contributions and active participation.

Overall, the webinar was an informative and meaningful academic programme that provided a valuable platform for discussing the present challenges and future directions of Library and Information Science education in India. The deliberations emphasized the need to continuously adapt LIS education to technological advancements, evolving professional requirements, employability needs, and the rapidly changing information environment.

National Librarian’s Day 2026 Celebrated at DLIS, Central University of Tamil Nadu

Dear All,

We are delighted to inform you that the Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), celebrated National Librarian’s Day 2026 on 12 August 2026 at the Choza Central Library Hall, CUTN, with great enthusiasm and academic fervour. The programme commenced at 10:30 AM and was attended by faculty members, students, invited dignitaries, and members of the university library community. The programme began with a formal welcome to the distinguished guests. The gathering was honoured by the presence of Prof. E. M. Shankar, Dean of Research, CUTN, and Prof. B. Radha, Dean, School of Communication, CUTN, as the Guests of Honour. Respected faculty members, Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Departmental Programme Coordinator, and students were also present on the occasion.

The Welcome Address was delivered by Dr. S. Ravi Kumar, Associate Professor, CUTN, who warmly welcomed the dignitaries, faculty members, students, and the entire gathering. This was followed by the Presidential Address by Prof. S. Thanuskodi, Head, Department of Library and Information Science. In his address, he highlighted the significant role of libraries and librarians in supporting education and research, facilitating knowledge creation and dissemination, and contributing to the intellectual development of society. The programme then proceeded with the Librarian’s Day Special Talk, delivered by Dr. R. Parameswaran, Librarian, Choza Central Library, CUTN. The Guests of Honour, Prof. E. M. Shankar and Prof. B. Radha, subsequently addressed the gathering and shared their valuable thoughts on the importance of libraries and librarianship, as well as the role of learning and knowledge dissemination in contemporary society. Their insightful messages added academic significance to the celebration. 

One of the most memorable moments of the programme was the release of the Department Newsletter, Bibliophile, Volume 8, Issue 1, June 2026. The newsletter was released in the presence of the distinguished guests and faculty members. The occasion was particularly significant with the participation of the Guests of Honour, Faculty Editor Dr. K. G. Sudhier, and Student Editor Anugu Tejaswini. The release marked another important contribution to the academic and creative activities of the Department of Library and Information Science. The celebration was followed by the Prize Distribution Ceremony. As part of the National Librarian’s Day celebrations, the Department had organised competitions for students, including an Essay Writing Competition on the theme “Beyond the Bookshelves: What a Library Means to Me” and a Poster Making Competition on the theme “Library 2030.” The winners of the competitions were felicitated and presented with their prizes by the Guests of Honour. The ceremony provided an encouraging and memorable experience for the participating students and recognised their creativity and engagement with the theme of librarianship. The programme concluded with the Vote of Thanks delivered by Hari Krishnan S. N., Department Representative, Second Year MLIS. He expressed sincere gratitude to the dignitaries, Head of the Department, faculty members, programme coordinators, students, and all those who contributed to the successful organisation of the celebration.

The National Librarian’s Day 2026 celebration was a meaningful and memorable occasion that brought together the academic community of the Department of Library and Information Science to recognise and celebrate the invaluable role of libraries and librarians. The programme concluded on a positive and celebratory note, leaving the participants with a renewed appreciation for the enduring significance of libraries in fostering knowledge, learning, research, and the intellectual development of society.

Successful Completion of Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce of Ms. Rima Hazarika, Ph.D. Scholar

Dear All,

We are pleased to inform you that Ms. Rima Hazarika, Ph.D. scholar in the Department, successfully defended her Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce Examination held in the Smart Classroom on 5th August 2026, at 11:00 AM. Her doctoral thesis was titled "Mapping the Open Access Landscape of State and Central Universities in North-East India: Insights from OpenAlex".

She presented her research work in brief and satisfactorily answered the queries raised during the Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce Examination. Prof. Sadanand Y. Bansode, Senior Professor & Dean, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, served as the External Examiner. Open Ph.D. defence was attended by 85 attendees, including 55 participants in person and 30 participants online. Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor and Research Supervisor, served as the Convener of the Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce Examination. The RAC Members Prof. Akhandanand Shukla, DLIS, CUTN and Prof. T. J. Abraham, Head, Dept. of English Studies, CUTN were also present during the Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce.

The Department congratulates Ms. Rima Hazarika on the successful completion of her Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce Examination and wishes success in her future academic and professional endeavours.

Dr. K. G. Sudhier Receives Best LIS Researcher Award

Dear All, 

We are delighted to inform you that Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur was honoured with the prestigious Best LIS Researcher Award instituted by the All Kerala Librarians Meet during the All Kerala Librarians’ Meet 2026 (AKLM), held at Vimala College (Autonomous). The award was presented in recognition of Dr. Sudhier’s significant contributions to teaching, research, and academic development in the field of Library and Information Science. 

The 4th edition of the All Kerala Librarians’ Meet 2026 served as an annual gathering of library professionals working in various institutions across Kerala. The event provided a vibrant platform for professional interaction, knowledge sharing, and strengthening collaborative networks among LIS professionals in the state.

The Department extends its heartfelt congratulations to Dr. K. G. Sudhier on this remarkable achievement and wishes him continued success in all his future endeavors.

Dr. K. G. Sudhier re-elected as Vice-President, IASLIC, Kolkata

Dear All, 

This is to inform you that Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur has been re-elected as Vice-President, Indian Association of Special Libraries & Information Centres (IASLIC), Kolkata. 

Department congrats to him on his new responsibility.

Successful PhD Pre-Submission Seminar of Ms. Rima Hazarika

Dear All, 

We are pleased to inform you that Ms. Rima Hazarika, a Ph.D. Scholar (R211903), successfully presented her Ph.D. Pre-Submission Seminar in the Conference Hall of Chozha Central Library, CUTN, on 18th December 2025, at 3:00 PM. The topic of her research is "Mapping the Open Access Landscape of State and Central Universities in North-East India: Insights from OpenAlex." Her research supervisor is Dr. K. G. Sudhier. The Ph.D. Pre-Submission Seminar was attended by faculty members, research scholars, and students from the department, as well as research scholars and faculty members from other departments. 

The Department extends its blessings to her for this academic achievement and congratulates her on the successful presentation of her Ph.D. Pre-Submission Seminar.

Successful Participation in 3rd International CLSTL-2025 by Dr. K. G. Sudhier

Dear All, 

This is to inform you that Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor in the Department, participated in and presented a paper at the 3rd International Conference on “Changing Landscape of Science & Technology Libraries: Enhancing Library Experiences with AI” (CLSTL-2025), organized by the Central Library, IIT Gandhinagar, during September 25–27, 2025. 

He successfully presented a co-authored paper with Dr. Abhijith B. titled “A Semi-Automated Conflict Resolution Model for Cross-Domain Ontology Alignment using Open-Source LLM.” The paper proposes a novel semi-automated model for resolving semantic conflicts in cross-domain ontology alignment. By integrating the contextual and semantic capabilities of open-source LLMs (Llama 3) with the precision and reliability of human expert validation, the model addresses key limitations of purely rule-based or machine learning-based systems.

The Department congratulates Dr. K. G. Sudhier on his successful participation and presentation at the 3rd International Conference CLSTL-2025.

Padma Shri Dr. S. R. Ranganathan's 133rd Birth Anniversary Celebration on 12th August, 2025

Dear All, 

This is to inform you that the Department of Library & Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, organized the National Librarian's Day celebration on the occasion of Padma Shri Dr. S. R. Ranganathan's 133rd Birth Anniversary on 12th August 2025, from 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM, through Google Meet. On this occasion, the department invited Dr. M. G. Sreekumar, Director, Libraries, Jio Institute, as a special guest to deliver the theme talk on “The Changing Landscape of Learning Paradigm and Next Generation of Libraries.” 

The programme commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Akhandanand Shukla, DLIS, CUTN, followed by a brief introduction to the programme, the department, and its faculty members. Prof. S. Thanuskodi, Head of the Department, in his presidential address, highlighted the significance of National Librarian's Day and the contributions of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan to the profession. After his address, Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor, introduced the resource person to the audience. 

The resource person, Dr. M. G. Sreekumar, delivered an engaging and insightful talk on “The Changing Landscape of Learning Paradigm and Next Generation of Libraries.” In his presentation, he discussed the historical context and evolution of libraries over millennia, changing user behaviors—especially among digital natives—emerging and current trends in libraries, and the role of technological advancements, with a focus on AI applications in libraries. He also spoke about best practices in library services as well as the professional competencies required for librarians to remain relevant and impactful. There was an active Q & A session after the lecture where Dr. Sreekumar answered the queries.

The invited talk was coordinated by Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor, DLIS, CUTN, and was attended by more than 66 LIS professionals, students, and scholars from across the country. The event concluded with remarks by Dr. S. Ravikumar, Associate Professor, DLIS, CUTN, who summarized key points from the discussion and delivered the formal vote of thanks. He expressed gratitude to the participants for their active engagement and to Dr. M. G. Sreekumar for his enlightening presentation. Ms. Doli Basumatary, MLIS 3rd Semester student, served as the rapporteur for the programme.

The glimpses of the program is given below: 

Department thanks to all who attended the program across the country and taken the benefit to listen Dr. M. G. Sreekumar on the occasion of National Librarian's Day.

Understanding Systematic Literature Review

Dear All, 

We are delighted to inform you that Department of Library & Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur has organised a special online lecture series “Anveshan: An Online Lecture Series in LIS for Research Scholars." The 10th lecture in the series was held on 9th August 2025 (Saturday) from 03:00 to 04:30 PM via Google Meet. Prof. Shriram Pandey, Professor & Head, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh, was invited as the resource person and delivered a lecture on the topic “Understanding Systematic Literature Review.”

The programme commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Akhandanand Shukla, DLIS, CUTN, followed by a brief introduction to the programme, the department, its faculty members, and the resource person. 

In his lecture, Prof. Pandey highlighted the growing importance of systematic review papers and their increasing demand in scholarly publications across various domains. He emphasised that systematic reviews are fundamentally different from bibliometric studies and require collaboration and subject expertise. He outlined the purpose of systematic reviews and discussed common mistakes in literature reviews, such as adopting a “pick and choose” approach from a single database, organising literature solely in chronological, reverse chronological, or thematic order, and relying on a single database or dataset to identify research gaps. Further, he explained the key benefits and challenges of systematic reviews, noting their role in identifying prolific authors and establishing relationships among research contexts—something traditional reviews often fail to achieve. He clarified the differences between a literature review, a systematic literature review, and a meta-analysis, and discussed various types of literature reviews and review methods. 

Prof. Pandey stressed that a literature review is a journey from the known to the unknown, making it essential to adopt the correct methodology. He demonstrated various sources of data for systematic reviews, including bibliographic databases, websites, journals, and books. He explained how to develop a search strategy using synonyms, abbreviations, and Boolean operators, and presented the standard format of a systematic literature review paper. He particularly stressed the adoption of the PRISMA methodology, which he described in detail. Additionally, he discussed methods of data extraction and analysis, including descriptive analysis and literature classification, and outlined the sequential steps for conducting systematic reviews. He also shared examples of both paid and free tools useful for this process. Towards the end of the session, Prof. Pandey gave a practical demonstration of conducting a systematic review. During the question-and-answer session, participants raised queries about the limitations of keywords in titles and the restrictions of search results in open-access databases, which he addressed comprehensively.

The lecture was coordinated by Prof. Akhandanand Shukla, DLIS, CUTN, and attended by 48 participants. Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor, shared his insights on the topic and delivered the formal vote of thanks. Ms. Komal Sahu, Senior Research Fellow, served as rapporteur for the programme.

The glimpses of the program is given below: 

Department thanks to all who attended the program and taken the benefit to listen Prof. Shriram Pandey on the important aspects of literature review.

Successful Completion of Open Ph.D. Viva-Voce of Mr. Suman Barath P., PhD Scholar

Dear All, 

We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Suman Barath P., Ph.D. Scholar of the Department successfully defended his open Ph.D. viva-voce held at the Smart Classroom on 6th August 2025 at 11:00 AM. His research topic was: "Role of Public Libraries in Bridging the Digital Divide in Kerala: A Study based on Librarians' and Users' Perspectives." Mr. Suman Barath presented his research in detail and satisfactorily answered the queries raised during the open viva-voce. Prof. Udayan Bhattacharya from the Department of Library & Information Science, Jadavpur University, West Bengal, served as the external examiner for the viva. 

Dr. K. G. Sudhier, Assistant Professor and Research Supervisor, was the Convener of the session. The session was attended by Prof. S. Thanuskodi, Head of the Department, other faculty members, research scholars from the Department and other departments, postgraduate students, non-teaching staff, and staff from the Central Library.

The Department congratulates him on the successful completion of his Ph.D. viva-voce.