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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE EDUCATION BETWEEN MAINLAND CHINA AND INDIA: A CASE STUDY

Purpose of the study: This study will present an overview of the history of Library and Information Science (LIS) education and the general situation of its Master level education in Mainland China and India. Further, a comparison of Master of LIS (MLIS) education between Heilongjiang University and North-Eastern Hill University will be analyzed mainly through six aspects along with coming up with several suggestions to improve the future education quality of MLIS program in Mainland China. Methodology: The case study method, literature research method, field investigation method, in-depth interview method, and comparative research method will be adopted to conduct this study. Main Findings: Through the comparative analysis of two universities’ MLIS education in six aspects, it can be found that there are some problems existing in four aspects of MLIS education in Heilongjiang University. Applications of this study: This study can be helpful in the field of LIS education and also can be a reference for concerned academic institutions to refine their LIS education system. Novelty/Originality of this study: Currently there is no literature about comparative studies of LIS education between Mainland China and India. Therefore, to bridge the missing gap, a necessity is felt to take up research on such kind of topics.


INTRODUCTION
Library and Information Science (LIS) is a rapidly changing and growing field of study in the 21 st century. Library and Information Science education in both Mainland China and India has acquired obvious achievements during the last half a century and contributed greatly to the construction and development of LIS undertakings. Today LIS education is no longer confined to the research in libraries, it has been transformed from their four walls confined environment to a networked environment.
Although there are plenty of research outputs worldwide concerning LIS education, hardly there is any specific literature in any form of publications related to the comparative study of LIS education between Mainland China and India.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Dutta and Das (2001) presented the general introduction of India's LIS education. It provided the whole list of Indian universities imparting LIS education from BLIS level up to Doctoral programs in LIS. Finally, some suggestions regarding revising current curricula were exposed to meet the demands of the new digital era.
At the same time, Chinese scholars Chen and Liu (2006) together has analyzed the training model of graduates in information science, further concluded that training method should be innovated, the knowledge and ability structure of graduate students in information science needs to be more scientific and finally came up with a new training model of "innovation + application", which can only be achieved via exploring the nature of the Library and Information Science and smoothing the successful transformation of LIS education. Asundi and Karisiddappa(2007) presented a concise scenario of LIS education in the Republic of India since its first starting time. This study also attempted to bring to the fore how this profile presents its international potentiality and perspective scenario in context to developing countries.
Xiezhou Wang and Li Shen(2009) has conducted an in-depth analysis about the construction of information-based curriculum of LIS education and pointed out that education should put students first and set up the curriculum module centering on the first-level disciplines and based on the particular requirements of LIS professionals working in archives, developing students' unique personalities and training their innovative awareness.
In the article "Library and Information Science Education in India: A Historical Perspective", Krishan Kumar and Jaideep Sharma(2010) together presented a historical perspective of LIS education in India and traced the growth and development of LIS discipline domestically.
Yi Tang and Jinrui Li(2014) analyzed the system design of Mainland China's LIS education, including enrollment of students, training methods, training objectives, course contents, and quality evaluation system. Afterward, they put Debbarma and Praveen (2019) provided an overview of academic institutions teaching LIS programs from different educational levels. They also emphasized the need for taking innovative approaches for reforming LIS teaching programs along with a discussion of the problems and emerging issues affecting the status of LIS education. Lastly, several suggestions were given to solve these problems along with some approaches to preparing the LIS professionals to face the growing challenges in modern IT society.  (Zhang, 2014). Since then, Mainland China's LIS higher education has formed a system of three levels, namely, bachelor education, master education and doctoral education. Currently, education forms of LIS discipline in Mainland China mainly include General Full-time Education mode and Adults Education mode, which can cover various demands from society (Chen & Naga, 2019).

HISTORY OF LIS EDUCATION IN MAINLAND CHINA AND INDIA
India is one of the earliest countries in the world to carry out LIS education. At the beginning of the 20 th century, as a professional field along with its basic principles, technology, theory and practice, library and information science courses have been offered successively in universities and research institutions of India. As India established a perfect education system in the world earlier, it objectively provided a good external environment for the development of LIS education. In retrospect of history, LIS Education in India can be roughly divided into several stages: Stage of exploration (1911-1920s); Stage of the formal education system establishment (1930s-1951); Stage of the emergence of non-formal education (1952-1990s); Lifelong Education in the Information and Communication Technology Environment (1990s-present) (Jain, Kuar & Babbar, 2007). India's LIS education originated from Library science. After nearly a hundred years of continuous development, it has now expanded to computer applications, statistics, information science, management, operations research, and other disciplines with a significant cross-disciplinary nature. At present, because of the influence of LIS subject development in recent years, the undergraduate education of LIS in European and American universities has been canceled, and the educational focus has been shifted to the postgraduate stage. India still retains one-year LIS Bachelor degree courses along with full Master, M.Phil. and Ph.D. programs.

GENERAL SITUATION OF MLIS EDUCATION IN MAINLAND CHINA AND INDIA
On March 18, 2011, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of People's Republic of China jointly held the inaugural meeting of the National Professional Degree Graduate Education Steering Committee. Since then, the National Committee on Masters of Library and Information has been established. The following year, the pilot project to begin an integrated program of Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) was launched (Xu & Li, 2011). This is a historical turning point for the LIS education of Mainland China and the deeper integration of LIS discipline has formed. To meet the current demands of the LIS job market as well as in line with the western LIS education system, it appeared to be a kind of degree program that emphasizes professional competencies training. The trends can be seen that MLIS will gradually replace old postgraduate programs that have more than 30 years of history. By June of 2019, a total of 30 universities are offering MLIS programs in Mainland China.
Compared with MLIS Education in Mainland China, India's MLIS education has been a long time following the western system while retaining its characteristics and gradually formed a more stable MLIS education system. Till June of 2019, 78 universities are providing MLIS programs, and 21 of them are offering two-year integrated programs. All eligible undergraduate graduates can go for MLIS programs as per merit and government rules prescribed for seat reservation and relaxation of marks for reserved category students. Regular seats are allotted in both open and reserved categories. All central universities have the authority to conduct an entrance test for selecting candidates into MLIS programs .

COMPARISON OF MLIS EDUCATION BETWEEN HLJU AND NEHU
Heilongjiang University (HLJU) is a comprehensive university located in the north part of China, which was found in 1941. As one of the earliest academic institutions which have obtained the authority of conducting MLIS enrollment, HLJU has run the MLIS program for nearly one decade with a solid foundation in LIS discipline. Just as the original intention of the Ministry of Education, the training function of Heilongjiang University's MLIS program is positioned to be the initial stage for LIS profession requirements, which is tightly integrated with different disciplinary backgrounds (HLJU, 2018). HLJU set up a credits-based system for the MLIS program, with a total credit of not less than 41 credits. There are 6 credits for public courses, 21 credits for core courses, 8 credits for elective courses, and 6 credits for practical courses. For the practical courses, students should complete not less than six months of internship (HLJU, 2015).

North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) is a central university established on 19
July 1973 by an Act of the Indian Parliament, which is located in the northeast part of India. The Department of Library and Information Sciences was established in 1985 with a new approach to Library and Information Science education in the country. LIS department of North-Eastern Hill University introduced for the first time in the country a two-year integrated program leading to a Master's degree in Library and Information Science. The same pattern of education has now been recommended by the UGC under Model Curriculum in Library & Information Science in 2002. The Department also has been regularly revising and updating the syllabus keeping pace with the rapid developments of information technology (IT) and its crucial role in the LIS profession. NEHU has always been maintaining excellent quality of LIS education. Since 1986 more than 500 students have already got MLIS Degree ( Many factors emphasize the need to redefine the role of LIS education and design an MLIS system that effectively responds to societal needs. Such curricula should be based on job market information and the need for competencies that lead to the development of the field (Kavulya, 2007).

Comparison of MLIS Enrollment Conditions
The enrollment policy of HLJU, like other academic institutions, is under the unified leadership of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The required basic qualification for admission is a Bachelor's Degree in any discipline or Junior College Degree in any discipline with at least 2-year working experience. The degree shall be recognized by national education alignment, in case the degree was obtained abroad, the equivalence certificate should be produced by the "Service Center for Overseas Students of the Ministry of Education" (HLJU, 2018). For the aspect of the admission selection procedure, there are mainly two steps, namely, preliminary assessment stage and retesting assessment stage. The preliminary assessment stage for all MLIS institutions in Mainland China is organized by Country's Ministry of Education, while the retesting stage is organized by the HLJU itself. The preliminary phase consists of two parts: Comprehensive Competency Test (Full Mark 200) and First Foreign Language (Full Mark 100). 1.5 times of candidate as much as the published enrollment number shall have the right to enter the final retesting stage. The retesting stage is consists of a LIS professional written test and interview. Current time there is no channel for enrollment of overseas students into the MLIS program of HLJU.
NEHU has the authority to recruit MLIS students independently. All procedures regarding MLIS enrollment have been organized by the Department of LIS of NEHU for recent five years. The results of professionally written examination (Full Mark 50) are the only basis for admission. The minimum requirements for enrollment are that candidates should be awarded a 3-year Bachelor's degree in any subject securing an aggregate of 50% (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST). The selection of eligible candidates will be based on the admission test of 50 full marks along with the relevant NEHU criteria (NEHU, 2019). Unlike HLJU, foreign students can be enrolled in the MLIS program together with the local students. From the statistics of the number of enrolled students in the recent past five years, it can be seen that the enrolment scale of NEHU has become stable already due to its mature MLIS educational system. While the number of MLIS students enrolled in HLJU has been fluctuating in the past five years, it indicated that HLJU is still in the exploratory stage of MLIS education. With the gradual increase in the number of MLIS academic institutions, the responsibility of training MLIS students will also be undertaken by institutions. The future trends which can be predicted are that the enrolment scale of HLJU will make adjustments year by year and finally remain in a stable range.

Comparison of MLIS Training Objectives
The MLIS training objectives of HLJU mainly focus on cultivating students' application knowledge and skills of LIS, and can comprehensively apply knowledge in the fields of Management, Mathematics, Economics, and Computer Science to solve practical problems in LIS professional work. c) To train the students in organization, retrieval, and dissemination of information using the latest relevant technology, particularly information technology to meet the challenges of the present-day Knowledge Society.

Comparison of MLIS Theory Courses
Through the analysis of MLIS curricula taught by two universities, both syllabuses can generally cover the basic training needs of discipline and catch the requirements of LIS job markets. According to the characteristics of LIS, the courses are roughly divided into the following three categories: Basic theory of Library and Information Science, information resources and services, and information technology. The lists of detailed courses are shown below.   Although basic theory courses of LIS are becoming less and less important in the current MLIS education worldwide, they are always the cornerstone of library and information science. In addition to the two courses of LIS basic theory and research methods shared by both universities, HLJU also provides professional courses of archival science and bibliometrics to broaden the employment field of LIS graduates. The detailed courses are shown in Table 2.
In terms of information resources and services courses, the USA has always been in the lead, whose LIS schools have put forward a detailed classification according to different directions, especially for collections in the field of library management (Saladyunant, 2014). India's information resources and service courses are mainly for special groups, while Mainland China's courses are mainly for entity departments (government or enterprise organizations). In the design of this kind, of course, NEHU only provides a general course named "Information Sources and Services", while HLJU divides it into detail parts, such as the storage and acquisition of digital resources, intellectual property rights of information resources and user research. Detailed courses are shown in Table 3.
The new era of big data speeds up the development of LIS education since the inception of 21 st Century with the advent of new technologies have created new avenues for the information brokers or consultant other than traditional ones. New requirements have been put forward according to the new IT-based trends. Therefore, IT relevant courses emerge in

Comparison of Background of Academic Staff
Through field survey and in-depth interview, the background information of academic staff in both HLJU and NEHU was collected, which included name, title, discipline background, and degree obtained. The details are shown in Tables 6  & 7.  The number of teaching staff of MLIS in HLJU is 23, while there is 8 academic staff teaching MLIS program in NEHU. The average teacher-student ratio of HLJU for the past five years is 24.88%, and the same ratio of NEHU is 26.67%. The gap in the teacher-student ratio between two universities is not very obvious. Among the faculty members of MLIS in HLJU, the proportion of doctoral degree holders is 52.17%, the proportion of master degree holders is 26.09%, the proportion of bachelor degree holders is 21.74%. While, 100% of the formal faculty members of NEHU have a doctoral degree, which is much higher than the portion of doctoral degree holders in HLJU. When coming to the discipline background of teaching members of MLIS, there are 56.52% from Library, Information, Publishing and Distribution discipline; 21.74% from Economics and Management; 13.04% from Science discipline; 8.7% from Humanity discipline. However, all MLIS teachers of NEHU come from the LIS discipline.
From the perspective of academic titles, since two countries have different regulations of academic titles, the direct comparison may lead to the imprecision of the results. In India, universities have a long-time tradition of enrolling guest lectures which is not the case in Chines academic institutions. Guest lectures can either be hired on a contract based on a certain period or have a job at one university but work at another for some time (Zhang & Zhou, 2001). In Mainland China, there is also no academic title named "Assistant Professor", however, the role-playing of "Professor" in both two countries is roughly the same. The rational operation of the academic title system according to the national conditions of different countries can effectively improve the quality of academic training.

Comparison of Scholarship Evaluation Policy
Information Management School of HLJU has a very systematic and meticulous scholarship evaluation policy for MLIS students. For the first academic year, the final accreditation score is based on graduate entrance examination marks and published research achievements according to certain proportional weights. For the second year, the final accreditation score is based on the academic performance of first-year and published research achievements until the deadline for application according to certain proportional weights. However, compared with HLJU, the scholarship policy of NEHU is only biased to the interests of special people and minorities in India, which is not related to the students' achievements and performance during the MLIS program.

Comparison of Course Assessment Mode
HLJU assessment modes of each course of MLIS program are very diverse, some are closed-book written test, some are open-book written test, some are to submit a course thesis, and some are to submit research reports (including integrated practical course imparted in the third semester), which mainly depends on the teaching plan and personal preference of academic staff.
The assessment styles of MLIS theory courses in NEHU are relatively fixed; all examinations are closed-book based and written form. Each credit will contain 25marks of open questions. However, for MLIS practical courses in NEHU, assessment styles are more flexible, the examination form will be combined with internal assignments or presentations.

SUGGESTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MLIS EDUCATION IN MAINLAND CHINA
What can Mainland China's MLIS education learn from India? As a typical LIS department in the whole of India, NEHU has been doing a quite well job and adorned with many virtues in LIS subject. Awareness of these issues will play a vital role in future MLIS education in Mainland China. The followings are some suggestions given according to the insufficiency of HLJU's MLIS education.

A. Enrollment of the MLIS Program
Through the comparison of enrollment of two universities, it can be found that the enrollment of HLJU fluctuates sharply, and the enrollment scale is large. However, this is not the case at NEHU. Therefore, it is essential for MLIS institutions to reasonably control the enrollment scale and keep it stable to maintain a high quality of MLIS education for cultivating students. Meanwhile, strengthening the openness of academic exchanges is also important for the sake of increasing the international competitiveness of LIS schools.

B. Training Objectives of MLIS Education
The training objectives of NEHU are set in every detail, which is grasped and guided as a whole from teaching methods to teaching purposes. Besides, the training objectives of NEHU are confined to the libraries and information centers, and efforts are made to cultivate the necessary abilities and skills of students in relevant organizations. However, the training objectives of HLJU are relatively blurred without the specific positioning of the employment market, and there is also no very concrete teaching plan. Therefore, the relevant LIS institutions in Mainland China need to combine their unique academic characteristics and advantages to formulate detailed training programs to adapt to the demands of LIS graduates working in various fields of the LIS job market.

C. Courses Offered by MLIS Institutions
The curriculum is the foundation of MLIS education. Most of the LIS schools and departments have revised or in the process of redesigning their curricula worldwide. In their curricula, courses relating to traditional library science with names such as "History of books" and "Libraries" have already disappeared. Instead, many IT-related courses were added (Jain, Kuar & Babbar, 2007). From the above analysis, it can be concluded that HLJU pays more attention to the courses of LIS theory and service application, but ignores the construction of IT category courses. With the information era coming in the 21 st century, libraries and information centers in modern society have greatly developed and played a different role as it used to be. LIS graduates must be equipped with the necessary IT skills in their real performance. Furthermore, merging practical courses into general theoretical courses has more advantages than merely giving one integral course listed there, MLIS students can master the relevant competencies and skills efficiently according to corresponding courses taught through theoretical mode.

D. Background of MLIS Academic Staff
Due to the reform of LIS education in Mainland China has just started, there were limited academic institutions to offer academic education of LIS in the past, therefore the qualifications of academic staff in the LIS department were uneven (Deng, 2010). In the future, it is urgent to solve the educational background problem of teachers. Besides, similar to the NEHU, many universities in India are employing guest lecturers in LIS schools or a department, which on the one hand eases the heavy teaching burden of teachers, on the other hand, part-time teachers can effectively guide students to carry out vocational skills training.

E. Assessment Mode of MLIS Courses
Courses assessment is not only the final link of academic teaching but also an important way of evaluating students' academic quality. A more standard and flexible concept should be taken into consideration for designing assessment mode (Cao & Jin, 2007). Based on the features of MLIS education, the combination of the research report and written test mode shall be a better choice to be applied to the actual evaluation instead of taking merely a single style for assessment of MLIS courses.

CONCLUSION
The LIS education of Mainland China started later than that of India. Due to historical and institutional reasons, the development of India's LIS education is relatively ahead of that of Mainland China. Two different universities from the two countries were chosen to represent Mainland China and India. The comparison of MLIS education between HLJU and NEHU was conducted from six detailed dimensions: (1) Enrollment; (2) Training objectives; (3) Curricula; (4) Background of academic staff; (5) Scholarship policy; (6) Course assessment mode. The results showed that Heilongjiang University has existing problems to some extend in various places from four aspects, namely, enrollment, training objectives, curricula, and background of academic staff. Finally, some suggestions regarding the development of MLIS education in Mainland China based on the results of the comparison of MLIS program between HLJU and NEHU were put forward to resolve the defects existing in Mainland China's MLIS education.