Library automation initiatives in colleges in malappuram district

Any work which can be done with the help of automatic machine like computer without any human interface is called automation. Automation of libraries is inevitable in this technological era. The purpose of the study is to find out the status of automation in college libraries, the benefits and problems of automation in college libraries and also to show the importance of automation in libraries. A structured questionnaire is used for collecting the data which are personally distributed. The collected data are classified and analysed. The study found that majority of the college libraries depend on the open source software such as koha because there is no specific fund for automation in any college libraries. College librarians faced problems such as lack of training and lack of sufficient hardware. Librarians noted the benefits like Easy cataloguing and circulation, Time saving, Avoid duplication of records, easier Transaction method, Easy retrieval of documents, Improve quality of library service , Easy library management. Keywords: Library automation, Automation softwares, College libraries.