Shabahat Husain

Shabahat Husain (born May 3, 1952) is an Indian professor who worked at the Department of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, from 1976 to 2017, during the period he not only established himself as one of the finest teacher but also as a prolific author, an able administrator and a devoted library professional. He has served the coveted position of President of the Indian Library Association (ILA), the oldest national body (estd.1933) of librarians and information professionals in India. He is known at the national and international level through his publications and lectures available on YouTube.

Contents 1  Early Life and Education 2  Academic Career 3  Department of Library and Information Science, A.M.U. 4  Maulana Azad Library, A.M.U.       4.1 Modernization and Automation       4.2 Sir Syed’s Personal Library       4.3 Renovation of Manuscripts Division                   4.3.1 Manuscripts Gallery                   4.3.2 Chance Discovery of Sword of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb                   4.3.3 Manuscript Museum and Conservation Lab                   4.3.4 Publication of rare manuscript ‘Nahjul Balagha’       4.4 Innovative Contributions                   4.4.1 Social Science Cyber Library                   4.4.2 Portal of Indian Library Association                   4.4.3 Knowledge Management System                   4.4.4 Knowledge Repository of A.M.U.                   4.4.5 Narendra Modi News Library                   4.4.6 Covid-19 Home Library 5  Publications       5.1 Books       5.2 Papers in International Conferences       5.3 Papers in National Conferences       5.4 Articles 6  Memberships 7  Countries Visited 8  Festschrift Volume 9  A Chronicle of Memoirs 10  Honors and Awards 11  Video Gallery 12  References

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Born on May 3, 1952, Prof. Shabahat Husain did his M.Sc. in Botany in 1973, followed by B.Lib.Sc. and M.Lib.Sc. in successive years from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India with first divisions and first positions in the order of merit. He was awarded Gold Medal for standing first class first at Bachelor’s Course of Library and Information Science’s examination. He later completed his M. Phil. (I.T.) from Loughborough University of Technology, England in 1992 under Commonwealth’s TCTP Programme and his Ph.D. from Lucknow University.

ACADEMIC CAREER

Dr. Husain started his teaching career as a Lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science, A.M.U., Aligarh in 1976. He was promoted to the post of Reader (Associate Professor) in 1985 and later as a Professor in 1997. During his entire career of 40 years, Prof. Husain served as Chairman of the Department for about 12 years, as University Librarian of A.M.U. for about 4 years, and also held the position of Dean as a senior most Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences for one full term. In addition to that, he held a number of prestigious appointments in A.M.U. as Acting Vice Chancellor; Provost; and Officer on Special Duty etc. He retired from active service of A.M.U. in 2017.

Prof. Husain visited 6 countries for his academic and professional assignments, so far. He served as Lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria for three years. He traveled to Toronto, Canada to present his research paper at the 5th International Study Conference on Classification Research in 1991, and later to Madrid, Spain to present his paper at the 46th FID Conference and Congress held in 1992. He chaired a session at the IV International Conference on Webometrics, Informetrics, and Scientometrics, held at Berlin, Germany from 28th July to 1st of Aug. 2008. Prof. Husain was invited to attend IFLA’s Global Vision Workshop held at Singapore from 28-29 June 2017. Recently, his paper on “Research trends on Knowledge Management has been accepted for presentation at “2nd International Conference on Knowledge Management Systems,” to be held at the University of Houston, Texas, USA from April 6 to 8, 2019.

Prof. Husain himself organized at least 5 national and International conferences, presented 9 keynote addresses at different seminars and conferences and also chaired scores of plenary sessions in India and abroad. He was invited to chair a session at the International Conference of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics held at Stockholm, Sweden from 24 July 2005 to 28 July 2005, and also 11th International Conference (COLLNET 2015) on “Webometrics, Informetrics, and Scientometrics (WIS) & 16th Meeting” from 26-28 November, 2015 held at Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi.

Prof. Husain is a prolific writer contributing 8 Books and about 50 research Articles to his credit so far. One of his Books on ‘Library Classification’ published by Tata McGraw Hill publishing co. is consulted worldwide. His another Book on Dewey Decimal Classification was translated into Arabic at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt for the benefit of the students in the Arab world. About 12 Ph.Ds have been awarded under his supervision so far. He is a founder editor of the 'Collnet Journal of Information Management and Scientometrics', being published jointly by Taylor and Francis, England and Taru Publications, New Delhi.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), India

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, A.M.U.

Dr. Shabahat Husain has served as a Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh where he completed four terms as Chairman of the Department (from September 19, 1995, to April 23, 1997; from June 9, 1997, to June 8, 2000; from June 9, 2003, to June 8, 2006; and from June 8, 2012, to May 2, 2017). During the period, he was mainly instrumental in bringing the Department to the national and international map of the library profession. Under his leadership, the Seminar Library of the Department of Library and Information Science was developed as the first fully automated library of AMU with all modern facilities of issue/return of books through barcodes, CD-Rom workstations, access to Web OPAC, E-Books & E-journals with round the clock internet connectivity. The Seminar Library of DLIS was inaugurated on 7th December 2004 by the then Vice Chancellor, AMU. On the basis of the project submitted by him to UGC, DLIS, AMU was awarded Special Assistance Programme SAP (DRS-I) on the theme ‘Knowledge Management in Social Sciences’ during the year 2013/14 for five years. Prof. Shabahat Husain served as its coordinator until his retirement for 4 years, during which the department was not only equipped with all modern facilities of ICT but also organized two conferences and developed ‘Knowledge Management System’ as detailed hereunder:

1. National Conference on Knowledge Management in Libraries and Information Centers (KMLIC-2015) at DLIS, AMU from March 18-19, 2015.
2. International Conference on ‘Knowledge Generation, Discovery and Networking‘(KGDAN-2017) at DLIS, AMU from 15-16 February 2017. Proceedings of the conference were published in 2 volumes.
3. Prof. Husain developed ‘Knowledge Management System in Library and Information Science’ (http://libraryknowledgemanagement.org) and launched it in May 2017 before his retirement. The KMS is a reservoir of Explicit & Tacit Knowledge of experts, including their books, articles, and video lectures, personal interactions, etc.

MAULANA AZAD LIBRARY, A.M.U.

Prof. Shabahat Husain took over additional charge as the librarian of the central library of Aligarh Muslim University, called Maulana Azad Library in 2008. It is one of the largest University libraries in Asia. The library is housed in a seven-story building, surrounded by 4.75 acres of lawns and gardens. It has a strong collection of about 1.4 million books and journals. The Library is particularly known for its oriental collection and 16000 manuscripts, of which quite a few of them belong to rarest of the rare category.

Maulana Azad Library, A.M.U., Aligarh, India

Maulana Azad Library in the night 

During the 4 years period of Prof. Husain as University Librarian, Maulana Azad Library has undergone a total metamorphosis as to its physical appearance and ICT based library services, as given hereunder:

Modernization and Automation

Installation of CCTV in the whole library with additional provision of security alarm in the priceless collection of manuscripts; automation of the Circulation Division with tattle tape security solution; Provision of OPAC on campus network and also on the Web; Digitization of the works by and on the founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, followed by launch of the website: www.sirsyedtoday.com; establishing a Digital Resource Centre; Downloading of about 2 Lac E Books free from world E. Book fair held in July/Aug. 2009 and making them accessible on Campus Network. Digitisation of 30 lacs folios of rare book in Urdu and Persian under CDAC Project. As a result of efforts of Prof Husain, the University Library could get free access to a large number of internationally reputed Bibliographic/Full Text Data Bases such as ‘Web of Science’, ‘Science Direct’, ‘SciFinder Scholar’, ‘ERMED Consortia’, ‘J-Gate’, ‘BIOSIS’ and ‘DELNET’ through INFLIBNET.

Sir Syed’s Personal Library

When Prof. Shabahat Husain took over charge of Maulana Azad Library in 2008, one of his ideas out of many was to discover the books and the personal collection of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a great social reformer and the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, from which library’s mammoth collection had gradually developed over the years. Identification and retrieval of such important pieces of history lying scattered throughout the library’s mammoth collection was an uphill task. In 2010, tireless efforts of some dedicated library staff under his leadership resulted in the retrieval of a few dozen books and manuscripts of Sir Syed’s Personal collection, identified on the basis of his personal seal, notes and writings on the preliminary pages. These books were displayed in a newly built shelf in the Central Hall under the name ‘Sir Syed’s Personal Library’ for which Prof. Husain himself selected a Preamble couplet, penned by an alumni and a renowned Urdu poet Asrar ul Haq ‘Majaz’:

"Sham dar sham jalenge teri yaadon ke chirag

nasl dar nasl tera dard numaya hoga"

Sir Syed’s Personal Library

Renovation of Manuscripts Division

Manuscripts Gallery

As Maulana Azad Library is particularly known for its oriental collection and 16000 manuscripts, of which quite a few of them belong to rarest of the rare category, Prof. Husain paid special attention and got it fully renovated by developing a beautiful Manuscript gallery and overhauling its collection.

Chance Discovery of Sword of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb

While corrective measures were being taken in manuscripts division, Prof. Husain and his worthy colleague Dr. Ata Khursheed, Assistant Librarian, discovered the following invaluable items:

• Un-accessioned manuscripts - 350
• Sale deeds of Medieval period - 348
• Sword of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
• Photo frame with three small portraits of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, Queen Mumtaz Mahal, and the Taj Mahal.
• Pen stand made of precious stone sapphire presented to then VC, AMU by Nadir Shah, the king of Afghanistan in 1933.
• Trowels used to lay the foundation stone of (a) University swimming Pool by Sir James Scorgie Meston, L.G. United Provinces (now U.P.) in 1916, and (b) Maulana Azad Library by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the P.M. of India on 12th Nov. 1955.

Note: All the above developments and items were brought on record in the minutes of the Library Committee held on March 11, 2011, along with a remark by Prof. P.K.Abdul Aziz, the then V.C. that “all the aforesaid developments have taken place without any additional grant to the library.”

Manuscript Museum and Conservation Lab

Due to personal efforts of Prof. Shabahat Husain, a sum of Rupees 20 lacs were sanctioned by Prof. Mushirul Hasan, the then D.G. National Archives of India for the development of ‘Manuscript Museum’ and ‘ Conservation Lab’ in the library in 2012.

Publication of Rare Manuscript 'Nahjul Balagha'

On the initiative of Prof. Shabahat Husain, one of the rarest manuscript called ‘Nehjul Balagha’ that consists of letters, speeches and aphorism of Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliphate of Islam was published as a joint venture of AMU and Iran. It was released by Dr. Ali Akbar Wilayati, Ex-Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 21st Dec. 2011 at the concluding function of Golden Jubilee celebrations of Maulana Azad Library.

Innovative Contributions

Though most of Prof. Husain’s professional efforts are innovative, yet the following may be described as his path-breaking contributions:

Social Science Cyber Library (http://www.socsccybraryamu.ac.in/)

The Social Science Cyber Library, inaugurated by H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then President of India on 27th December, 2013, brings together all open access e-resources in form of e-books, e-journals, video lectures, subject gateways, databases, useful websites etc. in the field of Social Sciences at one place, so that the students, research scholars and faculty members belonging to various disciplines of social sciences across the globe may make optimum use of them. The Social Science Cyber Library is presently being accessed in about 167countries for research and scholarship. The Cybrary that finds a description in Wikipedia, was awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certification in June 2015 and holds a national record in the Limca Book of Records since 2016. The Cybrary has been registered in Open DOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) and ROAR (Registry of Open Access Repositories) in the United Kingdom.

Social Science Cyber Library

Portal of Indian Library Association (www.ilaindia.net)

Soon after taking over charge as President, Indian Library Association (2016/17-2018/19), Prof. Shabahat Husain designed and developed a dynamic website which served as a panacea of all the perennial problems of the Association, as detailed below:

• Access to current and retrospective issues of ILA Newsletter
• Converting the 'Journal of ILA' (JILA) as an online journal from submission to access. Life members who are authorized to get a print copy, which was costing around 5 lacs per year, were provided user id and password. Prof Husain served the journal as its Editor-in-chief.
• Database of ‘Minutes of meetings’ of ILA General body, Council, Executive committee.
• Access to Online Membership Database.
• Facility of self-updating Profiles in the Membership Database, which in a manual system was impossible.
• Online registration of Members, resulting in hundreds of new enrolments from every corner of the country.
• Other activities: News and Information regarding ILA Upcoming Meetings, Circulars & Notes, Awards, Events and Initiatives

Portal of Indian Library Association

Knowledge Management System (http://socialsciencekms.org/)

Prof. Husain in his capacity as Coordinator, SAP designed and developed KMS in Social Sciences, a reservoir of explicit & tacit knowledge about the experts, books, articles and video lectures, personal interactions etc pertaining to the subject.

Knowledge Repository of AMU

As a part of Ph.D., one student of Prof Husain designed and developed a Model repository of AMU aimed to serve as one-stop source of Academic output of the University providing self-uploading facility and Global accessibility by subject experts/users. The project was approved by the then Vice Chancellor for its implementation in 2015 but could not take off for the lack of required hardware and human ware.

Narendra Modi News Library (http://modinewslibrary.com/)

Shri Narendra Modi's name has arisen on political horizons of India as a most popular leader of the present era, as reflected by his biggest fan following on social media. In 2018, Prof Husain designed and developed a News Portal called 'Narendra Modi News Library' to serve twin purposes namely: to show the library professionals the possibility of developing a library on any individual; to update his fans about the latest news, actions, speeches, policies & plans pertaining to Mr. Naredra Modi. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first effort of its kind on any politician in the history of India. Probably that’s the reason why this professional marvel has lacs of viewers.

Narendra Modi News Library

Covid-19 Home Library (https://www.homelibrarycovid19.com/)

The Clampdown during the COVID-19 pandemic has created a pastime problem for billions of educated class of the society around the Globe. With this in mind, Prof. Shabahat Husain in collaboration with one of his students has designed and launched an " Online COVID-19 Home Library" in Public interest. The Cyber library fulfills users' information requirements by providing lacs of E-resources. Each link on the home page of the library provides a drop-down menu to select relevant videos and E-books pertaining to recreation (novels, poetry, movies), news, hobbies (cooking, gardening, pets), physical exercise (yoga, alternate), education (college, university), cyber libraries, etc. in English, Hindi, and Urdu.  Since it's launching a couple of weeks back, the library is being visited around the world.

PUBLICATIONS

Prof. Shabahat Husain is a prolific author and an erudite scholar of international repute. Prof. Husain has authored 23 articles, 16 conference papers and 8 books to his credit so far. This is apart from 12 M.Phil./Ph.D. theses he has supervised during his active service. His journey of authorship started in 1982 when his first paper was published in the IASLIC Bulletin is still on. Prof. Husain presented his papers in 6 international conferences notably at Toronto, Madrid and Berlin, and 8 national conferences. Of the 5 books authored by Prof. Husain so far, his first book titled “Library Classification: Facets and Analyses” was published by McGraw Hill Publishers in 1993, while his latest book titled “Libraries and Institutional Repositories” was published in 2017. Of the 12 dissertations submitted under his supervision, the M.Phil. was the first in 1998 while the most recent one was in 2018. Prof. Husain mostly contributed on Library Classification followed by Knowledge Management. 2015 was his most productive year in which as many as 7 research articles were authored by him, although he published two books and one research paper in 2017. However, most of his research was published in form of articles. As per Google Scholar, his publications have received 65 citations in international and national journals so far. He is a founder editor of ‘COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management’ with Dr. Hildrun Kretschmer from the University of Berlin as its associate editor. The journal is listed in “Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), LISTA and EBSCO Database and is co-published by Taru Publications, Delhi and Taylor & Francis, U.K.

Prof. Shabahat Husain in OCLC WorldCat Identities

Books

1. Library Classification: Facets and Analyses. New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill, 1993. XVI, 367 p. Foreword by Prof. John P. Feather, Head, Deptt. of Information and Library Studies, Loughborough University of Technology, England. (UK). [Review: This book was reviewed by Dr. M.P. Satija in Knowledge Organisation, 23,1;1996,48-49.]
2. Library Classification: Facets and Analyses. Second Revised and Enlarged Edition New Delhi, B.R. Publishing Corporation, 2004, 534 p.
3. Dewey Decimal Classification: A complete survey of twenty two editions, New Delhi, B.R. Publishing Corporation, 2004, 98 p. [Review: This book was reviewed by Dr. Khaiser Nikam in SRELS Journal of Information Management 42, 4; 2005,533-534.]
4. The Book on Dewey Decimal Classification was translated into Arabic by Dr. RabahFawzy, Dept. of Library and Information Sc., al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt for the benefit of the students in the Arab world.
5. Knowledge Generation, Discovery and Networking: Shabahat Husain and Naushad Ali P.M (Editors). New Delhi, Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017, 296 p.
6. Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing paradigms (Festschrift in honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain) Edited by P.M Naushad Ali. New Delhi, Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017, 396 p.
7. Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing Paradigms: Festschrift Volume released in honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain was released on 11th May 2017. Published by Shree Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi.
8. Libraries and Institutional Repositories: Recent Trends: Shabahat Husain and Naushad Ali P.M (Editors). New Delhi, Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017, 224 p.
9. Knowledge Management Systems: Concepts, Technologies and Practices. Shabahat Husain, Jean-Louis Ermine. Bingley, United Kingdom, Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021. 260 p.

Prof. Shabahat Husain's book Library Classification in OCLC WorldCat

Papers Presented & Published in the Proceedings of International Conferences

1. Shabahat Husain. Notational techniques for accommodation of new subjects in Colon Classification 7th edition: Theoretical possibility vis-a-vis practical need P. 263-71 In International Study Conference on Classification Research. (5th: 1991; Toronto).

2. Shabahat Husain. Classification research for knowledge representation and organization: proceedings/5th International study conference on Classification Research, Toronto, June 24-26, 1991; edited by Nancy J. Williamson, Michelle Hudon:-Amsterdam. Elsevier 1992, 427 p.; 25 cm.

3. Shabahat Husain. Recent trends in on-line financial information, p. 117-122. In Conference and Congress of the International Federation for Information and Documentation (46th: 1992: Madrid).
Financial Information Sources Seminar: Proceedings/Federation for Information and Documentation, 26 October 1992; Organised by Banking Finance and Insurance special Interest Group of International Federation for Information and Documentation in connection with the later's 46th Congress.-Oxford: Learned Information, C. 1993. 176 p.; 25 cm.

4. Shabahat Husain. Information scenario in the developing world and India's ambitious networking programme: problems and prospects, p. 257-263.In FID Conference and Congress (46th: 1992: Madrid)

New Worlds in Information and Documentation/Proceedings of the forty sixth FID Conference and Congress held in Madrid, Spain, 22-29 October, 1992; edited by J.R. Alvarez Ossorio, Ben G. Goedegebuure.-Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1994. 495 p.:ill.; 25 cm. - (FID; 705).

5. Shabahat Husain, Muzamil Mushtaq. Academic Ranking of Indian Central Universities in Science and Technology as Represented in Science Citation Index – Expanded (Web of Science): A Scientometric study of last five years from 2005-2009. In Kretschmer, H., et.al. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on “Webometrics, Informetrics and Scientometrics and 11th COLLNET Meeting” during October 19-22th, 2010. Mysore: DLIS, University of Mysore.

6. Shabahat Husain, Muzamil Mushtaq. Application of Bibliometric Laws and Literature mapping on ‘Brain Tumor’ as reflected from SCI-Expanded. Bibliometrics data and impact management in information science. In Jain, P.K., et.al. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 11thInternational Conference (COLLNET 2015) on “Webometrics, Informetrics and Scientometrics (WIS) & 16th Meeting” from 26-28 November, 2015 (pp.82-89).

7. Shabahat Husain and Rumman Gul Bhat. Knowledge Management System in Health Sciences: Design and Development. In: Shabahat Husain and Naushad Ali P.M. Proceedings of the International Conference on 'Knowledge Generation, Discovery and Networking' (KGDAN-2017) from 15-16 February, 2017 (pp. 27-37).

Papers Presented and Published in the Proceedings of National Conferences

1. Invited to present a paper on 'Indian National Bibliography: Present status and future' in the National Conference organized by National Library Kolkata held at Kolkatta from 13-14 Nov. 2006 as a part of centenary celebrations of National Library.

2. Shabahat Husain and Muzamil Mushtaq. Mapping Literature of Aligarh Muslim University: A picture from Web of Science. In: National Seminar on Next Generation Library and Information Services, held in Aligarh from April 2-3, 2011 (Received best paper award).

3. Shabahat Husain and Muzamil Mushtaq. Online Science and Technology Bibliographic Databases in Library Services with a slant towards Web of Science. Presented and published in the proceedings of ‘National Conference’ on “Impact of e-resources in Education” organized by Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad on 11th of March 2011.

4. Shabahat Husain and Muzamil Mushtaq. Electronic Publishing with an inclination towards open access publishing: A study of author’s perspective in the field of Medicine. Proceedings of National Conference on Managing Libraries in new Information Environment held on Jan. 7-8, 2011, pp. 265- 268.

5. Shabahat Husain and Muzamil Mushtaq. Citations and h-Index of Indian Central Universities as Reflected from SCI-Expanded. In Dhawan, S.M., Khatri, N.K., &Ratnakar, A. (Eds.) Metrics Based Research Assessment and Evaluation, Proceedings of the National Workshop on “Using Different Metrics for Assessing Research Productivity” (pp. 41-49). New Delhi: Indian Statistical Institute.

6. Shabahat Husain and Muzamil Mushtaq. Going Green or Paperless: A myth or a reality and the plunk of Libraries and Information Centers. In Chaubey, N.P., Husain, S., et.al. Social Science Abstracts, Volume XXXVII, 2013, p.124.

7. Shabahat Husain and Rumman Gul Bhat. Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management System: an amalgamation of Content, Experience and Process management. Paper presented in the National Conference on Knowledge Management in Libraries and Information Centres held at DLIS, AMU from 18-19 March 2015.

8. Shabahat Husain and Mohammad Nazim. Use of IT-based Knowledge Management System in academic libraries in India: an empirical study. Paper presented in the National Conference on Knowledge Management in Libraries and Information Centres held at DLIS, AMU from 18-19 March 2015.

Articles Published in International and National Journals

1. Selective Dissemination of Information: in perspective. IASLIC Bulletin 27.1; 1982, 23-32.

2. Universal Availability of Publications: Problems and Prospects. IASLIC Bulletin 28,1; 1983,21-27.

3. Cataloguing practice in some Nigerian University Libraries: A case study. International Library Movement 5, (3-4); 1983,113-124.

4. Universal Availability of Publications: Practical needs and present trends. Annals of Library Science and Documentation 31, (3-4); 1984,125-133.

5. Cataloguing of Ghanaian names: Problems and Possible solutions. Annals of Library Science and Documentation 31(1-2); 1984,13-27.

6. Universal Availability of Publications: A myth or a reality. Library Herald 25 (2-3): 1986,86-101.

7. A theoretical basis for the accommodation of new subjects in CC7.International Classification 16, 2; 1989,82-88.

8. Conceptual changes in the fundamental categories in CC7: an evaluation. Herald of Library Science 29, (1-2); 1990.45-50.

9. Calculating the capacity of notational system: some new formulae. International Forum for Information and Documentation 16, 1; 1991,22-27.

10. Recent trends in subject access to OPACS: an evaluation. International Classification. 19, 3; 1992,140-145.

11. Space Planning in the University Libraries in the changing Information Technology Scenario. Journal of Information Management and Scientometrics, 2, 1; 2005, 12- 26.

12. Libray Automation software packages in India: a study of the cataloguing modules of Alice for windows, LibSys and Virtua. Annals of Library and Information Studies 54, 3; 2007,146-151.

13. Online Public Access Catalogue: A Journey to Alice for Windows, Libsys and Virtua. DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, 28,6; 2008, 37- 41.

14. Academic ranking of Indian central universities as represented in Science Citation Index (2005-2010). Collnet journal of Scientometrics and Information Management 4, 2; 2010, pp.81-90 (As a firstauthor)

15. Scientometric Study of Indian Central Universities: A picture from SCOPUS. Journal of Indian Library Association. 47(3-4), 2011, pp.5-12.

16. Concepts of Knowledge Management among Library and Information Science Professionals. International Journal of Information Dissemination and Technology, 3 (4), 2013, pp. 264-269. (As a first author)

17. Analysis of Open Access scholarly journals in media and communication. DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, 33 (5), 2013, pp. 405-411. (As a first author)

18. Shabahat Husain, Mohammad Nazim (2015). Use of different Information and Communication Technologies in Indian Academic Libraries. Library Review, 64 (1/2), 2015. Permanent ID http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LR-06-2014-00

19. Shabahat Husain, Mohammad Nazim, (2015) "Exploring the need of Knowledge Management Education within Library & Information Science educational courses: an Indian Perspective", New Library World, Vol. 116 Iss: 11/12, (Pages to be finalized)

20. Shabahat Husain, Zeba Khanam (2015) ‘Citation Analysis of the journal “Annals of Library and Information Science (2005-2014)’ Journal of Advances in Library and Information Science, 4,1:217-221.

21. Shabahat Husain &Muzamil Mushtaq (2015). Scientometric Assessment of Climate Change Data. Library Herald, 53 (4). pp. 379-388. DOI:10.5958/0976-2469.2015.00034.2

22. Shabahat Husain, Ali Raza and Rumman Gul (2018) Literature on River Ganga: A Bibliometric study. Journal of Indian Library Association, 54 (1).pp.1-10.

23. Book Review. Reviewed a book titled, ‘Book Numbers: Some Indian Methods' by M.P. Satija, International Classification 18, 1; 1991; 53-55.

MEMBERSHIPS

Membership of professional organizations and other committees:

• Elected Unopposed as President, Indian Library Association from 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2019.
• Appointed as a core member of 'Curriculum Development Committee' appointed by UGC to develop a model curriculum, published in 2001.
• Nominated as Counselor on IASLIC. Calcutta, India.
• Worked as an expert on a number of Committees of Aligarh Muslim University, Lucknow University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar, Kashmir University, Srinagar, Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia.
• Vice-President of IATLIS (2004-2006).
• Life Member of 3 National Associations viz IASLIC/ ILA/ IATLIS Ordinary Member of ‘International Society of Knowledge Organisation’, Frankfurt, Germany.

COUNTRIES VISITED

Prof. Husain has traveled far and wide around the globe. He served as Lecturer in the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria from 1980-83. Under Common wealth’s TCTP programme, he has been to the Loughborough University of Technology, England for his M.Phil. degree in ICT in 1991/92. He presented his papers at the “Fifth International Study Conference on Classification Research” held at Toronto, Canada in 1991 and also at FID Conference and Congress held at Madrid (Spain) in 1992. He chaired a session at the IV International Conference on Webometrics, Informetrics, and Scientometrics, held at Berlin, Germany from 28th July to 1st of Aug. 2008 and also attended IFLA’s “Global Vision Workshop” held at Singapore from 28-29 June, 2017. His paper on ‘Research trends on Knowledge Management’ has been accepted for presentation at “2nd International Conferencee on Knowledge Management Systems,” to be held at the University of Houston, Texas, USA from April 6 to 8, 2019.

FESTSCHRIFT VOLUME

On the occasion of superannuation of Prof. Shabahat Husain after serving the university for more than 40 years, his professional colleagues from India and abroad brought out a festschrift volume in his honour. The volume titled “Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing Paradigms” was edited by Prof. P.MNaushad Ali, while the Foreword of the volume was contributed by Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran), Vice-Chancellor, A.M.U., Aligarh. The festschrift volume consists of 27 articles in 400 pages. The main contributors of the volume are Prof. P.B. Mangla from the University of Delhi; Daniel Martínez-Ávila from Sao Paulo State University, Brazil; Md. Nasiruddin from National University, Bangladesh; RabahFawzy from Al-Azhar University, Egypt; Prof. M.P. Satija from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Prof. N. Laxman Rao from Osmania University, Hyderabad, etc. The volume was released during a farewell function organized by the Department of Library and Information Science in the honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain on the occasion of his superannuation. The function held on 11th May 2017 in the Cultural Hall, Maulana Azad Library was well attended by the present students and staff of the Department, in addition to the old students of Prof. Shabahat Husain working in Maulana Azad Library and others department of studies. As Prof. Husain is currently holding the post of President in Indian Library Association (ILA), some members of ILA including Dr. D.V. Singh, University Librarian, Delhi University Library System and Ex-President of ILA along with Dr. N.S. Shokeen, presently Secretary of ILA also attended the function. Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor in his address appreciated the academic and professional contribution of Prof. Shabahat Husain during his 40 years of service in AMU and requested the audience to give Prof. Shabahat Husain a standing ovation.

A CHRONICLE OF MEMOIRS

1. “Professor Shabahat Husain who has put up his exemplary commitment to Library and Information Science profession through his successful teaching and research. Professor Husain is an erudite beyond compare. He is the epitome of simplicity, devotion and dedication. By virtue of selfless service, his phenomenal work is an illuminating footnote for generations to come. Prof. Shabahat Husain is a luminary in this field, a rare scholar who has produced a large number of devoted students, research publications, books, articles and portals all of which attest his scholarly depth and intensity. His brain child project ‘Social Science Cyber Library’ of AMU bears the testimony of his understanding of the processes of modern Library and Information Science. He never failed to redefine his role to the advantage of students in the capacity of highly proficient teacher and to the development of the institution as a visionary administrator, who whole heartedly carried out the responsibility entrusted to him from time to time. Being an excellent administrator, he contributed significantly for the development of the department as HOD, modernizing Maulana Azad Library’s infrastructure and services as Librarian-in-charge, bringing out noticeable improvements in the facilities and corporate life of University’s hall of residence as a Provost as well as of the University’s S.T. High school, of which he was given charge as its OSD for a couple of years. Endowed with enthusiasm, which is infectious, he is eminently successful in transforming the teaching- learning process as a journey into joy.”

--Prof. Naushad Ali P.M. (Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, AMU, India)

2. “I have had many occasions to interact with Prof. Shabahat Husain and always felt much impressed with his spirit of dedication in discharging various jobs and responsibilities assigned to him from time to time. His 3-year teaching tenure in Nigeria which he completed in 1983 undoubtedly provided him a good opportunity for academic and professional growth as also for widening his vision about the field of LIS at the international level. While in Nigeria, he had the privilege to work with Prof. C. C. Aguolo who had earned his Ph. D. from Columbia University, and, besides being the founder- head of the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Maiduguri, was also a good author and researcher in the field. Prof. Husain had the good opportunity to get associated and interact there with several other prominent academics of that time from different countries such as Prof. Conrad Max Bennedict Brann (Germany), Prof. Benge (U. K.) and Dr. D. N. S. Rao (Pittsburgh, USA)………………………

Prof. Husain was given the additional responsibility to function as Librarian (2008-12), University Library by the then AMU Vice-chancellor. It was really a great opportunity and challenge for him to translate his vision about the University Library into a reality. He really worked hard with devotion for about 4 years and transformed the whole complexion of the University Library of AMU, in different areas such as its document collections, services, and layout of the infrastructural facilities. …………………………………………..

Prof. Husain was elected unanimously as President of Indian Library Association (ILA) (2016-19). He has already started taking keen interest in its activities and programmes and it is expected that the ILA would greatly succeed in reviving its relevance and importance during his tenure. To illustrate his one important initiative, he has already sorted out certain perennial problems of the Association by developing an interactive ILA Portal. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Besides his professional and other achievements listed above I must add that Prof. Shabahat Husain indeed is a good human being, with a great sense of friendliness, humility and dependability in behaviour. I am sure that even after his formal superannuation from AMU he would continue his active interest in various professional matters as usual.”

--Prof. P.B. Mangla (Former Professor, University of Delhi, Department of Library and Information Science, Tagore National Fellow, Government of India, Unesco Consultant, and Vice- President, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA ; The Hague ; 1985-1991))

3. “ We are happy and honoured to contribute this paper on classification in the (festschrift) volume being compiled in honour of Professor Dr. Shabahat Husain who himself is an internationally known teacher and author on library classification matters.”

--Dr. Daniel Martínez-Ávila, Professor of Sao Paulo State University, Brazil

4. “Prof. Shabahat Husain is one among those great personalities who has the ability to teach you without meeting. This I can say from my own experience. It was in 2008 when I read his book titled “ Dewey Decimal Classification: A complete survey of twenty-two editions”, and decided to translate it into Arabic language for the benefit of Arab teachers and students specializing in Library Classification, an important area of study in ‘Library and Information Science’. I, therefore, approached him through e-mail to seek his permission for the same. In the whole process of translation and publication of his book, I learnt a lot from him and found Prof. Shabahat Husain as an institution himself. I was overwhelmed by the gesture of Prof. Shabahat Husain, when he finally gave his approval of translating the book. Beyond all, he not only helped me to find a suitable publisher to publish the translated work but also reviewed the work prior to publishing. It is my pleasure and privilege to be a part of “Festschrift Volume in honor of Prof. Shabahat Husain”. I wish him a long, happy and healthy life ahead. As a tribute to my beloved Professor, I thought of conducting a bibliometric study of his scientific productivity distribution through his books and research articles published in reputed Journals and Conference Proceedings during the last 35 years (1982- 2017).”

-- Dr. Rabah Fawzy (Assistant Professor, Documents & Libraries Department, Al-Azhar University, Egypt)

5. “A successful administrator possesses such basic qualities as leadership, vision, communication, integrity and dedication, etc. which are witnessed in Mr. Shabahat Husain. Being the University Librarian his contributions are noteworthy. Installation of CCTV along with security alarm in the precious collection of Manuscripts, the introduction of automation in the Circulation Division with a security system at the entrance, launching the website: www.sirsyedtoday.com, making available OPAC on Campus Network and also on the Web, replacing an old elevator installed at the library since its inception and complete renovation of Cultural Hall which has now become a hub of university activities are some of them.

When he was Dean, of the Faculty of Social Sciences, he developed a ‘Social Science Cyber Library’ the first of its kind in the world. It is being accessed by 150 countries and has found its entry in the 'Limca Book of Records' and also in ‘Wikipedia’. In whatever capacity he has worked, his achievements will always remind of him.

“Baareduniya main raho, ghamzadahyaashaadraho

Aisaakuchhkerkechaloyaan, kibahutyaadraho”

--Shad Azinabadi

-- H. R. Chighani, Former Director, KhudaBakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, Bihar

6. “His joining as the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences subsequently gave us a chance to work together more closely. As a Dean, he not only streamlined the administrative functioning of the office but also brought significant changes within the Dean’s Office. One of his noteworthy contributions was the Designing and Development of ‘Social Science Cyber Library’, first of its kind in the world. The Cybrary was inaugurated by His Excellency Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India, during the inaugural session of ‘37thSocial Science Congress’ held in AMU from 27-31 December 2013. The Cybrary, being accessed in 150 countries around the globe till date, was awarded ISO-9001:2008 in 2015 and entered into the ‘Limca Book of Records’ in 2017.

The Department of Library and Information Science, developed under the leadership of Prof. Shabahat Husain, is a flagship Department in the University, a fact acknowledged by the NAAC team that awarded ‘A’ grade to AMU in 2014.

Prof. Shabahat Husain is an erudite scholar and able administrator. His vast experience of working at national and International level, along with his publications in reputed journals have already made him a well-known academic in the library profession. His unstinted support in the smooth functioning of the university has been praiseworthy.

He is soon to retire and I hope that he will continue his research in the library profession and bring many more laurels to the country and AMU.

I wish him a happy, healthy and productive life ahead.”

-- Lt.Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah (veteran), Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

7. “Inspired by Ranganthan India held the fort for classification when all over the world it was losing its hold due to overzealous faith in the power of computers in subject retrieval. Classification teaching,research and publications continue considerably well and Ranganathan wields a considerable global impact as reflected in Google scholar citation studies. Professor Shabahat Husain is one such well-known teacher and scholar of Classification in India.”

--Prof.M.P. Satija, Professor & UGC Emeritus Fellow, 2011-2013 of Dev Guru Nanak University, Amritsar.

8. “Prof. Shabahat Husain has worked hard and contributed significantly for the welfare of his department, especially when he was assigned the work of the Maulana Azad Library for modernizing it with high end state-of-art facilities and self service technologies which eased the access of its resources. His contribution towards developing Social Science Cyber Library, which has been recorded in Limca Book of Records, has been the most commendable contribution to his alma mater. Dr. Shabahat’s services have been a great asset to this University and AMU fraternity is indeed proud of his achievements.”

--Brig S.Ahmad Ali (retd.), Pro Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

HONORS AND AWARDS

Nominee of Govt. of India as Expert/Board Member

• Search Committee for the appointment of Director INFLIBNET by UGC in 2001.
• Nominated by the UGC as a Member of UGC’s Expert Committee for the accredation of C.U.Shah University, Surendra Nagar, Ahmedabad, 2015.
• Nominated by the Ministry of Culture as Member of Governing Body of Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, Patna 26th July 2013 for 5 years.
• Nominated by the Ministry of Culture as Member of Governing Body of Allahabad Museum, 3rd Dec.2013 for 5 years.
• Member of University Court, Allahabad University nominated by Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Govt. of India on 4th. March 2014 for 5 years.
• Nominated by the Ministry of Culture as Member of Governing Body of ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation since April 2016.
• Governor’s nominee on the selection Committees of about half a dozen state universities.

Prof. S. P. Narang Research Promotion Award

• In recognition of his significant contribution to LIS, Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Information Science (IATLIS), ‘Prof. S. P. Narang Research Promotion Award’ was presented to Prof. Shabahat Husain at ‘XXX IATLIS National Conference’ held at Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, on 27th November 2014.

Prof. Shahahat Husain receiving IATLIS - Prof. S.P. Narang Research Promotion Award

SRFLIS Lifetime Achievements Award

• Professor Shabahat Husain was awarded SRFLIS Lifetime Achievements Award on April 19, 2019, in a ceremony held on the occasion of 3rd DLA-SRFLIS Summit 2019 in New Delhi. This award was given by Satija Research Foundation for Library and Information Science to Prof. Husain for his invaluable contributions to the profession of librarianship.

Prof. Shabahat Husain receiving SRFLIS Lifetime Achievements Award

ASIALA 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award 

• Prof. Shabahat Husain was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by Asia Library Association on February 26, 2020, at IIM Lucknow in recognition of his 40 years of distinguished services & outstanding contributions to the LIS profession in India.

Dr. PSG Kumar - ILA Life Time Achievement Award of 2022

• The prestigious Dr PSG Kumar - ILA Lifetime Award 2022 was conferred upon Prof Shabahat Husain during the 68th ILA International Conference, held at Ajmer from 19 to 21 January 2023.

VIDEO GALLERY


Videos of Prof. Shabahat Husain. Click on the top left of the video screen to get the list of videos that will autoplay one after another. You can also go directly to any video in this list.

1. Shabahat Husain - a video biography.
2. Prof. Shabahat Husain's farewell ceremony felicitation by the Vice-Chancellor, AMU.
3. Prof. Shabahat Husain's farewell and release of festschrift volume in his honor.
4. Social Science Cyber Library (Cybrary) developed by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
5. Maulana Azad Library, Manuscript Division.
6. Prof. Shabahat Husain Paying Homage to Padam Shri Mahmood Ur Rehman, a retired IAS officer who was the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1995 to 2000.
7. Maulana Azad Library Museum
8. Hospitality of notational plane - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
9. Index and indexing - part 1 - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
10. Index and indexing - part 2 - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
11. Introduction to bibliometrics - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
12. Lotka's law - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
13. Zipf's law, citation analysis, and impact factor - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
14. Bradford's law - lecture by Prof. Shabahat Husain.
15. Prof. Shabahat Husain receiving SRFLIS Lifetime Achievements Award.
16. Prof. Shabahat Husain's Acceptance Speech of receiving Lifetime Achievement Award by Asia Library Association on February 26, 2020, at IIM Lucknow in recognition of his 40 years of distinguished services & outstanding contributions to the LIS profession in India.
17. Shabahat Husian - Dr. PSG Kumar - ILA Life Time Achievement Award of 2022.

REFERENCES

1. Shabahat Husain, “Biographical Sketch of Prof. Shabahat Husain,” COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management, 3:2 (2009): v-viii, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09737766.2009.10700869 (accessed October 2018)
2. “Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing Paradigms: Festschrift in honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain,” Prof. (Dr.) Naushad Ali P.M (Delhi, India: Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017),v-xiv.
3. P.B. Mangla,“Prof. Shabahat Husain: as I Know Him,” in Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing Paradigms: Festschrift in Honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain., ed. Naushad Ali P.M. (Delhi, India: Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017), 1-5.
4. Habibur Rahman Chighani,“Old bonds Last Long,” in Information Access in Knowledge Society: Changing Paradigms: Festschrift in honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain., ed. Naushad Ali P.M. (Delhi, India: Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017), 6-9.
5. Rabah Fawzy,“Professor Shabahat Husain’s Publications: A Bibliometric Study,” in Information Access in Knowledge Society: changing paradigms: Festschrift in Honour of Prof. Shabahat Husain., ed. Naushad Ali P.M. (Delhi, India: Shree Publishers & Distributors, 2017), 10-20.
6. Linkedin, “Shabahat Husain,” https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabahat-husain-81817914/ (accessed October 2018)
7. Batori, "President of India inaugurates XXXVII Indian Social Science Congress" http://www.batori.in/national/2013/12/27/president-of-india-inaugurates-xxxvii-indian-social-science-congress/ (accessed October 2018)
8. Business Standard"Aligarh Muslim University 'Cyberary' gets ISO certification" https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/aligarh-muslim-university-cyberary-gets-iso-certification-115062600474_1.html (accessed October 2018)
9. India Today, “AMU at 5th spot on India Today Universities Rankings 2012” https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/india-s-best-universities/2012/story/20120528-india-today-universities-rankings-2012-aligarh-muslim-university-758441-2012-05-18 (accessed October 2018)

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Libraries have always been essential in a process of provision of access to knowledge to the users. In digital era Libraries are needed more than ever before, as they always strive to meet both the ends by making globally present information accessible to the globally present users. The Internet enables everyone to visit a library without leaving his/her home in order to get his/her book/information. Neil Gaiman perfectly describes what’s happening in digital times: “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one.”

In the backdrop of the aforesaid portrayal of the subject, the importance of Library and Librarians in the present and future eras can hardly be overemphasized. Hence this blog, which is expected to be an important knowledge resource, for the Librarians, Information Scientists, LIS Faculty, research scholars and students. One of the highlights of the blog is to commemorate and honor the real heroes of the Library Profession, to whom the Librarians and Libraries of the present age owe a lot. As a first among luminaries, I dedicate this blog to my mentor and ideal teacher Prof. Shabahat Husain, a silent dedicated professional who is hardly found on social media highlighting his own contribution to the Library profession in Aligarh, India or elsewhere in the world. In fact, many of his contributions narrated here are not known at least to those outside AMU.

Any suggestions or additions from library professionals contributing to the improvement of the blog would be highly appreciated. Brief comments from the colleagues, students, and friends of the luminaries describing their own experiences and anecdotes are welcome.

Salman Haider
Blog Admin
E.mail: salman.mlisc@gmail.com
Date: January 1, 2019

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SEE ALSO

• Biographies of Famous Librarians : Who's Who in Library and Information Science
• Best Thought Provoking Quotes About Libraries and Librarians
• Library and Information Science Encyclopedia

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CITATION INFORMATION

Article Title

• Shabahat Husain

Author

• Salman Haider

Website Name

• Librarianship Studies & Information Technology

URL

• https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2019/01/shabahat-husain.html

Last Updated

• February 5, 2023

Original Published Date

• January 1, 2019

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