M. Shamsul Islam Khan Head, of the DISC (Dissemination of Information center in the ICDDR,B in Mohakhali is one of the most experienced man in the field of information science and as head of the information wing of a world wide research organization center he has gained invaluable experience in the field. New Age Careers Desk talks to him on the prospects of this profession

M. Shamsul Islam Khan feels that information officer/librarian is a profession ‘all about being qualified and being service cultured’.

Regarding the future of the profession, he feels that it will be IT based in the future and mention that recently we are just observing the effect of ICT. All over the world developed countries professionals in this sector are trying their bst to serve their users in as many ways as possible. A user does not need to go the library or information center for his required information rather he can get his information easily by the invention of Information Technology. Mr Khan also provides such services from his organization by e-mail.

The future of this profession in Bangladesh is very good. He thinks it is the best profession in Bangladesh with a very good prospect. “We are a developing country and we are trying to develop our education sector. The more educated people we have, the more researchers and also a growth in readers or users. So we will get more libraries and information centers. The government is also sincere about this sector as they have proclaimed 2002 as Book Year and 2003 as Library Year and they also proclaimed 2004 as juvenile literature year”, explained Shamsul Islam Khan. The government is trying to appreciate this profession and they are considering creating a separatelibrary commission. At the same time they are working on improving book policies and also discussing about copyright laws. Government in recognition of the field conferred the Shadhinota Podok for 2004 to M. Siddique for education. He was the father of Information Science and Library Management teaching in Bangladesh.

Mr Khan always encourages the choice of a career in this profession. It is possible to earn anything in the range of 12-50 thousand taka per month and even 1-1.5 lakh taka per month from foreign organizations. He adds, “So its up to you how you build up your career in the information age.”

Information professionals, References
New Age Careers Desk, profession in Bangladesh