IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 19, Issue 1, Ver. VIII (Jan. 2014), PP 79-93 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 79 | Page Status of Job Opportunities and Employment of Library and Information Science Professionals in India An Analysis of Job Advertisements 1 Dr. Manoj Kumar Sinha, 2 Brojesh Kumar Pandey 1 Associate Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Library and Information Science, Assam University, Silchar-788 011 2 Department of Library and Information Science, Assam University, Silchar-788 011 Abstract: The career in library includes areas like library and information systems management, classification/cataloguing systems, bibliography, documentation, preservation and conservation of manuscript, collection management, information systems and technology, research methodology, computer applications, reference, statistics and management, information processing, archives management, indexing, library planning, etc. Now –a-days, a number of career prospects are available in Library and Information Science. The qualified and trained professionals are employed in various libraries and information centres. The present study aims to identify and assess the job opportunities for the professionally qualified LIS professionals in the area of Library and Information Science. The data required to carry out the study have been collected from the printed weekly issues of ‘Employment News’ and the ‘LIS Link: a ‘LIS Job Portal’. The data collected have been represented through tables and figures. The data collected have been analysed to reflect the different aspects of LIS Profession, such as month wise, state wise, category wise (whether reserved or unreserved; teaching or non-teaching position), nature wise (whether permanent or temporary), source wise, level wise distribution of advertisements. Moreover, a preliminary data was collected after scanning the available literature and data pertaining to the number of library science graduates produced every year and their employability. The study puts forwarded some suggestions to ensure employability of LIS Professionals in India showing state wise job opportunities and employment. The study was delimited the job advertisements published during January 2011 to December 2011 only. However, the same research work can be carried out on a large scale to have a generalised conclusion highlighting the scenario of job opportunity and output of LIS professionals in the Indian context. From the data available for intake capacity for BLIS, MLIS, and Research Programme, the number of advertised posts are very less in number in comparison to production of fresh graduates which creates problems in searching jobs for the LIS Professionals. Therefore the Govt. of India / State Govt. should come forward to create requisite number of posts in different Schools, Colleges, Universities, Institutions and Public Libraries so that those maximums qualified passed out Graduates, Post Graduates and research degree holders may be appointed to the respective positions as per their eligibility. Key Words: Job Advertisements, Job Opportunities-India, Librarianship, Print and Electronic Media, Library and Information Science Professionals-India I. Introduction Due to the rapid growth in the number of learning institutions all over the country, the necessity and the importance of libraries is also growing. Moreover, with the industrialisation, economic and social growth, many new professions have emerged in the last two hundred years. More particularly the 20 th century has witnessed the growth of hundreds of new professions. Librarianship is one such profession that emerged in the 19 th /20 th century when corpus of knowledge multiplied geometrically requiring rapid expansion in its nature of work and services of knowledge organisation, retrieval and dissemination. Thus, librarianship is a growing field, which has by now attained the status of a separate discipline in the universe of knowledge. With the introduction of information and communication technology, the definition of the Library as well as the Librarianship has changed. Earlier, the Library was considered as the store house of books and the Librarian, as the custodian of books. But now, the role of traditional librarian is fast evolving from the custodian of books to a facilitator who