VNIT Nagpur Library & Information Assistant Recruitment Exam Syllabus

VNIT Nagpur Library & Information Assistant Recruitment Exam Syllabus 2026

Stage I – Screening Test:

i. Objective type test consisting of 100 questions.

ii. Total marks: 200 (each question carries 2 marks)

iii. Negative Marking: 0.5 marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer.

Unanswered questions will not attract negative marks.

iv. Syllabus:

a. General Syllabus: 40 questions consisting of General Intelligence

& Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, General Knowledge &

Computer Awareness, English Language & Comprehension

b. Domain Knowledge: 60 questions

Indicative Syllabus for Domain Knowledge:

Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom, Information Life Cycle, IPR and Legal Issues – Categories, Conventions, Treaties, Laws, Plagiarism, Right to Information Act (RTI); Information Technology Act, National Knowledge Commission. Library Legislation and Library Acts in Indian States; The Press and Registration of Books Act; The Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, Laws of Library Science, Library and Information Science Profession, International – IFLA, ALA, CILIP, ASLIB, SLA; Role of UGC, RRRLF and UNESCO in Promotion and Development of Libraries, Library Public Relations and Extension Activities, Type of Users.

Sources of Information – Primary, Secondary and Tertiary; Documentary and Non Documentary, Primary Information Sources – Journals, Conference Proceedings, Patents, Standards, Theses & Dissertations, Trade Literature, Secondary Information Sources (Print and Electronic) – Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Bibliographies, Indexing & Abstracting, Statistical sources, Handbooks and Manuals, Tertiary Information Sources (Print and Electronic)- Directories, Year Books, Almanacs, Reference Sources – Bibliographical, Biographical, Educational, Language and Geographical, Electronic Information Resources – Subject Gateways, Web Portals, Bulletin Boards, Discussion Forums /Groups, Databases: Bibliographic, Numeric, Full text, Multimedia; Open Access Databases, Evaluation of Reference Sources and Web Resources.

Different types of services – Reference, Referral, Alerting, Mobile based Library Services and Tools – Mobile OPAC, Mobile Databases, Mobile Library Website, Library Apps, Mobile Library Instructions, Augmented Reality, SMS Alerts, GeoLocation, Reference Enquiry, Web 2.0 and  3.0 – Library 2.0- Concept, Characteristics, Components; Instant Messaging, RSS Feeds, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Ask a Librarian, Collaborative Services- Social Networks Web – Scale Discovery Services National Information Systems and Networks: NISCAIR, DESIDOC, SENDOC, ENVIS, INFLIBNET, DELNET, NICNET, ERNET, National Knowledge Network (NKN), Biotechnology Information System Network, Library Resource Sharing and Library Consortia – National and International.

Knowledge Organisation – Classification – Theories, Cannons, and Principles, Trends in Classification, Mapping of Subjects in Library Classification Schemes – DDC, UDC and CC, Knowledge Organisation: Cataloguing – Cannons and Principles; Centralized and Co- operative Catalogue; Library Cataloguing Codes: CCC and AACR – II, Standards of Bibliographic Record Formats and Description – ISBD, MARC 21, CCF, RDA, FRBR, Bibframe Library and Information Centers Management – Book Selection Tools and Principles; Library Acquisition, Technical Processing, Circulation, Serial Control, Maintenance and Stock Verification; Preservation and Conservation; Hazards and Control Measures of Library Materials, Human Resource Management – Planning, Job Analysis, Job Description, Job Evaluation, Selection, Recruitment, Motivation, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal; Staff Manual, Financial Management in Libraries – Sources of Finance, Resource Mobilisation, Budgeting Methods; Cost Effective and Cost Benefit Analysis, Annual Reports & Statistics; Library Authority and Committee.

Computer Technology in Library, Library Automation – Areas, Planning, Selection of Hardware and Software, Implementation and Evaluation; Standards for Library Automation, Barcode, RFID, QR Code, Biometric, Smartcard: Features and Applications, Digitization – Planning, Selection of Materials, Hardware, Software, Process, Issues, Digital Library: Genesis, Characteristics, Types, Architecture; Standards, Formats and Protocols, DOI, Digital Preservation – Need, Purpose, Standards, Methods, Techniques, Projects (National and International), Digital Library Initiatives – National and International, Institutional Repositories – Need, Purpose, Types and Tools; Institutional Repositories in India; ROAR, DOAR, SHARPA-ROMIO, Content Management Systems – Architecture, Data Integration, CMS Software – Selection, Implementation and Evaluation, Application of Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems and Robotics in Libraries; Social Mobile Analytics Cloud (SMAC); Cloud Computing, Ontology – Tools (RDF, RDFS, Potege); Semantic Web, Linked Data, Big Data, Data Mining, Data Harvesting.

v. Duration: 2 hours

Stage II – Proficiency/ Skill Test will be conducted on a ‘Go/ No-Go’ basis i.e. it

will be treated as qualifying test.

Selection from among the shortlisted candidates will be done based on Stage-I

merit, subject to qualifying in Stage-II. In the event of tie, following criteria may

be adopted in sequence for deciding position in merit list:

i. Higher positive marks in Stage I

ii. Higher positive marks in Domain Knowledge

iii. Higher positive marks in General Syllabus

iv. Higher positive marks in Quantitative Aptitude

v. Higher positive marks in General Knowledge

vi. If the tie still persists, the decision of the Competent Authority will be final.