Importance of Webinars in the Skill Development of LIS Professionals of India: A Study

Currently, information technology is being used extensively all over the country, which has led to a significant change in the way people learn and teach. Webinars are also a part of this transformation of IT and their popularity is increasing day by day. Webinars provide new opportunities for people to build their skills. The whole study is based on library science professionals from all over India. The data have been collected by the survey method using Google Forms in the online medium and sent to 500 LIS professionals through E-mail. Out of which, we have received responses from 389 (77.8%). The data were analysed in Excel using simple percentages. The findings revealed that Library Professionals have high-level awareness of Webinars and they are using open source tools such as Google Meet, YouTube, WebEx and Zoom ext. There is some different perception of library professionals for attending webinars, in which many participants get e-certificates and get some fresh ideas and knowledge. Webinars have many technical issues, with Internet connectivity being the most common. The overall importance of the webinar respondents rated it as very useful. This study is significant because, during the Corona crisis, webinar events are increasing continuously and our dependence on them is increasing.