UGC NET Library & Information Science Syllabus 2026: Complete Unit-Wise Guide
Library and Information Science is a subject where precision matters enormously. Whether it is the correct version of Dewey Decimal Classification, the difference between AACR2 and RDA, or the exact formula for Bradford's Law — the NET paper rewards candidates who know the specifics rather than the generalities. A student who understands classification theory but cannot recall whether UDC uses colons or semicolons as facet indicators will lose marks on questions that are otherwise within reach.
This guide organises the syllabus so you can see which areas demand memorisation of specific tools and standards, and which areas reward conceptual understanding.
📚 Also Read: UGC NET Subject-Wise Syllabus
EconomicsPolitical ScienceSociologyHistoryCommerceEducationManagementComputer ScienceUGC NET Library Science Syllabus 2026: Unit-Wise Breakdown
| Unit | Topic | Key Subtopics |
|---|---|---|
| Unit I | Foundations of Library and Information Science | Definition, scope, and importance of LIS; Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science; library types — academic, public, special, national; library legislation in India; library associations — ILA, IASLIC, SLA, IFLA, ALA; library networks — INFLIBNET, DELNET, CALIBNET |
| Unit II | Information Sources and Services | Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; reference sources — encyclopaedias, dictionaries, almanacs, directories, bibliographies, abstracts, indexes; reference services — ready reference, bibliographic, information, literature survey; current awareness service (CAS); selective dissemination of information (SDI); referral services |
| Unit III | Classification | Theory of classification — purpose, types (enumerative, faceted, special); Colon Classification (CC) — Ranganathan; Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) — editions, notation, schedule; Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) — facet indicators; Library of Congress Classification (LCC); Bliss Bibliographic Classification (BC2) |
| Unit IV | Cataloguing and Metadata | Purpose and types of catalogue — author, title, subject, dictionary; cataloguing codes — AACR2, RDA (Resource Description and Access); MARC 21 format; FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records); subject cataloguing — Sears List, LCSH; OPACs; metadata standards — Dublin Core, EAD, METS |
| Unit V | Information Storage and Retrieval | Information retrieval models — Boolean, vector space, probabilistic; search strategies; indexing — pre-coordinate (PRECIS, POPSI, Chain), post-coordinate; controlled vocabulary — thesaurus construction; query formulation; relevance and recall; search engines and web crawlers; database management |
| Unit VI | Library Management | Library planning and organisation; library committees; financial management — budgeting methods (line item, PPBS, ZBB); collection development — acquisition, weeding, stock verification; human resource management in libraries; time management; MBO in library context; library statistics and reports |
| Unit VII | Academic, Public, Special and National Libraries | Academic library — role, structure, services; university library system in India; public library — functions, legislation (Delhi Public Libraries Act etc.); special library — corporate, government, law, medical; National Library of India, Kolkata; Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF); British Library; Library of Congress |
| Unit VIII | Information Technology in Libraries | Computers in libraries — hardware, software; library automation — integrated library systems (ILS/LMS); bar code, RFID, QR code; digital libraries — definition, architecture, DSpace, Greenstone, EPrints; institutional repositories; electronic resources management; open access — OAI-PMH, DOAJ, arXiv; cloud computing in libraries |
| Unit IX | Knowledge Organisation and Management | Knowledge — types (tacit, explicit); knowledge management cycle; ontologies and taxonomies; knowledge representation; information architecture; linked data and semantic web; FOSS tools for libraries; information literacy — ACRL standards; IL instruction models — Big6, SCONUL Seven Pillars |
| Unit X | Bibliometrics, Scientometrics and Research Methods | Bibliometrics — Bradford's Law of scattering, Lotka's Law of scientific productivity, Zipf's Law; citation analysis — h-index, impact factor; scientometrics; webometrics; altmetrics; research methods in LIS — survey, case study, content analysis; hypothesis testing; research report writing; academic integrity and plagiarism |
Best Books for UGC NET Library Science 2026
| Book | Author | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations of Library and Information Science | T.B. Rajashekar / P.B. Mangla | Unit I; covers Ranganathan's laws, library types, legislation, and associations comprehensively |
| Classification and Cataloguing | A. Neelameghan / S.R. Ranganathan (CC) | Unit III–IV; Ranganathan's own text for CC; Neelameghan for DDC and UDC application |
| Library Cataloguing | Z.A. Ansari / Eric Hunter | Unit IV; covers AACR2, MARC 21, FRBR, and metadata standards; Hunter is the international standard text |
| Information Storage and Retrieval | Arvind Kumar Sharma / C.J. Van Rijsbergen | Unit V; Van Rijsbergen's theoretical approach; Sharma for Indian exam context |
| Library Management | K.S. Deshpande / E.B. Montgomery | Unit VI; covers budgeting, collection development, HRM in library context |
| Information Technology in Libraries | N.K. Swain / N.S. Rao | Unit VIII; library automation, digital libraries, RFID, open access in accessible language |
| Bibliometrics | B.M. Gupta / L. Egghe | Unit X; Bradford, Lotka, Zipf laws; citation analysis; h-index and impact factor |
How to Prepare UGC NET Library Science 2026
| Area | Approx. Weight | Preparation Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Classification (Unit III) | ~18% | The highest-scoring unit if prepared systematically. Know DDC notation structure, CC PMEST formula, UDC facet indicators (: + / :: =), and LCC main classes. Practice building class numbers. |
| Cataloguing and Metadata (Unit IV) | ~16% | AACR2 vs. RDA differences, MARC 21 fields (001, 020, 100, 245, 260, 300, 650), FRBR entities — know these by name and number. Dublin Core elements are a favourite question. |
| Information Retrieval (Unit V) | ~14% | Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and their effects, precision vs. recall trade-off, pre-coordinate vs. post-coordinate indexing differences — these appear every year. |
| Bibliometrics (Unit X) | ~12% | Bradford's, Lotka's, and Zipf's laws with their formulas. h-index, impact factor, and altmetrics as measurement tools. Research methodology basics. |
| IT in Libraries (Unit VIII) | ~12% | RFID vs. barcode differences, open access models (gold, green, platinum), OAI-PMH protocol, key digital library software (DSpace, Greenstone) — these are specific and factual. |
| Foundations and Services (I–II) | ~14% | Ranganathan's Five Laws (know all five by name), library types, INFLIBNET/DELNET, reference service types, CAS vs. SDI difference. |
| Management and Knowledge (VI, IX) | ~10% | ZBB vs. PPBS budgeting, collection development policies, knowledge management cycle, information literacy models (Big6, SCONUL). |
| Types of Libraries (Unit VII) | ~4% | National Library of India, RRRLF functions, academic library structure in Indian universities — know key facts. |
Classification Systems Compared: DDC, CC, UDC, LCC
Classification is the highest-scoring unit, but candidates often mix up which system uses which notation. This table gives you the differentiating features that the exam specifically tests.
| System | Creator / Year | Current Edition | Key Features — What the Exam Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) | Melvil Dewey, 1876 | 23rd edition (current) | 10 main classes (000–900); pure notation (numerals only); 3-digit base + decimals; used in most public and school libraries worldwide |
| Colon Classification (CC) | S.R. Ranganathan, 1933 | 7th edition | Faceted; PMEST formula (Personality, Matter, Energy, Space, Time); colon (:) as facet indicator; used mainly in India; most analytico-synthetic |
| Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) | Paul Otlet & Henri La Fontaine, 1905 (based on DDC) | Online Master Reference File | Faceted expansion of DDC; uses : + / :: = as auxiliary signs; international use; good for special libraries |
| Library of Congress Classification (LCC) | LC Staff, 1897 onwards | Updated continuously | Mixed notation (letters + numbers); 21 main classes (A–Z except I, O, W, X, Y); used in academic and research libraries; most detailed |
| Bliss Bibliographic Classification (BC2) | H.E. Bliss (BC1); revised Vickery et al. (BC2) | BC2 ongoing | Faceted; educational consensus order; preferred for British academic libraries; less common in exam |
Bibliometric Laws: Formulas and Applications
| Law / Metric | Proposed By | Formula / Principle | Application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford's Law of Scattering | Samuel Bradford, 1934 | Journals on a subject form 3 zones of equal article output; zones have journal count ratio of 1 : n : n² | Helps identify core journals in a field; basis for journal selection in libraries |
| Lotka's Law of Scientific Productivity | Alfred Lotka, 1926 | Number of authors making n contributions ≈ 1/n² of those making 1; most researchers publish little, few publish a lot (inverse square law) | Used in author productivity studies; shows skewed distribution of research output |
| Zipf's Law | George Zipf, 1949 | Word frequency in text: rank × frequency = constant; most frequent word appears ~twice as often as 2nd most frequent, 3 times as often as 3rd | Used in indexing and automatic abstracting; linguistic distribution patterns |
| h-index | Jorge Hirsch, 2005 | A scientist has index h if h of their Np papers have ≥h citations each | Measures both productivity and citation impact; widely used by journals and funding bodies |
| Impact Factor (IF) | Eugene Garfield, 1960s | IF = citations in year Y to articles published in years Y-1 and Y-2 ÷ articles published in Y-1 and Y-2 | Journal-level metric; used for journal ranking; criticised for field-dependence |
MARC 21 Key Fields: What the Exam Asks
| MARC Field | Content |
|---|---|
| 000 (Leader) | Fixed-length field; 24 characters; record type, bibliographic level, encoding level |
| 020 | ISBN (International Standard Book Number) |
| 022 | ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) |
| 100 | Main entry — Personal name (author) |
| 110 | Main entry — Corporate name |
| 245 | Title statement (title proper, subtitle, statement of responsibility) |
| 250 | Edition statement |
| 260 / 264 | Publication, distribution, manufacture information (place, publisher, date) |
| 300 | Physical description (pages, illustrations, dimensions) |
| 490 / 830 | Series statement |
| 520 | Summary / abstract |
| 600 / 610 / 650 | Subject added entries (personal name / corporate name / topical term) |
| 700 | Added entry — Personal name (co-author, editor) |
| 856 | Electronic location and access (URL) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Ranganathan's Five Laws and why are they important for UGC NET?
The Five Laws are: (1) Books are for use; (2) Every reader his book; (3) Every book its reader; (4) Save the time of the reader; (5) The library is a growing organism. These appear directly in questions and also form the theoretical foundation for understanding reference services, collection development, and digital access. Know them verbatim.
What is the difference between AACR2 and RDA in simple terms?
AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd edition) was designed for card catalogues and print resources — it focuses on the physical item. RDA (Resource Description and Access, 2010) was designed for the digital environment — it is based on FRBR entities (Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item) and is more flexible for non-print and digital resources. RDA is now the international standard.
What is Bradford's Law and how is it tested?
Bradford's Law of Scattering (1934) states that if journals are arranged by decreasing productivity on a subject, they form three zones each containing an equal number of articles, with the number of journals in each zone increasing geometrically (1 : n : n²). In the exam, questions ask about the number of zones, the relationship between journals and articles, or to identify which law applies to a given scenario.
How many questions come from IT in libraries?
Unit VIII typically contributes 10–14 questions. RFID technology, open access publishing models, digital library software, MARC 21 format fields, and cloud computing in library context are the most common question areas. This unit rewards candidates who stay updated with technology developments.
