K. M. Govi

Key takeaways

K. M. Govi belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect K. M. Govi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of K. M. Govi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

K. M. Govi is an Indian library scientist from Kerala. He is the author of the Malayalam bibliography titled Malayala Granthasoochi, the first comprehensive bibliography written in any of the regional Indian languages and Library Science, the first book on library science in Malayalam. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Scholarly Literature and Lifetime achievement award of Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

Biography K.M. Govi was born on June 17, 1930, at Korapram house in Chetamkunnu, Thalassery to C. K. Sankunni Nair and K. M. Maiyamma. Govi's father died when he was four and his mother at the age of 13. After his education at B.E.M.P. High School, he graduated in economics from Brennan College, Thalassery. Later, he lived with his relatives in Chennai and became a clerk in the Madras Secretariat. Tired of clerical work he resigned from his job after six months. That is when Govi came to know about the Library Science course and joined the University of Madras and completed Post Graduate Diploma in Library Science from there in 1952. After his studies, he became a librarian at the Kozhikode District Library from 1952 to 1956. There, he established the Malabar Library Authority and established its branches in places like Payyannur, Manjeri, Ponnani, and Alathur. Govi joined the National Library in Kolkata in 1956. He met his life partner, Pushpaveni, while working at the National Library. Pushpaveni, the Chief Information Officer there, was a native of Ottappalam. She has a post-graduate degree in Tamil language and literature and has translated Vaikom Muhammed Basheer's Balyakalasakhi into Tamil. A literary society called Calcutta Sahitya Vedi also functioned in Kolkata under the leadership of Govi. He retired from work in 1987. He returned to Kerala after his wife retired in 1994. They have two children, Gautham, an employee at Infosys, and Amrutha, a teacher in London. Govi died on December 4, 2013.

Contributions Govi was considered as an authority on Library Science in the country.

First Malayalam bibliography Govi's major contribution is Malayala Granthasoochi, a 10-volume comprehensive bibliography in the Malayalam language. This bibliography is of books published in Malayalam from 1772 to 2000. The preparation of the Malayalam bibliography for the Kerala Sahitya Akademi began in 1970. The search and examination of books was a very laborious and time-consuming task. Vettoor Raman Nair, Syed Mohammed of the academy and V. Karunakaran Nambiar, the editor of Express, were also there to help. For preparing the bibliography, Govi travelled across India and outside India searching for Malayalam books at different national and special libraries. The libraries he visited include British National Library, India Office Library, Library of Congress, the personal collections of various British Officers who worked in India, Kannimara Public Library, Madras Archives, Travancore Archives, Avittam Thirunal Library, Chitra Thirunal Library etc. Books published in India were considered for the bibliography. It was decided to complete the first volume within the specified time. Based on the assessment that the work might be extended, he decided not to employ permanent staff. The National Library authorities also gave good encouragement to prepare the bibliography. The first volume, published in 1973, contained books from 1772 to 1970, and was divided into two parts: literature and non-fiction. The second volume contained books from 1970 to 1975. Thereafter, volumes containing information on books from every five years were published until 2000. Malayala Granthasoochi is first bibliography book published in any of the regional Indian languages.

Aadimudranam Malayalamthilum Bharatathilum In the introduction to the Malayalam bibliography, Govi briefly recorded the origin and development of Malayalam printing. It was during the preparation of the Malayalam Bibliography that Govi had the idea of writing a book explaining the history of printing in Kerala and India. After retiring from work, he published the book Aadimudranam Malayalamthilum Bharatathilum [meaning: History of printing in Malayalam and India].

Other contributions Govi's Library Science is the first book on library science in Malayalam. His other independent works include Catalogue nirmmanam [meaning:Cataloguing], Nammude reference Sahityam [meaning:Our Reference Literature], Pusthakavum vayanayum [meaning: Books and Reading], and Niroopana soochi [meaning: Criticism bibliography]. He has also translated two works, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastrikal, from English into Malayalam.

Awards and honors For his book Aadimudranam Malayalamthilum Bharatathilum, Govi received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Scholarly Literature in 1999. In 2013 he received the Lifetime achievement award of Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with K. M. Govi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what K. M. Govi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to K. M. Govi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about K. M. Govi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of K. M. Govi

In research: K. M. Govi appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses K. M. Govi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: K. M. Govi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930 births, 2013 deaths, Library science scholars, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for K. M. Govi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study K. M. Govi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what K. M. Govi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain K. M. Govi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is K. M. Govi in simple terms?

K. M.

Why does K. M. Govi matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study K. M. Govi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on K. M. Govi.