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Modernization of

Library System
in India

STUDY AND ANALYSIS


OF THE
EVOLUTION
OF MODERNIZATION
OF THE LIBRARY SYSTEM IN INDIA
AND GUIDELINES
FOR THE
PROMOTION
OF MULTI-AGENCY
COOPERATION
& TRANSFER OF EXPERIENCE
TO OTHER
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

N. Seshagiri

Prepared for:
United Nations Educational,
7, Place de Fontenoy
75700 Paris

Scientific and Cultural

Organization

(UNESCO)

PREFACE
Economic and social development in a knowledge based society is nodally
dependant upon information. Adequate, accurate and timely information requires
support from computer, communication and electronics aids of Information Technology
in addition to other modemization imperatives. The richest and the most economical
source of information being the library system, modemization of library services
of library
assumes considerable importance. India, though had a long history
movement, was slow in exploiting the Information Technology for the modemization
of the library system. However, the second half of 80s and the early 90s saw a dramatic
impact of computers and communication. The exponential induction of computerised
management of library operations, computer-based retrieval of bibliographic material,
computer networking, computer-aided reprography, FAX and E-Mail transmission,
Optical Disks, CDROMs and other such are already bringing about a change of mind set
among the librarians and information scientists in India.
The macro profile of modemization of library services in India is outlined by
tracing the history of library movement in various parts and forms in the country like the
growth of Public Libraries, University and Research Libraries, Special Libraries,
Government Libraries, etc. As India has one of the largest book publishing industries
in the world, its impact on the momentum of the library movement is shown to be
significant.
The history of library automation can be traced to the 60s beginning with the
initiatives of the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) at New
Delhi and Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) at Bangalore. The
70s saw the beginning of automation of the libraries attached to the various Research and
Development Laboratories. A substantive impetus was provided in the 80s when the
National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT) under the Department of Science &Technology began introducing automation in sectoral libraries. The
latter part of the decade saw the growth of city-wise networking of libraries in Calcutta
and Delhi and Bibliographic Services over Wide Area Networks like NICNET, the
Computer-Communication Network of the National Informatics Centre (NIC). All such
efforts got a boost with the pioneering and catalytic role played by the Defence Science
and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), the University Grants Commission Information Centres (UGC-IC), Bio Technology Information System (BTIS) and Information Library Network (INFLIBNET).
Survey and Analyses carried out by DRTC, NISSAT, INSDOC, NIC and others
provided the basis for understanding the macro profile of library services. The library
movement was typically characterized by a high degree of perception of the problems
afforded by the reports of numerous committees and policy studies brought out by the
Government, but a pronounced tardiness in the proper implementation of the recommendations and proposals.

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The micro profile of library modemization in India is outlined in four convenient


parts: Sectoral Libraries, University Libraries, Intra-city Library Networks and the Role
of National Level Value Added Facilitators.
How India managed the technology change during the slow, but long initial phase
of modemization and how it is gearing up to manage the fast pace of technology change
currently, have drawn interesting lessons which may be useful pointers to other
developing countries. In particular, the relative impact of online and CDROM and how
India is bringing about this impact in a beneficial manner is described.
The problems of technology change in turn bring about important considerations
in the choice of the software, the need for initiating research and development in library
science and working out optimal organizational structure required for massive training
and retraining of library personnel on the tools and processes of modemization.
India always benefitted by significant international support and cooperation in all
knowledge-based activities including modemization of the library system. Various
types of support received, their beneficial effects and lacunae are carefully discussed so
as to draw appropriate inferences.
The macro profile and the micro profile of library modemization so realized has
enabled the formulation here of an illustrative set of pilot projects which are typically
based on the Indian experience, though no claim is made for a comprehensive coverage
of all the Indian experiences.
I am thankful to Dr. H.Yushkiavitshus, Assistant Director General, Communication, Information and Informatics, UNESCO Paris and Dr. Aram Akopov, Programme
Specialist in Informatics, UNESCO/ROSTSCA,
New Delhi for encouraging me to
initiate this study. The frame-work for this study was designed in adiscussion with them
in March 1994. The study was carried out under a Contract No. CII/IIP-Obli. No.
443 110.4 signed with UNESCO in December 1994. Visits to a few typical libraries and
discussion with library scientists of Bombay, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Delhi and
Mussoorie as well as discussions with IT specialists of Nepal and Sri Lanka, significantly contributed to the understanding of the problems of modemization of library
system in India as well as the lessons that may be drawn from the Indian experience
which may benefit other developing countries and the prospects for promoting multiagency cooperation and interaction.

N. Seshagiri
New Delhi
30 April 1995

CONTENTS

Chapter
1. Macro Profile of Modemization of Library Services in India
2. Micro Profile of Libmry Modemization in India I. Sectoral Libraries

Page Number
1
20

3. Micro Profile of Library Modemization in India II. University Libraries

43

4. Micro Profile of Library Modemization in India III. Intracity Library Networks

55

5. National Level Value Added Facilitators

71

6. Managing the Technological Change- The Indian Experience

86

7. Software, Researchand Training

104

8. International Support and Cooperation

114

9. Lessonsfrom the Indian Experience and Pointers for Cooperation

127

Annexures

149

Directory of Acronyms

279

Bibliography

295

Chapter One

MACRO

PROFILE

OF MODERNIZATION
IN INDIA

OF LIBRARY

SERVICES

The macro profile of modemization is outlined in this chapter by tracing the


evolution of library movement in India and its eventual modemization, discussing the
impact of sectoral and global drive towards modemization, inference based on survey
and analyses, a statistical profile of library sciences in India and the factors which are
leading to the evolution of a policy frame-work.
1.1. The Library

Movement in India

As early as 1944, the library movement in India was accelerated under the dynamic
leadership of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan who is regarded as the Father of Library Sciences
in India. His vision of an integrated library system is described in his book published that
year, entitled, Post War Reconstruction of Libraries in India. His main thrust was on
Public Libraries, both rural and urban. He advocated the formation of a primary library
at each typical demographic unit with a population of not less than 50,000. He conceived
the development of branches and delivery stations around these primary units so that
nobody needs to walk more than a mile to get his book supplied. He advocated the
setting up of a coordinating regional reference library to service the primary libraries in
the region. Upward in the hierarchy, he conceived the setting up of a Provincial Central
Library facilitating inter-library loan, reference library support and a Central Archive.
For the entire country, he recommended the setting up of a National Central Library at
Calcutta by converting the then existing Imperial Library so that by a statute, the library
will receive a copy of every Indian Publication. He conceived integration as follows:
The Library edifice of Post-war India should be so planned that the primary libraries are
attached to the regional centres, regional centres to the provincial central libraries, these
again to the National Central Libraries, these finally to the National Central Libraries of
other countries and international library centres.
Depending upon the initiatives taken by others and the kind of support and
patronage received from local governmental and non-governmental sources, his grandoise
vision was translated into practice to different degrees - from the setting up of the Indian
National Bibliography at the Central Reference Library of Calcutta which received
publications under the Delivery of Books Act (1954, 1956) to half-hearted efforts in
setting up district libraries. All the States and Union Territories have set up State Central
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Libraries. Out of the 5OODistricts, more than 400 Districts have set up District Libraries.
Below the District, one-third of the Development Blocks numbering 2000 have set up
Block Libraries. Out of about 600,000 villages, around 50,000 have Village Libraries.
Nearly half the 3000 towns in India have Town Libraries. Not only the Central
Government, but also the State Governments like Tamil Nadu (1948), Andhra Pradesh
(1960), Kamataka (1965), Maharashtra (1967). West Bengal (1979), etc. have brought
out legislations for enabling the setting up of a network of public library services. The
Union Territory of Delhi established the Delhi Public Library in 1951 through the joint
efforts of the Government of India and UNESCO.
The library movement itself required a catalytic force. In 1972, this came about in
the form of the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation.
The resource paucity is apparent from the statistics which shows that there areonly
70 million volumes of books catering to a literate population of 450 million, which works
out to an access of less than 20 percent. With lending service leading, the reference
service, extension activities and so on were lagging far behind. The vision of Dr.
Ranganathan got translated into action with the effort of a large number of dedicated
library scientists, though however, the colossal population growth compounded by
severe resource crunch of a developing nation, attenuated its impact. Full implementation had to await the coming of low cost modemization.
From Public Libraries, the library movement spread to University Libraries and
Special Libraries. In the beginning of 1995, about 300,000 teachers taught nearly 6
million students in 7000 colleges of about 200 universities. Both the 1948 and 1964
Education Commissions set up by the Government and other University Grants Commission (UGC) Committees emphasized the importance of university and college
libraries. This led to the growth of stock to the present level of 16 million at the rate of
one million per annum. In the past five years, due to increasing prices of books and
subscription to periodicals, a declining trend has now become apparent. Of these, 40,000
current volumes stock are in Science Libraries with 500 volumes added every year.
Scientific and Technological research and development led to the growth of about
1200 Special Libraries attached to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Defence Research & Development
Organization (DRDO), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) apart from various Central and State
Government agencies. A survey conducted by the Indian Council of Social Science
Research (ICSSR) has put the number of Social Science Institutions in the country to
about 600. Nearly 700 Government Libraries grew up as a special category. Government
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also supported the setting up of three National Libraries - National Library at Calcutta,
National Science Library and National Library of Medicine in New Delhi. Some of the
major libraries have a stock of over 100,ooO volumes.
India is a major producer of books with more than 25,000 titles published every
year, which is an important contributor to the library movement in India.
1.2

History of Library

Automation

in India

In the 6Os, INSDOC and DRTC pioneered theuse of computers in Indian libraries
with the computer-aided production of Union List of Serials, Roaster of Scientific
Translators and Indian Science Abstracts by the former and a computer-based document
finding system by the latter.
In the 6Os,IBM and ICL set up computer manufacturing facilities in India because
of which libraries had a ready local source of computers to support their modemization
drive. In 1964, an IBM computer was used to bring out a Union Catalogue of Scientific
Serials by a collaborative effort of INSDOC and IIT Kanpur. Further, INSDOC got
developed a Roaster of Technical Translators in India on the IBM system of the Delhi
School of Economics. Another IBM system at the Delhi University Computer Centre
was utilized for bringing out special indexes for Indian Science Abstracts (ISA). The
first Circulation Control Automation was carried out in 1970 by the library of National
Aeronautical Laboratory at Bangalore on an ICL 1004 system. By 1971, about 10
libraries were using computers for procurement accounting, cataloguing, preparation of
library addition list and preparation of union catalogue of periodicals. The same year,
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) started Nuclear Science Information Service
by an arrangement with INIS. Also, in the same year, DRTC developed an indigenous
software called, DOCFINDER for locating documents.
Between 1971 and 1975 there was a slowing down of computerization efforts until
1976 when INSDOC in collaboration with IITMadras started a Selective Dissemination
of Information (SDI) of Chemical Information and DRTC developed a package for SD1
Services for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at Hyderabad.
International online information retrieval services began with the demonstration
of the access of the Frescati Library in Rome from the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research (TIFR), Bombay in 1976.
Computerised SD1 services became popular after this. The Central Food
Technological Research Institute (CETRI) and the National Centre for Science Informa3

tion (NCSI) began giving SD1 services to researchers and academics in the areas of food
technology, physics, geology, mathematics, chemistry and life sciences. Similarly, the
Central Technical Information Centre (CTIC) began giving SD1 services for Engineers.
The more popular SD1 services at that time include CONDENSATS, INSPEC,
COMPENDEX, NTIS, MEDLARS, ISI, BIOSYS, EXCERPTA MEDICA, CANSDI,
NRC, TITUS for Textile industry, DERVENT for patents, etc.
Large scale promotion of computerisation came in the 80s with the Indian Library
Association (ILA), IASLIC and 4GlLA
organizing conferences, workshops and
training programmes in library automation.
When UNESCO made available CDS/ISIS Software free of charge through the
NISSAT programme, a number of libraries took to automation. These efforts got a boost
with DRTC developing an automatic thesaurus generation system, Physical Research
Laboratory (PRL) at Ahmedabad developing Computerized Periodical Management
System and Computerized Book Procurement system, and INSDOC developing a Union
Catalogue of Scientific Conference Proceedings. The Information, Planning and
Analysis Group (IPAG) of the Electronics Commission, New Delhi, developed a
Bibliographic Database for Books in their library. The National Informatics Centre
(NIC) developed an integrated online bibliographic database for library documents
using CDC Cyber 170/120 mainframe computer system. Further, NIC introduced over
its computer-communication network, NICNET, a terminal-based access to its library
database. NIC further developed a system for the National Medical Library for providing
medical retrieval services and a Key-word based retrieval of articles in the Constitution
of India for the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. All these developments
ensued between 1980 and 1985.
The next logical step in the evolution was the intemationalization of the efforts by
feeding from India information into the international databases like INIS by BARC for
Nuclear Sciences, AGRIS by ICAR for agricultural sciences, IFIS by CFIRI for food
sciences, DEVSIS by CENDIT for development sciences, INFOTERA by ENVIS of the
Ministry of Environment &Forests and ISDS by INSDOC for serials data. Reciprocally,
these institutions were able to access international databases for giving value added
information services to their users in India.
The UGC National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) at the Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore, serves 3
users in academic and research institutions in
computerized SD1 services for fore
Y n databases. Similarly, ICMR-NIC Bio-medical
Information Centre has been identified as the 18th centre of the National Library of
Medicine of Bethesda for online access of MEDLARS databases.
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Though modemization of the library services began in Government funded


institutions initially, it spread to libraries of industrial undertakings like the Steel
Authority of India Limited (SAIL) at Ranchi, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL)
at Hyderabad, Hindustan Machine Tools Limited (HMT) at Bangalore, Indian Detonators
Limited (IDL) ;i. ::- 2.. .-& d, Engineers India Limited @IL) at New Delhi, Mechanical
Engineering Consultants (MECON) at Ranchi and Kirloskar Electric Company at
Bangalore. Of these, the library of the Kirloskar Electric Company pioneered the trend,
among industrial undertakings of the use of online services, beginning with DIALOG.
The trend of integrated library automation system was started, among a few others, by
the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at Ahmedabad which integrated acquisition,
information retrieval, circulation, periodical management system, book procurement
and online retrieval information systems. In the 8Os, the trend of medium/large scale
training of library scientists in the tool of modemization was initiated by DRTC,
INSDOC and NISSAT which was strengthened by the Library Science faculty in various
universities.
1.3

Sectoral and Global Drive towards Modernization

The pioneering role in the sectoral movement of library modemization can be


credited to the Defence Science Documentation Centre (DESIDOC) which was established in 1967 with the objective of maintaining an up-to-date research and reference
library, sifting through the current index classification, providing bibliographical
services in anticipation of demand and abstracting information under special interest
topics. DESIDOC provides scientific and technical information to the research and
development organization (DRDO) and has the largest collection of defence related
literature in the country. It initiated sectoral SD1 services and literature search as well as
access to DIALOG databases since 1984. With computer knowledgeable library
scientists, DESIDOC has been able to develop softwke and services pertaining to
information storage and retrieval, online catalogue, acquisition control, serials control,
circulation control, union catalogue, etc.
The Nuclear Science Sectoral Information is a typical early example of organized
efforts towards modemization which conveys a number of lessons to other sectors
engaged in automation. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Library and
Information Services established a cooperative arrangement with the International
Nuclear Information System (INIS) established by the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
Using computer and micrographic techniques INIS provides a
comprehensive announcement and abstracting service in nuclear science information.
Set up in 1970 at Vienna, the INIS evolved a system in which about 75 Member States
5

of the IAEA and the various international organizations contributed to the growth and
maintenance of the system with an annual input to the system of nearly 100,000 items
in the nuclear science and technology area. Not only the input, but also dissemination
has been decentralized in this system while processing, checking and merging of the
input data are centralized. The standardization discipline has been carefully inculcated
among nodal organizations in the member states. The standards evolved include
bibliographic description, machine readable data, thesaurus, indexing, abstracting,
country codes, corporate and other codes, transliteration, etc. India started contributing
to INIS input since 1970 with an annual average contribution of nearly 1000 items. This
contribution evolved from typed worksheets to paper tapes and then in magnetic tapes.
The INIS input tapes are prepared using the PRIME-450 computer at BARC while the
output tapes were processed on IRIS-80 computer installed at the Variable Energy
Cyclotron Centre (VECC) at Calcutta, using a software package called, MISTRAL. The
number of queries/retrieval requests serviced from the scientists and engineers of the
atomic energy family of organizations is about 1000 per annum.
The University system which has a heterogeneous user base, evolved its sector-al
information centres in a different way. The UGC initially established a sectoral
information centre at the SNDT Womens University Library and Information Centre in
1986 in the areas of Home Science, Library Science, Sociology and Education. The
database of Indian research material was created in English, Hindi, Gujarathi, and
Marathi languages. The computer&d database on HP-3000/42 computer was based on
MINISIS Software which was confined to the English language in the above fields. The
database not only covers general articles, but also books, conference proceedings and
theses. A Union list of periodicals in the areas subscribed by various organizations in
Indiais maintained. The UGC-SIC Information Centre at Maharaja Sayajirao University
(MS University) is one of the sectoral information centres set up in 1986 in economics,
political science, psychology and history. The UGC-SIC for Scientific Information
(NCSI) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore provides similar services in the areas
of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Geology. More than 3000 users are
serviced from five databases consisting of a million bibliographic citations annually.
The UGC has also initiated a Information Library Network Programme called,
INFLIBNET, which is progressively equipping the university libraries with computers
and software.
Perhaps a unique and highly successful example of sectoral based thrust of the
modemization of the library system is the National Information System for Science and
Technology (NISSAT) headquartered in New Delhi, initially established under the
Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India in 1977. It was later
transferred under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research @SIR) goveming the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NISSAT was set up with
6

the objective of information resource development and sharing, identification of


information users and manpower development. So far, NISSAT has set up eight
information centres (SICs) in the following sectors: Leather technology, Food Sciences,
Machine Tools, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Chemistry, Crystallography and
Advanced Ceramics. All the SICs have modemized bibliographic services provided
within India as well as internationally. NISSAT is a unique example of a catalytic
approach which gave a tremendous impetus to the library movement. Its unquestionable
success is worth emulating by other developing countries which are keen to modemize
their library systems. The NISSAT database in the areas of Leather technology and
machine tools have even set a world standard and have shown propensity for world-wide
dissemination of information. Inspite of its remarkable achievements in its sectoral
modernization drive, the Government of India has been slow in funding the programme,
representing a significant opportunity loss to the library movement. A doubling of the
budget of NISSAT can show dramatic effects on library modernization. NISSAT is also
an example of how the imposition of a commercialization drive far too soon in the
implementation of the programme, which has not yet reached the critical mass, can do
in artificially attenuating the rate of achievements.
Even in the 6Os, India realized the importance of setting up specialized documentation centres. The setting up of the INSDOC under the CSIR is a clear example. In 198 1,
NIC installed a computer system in the HP-loo0 series at the INSDOC to work as an
intelligent terminal to NICs mainframe system - CDC Cyber 170/730. Recently,
INSDOC has set up its own computer systems. The BioTechnology Information System
(BTIS) is a later example of a documentation centre which benefitted right from the
nucleation stage by computers, micrographics and computer-communication networks.
The various distributed information centres (DICs) are connected to each other and to
certain large online databases, nationally and internationally, through NICNET facility.
Another documentation centre serving the social scientists is the NASDOC (National
Social Science Documentation Centre). Set up in 1970 in New Delhi, it has built up a
document collection of published doctoral theses, research reports of projects undertaken or supported by ICSSR, working papers presented at Seminars and Conferences
organized or funded by ICSSR, periodicals of research in social sciences, etc. NASDOC
has also set up international linkages through the Asia Pacific Information Network in
Social Sciences (APINESS) Project headquarted in Bangkok since 1986 under the
auspices of UNESCO and AASSREC (Association of Asian Social Sciences Research
Council). In the Industrial Sector, the Small Enterprises National documentation Centre
(SENDOC) created at the National Institute of Small Industry Extension and Training
(NISIET) in 1971 at Hyderabad, provides information support to technological and
managerial advancement of small industries. SENDOC is an example of a library system
supporting the industries.
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1.4

Profile of Library

Sciences in India

Three important studies have been conducted through Survey and Analyses of the
Library Science Institutions in India. These studies were carried out under the auspices
of INFLIBNET,
DRTC, and NISSAT. In view of the fundamental nature of these
surveys and analyses, which give a statistical and factual scenario of library sciences in
India, the main results and conclusions are presented here with only minor modifications
and annotations.
i)

INFLIBNET

Survey and Analysis:

The UGC set up a high level committee of library science and information
technology specialists for preparing a project report for the establishment of an
information and library network for the university system in India. This project called,
INFLIBNET, was originally planned for setting up a nation-wide university Library and
Information System Network. However, the availability of already well established
computer-communication networks like NICNET, INET and ERNET, as well as the
popularity of INTERNET rendered the network objective of INFLIBNET superfluous.
Consequently, INFLIBNBT concentrated on providing computers, software and training as well as setting up of standards for university libraries. Nevertheless, the project
report prepared by the committee unearthed valuable information on several aspects of
the library systems of universities and research & development institutions. The
following is a summary of thefindings:
Classification scheme in use: About 65 percent of the university libraries
follow Dewey Decimal Classification @DC) system, and 24 percent use
COLON Classification (CC) Scheme. The remaining use either UDC (Universal
Decimal Classification) scheme. On the other hand in research and development
institutions, preference is shown to the UDC Scheme with DDC closely
following and CC trailing far behind.
Catalogue code followed: Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules is adopted
by 40 percent of university libraries and nearly 50 percent R&D libraries,
followed by a classified catalogue code (CCC), by 23 percent of the University
Libraries and 20 percent of libraries in R&D institutions.
Subject Heading Systems: Nearly half the universities follow either locally
available subject heading systems or other specialised schemes, 33 percent use
Sears list and 9 percent use LC subject heading lists.

Abstracting and Indexing Journals: There is considerable duplication of


subscriptions to abstracting and indexing journals in university libraries. The
survey of a list of 129 universities and 28 R&D institutions show that they are
subscribing to 2352 abstracting journals, 339 indexing journals. For example,
58 libraries subscribe to chemical abstracts, 56 to biological abstracts and 41 to
physics abstracts. This shows that there is considerable scope for resource
sharing (though site licence copyright arrangements may have to be worked
out).

Services rendered by libraries: The average rating by priority for various


services are given below in terms of average rank of university and R&D library
services:
University
Library

R&D
Library

Computerised Database
Access

5.64

5.12

Selective Dissemination
of Information

4.96

3.59

3.

Lending of External Users

4.40

4.75

4.

Referral Services

4.25

3.63

5.

Current Awareness

3.54

2.64

6.

Reprography services

3.32

4.36

7.

Lending to internal users

1.91

3.29

8.

Reference services

1.81

1.59

Services

1.

2.

It can be seen that computerized database access is given the least priority while
lending to internal users, reference services, etc., are given top priority. (This clearly
calls for modemization facilitators like INFLIBNET, NICNET, NISSAT and ERNET).
Automation priorities: If given modemization support by the Government, the
libraries rank the order of services that could be automated as follows:

Services

University
Library

R&D
Library

1.

Budgeting

6.88

6.57

2.

Bibliographic

4.42

4.00

3.

Reference Services

4.40

4.48

4.

Serials Control

4.27

4.00

5.

Cataloguing

3.81

4.19

6.

Acquisition

3.44

2.96

7.

Circulation

3.37

4.92

ii)

DRTC Survey and Analysis:

databases

In order to understand the impact of foreign journals on library science in India,


a citation analysis was carried out by Prof. M.A. Gopinath, Head of the DRTC, Indian
Statistical Institute, Bangalore. The report of his survey and analysis was published in
Library Sciences, Vol. 30, No. 1, March 1993. The data was gathered from a statistically
valid cross section of publications during a five year period. The analysis pertains to the
citation of foreign science journals by Indian Library Science authors. Truncating the
list of countries by eliminating those which have less than one percent journals, the
distribution percentage of citations of the foreign journals in six countries is presented
in the Table below:
10

Sl. No.

Journals from

Percentage of
No. of journals

Percentage of
No. of citations

1.

USA

60

68.5

2.

UK

10

20.5

3.

Japan

8.2

2.66

4.

Canada

2.7

1.80

5.

International

2.7

1.64

6.

Germany

1.8

0.80

(Source: DRTC Survey and Analysis by Prof. M.A. Gopinath, Head of the DRTC,
Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore).
The country-wise distribution of journals worked out by Prof. Gopinath is listed
below:

USA

48

Japan

22

UK

130

Hungary

22

Canada

90

Netherland 20

Germany

75

Poland

18

Australia

45

Italy

15

India

34

Czech

15

South Africa

26

France

15

Denmark

25

Others

266

11

He quotes that as USA is the largest publisher of journals in the field of library
science in the world, the citation density indicates that the journals density in USA is the
largest. This is followed by UK. Another reason pointed out is that the development in
Information Technology is in the area in which Indian library scientists have had the
influence.
iii)

NISSAT Survey and Analysis

To give an idea of the broad trends in the growth of library science databases and
services, two illustrative cases are taken from the Surveys and Analyses carried out by
NISSAT.
The coverage of journals in Indian Science Abstracts (ISA) increased from nearly
300 in 1983-84 to about 750 in 1988-89. ISA covers journals, articles, patents, standards.
Theses and conference proceedings. On an average about 1000 entries are recorded per
fortnight. The Indian Science Abstracts has grown from less than 25,000 in 1983-84 to
over 30,000 in 1988-89. It is seen that ISA activities has stagnated over years, though
information on the output on Science & Technology efforts could have complemented
and contributed to international databases. Thus, the analyses has brought into focus a
problem of modemization. ISA employs manual methods by type composing the output.
If a computer-based database is to be generated, the entire ISA collection of nearly half
a million records would have to be keyed in afresh or scanned by OCR, if the type-font
becomes acceptable for optical reading.
The Central Reference Library compiles the Indian National Bibliography (INB)
on the basis of publications received at the National Library at Calcutta under the
Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act 1954/56. The total number of publications
received under this Act has gone down from over 20,000 in 1975 to under 15,000 in 1985.
This is inspite of the trend of increase in the number of publications during this period.
This clearly indicates that even with an Act of the Parliament, its implementation would
require adequate incentives for the responding organizations and individuals. The INB
coverage is incomplete. For a major national activity of this magnitude, the computer
applications have not been implemented even though the existing computer communication networks could help not only to increase the publications received under the DB
Act, but also ensuring timeliness.
1.5

Evolution

of a Policy Frame-work

Since 1947, the Government of India endeavoured to set up a growing library


service through promotional efforts and formulation of appropriate policies. The
12

Imperial Library set up in Calcutta before independence, was renamed as the National
Library through the National Library of India Act, 1948. Closely following this in 1951,
the Government of India approached UNESCO to assist in the setting up of a large model
public library in Delhi. The following year, the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) was established. The Government set up a scheme for improvement of library services by giving financial assistance to the State Governments to set
up State Central Libraries and District Libraries. The Delivery of Books (Public
Libraries) Act of 1954 amended in 1956 to include Newspapers also, was intended to
make the National Library at Calcutta into a structure similar to the Library of Congress
of USA. However, these efforts did not succeed to the degree hoped for.
In 1958, the Government desired to give a prime place for Science & Technology
by bringing out the Scientific Policy Resolution. With respect to the library system, the
Resolution included the following provisions:
To encourage individual initiative for the acquisition and dissemination of
knowledge in an atmosphere of academic freedom ...... and in general, to secure
for the people of the country all the benefits that can accrue from the acquisition
and application of scientific knowledge. The Technology Policy Statement,
however, came only in early 1983, but made an explicit provision for creating a
Technology Information base towards availability of an efficient system of
collection and analysis of relevant technological information.
Subsequently in 1986, a National Policy on Education was announced advocating
among others, a nation-wide movement for improvement of existing libraries and
establishment of new libraries and providing modem library facilities in all educational
institutions.
A number of committees and panels were set up by the Government for the
promotion of the library movement. The more important ones are the following:
Advisory Committee for Libraries was set up by the Ministry of Education,
Government of India, in 1957, under the chairmanship of K.P. Sinha, to recommend
suitable measures for improvement of libraries in India. The Committee submitted its
report in 1958 with the following more salient recommendations:
1.

Every citizen of India should have free access to the library services.

2.

The library hierarchy will consist of the National Library, State Central
Libraries, District Libraries and Panchayat Libraries.
13

The National Central Library and National Book Deposit Centres shall
be set up by the Government of India.

4.

Every State Library will have a State Central Library and a State Lending
Library.

5.

An All India Library Advisory Council shall be set up under the


chairmanship of the Minister of Education in the Central Government.

6.

To promote the library movement, Library Associations should be


encouraged to be set up by the State and Central Governments, wherever
necessary and possible, voluntary organizations may encourage to set up
Mitramandals to spread the awareness of library movement.

7.

Dormitary libraries should be set up for archiving of books weeded out


from public libraries.

8.

Cooperation between public libraries should be encouraged.

9.

Universities, State and Central Libraries and National Central Library


should arrange for the training of professional librarians.

10.

State Governments should bring out appropriate Acts concerning the


State Libraries. The Government of India should also enact Library Law
at the national level.

11.

Subscription libraries while continuing to receive aid from the State


Governments, should be encouraged to join free public library services.

12.

A 25 year library plan should be worked out as a guide for short range plan
implementation.

In its efforts to implement the report of the Advisory Committee for Libraries, the
Ministry of Education of the Government of India circulated a Model Public Library Bill
in 1966. Parallelly a Working Group on Libraries set up by the Planning Commission
for the Fourth Five Year Plan also submitted a report on the same. However, National
Library of India (Amendment) Act was passed only in 1976.

14

National Library Board (NLB): In pursuance of the 1976 Act, an autonomous


National Library Board was created. Though the Act itself was held back, the fast
Director of NLB, Prof. R.K. Dasgupta was responsible forrecommendations concerning
the entrustment of the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), set up in
1972 under the Department of Culture of the Government of India, with the responsibility of bringing out a National Library Policy and its implementation. The RRLF acted
as a promoter of the library movement through central and State public libraries. In 198 1,
the foundation set up a Working Group for drafting a National Library Policy under the
chairmanship of Prof. Dasgupta. The Working Group presented a draft Policy Statement
through the Department of Culture in 1984.
The following year, the Department of Culture set up a Committee on National
Policy on Library and Information System (CONPOLIS) under the chairmanship of
Professor D.P. Chattopadhyaya, Chairman of RRRLF. The following were the terms of
reference:
To consider the document, National Policy on Library and Information System
prepared by RRRLF in the context of expanding library movement, disseminating
information to neo-literates, illiterates, children and backward communities. The
Committee may also consider a document on National Policy prepared by the India
Library Association. The Committee shall (a) circulate these documents to relevant
experts and institutions all over the country and obtain their reaction, (b) arrange public
discussions on the policy statement by way of holding seminars or by conducting
interviews of selected people and (c) on the basis of its own discussions and on the basis
of the reactions obtained through (a) and (b), the Committee shall prepare a final
document for the consideration of the Government.
The Committee prepared its final report, National Policy on Library and Information Systems - a presentation and submitted it to the Minister of Human Resource
Development in 1986. An empowered committee set up by the Department of Culture
examined the report and submitted its comments in 1988. Unfortunately, the report has
not been formally accepted so far.
The Planning Commission of India set up a Working Group on Modemization of
Library Services and Informatics for guiding the investment during the Seventh Five
Year Plan, under the chairmanship of N. Seshagiri. The Planning Commission Office
Memorandum No. M.l2011/3/83Zdn
dated November 17, 1983 gave the following
terms of reference for the Working Group:
1.

To take stock of the position in respect of the library services and


15

informatics as is likely to be reached by the end of 1984-85, to identify


problem areas and suggest remedial measures.
2.

To suggest feasible perspective of development of library services and


informatics upto 2000 AD, particularly with a view to equalising these
facilities to all sections of the people and to enable the national library and
informatics system make its maximum contribution to the development
of a modem society.

3.

To specify in clear terms the objectives of library services and informatics


development programme in relation to national development goals.

4.

To formulate proposals for the Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90) in the
light of the above perspective indicating priorities, policies and financial
costs.

This Working Group is the first attempt to bring out modemization of library
services. The report submitted in July 1984 made the following recommendations
concerning modemization imperatives of applications of computers and computercommunications and other electronic means to the library system and services:
1.

The present library community should be exposed to the concept of


computers and its usage. For this, awareness and specific library oriented
programmes should be conducted.

2.

The library training courses should be enlarged to include computer


application aspects. Emphasis should be more on information handling,
organization and usage.

3.

During the 7th Plan period the goal should be to computerize most of the
majoriibraries. This should be carried out in a systematic manner so that
information exchange is possible. Certain standards with respect to
hardware and software have to be evolved.

4.

A Group has to be set up at the apex level to work out the Plan for
computerization. This Group should also work out standard specifications for hardware and software for implementation at various levels.
This Group should consist of computer specialists, library scientists and
educational experts. This Group should be made responsible for monitoring and evaluating the computerization in the libraries.
16

5.

Software development activities have to be initiated for evolving a


standard software for meeting the library requirements. This should be
implemented on standard indigenous systems.

6.

In developing the computer applications, fust importance should be


given far developing a union catalogue and a national bibliography.

7.

A plan for interlinking the library systems should be worked out. It should
give a detailed plan of action for developing the library network.

8.

New technologies (telematics) like Videotext, Teletext provide ample


opportunities for disseminating information at the cheapest possible
manner. Such systems should be experimented with a view to study its
impact on the society. It will enable access to a wide variety of data in
the shortest time.

As the Working Group report was the first organized attempt in the country to
identify the problems and perspectives of modemization and many of the observations
and recommendations are valid even to this day, Part (B) of the Working Group Report
entitled, Informatics and Computer Applications substantially prepared under the
guidance of the author is reproduced in Annexure- 1.
The report was accepted by the Planning Commission and commended for
implementation by organizations having the necessary resources and motivation, with
the budget for the same distributed to various Ministries/Institutions in the Seventh Five
Year Plan. It is on this basis that the drive for modemization of library services using
NICNET was initiated by NIC. Similarly, the Planning Commission supported the
increase in the number of sectoral centres to be taken up by NISSAT. Also the exercise
of setting up of INFLIBNET by the University Grants Commission for University
Libraries was initiated. The INFLIBNET report entitled, Development of an Information and Library Network - Report of the Inter-Agency Working Group submitted its
comprehensive report in December 1988. The emphasis of this report was predominently
the modemization of the library system in the country utilizing innovations in computer
and computer-communications. The Executive Summary of this important report is
included as Annexure-2. Inspiteof the logical objectives and practical recommendations
of the INFLIBNET Working Group Report, there was extraordinary delay in processing
the recommendations for implementation. The delay was not only attributable to the
UGC and the Ministry of HRD, but also to the Planning Commission and the Ministry
of Finance for various known and unknown reasons. During 1989 and 1990, various
projects like NISSAT, NICNET, ERNET, INDONET and others continued the pace of
17

their own programme for giving computer network support to the university libraries
with the hope that INPLIBNET will come into being as proposed in the Working Group
Report. By 1991, a disillusionment started setting in with the inordinate delay. This
resulted in a number of earlier projects, principally the ERNET of the Department of
Electronics and NICNET of NIC under the Planning Commission began the implementation of their education and research network. The Education and Research Network
ERNET was originally set up by the author for giving research, development and
training support utilizing the infrastructure and specialist manpower of the various IITs,
Indian Institute of Science, National Centre for Software Technology (NCST), etc. with
a model network linking these organizations. When INFLIBNET failed to take off, the
ERNET project expanded the scope of their project to give network services to colleges
and universities on the pattern of JANET of UK. This initiative resulted in ERNET
making a beginning in INTERNET services. However, ERNET itself was handicapped
by the fact that they had to depend upon inter-city leased lines from the Department of
Telecommunications (DOT). At this stage, NIC which already had the largest govemment VSAT network outside of USA, decided to make available its vast computerised
bibliographic resources and networks to the university libraries. With no additional
investment, NIC was able to set up the Research and Education Network of NIC
(RENNIC) with the objective of giving NICNET and INTERNET linkages to all the
8000 colleges and R&D institutions. Between RENNIC and ERNET, the university
system began getting computer network services with international hook up facilities.
The process is expected to cover all the colleges and R&D institutions and all the public
libraries by the end of 1997.
1.6

UNESCOs

Catalysis

With the successful setting up of the first National Public Library in Delhi in 195 1,
the UNESCO has been giving catalytic support to the Government of India in general and
the library movement in particular through various means world-wide. UNESCO gave
a new thrust to the library sector during the 70s by promoting UN Information System
in Science and Technology (UNISIST), and National Information System (NATIS) and
implemented these through its General Information Programme (PGI). As early as 1974
and 1979, Inter-governmental Conferences were arranged by them which enthused a
number of library scientists in India to get them implemented in the country. UNESCO
disseminated new ideas and policy instruments through bulletins, manuals, hand-books,
standards, training material, conference proceedings, project documents, etc. They
distributed freely CDS/ISIS library package, MINISIS etc. for promoting library
modemization. Many of the UNESCO reports published in the 70s like, Information
Policy Objectives, Guidelines on Planning National Scientific and Technological
Information Systems, Planning National Information Structures for Documentation,
18

Libraries and Archives : Outline of a General Policy, 1975, Information Policy for
Development: National and International Responsibilities, 1976, Design and Planning
of National Information Systems, A paper for Government Planners, 1976, among
several others, had the salient effect of guiding policy makers at not only the Government
level, but also organizational level. Though the library movement in India did not avail
of the UNESCO catalysis during the 80s. as much as they did during the 7Os, 90s has
seen a resurgence of the interaction through collaborative efforts between UNESCO and
NISSAT on one hand and the UNESCO and NIC on the other. UNESCO also has taken
joint initiatives with many other organizations. As a guide for the future for those
organizations in India who want to benefit by the catalytic efforts of UNESCO, the
following are included as Annexures 3 to 6:
1.

Excerpts from the Report of the Inter-govemmentsl Conference on


Strategies and Policies for Informatics (SPIN) Torremolinos, Spain,
August/September 1978.

2.

Excerpts from the Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for Development 1979 and excerpts from the note by the SecretaryGeneral of the UN General Assembly on the Operational Plan for
Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action.

3.

Structure and Functions of Inter-Governmental Informatics Programme


(IIP) of UNESCO - relevant excerpts.

19

Chapter Two
MICRO

PROFILE

OF LIBRARY

MODERNIZATION

I. SECTORAL

IN INDIA

LIBRARIES

Building up of specialized information systems require not only information from


speciahzed libraries, but also other quantitative information from sectoral sources. The
biggest problem facing the libraries in developing countries is the resource crunch in the
face of exponentially increasing demand for library resources. Resource sharing, with
due regard to strategies which respect to world intellectual property rights, appears to be
the only solution to reconcile the supply with the demand. Such resource sharing will
be effective if carried out in an automation-specific way sectorally. In a particular sector
like Agriculture, Bio-technology, Medicine, Textiles, Leather industry, etc, the library
information on R&D institutions having the same specialisation may be in a better
position to give value added information services after retrieving the required raw data.
Encouraging computer-based modemization in such libraries and dissemination through
a computer-communication network, can be an ideal solution. For this reason, the micro
profile of modemization is described in this Chapter in terms of sectoral libraries that
have been set up through out the country.
2.1

Resource sharing through Sectoral Libraries

In every sector, Information demand and stock grows exponentially. Information


resources are becoming costlier with time. Unnecessary duplication of information
sources within the country not only creates avoidable expenditure, but also deprives
knowledge-based innovations and value addition over the information. Geographically
adjacent libraries can pool their information resources to reduce cost, avoid duplication
and create value added databases. With contemporary technological developments in
the field of computer-communication, it is possible to work out inter-accessibility to
each others resources without losing the individual identity of libraries. However, it is
essential to work out strategies which respect the world intellectual property rights
including copyright laws and the provisions of the GATT Agreement.
Though resource sharing can be resorted to in virtually every aspect of the
functioning of a library, there are priorities which have been identified. Initial resource.
sharing exercise could be restricted through inter-library loans, creation of Union
Catalogues, Cooperative acquisition and cooperative cataloguing. Inter-library loans
will increase the utilization of the library resources within a tractable geographical
region. This can arrange borrowing and lending-of books between libraries, providing
20

photo-copies of papers, articles, network-based sharing of full text CDROMs and online
resources. Development of Union Catalogues for the region in question becomes
essential in order to know who has what resources and thereby plan for complementary
acquisition of resources. Cooperative acquisition of serials and primary documents by
the participating libraries in the region would enhance the availability of rare and
occasional publications brought out within the country and abroad. Also, network-based
online full text retrieval of articles through terminals indifferent libraries can be arranged
through carefully negotiated site licensing arrangements with the publishers which will
minimise the total royalty payments. A numberofpublishers have shown interest in such
site licensing because of the propensity for increasing the demand by increasing
affordability.
Within the region or within the subject domain/sector a coordinating centre can be
given the responsibility for coordinating all the above functions. Even within a sector if
there is a library of specialized R&D organization and a number of other organizations
with sub-sectoral specialization, the main coordinating centre can bring in cooperative
resource sharing and cooperative value added services by coordinating the main centre
and the sub-centres through the computer-communication network.
NISSAT, which pioneered the sectoral information movement in the country, has
valuable experience in organizing resource sharing of scientific and technical library
material. Some of the services that have evolved in the various NISSAT centres can be
summarized as follows:
Abstrucring Service: The Coordinating Centre can bring out sectoral abstracts for
the sector by covering the various documents available in the participating libraries
including sub-sector libraries.
Sector-al Information Digest: The coordinating centre can bring out a sectoral
digest in the specialized subject domain outlining or elaborating recent scientific
developments and trends collected from a number of technical journals, books and other
periodicals.
Current Awareness Service: Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI), and
retrospective current awareness services can be brought out by the centre by consulting
both national and international databases.
Bibliographical Services: The centre can prepare or cause to prepare bibliographies on specific topics in the specialized subject domain by coordinating the literature
available in various sectoral and sub-sectoral libraries in the country. The growing
21

INTERNET

access possibility brings in international dimensions also to this effort.

Inhouse Databases: Various sectoral libraries and sub-sectoral libraries can


prepare bibliographical databases pertaining to their library on a standardized format, so
that through a computer-communication network, they can be accessed from each other
or by other interested users through remote terminals through a query system.
Directory of Research Projects: Each sectoral library or sub-sectoral libraries
shall prepare a structured periodic report on the projects going on in the institutions
serviced by it. These individual databases can be accessed by sectoral coordination
centres to prepare a union directory of all the ongoing research projects in the sector.
Also, updated information on these projects can be made available through terminal
based retrieval from any of the user locations.
Technical Enquiry Service: The centre shall service queries received from
scientists and other interested users working in the geographical area or in the specialised
subject domain with the assistance of experts in the field available in that centre. In this
context, sub-sectoral libraries and sub-sectoral organizations who have specializations
in a narrow field in the sector, also become important. It is for this reason that distributed
databases even sectorally are important and network-based servicing of sub-databases
through a common standard query system is advisable.
Translation Services: While translation can be sub-contracted to a number of
public and private organizations who specialize in various languages, there are advantages in doing these in a coordinated manner by coordinating a nation-wide directory of
translators and entrusting the jobs for ensuring efficiency, accuracy and timeliness in
translations.
In what follows, the progress in the setting up of sector-al library information
centres are described in the following important fields: Agriculture, Bio-technology,
Forestry, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Textiles,
Leather Technology, Food Technology, Machine Tools, Social Sciences and Cultural
Heritage.
2.2

Agriculture

Sector

The global annual publication of articles, reports, conference proceedings, etc.


primarily in agricultural field exceed 200,ooO out of which more than 170,000 are
articles in individual periodicals. Commercially available books and pamphlets account
for 10,000 and the remaining 20,000 are non-conventional/non-periodic/non-commer22

cial publications.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) has taken initiative in setting
up or supporting the setting up of appropriate information systems in the agricultural
sector. Set up in 1929, ICAR is the apex organization serving agricultural and animal
husbandry research and education in the country through 44 research institutes, 69 All
India Coordinated Research Projects, 8 Project Directorates, 19 National Research
Centres, 26 Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras for lab to land transfer
of technology. In early 6Os, the Estimates Committee of Parliament recommended the
setting up of a Research Information Service at ICAR Headquarters. In 1967, ICAR
created at its headquarters, the research project file unit. The Ministry of Agriculture,
entrusted the responsibility of servicing the international information system for
agricultural sciences (AGRIS) of FAOof UN to this unit in 1975. Subsequently, the unit
was renamed as Agricultural Research Information Centre (ARIC) with the following
broad objectives:
1.

Central sources of research project information for systematic maintenance of records of research projects and reporting of research activities.

2.

Setting up of a database for avoiding duplication of research efforts and


making available source material for coordination of research.

3.

Planning, implementation, financial support, standardization and working out compatibility among agricultural research information systems.

4.

Generation, analysis, integration and diffusion of national and intemational agricultural research information.

5.

Creation of bibliographical database and participation in AGRIS.

In pursuance of these objectives, over the years, ARIC has developed a number of
information systems which have yielded the following benefits:
1.

It has provided a comprehensive information


national research programmes in agriculture.

2.

Users are able to keep themselves informed about the new programmes
and projects.

3.

Duplication in projects and programmes between various institutions is


23

service of the current

avoided through appropriate and timely information


4.

It can track the projects of individual scientists as well as organizations.

5.

It has a specialised information systems.

6.

It keeps track of trends in research interests.

7.

It facilitates resource sharing, in the multidisciplinary

8.

It provides management information system for planning R&D on a


national basis.

9.

It identifies common research interest for international cooperation and


for participation of scientists in conferences.

10.

It adopts FAOs AGRIQARIC categorization scheme which is a multilingual thesaurus for coding and indexing.

context.

About 50 research institutes and stations under the ICAR are connected to
NICNET through intra-city dial-up to the nearest NIC District Centres. A report recently
prepared for the World Bank advocates the setting up of a wider network connecting all
the R&D institutions, universities and extension centres in the agricultural research
sector. For this, it is proposed to utilize, through appropriate augmentation, existing
networks like NICNET and ERNET.
In the post-GATT era, the setting up of information systems for bio-diversity and
plant genetic resources has become urgent. This issue has taken a political dimension
throughout the world and developing countries like India are required to hasten to set up
a comprehensive information system so as to safeguard themselves against the loss of
commercial advantage through knowledge gaps.
In this context, the genetic resources manager needs information on the diverse
activities of the gene banks which include introduction, conservation, characterization,
evaluation and distribution of plant material. International concern on collection,
preservation and utilization of plant genetic resources has triggered the assignment of
high priority for such information systems. As the genetic resources are reservoirs which
can be of immense help to the growing population of India, only a fraction of these
resources have been utilized in the country with GATT Agreement giving patentability
rights of various aspects of genetic resources. A major international legal dimension has
24

been added.
Years of evolution under domestication and natural selection has resulted in a
high diversity in Agri-Horticultural crops with considerable variation in plant genetic
resources. The global genetic resources of about 34000 cultivated TAXA is confined to
12 primary centres of diversity. India is known to be one of the important gene centres
of the world with about 15,000 plant species occurring, of which 150 are of high
economic importance. Rich genetic diversity is available in case of many cereal crops,
legumes, vegetables, spices, oilseeds, fibre crops, fruits, medicinal plants and also in
grass and trees. The wild relatives of the 150 economically important species are facing
the danger of extinction. This brings in an urgency in collection, evaluation, conservation and documentation. Since 1976, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources
(NBPGR) is supplying information on plant genetic resources in the country so that all
useful agri-horticultural plants are taken care of before much damage gets done. The
Bureau maintains about 40,000 collections of Agri-horticulture crops at its headquarters
including a number of crop based institutes of ICAR like the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. Among these, about 150,OOOcollections of wheat
at IARI, New Delhi, 1000 accessions of Potatoes etc. at Central Potato Research Institute
at Shimla, 14,000 plantation crops at Central Tuber Crops Research Institute at
Kasargode, 5000 accessions of different fruits and vegetable crops at the Indian Institute
of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, 6000 collections of Cotton species at the Central
Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur, about 3600 clones of Saccharums at the Sugarcane
Breeding Institute at Coimbatore, about 86,000 accessions at the International Crop
Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Hyderabad and so on.
The germplasm line/seed sample is the basic unit of any genetic resource centre.
Information on places of germplasm collection, their ecological habits, the extent of
variability observed in the field along with other data, information on various evaluation
parameters, conservation details, quantity of seed stored, and its placement in the gene
bank, germination percentage, time parity of storage, etc. are important elements of the
database. In general, for supporting plant germplasm banks, the following information
is required:
1.

Information on import and export of valuable plant material for planning


national seed exchange strategies and ensuring avoidance of repetition in
production.

2.

Monitoring Information on evaluated germplasms.

3.

Monitoring information on gene bank holding


25

Monitoring information relating to screening of germplasms and nemotoes


4.
and its retrieval from time to time to minimize the risk of spread of a new disease in the
country. All the above type of information have to be correlated with bibliographic
information available in books, research articles, journals, reports and other periodicals
for which reason thelibraries supporting the gene banks should as well computer&d and
modemized as the gene banks themselves. This would eblable correlatory studies in the
utilization of the gene bank information.
The NBPGR has initiated a project called, GRIP (Genetic Resource Information
Project) in order to manage the genetic resource database at the national level. GRIP is
a computerized information system working on the XENWUNIX
platform. A number
of relational data models have been developed to facilitate the setting up of optimal
information systems. For example, the germplasm introduction information system
(GIIS) at NBPGR is based on a relational structuring techniques under a UNIFY
environment with the data model developed for monitoring information on import and
export of germplasm.
Though at present, the National Documentation Centre at NBPGR is computerized
offline, there are proposals to connect this to NICNET and INET.
It is realized that only uniform codes and formats are used. There is a danger of
inputting user information on incompatible fields generated at another centre. The
setting up of crop advisory committees for bringing out such standardization has been
suggested for deciding optimum number of data generating centre for different crops.
Efforts are under way in this direction.
2.3

Bio-Technology

Sector

The area of bio-technology which is inter-disciplinary, drawing upon chemical


engineering, molecular biology, genetic engineering, immunology, bio-chemistry, biophysics, physiology, etc. is a fast growing sector with major industrial stakes. Being
inter-disciplinary, information handling is complex especially because of the unprecedented growth of the bio-technology sector. As India has a large economic stake in this
emerging area, a separate Department of Bio-technology has been set up. In 1984, a
special Task Force was constituted under the chairmanship of the author including
specialists in the area of Information Technology, Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering, Bio-chemical Engineering and Management. This Task Force formulated an
information system called, Bio Technology Information System (BTIS) with the
following objectives:

26

To provide national bio-information network designed to bridge inter1.


disciplinary gaps in information and to establish links among scientists in organizations
involved in R&D and manufacturing activities in bio-technology.
To serve as a networking and database management organization in six
2.
identified areas involving 10 specialised centres and associated infrastructural facilities.
To provide access points for information available at the specialized centres
3.
and also provide a mechanism to keep the databases uptodate with the findings and
results from their laboratories.
BTIS was created with a bio-technology information centre as the apex unit at the
Department of Bio-technology so as to coordinate the activities of distributed information centres and establish online communication with external sources. Nine centres in
Universities and R&D Institutes in the country engaged in one or more areas of biotechnology were identified as Distributed Information Centres (DICs).
- Genetic Engineering

- Animal Cell Culture


and Virology
- Plant Tissue Culture,
Photosynthesis and
Plant Molecular Biology

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. &


Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai,
Bose Institute, Calcutta
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Poona University, Pune


Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi.
:

- Oncogenes, Reproduction
Physiology, Cell Transformation, Nucleic acid
and Protein sequences

Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology,


Hyderabad.
:

- Immunology

..

- Enzyme Engineering,
Immobilised Bio-catalysts,
Microbial Fermentation and
Bioprocess Engineering
:

National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi


InstituteofMicrobialTechnology,

27

Chandigarh

The objectives of the DICs were identified as follows:


1.

To function as an information base in each speciality so that the scientists


and Biotech Corporations can access the computer based information on
resources, databases in subject fields and to build up expertise in
informatics.

2.

To store and retrieve information from databases created on computerized and from structured information generated by research and industrial institutions in the identified fields of biotechnology and continually
update the data bank and make available the information to user centres
and interested parties.

3.

To generate information relevant to specific areas with facility for


continuous updation and access.

4.

An active computer-communication network support for facilitating


interaction among the bio-technology community and foster scientific
and technical interaction among groups with common interest.

5.

To provide retrieval services, both online and offline, in the specialized


areas and give overall information support.

6.

To provide communication links to international databases including


DIALOG for Selective Bibliographic Information retrieval.

7.

To develop software packages specific to user needs.

8.

To conduct training courses in the specialised arias of bio-informatics.

A large number of user centres have been established with network access to the
databases created at the DIC. All these centres have been provided with FAX transmission facilities to enable receiving and sending specific information straight from the
source documents. A dial-up connection through modems connected to PADS of
NICNET has been provided for communication of messages between intelligent
terminals and remote locations. All the DICs have been linked to NICNET and through
NICNET to INTERNET. The BTIS specifically links all the libraries of the DICs and has
been the main source of modemization of these libraries. Computer and network based
services are given specifically arising from books, proceedings of conferences, trade
periodicals, market surveys, research project information, dissertations, abstracts and
28

secondary sources accessed through computerised databases like BIOSIS, SCI,


MEDLINE, Current Biotechnology Abstracts, Derwent Biotechnology Abstracts,
Telegenline, Abstracts in Biocommerce, etc. With careful complementarity worked out
between the various DICs, some amount of resource sharing has been successfully
implemented, utilizing NICNET connectivity.
2.4

Forestry Sector

Forestry Research in India dates back to 1879 af*theDehradun Forest School. The
Imperial Forest Research Institute (IFRI) later renamed as Forest Research Institute
(FRI) at Dehradun was established at the beginning of the century. After independence,
forestry research was decentralized and several State Agricultural Universities and
Science Universities took to education and research in forestry. In recent times, several
institutions were set up which showed interest in forestry research, e.g., Wild Life
Institute of India, Indian Institute of Forest Management, IPII, etc. The Survey of India,
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and National Remote Sensing Agency supplied aerial
photographs and satellite imageries on forests. The FRI library has a very rich collection
of books and journals on forestry with current holding of about 130,000 books and 600
journals.
Documentation of forestry literature in India began as early as 1926 at Dehradun.
This was started by Silviculturist at FRI, Dr. Howard, who later became famous for the
Howard System of Classification. As there were deficiencies in this system, in 1954 the
Commonwealth Agricultural Bueaux of England published the Oxford Decimal (ODC)
system of classification which was finally adopted by FRI. The system was subsequently
revised by the International Union of Forestry Research Organisations. FRI, which is
the largest institution of its kind in Asia, also pioneered the use of computers in forest
research and library modemization. Extensive use of CDROM based bibliographic
databases as well as online search of international databases have been established. The
World Bank is assisting the setting up of a National Forest Library and Information
Centre (NLFIC) at FRI Dehradun to act as a Forest Documentation Centre for India. A
network link to FRI has been provided from NICNET with consequent facility for access
to INTERNET database.
2.5

Fisheries Sector

The sectoral Information System for fisheries has been set up at the Central Marine
Fisheries Research Institute with the Headquarters Library at &chin. The objectives of
the Institute are: development of fisheries in the Indian exclusive Economic zone as well
as promoting marticulture along the coastal zone through transfer of technology,
29

dissemination of information, training and extension, monitoring of marine and coastal


pollution, etc. With its Headquarters at Cochin and Regional Centres at Mandapam
Camp, Tamil Nadu, there are 11 Research Centres at Varaval, Bombay, Karwar,
Mangalore, Calicut, Vizhinjam, Tuticorin, Madras, Vishakhapatanam,Kakinada and
Minicoy. Apart from these there are 29 field centres.
The fisheries library system has its headquarters at Cochin, Regional Centre at the
Mandapam Camp and sub-sectoral libraries at the 11 research centres . The library
holding is more than 50,000 volumes of books and periodicals with 350 periodicals
received annually. An important aspect of this library system is the library collection
of expedition reports. The main library at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(CMFRI) at Cochin extends reference, bibliographic and translation services and
interacts with INSDOC, ISRO, DST, DOD, Agricultural academic institutions, Maritime institutions, ICAR institutions, CSIR institutions and international bodies like
FAO., SEAFDEC, ICLARM, etc. Computer based SDVCA services are given by the
library as well as storing and retrieval of library information. The information received
from research divisions is structured in the form of publications like the Indian Journal
of Fisheries, CMFRI Bulletin, CMFRI Special Publication, Marine Fisheries Information Service and R&D Series for Marine Fishery Research Management.
Though computerisation has started, the networking is yet to be done, though
however, the latteris likely to be solved very soon with the connection of CMFRI library
to the NICNET.
2.6

Drugs and Pharmaceutical

Sector

The Drugs and Pharmaceutical industry comprising of 12 public sector companies,


more than 150 private organised sector companies including 25 multinational companies
and about 6000 small scale companies is producing drugs and pharmaceuticals worth $
0.8 billion. The information requirement of this industry is catered to by a number of
agencies and associations. The Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA),
Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), All India Organization of
Chemists and Druggists((AIOCD), and 14 other associations are functioning as promotional organizations for functions which include informatics. Numerous periodicals are
brought out like Eastern Pharmacist, Chemical Weekly, Chemsphere, Pharamtimes,
PharmaTrends, Indian Drugs, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Industry, Indian
Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, Indian Pharmaceutical Guide, Chemical and Pharmaceuticals Directory etc. The library system in this sector is highly distributed. To bring
coherence in the collection, collation, processing, dissemination of information and to
promote library modemization and informatics, NISS AT Centre was set up at the Central
30

Drugs Research Institute (CDRI) at Lucknow. The Centre called, NICDAP, draws
support from a number of scientists and specialists in the area for giving value added
information services over the raw data culled out from various organizations. CDRI has
a well maintained and well stocked library and information unit. The library currently
has about 20,000 books and monographs and nearly 15,000 bound volumes of periodicals. It has a very good stock of secondary periodicals like Biological Abstracts,
Chemical Abstracts, Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, Microbiology Abstracts, Science Citation Index, etc., in addition to several annual serials.
The establishment of NICDAP has given this library and association information
systems a national perspective to cater to the information needs of the industry,
academics and researchers. The objectives of NICDAP which are typical of most of the
NISSAT centres is outline below:
1.

To provide information services relevant to the needs - present and futuristic


- of the specific areas of interest, i.e., drugs and pharmaceuticals.

2.

To use existing information dissemination facilities and augment them


with newer tools of information dissemination.

3.

To support and actively participate in research and development activities of the drugs and pharmaceuticals industry through current awareness
services by keeping them abreast of the valuable information emanating
from R&D activities carried out the world over.

4.

To make available reprographic, including micrographic, facilities photocopies, stencilling, duplicating and printing and microfiche preparation and duplication to its clientele.

5.

To satisfy the needs of its users, provide them with efficient technical
reference and referral services and to establish a system of feed-back.

6.

To provide bibliographies on selected topics on demand and in anticipation.

7.

To create drugs and pharmaceuticals patent inspection centre for all


relevant Indian patents.

8.

To bring out status reports, directories and other special publications on


the industry, R&D and academic institutions in the area of the Centres
31
----.--~

interest.
9.

To maintain a data bank of all production, import/export, capacity and


other allied details pertaining to the units of Indian drug industry.

10.

To provide a forum for interaction between various Government


agencies and private industry.

11.

To develop a computer centre with online facility having access to


international databases and using the computer for storing all relevant
industrial data and various data generated inhouse in CDRI for timely
retrieval and dissemination.

12.

To build a translation cell capable of providing translation facility from


important foreign languages to English.

13.

To organize, participate in and supply information about symposia,


seminars and meetings concerning the area of drugs and pharmaceuticals.

14.

Tocollect, collate and disseminate information on adverse drug reactions


of drugs in collaboration with doctors, clinicians and pharmacologists.

15.

To liaise with NISSAT Headquarters, regional centres and also create


Local Information Centres (LIC) for providing better information services through resource-sharing and networking.

As part of its modemization drive, the centre acquired a microfische production


system, microfilm and microfische readers and a computer capable of handling large
data storage and processing at the centre. The computer has online retrieval capability
with facility for not only .storing and retrieval of conventional bibliographic data, but also
images data like micrographs, spectra and structural data. The system is being utilized
to build the Indian Database on different aspects of the India Drugs and Pharmaceutical
Sector. This database not only serves the requirements of the Indian industry, but also
use on exchange basis with some international databases. The areas covered are: Natural
Product data, technical/industrial data, selected bibliographic data, patents and synthetic
compound data. The facility for storing and processing graphic information like
chemical structure, process development, transmission and scanning electron microscope data etc. have been implemented to the minimal required levels. Computer is also
utilized for various library operations such as preparation of library holdings of books
32

and periodicals, library house-keeping, acquisition, cataloguing, indexing, circulation


and periodical control, union catalogue, stock taking and inter-library loan.
In view of the considerable strides made in developing a modemized library and
information system, the World Health Organization (WI-IO) has chosen NICDAP as
their collaboratiilg centre on drugs information for servicing 11 South-east Asian
countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Sri
Lanka and Thailand. The Centre supplies information on the availability of raw
materials required for formulation of essential drugs, their price details, technology
details, governing patent laws, registration of drugs, etc. Within one and a half decade,
NICDAP has become an important drug information centre with worldwide recognition.
2.7

Chemistry

and Chemical Technology Sector

The internationally famous institute -National Chemical Laboratory at Pune became the host for the sectoral information centre of NISSAT in 1986 in the area of
Chemistry and Chemical Technology. NCLs library and documentation facilities are
regarded as one of the best in the field. It has a stock of more than 65,000 books and
monographs, 180,000 Indian Patents, about 12,000 foreign patents, more than 15,000
Indian and foreign standards, Indian Research Reports, and most of the theses submitted
in the area in the country, etc. The number of bound volumes of periodicals exceeds
50,000.
The centre offers reference services, CASED1 Services, technical information
services, patent information services and computerised information retrieval of national
and international databases in the area of chemistry and chemical technology apart from
modemized reprography services which annually supplies on an average 140,OOOcopies
to inhouse and outside users.
A number of new activities are in the pipeline. Information about current research
projects in various organizations and laboratories on Chemistry are correlated and made
available to users in computerreadable form. A union list of periodicals in chemistry and
chemical technology by coordinating various interest group libraries in the country, is
well under way. The computerization of library and information services address
cataloguing, circulation of documents, procurement of books, monographs and periodicals and preparation of union list of serials in chemistry and chemical technology. In
addition, information on patents, subjectwise current indexing and abstracting services
and ongoing research in chemistry and chemical technology are also being computerised. For online access to international databases, NCL is linked to NICNET through
33

which they access INTERNET.


2.8

Textile Industry

The
organized
for more
production

Sector

textile industry in India is crucial to its economy. It is the oldest and largest
industry. It is also a large source of agricultural employment, providing jobs
than 12 million people. It represents more than 20 percent of industrial
of India.

There are three categories of libraries in the textile sector. Libraries for the training
institutions, libraries in industrial organizations and libraries maintained by cooperative
research associations like Silk and Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA)
in Bombay and Ahmedabad Textile Industrys Research Association (ATIRA) at
Ahmedabad. SASMIRA library specializes in man-made textile industry in particular
and other allied subjects in general. Though basically catering to the requirements of the
research and teaching staff as well as students of SASMIRA, it also services the entire
Indian textile industry. Under the extension services it initiated a textile information
users group (TRIG) in Bombay. TIUG initially had the libraries of 7 textile organizations of Bombay as members, to promote appropriate use of textile information services.
ATIRA, which has a membership of more than 300 textile mills, deals with cotton
textile, chemicals and other auxiliaries, man-made fibre manufacture, processing houses
and members from decentralised sectors of the Indian textile industry. ATIRA library
and information centre is the oldest and the largest among the libraries of the fibre
research group. Perhaps it is the first sector-al centre in India. It currently has in its stock,
all Indian patent specifications and standard specifications in the field. It has over 1000
audio-visual films, records, pre-recorded cassettes, etc. The range of services include
enquiry servicing, consultation, reference service, loan service, inter-library loan
service, reprography service, documentation service, bibliographic service, preparation
and/or addition of union catalogues in the field, translation service, preparation and
updation of world textile abstract databases, among others.
In order to give a modemization slant, a National Information Centre for Textile
and Allied Subjects (NICTAS) was set up in 1986 under the MSSAT programme. The
main objective is to build up a computerized storage of information useful to Indian
textile scientists and technologists from all available sources in the world.
Special
efforts are made to collect information from within the country from numerous fields
related to textiles, With this, the following additional services are being progressively
introduced:

34

2.9

1.

Retrospective documentation services like master index of subject bibliographies and reviews, directory of research, etc.

2.

Anticipatory information services like specialized current indexing and


abstracting services, Selective Dissemination of Information, ManageIT,.:.? Xormation Service, Patents and Standards Information Service
and Product Information Bulletin.

3.

Preparation and maintenance of union catalogue of reports, etc.

4.

Preparation of surveys, state-of-the-art reports, scientific and technological forecasting and other types of techno-economic and special
management information services.

5.

Network-based query service on information request.

Leather Industry

Sector

Targetted to reach by 2000 AD, the Indian Leather Industry is a major export
sector. To achieve this target, a major attempt at the modemization of the industry and
derivatively the modemization of the information sector is well under way. For
implementing the latter, the National Information Centre for Leather and Associated
Industries (MCLAI) was set up at the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) under
CSIR at Madras. The CLRI is a major technology transfer institution recognized
internationally and is assisting a number of developing countries in Asia, Africa and
Latin America with support from FAO, UNIDO, among others.
The information infrastructure at CLRI has evolved over more than 3 decades and
is now a unique information centre of its kind internationally. UNIDO extended
considerable assistance in the modemization process of MCLAI.
Information users are R&D personnel, policy makers, entrepreneurs, students, etc.
in the field of leather technology. The library resources at CLRI has offered 12,fKKl books
and as many back volumes of nearly 400 journals/periodicals. Centre also stocks
appropriate standards and patent specs to serve the industry and R&D community. The
centre brings out Current Leather Literature (CLL) as a monthly abstracting service
covering about 3ooO abstracts on an average every year. Trends in leather world and
manufacturers is an international monthly digest information covering policies, developments and events in the world of leather, footwear and leather goods ; Leather
Literature Analysis and Retrieval Services as a fortnightly service to scientists and
35
.

..__.

X,_..___.

---111-1

_.

.-.

...I

I_
IX

.--

..-_-

___

--.-

entrepreneurs, reprographic and micrographic services using electronic reprography


facilities, among others. Under the Technology Information Bank (TIB) project,
bibliographic database is being developed according to DBNs TEXPAC Software
Package which is being converted into Micro-ISIS for the micro-computer systems. A
computerised Annual Cumulative subject indices for the current leather literature
service has been developed. Though computer support is well under way, the centre is
weak on network linkage.
2.10 Food Technology Sector
The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) at Mysore, under
CSIR, took on itself the responsibility of developing a cooperative resource sharing
information system among organizations dealing with food technology and industry.
Though the central facility was located at CFTRI at Mysore, regional facilities were set
up at CFIRI stations at Bombay, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Nagpur, Lucknow and
Ludhiana as well as local information units in all laboratories/information centres
concerned with food science and technology. Under the MSSAT programme, a
National Information Centre for Food Sciences was established in 1977. MCFOS has
developed Current Awareness Services through three publications - Food Technology
Abstracts, Food Digest and Food Patents, retrospective bibliographies, state-of-the-art
report and technical enquiry services. The International Food Information Service (IFIS)
publishes Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA) as a collaborative arrangement with MCFOS. MCFOS facilities are made available to the United Nations
University (Tokyo) scholars who are resident at CFIRI. As a sectoral information
centre, NICFOS gives the following computerised information services:
1.

Current Awareness Sentice (including list of additions) - weekly or


fortnightly; covers all categories of current literature, about 200 per
issue; classified with necessary indexes.

2.

Selective Dissemination oflnformation - weekly or fortnightly; covers all


categories of current literature, about 50 per issue; compilation and
distribution according to user/industry/project profiles.

3.

Abstracts of technical papers (Provision on request),

4.

Patent Abstracts - Bimonthly; covers food patents from all over the
world, about 200 per issue; classified with necessary indexes.

5.

Technical Digest - quarterly; industry-oriented;


36

emphasis on problem

solving and promotion of technical advances and modemization; covers


relevant portions from periodicals, technical reports, house journals and
manuals.
6.

Management Digest - monthly; emphasis on management aspects;


provides condensed information from all kinds of sources.

7.

News Brief - monthly; provides current, general, non-technical information from newspapers and sections of periodicals; journalistic -titing.

8.

Production Information Bulletin - monthly; emphasis on comparative


data on products and processes selected from various trade periodicals,
reports, bulletins, etc., presentation as text, tables, graphs.

9.

Data Compilation and Service-routine function; collection of scientific,


technological and economic data; presentation as tables, graphs, diagrams.

10.

Retrospective Bibliography - as required; emphasis on retrospective


search, selection and listing of all relevant documents with or without
annotation; classified with necessary indexes.

11.

State-of-the-art reports and Trend Reports on Specific Subjects - as


required; reviews and evaluates the development in a specific area;
presentation as in a book article.

12.

Computerized information service; SDI, profiles on demand.

13.

Import-Export Databank

14.

Industrial Consultancy Data bank

15.

Project Monitoring and Evaluation

16.

Internal Database Services

17.

International Database Service - FSTA, Chemical Abstracts, BIOSYS,


AGRICOLA, COMPENDEX, etc.

37

2.11

Machine Tools Sector

The Central Machine Tools Institute (CMTI) is a national centre for R&D in
machine tool technology, especially numerically controlled systems. The CMTI library
has liaison with 19 international organizations and research institutes abroad. Its current
holdings is 120,000 documents in this field. There is also a good stock of trade catalogues
collection on Metal working and allied fields. More than 200 trade directories have been
collected from all over the world for promoting machine tool trade and exports.
Recognizing the central role played by CMTI library, he National Information Centre
for Machine Tools and Production Engineering has been set up as one of the sectoral
information systems under the NISSAT programme. MCMAP brings out current
information awareness through two publications: (1) Metal Working Abstract and (2)
Metal Working Bulletin, devoted to the field of machine tools and production engineering. Equipped with a VAX series computer, a number of datbases have been developed
which extensively services industries, academic institutions, R&D institutions as well as
agencies and even individuals. NICMAP has access to international databases like
COMPENDEX through DIALOG network. The cost per query through DIALOG
network, which is around Rs. 1000, has acted as a deterrent for popularizing this facility.
The facility is weak on network access.
2.12 Social Sciences Sector
There are about 600 Social Science Libraries in India attached to the Institutions of
Research and Higher Learning numbering about 425, University Departments, Economic
and Banking establishments, Industrial establishments, Government Departments, etc.
They are run by different types of bodies like Government, Semi-government, autonomous and private. The stock held by an average social science library is about 25,000
volumes with the number of current periodicals received about 200.
The number of Government libraries is estimated to be about 600 with an average
stock of 50,000 volumes. They support planning, policy and decision making process in
the government. These libraries are active in documentation work, e.g. DOCPLAN by
the Planning Commission, DOCSTAT by the Central Statistical Organization, Foreign
Affairs Bulletin Document by the Ministry of External Affairs, Documentation in
Industry and Trade by the Ministry of Industrial Development.
In the field of Arts and Humanities, the more important libraries are: Sahitya
Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, National School of Drama,
FILM and Television Institute, National Museum, National Gallery of Modem Art ,
School of Buddhist Philosophy, Tibetan Works and Archives, National Library of
Calcutta, Central Library of Bombay, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, etc.
A large number of manuscript libraries exist with a rich collection of manuscripts.
38

Some examples of such libraries are - Aligarh Muslim University, National Library of
Calcutta, National Archives, Asiatic Society Library at Calcutta, Rampur Raza Library,
etc. The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) established a Social
Science Documentation Centre (SSDC) in 1970 for bibliographical control anddissemination of information in social science fields. Under its union catalogue programme, it
has brought out a union catalogue listing the holdings of nearly 600 libraries. Its
bibliographic activities include annotated bibliography on various social science subjects, retrospective indexing of social science periodicals, area study bibliographies of
social science research materials, etc. Abstracting journals in various social science
areas are also brought out. SSDC set up an inter-library resource Centre in Delhi. It
inputs information on Indian materials to International Committee for Social Science
Information and Documentation, International Bulletin of Bibliography on Education
and UNESCOs DARE system. The data archive unit of ICSSR collects, organizes and
maintains data in machine readable form and makes them available for research study.
It published a National Register of Social Sciences covering 7500 profiles and constantly
updates them. Recently, most of the institutes under ICSSR were linked to MCNET of
the National Informatics Centre giving them not only a nation-wide access but also
access to INTERNET. Subject-wise, these institutes are tabulated below:
Discipline-wise

categorization of Institutes under ICSSR

Discipline

No. of
Institutes

Discipline

Anthropology

Management

Archaeology

Mass Communication

Demography

Political Science

Economics

13

Psychology

Education

Public Administration

Geography

Social Sciences

History/Indology

Comprehensive

Linguistics

Town & Country Planning

Law

Sociology

39
.___

No. of
Institutes

The Initiative taken by ICSSR and NIC in networking the various Social Science
Research Institutes is leading to the establishment of Social Science Research Information Network (SSRINET) as a Close User Group of NICNET. The participating research
institutions are the following:
1.

ANS Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS), Patna

2.

Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Bhubaneshwar

3.

Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum

4.

Centre for Economic and Social Studies (EESS), Hyderabad

5.

Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi

6.

Centre for Regional, Ecological and Social Science Studies in Development


Alternatives (CRESSIDA), Calcutta.

7.

Centre for Research in Rural Industrial Development (CRID), Chandigarh

8.

Centre for Social Studies (CSS), Surat

9.

Centre for the Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS), Calcutta

10.

Centre for the Womens Development Studies (CWDS), Delhi

11.

Council for Social Development (CSD), New Delhi

12.

Gandhian Institute of Studies (GIS), New Delhi

13.

Giri Institute of Development Studies (GID), Lucknow

14.

Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute (GBPSSI), Allahabad

15.

Gujarat Institute of Area Planning (GIAP), Ahmedabad

16.

Indian Institute of Education (BE), Pune

17.

Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISED), Bangalore

40

18.

Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), New Delhi.

19.

Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Jaipur

20.

Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), Delhi

21.

Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE), Hyderabad

23.

Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Madras

23.

Sardar Pate1 Institute of Economic and Social Research (SPIESR),


Ahmedabad

24.

Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi

2.13 Cultural

Heritage Sector

In 1985, the Government of India set up a Department of Arts for promoting the
setting up of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) which is presently
serving as a major resource centre for Art. Through its multi-disciplinary programmes
it catalysed an integrated perception of the Indian tradition in art and culture. To support
the Study and Research in the field, the centre has plans to develop a unique reference
and research base of cultural source material in multimedia forms under one roof. It is
the nodal agency for all matters relating to the setting up of National Information System
and Data Bank (NISDB) on Art, Humanities & Cultural Heritage. IGNCA has been
authorised to issue instructions to all Departments of the Central Government for
obligatory filling of data and information on standard formats with IGNCA in the area
of arts, humanities and cultural heritage and also to advise the State Governments for
cooperation of their agencies in this respect.
Several descriptive mu1&lingual databases have been made operational in IGNCA:
Information on the catalogue of Indic manuscripts in different
repositories in the world, CATCAT
Information about Information, MANUS
Information about basic Indian concepts/terms and their occurrence in the old texts, KKTERM

41

Bibliographic Information about all Books/Periodicals available


in the IGNCA Library (LMIS)
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) initially established its Cultural Informatits Unit at Vigyan Bhavan Annexe, New Delhi, for the informatics support to the
Cultural Sector and to develop Cultural Heritage Information Network. After the setting
up of IGNCA, the facility got shifted to it and expanded at the initiative of IGNCA.
NIC assisted in the development work orI Multimedia presentation on IBM-PC
and Macintosh platforms in the initiating stages of the programmes.
The UNESCO has been supporting IGNCA as the coordinating agency for
networking Cultural Heritage Information in the Asian Region. IGNCA also receives
substantial aid from Japan for the setting up of a modemized cultural heritage information system using Electronic and Optical Technology Tools.

42

Chapter Three
MICRO

PROFILE

OF LIBRARY

MODERNIZATION

II. UNIVERSITY

IN INDIA

LIBRARIES

In India, there are abut 7000 Colleges in about 200 Universities enrolling annually
more than 4 million students for Graduate, Post-graduate and research degrees and
300,000 teaching and research faculty.
The University libraries are the earliest to realize the importance of computer
support and modemization imperatives. The pressure for computerization arose out of
the increasing library work load to be handled by a small complement of library staff,
continuous pressure from students and research faculty for increased and improved
services as well as easier access to external databases. In addition, University/college
management was interested in the reduction of operating costs facilitated by a well
designed and well managed computerized library.
The university system initially was interested in computerization for housekeeping activities of the library as well as wider information search and retrieval.
Computerisation of house-keeping functions were initially motivated by a streamlining
of (a) Acquisition (b) Cataloguing, (c) Serials control and (d) Circulation control.
Acquisition and ordering systems cover the selection, ordering and accessioning
of items into the collection of the library using computers, as well as monitor the orders
which were not responded to by the book sellers to automatically produce of lists of
books on order, to keep track of expenditure and to produce accession lists on demand.
In order to save time in issue and discharge routines and avoiding bottlenecks, the
computerization of circulation control was resorted to. In Indian libraries, typically a
terminal is situated at the circulation counter with an operator entering directly the data
concerning the details of the book issued, name and code of the person borrowing it, date
of return on the basis of the period of loan etc. Automatic preparation of overdue lists
helps in better circulation of books and other items given on loan.
Computers are used to aid the production, maintenance and updating of catalogues. The CDS/ISIS package supplied free of cost by UNESCO is one of the most
popular software employed in the university system for this purpose.
In view of the relatively higher complexity, the serials control system is less used
43
._-..

_..-^_
__I

---,.-..--~

..-. _...-,.,_-_~

_^_- __~_..

-..--_

especially because of the unpredictable nature of serial publications. Those libraries


which have computerized this house-keeping function by and large confine to the list of
serials holdings and the accessioning of the serials. Details of the suppliers and the price
tag are also included to enable handling subscription, renewal and accounting functions.
Using database technologies like CDS/ISIS, users search the database through
key-words related to the author or subject. A number of university libraries have
computerizedcurrent awareness listing, SD1 services, retrospective searches andindepth
generation. From the Indian University experience, the following lessons have been
learnt.
1.
Library computerization based on inexpensive local made PC systems with
across-the-board compatibility within the university system is conducive to resource
sharing. In India, the IBM PC platform with Intel Series of Chips like 386/486/Pentium
have become the de-facto standard.
2.
The software standardization at the local level has been mainly around the
CDS/ISIS and LIBSYS packages available at low cost. Currently, NICs large purchase
clout has reduced the price per copy of BASIS Plus based TECHLIB to less than Rs.
60,000 thereby giving a highly sophisticated software at very low price to the university
system. NIC is working with ID1 Inc. of USA for value addition over this software suite
for meeting the specialized requirements of the Indian libraries.
3.
Repeated training of manpower for library computerization should be given
maximally for library science professionals who are not necessarily well versed in
computer programming. For this reason, the user-friendly systems have to be developed
for the Indian University environment to enable a greater degree of penetration of
computerization and library automation.
To understand the specialized problem of the university system and how they were
tackled, three experiments are examined to requisite details.
3.1

The University

of Hyderabad

Experiment:

The University of Hyderabad was established in 1974 by an Act of the Parliament.


The School of Mathematics, Computers and Information Science set up in the University
became the catalytic agent for computerization of the library. The University started
Master of Computer Application (MCA) and Diploma in Computer Application @CA)
programmes and involved students in the development of software packages for
acquisition, circulation, decision support system etc. as part of their project work
44

requirements. From the student of one batch to the next, these individual packages were
continuously improved until it was adequate enough to be put in full scale commission
in the library for day-to-day service purposes. The computer hardware platform adopted
was IBM PC based on the INTEL Chip series.
At the outset knowledgeable faculty drew up a priority list for automation on the
basis of the following guidelines:

Managing the library with least possible manpower.

ii)

Continuously improving the efficiency of delivery of the library

iii)

Give participation to all concerned.

iv)

Maximally superpose automation over conventional norms and practices


that had stabilized earlier.

v>

Give emphasis to simpler automation techniques which can show the


results to the management in the shortest possible time.

vi)

To make successive accomplishments of step-by-step automation to


become possible and promote the idea of total automation of the library
at a future date.

In order to portray the evolutionary steps as steered by the original progenitors,


description below is predominently confined to the reporting by E. Rama Reddy,
University Librarian in-charge, K. Nagaraja Rao, Documentation Officer and Mohd.
Burhanuddin, professional assistant in the University of Hyderabad. Their analyses
resulted in identifying the cataloguing system as a priority area for computerization. This
is because, it will not only provide relief to the technical section, but would also help in
capturing data in machine readable form for future use due to the ready availability and
familiarity. The dBase III Plus software platform was used to carry out the following
functions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

To
To
To
To
To
To

enter data
update entered data
print a proof copy of data
produce catalogue cards on continuous
produce monthly list of additions
update data on to a master database
45

stationery

7.
8.
9.

To update indexes for search


To search the data
To make special bibliographies

The search system searches the data by author, keyword, accession number, class
number and browses from a given class number.
The system is functioning since April 1989 and about 15,000 publications have
been processed using the software. Reddyetal haveutilizedthe flow chart shown below:

While ordering periodicals, they discovered that the same periodicals list were
printed a number of times in a number of formats. The formatted entering of data
reconciled themselves. Periodical list in a variety of formats having different data
elements were produced to help periodical section in processing the periodicals
effectively and efficiently. The periodicals database gave the following outputs:
Total alphabetical list of periodicals, Department-wise alphabetical list ofperiodicals, School-wise alphabetical list of periodicals, vendor-wise alphabetical list of
periodicals, Air-mail periodicals data, Periodicals costing more than a given amount,
Periodicals with different rates of discount, Publisher-wise alphabetical list of periodicals and a combination of the above lists.
The input data include serial number, title, publisher code, vendor code, delivery
mode, price, discount, school code, department code, etc. This database helped in
46

sending the periodicals list to various departments for approvals with cost estimates
including escalation to send for the final approval of the sanctioning authority to place
the order with various vendors and to send the final list to individual departments to bring
out a consolidated alphabetical list for the use of the library along with the publisher
address and other information.
As the above two exercises proved highly successful, it was felt necessary to know
about the periodicals available in other libraries in Hyderabad for resource sharing.
Information was collected from 30 important libraries in Hyderabad on nearly 6000
individual periodical titles. The database so created benefits not only the library of the
University of Hyderabad but also all the 30 participating libraries. The software
developed could print alphabetical list of periodicals for a given library or for a group
of libraries.
Subsequently the areas of computerization and networking widened to include
SD1 services of the National Centre for Science Informtion, Bangalore and SNDT
Womens University, Bombay. CDROM databases were acquired in the areas of interest
to the University of Hyderabad. DIALOG services were subscribed to and access
remotely.
Throughout the library automation exercise, the university authorities provided
enthusiastic support. Encouraged by this, the exercise graduated from the after line
function toonline library functions withoutdistortingtheexistingdata.
Anonlinelibrary
database was created utilizing the LIBSYS software which consisted of the following:
Acquisition sub-system, Cataloguing subsystem, Serial subsystem, Public access sub
system, circulation subsystem. A particular advantage of LIBSYS was an integrated
multi-user environment so that a single database can be shared by all the terminals. The
next step is to implement LIBSYS or similar software on multi-user system with UNIX
operating environment.
In 1994, the Library of the University of Hyderabad was
connected to NICNET through the PAD situated at the NIC Southern Regional Centre
at Hyderabad.
3.2

IIT Kharagpur

Experiment.

Another experiment in an Engineering Institute of excellence was carried out by


the Automation Group including the Library and Information Scientists of the Central
Library of the Indian Institute of Technology (BT) at Kharagpur for giving its students
and large faculty online information services. The more relevant interesting aspects of
the experiment are described below:

47

IIT Kharagpur library represents a large inhouse library with a large local user
base. It has a collection of more than 300,000 items with books constituting 65 percent
and 4000 titles of periodicals accounting for 75,000 bound volumes. The library has
nearly 20,000 standard specs and theses. The yearly addition is 50,000 items with 1100
current periodicals subscribed. 3500 local users transact annually nearly 150,000 issues
and returns.
An Online Public Access CataIog (OPAC) was developed providing the following
options: Bibliographic searches Journals, Recent arrivals and Circulation status. The
online searches can be made on two databases: Books and non-books enabling catalogue
or index or key word based searches.
The Current Contents are made available on diskettes containing the Current
Weeks journal listing, organized in content page format. Each CC issue is grouped
according to scientific disciplines relevant to the institute. Within each discipline,
journals are also arranged alphabetically. A Local Area Network with nearly 100
terminals are connected to the Library/Institute computers with ethernet token ring
architecture developed and implemented by the Department of Communication of the
Institute in collaboration with the Library scientists and other concerned departments, as
shown in the figure given below:
CDROMs and online databases support the various research and academic
programmes of the institute. Apart from general secondary literature like INSPEC, and
Engineering Index on CDROM, there are several domain specific databases like active
library on corrosion with full text retrieval facility, etc. INTERNET access to the local
area network has been established through a VSAT of the NICNET installed in the
campus.
3.3.

Indira Gandhi National Open University

Library

Network Experiment

In 1985, the Parliament approved the setting up of the IndiraGandhi National Open
University to enable higher education to comewithin the reach of a large body of the
population through the open university system. The multimedia approach is the tool
adopted for the delivery of instructions.
A three-tier library system with central library at the Headquarters, 16 Regional
Centre libraries and 220 Study centre libraries are getting integrated through advancements in information technology. With a growing need for quick retrieval and better
services for the students, the automation of the library at each of the three tiers has been
planned from the very beginning.
House-keeping at the central library has been
48

Dept./Centres
from
EE
32 Lines

..

..

TDI

TS

GG Terminol room
32 Lines

l
t

ECE LIB

Dept./Centres
from
CHE
32 Lines

e
EE
CE

ME

computerised. An Expert Committee constituted by the Vice Chancellor, bringing


together eminent librarians and information technology specialists recommended in
1988, the adoption of UNESCOs Software, CDS/ISIS, for computerizing the various
library activities. A number of professional staff belonging to the library were trained
in the CDS/ISIS Version-l.0 and subsequently version 2.3 by the centre of computer
education at IGNOU under the guidance and supervision of aUNESC0 expert. As CDS/
ISIS version 2.3 package was found to have certain limitations in thecontext ofoperation
of IGNOU, a decision was taken to adopt LIBSYS package produced by LIBSYS
Corporation of New Delhi. As LIBSYS is fully integrated and works in a multi-user
environment over UNIX software platform and covers all the activities of the library
related to cataloguing, starting serial control, indexing and abstracting as well as an
The hardware
online public access interface. It is user-friendly and menu-driven.
platform adopted was based on Intel 486 DX chip.
IGNOU has developed the following library databases:
Database of central library books
Database of collection at Regional and Study Centres
Database of holding journals
Directory of IGNOU publications
Bibliography of articles and papers written by IGNOU staff
Accession List of Books received at the Central Library.
In addition to computerization of library, IGNOU is one of the participating
members of DELNET (Delhi Library Network) and INFLIBNET of UGC.
3.4

Karnataka

State University

Library

Network - A Proposal

The Kamataka State has six universities: Bangalore University, Gulburga University, Karnatakauniversity,
Kuvempu University at Shimoga, Mangalore University and
University of Mysore which have been set up at various times between 1916 and 1987.
These Universities are imparting education in virtually all areas of knowledge. A
proposal has been made for networking of University libraries in the State of Karnataka.
According to D.B. Patil of the Department of Library and Information Services,
Mangalore University, resource sharing of colleges in universities through participation
of Kamataka State University Libraries Network (KAULIBNET) would require adhering to certain universal guidelines and standards, some of which are described below:
1.
.

The participating institutions in this resource sharing may make a mutual


agreement as to what type of information is required to make resource
50

sharing without any harm to readers of the individual library.


2.

All participating libraries may acquire and equip with the necessary
infrastructure - staff, mechanical appliances, etc., which are essential to
meet the resource sharing obligations smoothly and efficiently.

3.

A system that brings in the necessary uniformity and standardization for


the network may be worked out and adopted by all participating libraries.

4.

All aspects of resource sharing may be identified, discussed thoroughly


and framed for its proper functioning.

5.

It is essential to formulate a policy indicating the objectives of networking and to provide guidelines for taking right decisions in future.

6.

The networking of libraries in the State shall form part of a national level
networking.

7.

All university libraries may provide a separate section to look after the
resource sharing.

8.

The modem communication system may provide good facilities for


transfer of information from one unit to another unit easily and quickly.

9.

The document delivery system is the most important aspect in resource


sharing. All libraries may take keen interest to set up transport facilities
and quick mail services, etc., to deliver the documents from one unit to
another in the shortest possible time.

10.

Translation facilities may be provided in any of the university libraries,


in the interest of the larger academic community in the State.

11.

Since the union catalogue of periodicals is the main basic tool for
resource sharing, the required facilities may be provided to update the
union catalogue in quick succession and to distribute all university
libraries for reference and record.

12.

There is a need for appointing an expert body to advise and coordinate


libraries for proper and efficient functioning in the State.

51
\

3.5

A Proposal for a Technical Libraries

Network

The recent exponential increase in subscription rates by the publishers of journals


has hit the technical and engineering institutions the hardest. A survey conducted in
India has revealed that over the past seven years, the number of titles of journals
subscribed to by a technical/engineering institution/college has dwindled on an average
by 40 percent. Of late, with increasing financial crunch over libraries, a crisis situation
is precipitating by the cutting down of the subscription of even journals which are
frequently referred to by research workers of the institutes. Resource sharing among
like-domain institutions is found to be feasible and cost effective. While, in principle,
all the technical/engineering colleges in the country can be linked by a national network
like NICNET, resource sharing is found to be more effective if carried out within the
geographical area like a State. On this basis, several proposals have been proferred for
State-wise networking of technical/engineering libraries. Typical proposals which give
deeper thought than several other proposals are the one proposed by B. Saibaba,
presented in the 33rd All India Library Congress (1988) and the one proposed by
Jayshree Joshi. According to Saibaba, Engineering and Technical Library network is
seen having the following:
Goal 1

To provide collection development

Objective

: To increase resources of a network

Functions
Acquisition function
(a)

Union exchange list

(b)

Cooperative acquisition of books, current periodicals, thesis,


standards, patents, translations, photocopies and non-print
material.
Goal 2

: To achieve an effective bibliographic control of library materials

Objectives
1

To develop bibliographic capabilities for the rapid identification and


location of needed materials.

2.

To reduce unnecessary duplication in cataloguing and to develop


more efficient system of technical processing.
52

Functions
(a)

Centralized cataloguing unit

(b)

Union catalogue of books, current periodicals, thesis, standards,


patents, translations, photocopies and non-print materials.

Goal 3

: To increase the services

Functions
1.

Inter-library loan function


(a) Photocopying services
(b) Reciprocal borrowing privileges

2.

Reference function
(a) Inter-reference services
(b) Subject bibliograhical services
(c) Abstracting and indexing services

3.

Delivery services function


Delivery services such as couriers, special truck delivery system.

Goal 4:

To stimulate, promote and coordinate research and training


programmes for library staff and network members.

Objectives
1.

To design appropriate staff development programmes such as inservice training, continuing education.

2.

To improve communication among libraries through publication


programmes and interpersonal communication.

According to the proposal for Gujarat State Technical Library Network made by
Jayshree Joshi, for the 9 Engineering colleges and 27 polytechnics in the State, the broad
structure of the State network, called, Technet, is given in the diagram below:

53
-_~-_

_-I-,

TECHNET
Dapartment of Technical Edua&m

1 ?kiiiEiCENTRE

4
Saumrhttu
Kutch
nit

4
Engineering

1
Pd/)echnic

Equipment
,--~2e.i

( Source : Paper entitkd,Technica( Educarion lib mries Network ( TECHNET t- Gu+t


Dissertation, Master Degree in 1 L IS, Gujamt Vidyopeek,
Ahmedobad, 1989 )

: A Ptopowd

Pkm, by Jay&roe

Jo&,

pp.24@249,

and,

Chapter Four
MICRO

PROFILE

OF LIBRARY

IILINTRACITY

MODERNIZATION

LIBRARY

IN INDIA

NETWORKS

With the increasing realization that inter-library resource sharing can be efficiently worked out within a geographically narrow area under conditions prevailing in
India, the concept of intracity library networks have gained ground. From the pioneering
role of CALIBNET for networking the various libraries in the City of Calcutta to the
successful story of DELNET which has linked the libraries of Delhi, a new concept was
conceived, experimented, implemented and consolidated.
The case study of Inn-a-city Library Network in India can be a good role model for
similar intra-city library networks in other developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin
America. In view of this wider possibility, a detailed description of CALIBNET and
DELNET is given below followed by an outline of similar experiments nucleated or
being set up in Bombay, Madras, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Mangalore.
4.1

Need for intracity

resource sharing.

The explosive growth of published literature with annual turn over of more than
500,000 books, 100,000 periodicals, hundreds of thousands of patents, tens of thousands
of standards and a large number of unpublished reports and documents, no single library
in India can afford to store all these in one place. User demand is however, increasing
exponentially. Atleast within a metropolitan city, it is possible to connect all the
computerized libraries through a Metropolitan Area Network. The coming of full text
journals and the concept of site licensing are expected to simplify this process of intracity networking. Shared acquisition and shared cataloguing are the first to be experimented. Worthy precedences like the Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC),
Machine Readable Catalogue (MARC) Project and the Library of Congress shared
cataloguing project have demonstrated the methodology of resource sharing and the
advantages resulting therefrom. The OCLC membership has exceeded 5000 libraries in
Canada, USA, Ireland, France, Denmark, UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Within the same city, it would be possible to avoid duplication of subscription to
various journals and beat the retrograde effect of increasing cost of journal subscription.
This can be shown statistically through available study reports. INSDOC has developed
12 volumes of original union catalogue of scientific serials and the National Union
Catalogue of Scientific Journals in India database with the holding data of about 35,000

scientific serials available in 800 libraries. Less than 20,000 Science & Technology
serials currently received in India as a whole from foreign countries is very small
compared to the 50,000 science & technology serials published globally.
State-wise break-up of the serials published by INSDOC is given in Table
Table :

Number of Serials being subscribed by 800 libraries in India


(State-wise break-up of serials) ( Source: INSDOC )

Ranking

Subject

1.
:I
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
:416:
17.
:;*
20:
21.

Total
No. of
Titles

Medical Science
5014
Engineering
4643
Agriculture and
Animal Husbandry
3808
Biological Sciences
1835
Geology, Geophysics,
Geochemistry
1894
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Technology
1707
Mathematics, Astronomy
1346
Science & Technology
in General
1749
Meteorology, Hydrology,
Climatology
1310
Management
995
Chemistry
1082
Library, Information
Science & Computer Science 755
Manufacturers, different
types of industries
983
Physics
838
784
~l%Y
Botany
702
Architecture & Building
Industry
474
Psychology
263
Geography
272
Military Science
137
Photography
127
Others

450

Current
titles

16.07
14.88

3083
2679

16.86
14.65

12.20
5.88

2190
1190

11.97
6.51

6.07

1042

5.47
4.31

936
863

5.12
4.71

5.60

855

4.67

4.20
3.19
3.46

657
631
630

3.59
3.45
3.44

2.48

550

3.00

3.15
2.68
2.51
2.25

549
541
464
384

1.51
0.84
0.87
0.43
0.40

273
201
161
98
66

i!iEl
0:53
0.36

1.44

234

1.28

;-ii

2:53
2.10
1.49

Source: INSDOC National Union Catalogue of Scientific Serials in India (1988)


56

The NUCSI study reveals that inflow of foreign serials is mainly from USA, UK,
Australia and other English speaking countries. Seventy percent of the inflow is in
English language as compared to 50 percent globally. This shows that India is missing
out worthwhile serials in Japanese, Chinese and other non-English languages. Irma-city
networking can effect group economy and utilise savings in remedying such situations.
INSDOC made a survey of 12 foreign scientific abstracting and indexing journals
procured by Indian libraries. The results outlined in Table. show that an amount of Rs.
35 million is planned for subscribing to 12 journals only by 770 libraries including 220
university libraries. This is equivalent to a unit cost perjoumal of Rs. 0.48 million. This
clearly shows wasteful expenditure due to avoidable duplication of subscriptions.
Table

Duplication in Procurement of Scientific Abstracting and Indexing (A&I)


Journals by the Indian Libraries(Source: INSDOC)

Name of the
A & I Journals

Approximate
Unit cost

No. of copies
UL

1. Chemical Abstracts

Total cost
( Rs. )

OL

1,50,000

40

72

1,68,00,000

2. Biological Abstracts

50,000

41

82

60,50,000

3. Current Contents

28,500

22

138

4560,000

4. Mathematical Reviews

45,000

30

23

23,85,000

5. Science Abstracts Physics Abstracts

27,000

29

45

19,98,000

6. Electrical and
Electronics Abstracts

25,000

44

13,00,000

7. Engineering Index

27,000

42

11,61,000

1,02,000

8,16,000

5,700

34

38

2,79,3OO

10. Index Medicus

2,700

52

1,40,000

11. INIS Atom Index

5,ooo

11

65,000

12. Statistical Theory and


Method Abstracts

1,500

18

15

49,500

4,74,600

229

546

3,56,03,800

8. Science Citation Index


9. FLreza&n
.

Abstracts

Total

57
.^

_~-____---

-.

..-.

.---.--

Some of the problems encountered in resource sharing have been attributed to the
following:
1.

If cooperative acquisition does not operate well, gaps in collection will


result in any library.

2.

Sophisticated computer-communication
resource sharing.

3.

Copyright regulations and reaction of the publishers whose sales may get
reduced, may attenuate the resource sharing process.

4.

Site licence instruments would require protracted negotiations with


publishers for deriving maximum benefit.

5.

Sophistications of online reprography may become necessary as the


volume of shared resources increases.

technologies are required for

The rationale for intra-city library network have been identified as follows:
-

Cooperative subscription where such is possible


Collective Bargaining with publishers for site licensing
Intracity network is cheaper for high speed transmission
Statewise Union catalogues can be easily grouped
Van service can be arranged for periodical sharing.

In thecontext of the above, the pros and cons of intracity library network is detailed
below:
4.2

CALIBNET

- The Pioneer

The initiative for setting up of CALIBNET at Calcutta was that of NISSAT of the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research @SIR) of the Government of India..
The CMCLimited was entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the CALIBNET
network with a coordination committee under a former Vice Chancellor of the Calcutta
University providing the necessary guidance. The CMC Limited is guided in the
development of the application software MAITRAYEE by a standardization committee
under the chairmanship of Prof. P.K. Mahapatra. The objectives of CALIBNET were
identified as follows:

58

To significantly improve resource utilization and service levels to patrons at


1.
the Individual libraries by providing automation facilities for all house-keeping functions and user services such as Acquisition and Fund accounting
!k;~b.ls Control
Cataloguing
Circulation
User Services
To operationally enhance resource sharing by providing individual libraries
2.
and their access to composite databases of
Union Catalogue
Partial STIS databases
Current awareness and SD1
Subject profiles
3.

To provide efficient and reliable means of


Inter-library user services
Document copy and transfer facilities
Access to national and international STIS databases.

The indigenous development of the software MAITRAYEE


for total library
automation and networking gave the necessary support for developing the applications
over CALIBNET. The network envisages connecting about 60 libraries in Calcutta,
mostly Science and Technology libraries but without restriction on the subject domain.
The libraries which faced fund constraints in the acquisition of hardware and software
have taken advantage of a low cost E-Mail approach through dial-up terminals.
CALIBNET is a Metropolitan Area Network with each institution holding
processed information on local computers, connected with each other through X.25
packet switched network. The Network Services Centre (NSC) acts as the host and
provides global user support. Within the individual libraries, the functions that will be
automated are: acquisition and fund accounting, cataloguing, circulation, serials control,
and local user services. Using online public access catalogue, the users will be able to
locate books and serials. Keyword and SD1 searches are also provided for. Built in
Thesaurus Module locates items given in all the allied terms. A query system, file transfer

59
-.,

-^..-..-.e,--

~-

_._,

--I--.-.I.

_..

._

-.s.-_____l___

1-1

----.-.--_

facility and document access across libraries are being worked out through electronic
mail.
The NSC creates and maintains union catalogues, union list of serials, central
authority records, etc. It will also assist in centralised services for online search wherever
such is found by community to be collectively arranged. Training is a major responsibility for spreading the awareness concerning library automation.
The indigenously developed MAITRAYEE software has the following features:
Integrated environment, pluggable features, open system with UNIMARC, Automatic
Access Point Generation with browsing for even user defined access points, automatic
card generation with card formatting, multiuser queuing with inbuilt priority check for
well defined reservation management, OLTP features for front desk operations, PAC,
Inter-library loan between participating institutions, file transfer, remote log-in and
electronic mail.
CALIBNET

is deployed in two phases:

Phase-I:
1.

Creation of Union Catalogue on RCC Cyber 80/840 computer.

2.

Connection with Ethernet LAN with the support of Network Device


Interface and TCP/IP Software

3.

Multiport support to PC/ATs located at various libraries through Asynchronous Communication (ACS) and TCP/IP software.

4.

Installation of Ethernet LAN at various institutions.

5.

Connection of LAN with a pair of Ethernet X.25 gateways.

6.

Inter-cluster communication with 2.4 Kbps leased full duplex link.

Phase-II:
1.

Four more LANs with gateways to be installed.

2.

Installation of three packet switches at various participating organizations.

60

3.

TCP/IP software to be uniformly applied.

4.

Public Data Network linkage to national and international networks.

The pioneering experiment of CALIBNET in Calcutta has shown refreshingly


new approach to the problem of resource sharing through intra-city networking. The
experiment, however, has so far registered only a limited success. The ageing Cyber 180/
840 computer of the RCC which has been taken over by the National Informatics Centre
is scheduled for a replacement with a powerful Pentium Computer with substantially
more disk capacity. Some of the earlier developments on the Cyber system would now
be required to be re-worked out for the new system. With the telecommunication
facilities in Calcutta known for its low quality, low reliability and high congestion, the
metropolitan area network has not been functioning effectively. Negotiations are under
way between MC and CALIBNET project group to extend NICNET Wireless-in-Loop
(WILL) linkage.
4.3

DELNET

- A Success Story

In January 1989, the India International Centre New Delhi organized a discussion
on the networking of Delhi Libraries. A committee constituted to study the feasibility
recommended with DELNET should be established for resource sharing. In 1992,
DELNET was established as a Society under the Societies Registration Act of Delhi with
the following aims and objectives (reproduced from the Memorandum of Association of
the Society).
The main objects of DELNET are:
1.

To promote sharing of resources among the libraries in Delhi by developing a network of libraries by collecting, storing and disseminating
information and by offering computerised services to the users.

2.

To undertake scientific research in the area of information science and


technology, create new systems in the field, apply the results of research
and publish them.

3.

To offer technical guidance to the member libraries on collecting storing,


sharing and disseminating information.

4.

To coordinate efforts for suitable collection development and reduce


unnecessary duplication wherever possible.
61

5.

To establish/facilitate the establishment of referral and/or research


centres, and maintain a central on-line union catalogue of books, serials
and non-book materials of all the participating libraries.

6.

To facilitate and promote delivery of documents manually or mechanically.

7.

To develop specialized bibliographic


non-book materials;

8.

To develop databases of projects, specialists and institutions.

9.

To possess and maintain electronic and mechanical equipment for


speedy communication of information and delivery of electronic mail.

10.

To coordinate with other regional, national and international networks


and libraries for exchange of information and documents.

11.

To undertake, facilitate and provide for the publication of newsletters and


or journals devoted to networking and sharing of resources.

12.

To engage in such educational, literary and charitable activities as would


promote, provide and develop the objects of the Society.

13.

To do or cause to be done by assisting other organizations and institutions


for propagational and promotional activities of the Society.

14.

Toassociate with other institutions interested in theobjects of the Society


and in particular to utilize the potential of academic and research
institutions for the furtherance of the objects of the society.

15.

To organize conferences, lectures, workshops and seminars

16.

To undertake any suitable and proper activity in the accomplishment of


the purposes or in the attainment of any of the objects or in furtherance
of the aims herein set forth, either alone or in association with others.

17.

All the incomes, earnings, movable or immovable properties of the


society shall be solely utilized and applied towards the promotion of its
aims and objects only as set forth in the Memorandum of Association and
62

databases of books, serials and

no profit thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way


of dividends, bonus, profit or in any manner, whatsoever, to the present
or past members of the society or to any person claiming through any one
or more of the present or past members. No member of the society shall
have any personal claim on any movable or immovable properties of the
society or make any profit, whatsoever, by virtue of his membership; and
18.

To do every other act or acts incidental or appurtenant to or growing out


of the aforesaid objects, provided the same are not inconsistent with the
law under which this society is organized; provided that the foregoing
objects, purposes and powers are subject to the limitation that the society
shall not be a profit making body.

Composition of the Society


The Society shall consist of the following:

Governing Board; and

b)

General Body

Membership
There will be the following categories of membership:

a>

Honorary Members:

The Governing Board in their discretion may invite individuals or institutions,


departments or societies as it may deem fit, to be Honorary Members.

b)

Founder members:

Founder Members will be those individuals who have signed the memorandum of
the society and paid the admission and life membership fee of Rs. 200.00

cl

Institutional Members:

An institution, department, association, society, university or college in Delhi or


outside Delhi that has a library with a collection of more than 10,000 volumes is eligible
to become an Institutional Member of the Society on payment of Admission Fee, Annual
63
-__... -. ..-

----

..-- --I

Subscription and any other charge as prescribed by the Governing Board.

d)

Institutional Associate members:

Any institution, department, association, society, university or college in Delhi or


outside Delhi that is not a participating member of the society but wants to make use of
the society from time to time would be eligible to become an institutional associate
member of the society on payment of admission fee and annual subscription and any
other charge as prescribed by the Governing Board.
Governing Board
The Governing Board shall prescribe by means of resolutions or bye-laws terms
and conditions as well as rights as it may deem fit for all classes and types of Membership
other than founder membership.
NISSAT gave not only moral support but also some seeding funds. The main
support for DELNET came in the form of long term equipment loan from the National
Informatics Centre with a powerful Pentium Computer on UNIX platform with ORACLE 7.0 and BASIS Plus with TECHLIB plus software installed. The annual running
budget of the coordination cell of DELNET at the India International Centre is now being
provided by NIC. All the participating libraries numbering about 70 are being connected
to NICNET through dial-up or leased lines or Wireless links.
Implementation phases
DELNET is planned for implementation in the following three phases:
Phase-I:
Automation of selected libraries: This would include procurement of hardware, database creation, testing of software and training of personnel.
The selected libraries should have funds for buying hardware and software and
interest in networking and sharing of resources.
Phase-II:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Establishing a central host


Creation and use of union catalogue
Networking of four libraries
Beginning of online query.
64

Phase III will include networking of the remaining and additional libraries.
DELNET will select an institution as a central host provided it

a)

is willing to take responsibility for effective and efficient running of the


network,

b)

has no financial interest in the use of networked data,

c)

has sufficient funds to support the procurement of hardware, software and


communication systems for the central host,

Achievements of DELJVET
Cooperation among libraries in Delhi has been found to be exemplary. The
DELNET project has already started saving on expenditure through resource sharing,
comparable in size to the annual project budget. The success has been due to careful
human engineering and equally careful choice of technologies under the leadership of
Mr. H.K. Kaul, Project Director of DELNET. Discussions in various forums were held
to understand the circumstances, the strategies and policy instruments which resulted in
DELNET becoming highly successful and CALIBNET beset with major problems.
While some of the problems of CALIBNET are attributable to communication and other
handicaps endemic to Calcutta city, the success of DELNET is attributable to a number
of positive strategies and policies which are best described in the words of its Project
Director as follows:
The achievements of DELNET during the last three years could be listed as
follows:
The feasibility study report was completed and evaluated. Thirty five
1.
libraries were included in the survey for the purpose of the report. The efforts are being
made to implement it in various phases. 0 phase was added to it in order to establish
E-mail.
2.

Three Training Programmes were organized in the use of CDS/ISIS software.

Efforts were made to promote the creation of databases in the DELNET


3.
libraries. Experts were sent to the libraries to solve the day to day problems.
4.

Regular meetings were organized of the librarians and computer specialists


65

to discuss mutual problems and the areas of cooperation.


Standardization Committee of DELNET met several times to prepare the
5.
guidelines for standardization of DELNET databases. The standardization committee
decided that standardization should take place in the following areas:
1.

Communication format for interchange of bibliographic

data

2.

Input/output format

3.

Bibliographic

4.

Classification scheme and subject headings

5.

Thesaurus

6.

Authority files

7.

Language coverage and transliteration of Indian language scripts into


Roman script

8.

Forms of headings

9.

Identification

10.

Data input for abstracting and indexing and

11.

Search command language.

a)

It was felt that the standardization in case of classification schemes,


subject headings and thesaurus given above under item 4 & 5 would
not necessitate application of standards in the beginning. It was noted
that the classification schemes generally in use in the Indian libraries
were Colon Classification, Universal Decimal Classification and
Dewey Decimal Classification and it would be almost impossible to
impose a standard classification scheme on all libraries uniformly. As
was revealed by Dr. Frederick Kilgore, Managing Director of OCLC,
80 percent of the requests received by them were either by author or
by title and the Committee felt that a similar pattern of requests may
emerge in DELNET also. Out of the remaining 20 percent requests,

description: Mandatory and optional data elements

numbers, codes and abbreviations

66

about 15 percent would be by subject headings. As such, for 5 percent


requests by class numbers either a participating library could search
by all three classification numbers or it could pass on such requests to
DELNET Central Office.

b)

With regard to the standardization of subject headings and the creation


of thesaurus for DELNET the committee was of the view that a couple
of existing standard subject heading lists or thesauri in each major
discipline such as social sciences, humanities and science and technology could be used by the participating libraries. It was noted that a
thesaurus for DELNET would eventually get created.

c>

The Committee decided that to begin with the libraries with more than
20,ooO books in stock should be considered for membership of
DELNET, but for the use of E-mail all libraries that were having a PC/
AT or an XT in the libraries and direct telephone lines or zero dialing
facilities would form the outer ring on DELNET libraries.

DELNET also established Consultative Committee on Rationalization of


6.
Periodicals in Delhi Libraries. The Consultative Committee saved the foreign exchange
through its deliberations in the fields of physical science, medical sciences and
agricultural sciences.
Under the DELNET scheme of projects, Jawaharlal Nehru University
7.
library was given the project to compile a union catalogue of current periodicals
acquisitions in Delhi libraries. The work has been completed and it is hoped that it would
facilitate the rationalisation of periodicals among DELNET libraries.
The India International Centre took several projects to assess the creation of
8.
databases using CDS/ISIS and CCF and also to find out the most economical approach
for creating bibliographic databases.
The following modifications in the above initiated with the help of NICis expected
to accentuate the above desirable features and advantages.
1.

Direct linkage by dial-up/leased line/wireless links/WILL links of each


participating library to NICNET and through NICNET to INTERNET and
200 networks in 160 countries.

2.

To increase the coordination role of the DELNET Central Office through


funding of NIC with creation of an FTP to the NICNET National Info
67

_.--..._

LEGEND: X-25 PSL: PACKET SWITCH EXCHANGE

Highway.
3.

Strengthening the DELNET Central Office by increasing the disk capacity


of the Pentium System progressively to 8 Giga bytes.

4.

NIC to provide the expected funds for the creation of the Union catalogues
for all the 70 libraries utilizing the TBCI-ILIB over the BASIS Plus platform.

5.

NIC to provide BASIS Plus and TECHLIB software to all the major libraries
in Delhi with DELNET Central Office taking the role of a trainer.

6.

DELNET participants to avail NICs resources of 20,000 journals and 1000


full text journals for which site licensing has been or is being worked out.

4.4

BOMBAY

Library

Network

(BONET)

- A Proposal

With the success of DELNET, the Library and Information scientists in other cities
are pooling their resources to set up intracity networks forresource sharing. BONET was
set up in November 1992 with the initial sponsorship of NISSAT. It aims at promoting
cooperation between libraries in Bombay with focus on inter-library activities rather
than on computerizing individual libraries. BONET will however, offer training related
to the library computerization and speed up computerization of Bombay Libraries.
Within a few years, BONET is expected to become fund-wise self-sufficient with
participating libraries having to pay a subscription after an initial grant from NISSAT.
E-mail among BONET members has already been set up using ERNET linkage with the
BONET members paying a subscription charge.
4.5

BANNET

- Bangalore Library

Network - a Nucleating Project

Bangalore is regarded as the Silicon Valley of India. It has the largest number of
Hightech Industries in any city in India and numerous libraries in Hightech areas. DRTC
has taken initiative in nucleating BANNET linking all the colleges of the Bangalore
University, Research & Development Institutions and Industries. DRTC has requested
for the support of NIC and connection to NICNET. This is under consideration.
4.6

MAILNET

- Mangalore

Library

Network - A Proposal

A proposal has been made for the setting up of a Library Network in Mangalore,
the port city of Karnataka on the Arabian Sea. The propensity for the growth of library
network in this city is that the literacy level in Mangalore city is more than 80 percent
69
-

-..

^----~)_.

-l__-__^

--.--___

II_.

--_

as compared to the literacy level of 53.46 percent in the Dakshin Kannada District
housing the Mangalore city and 38.46 percent in the State of Kamataka as a whole. The
city is fast moving towards 100 percent literacy. There are 25 educational institutions
in Mangalore and its neighbourhood including University Colleges and professional
colleges.
4.7

Other Intracity

Networks

A number of other cities are following in the wake of success of DELNET, namely,
Pune in the State of Maharashtra, Madras in Tamil Nadu ,Union Territory of Chandigarh,
etc.

70

Chapter Five
NATIONAL

LEVEL

VALUE

ADDED FACILITATORS

The pre-eminent role of Science and Technology in the economic and social
development of the country has precipitated an exponential demand for access to
information. Apart from Information generated within the country, the process of
liberalization of the economy has necessitated increasing access from externally
generated information.
To enable this, the library movement in India is receiving considerable impetus
and catalytic support from several national level facilitators who are growing the
modemization infrastructure utilizing the tools of Information Technology like computers, electronic reprographic equipment and computer networks like LANs, MANS and
WANs. Further, general communication gateways for E-mail, File Transfer, Database
access, INTERNET and World Wide Web access, etc., are being augmented by the
Department ofTelecommunications (DOT) andvidesh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL).
The major value added facilitators at the national level are:
NISSAT under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
INSDOC under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
ERNET under the Department of Electronics
INFLIBNET

under the University Grants Commission

NICNET under the National Informatics Centre, Planning Commission


5.1

NISSAT - Catalyst of Sectoral Informatics

The National Information System for Science & Technology (NISSAT) programme was set up under the Department of Science and Technology in 1977 which later
came under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research @SIR) from 1982.
NISSAT is a unique example of a successful sectoral information promotion in the areas
of science and technology. The sectoral informatics movement set in motion by NISSAT
its impact felt even over the main library mdemization
movement. The original
objectives of NISSAT are:

71
---_.-_-.

--.I-

Provision of national information services to meet the needs of users,


generators, processors and disseminators of information.
Optimum utilization of existing information services and systems and the
development of new ones.
Promotion of national and international cooperation and liaison for
exchange of information.
Provision of encouragement for the development of facilities for education
and training in information science and technology.
Promotion of application of information technologies, and in research &
development, innovation in information science and technology and corn
munication to enhance both the efficiency of information services and
quality of the information provided by these services.
NISSAT identifies certain host institutions for each major specialization and
creates or strengthens an Information Centres in it around the library system as a major
instrument for information resource development and dissemination. NISSAT has
assisted in the development of the following 7 sectoral information centres over the
years.
Table-l : Information Centres
Host Institution

No.

Subject Area

1.

Leather Technology (NICLAI)

Central Leather Research Institute, Madras

2.

Food Technology (NICFOS)

Central Food Technological Research


Institute, Mysore

3.

Machine Tools & Production


Engineering (NICMAP)

Central Machine Tools Institute, Bangalore

Drugs and Pharmaceuticals


(NICDAP)

Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow

4.
5.

6.
7.

Textiles & Allied Subjects


(NICTAS)
Chemicals & Allied Industries
(NICHEM)
Advanced Ceramics (NICAC)

Ahmedabad Textile Industrys Research


Association, Ahmedabad
National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
Central Glass and Ceramics Research
Institute, Calcutta
72

Though NISSAT set up a Bibliometric Unit at INSDOC,


Crystallography
Information Unit in the University of Madras and CDROM unit at the National
Aeronautical Laboratory, its major contribution is in the setting up of information centres
with sectoral or domain specific specializations. Strategically, the sectoral information
centres were built around existing information resources and facilities including libraries. The more endowed institutions in this regard were selected so as to give a higher takeoff for the modemization efforts of NISSAT. The NISSAT Centres bring out the
monthly publications like Current Awareness, Industry Highlights, Patent Awareness,
Current Indian Titles, etc. in each of these seven sectors. Occasional digests in the areas
are also brought out. The databases maintained by these sectoral centres have already
been outlined in Chapter Three.
NISSAT has also taken the initiative for the development of intracity library
networks as detailed in Chapter Four. Their support was mainly concentrated over
CALIBNET and BONET and marginally
over DELNET, PUNENET for Pune,
HYLIBNET for Hyderabad, ADNET for Ahmedabad, BANNET for Bangalore and
MALIBNET at Madras. It has established E-mail facilities mainly through ERNET to
the sectoral centres and their large users though recently, the centres themselves are
increasingly making use of NICNET and its INTERNET connectivity.
NISSAT utilizes proven software packages like CDS/ISIS, mini-micro version,
Superdoc and Statistical Package IDAMS fromUNESC0. On behalf of UNESCO-PGI,
NISSAT has been permitted todistribute these packages in India. The CDS/ISIS Version
3.0 is being distributed to around loo0 installations in India.
In collaboration with the Defence Scientific Documentation Centre (DESIDOC),
New Delhi, NISSAT got developed a software for library automation on CDS/ISIS
called, SANJAY, which can inter-link two or more databases for a single application
handling numerical calculations and of carrying out several other library house-keeping
activities.
Another CDS/ISIS oriented package, TRISHNA was developed in collaboration
with National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS),
New Delhi. TRISHNA supports databases in Devnagari and several other Indian scripts
using a GIST Card. NISSAT has assisted in the process of rationalization of periodical
acquisitions through local consultative committees in various Cities. NISSAT is introducing the NISSAT Card so as to develop a Universal Library Card System that would
facilitate utilization of external library resources with due safeguards for protection of
the interests of cooperating libraries. Pilot scale experiments are under way. NISSAT
is the national coordinating unit for ASTINFO in India for facilitating regional docu73

ments supply for member States. NISSAT is supporting INSDOC in the development
of a National Citation Index. An important contribution of NISSAT is the organization
of short term courses to improve upon updated skills of information and library
professionals on a continuing basis which will bring in a self-sustaining momentum for
the library modemization drive. For this, NISSAT depends on DRTC, INSDOC,
University of Pune, Indian Library Association, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU)
at Shillong, INFOTEK at Madras, NISTADS at New Delhi, NCL at Pune, CLRI Madras,
CDRI at Lucknow etc.
NISSAT has initiated action on the generation of UNIMARC an implementation
manual for Common Communication Format by UNESCO for machine readable
bibliographic records.
NISSAT Advisory Committee also functions as a national advisory committee for
UNISIST and the National Advisory Group for ASTINFO.
The activities under
ASTINFO of UNESCO are outlined below:
1.

The Regional nodes as well as the national node of APINMAP have been
located at Publication and Information Directorate, New Delhi. For
preparation of a database on medicinal and aromatic plants, a HP 3000
system has been provided by ASTINFO. To coordinate the flow of inputs
from various research laboratories in the country, a national committee
has been constituted.

2.

The online access facility to ESA/IRS from National Aeronautical


Laboratory Bangalore for which UNESCO provided terminal hardware
and initial training of project staff by specialists from ESA, was formally
closed in March 31, 1988.

3.

The project on augmentation of capacities for computer applications in


S&T information handling in INSDOC, New Delhi, has finally materialized. The MICROVAX system has been received from UNESCO.

4.

Considerable progress has been made on the project for the development
of bibliographic information system at National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. A micro computer has been delivered, two years subscription
to the ASFA database on CDROM including rental of CDROM reader
has been taken and NIO staff trained.

5.

The UNESCO project on information consolidation for Biogas at Tata


74

Energy Research Institute (TEIU), New Delhi, was completed. A video


presentation titled, TowardsProgress*along with the biogas manual for
plant owners and also a manual for extension were prepared.

5.2

6.

A five day course on Information Consolidation was held in Hyderabad


in March 1988. This was attended by 18 library and information professionals from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka
and India. The course was jointly sponsored by UNESCO and NISSAT.
The topics included technical writing and editing, consolidation products, information analysis for decision support systems, packaging for
mass media planning and management of IC units, IC products and
services for small scale industries, etc.

7.

A UNESCO participation programme proposal for conduct of training


in India on VAX and mainframe versions of CDS/ISIS has been approved.

8.

As part of the international programme on Chemical Information Network (ChIN), NCL Pune would prepare a chemical reactions database.
In this context a study team from India visited various facilities in
Europe.

9.

NISSAT is coordinating the ASTINFO document supply service promoted and supported by UNESCO, ASTINFO and National Library of
Australia.

INSDOC -The Initial Prime Mover

The Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) was established


under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1952 as a
cooperative effort between the Government of India and UNESCO with the following
objectives:
1. To receive and retain all scientific periodicals required in India
2. To inform scientists and engineers of articles which may be of value
to them by issuing a monthly bulletin of abstracts.
3. To answer specific enquiries from information available at the
Centre
75

-------

-MI*

. ..-

II)...I^-

.-.

..------

---.

4. To supply photocopies/translations
laboratories or individual workers.

of articles required by

5. To be a national depository for reports of the scientific work of the


nation, both published and unpublished.
6. To be a channel through which the scientific work of the nation is
made known and available to the rest of the world.
INSDOC Headquarters at New Delhi and Regional Centres at Bangalore, Calcutta
and Madras, basically give the following services: Document copy supply service,
bibliography and information service, information retrieval service, information dissemination service and CAS/SDI services.
Under the document copy supply service, INSDOC supplies, on an average,
24,000 documents every year. Under the computer-based information retrieval service
indexes of INSDOC publications and their accumulations as well as Union Catalogue
type data and directory type data are prepared and processed, databases for SD1 services
are processed and periodicals are acquired centrally. INSDOC receives a few databases
on subscription basis like CA-Search, INSPEC and COMPENDEX for undertaking SD1
services.
INSDOC disseminates primary data through the Annals of Library Science and
Documentation and the secondary information through the publications like INSDOC
list and Bibliography of scientific publications of South and South-East Asia, Indian
Science Abstracts, INSDOC list of current scientific literature, etc.
The National Science Library (NSL) was set up under INSDOC embrionically as
early as 1964. NSL aims at collecting atleast one copy of every worthy scientific
publication within the country and specialised materials which are not usually acquired
by other Science libraries. While the main emphasis was on collection of periodicals, it
also acquires conference proceedings, books, state-of-the-art publications, reports and
theses, sources for acquiring publications etc. It presently has a collection of less than
1,50,000 volumes and is receiving about 4500 current titles of periodicals, one-third of
which are received as gratis and another one-third in exchange. It has the countrys best
collection of documents pertaining to Library and Information Sciences numbering 7000
items and has a stock of nearly 5000 theses submitted to various institutions/universities.
NSL provides a major support to the document copy supply service of INSDOC.
INSDOC has also been giving short term courses on different aspects of library
76

and information sciences. It organized three regional training programmes on behalf of


UNESCO. Since 1968, INSDOC has been organizing lectures and courses on problems
of automation in libraries. INSDOC participates in a number of international collaborations.
At the International Federation for Documentation @ID), INSDOC has been
representing India as the National Member since early 50s. It is also a member of the FID
Committee for Asia and Oceana and other committees of FID. It cooperates with
UNESCO/PGI on various programmes. It is a member of the International Council on
Reprography and is designated as the National Centre for International Serials Data
Systems. INSDOC has collaboration with VINlTI of Russia under a Cultural Exchange
Programme and maintains the exchange relations with a number of other countries.
INSDOC is the Indian focal point for SAARC Documentation System. It is also the
consultant for the setting up of a computerised online SAARC documentation system
with compatible hardware and software at various focal points.
Utilizing ERNET as the backbone, INSDOC has been setting up a Scientific and
Industrial Network (SIRNET) to give computer-communication network services to all
the 40 CSIR libraries. At present SIRNET has only one mail node and a number of user
nodes. It is connected internationally to UUNET, BITNET, CSNET, JANET and
INTERNET. SIRNET has a user node as well as a mail node. As the CSIR headquarters
estimated that the ERNET linkages to SIRNET were essentially based on inter-city
leased lines/dial-up connections with only one VSAT for overseas communication
through VSNL, full inter-laboratory data communication cannot be established. For this
reason, the CSIR Headquarters approached the National Informatics Centre to provide
NICNET linkage to all the 40 laboratories. On this basis, 25 out of the 40 laboratories
have been linked to NICNET. All the 40 laboratories are expected to be linked to
NICNET and through NICNET to INTERNET and other international networks by the
fourth quarter of 1995. SIRNET over NICNET also accesses the rich resources of
bibliographic databases established by NIC. NIC has also established five VSAT
stations at some of the laboratories situated remotely from the main communication
centres.
5.3

ERNET - Introducing

Internet to India

A project called, Education and Research in Networking @NET)


was conceived and set up by the author in 1985 at the Department of Electronics, Government
of India, to act as an R&D resource project drawing upon the R&D manpower and
infrastructure available in the five Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of
Science and National Centre for Software Technology. The project was financially
77

supported by UNDP and the Government of India. The project developed knowhow on
various aspects of computer-communication network technology as well as trained a
large number of communication and informatics specialists in the emerging areas of
computer-communication
networking. To facilitate Education and Research in Networking, the project set up a model network connecting the eight participating organizations. Over the years, the training and research emphasis got de-emphasized and the
network-based services to the academic and research organizations got emphasized.
Under this new dispensation ERNET introduced INTERNET to India. The latter
development and plans in this direction are succinctly brought out in a brochure by the
Department of Electronics, entitled, Networking of Networks - Project ERNET. In an
effort to present the new accomplishments and plans of ERNET, a substantive reproduction from this brochure is given in the rest of this section.
The ERNET architecture and implementation strategy follows an evolutionary
path to enable progressive and rapid building up of capability, expertise and confidence
for graceful migration from proprietary or non-standard solutions to those based on
international standards. Multi-vendor computing environment is supported with an
INTERNET working architecture with a variety of underlying sub-networks, viz.,
campus Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Network (WAN) and Packet Radio
based Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Global applications include electronic mail,
file transfer, remote log-in, database access, conferencing, Archie, Gopher, WAIS and
News.
As an enabling technology for academic and research community in the country,
ERNET endeavours to provide a vehicle for strengthening collaborative efforts among
geographically dispersed institutions, groups and individuals. It should thus help to
strengthen linkages between academia, R&D groups and industry.
The project started in November 1986, and the first phase was scheduled upto
November 1992. UNDP has provided critical support through international experts,
training at reputed institutions abroad and development tools. In phase Il of ERNET
during the Eighth Plan, the immediate objectives are:
To progressively set up a nation-wide network for academic and research
community starting with eight participating premier institutions.
To undertake Design, Development and Advanced Research in emerging
concepts of Computer Networking and related technologies.
To carry out Continuing Education, Training and Consultancy Pro78

grarnmes to generate critical manpower needed by industry and users in


this field.
Sub-Networks
Ethernet (802.3 10 base 5) based Campus LANs have been installed at the eight
project sites. They have multiple LAN Segments and, in some cases, non-Ethernet LANs
concatenated through repeaters, bridges and routers. Interconnection to WAN is through
an IP router/gatewpy. The network segments support multiple protocols including
proprietary LAN operating systems with progressive migration to non-proprietary,
multi-vendor standards through interfaces at different levels.
Satellite based Wide Area Network (WAN), currently under implementation, will
provide connectivity between the eight project sites, initially with data rates of 64/128
kbps*, and support multi-media conferencing capabilities. In parallel, a terrestrial WAN
based on dedicated data circuits (leased telephone lines) has been installed. The WAN
supports OS1 and TCP/IP protocols.
Layered approach to the network architecture enables gradual adoption of new
standards as they emerge. Message Handling System (MI-IS) based on X.400 and file
transfer based on FOAM are already stable standards and have been implemented in
ERNET. At the transport and network layers, two divergent approaches have emerged
in the international scene, namely connectionless (CLNS) and connection-oriented
(CONS) network layer service with corresponding transport class (Class 4 in the case
of CLNS and class O/2 in the case of CONS). ERNET has adopted TP4/IP with the
protocol profile conformant to US GOSIP. (* Note added by the author: The total hub
capacity is 512 Kbps in TDMA. It is capable of being partitioned into any number of
remote VSATs such that the sum of their speeds do not exceed 512 Kbps at any instant
of time.)
5.4

INFLIBNET

- Agent for Library

Standardization

Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) is aprogrammeof the University


Grants Commission (UGC) which was launched in May 1991. The original objective
was to set up a computer-communication network to link libraries and information
centres in universities, colleges, deemed universities, UGC Information Centres, institutions of national importance and R&D institutions throughout the country. It was set
up to facilitate pooling, easier access and optimization of scarce library resources and
help modemization of libraries and information centres through application of ihformation technology.
79

The National Centre for INFLIBNET is in Gujarat University Campus at


Ahmedabad. Each year the programme will identify a number of university libraries to
be taken up for automation depending upon the budget allocation. The selected
institutions will be provided funds for procuring computer systems, retroconversion and
In the first phase, since April 1993, the following universities were
networking.
identified for automation.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Anna University, Madras


Ravishankar University, Raipur
University of Jammu, Jammu
Gulbarga University, Gulbarga
Manipur University, Imphal
Jadavpur University, Calcutta
Osmania University, Hyderabad
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Jain Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
University of Bombay, Bombay.

From the Executive Summary of the INFLIBNET report enclosed at Annexure-2,


it can be seen that most of the objectives and work plans suggested therein have not been
implemented. INFLIBNETis a clear case of lethality of a project due todelay and wrong
a-priori priorities (ab-initio setting up of a nation-wide computer communication
network was given more emphasis than providing computers and software to the
libraries and training library personnel on them), its refusal to accept of a well developed
nation-widecomputer-communicationnetworkcapableofgivingsupporttoINFLIBNET
programme (NICNET had set up a VSAT in each of the 439 District Headquarters by
then), asking the Government of India to give Rs. 1.5 billion in one go (with similar
investments already made in other networks like NICNET, INET, etc., it was a case of
diminishing probability of capturing funds) and appointing a renowned communication
engineer to head the INFLIBNET instead of a renowned Library Scientist (to mention
a few diagnostics).
Though the above realization came quite late, it goes to the credit of UGC and the
management of INFLIBNET that they re-tuned the programme to mainly provide
computers and software to the libraries and work out the following services on other
networks like NICNET.
Catalogue based services

80

Database services
Document supply service (FAX and Non-FAX)
Collection Development
Communication based services, viz., Referral, E-Mail, Bulletin Board,
Audio/Video/Computer
Conferencing, etc.
They have also found a niche in the development of standardization for various
library operations and services and establishing norms for cooperation with networks
like NICNET and sectoral programmes like NISSAT.
5.5

NICNET

- The Low-cost WAN Provider

The National Informatics Centre is a premier organization in the field of Information Technology (IT) in India. It provides state-of-the-art solutions to the information
management and decision support requirements of the Government and the Corporate
sector. NIC has set up a satellite-based nation-wide computer-communication network,
called, NICNET, with over 750 VSAT nodes connecting the national capital, the State
capitals and district headquarters to one another.
The IT services provided by NIC range from conducting feasibility studies for
computerization; designing, developing and implementing computer-based information
systems; to undertaking large turnkey projects, including setting up of networks and
imparting training to personnel in user organizations. NIC has developed extensive
expertise in integrating IT-based systems with the working of user organizations. The
services provided by NIC include development of Application Software Packages,
Systems Software, Database Systems, Distributed Databases, Bibliographic Services,
LAN, MAN and WAN Networking, Electronic Mail, EDI, Access to International
Databases, Computer Aided Design, Geographic Information Systems, Modelling,
Expert Systems, Telematics Software, Office Automation, Document Management
Systems, Turnkey Projects and Training.
NICNET was designed and implemented by NIC using state-of-the-art satellite
based computer-communication technology. Keeping in view the wide geographic
spread of the country, ranging from islands in the Indian ocean to the Himalayan ranges,
the design of NICNET, which is one of the largest VSAT networks of its kind in the
world, ensures highly cost effective and reliable implementation.

81

NICNET has now been operational for over 6 years and has become an integral part
of a large number of Government and Corporate sector organizations, providing
information exchange services. NICNET services include File Transfer, Electronic
Mail, Remote Database Access, Data Broadcast and EDI.
NIC has emerged as an agent of change in the user organizations by providing
extensive training facilities to train and re-train a large number of people from these
organizations. The training methodology of NIC includes the use of state-of-the-art
training tools such as Computer Based Tutors (CBTs) and Multimedia Systems.
NICs programme for assisting modemization of library systems is basically
carried out under three initiatives:
1.

Government Libraries through NICs comprehensive support to Government


Departments, their attached offices and institutions under them.

2.

Public libraries through the support given by NIC to the Ministry of Human
Resource Development, Department of Culture, etc.

3.

Libraries in Universities/Colleges/Research
and Education Network of NIC (RENNIC).

Institutions through the Research

Over the years, the academic and research community in the country desired to
share information on a global platform in a cost effective way. This was realized by NIC
through RENNIC.
NICNET offers network services to Research, Education and Medical Institutions
as well as librarians at their doorsteps through RENNIC with the following objectives
.

to promote creation and usage of on-line databases in the country.

to facilitate more openness among academicians and researchers.

to provide on-line access to vast expanse of international databases .

to facilitate library networking

services.

to setup countrywide computer network for the academic and research


community and libraries spanning 8000 institutions accounting for about
one million potential users.
82

NICNET incorporated a powerful Ku-Band Overlay Network on the existing


SSMAKDMA
architecture. It is connected to over 200 International Networks in 160
countries through Gateway Packet Switched Service (GPSS) and has direct INTERNET
and International Network access through a direct high speed link to SPRINTNET, USA
.

The present RENNIC User profile is given below:


Academic/Research/Medical
Institutions recognised and funded by any of the
following agencies can avail RENNIC services :
University Grants Commission (UGC)
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW)
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Department of Bio Technology @BT)
Universities and Public Libraries listed for Information and Library
Network Programme (INFLIBNET )
Central & State/Union Territory Governments , etc.
The following categories of RENNIC Services are offered by NIC:
FREEIBARTER

Services

E-mail :
It enables a user to send messages electronically to individuals or group of
individuals and also accept and store messages from other users over computer networks
.
News Services :
National and International news services is a daily updated source of news
83
__-_I.

VP--...

-__

is spread over numerous news


available on the terminals. Information in netnews
groups , which cover specific areas of interest . These services are free upto a fixed
volume of transactions per month per institution.
The beneficiary institutions availing free services will provide on barter basis the
necessary inputs as required by NIC to :
Facilitate creation of specialized public domain databases and make them
available on NICNET for the free use of all users of NICNET.
develop computer-aided instructions (CAI) for elementary and higher
education, etc.
Cost-SharinglCost-plus

Internet access

INTERNET is a unique collection of networks spanning the globe . Internet was


originally developed to enable science and research to share resources. To a great extent
, communications in the form of E-mail and discussion groups have overshadowed use
of Internet for resource sharing. The traditional methods of scholarly communication presentations at conferences , publishing papers in journals and so on - are being
recognised as inadequate for current research needs. Internet distributes information in
a way that is more flexible and more timely . Findings , papers and information can be
shared and discussed on Internet through RENNIC.
The vast array of Internet access includes :
l

File Transfer Facility

Remote Login

Conference & Seminar News

Submission of research papers to journals

Database & Information Access through Gopher, Archie, Hytelnet, WAIS,


and WWW.

Global Database Access includes :


l

Public Domain Databases


Medical Databases, Medical Literature Analysis & Retrieval System
(MEDLARS), etc.
Patent Information Services.
84

Bibliographic Databases on Scientific, Technical, Legal, Agriculture and


Social Sciences including full text search.

Other national & international databases

X .400 and X 500 Services:


.

Electronic Mail conforming to CCITT X.400 recommendations. The


X:400 standard supports not only normal text , but can contain other
formats as well , such as FAX messages and voice recordings .

ED1 Message Transfer facility

Gateway to SMTP/UUCP

Directory Services

C-WEB :
C-WEB (Centre for World Wide Web Service over NICNET) becomes the first
Web server in the Country to navigate through Internet for exchanging multimedia
documents between computer users internationally. The WWW Gateway to INTERNET
provides a powerful browsing and searching facility for a seamless world-wide digital
web of information.
RENNIC Connectivity:
Access to NICNET for the national and INTERNET E-mail will be provided
from any of the nearest Satellite Earthstations of NIC (numbering 750) spread
over 500 cities and towns in the country. Connectivity will be provided on dialup basis. High cost of data circuits over STD or inter-city dial-up is not required.
Access to NICNET for other Internet services will be provided from any of the
major state capitals and important commercial towns .

85
-. I. II_

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._l-.--..l

___--

Chapter Six
MANAGING

THE TECHNOLOGICAL
THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE

CHANGE

In the modernization of libraries it is essential to evolve strategies for managing


technology changes. In the context of the Indian experience, six illustrative, yet
fundamental cases are examined below for future guidance of library managers not only
in India, but also other developing countries.
1. Tradition Versus Modemization Imperatives

6.1

2.

Retrospective Conversion

3.

Online Catalogues

4.

End-user-friendly

5.

Online Circulation

6.

Online Versus CDROM - the choice

Tradition

search

Versus Modernization

Imperatives

A large number of libraries in India are still functioning on traditional systems


without the use of computers or networking. It is necessary to understand how efficiency
was sought to be achieved using traditional methods in order to work out plans for step
by step modemization. These are discussed with specific reference to acquisition
techniques, information organization methods, reference services, circulation services,
bibliographic services and reprography services. For achieving cost effective acquisition
methods, librarians had developed methods like consultation of specialists during the
selection of materials. The choice of such consultant had to reflect the statistical
characteristics of the user target group. The statistical distribution of various special
interests within the target group may vary less in specialized organizations and more in
organizations with wider responsibilities. The librarians are required to have not only a
good intuition, but also quantitative base of the statistical characterization of the user
base. The acquisition proposed has to be streamlined so that from the time of the
projection of the demand for a book or document to the time of its acquisition, the time
delay is minimised. A few libraries in India are also experimenting on a just-in-time
(JR) concept for acquisition. Instead of purchasing in anticipation of demand, pur86

chases are made quicker as soon as a demand is projected.


Information Organization
Knowing the type of documents, a librarian describes and indexes the document
so as to facilitate easier search. Not giving adequate attention to this responsibility would
imply longer search time and hence wastage of the time of specialised users. This calls
for an explicit quantitative study regarding the impact of search techniques of users on
the classification and cataloguing of the subject content of an item. Physical collocation
of the material based on subject groupings has been adopted by and large by most
libraries. A number of libraries have also tried heuristic dialogue between the user and
the collection through appropriate browsing methods. The classification system adopted
by librarians in India has been quantitatively described in Chapter One which is
indicative of the kind of preferences for different systems of classification. Catalogues
as tools to identify documents in terms of author name, document title and related
documents on a subject, have been used in a wide variety of ways. The Indian preference
for the systems of classification has already been quantified in Chapter One.
Reference Services
For proper utilization of resources, a number of tools are utilized like Library
Catalogues, Bay Guides, Classified Arrangement, etc. Supplementing these tools, need
is invariably felt for a reference librarian to personally assist the users in searching for
the information or documents as well as where necessary, arrange inter-library loans.
With the introduction of online databases, his role had to undergo a major change.
Circulation Services
The most important functions of the university and public libraries in India is the
lending function. To keep track of the books and documents lent or circulated an efficient
record keeping system is evolved. Circulation systems like the Nawark System and
Browne system are in practice.
Bibliographic

Services

Bibliographic services facilitate the availability of information to the users as well


as promote the use of their resources. The library staff scans the source, prepares the
master cards and the specific document and scans the location information. A list of
references is prepared which is circulated to specific interest groups. Constant manual
updation is a necessary pre-requisite for efficiency.
87
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Reprography services
Traditionally microfilm and microfische storage of material has been resorted to
for realizing efficiency of storage space. These are being replaced by OCR and Compact
Disk Read Only Memory (CDROM). The impact of such efficient modem methods over
the traditional ones has already been felt throughout the Indian library system.
Impact of Information Technology over the traditional practices
1.

Depth classification will be replaced by computerised classification


resulting in the saving of time of professional staff.

2.

Extensive use of word processing and DTP, while making repeated


editing easier and less time consuming, the traditional typists will have
to be retrained as data entry operators.

4.

Manual searching of database for references on a specialised topic may


take days and even months. With computerisation and computer-based
retrieval, this can be obtained in a matter of minutes. This will save the
time of the professional users which can be utilized more gainfully in
their research or academic work. Manual retrieval techniques usually
misses a large number of references, especially in multi-disciplinary
fields. The computer-based retrieval will significantly reduce the number
of such misses.

5.

Global access of information has to become an unavoidable necessity in


a competitive world where research or economics has to compete with
several others in the run on the same topic. This has created information
haves and have-nots. Without computer-communication, worldwide exchange of bibliographic information for most of the publications
cannot be accomplished. If retrieval requires standardization in bibliographic control, so also preparation of bibliographic databases have to
follow international standards like the Universal Bibliographic Control
(UBC) system. A wide spec@m of cooperative structures are getting
created around the world for information exchange and querying of each
others databases. National and international computer communication
networks for providing access to text information has now become
unavoidable by any library. As more and more libraries are dealing with
multimedia information, the networks also have multimedia information
querying capacity.
88

With the increase of the projected life of CDROMs from ten years at the beginning
to hundred years according to contemporary estimates of systems available in the
market, library archiving has become electronic and optical. This has the salient effect
of saving a lot of space in the libraries.
The Indian experience has shown that during the transition from traditional
methods to modemized methods, a number of problems are encountered like inadequacy
in planning of transition, inability to mobilize the required funds for the transition,
inability to make the proper choice of computer hardware and software, and lastly,
because of lack of training in IT, social and personal bias against the introduction of the
transition. One of the biggest problems encountered during the initial stage of the
transition is retrospective conversion of card catalogue into machine readable form.
Specialised scanners/OCR systems are now available for machine reading of catalogues.
According to Prem Singh, (Ref. Library Science, Volume 28, No. 4, December
1991) the social and personal resistance to the transition can be overcome by the
following tested approaches:
1.

Management should be specific about the change. Vagueness and ambiguity can cause worry and unrest.

2.

Management should explain the reasons for change in detail and remove
the doubts from the minds of the workforce. Workforce should be given
full opportunity to air their objections.

3.

Workforce should be allowed to have a say in the planning for change,


so that they would be committed to change.

4.

Management should issue a personal appeal to gain acceptance for


change. The workforce would respond to an appeal to loyalty only if they
see that the change would solve problems and help reaching a goal that
benefits everyone.

5.

The habit patterns of the groups should not be disregarded. Any attack on
their habit patterns would generate resistance to change.

6.

Management should keep the workforce informed of ensuing change.


Even though the change may affect only one or two in a group of ten
persons, all of them need to know about the change in order to feel secure.

89
.---

_.,-I
.l_l__l

6a2.

7.

Worries of the workforce about the possible failures should be allayed.


Many employees faced with a change are concerned with whether they
can master new skills.

8.

Management should be aware of the ripe timing for the change. It is much
easier to influence people favourably before introducing the change than
after.

Retrospective

Conversion

The conversion of the bibliographic retrospective records in a conventional library


from manual to machine readable form during the transition to modemization is the most
time-consuming part of the transition. Without having to duplicate efforts of earlier
manual cataloguers, it is necessary to convert them into machine readable files.
Different libraries and projects in India have adopted different methods, some of which
have been proved to be ideal in a developing country environment. We discuss here the
systems adopted by two projects involving a large number of libraries, namely,
INFLIBNET and DELNET which are typical of the Indian efforts. In view of the
following reasons, in the INFLIBNET Project, libraries resorted to retrospective
conversion from two different perspectives.
w

A database is created on all the bibliographic material in a library in


machine readable form for an individual library system.
As retrospective conversion (RC) is costly, the improvement in services
have to be better analysed before the conversion process begins.
RC makes available exhaustive and latest information, easy updating and
fast access to records, thereby increasing the efficiency of the library
staff.
RC can create a large single file of structured data elements which can be
used to provide special information products like the catalogue of serials
publications, list of proceedings of conferences, bibliography of bibliography, etc.
The cost of maintaining parallel systems manually and partially converted machine readable records can be eliminated.
Technology changes are easy to accommodate once machine readability
is attained.
90

Creation of an integrated file utilizes the resources of the library optimally


Machine readable catalogue gives better protection and portability.
A large bibliographic file of union list can be created.
Participating libraries can share bibliographic data and resources through
a network. It enables the creation of national database and facilitates
universal bibliographic control.
The procedure of retrospective conversion in the INFLIBNET project requires a
carefully study of the existing library catalogues in the various libraries in the country.
The following plan of action was suggested by an INFLIBNET Task Force:
1.

Establish parameters identified as circulation, inter-library loans, data


range, classification, time frame, cost re-classification, recataloguing,
etc.

2.

Suitable standards and guidelines have to be followed uniformly for all


the participating libraries. The larger the list of participants, the more
difficult it becomes to evolve a specified standard in view of the high
degree of diversification in the standards currently adopted. Here, the
INFLIBNET experience is that numerous libraries are reluctant to covert
to a common standard unless the process is funded externally by the
Government or by other donors. It is because of this problem that a wider
national context of INFLIBNET networking had to be de-emphasized.

3.

Identify available options

4.

Select one or more publications.

5.

Suggest a plan of action for implementing the selected options.

For understanding the problems of retrospective conversion in the DELNET


project, NISSAT commissioned a study project which considered the following approaches and guidelines:
1.

Conversion of data from books on shelves taking into account essential


fields including descriptors.

91
I-.- -_-. .

__..__

2.

Conversion of data from books on shelves taking into account essential


fields but without descriptors.

3.

Time involved in creation of descriptors and feeding them intocomputers

4.

Conversion of data taken from classified catalogue, which has call


number, author, title and accession number directly without filling in of
input sheets.

5.

Completion of missing data in Approach 4 above by locating books,


filling them into the print out and inputting the data.

6.

Conversion of catalogue of bound periodicals directly from existing


catalogues without descriptors.

7.

Completion of missing information and descriptors for bound per&cals and inputting them into PCs.

8.

Conversion of data from reference books on shelves with completion of


essential fields.

9.

Conversion of data taken from the accession registers

10.

Completion of missing data in Approach 9 above, by locating books,


filling out details in the print out and inputting the remaining data.

11.

In a library, the job of conversion of records into machine readable form


may be divided into two categories:
(a>

Generation of records of current acquisitions by existing library


staff; and

(b)

Conversion of catalogues of old records.

These two processes should function at an optimum pace in order to


achieve better results.
12. The use of external databases for deriving records can be made keeping in
view the following factors:

92

An external database of similar records should be available for


achieving a better hit rate.
A union catalogue of a library network may prove to be a usefui
tool.
The use of databases on CDROM may be preferred, if the hit rate
achieved is high and the CD is obtained at a reasonable price.
Information to be added to a record that has been uploaded, or
unnecessary information to be deleted from such a record will
involve additional labour, which will increase the cost of operation.
13.

The allocation of retro-conversion job to an outside agency specializing


in the generation of bibliographic records is a good substitute for big
libraries. In India several agencies undertake such jobs. The issues that
are important in this case are that the agency
- should guarantee the generation of standard records; and
-

14.

the rates should be competitive.

The library professional staff will have to oversee the performance of the
outside agency. It is necessary that a full record level is achieved and the
project is completed within a deadline. The reliability of data so achieved
will enhance the importance of the database created.

In addition to the experience of INFLIBNET and DELNET, the following


recommendations on retrospective cataloguing by the Council of Europes Working
Party to the Committee of Ministers of European Commission may also be kept in view:

a>

The primary object of retrospective catalogue conversion is to increase


access as widely as possible to the collections already catalogued.

b)

Libraries should be encouraged and stimulated to retrospective conversion of catalogues through cooperation and other means.

cl

In funding projects for retrospective catalogue conversion, priority


should be given to catalogues of those collections whether general or
93
__-

specialized which make the greatest contribution to the countrys own


cultural, scientific, educational and information interests, but some
consideration is also to be given to catalogues of those collections, which
by virtue of their subject or language, facilitate the study of, or relations
with., other parts of the world.

d)

On the basis of reciprocity, converted catalogue records should be able


to circulate unrestrictedly within and between library networks, without
legal or contractual constraints on their use by other members of these
networks.

e>

The common bibliographic data and formal rules to which converted


catalogues conform should be the minimum required to enable catalogue
records to be consulted effectively and exchanged within and across
national boundaries.
Costs of retrospective catalogue conversion should be kept within
reasonable limits by taking advantage of existing and emerging computer
and communication networks in Europe in order to allow as much use
as possible of bibliographic data already existing in machine readable
form in other catalogues and databases; this would imply common
planning of different steps to be undertaken as well as reciprocity.

The above recommendations draw our attention to the importance of increasing


the accessibility of records, effective use of funds through cooperation and other means
in order to convert existing catalogues into machine-readable form and meet the needs
of users scattered around the globe.
6.3

Online Catalogs

Revolutionary tools of Information Technology are being introduced in library


modemization, one of the most important of such being Online Catalogs. A few pilot
projects are under way in India which are expected to give adequate experience within
the next two or three years. Online Catalogs serve as bibliographic access tools for endusers and is the most feasible and heavily used end-user computer interface for
information retrieval.
Libraries have several files that contain information that will be useful to the users
like the files which tell the user what books are on order, files which inform whether the
latest issue of a journal has been received, files which undertake whether a book has been
94

borrowed or missing, etc. Traditionally such files are available only to the library support
staff and not to the users. Automated library systems have brought this information
system into the hands of the reader. Systems can integrate an acquisition and serials
check in with a public catalogue and circulation carried out on the same computer or
through a local area network. If features like acquisitions, check in, public catalogue and
circulation are available from the same terminal, the user gets much more information
about the librarys resources. With online catalogs, diverse indexes can be brought
together in one place under one unified system using the mere displays, commands, etc.
so that a search in one database can be carried out into P search on another database.
Some university libraries are loading indexes to periodical articles into or along
side their online catalogues using BRS software or BASIS Plus software. For example,
using the BRS several years of MEDLINE has been loaded. Also INSPECcan be loaded
along with applied sciences and technology indexes. There is a rationale behind these
efforts. Any library that has mounted an online catalogue will soon confront the request
to include records for general articles as well as books and patent specifications. By
including these indexes in the online catalogue, a library can provide unlimited searching
for a fixed cost. Careful selection of what is to be mounted locally is to be exercised by
the library.
Soon after mounting the online catalogue, requests pour in for the inclusion of
indexes to journal articles and even full text journals of articles instead ofjust the citation.
A careful national policy as well as a local policy has to be evolved to contain and
regulate the rising spiral of expectations to ensure that the quality of service does not
suffer in the process of meeting the rising expectations. In this regard, the experience
gained in some of the developed countries can be transferred to the developing countries
through the good offices of international organizations like UNESCO.
With intra-city networking like DELNET and CALIBNET becoming popular in
India, online catalogue exercise will be forced to create connections to other computer
systems within the city. With this, the demand would also arise for a supplementary
demand for connecting micro computer servers with CDROM databases to the online
catalogue. It may, however, be necessary to be cautious to see that while periodical
indexes that will receive limited use into the online catalogue may not justify the expense
of storing online. It might be appropriate to acquire this database on CDROMs and
consult the CDROM server through the online catalogue.
An important advantage of online catalogue is that it can be consulted remotely
through Metropolitan Area Network and Wide Area Networks. Users with terminals can
consult the online catalogue from their offices or even homes using a dial-up line. Even
95
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d...

.-.

.._

if online catalogue contains full reference of a general collection, remote access allows
the user to check citation and search collection without leaving his office or home and
without going to the library building. Eventually any combination with a document
delivery system, remote access would make online catalogue quite powerful and cost
effective.
There are some futuristic ideas at the drawing board stage which deserve more
attention. A 386/486 PC can be programmed to capture information from an online
catalogue, store information locally and manipulate that information to produce bibliography thereby customizing a personal bibliographic system. A well designed
knowledge workstation can make connections among related pieces of information
retrieved from the online catalogue using hyper-techniques.
6.4

End-user-friendly

Searching

Closely connected to online catalogue is the developments that are taking place in
end-user-friendly searching. It would be a great advantage if the end-user can directly
access an online bibliographic database. NIC is getting numerous requests from
specialized medical organizations who have linked to NICNET for MEDLARS and
other medical database access. Such specialised procedures of MEDLARS are being
carried out by end-users themselves after NIC specialists have trained them in search
methods. Online catalogue, online databases and online search services and development in optical information technologies have made end-user-friendly searching not
only possible but also desirable.
A conviction is growing that there is a need for enhanced and coordinated access
to rapidly growing collections, particularly in areas customarily lacking bibliographic
control such as periodicals. The following four methods of providing increased access
are being explored:
Loading periodical citation databases into local online catalogs
Providing end-user searching services or training programmes
Utilizing optical disk databases
Bringing databases inhouse for inhouse processing.
The studies sponsored by the Council on Library Resources (CLR) regarding enduser-friendly searching of online catalogues have found the following:
%

Subject searching is the predominant mode of searching


Most catalogue users want materials on a subject
Catalogue users report the problems with subject searching
Users approach online catalogues expecting to find enhanced access to a
broader field of materials, particularly periodicals, than that in the card
catalogue.
Catalogue users place the highest priority for improvements on various
subject search enhancements.
Less than half of the searches result in no retrievals.
Subject searches using keywords with non-Boolean strategy produce a large
number of citations.
Systems with keyword searching receive more subject searching.
Some of the major reasons justifying support to R&D efforts in India for
developing end-user-searching techniques are the following:
The continued exponential growth of information and the demonstrated
value of online information retrieval.
The wide availability of online full text databases like the one set up over
NICNET.
Proliferation of micro computer workstations with communication capabilities directly from the work place
The increasing emphasis on office automation and computer based
decision support.
Current availability of BASIS Plus at very low cost from NIC facilitating
highly user-friendly search systems.
The growing awareness among end-users of the existence of online
database services over NICNET and other networks.
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Promotion and training of library users with online catalogues and online
bibliographic databases.
Increase in the work load of library staff and restrictions on the expansion
of the library manpower.
Development of research and commercial front-end and gateway software packages which enable online searching by untrained users.
End-user-searching activities are found to fall into two categories:

6.5

1.

Training professional users to search in the work environment like the


training given by NIC to its major MEDLARS user organizations who
have installed a VSAT linkage to NICNET.

2.

Establishing end-user centres in academic and research libraries like the


setting up of Neurological Science Information Centre at NIMHANS,
Bangalore through the joint efforts of NIC, DBT and DST.

Online Circulation

System

The Vikram Sarabhai Library (VSL) at the Indian Institute of Management,


Ahmedabad, which has a collection of more than 150,000 books and bound volumes, has
developed an online circulation system which has the following advantages:
Users queries regarding status of a book are answered quickly.
Queries on the status of a book are answered promptly
Statistics of work load can be analysed leading to efficient utilization of
the staff.
Effectiveness of the library can be evaluated utilizing the data in the loan
transaction records over a period.
Current awareness service can be provided to users from the issue records
giving details of the user subjects/areas of interest.
Specialised use as well as adequacy of collection can be analysed from
the issue data.
98

The Number of copies of a book to be procured can be determined from


the frequency of borrowals.
The number of copies to be retained in the reverse sequence material can
be determined from the data on its use.
It provides effective control over the users, circulation work and the
support staff.
VSL had given priority for setting up an automated circulation system with the
following major components:
Book Records
Borrower Record and
Daily transactions records.
They examined two systems, viz., the inventory system based on the principle of
inventory control and the Absence System based on the principle where records of items
which are currently on loan are included. Of these, the IIM Ahmedabad Computer
Centre specialists who developed the system, preferred the Absence System because,
large capacity was not required immediately and only those books get entered into the
system which are selected by the readers. A customized software was developed over
dBase-III Plus on an Intel chip based personal computer platform.
A number of other libraries in the country having large holdings are following up
on the good example set by VSL at IIM Ahmedabad.
6.6

Relative Impact of Online and CDROM

Over the years, two forms of access of information have developed - Online
Database Access using Metropolitan Area Networks and Wide Area Networks and
Optical Disk Databases Access using Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CDROM)
units.
Online Database Access
Network has optimized the information resources distributed over different parts
of the world. Wide Area Networks (WAN) are increasingly utilized for services
99

pertaining to inter-library loans, inter-linking of CDROM databases and in general,


providing access to Bibliographic Information distributed geographically. In the proper
utilization of WAN for accessing online databases, the following points have been
considered important:
Justify the need for establishing WAN
Establish a time bound work plan
Project the budget requirements and obtain the funds
Appoint a Network Manager
Implementation by adhering to standards and establishing gateways
Obtain, where necessary, passwords, codes and promotion of national
network providers and international network providers.
Purchase the hardware and software, peripherals, modems/PADs/Routers
and install them
Take up necessary documentation work and produce manuals
Initiate training programmes
Evaluate the work performance periodically
Continually develop the network.
Until recently, the retrieval of text based databases and consequently text transmission over WAN was resorted to. Over the past three years, multimedia databases and
multimedia transmission have become possible and their demand is increasing. The text
based data require an interactive access to the host computer from subscriber terminals.
Gateway switching system (GPSS operated by the VSNL) provides text access from
international databases. The WAN for such applications can be of low speed type.
Multimedia transmission on the other hand, requires a high speed transmission using
high speed VSATs or fibre optic systems. The library networking increasingly demand
multimedia capability because, a still picture would contain 500 MB of daa while video
would generate a 1.5 Mbps. For multimedia communication, even with compressors a
bit rate of around 64 Kbps is considered as minimum though 128 Kbps is desirable. For
100

meeting the requirement of audio, visual, still picture, text and graphics information, the
WAN should provide switching connection through standard interface across national
borders. A number of networks provide ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
capability. In India, at present only NICNET National Info Highway is capable of
multimedia communication.
Table below gives a quantitative idea of the data volumes and transmission time
necessary to access multimedia databases:
Table:

Data volumes and approximate transmission time required to implement


Multimedia Applications
Transmission Time

Data Volume

2 Hrs.

2 Min.

14,400 MB

63 I-b.

31 Hrs.

2,400 MB

10 Hrs.

5 I-h.

Video (1 Set)

240 MB

63 Min.

31 Min

3 Min

2 Set

Still Image

160MB

42 Min

21 Min

84 Set

<5 Sec.

Graphic

24 MB

6 Min

3Min

cl2 Set

<l Set

Graphic

8MB

2 Min

1 Min

<lo set

cl Set

Sound

8MB

2 Min

1 Min

<lo set

cl set

Sound

16 KB

cl Set

<l Set

<l Set

<l Set

Text

64KB

<l Set

<lSec

<l Set

cl Set

Text

16 KB

cl Set

<lSec

cl Set

<I Set

2 ISDN
128 KBPS

30 ISDN
2 MBPS

140 MBPS

Video (1 Min)
Video (10 See)

18 Set

ISDN
64 KBPS

101
..-^^lll---.~-

-_

--..--I_

CDROM Database Access


The CDROM databases started appearing in the mid 1980s and by the beginning
of 1989 there were about 400 products. Current CDROMs have a capacity of about 550
MB or about 200,000 pages of A-4 size texts, but high density disks have started
appearing. CDROM helps to cope with the uncertainties of telecommunication network
underlying the online services. It offers menu driven search instead of command-driven
search.
The decision to go in for CDROM or online is affected by various factors. If the
searcher uses infrequently, online is better. Whereas if it is a much used database, then
acquiring CDROM will be cost effective. Several hundreds of libraries in India are
subscribing to CDROM databases for the past several years. With liberalization of
imports this trend has accelerated substantially over the past year.
CDROM was a single user device until 1988. Subsequently, multi-drive CD
servers or towers have become available which can be connected to one or more PCs.
With separate software, users can simultaneously access all the drives of the server from
the respective workstations. Networking CDROM drives has also become possible. NIC
Headquarters at New Delhi has implemented a nation-wide satellite based computercommunication network which caters to not only online access to several databases
resident on their computers, but also implemented a CDROM network based on CD-Net
which is a CD service with 14 CDROM drives and connected the same to NICNET. At
the Bibliographic Information Division of NIC a Local Area Network has been installed
based on a 16 Bit 10 MB Ethernet hardware running on NOVEL Netware Version 2.2
which is a network operating system using Bus topology. In CDNET, CD Server has
been integrated into the LAN. It is possible to dial up to the LAN from remote locations
which are linked to NICNET. The NIC configuration has one File Server, one CDServer, one Netware Access Server and eight Workstations, four of which are allocated
for public access to the network. A total of 9.2 GB of information is available online at
any point of time in the form of CDROM databases.
The connectivity of the CDROM Network to the NICNET which is a X.25 based
Packet Switched Network, is established using a port of NAS. Asynchronousconnection
is established between NAS and the Packet Switching Equipment of the WAN. Any
node of NICNET can access CDNET and execute a search. Though the LAN and
CDNET are DOS based, NICNET nodes have UNIX machines.
It was found from the NIC experience that CDROM networking over NICNETcan
facilitate a high degree of resource sharing. NIC functions as one of the Central
102

repositories of CDROM resources. The repository acquired a CD Server with software,


LAN software and Hardware, NAS Hardware and Software, Modems, Leased Lines/
Wireless Links and databases on CDROM. For nation-wide connectivity using NICNET, the hardware and software required for establishing connectivity with the WAN
are deployed. This helps the repository to serve as an information centre. Users from
other organizations can either use workstations provided at the information centre or
procure a PC, associated communication software, a modem and leased lines. For WAN
users dial up access to the nearest WAN node is the minimum requirement.
Starting with a negotiation with ADONIS, NIC has developed an approach for site
licensing respec ting copyright regulations for accessing a central repository of CDROMs
through the nation-wide network, NICNET.

-.

103

.- .,.._-

Chapter Seven
SOFTWARE,

RESEARCH

AND TRAINING

Progressive modemization of the libraries require continuous efforts in the


development of library sciences and information technology, especially the development of customized software for various applications. An equally important requirement
is the training and retraining of library scientists and support professionals in tools and
methods of modemization. Further, a number of standardized packages available
anywhere in the world which meet the requirements of the library system in India would
also have to be purchased keeping the minimization of cost in view. An outline of these
three support requirements, namely, Software, Research and Training are given below:
7.1

Software

In many of the libraries, the library scientists have collaborated with software
engineers for developing customized software. Indian libraries are at present using
indigenously developed software or standard packages distributed by UNESCO and
IRDC.
Several commercial library software packages are available though they are
somewhat expensive. The commercial packages developed in India which are used in a
number of libraries are: LIBSYS, SANJAY, MAITRAYEE,
etc. The latter two
developed over CDS/ISIS Package freely distributed by UNESCO. Other commercial
software imported include, INFOTEK, WILYSIS, TULIP, TECHLIB Plus on BASIS
Plus, etc. The software packages which are more popular with libraries in India are:
LIBSYS, MINISIS, CDS/ISIS, IV + V Package, and TECHLIB. Of these, LIBSYS has
already been described earlier. A brief description of the other four are given below:
MINISIS Software Package:
Basically working on HP 3000 series platform, MINlSIS can be used to produce
library catalogues, different types of indexes, annotated bibliographies, etc. and have the
following features:
It allows efficient retrieval of information
It allows concurrent use of software by many users with an interactive
terminal oriented design
End-user-friendly
104

Conforms to IS0 standards for inter-change of library data


Supports Interchange of data in MINISIS, UNIMARC

formats, etc.

Modularised software architecture allowing easy addition of application


modules
Capability to generate SD1 services
Generates a wide variety of databases
Has multi-lingual,
between users.

multi-character

set with capability

for dialogue

It is compatible with INIS, AGRIS and DEVSIS


Used in library management for acquisition, cataloguing, serials controls
etc.
CDSIISIS Micro Version Package
It is a storage and retrieval system for management of structured non-numerical
databases like TEXT. The same set of standardized programmes can manipulate a very
large number of databases each consisting of entirely different data elements. It runs on
IBM-PC series under MS DOS Operating System. NISSAT Project Office coordinates
the distribution of this software on behalf of UNESCO.
IV + V Software Package
Developed in Austria, this package can be used on a variety of mini/micro
computers. IV + V is an Acronym for Information Vermittlung and Verarbeitung in
German language meaning Information Dissemination and Processing. Some of the
basic functions included in the design are interactive data entry, data editing and
validation, database creation, records maintenance, retrieval and output. It has a screen
image subsystem which permits the user developed screens and user-controlled screens
sequencing for specific applications. It is available in both DOS version and UNIX
version.

105

TECHLIB Plus
TECHLIB Plus is built on BASIS Plus which is a Document DBMS and Text
Retrieval System. It is designed to streamline and facilitate all the day-to-day operations
of a fully automated library. It provides access, circulation, serials management,
acquisition processing, catalogue maintenance and MARC cataloguing or user can
access images and information stored in BASIS plus databases. TECHLIB Plus can
provide direct access to information in Current Contents. It is a fully flexible tool set
accommodating continual growth in document collections as well as computing environment.
With a large internal demand within NIC and the availability of experienced
software research and development team, it has been possible to negotiate for the bulk
purchase of BASIS Plus and TECHLIB Plus Packages from ID1 Inc. of USA, at a small
fraction of the market price. NIC cost of the TECHLIB Plus over BASIS Plus is less than
2000 dollars per copy. 800 copies of BASIS Plus and 200 copies of TECHLIB Plus have
already been acquired some of which are being installed in important libraries which are
connected or are being connected to NICNET and NICNET Info Highway. Value
addition through modules developed at NIC will be made to the TECHLIB to continuously increase the power of the package as well as inter-networking over NICNET with
high efficiency and flexibility. A description of the TECHLIB Plus over BASIS Plus is
given in Annexure-8.
For multimedia INTERNET access, a World Wide Web Server Software having
hypermedia navigation feature has been built up over BASIS Plus software. Whichever
library is configured as an FIP to NICNET Info Highway can access the Worldwide Web
Server at the nearest Highway node. A brief description of the World Wide Web
(WWW) Server over BASIS Plus is also given Annexure-8.
All the above software will keep in view the major recommendations and findings
of the INFLIBNET Task Force. These special features outlined in the Inter-Agency
Working Group Report on INFLIBNET dated December 1988 are given in Annexure9.
A thorough-going analysis of the software requirements at the national level,
regional level as well as in University/College Libraries, R&D Institution Libraries,
Sectoral Information Centres, Public Libraries, District Libraries, etc., described in the
Inter-Agency Report are also substantially reproduced in Annexure-9.

106

7.2

Library

Science Research in India

Though research in Library Science in India started immediately after independence, not until the 80s that an organized research on a widespread basis got under way.
Notwithstanding this, individual contributions to research in library sciences even
before independence had received international acclaim. A case in point is the pioneering
work of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan whose theories and approaches have contributed to the
growth of library science globally. Though the momentum created by Dr. Ranganathan
was sustained by individual scientists like Dr. Neelameghan and others, large scale
contributions came only in the wake of UGCs policies prescribing higher qualifications
including Doctorates for eligibility for promotion in the Schools, Colleges and University libraries. A meticulous compilation and analysis of research work in library science
in India, especially Ph.D. programmes, was made by R.S.R. Varalakshmi, Department
of Library and Information Sciences of Andhrauniversity, Vizhakhapatanam. We give
below the summary of her analysis and findings (as presented in Library Science,
Volume 31, No.2, June 1994) . All the tables given here are substantially based on or
derived from that paper.
Upto the end of 1992, 175 Ph.D. Degrees have been awarded in this area. The
Year-wise distribution is given in Table-l. In a majority of Doctoral programmes
describing methods such as historical case study methods have been mostly employed.
The evaluative methods have been used for determining relative importance of a library
or library processes. Content analysis/bibliometric studies have been used to describe
in an objective and quantitative way the characteristics of messages conveyed in a
medium of communication. Exploratory studies utilized survey research and techniques.

Table-l:
175)
Year

Year-wise distribution of Ph.D. awards (Total number between 1950 -1992 :

No. of Ph.Ds

Year

No. of Ph.Ds

1950

1981

1954

1982

1957

1983

1963

1984

18

1966

1985

20

1972

1986

1973

1987

1977

1989

17

1978

1990

14

1979

1991

15

1980

1992

33

Subject-wise distribution of research topics as percentage of the total number of


Ph.D dissertations has been examined. A large part of the analysis (32.77%) of the library
and information science activities in various types of libraries is the subject matter of a
number of research papers and theses. Out of this, Planning and Management of various
types of libraries account for 17.77%. In spite of modemization and automation being
a thrust area in recent times, only 5.8 percent of the papers were in this area. Subject of
dissemination of information accounted for 21.66 percent. 8.88 percent concerns the
assessment of access and measurement of effectiveness of library and information
science facilities. Information storage and retrieval in libraries account for 12.22 percent
of research efforts. Quantitative studies of literature using bibliometric laws accounted
for 8.88 percent and literature studies 6.5 percent. Library history, movement and
108

legislation accounted for 8.33 percent, Topics like scientific communication


information science education are conspicuous by their rarity.
The percentage distribution of research organization-wise
Table-2:

and

is given in Table-2:

Organizational Distribution of Ph.Ds

Organizational Content

No. of Ph.Ds

Academic Libraries

Percentage
21.11%

Public Libraries (plus, Lib.


movement, Lib. Legislation)

8+9

15%

Special Libraries (plus Inf. System)

12+5

9.44%

A major observation is that there is considerable decline in the quality of research


since the days of Dr. Ranganathan. There is an urgent need for a nationally planned
approach to Research and Development in Library Science.
Multi-lateral donor organizations like UNESCO may consider supporting such
organized research on topics of relevance to the modemization of libraries in developing
countries. Some sun-rise areas in library science which may have considerable impact
on the modemization process in India may be taken up for Research and Development.
Two illustrative projects the following:
R&D on Text encoding may be taken up to define encoding and
interchange format for electronic texts especially in support of linguistic
and statistical textual research. In this direction, the standard generalised
mark up language (SGML) IS0 8879 can be a starting vehicle for this
work.
An Electronic Text Centre can be created in association with a large
computerized library, as an online archive of SGML encoded electronic
texts available through a single piece of search software using hardware
and software suitable for the creation and analyses of texts.

109
-_. -.---

._--._ .

-~.-

7.3

Training

Since the 8Os,training of library personnel has been arranged by INSDOC, DRTC,
ILA, IASLIC and Library Science Departments of Universities through short term
courses, refresher courses, workshops and seminars. In these, modemization aspects
have also been covered. Though the short term courses arranged by INSDOC and DRTC
were of high quality, quantitatively they fell far short of the minimum required level to
make a sustaining impact on the library movement. Through their efforts have been
guided by a sincere motivation to spread modemization tools with an abiding commitment to the profession, they were not supported to the requisite extent through
appropriate funding as well as national policy framework for Library and Information
Science (LIS) Education.
The 1957 and 1961 committees set up by UGC under the chairmanship of Dr. S.R.
Ranaganathan, gave a broad outline of the policy framework for LIS Education. In 1965,
UGC published the report of this committee entitled, Library Science in Indian
Universities. This was redrafted in December 1979.
The Executive Council of the Indian Association for Technical Libraries and
Information Systems (IATLIS) drafted a national policy for LIS in 1982 covering the
need for a national policy, levels of training and agencies that should handle, bibliographic organization and control in LIS, policy for research and training and monitoring,
evaluation and standardization. Numerous resolutions pertaining to the LIS Education
were passed.
Subsequently the RRRLF policy document addressed the problem of LIS education as follows: To cope with new development in LIS a suitable strategy for manpower
development has to be devised. A uniform pattern and standard of library training and
education should be followed in all parts of the country....... Continuing education or
in-service training facilities should be recognized as essential part of manpower
development programme in library and information sector

In its draft policy, the Indian Library Association advocated the establishment of
a National Council for Education and Research in Library and Information Science on
the pattern of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The
CONPOLIS Committee of 1985/1986 under the chairmanship of Professor D.P.
Chattopadhyaya suggested eight guidelines for LIS education as follows:
In view of the rapidly expanding library and information services and the
fast changing character of library and information science, the develop110

ment of manpower in a planned manner becomes essential. The Indian


librarian and information scientist in particular will face the difficult task
of carrying the literacy drive on the one hand and dealing with the
technological revolution on the other.
The library and information science courses run by the universities and
comparable institutions at the post graduate level should continue to
maintain the high standards that have been reached and improve their
quality, in particular by the incorporation of advanced information
technology.
Para-professional training courses may be undertaken by other appropriate agencies, but care must be taken to ensure uniformity and quality of
such training all over the country.
In view of the challenging and dynamic situation in the profession, the
Indian library and information professional must be given every facility
to refresh his/her expertise, so as to keep abreast of advancing knowledge
by a planned development of continuing education programmes in the
field.
Considering the fact that library and information science courses tend to
proliferate, introducing on occasions a dilution of standards, there should
be an accreditation agency to ensure the standard and the quality of the
training imparted.
The national need of furthering higher education and research in library
and information science may be undertaken by a National Centre to be
established for the purpose.
Library and Information ScienceProfessionals
and pay scales as well as academic facilities
responsibilities with due regard to the fact
academic/research centre and has to function

should be given the status


commensurate with their
that every library is an
as such.

The Government of India should recognize the need for the creation of
an All India Library Service and implement the plan when feasible. The
creation of such a service will strengthen the national network of library
and information systems.

111

The CONPOLIS recommendations were not fully accepted by the Library Science
community. The central sectional committee on Library and Information Science of ILA
entrusted Dr. P.S.G. Kumar of the Department of Library and Information Science of
Nagpur University to prepare a Working Document. This report of 84 pages is perhaps
the most detailed coverage of the problems and suggestions regarding LIS education in
India. As with the policies concerning the main library movement, no final policy profile
emerged with the approval of the Government to this date. This is one of the most
important reasons why not only the momentum of the library movement could not be
sustained to the appropriate degree of quantity and quality, but also its derivative policy
frame work for LIS education, could not get the necessary approvals.
Working without a policy guideline, funding and support by the Government were
always made on adhoc basis or on the basis of a case-to-case examination of individual
requests. Inspite of this, apart from DRTC and INSDOC, both NISSAT and NIC took
up the matter of training of as many library professionals as possible in modem tools of
computer-based and network-based bibliographic methods.
NISSAT organized a number of training programmes and workshops for manpower development in Information Technology to fulfil the requirements of library
scientists. They identified a number of national, sectoral and regional centres for
conducting training courses and workshops especially for computer application in
bibliographic information handling. NISSAT also conducted a survey on the attitudes
of library professionals towards such reorientation and retraining and came out with the
following startling findings:
Though the library professionals are aware of the programmes, they are
unable to attend due to the fact that they were not permitted by their
authorities.
Most of the college libraries have not installed computer due to lack of
finance; hence the authorities may be reluctant to depute their staff for
programmes of information technology.
The awareness of such programmes was found to be less among the
professionals and the foliowing reasons attributed to the following:

(4

The information regarding such programmes was not circulated


among the professionals properly.

(b)

The professionals may lack motivation. This may be partly due


112

to the lack of opportunities in applying such technical knowledge


practically in their work environment,

(c)

Most of the professionals are preoccupied with their daily responsibilities and duties and they do not give much importance to such programmes.

The remedial measures required are quite apparent.

4.

1.

The Government must immediately formulate a national frame-work for


LIS education. The recommendations made so far by various committees
described above may form a ready source material for designing such a
frame-work.

2.

As suggested by ILA, a National Council of Educational Research in


Library and Information Science may be set up under the auspices of the
Ministry of Human Resource Development.

3.

A National Institute for Library and Information Science may be set up


with the support of UNESCO and UNDP with a Centre for Library and
Information Science located in it.

Multilateral organizations may support the projects outlined in Section 9.3.

113
-.. .-..- .

-.___

Chapter Eight
INTERNATIONAL

SUPPORT AND COOPERATION

In the area of library modemization, horizontal transfer of experience in a


developed country to those in the process of modemization in developing countries is not
only feasible but also desirable. In the past, considerable support from international/
multilateral donors like UNESCO were forthcoming which brought in an agent of
change.
International collaborations can help database generators in the following way
decentralization of input preparation enables production of material very
soon after the primary publication (e.g. FSTA)
Local language barriers can be overcome as well as local problems and
perspectives can be captured (e.g. AGRIS, INIS, etc.)
Infrastructure for abstracting, indexing and computer handling at the
central processing unit for building primary collection can be avoided.
(e.g. AGRIS).
Local level dissemination of information is better facilitated (e.g. INIS)
International collaboration also benefits input suppliers as follows:
Local level datacompilation efforts get better standardized (e.g. AGRIS).
Horizontal transfer of electronic input and information retrieval reduces
duplication of efforts (e.g. INFOTERA).
Working out barter arrangement in local inputs supply in exchange for
international compilations saves foreign exchange (e.g. FSTA).
It may eventually lead to development of comprehensive information
systems at the local level (e.g. INFOTERA support to ENVIS in India).
8.1

Indias Participation

in International

Database Development

India enthusiastically participated in International Database Development activi114

ties, especially those promoted by the United Nations Organizations. The role played
by India is significant in the development of databasesUNISIST/ASTINFO,INFOTERA/
UNEP, INIS/IEA APINMAP/UNESCO,
TIPSAJNDP and FSTA. In all these cases,
India gets international compilation free in exchange for the input provided by the
country.
The Development Information Network on South Asia (DEVINSA) was established in 1975 with the financial support of IDRC as a database of economic and social
development information in South Asia.. The Indian National Centre for this is the
Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has developed a database of about 100,000 records
and published two bibliographic volumes.
The Development Science Information System (DEVSIS) is a cooperative information system on development literature for the use of policy makers, planners,
researchers, financiers, etc. This database is being used in India by the Centre for
Development of Instructional Technology (CENDIT), New Delhi. CENDITcontributes
about 500-600 entries from India annually to the database.
The Population Information Network (POPIN) was set up by the United
Population Division with the objectives of identifying and improving the
population information among member countries. The National Documentation
of NIHFW has been building a comprehensive information base making use of

Nations
flow of
Centre
POPIN.

The UNEP started INFOTERA as an international referral systemin 1975. It offers


environmental information by preparing an inventory of resources and provides referral
services through its focal points to its users. To make effective use of INFOTERA
database, the Government of India established ENVIS in 1982 in the Department of
Environment and Forests.
The International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) was set up in
1976in Geneva under the Global Environmental Assessment Programme of UNEP. The
Industrial Toxicological Research Institute (IRTC) at Lucknow is the national correspondent of IRPTC.
The Regional Network for the Exchange of Information and Experiences in Asia
and the Pacific (ASTINFO) was established by UNESCO to strengthen bibliographic
control of technological output and to establish computer based bibliographic databases
in the areas of interest to the Region. The National Information System for Science &
Technology (NISSAT) is the Indian focal point for ASTINFO. In association with
DRTC, Bangalore, INSDOC, NISTADS, TERI, INCO, NIO, NAL and other organisa115

tions, NISSAT
programmes.

has organized several projects, workshops, seminars and training

The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFIRI) is the national focal
point for the International Food Information Services (IFIS) established in 1968 in UK.
This is one of the highly successful cooperative ventures of an Indian Institution in
international database venture, namely, compilation of Food Science and Technology
Abstracts (FSTA) database since 1977. CFTRI scans 50 Indian periodicals and transmits
400 items to the database annually.
IDRC established a Sorghum and Millets Information Centre (SMIC) as part of
international Crop Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics (ICRISAT),Hyderabad.
It was established to collect, collate and disseminate information on sorghum and
millets.
The International Standards Information Network (ISONET), Geneva, was established in 1980 to create an international database on standards, technical regulations,
patents and related matters.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been a member of ISONET from its
inception.
The International Serials Data Systems (ISDS) was established by UNISIST in
197 1 to maintain and develop an international register of serials, define and promote the
use of International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), facilitate retrieval of scientific and
technical information from its data bank and make information
available to all
participating countries, organisations and individuals. INSDOC is the national focal
point for ISSN.
The Inter-Governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established the International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) to create comprehensive databases on
oceanographic and related subjects. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) at
Goa is the national focal point for IODE.
8.2

Illustrative

Detailing of Three Cooperative

Ventures

Three major information systems where an Indian organization has collaborated


with an international organization are the following:

116

MEDLARS
AGRIS
INTIB
Of these, network based cooperation with INTIB is in the planning stage. It is described
here in view of its long term interest to India especially in the Post-GATT environment,
The material regarding INTIB presented is from a UNIDO Report.
1. MEDLARS
Medical Literature analysis Retrieval System of the National Library of Medicine
(NLM), Bethesda, USA comprises of a family of 28 biomedical databases which are
international in source and content. NLMs collection ofjoumals represents the worlds
most original and substantive literature taken from countries and written in 30 languages.
The information contained in these 28 databases not only includes clinical aspects,
but also, aspects such as public health, medical research, education and practice without

regard to geographical boundaries. Articles on sophisticated research such as DNA


replication, formal and continuing medical education, design of rural hospital or
teaching of health in rural primary school, veterinary medicine and nursing are also
included.
MEDUNE

(MEDLARS Online)

MEDLINE (MEDLARS Online) is the worlds leading bibliographic database of


medical information covering 3,500 journals from 1966 onwards. The most sought-after
database in medicine, contains the information found in Index Medicus, international
Nursing Index, and Index to Dental Literature. Books and Monographs are not covered
in MEDLINE.
MEDLARS Centre in India
To facilitate access to the vast resources of knowledge, Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) and National Informatics Centre reached a decision in 1985 to set up
a MEDLARS centre in India. To set up such a centre, NLM looks for high standards in
communication facilities, software availability, methodologies for timely dissemination of information and providing support facilities in the host country. Since NI,C
fulfilled all these criteria, a Memorandum of understanding was signed in 1987 to set up
a MEDLARS Centre at NIC, New Delhi. The agreement was aimed at providing an easy
and ready access to MEDLARS at NLM. NIC acts as a nodal agency for providing
117

MEDLARS

services in India and is the 17th MBDLARS

centre in the world.

Online Access of MEDLARS Database from NLM


This Centre has been providing biomedical bibliographic information to doctors,
clinicians, researchers, and medical students in India from MEDLARS since 1987. The
databases which were being accessed were MEDLINE and its back files (1986-66) and
POPLINE (Population Information ONLINE). Access has now been extended to all
databases of MEDLARS of which some important ones are AIDSLINE, AIDSDRUGS,
AIDSTRIALS
(all AIDS related information), TOXLINE (Toxicology Information
ONLINE), HBALTH PLAN (Health Planning and Management Information ONLINE),
DENTALPROJ (Dental Projects Information ONLINE), SERLINE (Serials Information ONLINE), DOCLINE (Information of documents available at NLM), AVLINB
(Audio-Visuals available at NLM), and also PDQ and TOXNET. All these 28 databases
are being accessed from this Centre through National Informatics Centre Network
(NICNET).
In the beginning the Centre was connected to NLMs host computer through a dial
up modem which proved to be very expensive. In 1989 the Centre started accessing
NLMs databases through the Gateway Packet Switching System (GPSS) located at the
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited in Delhi through NICNET. This was a more cost
effective and a highly reliable mode of connecting to international networks. Consequently the number of searches being conducted increased considerably. Recently, the
Centre has been connected to GPSS through a dedicated telephone line (which forms a
dedicated system to the GPSS pad). This allows an uninterrupted access at any time to
NLM, USA.
Online Access to MEDLARS Database at NIC
To allow direct access to Medline by users in India, NIC acquired 10 years
MEDLARS data on tapes from NLM following an agreement between NIC and NLM,
provided MEDLARS data on tapes from 1986
USA. Under this agreement NLM
onwards with monthly updates. Data from these tapes has been downloaded onto a Land
mark 486 machine at NIC, New Delhi. This is a Unix System with a storage capacity
of 9 GB. The 486 machine is connected to NICNET and the database can be accessed
through NICNET nodes across the country. Users can visit any of the MC state or
district offices and access MEDLINE. Users can also access the database from certain
select institutions through a dial up modem connected to the nearest NICNBT micro
earth station.

118

A Bibliographic Retrieval Software (BRS/SEARCH) package has been used to


develop and access the database from the 486 machine. This package was selected
because of its interactive full text storage facility and an easy to learn English based
command structure. This package also provides for easy browsing, scanning, and in
context printing/displaying facility in addition to efficient disk storage for text.
Databases on Compact Disks
Some of the MEDLARS databases are available on Compact Discs. These
databases have been acquired by the Centre to provide a back-up to the ONLINE access
of the NLMs database. Searching these databases on CD-ROMs is relatively inexpensive and simpler as compared to online searching. Some of the MEDLARS databases
available on CD-ROM are: MEDLINE, POPLINE, CANCERLINE, TOXLINE and
HEALTH-PLAN.
To access these databases a multi-user, multi disc CD-NET system
was installed to which several PC workstations have been connected through a local area
network (LAN). This allows several users to access these CD-ROMS simultaneously
from any of the workstations. Users in and around Delhi can come and do their own
searches.
Methodologies of Searching MEDLARS Databases
Search requests are received by post, telex, telegram, telephone and through
personal visits. A growing number of users are now sending their search requests from
their state or District NIC offices through EMAIL over NICNET called, NICMAIL.
Doctors send their requests in a standard format through NICMAIL and the information
retrieved can also be transmitted back in the same mode. This ensures timely transfer
of information for patient care/treatment, sometimes within an hour of receiving the
request.
Each search request is analyzed carefully and search strategies/statements prepared using a controlled vocabulary. These statements are combined using Boolean
Operators. The information retrieved from the databases is basically bibliographic in
nature. The user is provided with citations including author, title, source, address of first
author and abstract where ever available.
The information is mailed back to the user within three days of receiving the
request. In case of a lot of data being retrieved, a print out is obtained from NLM, USA
which is mailed to NIC. Thereafter NIC mails these printouts to the users in India. This
takes around ten days. Along with the bibliographic information, a search evolution
form is mailed to the user. By filling up these forms the user can send opinion/comments
119

etc. indicating relevancy of the information provided, the time lag in receiving this
information, etc.
User Awareness ProgrammedTraining

Programmes

User Awareness programmes are being conducted across the country to create an
awareness among the medical community about the existing MEDLARS Services at
NIC. These programmes have evoked a very good response from all over India. Medical
students and professionals from even the remotest part oi the country are also utilizing
the MEDLARS service provided by the centre.
Several training programmes are conducted every year by the Centre in the
fundamentals of MEDLARS Searching for doctors and medical librarians/information
professionals. Participants are trained in searching methodologies to access the
MEDLARS database at NIC using the BRS/SEARCH package. In addition they are
trained in accessing CD-ROM databases.
Union Catalogue
A database of the Catalogue of Biomedical Periodicals Subscribed to by Indian
libraries has been created on the NECs 1000 system at NIC. The objective of this
database is to provide a document support facility to the existing bibliography.
2.

AGRIS

The Agricultural Research Information Centre (ARIC) of Indian Council of


Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been the national input centre for AGRIS. During
197584, ARIC had contributed about 30,000 items from about 100 core periodicals to
an international total of 1.1 million items, i.e. 2.7 per cent (as compared to 20 per cent
from all developing countries put together). ARIC has been using B4700 for more than
200 SD1 profiles (free of cost) and also providing retrospective search services on
request. A separate compilation of Indian inputs for 1975-84 period has been published
as Indian National Agricultural Bibliography.
The objectives of AGRIS are:
1.

To create a single, comprehensive, current inventory of world-wide


agricultural literature, which reflects research results, food production,
rural development and helps users identify problems involved in all
aspects of world food supply;
120

2.

To meet information needs by means of current awareness, SD1 and


specialized subject retrieval services and provide means of fulfilling
requests for documents.

3.

To interact with new and existing secondary specialized information


services so as to increase efficiency and eliminate unnecessary duplication. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) has been
participating in the use of AGRIS since 1974. The Agricultural Research
Information Centre (ARE) of ICAR was entrusted this job in 1977.
ARIC undertakes the following functions:

a>

Provides computerised SD1 service toagricultural scientists with


the help of updated AGRIS magnetic tapes received every month
from FA0 Rome.

b)

Sends Indian data to AGRIS after scanning about 100 core


periodicals, and indexing and abstracting them according to the
standard procedure of AGRIS database.

As a result of this participation ARIC has brought out the Indian National
Agricultural Bibliography (INAB) in four volumes. It covers the period between 1975
and 1984 comprising 30,000 references.
The monthly increment of the AGRIS database is about 10,000 references, all
submitted by the participating centres. In return, each participating centre has access to
the various output products. AGRIS began its operation in 1975 and the total AGRIS
database contains about 1.5 million references.
From its beginning in 1975, AGRIS has been fully computerized. Nevertheless,
AGRIS has been designed to give equal service to developed and developing countries.
This has been achieved by allowing a wide range of input media- from magnetic tapes
to data on input sheets. During the first ten years of AGRIS about ten per cent of the data
was received in the form of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) sheets. Input centres
typed input data on plain white paper and these sheets were read in Vienna by the OCR
reader. This input medium was especially designed for developing countries. In the
meantime OCR has been replaced by microcomputers and input on floppy disks.
Nowadays most developing countries send input in this form.
The requirements of developing countries have also been considered carefully
with reference to the use of the output products. The printed version of Agrindex is
121
--_-

_-___

available on subscription with AGRIS participating centres receiving two free copies (
a kind of author copies). During the first 12 years of AGRIS English version only was
published. Since 1987 French and Spanish versions are available as well. The main
difference in the various language versions is in the subject indexes, which are derived
from the descriptions in the respective language.
During the past years FA0 (through AGRIS, CARIS and the field projects) has
helped to set up documentation centres in the participating countries and to train the
responsible people in AGRIS methodology. Actually, quite a number of agricultural
libraries in developing countries are organized according to the AGRIS subject
categories. Owing to AGRIS, many participating centres have gained experience on
how to set up a documentation centre, how to catalogue documents and how to retrieve
document references from a large database. AGRIS has helped to develop the necessary
infrastructure with reference to computer utilization in the centres. Many centres
developed their own national documentation systems based on AGRIS methodology,
thus making input to AGRIS and to the local documentation and information system in
one operation. This is done in developed countries, such as Federal Republic of Germany
(FRG), as well as developing countries such as the Caribbean countries. Some centres
process the AGRIS magnetic tape for making a large retrospective database (for
example, FRG, USA), others use it for SD1 purposes (for example, India).
The indexing tool for AGRIS is AGROVOC, a multi-lingual thesaurus for
agricultural terminology. English, French and Spanish versions are maintained byFA0.
AGRIS centres may submit their input indexed in oneof the three languages. The output
tape, however, contains the descriptors for all references in all the three languages.
Generation of AGRIS Input
The computer processing at an AGRIS participating centre ranges from large
systems with all kinds of error checks including the generation of a local database to the
simple storing of raw data on a floppy disk. Both methods are justified, depending on
the amount of data. A centre sending 200 or more references each month will need other
methods of local processing than a centre with 20 or 30 input references. This data can
be organized by manual proof-reading only.
Therefore, small centres usually send their input nowadays on floppy disks which
were created by a simple text editor or word processing software or by database
generation software. The most frequently used software within AGRIS is Micro CDS/
ISIS,asoftwarepackageformicrocomputersdeveloped
byandavailablefromUNESC0.
Ear this package AGRIS has defined the database parameters (the field definition tables
122

and its correspondence to the AGRIS tags). Checking programs for this systemaxebeing
developed, so that data entered under Micro CDS/ISIS will be verified with reference to
their syntax.
Use of AGRIS Output Products
Participating centres may receive, upon request, the AGRIS output tape and output
on floppy disk. The format of the AGRIS output tape is based on IS0 2709 standard, but
due to the complicated structure (bibliographic levels, descriptors and abstracts in
several languages), no standard program will handle AGRIS tapes. Output on floppy
disk can only be used for a limited set of data, but its format is generalized (line format
for word processing systems or Micro CDS/ISIS) and ready for further processing.
About 30 participating centres receive the monthly AGRIS tapes. They are used
for implementing a complete online database (for example, FRG and USA), for
producing national bibliographies (for example, South East Asia), for monthly SD1
processing, or for batch processing of the complete database (for example, Chile). The
list is not complete.
AGRIS Online Project
In cooperation with INIS, online tests were carried out from 1975 onwards. After
a careful study of existing retrieval of software, the decision was taken to work with IBM/
STAIRS. Since INIS and AGRIS users are only partly in-house, the idea of making the
database available for outside users was born. The necessary equipment was installed
and tested for dial-up telephone users. Also the in-house software was modified to allow
for TTY-compatible terminals, i.e. non-IBM terminals. One country after the other was
connected, mostly European countries because of the geographical proximity. Retrieval
courses were held and manuals for retrieval were developed. In order to allow nonEuropean countries access to the Vienna databases, connection to international telecommunication networks were established, the most important being TYMNETof USA. For
many years a great number of users around the world had access to AGRIS via
TYMNET, and even today the TYMNET users represent a significant part in the
database usage. Today the IAEA computer is a host to TYMNET, ESANET, the
Austrian DATEX-P, the telex network in addition to ordinary telephone connections.
At present, users in nearly all part of the world may have access to the AGRIS
database and perform their retrieval personally and immediately. Upon special request,
test passwords have been given to users to AGRIS centres in developing countries for
a trial period, so that the database costs are limited. The telecommunication costs,
123

however, had to be paid, sometimes even in hard currency. Therefore, APU provides
developing countries with up to about 20 queries per year free of charge. In recent years
about 10 retroactive queries per year and about 600 SD1 profiles per month are being
executed by APU as a service for developing countries.
AGRIS On CD-ROM
CD-ROM technology is thought to provide an excellent solution for retrieval for
centres which do not have easy access to an online database (financial or technical
restrictions). AGRIS is now available in CD-ROM disk form.
3.

INTIB

The United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDOs) INTIB is


the developing countries window on technology. Set up in 1977 after UNIDOs
landmark General Conference in Lima, and later endorsed by a United Nations General
Assembly resolution, INTIB generates a flow of specific information needed by
developing countries to select the right technology for their own industrial development.
Today INTIB provides a comprehensive service offering a combination of online
and offline information, technical assistance, access to databases and several series of
related publications. Its overall task is to compile and disseminate informtion requested
by developing countries and to help strengthen their own industrial and technological
information Systems. INTIB relates to technologies and equipment for 20 selected
industrial sectors. INTlB also cooperates with other UN organizations to help specialized information systems and databases.
INTIB offers the following information:
Selected, analysed and annotated information on the 20 industrial sectors
on alternative technology based on users needs and priorities.
Information to facilitate acquisition of technology
Data on equipment and prices
Information on how to start manufacturing industries
Advisory services on information policy and design
Information on training needs and opportunities
124

Data on research and development activities


Information on how to contact industrial information experts.
Industrial inquiry Service
The INTIB Industrial Inquiry Service (IIS), popularly known as UNIDOs mail
order technical assistance is a developing country industrys link with both the wealth
of information maintained by UNIDO as a whole and the large number of data banks and
information sources around the world to which UNIDO has access . INTIBs objective
is to ensure a quick, easy flow of information to people who require it when selecting
technology. Compared to most other bibliography-dominated information services, IIS
is nearly unique in providing concrete, practical, packaged information for industrial
enterprises in response to specific queries and needs.
IIS system handles some 1500 inquiries annually. Most arrive by mail, telex or
telephone. An increasing number are addressed through the growing network of INTIB
focal points and nodes in developing countries themselves. The bulk of the requests are
for information on specific manufacturing processes and knowhow; one-third seek
information on suppliers of equipment and machinery. Nearly half come from industrial
enterprises or from information service agencies requesting information on their behalf.
Other users include engineering and consulting firms, R&D institutions, government
policy makers, universities and professional organizations.
The bulk of the inquiries received related to three subject areas:
Industrial chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals
Agro-industries and food processing and
Capital goods and fabricated metal products.
INTIBs answer rely on its own and other UNIDO databases and on its extensive
access to databases and information systems around the world.
Medium-Term Development of INTIB (upto 1995)
Following a decision of UNIDOs Industrial Development Board (IDB) and
recommendations of INTIBs Advisory Group, a medium term plan for INTIBs
development during the period upto 1995 was worked out. Essential elements of the
approach include:
Continuation of the IIS but with greater emphasis on networking through

NFPs and nodes.


Introduction of modem data processing techniques in INTIB and the
training of the relevant staff in their use
Building up of an internal network of information activities within
UNIDO, including interlinkages with investment information
Establishment of online electronic mail connections with national information centres, requests for which have considerably increased over the
last two years.
Strengthening of national industrial information infrastructures, including the training and education of information specialists and the promotion of skills using industrial information.
Development of a database on technology suppliers in place of the adhoc
collection of information in response to requests.
Preparation of self-contained sectoral dossiers that can be used by INTIB
and its nodes. The dossiers will include sources of information in specific
sectors, the impact of new technology on those sectors and other relevant
aspects.
Continuation of industrial technology publications and current awareness services in particular the UNIDO News Letter, Microelectronics
Monitor; Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Monitor and Advances in Materials Technology Monitor.
Continuation of IDA and the maintenance of the INDIS database
Cooperation with other United Nations Organizations and other intemational organizations.
Strengthening of the capacity of INTIB to provide advisory services and
support to NFPs and nodes and information services
Ensuring a greater role for INTIB in a global network of industrial and
technological information.
Network Access from India
Negotiations are underway with UNDO for accessof INTIB databasesthrough
NICNET external gateways and the World Wide Web Server of C-WEB.

126

Chapter Nine
LESSONS FROM THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE
COOPERATION

AND POINTERS

FOR

From the Indian experience described in the preceding eight chapters, we can
derive a number of useful lessons which can guide the process of library modemization
in other developing countries. These lessons can also act as pointers for beneficial multiagency cooperation. In the context of transfer of experience, a number of training
resources and expertise exist in India which can be availed of by multilateral donor
organizations like UNESCO. During the nucleating stage of such a cooperation, an
illustrative set of pilot projects derived from the Indian experience can be taken up for
implementation for which a conceptual outline is given here.
9.1

Lessons from the Indian Experience

The more important lessons that can be derived from the Indian experience are
given below chapterwise:
Chapter I
The highly successful sectoral movement of library modemization through the
1.
efforts of NlSSAT and DESIDOC emphasize the importance of the sectoral approach. The
sectors chosen by any country can be, according to the priority of economic sectors which
contribute substantially to the GDP or social and economic development priorities.
The barter arrangement worked out between the national project g-roups and
2.
international database managers in which national input to international databases are
provided by the national focal point in exchange, without cost, for free access to the
international database, has worked well virtually in every case. A typical successful
approach worthy of emulation is the multi-agency cooperation between the Central Food
Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) at Mysore and the International Food
Information Services (IFIS) in the publication of Food Science and Technology
Abstracts (FSTA) involving a number of other subject-domain specialist organizations
in India.
INFLIBNET Survey and Analysis shows that in India computerized database
3.
access is given the least priority while lending to internal users, reference services, etc.
are given top priority. This eventually involved modemization facilitators like
INFLIBNET, NICNET and ERNET. This under scores the importance of setting up
127

modemization facilitators during the initial stage itself. The INFLIBNET


out that priorities for computerization preferred by libraries are:
-

Survey points

Acquisition Control
Cataloguing
Serials Control
Circulation Control
Reference Services
Bibliographic database reference service
Budgetting

in that order. This statistics can be kept in view when other developing countries
implement their modemization process.
4. The DRTC Survey and Analysis shows that citations are the maximum for
journals emanating from USA (68.5 percent), followed by UK after which it trails to
insignificant percentage for other countries. This points out that in English speaking
countries, special arrangements with publishers of journals of USA and UK should be
made for site licensing with carefully negotiated collective bargaining.
5. The NISSAT Survey and Analysis shows that even with the promulgation
of Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act, the designated library at Calcutta receives
less than 40 percent of the books published in the country. This points out that even an
Act of Parliament is not sufficient unless adequate incentives are given for responding
organizations and individuals to deposit books and documents published by them. The
evolution of a policy frame-work in India has gone through a tortuous route spanning
more than two decades. Inspite of several Committees and Working Groups set up by the
Government, there is no explicit policy framework for library movement in India, let
alone the library modemization. The lesson drawn from this is that the Government of
a developing country should give high priority to the creation of a policy framework as
early as possible.
6. UNESCO catalysis of the library movement in India was clearly a major
contributing factor for the growth and modemization of Indian libraries. UNESCO
should step up its library modernization support to the developing countries so as to
repeat the beneficial impact felt in the 5Os, the 60s and the 70s in India.
Chapter 2
7.

Resource sharing through sectoral libraries brings together specialists in the


128

same subject domain, to address the major problem of information concerning their
sector. Value added information service becomes meaningful only if value addition is
done by the sectoral specialists. Through the NISSATprogramme, India has gained rich
experience in successfully growing a number of sectoral library and information systems
imbedded in organizations specializing in those sectors. A nodal organization for
coordination has to be identified as the first for proper coordination.
8. Though the library modemization through the sectoral approach is desirable, going in for sectoral networks for each of the sector can be a very costly proposition.
The desirable thing to do would be to set up a National Network like NICNET and
configure all the sectoral information systems as close user groups (CUG) of participating institutions. In more extensive areas like Agriculture, instead of close user groups,
it is desirable to set up virtual private networks in the national communication network.
9. When a sectoral information system is successfully implemented in the
country, at the earliest, the efforts should be intemationalized by linking to international
networks like INTERNET. An outstanding example of this is the NICDAP Project for
Drugs and Pharmaceuticals. In view of the considerable strides made in developing a
modemized library and information system, the World Health Organization (WHO) has
chosen NICDAP as their collaborating centre on drugs information for servicing 11
The Centre supplies information on the
South and South-East Asian countries.
availability of raw materials required for formulation of essential drugs, their price
details, technology details, governing patent laws, registration of drugs, etc. Within one
and a half decade, NICDAP became an important drug information centre with
worldwide recognition. This unique successful project is work-emulating by other
developing countries as a model for sectoral modemization.
Chapter 3
10. The University libraries realized the importance of computer support and
modemization imperatives. The pressure for computerization arose out of the increasing
library work load to be handled by a small complement of library staff, continuous
pressure from students and research faculty for increased and improved services as well
as easier access to external databases. In addition, the University/college management
was interested in the reduction of operating costs facilitated by a well designed and well
managed computerized library. These motivating reasons have to be positively catered
to.
11. The UNESCO supplied CDS/ISIS Software Packagefree of cost by authorizing NISSAT Project management to distribute the package to any library interested in
129
---

--

modemizing
distribution
by NISSAT
developing
purchase of

its facilities. An implicit or explicit condition associated with this


is that the recipient organization should be trained or arranged to be trained
Project Office. UNESCO should follow this successful approach in other
countries also by distributing the latest software after bulk purchase or
rights from the software vendors.

12. Software standardization is concomitant with large distribution of the


standardized software at very low cost. No amount of legislations and Governmental
directives can bring in standardization. The above distribution modality will be an
incentive-based approach for standardization. This approach should be followed in other
developing countries also.
13. Repeated training of
maximally carried out for library
versed in computer programming.
developed so as to enable a greater
automation.

manpower for library computerization should be


science professionals who are not necessarily well
For this reason, user-friendly systems have to be
degree of penetration of computerization and library

Chapter 4
14. Intracity library networks have a good rationale for inter-library resource
sharing with the communication problem within manageable limits. The successful
example of DELNET for Libraries of Delhi, should be emulated in major cities of
developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
15. The INSDOC study shows that there is tremendous duplication of subscriptions in Indian libraries. It is estimated that a unit cost per journal encountered in India
is a staggering Rs. 0.48 million on a national basis due to avoidable duplication of
subscriptions. It is desirable to negotiate with publishers for site licensing on a city-wise
basis or State-wise basis or if possible, on a national basis.
16. While examining the suitability of a city for intracity library network it is
desirable to carry out a detailed feasibility study of the telecommunication infrastructure
of the city. As shown in the CALIBNET exercise in Calcutta, a poor telecommunication
infrastructure may make the project unviable either cost-wise or convenience-wise.
17. The eight reasons for the success of DELNET outlined by the Project
Director of DELNET and the six additional features suggested, may be carefully
examined during the design of a new intracity library network in any developing country
so as to derive maximum benefit by the DELNET experience.
130

Chapter-S
18. Value added facilitators at the national level like NICNET, NISSAT,
INFLIBNET, INSDOC, ERNET, etc., are an essential ingredient of the totally integrated
library modemization programme in the country. What is the minimal number and type
of value added facilitators that are required to make a library modemization movement
very dynamic, has to be carefully studied by each country before a national library policy
is formulated. Setting up of one or more facilitators, even with relatively large
investments, may have to be given priority. A national project like NISSAT has to be set
up by each country desiring to modemize their library system.
19. The ERNET which brought in INTERNET-consciousness in India found it
difficult to expand the service-base at low cost because of the over-dependence on intercity leased telephone lines for communication during the initial stage of the project.
When even a low budget VSAT network was brought in, the situation improved.
20. The INFLIBNET, though well conceived by an Inter-Agency Working
Group, became a clear case of lethality due to delay and wrong a-priori priorities during
the implementation stage. The delay in giving approvals maimed the project to such an
extent that the potential users lost interest and made alternative arrangements. Consequently, INFLIBNET Project had to abandon the computer-communication networking
part and confine to standardization and provision of computer hardware and software to
libraries. Such pitfalls have to be avoided in developing countries by deciding on a
modernization programme and implementing it without delay.
2 1. The Research and Education Network of NIC (RENNIC) over NICNET, has
several advantages for the Universities and R&D organizations. Under the barter
arrangement, the concerned library is required only to contribute a public domain
database of use to other academic and research institutions and put it on the same
network. In return, they get free or extremely low tariff based E-Mail Services and
database access services. The only required capital investment would be a Personal
Computer, a Modem and a part deployment of a telephone for making the dial-up
connection to NICNET. This low cost approach to national and international E-mail
hook up may be emulated in other developing countries who have set up or are likely to
set up a network like NICNET.
Chapter 6
22. Tradition Versus Modemization Imperatives which impeded the library

modemization in India in the initial stages,should be tackled by a carefully organ&d


131

campaign through awareness training to library scientists and library staff. The fear of
the unknown can be overcome by introducing free retraining and hands-on training as
part of such courses.
23. The eight well tested approaches to overcome the social and personal
be kept in
and -may
resistance to the transition in libraries described on pages view by the designers of the transition to modemization in developing countries.
24. The conversion of the bibliographic retrosppctive records in a conventional
library from manual to machine readable form during the transition to modemization is
found to be the most time consuming part of the transition. The different types of methods
adopted in libraries for this are discussed in the chapter may be followed in situations
similar to what is assumed therein. Typically, two models, the INFXIBNBT Model and
the DELNET model, are given which have proven records of carrying out retrospective
conversion with low cost. These methods are worth emulating. A country going in for
modemization should constantly keep in touch with the latest journals to measure and
understand the relative viability of online and CDROM in the context of a particular
library or a particular province or the particular country. A beginner may derive more
advantage by going in for larger investments in CDROM databases than to go in for
online. However, in the long run, an optimal mix of the two has to be worked out for each
country.
Chapter 7
25. The choice of the library software platform as well as the library application
software tool-set have to be carefully standardized from the beginning itself. Any change
mid-way may prove to be costly and laborious while going in for modemization. The
best possible software available in the market has to be purchased, preferably in bulk or
for site licensing on a national basis so as to get the maximum reduction in per copy cost.
The NIC experience has shown that a careful negotiation can bring down the prices to
even as low as a tenth of the retail market price.
26. Research in library science has to be given high priority because the rate of
change of modemization concept is very high. Unless certain local R&D competence
is established in such a knowledge-based industry, the cost differentials could be very
high if one buys turn-key software instead of local integration of bought-out subsystems.
Chapter 8
27. In the area of library modemization, horizontal transfer of experience in a
132

developed country to those in the process of modemization in developing countries is not


only feasible, but also desirable. In the past, considerable support from international/
multinational donors likeUNESC0 were forthcoming. The international collaborations
have been found to help not only the database generators, but also input suppliers. India
enthusiastically participated in International Database Development activities, especially those promoted by the United Nations Organizations. In all the cases, India gets
international compilations free in exchange for the input provided by the country. This
should be followed by all developing countries as it is most cost-effective.
28. The Indian case studies related to MEDLARS Service and AGRIS Service
convey important lessons concerning the methodology of implementation. However,
the case of INTIB, which India missed taking full advantage for several years, is a
counter-example showing what should not be done in international cooperation.,
9.2

Strategies for Multi-Agency

Cooperation

The Indian experience also points to a few infrastructure and service oriented
strategies for multi-agency cooperation in Library modemization. Though there are a
number of such pointers described in the preceding eight chapters, we outline below five
of the more representative ones.
9.2.1

Resource Sharing:

The International resource sharing is showing up as a major propelling force for


library modemization. Access to INTERNET and bilateral or multilateral cooperation
between countries through Gateway Packet Switch arrangement have clearly established the economics of resource sharing even with due conformity to World Intellectual
Property Rights and GAIT Agreements. The RINSCA Project supported by UNESCO
in South and Central Asia has demonstrated that querying of a bibliographic database
from one country to another is not only feasible, but also economical. The RINSCA
network linking India and Nepal has demonstrated this for sharing of MEDLARS
databases.
9.2.2

E-Mail and Bulletin Boards

Consultations through E-mail and keeping abreast of news from one country to
another through Electronic Bulletin Board service is a major facility for multi-agency
international cooperation. If .both the countries have wide internal connections and
network accesses and if the two Governments agree to have unmanned E-mail transactions beneficial interactions between libraries can develop including inter-library loans
133

of electronic documents stored in either or both the countries. Latest acquisitions, current
contents, etc. can be serviced from a country like India which has more investment in its
library systems to a country like Nepal or Bhutan or Maldives. The same modality can
also be employed for multi-agency cooperation within the country.
92.3

Access to UN Databases

If a country has a Gateway Packet Switch for its external gateway, then retrieval
of UN documents can be facilitated as follows:
The United Nations at its offices in New York and Geneva hosts about 1000
conferences every year producing more than one million pages of original documents
and distributes 0.4 billion pages of these documents. To cope with this voluminous
documentation, UN is switching over to Electronic Document Handling system. The
pilot project for this was started in 1988 and completed by the end of 1989. For
dissemination of information, a document server with optical disk drives networked
through the French IS0 N-based Numeris was installed along with a gateway to the
North American IS0 N-based Accunet. The proposed world-wide UN document
dissemination system is depicted in Fig. 1 and 2 (courtesy: P. Piguet, Publishing Service,
United Nations, Geneva).
By 1995/96, it would be possible for member countries to access the voluminous
UN Conference documentation through key-words. We can create Value-added subdatabases from these as relevant to the country, e.g., S&T, Education and Culture.
UNESCO may assist the country to take up this matter with the Publishing Service
Department of United Nations at Geneva on behalf of the countries who have GPSS
gateways so that they can access the UN documentation database as well as UN
Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS) through Numeris and Accunet.
9.2.4

INTERNET

for Multi-Agency

Cooperation

A number of libraries within the country or between countries or between


libraries and agencies like UNESCO, UNIDO, WHO, etc. can be facilitated these days
through INTERNET. Between developing countries having conducive environment for
cooperation, a close user group can be carved out within INTERNET as a well
demarcated special interest group. The interaction can be especially fruitful if all the
participant countries in the CUG establish a World Wide Web Server in their respective
locations. A Union Catalogue of holdings in all the participant libraries can also be
worked out within the ambit of this CUG.

134

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9.3

Training

for Library

Modernization

Training is the most important component for effecting a smooth transition to


modemization in libraries. The process of modemization in India during the 70s and 80s
were tardy because of lack of training facilities for library scientists and library staff.
Though INSDOC and DRTC did yeomen service by running courses on library
modemization year after year over the past decade, quantitatively their combined effort
was still inadequate to meet the rising demand for training. Training of personnel apriori, can be a sop for transition to modemization itself. Availability of trained
manpower creates the conditions conducive to initiate computerization and networking
programmes in their libraries. It is here that the investments by UNESCO, UNIDO and
WHO and others can have maximum investment effectiveness. They can consider giving
an impetus to training programmes in various developing coun t&s in the following
priority areas:
Developing Informatics
accelerate in the library.

skills, so that computerization

process can

Developing search skills, both on-line and CDROM, so that users of


libraries can do involved search of databases like MEDLARS,
INFOTERA, AGRIS, FSTA, etc. by themselves.
Developing navigating skills, so that users can learn to navigate through
INTERNET for access to international public domain databases including skills on database search, hyper text&per-media
and Web
navigation .
Developing conversion skills, so that retrospective conversion can be
carried out with least difficulty utilizing modem tools like scanners,
OCR, etc.
Developing interactive skills, so that library staff and users can interact
with their counterparts in other libraries in their own country or in other
countries, while trying to find solutions to problems of modemization,
database access, etc. which they had not encountered earlier.
9.4

Conceptual

Outlines for a Illustrative

set of Pilot Projects

An illustrative set of pilot projects are described below which are derived from the
experience in India. There are Indian specialists who have gone through this experience
136

who would be available for guiding their counterparts in other countries who are in the
initial stage of modemization. It is to be noted that this set of pilot projects is purely
representative and not exhaustive.
9.4.1 Typical Library Automation

at Initiating

level

In the report of the Inter-Agency Working Group on INFLIBNET, the steps for
automating certain essential library services in Universities/R&D Institutions have been
outlined in the form of flow-charts. These automation exercises refer to what may be
called, a Zero Level of automation, i.e., the level at which modemization gets initiated
in a conventional Library. The flow charts given in the report for (a) Cataloguing
Services, (b) Catalogues/Database Search, (c) BookProcessing/Preparation, (d)Processing inter-library loan requests, (e) documents delivery through FAX and (f) a collection
development, are given in Annexure-10.
9.4.2 International

Gateway Packet Switching System (GPSS)

Packet Switched Data networks constitute the backbone around which networks
of computers interact. They are as versatile for applications like electronic mail as they
are for information retrieval from remote databases. GPSS is versatile, reliable and cost
effective to a high degree. It is the ideal gateway for international data communication.
For purposes of connecting a country to international networks including to INTERNET,
GPSS is the most fundamental ingredient that must be built as a means for strengthening
the countrys own infrastructure. Once the country sets up its GPSS in conformity with
the standards every means for international data communication envisaged in the
country can be realised automatically.
GPSS can be accessed through dedicated lines using four wire circuits operating
at speeds between 1200 and 9600 bps with a reasonable reliability. The connection
between the GPSS unit at the Department of Telecom/P&T/PIT and the Library which
is the focal point in the country can be through dedicated lines connected by two
modems.
It is worth mentioning that message communication through GPSS is nearly 10
to 15 times cheaper than telex or FAX communication, apart from giving direct access
to computers for information retrieval.
GPSS is based on a dedicated computer switching system. The packet switching
technology underlying it useserror detection andretransmission techniquesto minimise
transmission errors and achieves high network efficiency by utilising the system
137

resources optimally. Packetisation involves digitization, coding and formatting the


information. The information is divided into small segments each accompanied by
control information to form packets. Other control bits superposed on the packet to
form a frame is transmitted through the network.
The GPSS basically consists of(i) packet switching exchange (PSE), (ii) packet
assembler-disassembler (PAD) and (iii) network control centre (NCC). The PSE is the
main switching centre with a PC performing multiplexing function. The PAD is a
translation facility enabling character mode X.28, data terminal equipment (DTE) to
access GPSS. The PAD assembles the characters into packets and vice versa without
modifying the message content. At the network control centre, the supervision, control
and management functions of the network are carried out.
It is recommended that GPSS for the country conforms to CCITT standards: X.3,
X.25, and X.75. A typical GPSS system configuration which may be required to be set
up is shown in Fig. 1.
There are two types of DTEs: (i) Synchronous packet mode X.25 and (ii)
Asynchronous Character Mode X.28. The former type of DTEs are generally host
computers and intelligent terminals and will be able to operate at 2400 bps minimally
required for the library. Higher bps rating where possible within the telecom network,
can be made use of. They can work with GPSS directly while conforming to X.25
interface protocol. The latter types of DTEs are typically visual display units operating
at 2400 bps and less operating in the character mode and hence cannot work with GPSS
directly. They need PADS conforming to X.3 interface protocol.
The various possible access modalities to GPSS are shown in the diagram. There
are two basic methods: (i) dedicated access using voice grade circuits operating at speeds
of 2400/4800 bps normally. Higher speeds are possible if the telecom network in the
country enables the same. (ii) Dial up access over the public switch telephone network
(PSTN) operating at speeds of 2400 bps or less. The PTT in the country has to allocate
network user identification code to the user for connection to GPSS. A pair of modems
would be required if communication of data is over voice grade analog circuits.
The basic access modalities to GPSS are the following:
Dial up access can be given to organizations in the country as the external gateway

of GPSS who want less frequent querying of the databases.Leasedline access can be
availed of by the focal points and larger organisations. A remote PAD can be located in
the main library.
138

Tcrminalc

Fig. I

Port<

: Gateway

Packet

Switching

Systems

(GPSS)

The typical cost of online retrieval of information are given for some representative systems.
System

US $ for
one hour
connect
time

US $ for
one document
online

DIALOG
BRS
ORBIT
QUESTEL

60- 100
40 - 60
50 - 70
50 - 65

0.2 - 0.4
0.25 - 0.35
0.15 - 0.30
0.20 - 0.35

The tariff for international communication for GPSS access varies from country
to country. Typical range of costs are as follows (in US $):
Connection Charge
Traffic charge

:
:

$0.1
$0.005 per segment
of 64 characters

Transmission of 9000 characters at 1200 bps will take about one minute and cost
between one and two US dollars. Transmission of the same message via telex would cost
US $15 and 30. Therefore, communication via GPSS can be substantially cheaper for
online access type of applications.
The coordination of UNESCO can be beneficial in realising a higher possibility of
success to negotiate with ITU for obtaining the same tariff concession as is given to
international press.
Similar negotiations with major database vendors for bulk subscription through
the good offices of UNESCO may help to standardize and minim& the cost of
information retrieval as follows:
One hour connect time on information system: US $40
One document online on information system : US $0.15
Such concessional rates may well be impossible to get by individual countries, but
through the coordination of UNESCO there is a higher probability of realizing this in due
course.
140

It is estimated that more than 10000 databases around the world are available
online if a country gets a GPSS system installed. These databases can be accessed
directly or through certain umbrella service facilities like EASYNET, DIALOG, BRS,
etc.
To access an online system from a computer terminal, a telephone call has to be
made to the online system through datacom lines at the domestic and international levels.
GPSS facilitates a low cost, high speed and reliable access to online systems which can
link up to international transit data networks like BITNET or TYMNET. Depending
upon the location of the user organisation, the following alternative is available for
connecting to GPSS:
If a country does not have a public data network at the domestic level, then
as an interim measure, the country itself may have to set up local PADS in various
important libraries. From these locations, the PAD can be reached through a local
PAD itself may be connected to GPSS by a leased circuit. Users
telephone call. The
from other locations may be required to reach one of these local PADS nearest to them
through a subscriber trunk dialing call.
*/
9.4.3 INTERNET

Connectivity

to Libraries in Developing Countries

INTERNET is a packet switched network and is a unique network of networks


using the Transmission Controlled Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and a Protocol
Suite, all of which share a common name and address space. Computers on the Internet
use compatible communication standards and share the ability to contact each other and
exchange data. Users of the Internet communicate mainly through Electronic Mail, via
Telnet, a process that allows to log in to a remote host and via implementations of the
File Transfer Protocol a protocol that allows them to transfer information on a remote
host to their local site.
Currently more than 150 countries have access to the INTERNET , more than
networks assigned unique IP network numbers, more than two million hosts and atleast
30 million users world-wide. The Internet facilitates the sharing of resources among the
participating organisations including educational institutions, libraries, government
agencies and private corporations. It also helps to promote collaboration among
researchers and provide a test bed for new developments in networking. Internet
includes research sites, universities, Government sites, commercial sites, hospitals,
libraries, schools and individuals.
INTERNET is a cooperative group administered network. Each component of the
141
--.

..-

network on the Internet has its own administrative body, its own policies and its own
procedures and rules. There is no central, overseeing authority for the whole of the
Internet. However, important policy decisions come from the National Science
Foundation (NSF), administrator of the National ScienceFoundation Network (NSFNET).
Innovations that upgrade the technical quality of the Internet are cooperatively
carried out under the auspices of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), which is a part
of the structure of the Internet Society (ISOC). There are a number of task forces, area
groups and working groups under IAB which tackle problems and develop solutions.
It is often necessary to distinguish the Internet networks from other networks
accessible to the Internet via electronic mail for searching a database, transferring a file
or using a remote application, such a demarcation is of considerable use. Internet
computers or host accommodate a set of protocols specifically designed to allow
resource sharing across networks. A network site is considered Internet site if it has an
IP connectivity, which is tested by pinging the host. Ping is a programme that uses
a required feature of the Internet Control Message Protocol to elicit a response from a
specified host or gateway. If a host is pinged and it responds, then it is on Internet.
Another common test is to see if a host will open a Telnet connection. The Internet,
however, does not include networks that use TCP/IP protocols , but do not have a
connection to the Internet that allows IP connectivity, sites that are accessible only via
E-mail, networks built on Suite or protocols other than TCP/IP if all they provide is
limited access such as e-mail to and from the intemet.
BITNET, which is a major Wide Area Network and allows only E-mail interaction
with Internet is therefore, not considered part of the Internet.
In the past, Internet access was limited to a site connecting its big mainframe
computer or its local area networks to the backbone of the Internet or alternatively he
could have a dial up account for electronic mail access. Now there are some more
developments in Internet access, called, MX Access and Dial-up IP.
MX ((Mail Exchange) record is a special type of record in the Domain Names
System (DNS) which is the basis for keeping track of the names and address of all the
computers on the Internet. It is possible to have a fully qualified Internet Domain Name
even if the site is not an Internet site. This is done by listing MX record for a site in the
DNS. The advantages of using MX records that users on the Internet can send mail in one
standard format even to sites not directly connected to the Internet This type of Internet
accesssupports only electronic mail.

142

Dial up IP networking refers to several types of access. The most basic one refers
to using a modem to connect a terminal to a host, thus affording that terminal dial up
access to the host. A terminal in this case can be just a dumb terminal or a more
sophisticated computer emulating a terminal. This type of dial up access is referred to
as dial up e-mail access, because it is one method users have traditionally used for such
access. Dial up IP applications are built on the Serial Line IP (SLIP) are the point to point
protocol (PPP). This protocol allows machines to interact using TCP/IP protocols, but
offer a standard dial up phone line instead of a permanent network medium such as
ethernet. More than 500,000 hosts are added to the INTERNET each year.
If it is required to connect a site to the Internet, the following steps recommended
by Marine etal (in SRI Internet Information Series published by PTR Prentice Hall), is
required to be taken:
Obtain a Unique IP Network Number
All library sites wishing to connect to the Internet must obtain an official IP
network number. It is also strongly recommended that everyone implementing an IP
network obtain a unique network number as well, even if they will not immediately
connect to the INTERNET. By obtaining an official IP network number when first
setting up a TCP/IP network, a library site is assured for having unique addresses, and
is spared the expensive necessity of reconfiguring their address space to a new, unique
number if they later join the Internet. Many libraries that do not at first envision joining
the Internet do indeed connect eventually. A unique network number is necessary for
every network connected to the Internet in order to avoid very unpleasant routing
problems.
The central IP registration service provider is the DDN Network Information
Centre (DDN NIC) located at Network Solutions, Inc., in Chantilly, Virginia. This
central registration site has the authority to choose delegate registries which have the
responsibility of performing registration for certain regions. For example, the RIPE
Network Coordination Centre coordinates IP network number registrations for Europe,
and has the authority to further delegate that responsibility for its region. If one does not
know whether there is a registration authority in ones area, one has to contact the DDN
NIC; they can refer to the correct authority.
A registration authority assigns only the network portion of the address. The
responsibility of assigning host addresses falls to the requesting organization.
In order to obtain a unique IP network number for ones library, one will need to
143
...

provide the registration authority with some information about ones network and who
will be acting as Point of Contact for it. Once one returns this information, they will
process the application and assign a unique address. One has to contact DDN Network
Information Centre to get the most current application for an IP network number.
Establish a Domain
Establishing a domain means adding an entry for the library site into the
distributed database the Internet use for name to address resolution. What that means is
that other hosts on the network will be able to send traffic to you if they know your host
name, and users can specify your host name easily because it will follow the logical
pattern of the Domain Name System (DNS).
If you are going to establish a domain under the top-level domain COM, NET,
ML ORG. EDU, or GOV, or if you wish to have a top-level country domain delegated
to you, contact the DDN NIC.
The DDN NIC will ask you to fill out a form that requests information about the
names of your domain, the names and addresses of at least two hosts that will act as name
servers.
Points of Contact for administrative and technical matters.
A name server refers to a host that acts as a repository for a portion of the domain
database. A name server runs software that allows it to answer queries for DSN data. On
the Internet, the most commonly used name server software is BIND, which stands for
Berkeley Internet Name Domain Software. The BIND software was written for UNIX
systems, but is now available for other platforms.
If you are not able to maintain your own name servers, you must gain the
cooperation of two other sites on the Internet willing to provide name service for you.
There is no central public name service clearing house, so you will have to negotiate
such an arrangement yourself. Some network service providers will provide name
service for a fee. Some network service providers also coordinate the establishment of
your domain with the DDN NIC for you.
If you are going to establish a domain under any op-level domain other than COM,
MIL, GOV, EDU, NET, or ORG, you must coordinate with the administrator of the toplevel domain under which you wish to join. Sites in countries other than the U.S. join
under top-level domains that correspond to the name of their country.
144

Install a Router
You will need a machine to act as a gateway between your local network and the
Internet. The terms gateway and router are often heard for these machines. There
are many companies that manufacture Internet routers. Your service provider may
provide a router or tell you which router to buy. The router vendor and the service
provider will give you support when initially configuring your gateway. In many cases,
the service provider will actually own the gateway, and may take care of all the details
of acquiring and installing one for you. The cost of doing so will, of course, be passed
on to you as part of their service.
Rather than buying a special system to act as the gateway between your network
and the Internet, you may be able to use a host already on your network as a router. The
system must have two or more network interfaces. Each interface would be connected .
to one of the networks between which packets will be exchanged. You will need to check
with your vendor to see if the network software on your system can provide this type of
functionality. If it can, you will then need to configure your systems so that it knows how
packets should be routed.
Obtain Proper Software
If you are connecting a TCP/IP network to the Internet, you are already running
compatible protocols and will need only to add routing protocols necessary as described
above.
If you are connecting a network that is based on protocols other than TCP/IP, you
will need to make sure that your gateway can understand the TCP/IP-based traffic
receives from the Internet, and is able to convert it to a form understandable by the rest
of the hosts on your network. Your service provider, gateway vendor, or LAN vendor
can probably guide you.
Order Circuits
Most sites connecting to the Internet in the U.S. connect via dedicated lines leased
from a phone company. Sites in various countries often connect in other ways, such as
via satellites, fiberoptic cables, or microwave dishes.
You can lease lines of different speeds; the faster lines are more expensive. You
may also need to estimate the amount of traffic you will be sending at peak times so that
you may make sure you order lines that able to handle your expected capacity. Again,
-

--.--..

145

your service provider will guide you in knowing what to ask for with the telephone
company. In fact, some service providers will arrange this for you for a fee.
Resource discovery services now help users locate and retrieve information.
These services contain tools for browsing, searching and organizing information
distributed throughout the Internet. Browsing tools let users navigate the information
space to find the specific data they need. Indexing search tools automatically locate
relevant data on the basis of user interest. Independent of the approach used, resources
discovery services can also help users organ& new found information so that they can
refer to it without having to repeat the entire discovery process.
9.4.4.Setting up of a CDROM Network at NIC
The case study of CDROM networking at NIC has been described in a paper
presented by N. Kapila at the International Conference on Database Production and
Distribution held under the auspices of INFOTEX 1993, published by Tata McGrawHill Publishing Company Limited, and edited by Dr. N. Seshagiri, Dr. Ravichandra Rao
and N.V. Satyanarayana, pages 406-413. Further, a 500 CD mountable Jukebox is
linked to NICNET through CDNET.
This exercise has given a system integration and software development knowhow
to specialists at NIC. This experience can be utilized for assisting libraries in other
developing countries through the good offices of multi-lateral agencies like UNESCO.

146

ANNEXURES

Annexure-1
Excerpts from the Report of the Planning Commission Working
Modernization of Libraries, July 1984
Part B: Informatics

and Computer

Group on

Applications

1. Background
1.1 Information

as a Resource:

Information technology is an area of fundamental importance to the economic development


of a nation as it plays potential part in the development of the nations industrial and
commercial base. The importance of information technology has been recognised by the
governments and industries of most of the developed countries. Like materials and
energy, information is a basic resource and the critical questions about any resource also
apply to information: who has it, who wants it, how can you get it, and at what terms?
These questions are timeless; new information technologies are changing only the
answers.
1.2 Role of Information

in Planning:

Science and technology are not simply to be applied to development - they are an
essential part of development. They are inextricably bound up with the social, economic
and political parameters of development. A correct policy decision is a vital factor for
the successful development of society, economy, science and technology. Furthermore,
a right policy decision stems from the analysis of relevant information. For this reason
information is the main basis for policy decision and the process of policy decision is the
process of transforming information into action. Thus the ability to analyse relevant
information is needed by every country to keep pace with the trends of modem
technology and to maintain an advantageous competitive position in the international
field. for this, several new information techniques and concepts have been evolved over
the years. One such concept is informatics.
1.3 Informatics
Informatics is the processes, methods and laws related to the recording, analytical/
synthetical processing,storage, retrieval and dissemination of information but not the

information assuchwhich is attributed to a respective discipline. Informatics relate to


all problems and methods affecting information. The development of this concept is
149

greatly catalysed by the developments in microelectronics and communication. New


information technologies are predominantly based on advances in the area of
Microelectronics and communications. The development of microelectronics, which
gave birth to miracle chips, have not only increased the reliability but also reduced the
size of integrated circuits and increased the speed of operation several fold. New
manufacturing methods of these miracle chips have led this to mass production and the
effect of this is the fall in prices dramatically. The net effect of these advances is the
significant improvement in data/information processing capability for a given cost. This
means that organisations with large processingrequirementscan fulfil1 theirrequirements
at lower cost and at the same time organisation with small to medium requirements can
also be able to invest in appropriate equipment. Libraries demonstrate this trend very
well. In 60s libraries used computing equipment owned by their parent organisation or
hired computing time of other organisations in order to maximise the utilization of
computers. During the 70s, the mini computer began to appear on the horizon of
libraries, and in the 80s the use of microcomputer applications in libraries is a common
phenomenon because of the flexibility.
It provides:

1)

Improved control over library operations

2)

Improved management and control of the information collection

31

Improved/new services for the users, and

4)

Prevents duplication of efforts.

2.0 Information

Infrastructure

2.1 Introduction

: Indian Scene

The National capabilities for making knowledge and information accessible, for
the transfer of knowledge and information and therefore for putting knowledge to work
are often referred to as a countrys information infrastructure. Major component of
infrastructure are the libraries and information centres.
2.2 Purpose :

The important function of the libraries/information centresis the dissemination of


information to all categoriesof user.Dissemination of information canbe done through
150

various communication media, oral or written, formal or informal.


The purpose of an information dissemination service is as follows:

(a)

To keep the users abreast of current developments, in their respective


areas of interest,

To inform about current additions of documents to the library,

(cl

To provide information which may help to solve technical problems and


to promote technical advances and modernisation,

(d)

To provide relevant information and comparative data about products or


processes,

Cd

To provide an exhaustive list of documents with or without annotations/


abstracts on a specific topic.

2.3 Information

Services:

Some services are provided on request or expressed need, others in anticipation of the
needs of users. some services may be specifically directed to a user, others may be
provided as a common service. A list of the services which can be rendered by libraries/
information centres is given below:
A

Reference Service
1.
2.
3.
4.

B.

Ready Reference Service


Referred Service
Reader Guidance
Literature Search

Current Awareness Services


5.
6.
7.
8.

Current Titles
Research in Progress
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)
Newspaper Clipping

151
----

-_l__ll_.-

..

--I.

c.

Information

Analysis and Products

9. Abstracting Service
9.1 Abstracts of Technical Papers
9.2 Patent Abstracts
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

Extracts
Data Service
State-of-Art Report/trend Report Service
Critical compilations and reviews
Technical Enquiry Services/Special Services to Management
Management Digest
Information Services for R&D Planning

D. Supporting Services
17.
18.
19.
20.

Liaison Services
Translation Service
Reprographic Service
Editorial and Publishing

2.4 Current Scene:


Recognising the importance of these information services, a vast infrastructure has
been created in India in the past.These are in the form of Public Libraries and Libraries/
Information Centres of Central Government Ministries/Departments, Autonomous
bodies like ICMR, ICAR, CSIR, Academic/ResearchInstitutes. In 1972, the government
decided to have an integrated network of all these Information Centres. Accordingly,
project NISSAT - National Information system for Science and Technology was
formulated and initiated during the years 1974-77. Through this scheme, coordination
and promotion of information systems is planned. In 1977 Electronics Commission
established National Informatics Centre (NIC) for providing on-line information service
to government departmental organisations, among others.
In addition to these major infrastructure several other organisations have evolved,
in their specialised areas, infrastructure that would cater to the specialists needs.The
INSDOC caters to the general information requirements of the scientific and technical

community. It has in coordination with NISSAT project, evolved latest information


processing techniquesfor introduction, at various levels.
152

2.5 Low Impact:


Though there existed a vast information infrastructure in the country, its impact
has been rather low. The information services offered are not effective. The two main
reasons that can be attributed for this low impact of existing information services are:

(9

Services provided are only reaching a limited circle of users, namely


scientists in institutions of higher learning and advanced research.

(ii)

Lack of user awareness and familiarity with the information


available.

services

This calls for the need to provide training of users in traditional as well as modem
techniques for information retrieval.
The aim of modernisation of Library and Information services is: readers should
have access to a comprehensive bibliographic system that allows them to identify and
locate material and to obtain it at a reasonable cost without delay. The application of
computer and telecommunications technology is rightly considered as a means to
achieve this aim.
3.0

Computer

Applications

3.1

Areas of Applications:

in Libraries

The application of computer in libraries can be grouped into two main groups:
(i)
(ii)

House-keeping routines,
Information retrieval operations:

Information retrieval is concerned with meeting the information/specific


requirements of the users, where and when it is required by authors, subject etc. Besides
using large library catalogues (in machine readable form) for this purpose, enormous
number of data bases have been developed over the last 10 years in diverse disciplines.
Such data bases are being used not only for exchange of bibliographic data (e.g. through
tapes in MARC format) but also for conducting on-line searches for specific queries.
House-keeping application include aspectsof serial control,circulation control,
cataloging, ordering and acquisition and collection of managementstatistics.During the

last two decadesmuch progresshasbeenachievedin theseactivities. The impact of these


153

activities is very much noticeable in certain parts of the world - USA , UK, etc. For
example, in acquisition operation, Blackwell Bookline enable libraries to link into
Blackwell computer system and interrogate the extensive file about the million
bibliographic records and generate an order.
The circulation control system is another important house-keeping operation
which is very amenable to computerisation. In late 60s and early 70s batch processing
was done for circulation purpose. Now, we have systems such as Automatic Library
system, Plessey, etc. which provide sophisticated on-line circulation control.
Computerisation of house-keeping routines have been in existence during the last
twodecades. however, integrated systems capable of handling different subsystems such
as acquisition, cataloging, circulation control etc. are now increasingly developed and
used. In the extent of sophistication of such systems during the last few years can be best
described by OCLC as an example.
This database contain the same type of bibliographic and statistical information
that librarians and information scientists previously accessed with the aim of printed
directories, listing, indexes and bibliographies. The computer based information retrieval
is more convenient and provides more flexibility and comprehensive retrieval than a
manual system.
3.2 Indian scenario:
Several organisations have been experimenting with the use of computers in
handling information. Some of the organisations which have been involved in these
activities are:
(i)

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, (BARC) Bombay

(ii)

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay

(iii)

National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi

(iv)

Documentation Research & Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore

(v)

Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC),

(vi)

Indian Institutes of Technology (IIIs).

(vii)

Bharat Heay Electrical Limited (BHEL), Hyderabad


154

New Delhi.

INSDOC has used computers in jobs like, preparation of indexes to various


publications, processing of union catalogues, data compilation, inventory of serial
publication, preparing directories etc.
BARC, TIFR and IITs have also used computers for certain library operations.
BARC has been experimenting the SD1 services with INIS data base, whereas DRTC has
developed programmes for SD1 services using ICL 1901 computers. This system has
been applied in the SD1 services being offered to the users in the BHEL complex. DRTC
has also developed a system called DOCFINDER.
Large scale computer application in information field has been made in late 70s
with the introduction of SD1 service by INSDOC in collaboration with the IIT Madras.
The project was supported by UNISIST and was based on CAN/SD1 software. SD1
services were offered against 130 profile users from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc. Given
below are some of the highlights of computerisation efforts in informatics/bibliographic
field in a chronological order:
Computerization

of Bibliographic

Process Highlights

since 1964

EVENT

Year
1964

INSDOC/IIT Kanpur efforted to bring out National Union Catalogue of


Scientific Serials using IBM/1620 computer.

1968-69

INSDOCs efforts for using of computers to the development of information


products:

1970

Use of IBM/l 620 model at Delhi School of Economics for Roaster


of Technical Translators in India

ii)

Author and Subject Indices for Indian Science Abstracts (ISA) using
IBM 360/44 at Delhi University computer Centre.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) started participating at INIS.

ii)

TIER library catalogues based on Annual acquisitions (presently no


computer-related activities of library)
DOCFINDER developed at DRTC, Bangalore.

iii)

1976 CHEM/SDI information retrieval system jointly operated by INSDOC, New Delhi
155
.-----

....-.. .I_

----...

and IIT, Madras, (Currtently operated with the INSPEWOMPENDEX

data base)

Several interim tests with on-line information retrieval serviceslinking in India


with major data base centres in Europe.

1976

For On-line retrieval of information


FRASCATI in Rome was linked to
TIFR, Bombay (in 1976) & New Delhi (in 1981)

1977

DRTC developed a package of ICL 1901 computer system for SD1 service
for BHEL, Hyderabad.

1978

Electronics Commission (IPAG) New Delhi used HP 21 MX


mini computer system and developed bibliographic data
base for library books on an experimental basis for inhouse utilisation.

1980

Beginning of Automatic Thesaurus Generation efforts at DRTC, Bangalore.

1980

Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad developed (i) Computerised


Periodicals Management System & (ii) Computerised Books Procurement
System.
IBM 360/44 computer system on an off-line, batch processing mode was
used.

1981

Union Catalogue of Scientific Conference Proceedings:


A pilot Fascicule - Brought out by INSDOC using IBM
360/44 computer system.

1981

National Informatics Centre (NIC) at Electronics Commission (IPAG),


New Delhi developed an integrated online bibliographic database for library
documents using CDC Cyber 170/720 main frame computer system.

1983

NICs Library Data Base accessed by NICNET (NIC Computer Network)


members connected to Cyber System.

1984

Computer terminal installed at NIC Library for its information

retrieval jobs from NIC library.


The National Informatics Centre has developed a Pilot system for the National
156

Medical Library for providing medical information and also a retrieval System based on
the Constitution of India was developed for Ministry of Law, Justice and Company
Affairs.
3.3 ON-Line Bibliographic

Data Bases

A typical database can be accessed by typing search request into a terminal which
is linked to a remote computer. The end product of a brief interactive session with the
computer is a list of references to the published literature. Today maze than 100
databases, covering most of the disciplines, are available to users. While many of these
databases are already available in hard copy (paper abstracts or indexes), it is recognized
that on-line information retrieval is markedly superior to manual searching even of the
same sources.
Advantages of on-line databases searching are given below:
(i)

Computer is very adept at searching long files,

(ii) On-line searching offers greater flexibility than manual systems, since
natural language supplied by a user as well as controlled language taken from various
thesaurus can be used as access terms to find reference. Another advantage is that single
and multiple word terms, or even truncated terms, can be fed into the computer. The
procedure is further enriched with the use of boolean logic. Two or more words can be
linked together with AND or OR operator, as in a Venn diagram. The computer picks out
specific references which satisfy the search strategy.
Specially advantageous for multi-disciplinary research problems, which
(iii)
bring together several subjects; here a scientist need not be familiar with the fields to
affect a successful search.
(iv) Contain up-to-date information and obtains a customized print out of the
search results for future consultation.
An on-line bibliographic data base was developed by National Informatics
Centre(NIC) in 1980. This system is described in the following paragraphs.
3.4 System on electronics
3.4.1

Library

Computerisation

Project

The major achievement of NIC Library during 1980-83 is the establishment of an


157
-..

--

on-line bibliographic data base for documents in the library created on CYBER 170/730
computer system. CYBER 170/730 is a general purpose main frame computing system
with interactive terminal facilities. A feasibility/requirements study was made to
identify the features required in the computer based library system to be designed. The
Data Base approach was adopted for implementing the system because of the distinct
advantages of data Base Management System (DBMS).
Objectives

3.4.2

0)

Provide users rapid access to bibliographic information in an interactive,


on-line mode;

(ii)

Provide an easy to use language so that the non-computer personnel can


use it;

(iii)

Bring out information services like current awareness services, selective


dissemination of information (SDI) etc;

(iv>

Facilitate compilation of bibliographies, digests, abstracts, bulletins etc.


on a specific topic;

(v>

Facilitate preparation of various types of indices; and

(vi>

Perform routine library operation such as circulation control, etc.

Features of

the system

The system has been designed around the NIC library activities. As of 1984, there
are about 7,000 document references in the data base. The document types are books,
collected works, multivolume publications, standards, reports, journals, journal articles.
All operations like data loading, retrieval, reports generation and modification are
performed on-line using terminals connected to CYBER System. Retrieval and data
updation is done in an interactive mode. The data base can also be accessed through any
computer (like HP- 1000, LSI/2, etc.) connected to CYBER System and operating within
NICNET (NIC Computer Network).
3.4.3

Details of sub-systems computerised:-

(i)

On-line Data Base Search (Information Retrieval).

(ii)

Current Awareness Servicessuch asList of new Books added, Selected


158

articles from Journals and Current news update.

3.4.4

(iii)

Cataloging: Two products related to cataloging are produced - Author/


Title catalogue and Book cards.

(iv>

Current Serials Control: Complete information regarding a journal and


its holdings in library are maintained and a list of journals with indexes
such as UDC, Permuted Keyword Index, journal type index and KWIC
Title Index for journal titles is brought out.

(VI

Circulation control: Issue and Return of books is done with provision of


reminder generation for overdue books.

(vi)

Preparation of indices, compilation of bibliographies etc. KWIC and


KWOC type indices can be prepared for any input text.

Performance

of the System:

The Library Data Base has been successfully established and the data base is
available to users as an interactive on-line information retrieval system. A manual User
Primeron BISETBibliographicInformation
SystemforElectro-Technologyisprepared,
for convenience of users.
3.4.5

Newspaper Current

Awareness Service:

Besides the establishment of computer based data base, library has introduced a
computerised current awareness service for Newspaper items of importance on electronics
and computers. For this purpose, the news items are collected from about 20 Daily
newspapers and reindexed with a special classification code devised for the news items
only. A weekly service Current News Update is brought out and the news item data,
May 1982 onwards is available for on-line retrieval.
It is evident that on-line information retrieval will be indispensable to productive
research. Librarians must seek to understand and adopt this new technology.

159

4.0 Library

and Information

Networks

4.1 Need for resource sharing


Almost all libraries have been forced to reduce theirbookpurchases and subscription
lists to journals and other serial publications under the onslaught of stable or diminishing
acquisition budgets coupled with double digit inflation. Libraries traditional goals of self
sufficiency and development of in-depth collections in all areas of active research can
no longer be considered realistic. Instead collection policy now reflects the needs of
todays programme only. Collecting in the areas of peripheral research interest is a
luxury most libraries can ill afford. The long term implication of current policy is not
attractive. With materials acquired principally in all areas of immediate interest, libraries
will lack the breadth to accommodate new or changing research directions.
Increased inter-library borrowing is a possible solution to satisfy these needs. Online bibliographic searching has contributed to increased demands for inter-library loans
as computer based systems identify obscure but pertinent sources of information. The
most practical solution to the library budget crunch is the adoption by libraries of
computer technology to assist the development of resource sharing systems. But
development of faster, more efficient delivery systems is also essential to their success.
With library computer networks the first step towards network resource sharing was
taken in 1979, when OCLC (Ohio College Library Catalogue) initiated its inter-library
loan system. To date, the networks have emphasised services such as shared cataloguing
over resource sharing.
All in all, it appears that the future of library lies in inter-library cooperation
mediated by computerisation of library resources. Thus equipped, we should be better
able to match the user and the information with a minimum of wasted time and resources.
4.2 Networking
In our context of library/information services, network consists of information
users, sources, programmes and projects with links between them. A node may be
devoted to one specific discipline or mission or may cover a broader range of disciplines.
The links among the nodes are formed on the basis of:
a)

Common objectives;

b)

Shared knowledge of the operations of all participants;

160

c)

Comparability among the operations;

d)

Practical working arrangements for collaborative efforts to increase and


accelerate information flow; and

e>

Each participant, while maintaining autonomy of action, should have access


to several sources in the networks, thereby facilitating better information
service to users of all categories.

An important aspect of co-operation, resource sharing and networking is the


adoption of compatible standards and methods in information handling, techniques and
tools including telecommunications and computer hardware and software.
With the availability of microcomputers at very economical prices the day to day
routine operations have been considered for computerisation in most of the major
libraries. It appears to be a solution for problems in this area. The concept of networking
in library information system is not a new concept. Mechanisms for cooperation among
library and information centres by sharing of resources have been in operation in one
form or other for several decades. While cooperative agreement among libraries and
information centres have existed for decades, the concept of library and information
system network was developed only since the mid-seventies.
The network concept is exciting because it helps to provide to all individuals
regardless of his geographical location, facilities to search libraries located at far away
locations. Networking is only an extension of traditional form of inter-library cooperation;
it transforms a loose federation of library collection or information system into a formal
integrated organisational structure whose potential for rendering services is far greater
than some of its constituents. It provides an increased degree of independence of
previously autonomous institution on services, increased response time and decreased
time gap between planning and implementation.
The library and information networks will not only reduce the publication of
intellectual effort and expenses incurred in providing duplicate coverage of the same
material but also increase the opportunity for meeting performance of specific service
through enhancing the speed and comprehensiveness ofcoverage and reduce the number
of sources that users will require to find out the required information. In effect, library
and information network eliminates size and distance and language limitation for the
community of users, through resource sharing, the interaction between library and
information centres by network centres reveals more of the library sytem and provides

161
.--

l-l.--____.

. ^___

_-_.

services with a tremendous saving in cost.


4.3 Development of National Library

and Information

Network

The importance of library and information network as a powerful national force


is being recognised by the government, industry and education. The national library and
information networks are means of achieving national objectives for effective
utilisation of information and technological innovation in decision making, research
and education. Recent developments have emphasised the need to focus more attention
on the planning of library and information network at the national level. The primary
objective of such network is to share the nation wide resources and their development
to fulfil the information requirement of users at all levels.
4.3.1

Objectives of the Network


The objectives of the national library and information network should be

(9
(ii)
(iii)
(iv>
(VI
(vi>
(vii)
(viii)
(ix>
6)
64
(xii)
(xiii)
(xiv)

Cost effective information storage and maintenance


Optimum utilisation of existing library information System
Provision of current awareness services with minimum delay
Maintenance of union catalogue
Inter library loan
Cooperation among member libraries
Access to information resource within the country and other countries
Evolution of national standard for information handling
Provision of research and development transmission facility
Provision of document transmission facility
Transition facilities
Maintenance and operation of the network
Development of facilities for education and training in library
and
.
information science
Adoptation of new techno-economical solutions.

In order to achieve these things certain basic functions have to be carried out by
the network. Some of this could be to
a)

Identify the present information requirement of users at all levels


and forecast future requirement in the light of national
development, plans and policies.

b)

4.3.2

Information

Develop the existing libraries and information system, their


information resources and services, and provide new ones where
necessary, according to present and future requirements of users,
through cooperative acquistion and processing.
sources

Assessment of information requirements is of fundamental importance because


information resources are severely limited in most countries, especially in developing
countries, and their needs of economic and social development means certain activites
are given priority in the allocation of resources and therefore, require a complimentary
investment in the provision of use of information.
The goals vary depending upon the expenditure of natural resources and the nature
of human skills, the availability of foreign capital and expertise and the direction of
human aspiration within the country.
Future development of information services must start from what exists and what
is required. This means that any assessment of information requirement should

4.3.3

Indicate what types of information and information services are


needed for the various types of users and the uses

b)

Assess how far existing services can meet these needs with-out
significant extension and modifications

c>

Forecast on the basis of trends in education, research and


development with regard to socio-economic development.

Development steps

The planning and development of information resources will involve


(i)

Allocation of responsibility to various libraries and information centres in


the network for building strong collections in specialised subject fields

(ii)

Evolving of a common operational procedure

(iii)

Development of a uniform classification scheme and thesaurus

163
_,.. ,,I_._^.,.. ._I^__.

..ewy-_I _.

..- _--, ~_I_.

.__

.---..- -

4.3.4

(iv)

Adoption of numbering procedures like ISBN etc.

(v)

Development of necessary tools and techniques for efficient economic and


processing of retrieval

(vi)

Provision of modem reprography facility

(vii)

Phasewise installation of computer systems

(viii)

Gateway development to international networks

Structure of the Network

The national library and information network could be a confederation to enable


its components operating under variety of ownership and jurisdiction. Each has its
autonomy but operates under certain accepted norms to enable information exchange.
Each of the participants organisation follow certain standards that are evolved and
approved by the Central Executive Committee so that information exchange is possible.
The confederation model could be considered in the context for efficient information
flow and linking of various bodies in different regions in the country and also the Central
agencies. This could be based on a grid system where the central agencies are linked with
several regional ones and local ones with regional ones located in the nearest
geographical proximity. This would also facilitate interconnection between certain
regional or specialised libraries, to where there could requests from all over the country
could be addressed.
The structure of the network should facilitate, library oriented resource sharing
services which include shared cataloguing, remote catalogue access, direct message
routing, automatic hierarchical routing, inter library loan, circulation and inter library
loan record control, serial and citation retrieval, both for and by users.
4.3.5

Implementation

aspects

The library network has to be evolved over the years. Certain steps have already
been initiated by NISSAT and NIC in this regard. Further steps have to be initiated in
evolving cataloguing techniques, operational procedures and standards for efficient
communication between various libraries in the network. For cohesive development &
speedy implementation a single agency shoudbe identified t.ocoordinate these activities.
This agency should solicit advise from the participating libararies and experts to evolve
a master plan for the network. The implementation should emphasize the top down
164

approach as it will have the maximum effect.


5.0

Connection to International

Network Links and Online Database

Services

Access to sources of information can be obtained through a number of information


service products. In most of the developing countries, the traditional printed material
products like abstracting/indexing services, bibliographies, statistical compilations,
handbooks, etc. still continue to be the principal access tools. In some cases, new
products like magnetic tapes for off-line or batch-mode searching on local computer
facilities are also available. But new technologies, such as on-line access to information
systems through telecommunication networks, have opened alternative and eficient
channels of access which are becoming more and more popular in developed countries.
The Directory of On-line Databases (Vol. 3 No. 3, Spring 1982) lists as many as 1133
commercially available databases throughout the world. This indicates the speed with
which the on-line concept has spread within about fifteen years of its introduction. With
further progress in information technology the practice of online bibliographic searching
is bound to become more common and more databases will be available on-line on better
terms. Even now, the production and distribution of databases and making them
available on-line has become a huge industry.
The databases that are being offered by the industry may be divided into two broad
categories according to the type of information contained in them. They are: (1)
referenced databases, that refer users to other sources for complete information, and (2)
source databases, that themselves contain the primary source of information. In the fast
category are included bibliographic databases (e.g. MEDLINE, COMPENDEX) and
referral databases (e.g. TECHNOTEC).
Source data base include numeric databases (e.g. EUROSTAT), textual numeric
databases (e.g. THERMODATA)
and full-text databases, which contain records of the
complete text of an item or other primary source (e.g. NEXIS, containing full texts of
general and business news from a variety of periodicals).

The database is the principle product or commodity with which the data-base
industry is concerned. Like all economic commodity this industry has also the principal
components of producer, distri butor, and consumer. A database producer is an Organisation
that compiles information and makes it available - in the computer-readable form. There
are a number of ways in which a producer can make its data base available on-line. In
the distribution line are the vendors or operators, also called hosts or host computers.
They are organizations that provide database services to end-users or to intermediaries
165

such as library information centres and brokers. There are, of course, vendors who
produce information and also distribute it electronically (e.g:CYBERNET).
A typical
magnetic
disk
storage
devices
and
vendor operation involves a computer,
telecommunication equipment. They are the major hardware component. In addition,
there are databases, obtained from different producers, a staff of specialists in areas such
as database design, computer programming, etc, training, customer support and
accounting/billing. It is estimated that there are now about 200 vendor organizations,
mostly located in North America and Western Europe. the most prominent names being
DIALOG (in USA), IP Sharp (in Canada), DIMDI (in FRG) and CISI (in France).
The essential link between the vendors or operators and the users is provided by
organizations known as carriers. Carriers are public and private organizations that
provide telecommunication network services.
In the USA, carriers such as TYMNET and TELENET dominate the data-base
transportation market, while in Western Europe national and regional networks, such as
TRANSPAC, EURONET and the European Space Agency, are the main carriers.
As intermediary users, brokers, also called information retailers or custom
information services are becoming popular. They are public or private organizations that
offer information services for a fee. Individuals and small organizations that require
information but are not in a position to invest in a terminal, training and other costly input
for using database directly prefer to use the services of brokers. In India, at least two
firms, namely Constellate Consultants (Delhi) and Informatics India Pvt. Ltd. (Bangalore)
are functioning as brokers to some extent.
The database users can be of two types: (1) in-house intermediaries: such as
librarians and information scientists, planners, administrators, and (2) real end-users:
such as scientists, economists and financial analysts.
Having considered the operation and mode of access to on-line services, the
question arises at what cost such access is available. In general, it can be seen, that the
ultimate costs to the users will be in direct proportion to the amount of investment made
in the creation of databases in terms of acquisition of source documents, indexing/
abstracting, data input; operation of services by vendors, including hardware and
software costs; the charges of the carrier organizations for providireg telecommunication
link and so on. However, to give a more realistic estimate, four major costs are usually
considered from the point of view of users. They are: (1) charges for the use of databases
On-line, (2) terminal and equipment costs, (3) telecommunication cost, and (4) costs for
user aids.
166

Pricing policies for use charges vary considerably according to the type of supplier
and the type of database. Charges are also made on various accounts, such as subscription
fees (varying from a few hundred dollars to over $15,000 per year), mothly minimum,
connect time (ranging from $25 to $300 per hour), Computer resource unit (charges
for the use of the CPU and the amount of input/output required to read and write disks
and interact with the users terminal), information resource units (on the basis of actual
information used), disk storage, on-line and off-line printing, and start-up fees (for
setting up of the account, initial training and mat&I).
Users of on-line database services have to maintain terminal equipment, such as
a teletype terminal and, normally, a modem. A printer is necessary if the terminal is a
Costs for this equipment range from$ 4000 to 10,000. New
video display type.
technologies are bringing these prices down to $800 to $ 1,500.
Some of the time-sharing companies include telecommunication costs in their
Most other online services charge users separately for
hourly connect fees.
telecommunication costs. Within USA, these costs are approximately $5 per connect
International telecommunication rates differ considerably for different
hour.
countries. They vary from $20 to $40 per hour of connection.
Some on-line services and database producers provide free user aids, such as
searching manuals and other guides. But more frequently, there are charges for these
materials. In addition, there may be charge for training sessions which can range from
$25 to ! 150.
The on-line database are part of the information market that is rapidly growing.
However, very few of the developing countries are taking advantage of these services.
In India, in view of the advances that we have made in the areas of telecommunications
and the experiences that we have gained in working with computers and the availability
of trained personnel in such work, the time has come to work towards getting access to
some of the international networks and bring the benefits of the on-line databases to our
scientists, engineers, economists, administrators and others. Apart from strengthening
our technological capabilities we have to give proper attention to the organisational
aspect of using the on-line services. In fact, within the country, we have to bring about
a domestic network of facilities. This will be more so in our case because individual
organizations will not be able to participate of their own in the access to on-line services.
Each organization in specific subject will be doing so as a national agency for the benefit

167

of the entire information seeking community in the particular subject field.


6.0

New Information

Technologies

Contemporary information technology embodies convergence of interest between


electronics, computing and communications, being prompted by therapiddevelopments
Following is an example to show how non-conventional task
in microelectronics.
may be amended when electronic technology is introduced.

168

Type of activity

Conventional
activity

Electronic message
system (EMS)

Telephone

Electronic office activity


(activities)

Telephone:
- voice store and forward
- sophisticated digital
exchanges with numerous
advanced features (camp-on,
group hunting, call redirect, etc.)

Document preparation systems


@P 9

Telex
Telegram
Internal mail

Telex, Teletex
Teletex fascimile
communicating
word processors, computer-based
electronic mail

PO mail

Communicating
wordprocessors, computer-based
electronic mail, view data
system &teletex systems.

Meetings

Teleconferencing

Shorthand

Dictation to personal receiver


or to central recording svstem
over telephone

Longhand

Keyboarding, voice recognition

VPh
- cut and paste

Word processing
Text-manipulation

- error correction
fluid
- total retype
~ Carbon copies

Word processing
Word processing
Photocap), disk

Spirit duplication

Photocopy
169
-----

Photocopy

Intelligent copier,
image scanner/image
printer.

Typesetting
services

In-house photo
composition

Computer Output
Microfil (COM)

It helps in taking the


computer output into microfilm
format which wilI facilitate
disseminating in a full survey.

Top-level decision-making on a real-time basis depends upon the telephone and


the text, for the long distance communications through Post & Telegraph (P&T)
channels.
Satellite are of interest for full text communication systems for two main reasons.
One is that of high frequencies that are used which implies wide bandwidth with large
information capacity and also they are multiport networks, i.e. unlike terrestrial links
which are usually one-one (but can be specially configured otherwise), satellites can be
many-many, many-one, one-many, or one-one as desired by users. In the area of
information transfer, one users could access many libraries, or simultaneously, many
user could access the same library, etc.
This means that different libraries, even city libraries, could have such aerial
linking them into a national or multi-national information system. With INSAT-1B
becoming operational since October, 1983, the Post & Telegraph Department has
started circuit loading to supplement the existing terrestrial telecommunication
network. The satellite will eventually provide for 5,000 two-way long distance
telephone circuits. Yet improvement on voice and data communications is only part
of the answer. NIC of DOE is in the process to get INSAT-1B channel dedicated to
transmitting computer data at high speeds, and have asked Indian Telephone Industries
(I.T.I.) to design roof top earth stations to link government office computer terminals
with INSAT-1B.
Any government agency or other related organizations having a
computer terminal can then have access to information and data of the network
resources.
With this background, let us examine some of the new techniques that can be used for

170

modernisation of library and information services.


The new information technologies can be broadly grouped as under:
Image
Facsimile
Video Conferencing
Text
Electronic Mail
Video text/teletex systems
Word Processors
Intelligent Copiers

6.1

Facsimile:

Facsimile machines provide arapid means of transmitting hard copy information.


Documents are electronically scanned, and the pulses representing dark and light parts
of the page are transmitted by telephone lines.
The facsimile can be used both as a transmitter and a receiver. When used as
transmitter, it scans original documents rolled on its drum, converts the light and dark
areas into electronic signals and then sends over telephone lines. At the other end of
the line, facsimile in the receiver mode, receives these signals and records the
transmitted images on an electro-sensitive paper.The result is an exact reproduction of
the original in black and white, with proper grey lines. This is permanent and clear
enough to be used as an original for making copies by standard copying machine.
Colour originals are also reproduced in black and white with proper grey shades.
Photographs can be reproduced in a legible manner with all modes depicted in different
shades of grey.
The matter of a whole page, upto a maximum size of 2 10 X 197 mm, may be sent
across the country in 4 to 6 minutes. e.g. ECILs facsimile (EC FAX 601) is the first of
its kind in the country, made by the public sector under DAE (Department of Atomic
Energy) with complete indigenous technology. Facsimile is both superior to telephone
and telex. Though, as fast as a telephone call, it is inexpensive and drastically cuts
telephone time on lengthy verbal explanations. It scores over telex which transmits
only alpha-numberals. The advantages of the FAX system widens its scope for
171

application to library and information science field.


6.2

Video Conferencing

This refers to systems which allow two or more people in geographically distant
locations to conduct a meeting while both seeing and hearing each other. Two types
of video-conferencing can be achieved: continuous picture which requires high speed
transmission lines, and slow scan which provides an updated picture every 10 to 20
seconds and which consequently requires much lower speedof transmission lines. The
latter system is paricularly suitable for document and chart display.
6.3

Electronic

Mail

Electronic Mail is generally considered to be the delivery, via electronic means,


of messages that would otherwise be transmitted physically through the postal system
or verbally via the telephone.
Much of the interest in electronic mail systems is from the inadequacies of the
postal service and the telephone in todays business environmentWhen linked to data
communication network, most personal computers, word processors and computer
terminals can be programmed to send and receive messages. In such a system, the
computer acts as a post office for receiving and transmitting messages which can be put
in or taken out through a peripheral device such as video terminal or a teletype.
Electronic mail offers the speed and convenience of a telephone call without the
problem of having call back messages and it allows theoption of retaining a permanent
copy of; the message. Transmission may be stored until the addressee retrieves them at
his convenience. The user can then call upon this mailbox to get all messages
displayed either on video terminal, or printed out on a peripheral device. These
messages can be read and responded to at the users convenience.
Telexes, facsimile, communicating word processors, etc. are the tools available
for implementing electronic mail. Any of these devices can be linked to a central
computer so that the recipient can call for any messages waiting for him and have them
either displayed or printed. In short, electronic mail can be called as realtime
information.
Teletype as we know it, will need to be adapted to meet the requirements posted
by data communications within the framework of electronic mail. A new generation
of telex terminals are available with features normally provided with word processors
172

such as video terminals, floppy disks and matrix printers. These new systemscan enable
outgoing messages which can be automatically stored for retrieval later. The new
generation of telex systems will not only allow for a good quality printout but also result
in improved transmission speeds which will cut data communication costs.
In India, it will be upto organizations such as Hindustan Teleprinters Ltd. (HTL)
to replace the present electro-mechanical teleprinters with electronic devices suited for
high speed data transmissions. Then only existing telex network be integrated with
local are; networks to make electronic mail a reality in India.

6.4

Videotext/teletext Systems

There is much confusion over the various terms in the videotext field. Basically,
Videotext is the generic term covering the use of a television set to display information.
Videotext describes these systems which transmit data using telephone lines.
Teletext describes those systems which transmit data using public TV broadcast
system.
In UK the term viewdata is often used to mean videotext. As videotext is the
internationally accepted name let us use this one. Videotext combines modified
television sets, (called digital TVs) the telephone network, and computer systems to
provide an information transaction and message service. Use of mass public
communication services, particularly telephone and television, to access computer
based information databases is spreading the availability of computer power well
beyond the realms of technical expert.
6.4.1 Benefits of videotextfor some potential public service applications are given as
under:
Information

Main source

Videotext benefits

Closing times/prices
of public facilities
(school, libraries

Phone-in

Accessibility,
convenience

Weather

Newspaper/Radio/ TV

Timeliness

Libraries

Card catalogues

Convenience, efficiency,

aqess at home

Service to handicapped

Personal help

Independence, flexibility

Government/Administrative

Phone-in-guides

Accessibility

Consumer advice

Magazines

Updatability, size of
database.

Road conditions

Phone-in, radio

Timeliness

Health/first aid

Brochures, books

Accessibility

Agriculture
at home

Magazine,
Information Centres

Timeliness, access

Community

Bill boards,
Newspapers

Accessibility

6.4.2 Library Applications


Ohio College Library Centre (OCLC) provides one of the largest on-line
cataloguing and bibliographic services to 2800 libraries in North and South America.
Its Channel 2000 is a good example of a well designed videotext trial. It combines a
precise definition of objectives, an innovative use of videotext, a sobriety in the
technical approach and a collaboration with the commercial information providers.
OCLC undertook its videotext trial with the collaboration of Bane One, a local bank.
OCLC randomly selected half of the 200 participating households, while Bane One
chose the other half. OCLC decided to use regular telephone lines to transmit data
and to use the system without graphics to keep it simple and inexpensive to operate.
Participants had access to the card catalogue of the central library and could order
books. Bane One provided banking services. Arete Publishing provided access to its
complete America Encyclopedia (33000 articles and 9 million words). A number of
civic groups such as the Division of Employment Securities and the League of Women
voters contributed information.
The British Library Council approached Prestel, proposing screens about the
British Library and excerpts from the British National Bibliography. The frames were
selected because of their educational potential. In addition to being an information
provider, the British Library experimented with the use of terminals inside libraries for

reference purposes. The system was run in collaboration with several local public
libraries acrossthe UK.
174

Videotex/Teletext
electronic mail.

Systems are nothing

but the sophisticated version of

Realising the potential of videotext/teletext systems, public service applications,


government has already set up a group to study digital TV in the Indian context.
6.5

Word Processors

Word processors are versatile text processors that allow documents to be created,
edited and transmitted. Word processors are combination of VDUs often with separate
keyboards and sometimes with their own microcomputer, linked to a minicomputer and
disc storage system. They are used for composition of text which may either be output
later as printed letters etc., or stored in a large database.
Modem wordprocessor almost invariably have visual displays and are either
stand-alone units or cluster systems, now quite often with a communication capability.
Communications
may be with main-frame computers, terminals,
teletexts,
photocomposers, optical character recognition readers, intelligent copiers or other
communicating word processors. Some word processing systems are evolving into
integrated information system seeking to meet total word processing, data processing,
printing and communication needs.
Use of word processing system for library and information services will definitely
be economical in terms of time which is otherwise required for drafting, typing, editing
and proof-checking, mailing of documents of all types.
6.6

Intelligent Terminals

A typical terminal is usually a combination of CRT and a keyboard. All VDUs


contain the electronics to enable them to convert incoming digital signals into display
characters. Intelligent terminal is VDU and/or printer with a built-in micro computer
and a memory unit. These devices are becoming increasingly powerful and more
common.
Facilities such as (i) screen editing, (ii) programmability, (iii) peripherals
attachment (e.g. printers, storage devices such as cassette systems, digitisers, OCR etc.),
(iv) having its own operating system, (v) communication facility (with host, as well as
connecting one terminal to other) have widened the scope of usage of these terminals

for library and information


6.7

Intelligent

services work.

Copier

While word processor can print letters, memoranda and short documents directly
at recipients work station, large offices will need faster printers for long documents
and multiple copies.
We will have copiers with microprocessors and memory unit, multiple-font
character generator and an interface with communication network. These will in
addition to copying, accept digital data, using an internal character generator and laser
imaging systems. The type font, spacing and format of the printed output would be
selected by instructions in the incoming data or by the copier operator. These intelligent
copiers may also incorporate facsimile scanners that use bandwidth compression
techniques to reduce transmission time.
Most facsimile devices today scan an entire page and transmit each light and dark
element. This is an inefficient and costly approach. The intelligent copier would store
the data in bits and transmit only the changes between light and dark areas. Further
improvement will be stored in the characteristics of the data. Some systems are already
in the market.
6.8

Micrographics

In the office of the future, Micrographics will permit filing, storage and retrieval
of large amount of information. Micro graphic systems range from simple step and
repeat cameras and viewers to sophisticated centres that include cameras, computer
output microfiche(com), and processorforcrossreferring archival storagesupplemented
by intelligent viewing systems. Further these can be linked to intelligent copiers and
terminals system connecting to executives.
6.9

Video Discs

Recording and playback of television programmes in the home is now becoming


commonplace. Outstanding among the devices employed for this purpose is the video
cassette recorder. There is, however, another development in video playback in the
form of the video disc, whereas the video cassette is the video equivalent of the audio
cassette, the video disc can be regarded as the video equivalent to the audio
(gramophone) record.

176

The earlier video disc systems employed a mechanical principle to record and
playback, similar to that employed in the familiar gramophone record. However, the
much higher speeds of operation necessary to achieve the required information transfer
rate for video signals cause problems of wear and in recent years activity in video disc
systems has been increasingly focussed on non mechanical systems. The resurgence
of interest in applied optics has extended to include many areas hitherto considered the
exclusive preserve of electronics and it is perhaps not surprising that a considerable
proportion of the video disc system currently under development are based on optical
recording and/or playback principles.
We can broadly classify video discs into two main categories
- Television compatible video discs,
- Computer compatible video discs (often called as optical discs)
Video disc systems available in the market are mostly read only system,
employing pre-recorded video discs. However, in a situation, where information has to
be updated (such as transaction control, circulation information), a video disc system
with which the user can write as well as read is essential. For some applications
an erase facility may be desirable. Already R&D efforts towards the production of
read/write/erase systems, i.e. systems in which the same recording material can be
reused repeatedly as with the magnetic tape, is in full swing. These systems will fall
under the category of Digital Optical Recording.
Features of video discs that make it potentially attractive medium for information
storage and retrieval are
*

high information storage capacity

*
*

low information storage cost


rapid random access.

The greater part of the library collection in the average library consists of printed
publications, produced in multiple runs using conventional printing processes. The read
only type of disc would appear to be quite suitable for storage of many types of
materials in this category especially reference materials.
Some projects are concerned with the use of video discs in information storage
and retrieval. Although the application of video discs in information storage and
177

retrieval is in its infancy, work is already in progress in a number of centres to investigate


the potential of this new technology and the first commercial information retrieval
service making use of video discs has been launched. In this section of the report some
of these developments are briefly described.
A pilot project to study the possible application of video discs to the storage and
retrieval of a variety of types of material was undertaken in as early as 1978 by the
Public Archives of Canada, using a Thomson-CSF player. It is understood that this
work is continuing. In 1979, Lister Hill National Centre for Biomedical Communications,
the research arm of the US National Library of Medicine Bethesda, presented a review
of progress of Lister Hill in storing medical data on a variety of types of optical discs.
In 198 1, Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire,USA) received a grant for
a three year project to develop the instructional and archival potential of optical laser
video discs. The project will first test the discs feasibility for the storage and retrieval
of scholarly materials.
In March, 198 1, the first commercial information service employing video disc
as one of its components was announced. Known as Video Patsearch (TM) this provides
on-line access to the 7,00,000 US patents issued since 1971, permitting computer
retrieval of patent drawings and illustrations of chemical structures which are stored
on eight video discs at the users station- together with patent abstracts and other textual
information which is retrieved on-line from a central computer.
A project, recently proposed by the European publishers Blackwell, Elsevier,
Pergamon and Springer, plans use of an optical discs system for the storage ofjoumal
articles which would be printed out on demand. Preliminary plans call for use of the
Philips Megadoc disc system for storage and the AM International Ultra high-speed
facsimile machine (developed for use with the Satellite Business systems network) for
hard copy output. Consideration is being given to setting up the system near the British
Library Lending Division at Boston Spa in England. The project has been given the
name ADONIS (for Article Delivery Over Network Information Service).
Video-micrographic

System:-

It could be said that, as on-line remote access to documents requires the


transmission of digitised images, all documents should bedigitised at source and stored
on, say, optical discs. However, when it is acknowledged that in a large document
storage system only a fair proportion of documents might be really active, then storage
on microfilm and digitising on demand is probably more cost effective. Also, there
178

is much more to a computer assisted document storage and retrieval system than the
storage module. Many documents already exist in microfilm format and to convert a
large document file to optical disc compatible digital signals will be time consuming
and expensive. Further, depending on the data compression ratio achieved, a digital
optical disc will be able to store between 10,000 and say 50,000 high-resolution
documents reside, so that for a very large document store jukebox type disc changer will
be required.
Common elements of the system are the system controller, video switching unit
and high resolution display terminal, so that cost differences of total systems are not
likely to be large. In conclusion, it can be said that, when they become available, optical
disc systems are likely to complement digitised microform systems in the document
storage and retrieval field, with each having particular attributes for particular
situations.
7.0

7.1

General Review of Informatics


2000 AD
Proposed Computer

and Computer Networks and Proposals for

Networks in India

The development of computer communication networks has undoubtedly been an


important technological advancement of the 1970s. The most rapidly growing use of
telecommunciation facilities is for data transmission. The most rapidly growing area
in the information processing industry is tele-processing. The reason is the power
versatility and in particular, effective resource sharing benefits that accrue from the
co-existence of computer and communication facilities.
Computer network achieve economies of scale in hardware, software and
manpower resources. The use of computer network is becoming even more evident, in
the context of database technology that emphasises on large distributed information
systems being ac cessed by a variety of users for a variety of applications.
The present status of computer networking in the country is far from encouraging.
Among others, geographical distribution, lack of commonality, limited offering of
public services and facilities as per indigenous networking hardware and software
facilities, and poor coordination between computing and communication agencies are
some of the factors constraining the growth of computer networks.
Department of Electronics (DOE) has projected ambitious programmes in
Seventh Five Year Plan for the promotion of computer networks in the country.
179

Proposed Networks enhancement of existing networks include the following: (i)


NICNET- For Government and related Informatics (Expansion of State and District
level), (ii) INDONET - Commercial Network for the entire country, (iii) RAILNET
-Computer network for Railways, (iv) OILNET- Computer Network of Oil Sector, (v)
BANKNET - Computer network for banking applications andElectronic fund transfer.
7.1.1. Regional Infonnatics

Network for South and Central Asia (RINSCA):

The UNESCO Regional Seminar on Informatics in south and Central Asia held
in New Delhi in 1977, preparatory to the 1978 conference on Strategies and Policies
(SPIN) suggested interalia, the setting up of a Regional informatics network for South
and Central Asia.
As a follow up of the SPIN Conference, the UNESCO set up an advisory group
on Informatics which recommended among other things, coordination of the
requirement and experience of particular countries in the various regions. The advisory
group also recommended that owing to different levels of development in Informatics
from region to region special attention should be given to a regional approach to
programme, design and implementation based on social, cultural, linguistic and
economic identities within the different levels of development. A regional follow up
ensued by holding a UNESCO regional meeting of Computer Centre Directors in South
and Central Asia in the last quarter of 1977 at Kathmandu. The proposal for setting up
a regional informatics network was discussed in considerable detail and unanimously
resolved to establish such a regional network. A working paper prepared by UNESCO
regional office in New Delhi regarding the frame-work and broad guidelines for the
modality and informatics in such a network was considered. This mainly served as a
preliminary input for preparation of a detailed feasibility report. This feasibility report
was extensively discussed during the New Delhi meeting in the first half of 1983. The
UNESCO also appointed a consultant to prepare the feasibility report for setting up
of RINSCA network.

Main objectives
Cooperation for mutual benefit of the countries in the region calls for increasing
interaction in economic, technological and social development Increased interaction

invariably brings in the need for increased exchange of information. Timeliness,


quality and quantity of information exchange becomes the infrastructure on which
regional countries subsequently had given theirgovernments approval fordevelopment

and participation in this network. They have also identified the focal point of their
respective country from where information exchange could take place. This will
180

certainly give a lot of emphasis for growing competence and cooperation, in


informatics areas of this region. As a part of this development, each country at the
national level has to undertake certain activities which are essential for development
of the system. For this purpose, the government has to invest certain facilities and
infrastructure which will be adequately supplemented with the financial and technical
support from UNESCO and its sister organisations. Some of the major activities that
have to be undertaken at the national level are:

(9

Assisting member Governments through provision of technical advice


in the identification of local organisations for their countries,
identification of the sources of information which can contribute to
the network, identification of the requirements of information from
the network, working out optimal procedures and regulatory measures
required for safeguarding the national interest and in general, preparing
a plan for driving maximum benefit from the network.

(ii)

Assisting the member Governments and their designatedorganizations


through technical advice, the establishment ofcurrent and continuously
updated directories and inventoriesof software, databases, informatics
specialists and other such contributing to the network.

(iii)

Assisting through technical advice and financial support the establishment


of courses organized by the national organizations for training the
personnel on the planning, establishment, operation and utilization
of their interface to the network.

(9

Assisting through technical advice and financial


support, the
establishment of linkages with external data banks and information
systems through international agencies.

(VI

Providing technical advice towards promoting the application


of
international standards and guidelines in information as cooperation
grows. Informatics and communication form the core of such an
infrastructure.
In this larger back ground, the main objectives of
the coopertion in the region are identified which are not only desirable
but also implementable in the political, economic and social framework of the member-countries of this region.

(vi)

Create a cooperative evolutionary network Within the region which can


serve all the member-countries of the region by providing, growing
181

interactive databases of neutral information or appropriate level of


timeliness, quality and quantity. To this end, the project endeavours
to identify,

(a)

Atleast one focal point in each country of the region to take complete
nodal responsibility for the country for contribution to the network
as well as to act as a clearing house for information derived from the
network;

(b)

Assign responsibilities to these nodal organisations for appropriately


generating the information and skills resource of the network;

cc>

Install appropriate technologies on an evolutionary basis for creating


the computer and communication infrastructure of the network;

Create, update and service database of use to various member-countries


of the region;

(4

Negotiate and purchase software and database for installation in the


network;

(0

Training personnel within the region so as to assist each country in


deriving maximum benefit from the network in a self-reliant manner;

In general, to increase mutual confidence and competence among the


member-countries to strengthen the bonds of cooperation for exchange
and utilisation of information to mutual benefit.

During the meeting held in the fist quarter of 1983 at New Delhi it was resolved
that member-countries of this region will cooperate in developing the RINSCA System.
Some of the service providing financial support and technical advice to identify
organizations for the reorientation of information resources to match with the evolving
standards of the network, as well as to improve their information handling capability and
costing of the services to perform regional functions through negotiated arrangements
between the secretariat of the networ-k and the institutions concerned, through the
coordination of the national focal organization.
7.12

NICNET

- A computer network for government

The National Informatics Centre has been set up as a catalyst of improvisation of


182

governmental and related productivity through appropriate applications of computers,


computer network, database methods, decision optimisation techniques and other
informatics methodologies. Improvisation of productivity in governmental operations
results from a streamlining of information base, systems analysis of the orgenisational
structure, quantitative studies feeding the planning process and in general, evolving an
effective management information system for each ministry, department with exchange
of information between MinistriesJDepartrnents in purview.
ApartfromtheinteractiveMIS,intheNICNETconcept,
govemmentalprodclctivity
is enhanced through the development of correlatory database standardisation in coding
and data formats creating aclimate for innovative applications for informatics in general,
cause a transformation
in the work culture in the ministries/departments.
Improvisation of productivity of informatics in government is made possible by a
concept of pooling of hardware. software, manpower, information delivery system,
training and experience.
With the successful implementation of the data communication between
NICNET at Delhi and RJE Station based on a Minicomputer at Ahmedabad through the
Apple satellite, planning is on for linking computers in 16 major State capitals in India
to NICIET via the INSAT -lB Satellite. This would facilitate the development of
interactive query-based databases for the Central and State Governments. Within
the states, district-based sub-networks are being attempted.
From the genesis of the concept of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in
1973 to its nucleation in 1975, followed by the commissioning of NICNET in 1977,
was a phase of innovation penetrating through barriers of conservatism in Governmental
Grganizations. Presently NIC has become a name of native and international repute
with a series of successes and scoring a proud record of firsts in developing a distributed
and decentralised informatics on computer network for government MIS (Management
Information Systems), a network for ASIAD-82 and a Network for the Non-alignedSummit 1983.
7.1.3

INDONET

Worldwide networks like Telenet in USA and Transpac in France have been in
existence for quite some time. These are basically datatransmission networks.
The
primary objective of the project INDONET on the other hand is to provide a computer
basednetwork, which is accessible from the remote areasof the country so astodeliver
the benefits of information processing technology to a wider cross-sectionof usersin

183
---

..-.--1-- . - _-^-

the country.
The other long term objectives are:

1)

Provide facility for distributed data processing and consolidation of


MIS on all India basis for large organisations having their operations
geographically distributed.

2)

Distributed data bases for agriculture/industrial

3)

Remote access to centralised data base (say foreign currency rates,


medicine, legal etc.).

4)

Provide access to specialised application software locally or from


remote locations. Thus software, hardware may not be duplicated at
each location. Computer manpower training in industry/business, in
latest technologies, and

5)

Provide requisite facilities for export of software.

agencies.

In August, 1982, Computer Maintenance Corporation Ltd., submitted a detailed


proposal to the Department of Electronics for setting up an integrated national data
processing and data communication facility as a project of Government of India. The
Electronics Commission accorded its approval to CMC for setting up the project
INDONET as a Government of India project, in November,1982.
In phase-l, the project involved the setting up of integrated data processing and
communication facility comprising five medium to large sized computer systems, to be
located at Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Calcutta and Hyderabad. The project provides for
the procurement of three computer systems. The other two computer systems are
already with CMC, and will be connected to the network. These computer systems,
through their respective communications controllers (CCs), will be interconnected
over voice grade P & T lines at a speed of 2400 bps (bauds per second). The
communications controllers will ensure error free information transfer between two
computer systems.
The user will have access to the network through the terminals located at CMC
computer centres or through terminals located remotely and connected to the local
computer system through voice grade P&T lines at a,speed of 300-1200 bps. All these
terminals will be connected to the local computer system through the communication
184

network comprising of CCs and communication


the purpose of routing nodes also.

channels. Thus CCs will be serving

All computer systems will be equipped with sophisticated software supporting


Data Base Management, Transaction Processing and some specialised applications
like Maths/Statistics and Structural engineering. The computer system at Bombay will
also have Graphics subsystem thereby providing facilities like Graphics/Plot software
and CAD/CAM. Thus the network will meet the requirements of a wide range of users
in various fields like scientific, industrial, commercial, rural, etc., and provide for local,
remote and distributed data processing.
Distributed data processing will be yet another major advantage of the network.
The organisations spread all over the country, like banks and other Industries can have
their data base maintained in a distributed way at INDONET Host computer systems.
Because the computing and storing facilities are quite sizable, it will facilitate the
processing of those applications which otherwise cannot be run on small systems for
want of computing power, main storage or disk capacity. The project will also meet
the requirements of very sophisticated type of users, say in the field of CAD/CAM and
structural engineering.
In short, it may be said that the project INDONET will address the social,
technological as well as promotional needs of computing in the country. The fallouts
can be numerous and this project may lead to other computer networks as may be
required in the future.
8.0

Project Proposal

8.1

Computer

facilities for Libraries

The fast tempo of socio-economic development activities have highlighted the


need for modem information handling tools. Combined with this need, the technological
development in electronic and communication, and the steep fall in prices have
prompted the introduction of these techniques in the libraries. With the availability
of these modem information handling tools at economical cost and the availability of
library scientists with considerable knowhow about these tools, the introduction of
computers in libraries is a matter of time.
The libraries can be grouped into small, medium and large libraries depending
upon their collection, periodicals/journals being subscribedand number of users. The
185

grouping can be as follows:


Small Libraries: Less than 10,000 books, 100 journals being
subscribed, users around 100.
Medium Libraries: 10,000 to 40,000 books, 250 journals being
subscribed, users about 250.
Large Libraries: More than 40,000 books, more than 250
journals being subscribed, users more than 500.
The various Library/Information
are as follows:

(9

jobs that can be considered for computerisation

Maintenance of union catalogue

(ii)

Bibliographic

on-line search

(iii)

Circulation control

(iv)

Current serials control

(VI

Book acquisition

(vi)

Journal subscription and its management

(vii)

Current awareness service.

These applications may not require high processing power but the computer
configuration should be such that it could provide a reliable and efficient.service to the
user community.
Computer

Configuration

For a small library having less than 10,000 books collection and about 100
periodicals the main computer application would be maintenance of catalogues and
controlling
the collection. The configuration that may be required would be a
minicomputer with a mass storage of about 20 MB, a line printer, a floppy drive and
2 to 3 interactive terminals. These terminals will be mainly required for up-dating the
files and providing retrieval service to the user. As alternative to the mini-computer
186

one couldl conceive of providing the same facilities through interactive terminals from
one of the computing system available in that locality. This solution pre-supposes the
availability of a computing facility within the locality of the library.
In addition to
this computing facility, a copying equipment is essential for providing hard copies
to the users. The cost of such a computer system will work out to be around Rs.6 lakhs.
During the Seventh Plan atleast 20% of the small libraries should be computerised.
For the medium size library, the total collection will be around 30,000 and will
have a larger user population. The collection and cataloguing will be more voluminous
compared to the small library. The software that would be required to control and
manage these volumes will be more or less the same except for the size it has to handle.
Looking into these requirements a computer with 40 MB of mass storage, a medium
speed line printer, one tape drive and about 5 to 10 terminals will be required to provide
an efficient service to the users. The medium size library should also have a good
reprographic service with copying equipment and medium speed microfilm reader/
printer for providing reprographic service to the user community. The cost of these
equipment will work out to be of the order of Rs.10 to 12 lakhs per item. During the
Seventh Plan 30% of these libraries should be computerised.
For a large library with a collection of more than 40,000, the management and
control application will be more complicated and would definitely require the
computerised system for providing an efficient service. All library management and
control applicationswould need to be computerised in a large library.
Further, the
library will also have to provide service based mechanised bibliographic data from
international agencies. Looking into these requirements a large library would require
a computer with around 100 MB of storage, a medium speed line printer, two tape
drives, a floppy disk and about 20 interactive terminals. The interactive terminals
should be located at all user areas including the various sections of the library for
providing interactive service to all the users. The system and the configuration should
be chosen to provide a fast response and also to enable retrospective search in certain
applications. In addition to these, the large library should have a very good reprography
section with all modem reprography equipments including fast copying equipment,
micro film reader/printer.
It should also contain an Audio-visual equipment for
providing self training tools. As the printed material is becoming expensive the trend
would be in future for providing certain printed material in the video cassette form.
Looking at these future methods of literary transaction, it would be ideal to set up these
facilities in the large library to inculcate video mode training to the user community.
The cost of computerised system for a large library would workout to be of the

187

order of about Rs.25 lakhs per centre. During the Seventh Plan atleast 50% of the large
libraries should be computerised, if the libraries are to play a vital role in the
socioeconomic development of the country.
Interlinking

of library system

The small libraries cater to only a specific user community in only specific areas.
But at the same time, it may have to provide information in other areas by obtaining it
from other libraries. Depending on the type of requirements it may be necessary to
interlink the library systems to exchange information. Without going into the pros
and cons of such linkage, it is essential to have a plan action for setting up such linkage.
Any such linkage should be economical and practicable. With this view, it is proposed
to link a small library to a medium size library and medium to large one. All large
libraries should be interlinked. This will provide a greater flexibility for inter change
of information in the fastest way. This will also enable small libraries to concentrate
their collection in specific area. Through such connections, one could also conceive
to provide bibliographic services based on information collected from international
agencies. This type of approach will get maximum returns for the investment proposed.
Such networks can be enhanced subsequently to provide video test service.
Investment

Profile

There are around 1200 small libraries, 600 medium and 300 large libraries.
During the seventh plan, it is proposed to computerise 20% of small, 40% of medium
and 50% of the large libraries. The total investment will be of the order of about Rs.75
crores during the seventh plan. This investment will also enable to establish some
element of networking between the various systems.
In addition to the hardware investment proposed, investments have to be made for
development of software and training of the relevant manpower. The library science
courses have to be strengthened further with computer application course. Some
nodal agencies have to be identified for standardizing procedures and mechanism
before implementing any such scheme.
9.0

Recommendations

1)

The present library community should be exposed to the concept of


computers and its usage. For this, awareness and specific library
oriented programs should be conducted.

188

2)

The library training courses should be enlarged to include computer


Emphasis should be more on information
application aspects.
handling, Organisation and usage.

3)

During the Seventh Plan period the goal should be to computerise


most of the major libraries. This should becarried out in a systematic
manner so that information exchange is possible. Certain standards
with respect to hardware and software have to be evolved.

4)

A Group has to be set up at the apex level to work out the plan for
computerisation.
The group should also work
out standard
specifications for hardware and software for implementationat various
levels. This group should consist of computer specialists, library
scientists and educational experts. The group should be made
responsible for monitoring and evaluating the computerisation in
libraries.

5)

Software development activities have to be initiated for evolving a


standard software for meeting the library requirements. This should
be implemented for standard indigenous systems.

6)

In developing the computer applications, importance should be given


for developing a union catalogue and a national bibliography.

7)

A plan for interlinking the library systems should be workedout. It


should give a detailed plan of action for developing the library
network.
New technologies (telematics) like videotext, teletex provide ample
opportunities for disseminating information at the cheapest possible
manner. Such systems should be experimented with a view to study
its impact on the society. It will enable to access a wide variety of
data in the shortest time.

189
-^--

I_----..

--

Annexure-2
Establishment

of an Information and Library Network Project Report by the


Inter-Agency Working Group, December 1988
Executive Summary

Introduction
This document sets out a project proposal for the establishment and development
of an information and library network, in short called as inflibnet, in the country during
the eighth five year plan (1990- 1995) period.
INFLIBNET is a computer - communication network of libraries
and bibliographical information centres.
It is a major national effort to improve capability in information transfer
and access, that provide support to scholarship, learning, research and
academic pursuits.
Institutions of higher learning covering all disciplines, R&D institutions
and national organisations like CSIR, ICAR, DRDO, ICMR, ICSSR,
ICHR, AICTE, DAE, DOT, DOE, IGNCA, etc., participate in the
INFLIBNET.
What is INFLIBNET
INFLlBNET is a cooperative network and will contribute to
pooling, sharing and optimisation of resources, facilities and
services of libraries and information centres in the university
system as well as in the R&D complexes
It is a major programme towards modernisation of libraries
and information centres in the country, with application of
computer and communication technologies.
INFLIBNET is a multiple function/service network. It will
offer catalogue based services, database services, document
supply services, collection development and communication

basedservices.
190

Why INFLIBNET
Approximately a total sum of Rs. 1500 million/annum is spent
towards books and journals by all the libraries concerned with
higher education.
Still a researcher/faculty in any institution is handicapped
due to paucity of resources and services offered by his library.
It is neither possible nor feasible to fund all the libraries in
the country so as to be self-sufficient in meeting fully the
needsof their users.
Instead, if users are enabled to have access to holdings of
each other library, the total national resources could be used
optimally by everyone. This will also ensure that the libraries
avoid, to a great extent, duplication in procuring costly
books/journals and aim at developing more unique collection.
-

Overall economy and improvement of efficiency as well as


minimising the incidence of financial and other constraints faced
at the level of individual libraries are expected to accrue from
the network. Apart from this, the academic communities could,
through the network, establish instant contact with their coun
terparts in any part of the country for academic conversation.

How INFLIBNET will function ?


INFLIBNET is a versatile, integrated library and information
system; yet, it operates at different levels-national, regional, sectoral
and local.
The catalogue of libraries will be aggregated bottom-upwards
i.e., from college/department to university library and to regional
centre. Secondary information/database maintenance and services will
be taken care of by sector-al information centre.

End users will be served mainly at local level such as college, department,
university and R&D institution. About 400 nodes are planned initially
for this purpose.

191

There will be a national centre for managing, overseeing and coordinating


the affairs of the network and four regional centres (North, East, West
and South) which will maintain union catalogue of holdings of libraries
in the regions and database of projects, institutions and specialists.
At the sectoral level, three UGC Information Centres are proposed,
NISSAT sectoral centres and other centres which perform national level
functions and services in specific subjects/disciplines/missions are
included.
The sectoral centres will acquire, create and access retrospective and
current bibliographic databases and offer a variety of modem information
services.
As many as 100 university and R&D institutional libraries will be
designated and equipped to serve as document resource centres for
purpose of document delivery service.
Standardization

in Operation and Service


Uniformity in techniques, procedures and methods among participating
libraries is a pre-requisite for networking.
Standardisation in library and information practices is, therefore, stressed
upon.
The INFLIBNET will have its own standards based on existing national
and international practices, for uniform adoption through out the
network. These relate to areas like classification, subject heading,
cataloguing, input format, exchange format, physical format and
information processing.

Application

Software Requirement
While emphasising upon software compatibility as a major factor in
the computerisation programme of the inflibnet, prospects and potentials
for developing application softwares for different types of services and
for different nodes have been discussed in this report.
A strategy for developing application software packages for the overall
192

requirements of INFLIBNET as well as for automation


library level has been indicated in the report.

at individual

Note: Services and functions are not listed according to priorities.


Explanation:

.-

: National Centre
: Regional Centre
: Sectoral Information Centre including UGC
Information Centres
UL
: University Library
CL/uDL : Library of College/Department of University
CDL
: Centralized Department (University) Library
R&DC : Research & Development Centre Library
Y
: Yes
NC
RC
SIC

193
e_l^_--.. ___--_ll

INFLIBNET

Services/Functions

The following Table gives the proposed network services/functions at different


levels
Services/Functions

NC

RC

SIC

UL

CL/UDL

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

CDL

R&DC

Services
Cataloguing
Catalogue Production
Catalogue Search
Collection Development
Book Processing
Inter-Library Loan
Document Deliver
Referral
Electronic Mail
Bulletin Board
Bibliographic Database
Search
Database of Projects,
Specialists, Institutions
Union Catalogue
Retrospective Bibliographic
Databases Search
Selection Dissemination
of Information
Current Awareness Service

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y

Functions
Library Automation
Circulation
Management
Standardisation
Library Automationall subsystems
Administration
Training

Y
Y

Y
194

Y
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y

Y
Y

Y
Y
Y

System/Service
Development Support
Technical Services
Consulting
Communication
Switching
Maintenance
Marketing
Publicity

Hardware

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y

YY
Y
Y

Y
Y

Sysem Requirement
It is essential that all the participating
a suitable computer system. *

nodes of the INFLIBNET

have

Keeping in view the functions and servicesas well as features characteristic


of different levels, technical specifications of the computer hardware
system and the infrastructure thereof for regional centre, sectoral
information centre, university library (big, medium, small) college
library and R&D institutional library have been drawn.
Taking into consideration parameters
tier organisation, system hierarchy,
characteristics and volume of traffic
architecture fcr the INFLIBNET has

such as multiple functions, multiconnectivity requirements, traffic


flow, a suitable communication
been proposed.

A hybrid version of satellite and terestrial networking is recommended.


The communication system will have a central hub and 400 ground
terminals at 150 university libraries, 50 autonomous colleges/pg
centres and 200 others comprising R&D Institutions, documentresource
centres and sectoral centres, to be inter connected via satellite link.
For inter-connecting the nodes in a city, when they are many, local area
network is advocated.

In view of random traffic pattern, the slotted ALOHA scheme for


uplinking from small .terminals and the TDMA scheme for uplinking
from the central hub have been recommended:
195
..-..

_.

--.11

^._.

-.

___.

___--

Retrospective

Conversion of Records
For catalogue based activities like shared cataloging and union catalogue,
about 9 million unique catalogue records of retrospective collections of
179 university libraries have to be converted/unified into a common
catalogue database by a prescribed standard practice.
A part of the work will be attempted by matching the catalogue records
with those available from down-loaded imported tapes/catalogues
as LC-MARC, OCLC and WLN of USA.
A plan of action to complete the work in a period of two years with
students assistance has been drawn.
A mechanism has been suggested for inputing and processing data in a
machine readable form.
The ultimate aim is that the university libraries will
catalogue in a machine readable form.

have a unified

Personal Requirements
The INFLIENET will be provided with an adequate complement of
professionally qualified personnel to man the network and to provide
information services to the users.
The personnel requirement for units, levels and network as a whole has
been projected.
Towards staff development, more particularly in the context of introducing
computer and communication technologies, long term and short term
as well as regular and continuing education training programmes, to
be carried out at national and regional centres, have been planned.
Management

Mechanism
The management mechanism of INFLIBNET
provides for its
establishment as a registered society with the office located in New
Delhi.

196

INFLIBNET will have a policy making governing council, a governing


body for taking executive decisions and statutory committees like
finance committee and technical advisory committee.
The director of the national centre will be responsible for administration
and management of the INFLIBNET.
Being a national mission and a multi-institutional
agencies/departments and other orgarkations
information, computer and communication
represented in the management machinery.
Pre-Project

project, UGC, science


interested in library,
areas are adequately

Activities
Before the INFLIBNET is implemented there is a need to prepare
detailed guidelines in vital areas like network communication software,
library automation, development of union catalogue,retrospectivedata
conversion and database services.
With the help of expert task groups constituted for the purpose, the above
mentioned guidelines are proposed to be worked out.
These technical details will constitute the guidelines for implementing
the INFLIBNET at all levels.

Implementation

Mechanism
Activities leading to the fulfilment of the targets will be carried out in
four years and in two phases of two years each, starting from aprill990
i.e., the first year of the eighth five year plan.

The Targets to be aimed at in the implementation

are:

(i)

Establishment of a national centre and four regional centres.

(ii)

Continuing the existing three UGC INFORMATION

(iii)

Linking NISSAT and other sectoral,/nationaI level centres.

(iv)

Linking atleast 200 R&D institutions

CENTRES.

as network participants

(v)

Supporting and introducing


500 college libraries.

automation in 170 university libraries and

(vi)

Augmenting facilities in 100 libraries (of university and R&D institutions)


to serve as document resource centres.

(vii) Establishing the communication system consisting of a central hub and


400 ground terminals at 150 university libraries, 50 FG centres/autonomous
colleges and 200 R&D institutions.

Cost Implications
The cost incidence of the Project relats to

(9

Creation of national centre and four regional centres

(ii)

Support to 170 university 500 college libraries for library automation and
200 R&D institutions for participation in the INFLIBNET.

(iii)

Upgrading facilities of 100 document resource centres.

(iv> Communication linkages with about 40 sectoral and national level centres.
(VI

Retrospective conversion of catalogue records and

(vi)

Setting up of the communication system.


The Government of India is to provide funds to the INFLIBNET
to establish and run the network.

Society

The total cost of implementing the iINFLIBNET in the first four years
comes to Rs.1506 million, comprising Rs. 1030.08 million for nonrecurring and Rs. 476.76 million for recurring. The major heads of
expenditure are: communication system (Rs.293.9 million), provision of
computer system (Rs.464.0 Million), infrastructure (Rs. 178.0 million,
data capturing (Rs. 44.2 million ), building (Rs. 17.8 million )
personnel (Rs. 196.6 million), maintenance (Rs. 180.9 million) and
document collection, contingencies, etc., (Rs. 13 1.35 million).

In the I-phase (April 1990 - March 1992) a sum of Rs. 551.64 million and in
198

the II phase (April 1992 - March


implement the project.

1994) a sum of Rs.955.2 million are required to

Recommendations
Some main recommendations which are directed towards taking administrative
and executive actions are listed in the report.
Conclusion
The progress to be aimed at in implementing the INFLIBNET the first
four years will set the pace for transforming the library scenario of the
country towards modernisation, involving application of computer and
communication technologies.
In the management of library and information system in the country
at macro level, INFLIBNET, when fully established, will be a costbenefit action programme.

Annexure - 3
Excerpts from the Report of the Inter Governmental Conference on Strategies and
Policies for Informatics (SPIN), Torremolinos, Spain, August/September 1978.
Subsequent to the Regional Seminar in New Delhi and similar seminars in other
regions, an Inter-governmental Conference on Strategies and Policies for Informatics
Jointly organised by UNESCO and IBI took place in Torremolinos, Malaga (Spain) from
28th August to 6th September 1978. Among the set of recommendations made in the
SPIN Conference, the following 24 recommendations have a direct or indirect bearing
on the setting up of a Regional Informatics Network for Asia and The Pacific (RINAP).
The Torremolinos

Recommendations

1)

Countries that have developed substantial database capabilities should provide


in their programmes for the use of scientific and technological information
resources by all interested countries.

2)

International agreements should be established on the rights of States in respect


of trans-border data flows, providing for the protection of information held by
Government, private institutions and individuals.

3)

Concerted efforts should be made at the international level to examine problems


shared by different nations, efforts which in the light of what is at stake, should
concentrate on the following:

a>

Distinguishing between questions relating to the data flows themselves


and those relating to the means of transmission.

b)

Defining the conditions of compatibility between the principle of the free


flow of information and the necessary regulations

c>

Considering the political, economic social and legal dimensions of the


problem of data flows without seeking to reduce them, in a single
international instrument, to only one of such aspects.

d)

Taking into account the special circumstances of the different regions


and the state of advancement of thinking in the various geographical
zones.

200

4)

Government, in devising strategies for introduction of computerised information


systems give due consideration to the development of telecommunication
services andnetworksfor theeffective attainmentof their objectivesin informatics
including
those required for regional networks.
The International
Telecommunication Union should take relevant action with member countries in
this regard.

5)

With active participation of the International Standards Organization bring about


proper zandardization in the fields of informatics which will facilitate information
cooperation between countries of the region.

6)

UNESCO should examine the necessary ways and means of organising and
achieving trans-national transfer of information taking into account all necessary
conditions given to these issues within the particular countries and by international
forum.

7)

Establish training facilities and provide teachers of informatics in cooperation


with developing countries.

8)

Make available to nations of developing countries avenues of training at higher


levels elsewhere at reasonable costs.

9)

Provide international standard documents, as the needs may arise on such issues
as contractual and acquisition al terms codes of marketing conduct, etc., binding
on both parties while the contract subsists.

10)

Make regularly available to developing countries, information materials on


progress in the field of informatics, including changing prices and policies.

11)

Provide a regular reference catalogue on sources of consultancy in informatics


for developing countries.

12)

Take immediate steps to encourage regional cooperation between developing


countries in the field of informatics especially in applications and maintenance
of equipment.

13)

Inform governments,especially those of developing countries of the problems


that may exist and be discovered in the applications of informatics.

14)

Within the frame-work of UNESCO and Advisory Group of Experts to study and
201

prepare prac tic al proposals on present problems in informatics, including current


trends in the development of informatics, machinery for the scientific forecasting
of the development of informatics and the future establishment of a world
software bank.
15)

UNESCO should considerably strengthen and expand its programmes in the


training of personnel and specialists in informatics, make available on the request
of member states the services of highly qualified and independent consultants
and experts and assist member states in organising training courses, Seminars.
Workshops, etc., in order to enable them to train more personnel and specialists,
in cooperation with other specialized Agencies of the United National system.

16)

UNESCO may actively promote the widest possible exchange of experience of


Member States and the latest information on informatics among member states.

17)

UNESCO, because of its multi-disciplinary nature, could serve as a focal point


for international action and cooperation within the United Nations system by
promoting an integrated multidisciplinary approach to the study of and research
in informatics in accordance with the principles of self-reliance and within the
context of the new dimensions of technical cooperation.

18)

UhESCO, and other international organisations promote the signing of multinational cooperation agreements between countries belonging to regions with a
similar culture, language and level of technological development, in order to
encourage the growth of indigenous technology and the adaptation to the region
of technology from abroad.

1%

That such organizations lead their support and collaboration to the countries of
each region, particularly the developing countries in order to:

(a>

Foster a balance in the development of informatics throughout the region.

(b)

Disseminate information about experience in Informatics throughout the


region.

(cl

Make rational arrangements for obtaining technical cooperation from


outside the region, taking into consideration the cost involved, the
sources of cooperation and the colonizing effect of certain technical
cooperation programmes.

202

0-0

Determine the human resources which the countries could provide on a


counter-part basis in order to avail themselves of the benefits of technical
cooperation and

Cd

Fit the content of technical cooperation into the national and regional and
regional plans concerning informatics.

20)

Governments of Member Countries should make efforts toexchangeexperiences


and information acquired in ascertaining their needs and in meeting them, special
consideration should be given to the exchange of experiences and information
among countries at similar stages of informatics development situated in
homogeneous regions.

21)

Additional efforts should be made to develop compatible systems of evaluation


particularly among developing countries, with due attention being given to the
need for establishing norms, standards and classifications of hardware and
software in such a way as facilitate comparisons and exchange of experiences
and information; UNESCO continuing and strengthening their traditional
cooperation while encouraging a clear and distinct division of work, should be
called upon to participate in such additional efforts; these efforts should take into
particular account the non-homogeneous nature of present day societies, and
should take into account the varying degrees of needs and problems and the
varying types of solution which must be developed in order to meet the rich
diversification of situations in the world.

22)

Governments of member countries should encourage and help original thinking


in meeting the challenges of informatization in their societies, with a view to
diminishing the pitfalls which might accrue from the importation of techniques
developed for and aimed at distinct economic, social and cultural situation this
might involve the design of new equipment, new ways of utilizing present
equipment and the manner and extent of introducing informatics systems to the
new situations.

23)

The UNESCO and other international organisations should encourage and


support the organisations of conferences, seminars, congresses and other similar
events for the analysis and dissemination of all aspects of informatics, dealing
with technical progress in this field and with improvements in the organisation
and management of informatics.

203

Annexxure

-4

Excerpts from the Vienna Programme


Development, 1979

of Action on Science & Technology

for

Scientific and technological

system

information

30. National scientific and technological information systems should be formulated as


an integral part of the overall national development plans. This should include
responsibilities such as planning, programmedevelopment,coordination
and stimulation
of information activities. Such systems should also include among their functions the
appropriate coordination with the international information networks.
3 1. Developing countries, in order to improve and intensify the exchange of information
through person to person contracts, should promote and support scientific and professional
associations.
33. Developing countries should strengthen and coordinate their agricultural and
industrial extension services in order to achieve a more effective and more efficient
transfer of information to the end users, particularly in the rural areas, and to allow feed
back to the research and development institutions concerned.
44. (a) Measures should be adopted with a view, inter alia, to organising appropriate
forms of awareness, on the part of the public, of the role of science and technology in the
development process on the basis of, for instance, achievements of other developing
countries as well as promoting subregional and regional scientific and technical
publications.
(b) Measures should also be taken by developing countries to raise the awareness
of the public at large in the developed countries of the problems experienced by
developing countries in the process of achieving scientific and technological development.
45. In accordance with national laws and regulations, developing countries should
establish suitable interlinked information networks and data banks which would, inter
alia, enable exchanges of information on science and technology and on training and
education programmes, conditions for the transfer of technology, terms of foreign
investment and activities of national and trans-national corporations and enterprises in
the field of science and technology. Such networks should provide for adequate
coordination with international information networks.

204

46. Developing countries should share among themselves information and experience
in the most relevant fields, such as agriculture, health, communications, industrisalisation
and the like. They should establish cooperative arrangements and technical and managerial
skills for sharing this information.
58. Information systems and networks to be established at sub-regional, regional, and
international levels should ensure close linkages with the national information systems
to provide all support for strengthening the national science and technology information
capacity, inc!uding systems to facilitate access to technology information contained in
patent documents, through training, institution building and inter governmental
cooperation in classifying, publishing and exchanging such documents.
64. International organisations should act as a tool for systematic exchange of
information on experiences of different countries in all field s pertaining to the
application of science and technology for development. In this connection, continuing
consideration should be given to the establishment of a global and international
information network, within the United Nations system, where emphasis will be placed
on priority needs of the developing countries. An outline of such a network is contained
in Section II.
Establishment

of global and international

network

70. The scientific and technological international information network should include
the following features:

(4

The network should be designed to meet particularly the needs of the


developing countries and to provide access to information for users who
contribute to problem-solving activities and decisions relating to
development;

(b)

The network should operate, inter alia, as a channeling mechanism


facilitating contact between users and suppliers of information;

(c>

In each country there should exist one national focal point for its different
subnetworks while at the same time there should be, at the world level,
under the auspices of the United National, a global centre focal point;

Cd)

Each national focal point have the information on information for its
country; the global central focal point should have the same for the world;

(e)

The global central focal point will provide information


all national focal points. Users should be able to
information, or information-on-information, normally
focal point and from other national focal points either
their own national focal point;

(9

In cases of difficulty of obtaining a response from any other national


point, the global central focal point should take measures to ensure the
required information is provided;

The global central focal point and individual country focal points should
be managed by qualified personnel capable of easily, promptly and
clearly understanding the requests for information and of directing the
requests to the appropriate source;

@I

Each focal point should have the appropriate communication facilities so


as to be able to receive or supply information as fast as needed, either
directly through the individual national focal point or through the global
one.

on-information to
obtain the needed
from their national
directly or through

71. National information systems and networks should aim to ensure access to and
facilitate utilisation of national and international sources of information on science and
technology in order to stimulate endogenous development and national capacity for
innovation and to support the assessment, transfer and adaptation of technology. This
requires, inter alia:

(a)

The training of specialised manpower.

(b)

The development of infrastructures, including communication facilities,


data banks, libraries, documentation centres, archives, back up literature,
hardware and software;

cc>

The development of the necessary information handling procedures and


techniques, tools, methods, norms and standards;

Cd)

The improvement of the stock of primary documents in developing


countries taking into account the establishment, when this proves
necessary, of central libraries or documentation centres;

09

That care should be taken that all countries should have access to the
206
._....-

information systems of developed countries permitting research online.


73. Taking into account the urgency of the task, the scientific and technological
international information network should be developed sequentially and in an evolutionary
fashion so as to meet particularly the needs of the developing countries ensuring the
maximum availability of information such as:
(a) Information required for development of science and technology;
(b) Information regarding the national capacity in science and technology;
(c) Technological information contained in patent documents;
(d) National programme in science and technology.
74. The global and international information network should be so developed as to
meet particularly the needs of the developing countries. Priority should be given to
covering scientific, technical, socio-economic, legal and other aspects needed for
decision making in the selection and transfer of technology. The existing information
systems within the United Nations and other international bodies set up for the exchange
of scientific and technological information and which are also serving as industrial
technology data banks should form an integral part of the proposed global network. Data
form the developed and the developing countries on available technologies, conditions
of licensing, identification of suitable experts, engineering and consultancy services and
the like should be widely available so as to promote their effective utilisation, thereby
strengthening the concept of the global international network.
75. The developing and the developed countries should participate, in and make better
use of, the existing scientific and technical information systems and take such steps as
would enable their own information systems to be coupled to the global information
network and ensure that all support is provided for the effective use of this global
network.
Scientific and technological

information

systems

96. There is a need for strengthening the existing and developing new information
centres and networks in developing countries. These activities could be effectively
pursued within the organs, organisations and bodies of the United Nations system. The
establishment of a global network of scientific and technological information should be
carried out as specified in paragraphs 70 to 75 above.
207

97. The organs, organisations and bodies of the United Nations system should
improve the existing information services and provide measures to coordinate their
effective utilisation in the field of science and technology.
98. The organs, organisations and bodies of the United Nations system should further
develop and coordinate their scientific and technological publication services in order
to make available the most important world publications in the various scientific and
technological and technology, in all the official languages of the United Nations.

208

Annexure - 5
Excerpts from the Note by the Secretary General to the UN General Assembly on
the operational plan for the implementation of thevienna Programmeof Action on
Science & Technology for Development.
VI. Scientific and Technological

Information

Promction and use of scientific and technological


3.
development.
(a)

information

for national

Education and training of information users.

285. Sophisticated information system and services are of no value unless they are
recognised and used by the potential customers. There are many conditions for the
effective use of an information system or service, but the following two are essential: the
system or service must provide information that is adequate and adapted to the users
requirements; and users should be motivated to use the information systemor service and
should have the skill to do so.
286. Most of the existing systems and services are not utilised because it is not known
that they exist and because sometimes the information is not packaged in a form that
lends itself to easy use on the part of the user. Information is often over-produced but
under-utilised. In that respect, the training and education of users and suppliers of
information is fundamental. The economy and efficiency of information systems
determines how extensively the systems are used. They are tow main aspects of the
education and training of users. First of all, the potential user must be aware of the role
and value of the information in his or her field of interest, and secondly, he or she must
have sufficient knowledge of how to use information.
287. In order to improve the use made of information, it expected that national training
programmes will be initiated or strengthened by Governments or that various national
institutions will set up training programmes in developing countries at the elementary,
secondary, university levels forpotential users, such asdevelopment planners,programme
administrators, rural workers etc. The programmes should be organised in close
cooperation with relevant international organisations. The United Nations system
should, on request, assist the preparation of guidelines for user training, the development
of syllabi, the publication of training packages, and the preparation of teachers and
educational personnel (in,ir)

209

policy
(b) Promotion of scientific and technological information among
makers, the scientific and engineering community and among the public at large.
288. The Vienna Programme of Action asks for extensive promotional activity of
scientific and technological information in developing countries. Promotional activity
should be organiseed at the national level, taking into account local needs and local
conditions. Accordingly, promotion is expected to be addressed to all groups of users,
and especially to policy makers, planners and managers who may not be sufficiently
aware of the role of information in their respective fields or of the benefits which
scientific and technical information can provide the national economy. It should also be
addressed to all those who are involved in development programmes at the grass-roots
level, such as extension workers, mass media personnel, advisors and teachers, in order
to familisarise users with information and its sources of supply.
289. The promotional activity for the scientific and engineering community consists of
training of new information technologies and new information media. Persons with a
scientific and engineering background should be increasingly utilised for operating
information and advisory services. Special long term promotional activities largest age
group in developing countries.
290. The activity will be internationally supported through:

(4

Case studies on the role and use of information in different regions (ii),

(b)

Publications of promotional and training material addressed to different


groups of users for the improvement of their information use capability. (ii)

4. Information

systems at the regional level

29 1. The collection, compilation and analysis of information on technological alternatives


and ownership of technology is a complex and time consuming process. The duplication
of costs and efforts can be significantly reduced if, in certain sectors where regional
similarities exist, national information systems are coordinated within the region. Such
information-sharing and coordination of national efforts in sectors of relevance to
countries in the region can partly be undertaken by the centralised national technological
information system and/or by coordination of the specialised research and development
and scientific institutions. Regional information gathering and sharing can extend to the
exchange of information and experience in certain sectors with mutual interest to the
member countries.

210

292. An important aspect of information-sharing among the member countries is the


exchange of information on the acquisition of foreign technology. Such information
would include the terms and conditions of technology acquisition from foreign licensers
of technology and knowhow, the experience with the operation of foreign licensers, the
of adaptation undertaken in the country and the development of the technological
capacity of the domestic user enterprises.
293. Similarly, regional information gathering and sharing would include the exchange
of information on indigenously developed technology. In many cases, such technology
tends to be more appropriate to the factor resources and needs of the member countries
than foreign sources of technology originating in developed countries. Such indigenously
developed technology, whether it is developed by State owned research and development
institutions or by enterprises in the private sector, would need a promotion effort by
member countries and establishment of appropriate institutional channels for their
transfer and dissemination to enterprises in the Member States.
294. In support of national, subregional or regional action, the United Nations system
should help in the establishment of regional information systems according to development
objectives (in,ir).
5. Establishment of a global and international network for the exchange of scientific and
technological information.
295. Over the past six years considerable attention has been given by the General
Assembly and other international fora to the concept of a network for the exchange of
scientific and technological information. For example, in resolution 3507 (xxx), the
General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to establish the Interagency Task
force on Information Exchange and the Transfer of Technology. that Task Force further
developed the concept of the network and, testing it against the findings of studies at the
national, regional and international levels, concluded that the concept was valid and that
the establishment of such a network was feasible.
296. The broad objective of the network as envisaged by the Vienna Conference and the
General Assembly is to enable the user to obtain scientific and technological information
related to a specific need, regardless of the location of the information and without
respect to national boundaries - with due regard, however, to the proprietary character
of certain such information.
297. Hence, the network must be viewed as a mechanism for the world-wide coupling
of problem solverswith information services,which could facilitate the accessto and use
211

of problem solving information resources. It should be established under the following


premises:
(a>

It should not replace any of the existing or planned sectoral, national,


regional or international information networks but should, rather, be
viewed as a means of strengthening them and providing, through a shared
knowledge of the operations of all participating organisations, the means
for their intercommunication and linkage.

(b)

It should facilitate access to scientific and technological information in


developing countries, among developing countries and between them
and developed countries.

Cc)

It should be hospitable to a variety of technological information sources


and services, the extent of which would be determined by user
requirements.

(4

It must allow for the participation of all countries.

(4

It should be composed of a large number of individual nodes and the links


between them. the nodes could be sources, processors and users of
scientific and technological information at the national, regional and
international levels, in the private or public sector.

(0

It should be designed in such a way that every participant, without losing


any autonomy of action, would be strengthened by its ability to have
access to any other participant through the links of the network.

298. An essential pre-requisite for the effective operation of the proposed network for
the exchange of scientific and technological information is the establishment of a variety
of institutions, facilities and services responsible for policy making, technological
information services, documentation centres, libraries, universities and the end users of
information. Thus, there is need at the national level for such functions as identification
of end users and their needs; information policy formulation and implementation;
training and advice; information resources and source identification; information
delivery and extension services; referral services; translation and printing.
299. In developing countries there are three major categories of end users:
(a)

Those at the national, political or institutional level, including planners,


212

decision makers, negotiators, researchers, teachers and students;

Those who apply technology such as managers,engir.eers and physicians;

cc>

Those who use technology on a less sophisticated, smaller scale in the


informal sectors of urban and rural areas.

The network structures at the national level should be adequate to cater to the needs of
that spectrum of end users.
300. At the international level the most readily available information services, systems
and programmes have been those established by the organisations of the United Nations
system. They can be grouped as follows:
(a) Referral systems and services;
(b) Clearing houses;
(c) Bibliographical

information systems;

(d) Data Banks or systems;


(e) Information analysis systems;
(f) International registers
In addition, the organisations of the United Nations system have programmes for setting
up and contributing to information infrastructure at the national and regional levels in
developing countries.
301. It is therefore clear that the establishment of the network should evolve from
ongoing national, regional and global activities. The implementation of the network may
be done on a pilot sectoral basis. It must be pointed out, however, that the setting up of
a global network for the exchange of scientific and technological information will be an
enormous task and cannot be the subject of one time action but must rather be a process
of evolution over several years during which considerable effort will have to be made by
national administrations, regional intergovernmental organisations and the United
Nations system as well as the international scientific and technological community at
large.

213
llll_-.--.-

._

302. As a first step towards the implementation of the recommendations of the Vienna
Programme of Action for the creation of a global information network, the following
actions are proposed:

(a)

Priority areas should be identified for the sectoral implementation of the


network over the next five years (iv, ii).

(b)

Technical evaluation of ongoing activities within the United Nations


system in each sector should be carried out to determine their utilisation
in the network (ii).

cc>

The identification of nodes in member countries, such as universities,


scientific and technological institutions, sectoral information centres,
etc., should be undertaken in order to determine their participation in the
network and select suitable institutions to act as national or regional
sectoral focal points. (i)

. Cd)

The assessment of technical, financial and manpower requirements


should be carried out to support and sustain the sectoral information
centres. (ii)

The technical and administrative procedures and cost of eventual


integration of the sector-al network into a full fledged operational global
network should be examined. (ii)

214

ANNEXURE
Structure and Functions of the Intergovernmental
of UNESCO

Informatics

Programme

-6
(IIP)

(Dot. No.SC-90)/
CONF. 210/3)
Intergovernmental Informatics Programme(IIP) was launched by UNESCO in
1,982 with the following objectives and terms of reference.
1.1

The starting point : UNESCO started IIP on the following considerations:

informatics is necessary and indeed essential for development, regarded as an


overall process involving all the human, economic, social and cultural components of
society;
too many developing countries have fallen extremely far behind in the informatics
field, which seriously jeopardizes their development and prevents them from being at all
competitive, particularly at the economic level;
considering that they continue to be just as far behind despite measures taken on
a bilateral basis or under the &spices of other governmental and non-governmental
professional organizations, it would seem that only active, sustained international cooperation might be able, if not to reduce the gaps, at least to stop them growing any wider;
since informatics pervades every sphere, particularly education, science and
technology, Unesco should take action in respect of computer science so as to ensure that
each Member State possesses the minimum basis from which genuine comprehensive,
endogenous development can really be achieved.
1.2

Fields of action

The Interim Intergovernmental Committee, meeting on the initiative of the


General Conference of UNESCO at its twenty-second session, in November 1984,
recommended that UNESCO should launch an Intergovernmental Informatics Programme
(IIP) whose main fields of action would be as follows:
establishment of national policies to incorporateinformaticsin

plans;

215

national development

optimization of human resources through the training of informatics specialists,


decision-makers, users and instructors with a view to the introduction and spread of
informatics in the education system at all levels;
establishment and strengtheningofinforrnaticsinfiastructure,maintenance
local networks and telecommunications;

services,

promotion of research in informatics and scientific research using the facilities


offered by informatics.
1.3

Objectives

Taking these recommendations as a basis for its work, the Intergovernmental


Committee for IIP gave more thought to what they meant so as to set realistic objectives
for IIP and to translate them into a programme of action.
The development objectives of IIP revolve around the principle of the optimization
of human resources through informatics, in other to achieve faster progress, and for
informatics, with a view to ensuring that it is mastered and put to rational use in the
context of comprehensive, sustainable development.
Objective of development through qualitative and quantitative improvements in
training and through the careful introduction of informatics in education systems.
Objective of production through the establishment or strengthening of structures
for software production and for the development and maintenance of systems adapted
to the development needs and to the capacity of each country.
Objective of optimization and innovation through theoretical and appliedresearch
in informatics and the transfer of results for the purposes of development.
1.4 Priority

activities

A programme enabling these objectives to be actually achieved would clearly


exceed the Organizations known resources. Accordingly, aware of the difficulties and
concerned to secure the participation of all countries in the programme irrespective of
their level of development, the Committee has defined a few priorities on which efforts
should concentrated during an initial phase, while retaining the possibility of broadening
the range of priorities as and when resources are built up:

216

training: specialists, teachers and decision-makers;


software production, particularly for the education system;
development of data bases and establishment of networks for information
exchange, particularly among academic institutions;
informatics development strategies and policies with aview to the integration of
informatics and its incorporation in development plans;
research and development in the various fields of informatics such as artificial
intelligence, expert systems, the recognition of forms and words, systems
architecture, etc.
1.5 Criteria

for project selection

At the same time as it decided on objectives, the programme and priorities, the
Committee defined criteria for project selection as resources would clearly not enable all
requests to be met. These criteria are marked chiefly by a concern to seek systematically
to bring together the institutions of several countries either for the actual implementation
of the project or to share the results and experience gained.
In this way, and having regard to the methods of selection adopted for other, similar
programmes, the Committee adopted five criteria:
correspondence between the project and HPs priorities;
the regional or associative character of the project;
prospects for disseminating the results of the project for the benefit of other
countries or institutions;
technical feasibility;
financial feasibility.
1.6

Guidelines for application

At the same time as it laid down the criteria for selection, the Committee provided
the Bureau with guidelines for their application, in particular:

catalytic role of IIP,


search for activities and hence projects on a significant scale involving several
countries, leaving small-scale projects to UNESCOs regular programme;
financing of infrastructure
administrative tasks;

development

and consolidation

and not of

concentration of resources on projects of a certain magnitude, with countries


being encouraged to group together for the purposes of joint projects.

Outlook for the Future


2.1

Proposals for new guidelines

Although launched at a time when the Organisation was beset by considerable


difficulties, depriving it of substantial resources, IIP has a significant record of
achievement, comparable to that of other programmes that were established earlier.
There are grounds for satisfaction in the fact that the programme has been conducted in
accordance with the recommendations of the promoters of IIP:
Concentration of the programme on clearly defined priorities;
strict management and implementation;
search for all possible forms of linkage with a view to stimulating regional cooperation.
Owing to the low level of resources, the activities undertaken have not made it
possible to go as far as desired, with the result that the reasons for the launching of IIP
remain as valid as ever. The imbalances between the North and the South, the West and
the East, are still just as marked where informatics is concerned, and the computer
industry is still concentrated around three poles: Europe, North America and south-East
Asia.
Without calling everything into question and taking into account what has been

achieved,the conditions in which it wasachievedand, of course,changesin technologies


and needs,the Committee could lay down new guidelines or takedecisionsregarding the
three basic concernsof IIP, namely:
218

priorities of action for the programme and the fields to which they should relate;
the resources needed to implement the programme adopted and ways of securing

them;
ways and means of implementing the programme.
2.2 Priorities

of action for the programme

2.2.1 Main needs and action taken


While not being able to reduce the gaps, the action of IIP has been important in
making decision-makers realize the decisive role of informatics in development and
especially its contribution in respect of training, which is the only sure way of achieving
knowledge and progress in this learning society that is a feature of the end of the century.

HPs action has also stimulated regional co-operation. The idea of joint and
complementary activities and co-operative projects is slowly but surely gaining ground.
All countries, particularly the developing ones, are realizing that in the complex, costly
and fast-changing field of informatics, only by grouping together will they be able to
reap the expected benefits. It is for this reason that there have been increasing exchanges
of experience through IIP associative projectives. These co-operative activities have
been instrumental in the development of the idea of exchanges of scientific and
technological in the development of the idea of exchanges of scientific and technological
information through networks, either already existing or to be set up. While the networks
are initially used as an electronic mail service, data bases are gradually being developed
that will swell the flows of information exchanges and cause the networks to assume their
true dimension.
22.2 Training
The Congress on Education and Informatics, held in April 1989, highlighted the
existence in all countries of a political will to use informatics and the associated
technologies as levers of development, particularly in the education system. Each
country has, as its means have allowed, developed a strategy for the use of infoxmatics
in education, extending as the case may be from primary to secondary or with precedence
being given to secondary, technical and higher or only to higher education. However, in
all countries, the authorities are well aware of the need to engage without delay in three-

pronged action in all possible cases:

219

training of teachers and directors of establishments;


production of software, courseware, school textbooks and specialized journals;
training of maintenance staff (for hardware and software).
We see again here IIPs priorities and the main concerns expressed through the
projects submitted to HP, which reflect the priority needs of countries.
As regards programme content and priorities, the aim should be not to undertake
new activities and thus to run the risk of dispersal, but to study in greater depth and define
more precisely each of the priorities, having regard to needs, experience and perceptible
developments. The Committeecould alsodraw up guidelines with aview toconcentrating
activities around specific objectives that are of a piece with the programme as a whole.
Where training is concerned, three objectives stand out:
training of teachers for informatics;
training of technicians for maintenance;
training of specialists, in particular for software engineering, networks, data
bases, etc.,
It is essential to attain these three objectives if informatics is to have any chance
of being introduced into the education system, and indeed the implications are more farreaching since needs in respect of maintenance, networks anddata bases arenot confined
to the educational field.
Specialists who have been trained in software engineering will be able to develop
software production not only for education, in association with teachers who have
received training in informatics, but also for activities other than education. Centres for
software production, which might in some cases be integrated into university structures,
would be able to contribute to the modemization of the industrial system through
informatics and control engineering. The objectives of such centres could be expanded
and spelt out as follows:
author languages and software for education;
information tools for management and administration;
220

informatics tools for industrial production.


2.2.3 Networks and data bases
The greatest prospects are no doubt those offered by networks owing to the extent
to which informatics has an integral role here, serving as the mainspring of a large
number of activities. Practically all IIP priorities can be pursued : training, software
production and, especially,research and development. The concept of academic networks
selected as an IIP priority could be expanded to include projects concerning systems
design (protocols, methods of interconnection), Integrated Services Digital Networks
(ISDNs). videotex and its applications for distance and home teachingorits incorporation
into the computer systems of firms and local networks (for the distribution of computer
facilities, particularly at university level). Likewise, networks would not make much
sense without the data bases, information systems and computing capability to which
they give access.
2.2.4 Research applied to development
R&D is the field with the greatest potential for the long term and is of interest to
developed and developing countries alike, although the concerns and the means
available are not the same. It is also the most costly field, but IlPmust necessarily include
it among its priorities. It provides a means of optimizing the scientific potential of the
developing countries, reducing the brain drain and more fully integrating research into
development schemes since, in informatics, research is productive and its impact on the
economy can be measured. All IIP priorities - training, software and networks - can and
usually do lend themselves to research and innovation. However, the developing
countries, like the developed countries, need to organize research in informatics on cooperative bases by pooling resources, as is being done through the European projects
EUREKA, ESPRIT, etc.
2.2.5 Policies and strategies : a new approach
Regarding informatics policies and strategies, it would perhaps also be advisable
to outline them in relation with the other IIP priorities.
Projects could thus bear on:
the study of ways and means of introducing informatics into education;
policies in respect of software : production, adaptation, software banks, data
221

bases an software portability;


technical choices and strategic choices in regard to networks and the opening of
local networks to the outside world;
strategies in regard to research and development, research and production,
research and innovation and university/industry relations through informatics.
To sum up, the Committee, while maintaining HPs priorities, could broaden the
scope of each of them in order to cover all the concerns expressed, according to the level
of development, resources and wishes of each country.

2.3

The resources need for the implementation of IIP and the achievement of its
purposes
These resources are of three kinds :
intellectual;
human ;
material, and especially financial.

2.3.1 Intellectual

resources for comprehensive thinking and guidelines

At the intellectual level, HP has enormous potential. The Committee itself is a


source of specialized knowledge with substantive responsibility for IIP and is represented
by the Bureau whose members fully participate in all stages in the implementation of the
programme in liaison with the secretariat. Finally, the network of IIP focal points
represents a wealth of expertise which can at any time participate in operations, acting
so to speak as outposts of IIP in the country and the region. Thanks to the links that have
been forged with other organizations, particularly professional organizations, joint or
complementq
activities can be undertaken through exchanges or the sharing of
experience. Within UNESCO itself, IIP is able to avail itself of the considerable assets
offered by the other sectors, in particular education, science and communication. Then
again, the appraisals and guidelines that may be put forward by the Executive Board and
General Conference of UNESCO will give even more weight and responsibility to IIPs
activities by adding to its universal character.
2.32 Human resources for implementation
The human resourcesavailable to the secretariatare extremely limited. This is a
222

handicap for the programme in so far as it is not possible, owing to the reduced staff, to
take advantage of all the intellectual resources just mentioned. Appeals and representations
have been made, particularly by the Chairman of IIP to the Director, for UNESCO to
make available to the Committee, in accordance with its Statutes, the human resources
needed for it to achieve its purposes. This problem will certainly find a solution. The
UNESCO authorities are aware of it and are resolved to give substantial assistance to IIP
by increasing its secretariat.
III? is also in need of project officers in the field, who would be able to help Member
States and participate in the implementation of projects. This could be done through
associate experts or consultants made available to IIP by Member States under their
responsibility.
2.3.3 Material andfinancial

resources

The question of financial resources is certainly the most important one. This is the
weak point of IIP and considerably hampers its action. It was seen in the financial review
how small IIPs resources are in comparison with demand. Despite strict selection of the
projects to be funded, the average degree of satisfaction for requests is no more than 33
percent, while remarkable efforts are being made by countries as the multiplier
coefficient is nearly 10. There are two requirements for an improvement in the situation:
the number of projects to be funded needs to be increased through greater
flexibility in selection;
a far higher average rate of satisfaction needs to be achieved.
Analysis of IIPs resources reveals :
a dangerous levelling off of voluntary contributions, particularly in view of the
fact that when IIP was launched its main resources was the voluntary contributions
of Member states. Only 16 Member states have contributed, or barely 10 per cent
of UNESCO Member states. There are consequently 140 Members States that
need to be persuaded to contribute to IIP,
a slightly increased UNESCO participation in the funding of projects, but it
should be noted that the funds are taken out of the regular programme. No special
effort has been made to increase the total resources earmarked for informatics by
UNESCO, but on the contrary, indeed, the regular programme budget has
dropped by 30 per cent in the past five years following the withdrawal of three
223

Member states and cutbacks to make up for shortfalls;


a significant increase in funds-in-trust donations, but thanks to the efforts of only
four countries.
There are several possible ways in which the financial situation can be improved.
(a) Participation by all Member states in the funding of IIP
This principle of rights and duties for all through IIP is important, it is true, for
greater mobilization of resources, but also as the basis of multilateral co-operation. The
purpose of the various appeals made to Member States by the Chairman was to secure
the participation of all States, each according to its means.
In otherorganizations, governmental ones like IBIin thepast,or non-governmental
ones such as IFIP, the participation of all was obtained on the basis of a mandatory
contribution, the amount of which was determined by the wealth of the Member States,
to which were added voluntary contributions form the richest ones. For example, during
the last few years of.its existence, IBIs budget varied between $30 and $40 million per
biennium with fewer that 40 member states, only three of which were industrialized
developed countries.
Without going so far as to imagine the same system for IIP, the Committee could
study the principle of a minimum regular contribution from all Member States,
supplemented by voluntary contributions. An effort on the part of all countries,
particularly the richest ones, is absolutely essential for IIPs budget. Many of the biggest
countries which produce and benefit from computer products are still holding back. It is
vital for IIP that the big countries commit themselves more, participate in discussions
and contribute intellectually and financially. Notwithstanding its meagre resources, IIP
has given proof of the seriousness of its action and the soundness of its management. It
is the only programme that invests in the projects all the resources collected and for which
all decisions are effectively taken by Member States through the Committee or the
Bureau.
(b)

Increased funds-in-trust donations

Funds-in-trust donations offer additional guarantees to the donor Statessince they


can chooseprojects to be funded from those selectedby the Bureau as being in keeping

with the spirit and objectives of IIP. the industrialized countries can therefore help and
participate in IIP while retaining somedegreeof freedom of choice and ktion. This is
224

especially important in that equipment is often purchased from firms in the donor
countries, representing a return of part of the funds invested in the programme. It is to
be hoped that there will be an increase in funds-in-trust donations such as to provide IIP
with resources of the order of $2 or $3 million.
Other sources of financing or participation have been explored or should be
(c)

International organizations

The attempts made to obtain financial contributions from intemationalorganizations


have clearly not been very successful. Each organization has its own programme and
gives priority to the financing of projects submitted by its Member States. With regard
to UNDP for instance, to have a greater chance of receiving financing, projects have to
be submitted by the beneficiary Member State or States, with UNESCO acting as
executing agency through IIP.
Within the framework of IIP it is possible to help countries to draw up informatics
projects which will resubmitted to funding agencies such as UNDP. Two projects for
centres for software production and the training of maintenance technicians have been
prepared by the secretariat. These projects could be supplemented, adapted and submitted
to UNDP by the beneficiary States.
With other Specialized Agencies, such as UNIDO, joint activities are possible,
particularly in respect of maintenance training and R&D. The joint implementation of
certain projects under partnership arrangements is thus being contemplated, as could be
the case with lTU with regard to networks and computer communications.
(d)

Computer manufacturers

One of the consequences of IIPs action is that, by helping to promote informatics,


it creates new markets for computer manufacturers. The Committee might consider the
possibility of obtaining contributions in cash or in kind from manufacturers, companies
producing software and services, and publishers. Patronage exists in sport and in the
cultural sphere; why not in informatics. Without such patronage in any way limiting
freedom of choice, thought might be given to making appeals to those professionally
involved in the informatics field, or to contacting them and requesting their assistance.
This is especially important in that equipment is the biggest item of expenditure. Nonmember countries of UNESCO could thus contribute to the financing of IIP through their
fms.

225
*11*-

--,*,.

.....

.I_.

.-

(e)

Savings to be made and additional resources

While looking for as many sources of financing as possible, we should at the same
time be considering possible sources of savings. The Bureau discussed this matter at its
third session. As IIPs administrative expenditure has already been reduced to a bare
minimum, only the cost of interpretation can be reduced. The Committee could envisage
reducing the working languages of the Committee to the two languages that are the
working languages of UNESCO, namely English and French. this would make for
savings in money and in translation time and would reduce the volume of documentation.
This proposal by the Bureau, in line which the directives of the Director-General for all
Unescos activities, requires Rule 13 of the Rules of Procedure to be amended accordingly,
in compliance with the provisions of Rule 30 of those Rules.
The Bureau also expressed the wish that the administrative costs deducted by
UNESCO from funds-in-trust donations should be fully paid back into the IIP funds-intrust donations to cover administrative costs is the expenditure incurred by UNESCO for
the implementation of projects, As the work is carried out by the IIP secretariat, it would
be logical for the sums deducted to come back to IIP for the financing of projects. The
Committee might wish to make a recommendation to this effect.
2.4

Methods of action to achieve maximum effectiveness

2.4.X The focal points : HPs intermediaries in the field


Analysis of the situation over the past four years reveals the two weak points of IIP:
resources, discussed above, and mobilizing action in the field. Admittedly, the members
of the Bureau and the secretariat have made considerable efforts to ensure improved
information flow, but there have not always been national bodies to carry on the work
and information the authorities and the appropriate specialists. There is a need for
continuity in transmitting the message and for permanent IIP representation in the field
in each country.
Implementation of IIP necessitates the effective functioning of machinery whose
mainsprings are located at UNESCO in the IIP secretariat and in Member States in the
focal points. The role of the focal points is essential for the dynamics of regional cooperation. Three operations should be carried out simultaneously in order to make IIP
better known and ensure the effectiveness of its action:
Arrange in each country for an appropriate focal point, duly designated by the
authorities responsible for informatics;
226

specify and expand the role of the focal point and secureits active involvement in
all stages in the implementation of IIP projects. The focal point should be an active
interface between the country, its specialized informatics institutions, its needs and
potential and IIP;
forge essential links among focal points in each region so that regional cooperation in informatics can develop and flourish.
At present, 73 Member States have designated a focal point. Appeals have been
made to Member States that have not yet done so by the secretariat, members of the
Bureau and UNESCOs Regional Offices. The campaign is in progress and it is hoped
that the secretariat will hear of new focal points before or during the Committees
meeting. Focal points should be designated with due regard for the role assigned to them
in the life of IIP. They are required to be technical bodies with computer facilities and
expertise at their disposal.
In each country, the focal point is responsible for organizing activities around IIP.
It centralizes all information relating to IIP to specialized institutions and decisionmaking bodies. It maintains liaison with national institutions, particularly during the
preparation of projects to be undertaken under IIP, playing an advisory role to ensure
that projects fit in as well as possible with the spirit and priorities of IIP. It may play a
federative role by facilitating contacts among national institutions and calling on them
to collaborate on the same project rather than add to the number of projects and spread
their resources too thin. IIP projects should whenever possible, be routed through the
focal point, which can give an informed technical opinion regarding their content. This
mechanism represented by the focal points is designed to ensure the effectiveness of IIP
at the national level in respect of project implementation, follow-up and evaluation.
Once they have assumed their responsibilities in this way, the focal points will be able
to pay a more important role in mobilizing the intellectual and material resources that can
be expected to contribute to the effectiveness of HP.
The focal points should also be instrumental in promoting co-operation among
countries in the region by organizing meetings of scientists for the preparation of projects
of common interest, and of decision-makers for a co-opertive approach to strategies for
the development of informatics. It will thus become possible to develop regional
software banks (for education in particular), specific data bases concerning several
countries in the region and research activities in the various fields covered by IIP.
Pending the establishment of physical networks to facilitate exchanges, journals, studies
and works could be exchanged by the focal points. Viewed in this way, the role of the
focal point is extremely important for the country and for IIP. This is why it is desirable
221

that the focal point should be located in one of the aspects of IIP and would facilitate its
action is so far as the institution may already have infrastructures at its disposal for the
organization of activities, experiments, meetings, etc. Representatives of political and
financial decision-makers and the main users (industry, universities, education) should
be associated with the focal point. The focal points will then form the strongest links in
the international chain of co-operation in informatics, which is the primary objective of
IIP.
2.4.2 Enhancing the regional character ofprojects through the pooling of resources.
Reference has been made throughout this document to the vital importance of
regional co-operation in informatics. All the industrialized countries have grouped
together for co-operative programmes of research and innovation, such as ESPRIT and
EUREKA. the European countries co-operate actively regarding informatics applied to
education and measures were proposed a the MINEDEIRPOE IV meeting of European
ministers of education to strengthen that co-operation.
Thanks to theefforts of UNESCO and IIP, through congresses, seminars workshops
and organized projects, decision-makers are almost certainly aware of what is involved.
No one disputes the place of informatics in development and every one wants to see it
introduced into education at all levels. It was with this in view that, under the Priority:
Africa Programme, the IIP secretariat prepared the INFORMAFRICA
project to
facilitate the introduction of informatics into the education system in Africa. This project
will receive initial financing from extra budgetary funds, but its implementation will call
for a more substantial budget. It is a model regional project in so far as all the countries
in the African continent will be affected. Only through a regional or subregional
approach will it be possible, within a limited period of time, to carry out this ambitious
albeit realistic project. It is important that the beneficiary countries should contribute
financially (if need be, in local currency) and intellectually to the project by pooling their
resources, sharing tasks and working alone the same lines. This is the only way of making
rapid headway, saving time and money and paving the way for co-operation which
should extend beyond informatics. Such a project may well receive financial assistance
from UNDP and especially from funds-in-trust donations from Member States of
UNESCO that cannot fail to feel concerned about Africa.
The example of INFORMAFRICA must not remain an isolated one. This is the
direction in which IIP should develop, as has already been stressed by the Committee,
through projects of a certain magnitude attracting the active involvement of beneficiary
states, donor States, UNESCO and IIP.

228

It is important that the developing countries should also design projects of the
EUREKA type for themselves, even though they cannot be on the same scale or benefit
from the same resources.
Although one of the criteria for the selection of projects is their regional or
associative character, it would perhaps be advisable to define what this means in order
to make the idea more real and more attractive.
As in other programme, it might be desirable to specify the minimum number of
countries concerned so that a project can be regarded as regional or associative, while
allowing the Bureau of judge for itself, particularly in the case of heavily populated
countries that themselves represent the equivalent of a region. At least three countries
should be associated with a project through their institutions. This will be a spur to cooperation. Furthermore, they should not thus be associated with a project in name only
or barely more. Each country must effectively contribute to the project and benefit from
the results. Project implementation can begin after tasks have been allocated to the
various partners or to one or more countries with the participation of operators in the
different countries involved.
In so far as developing countries might be able to make voluntary contributions in
local currency, the costs of operators for the project might be covered in each of the
countries. The project could thus be implemented without excessive expenditure in hard
currencies. Equipment, hardware and software, and expertise could be financed under
HP.

2.5

The new place assigned to IIP within UNESCO

2.5.1 Structure:
sector

the attachment of IIP to the new communication

and information

As part of the reforms being carried out with a view to the implementation of the
new Medium-Term Plan, a Communication and Information Sector has been set up. This
new sector is organized around:
the communication programmes, including IPDC;
the General Information Programme;
the Intergovernmental Informatics Programme, which came under the Natural
Sciences Sector.
Aware of the convergence of communication,

information

and informatics

229
-.--

--

--..^

._.

--*--..-

technologies, the Director-General has therefore decided to bring them together within
the same sector so as to help ensure that the approaches adopted in each case converge
and that their respective contributions are marked by synergy.
The main prupose of the new suuctures will be:
to strengthen UNESCOs mission of intellectual co-operation;
to enable operational activities to benefit from the latest developments in
research and from technological progress;
toensure broader mutual information and facilitate convergence between
the three intergovernmental programmes(IPDC, PGI and IrP)
2.5.2 Responsibilities
In this new sector, the unit responsible for informatics is thus required to assume
two clearly defined responsibilities.
Within the sector:
serve as the IIP Secretariat and, in association with the Committee and the
Bureau, carry out the programme adopted by IIP authorities, in
compliances with their guidelines;
implement activities under UNESCOsregularprogramme
in the field of
informatics in accordance with the policy and guidelines set by the
General Conference;
participate in the preparation and implementation
of joint or
complementary activities involving the three intergovernmental
programmes.
within the intersectoral framework;
co-ordinate all the informatics activities conducted by the Organization.
Informatics and IIP are thus gradually assuming their rightful place within
UNESCO and the new sector of which they constitute the technical mainspring and the

centre of gravity. In entrusting to the unit in chargeof the infromatics programme and
230

IIP responsibility for co-ordinating all the activities undertaken by the Organization in
the informatics field, the Director-General is aiming at unification in respect of reflection
and decentralization in respect of action, towards other sectors and towards the Regional
Offices. The measures currently being envisaged give IIP autonomous decision-making
and managerial authority, as they do the other intergovernmental programmes which,
while remaining UNESCO programmes, will thereby benefit from greater flexibility in
the performance of their activities, under the entire responsibility of their organs and
while of course remaining accountable to the General Conference.

231
._-I-

-I-.

-...-___

Annexure-7
Facilities available at NIC for promoting

library modernization

(Source: Various Brochures issued by NIC)


The organisational structure of NIC encompasses its Headquarters at Delhi;
Regional Centres at Pune, Bhubaneshwar and Hyderabad; State Units in all the State
Capitals and Union Territory Headquarters; and Offices in over 500 Districts of the
country.
There is a large number of support groups at NIC headquarters which provide the
required informatics infrastructural backbone for helping the Application Divisions
deliver services to the users. The Network communication group operates the satellite
and terrestrial-communication
networks and makes available data communication
services over NlCNET throughout the Country. The Systems Group, includes both the
large-scale and the small-scale systems for providing support on the mainframe, mini
and PC range of computers. The Training Division is responsible for training and retraining of about 20,000 people every year.
The Regional Centres are responsible for co-ordinating informatics activities in
their respective regions. They are also involved in providing application support to the
states where they are located. Specialised support groups are also located, in a limited
way, in these Centres. At the state level, NIC units provide informatics support to their
respective State Governments on the pattern of the NIC headquarters supporting the
Central Government. The Union Territory Units do the same. It is the District
Informatics Offices (DIOs) of NIC, located in 500 Districts throughout the Country,
which have made a special impact on the working of the District Administration through
the provision of necessary decision -support systems to improve the effectiveness of the
District Administrator and his officers.
NIC presently has a strength of over 3600 persons with 90% of them being
professional/technical
personnel. Approximately, one third are located in NIC
Headquarters to provide informatics support to the Central Government as well as to
provide central infrastructural support such as NICNET. Each District has a Systems
Analyst/Programmer as the District Informatics Officer @IO) who is assisted by a
District Informatics Assistant @IA). They account for nearly another one third of the
NIC staff. The remaining one third are distributed in the Regional Centres and the State/
UT Offices throughout the Country.

232

Among other functions, NICNET served various government departments and


associated organisations throughout the Country :
Monitoring of vital socio-economic projects
On-line retrieval from databases, and updating
Optimum utilization of expensive computer resources
Emergency Communication System
Sharing latest software tools
Dissemination of information
Exchange of messages and information between central
government, state governments and district
administrations.
NlCNET has been operational since 1987. It links all the District Headquarters,
States/Union Territory Capitals and the National Capital. NICNET operates a low speed
network using a C-band transponder in INSAT I-D, with a Master Earth Station hub
using a 13 meter antenna in the heart of Delhi, and more than 750 Micro Earth Stations
(Very Small Aperture Terminals - VSATs) in as many cities connected to 386/486/
Pentium chip-based computers with 8/16/32 MB main memory and 300 - 2 GB MB hard
disk storage. NICNET facility, vertically and horizontally, integrates the Indian
Government at the Central and State levels, as well as the District Administrations.
NICNET

Architecture

Access Technique
It is based on the Spread Spectrum Multiple Access (SSMA) and Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) technology operating in the C-band. Spread Spectrum is the
means of transmission in which the signal occupies bandwidth in excess of the minimum
necessary to send the information. The band-based spread is accomplished by means of
a code which is independent of the data, and with synchronised reception in which, the
code of the receiver is used for the data de-spreading and subsequent data recovery. This
helps to minimise interferences from and to other satellites and terrestrial sources. The
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) allows efficient multiple access of the large
network with low duty cycle terminals. No satellite power is allocated except during
actual transmission. In the NICNET environment, CDMA has significant advantages
over Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) for sharing a satellite channel among a
largenumberoftransaction terrninals.Asaresult,veryimpressivethroughputperformance
has been obtained through NICNET.

233

Master Earth Station


The Master Earth Station of NICNET uses Equatorial MC-200, which provides
two- way communication. In addition to the antenna, the electronics includes certain RF
& digital electronic equipment and packet switching equipment. It receives multiple data
channels through the satellite at 153.6 Kbps. These channels consist of demand basis
time - division multiplexed (TDM) data streams and are spread to occupy 5 MHz of
transponder bandwidth. The data streams contain variable length packets with data
addressed to one or more users. The data streams are received by all micro earth stations,
each of which selects its assigned traffic based upon broadcast, or a single address
designation.
The following

are the major functions of Master Earth Station

Provides datagrams, permanent and switched virtual circuits for operation of the
network.
Provides protocol interfaces to accept and deliver data from multiple- user hostcomputer data links.
Multiplexes data from several host sources into variable (limited to a maximum
Packet size) length data packets for output as a 153.6 Kbps TDM data stream.
Receives 1200 bps (C-200) or 9600 bps (C-250) data from multiple micro earth
stations via Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). It separates these data streams for
further processing.
Provides spread-spectrum encoding of the outbound and decoding of the inbound
data stream.
Provides modulation of a radio frequency (RF) carrier with the outbound data
stream, and demodulation of the inbound data stream.
Micro Earth Station NSAT
The C-200 micro earth station transmits at 1200 bps (C- 201) or at 9600 bps (C250). It consists of two basic modules - the antenna and the controller. The antenna
module is easily mounted on a roof top or on the ground. The controller is placed on a
desk or shelf near the users computer terminal equipment. The controller is connected
to the antenna with upto 100 meters of twin coaxial cables. The users terminal
234

equipment is connected to the controller by means of standard RS-232C or RS- 422


cable. The controller module has two user ports which are connected to the users
terminal equipment. The network follows CCIIT recommendations, X.25 Protocol and
Emulation system. At the micro earth station node, a built-in Packet Assembler/
Disassembler (PAD) facility is available to permit attachment of upto two asynchronous
user terminals.

Features of NICNET
Flexible Network Structure
Terminals can be connected to the system directly or via telephonelines/dedicated
lines . Remote terminals which can be connected via packet multiplexor or packet
assembler/ dis- assemblers (PADS) through satellite circuits.
Broad Terminal Integration
Packet terminals, non-packet terminals and host computers of different speeds can
be integrated.
Compatibility
The system can interface with the external communication system according to
CCIIT recommendations.
Network Access
The system can facilitate access to the communication network, either through
leased lines or dedicated lines or switched telephone networks or satellite circuits.
Line Utilization
Each packet terminal can communicate with a number of other terminals over one
physical line.
Error-Free Transmission
The system can check the data for error, step by step, as it transmits.

235
.__l__ll_

.-..--

_-___-.-._.

_.

-.

.._

..-_

~-_.--..__--

.._-

-___

NICNET Info Highway


NIC has successfully operated its low-speed satellite-based, computercommunication Network, NICNET, for more than six years. The capability and
versatility of the network was successfully demonstrated for avariety of major applications
including Result Processing and Dissemination for the General Elections of 1991; and
subsequently, for the Assembly Election of 1993. The system has become an integral part
for administration and monitoring of activities. The network has also supported several
Closed User Groups for the Steel Authority of India Ltd., Indian Farmers Fertilizer
Cooperative Ltd., Nathpa Jhakri Power Coporation, Central Excise, etc. Several users
and organisations have also approached NlC for use of NICNET to connect their
geographically distributed offices in the Country.
With the increasing use of the network by both the Government and other
organisations, the demand for data bandwidth has been gradually increasing. To meet
this ever-increasing data transmission requirement of the users, NIC has established a
powerful information highway as an overlay network over the existing SSMA/CDMAbased NICNET. As a part of this information highway, the network will connect and
provide services to more than 70 economically and commercially important cities/towns
in the country. Substantial progress has already been made in establishing and operating
this Info Highway.
NICNET Info Highway, supports high speed communication, at 64 Kbps through
SCPC data pipes, at each of the remote sites. It has the capacity to increase the speeds
at selected nodes upto 2 mbps without any major investment. Each remote station uses
a 1.8/2.4 meter antenna. In addition, the remote stations have the necessary interfaces
to support both synchronous and asynchronous circuits. Customers will be able to
directly dial into the system to access the services available on the network. The remote
stations could be configured locally or from the Master Earth Station. These remote
stations will provide both operational as well as monitoring information to the network
control centre.
The Network Control Centre (NCC) has a Star Network Management System
(SNMS) to monitor the network. The software is loaded on a 386platform under window
environment. This management software provides graphical information about all the
links and also facilitates operations control at the remote sites.
The Network Control Centre has a 7 meter antenna at the NCC. This antenna has
automatic tracking facility and has all its major modules duplicated to provide high

reliability and availability of the system.


236

This Info Highway

has a data broadcast facility. This data broadcast facility uses

the same RF portion of the MES but has a separateset of digital equipment. The data
broadcast network will initially support 32 data magazines. This can be extended
subsequently to support up to 64 data magazines. All data broadcast magazines will be
initially up linked from the Delhi Master Earth Station. The data broadcast control centre
will maintain complete details of all the magazines and also of the receivers of these
magazines. It has facilities to disconnect those receivers which do not specify or meet
the operational conditions set by the data providers. The data broadcast receivers will
have a receive only terminal which can be easily mounted on a roof top or window. It
has the capability to receive four magazines simultaneously. This can be subsequently
diasy chained for providing additional magazines. The user can use this equipment just
like any other electronic consumable item. It operates at normalenvironmentalconditions.
The Info Highway will provide complete connectivity with very high reliability to
all its customers. The customers could be linked through the low speed VSAT network
or through PSTN of the Department of Telecommunications. At each of the remote
station as well as at the hub, facilities will be created for providing WAN transit gateway
for LAN users.
.
With NICNET Info Highway acting as a computer communication carrier, virtual
private networks can be carved out over the NICNET and placed at the exclusive
disposal of the user. Such virtual private networks have several advantages. Firstly, users
would not have to make large investments in creating network facilities. Secondly, they
would need a minimum skilled technical staff to operate their network. The capacity of
such a network can be altered and the network itself can be reconfigured as per users
demand. The users also gain access to some of the public network systems. More
importantly, users benifit from the network economies of scale and scope. In addition to
normal value added services, NICNETInfo Highway alsooffersED1, ImageTransmission,
ISDN , Multimedia, Teleconferencing and Directory Services.
International

Connectivity

NICNET has been connected to the International Networks, through the Gateway
Packet Switching System (GPSS) of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. at Bombay. Through
this linkage, the network accesses several X.25 networks in the world. In particular it has
been accessing the MEDLARS database located at the National Library of Medicine,
Bethesda, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. It also provides its users with international mail
facility and the large number of public domain software available on UUNBT.
To cater to many intenational needs NICNET has acquired another high-speed
237
--...
-.-

I-

connection. It is connected to transit gateway of SPRINT at New York with the same
speed. This data link is in addition to the already existing gateway connection to GPSS.
These new additional line will increase the reliability and response time for NICNET
users when they access international datanetworks. With the present gateway connections,
NICNET users have access to almost any data network in the world. At present these
connections are interfaced using X.25 protocols. NIC is converting them to X.75 soon
which will place NICNET uniquely in the world data networks map.
NICNET

Services

NICNET, which presently has more than 650 Micro Earth Stations in operation,
serving the Central Government and State Governments and other organisations,
provides the following services :Interactive Access
Remote Database Access
File Transfer Facility
Electronic Mail Facility
Emergency Message Communication Facility
International Remote Access
International Mail Facility
Electronic Data Interchange
INTERNET
International

Access

Mail Facility

(NICMAIL

400)

The recent introduction of NICMAIL 400 services over the satellite-basedcomputercommunication network, NICNET, of the National Informatics Centre, now provides
NICNET users fast and reliable electronic mail service conforming to X.400
recommendations of CCITT. With NICMAIL 400, users can now exchange mails
through any other national or international network providing X.400 mail services.

238

NICMAIL 400 supports integrated facility to transfer ED1 messages. FAX gateway
is provided for non-X.4OOusers who have FAX facility. Different platforms host Remote
User Agent Software to enable users to access NICMAIL 400 which is available round
the clock.
NICMAIL

400 can be accessed through


Dumb terminals with asynchronous connection to NICNET via direct,
dial-up or VSAT connectivity. In this case, w sofhvare is required.

Personal computers with asynchronous connection to NICNET via direct,


dial-up or VSAT connectivity; using Remote User Agent Software
Systems with X.25 card with X.25 synchronous connection to NICNET;
using Remote User Agent Software.
Prominent

Features of NICNET

400 include

Composing and manipulating mail at local site/network host


Filing mail in different electronic folders
Password-protected unique mailing addresses
Directory-service

support to provide simple addressing schemes

Gateway to SMTP/UUCP world


Delivery of messages to multiple recipients
Distribution list to send mail to a group of users
Delivery and non-delivery notification
Answer and forward capabilities
Transfer of text files
Binary file attachment to message

239
I-

-...--_._. Ix--..

-lll_l-

..._-

Attachment of forms with message


Easy-to-use menu-driven user interface
Time stamp for sending and receiving messages
Data Broadcasting

over NICNET

Data Broadcasting is similar to conventional radio and television broadcasting


except that digital data, instead of audio or video signals, are carried by the satellite RF
signal. Special digital transmission and reception techniques are employed to enhance
coverage and provide error-free delivery of the transmitted information.
The receiving equipment is a low-cost Receive-Only Very Small Aperture
Terminal (RO-VSAT). The information transmitted in Data Broadcasting can be in the
form of plain text, pictures or even multimedia presentations. While the plain text are
displayed on normal VDU,multimediapresentations arepossiblein graphic workstations.
Linking remote sites to Delhi for one-way data transmission can now be done at
one-third the annual cost of multiple point-to-point terrestrial links. Satellite transmission
is reliable, the data is error-free, and the receiving equipment can be installed within an
hour.
Typical Applications

of Data Broadcasting

Any information that is required simultaneously at many sites over a wide


geographical area is suitable for data broadcasting. The information can be provided
directly by independent information agencies who are interested in real time and/or
selective dissemination of information.
Financial information distribution on share prices and exchange rates to brokerage
houses, banks and financial institutions
News Agency Transmission and Fax Broadcasting
Remote database updating from central location in bibliographic services, credit
card verification
Backbone relay for All-India paging, teletext, radio data broadcast networks

240

Weather and Agriculture information distribution


Head office-to-branch office real-time status information and circulars

Components of RO-VSAT
It has a small dish antenna, typically 60 cm in diameter. The small size of the
antenna makes it window or even desktop mountable, wherever there is a clear view up
into the southern sky, at an angle of 45 degrees.
A LNB (Low Noise Block Converter) of the TVRO type, that receives the satellite
signals and down-converts them.
An IDU (Indoor Unit) box weighing 3 kgs, which is placed within 60 metres of
the LNB and antenna. This demodulates the signal, corrects errors in the incoming data,
separates (demultiplexes) the various data streams and forwards each to an RS 232 port
for output. Each IDU has l-4 ports which can be configured to receive any particular
stream and can work at 50 bps to 64 kbps. At the receiving end, the User typically
connects a PC with application-specific database and display software.

Subscribers Management
The Information Provider has full control over who can receive the data stream.
Using the NetworkManagement System, NIC will enable only those receivers specifically
authoxized by the Information Provider. Individual receiving stations can be enabled for
up to any four data streams which can also be separately disabled on instructions from
the Information Provider.

Global Information Highway


A unique collection of networks with vast proportions of its own kind, Internet is
a g!obal information highway. Internet has evolved into one of technologys greatest
democracies, permitting the passage of all kinds of information cris-crossing with full
freedom. Through this singlechannel, tensof millionsof scholars, scientists, businessmen,
librarians, journalists, artists and software developers are woven into a Global
Village. Information is vital in todays world. The problem of dealing with the
accelerating glut of information is becoming acute and has ceased to be within the
ability of human beings. The human interaction level, the urge to know the latest and
fast has scaled such new heights that its realization through a global information highway
of the likes of Internet was but imperative .
241

The networks/computers operating in different environments areknitted to Internet


by a common protocol suite, namely, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP), all of which share a common name and address space.
NICNET, the satellite-based Computer communication Network of the National
Informatics Centre ( NIC ), is a very viable Gateway to Internet, in the country.
NICNETmaintains its leading edge with the incorporation of a powerful Ku-Band
based National Info Highway as an overlay Network on the existing SSMMZDMA
architecture. It is connected to over 200 International Networks in 16Ocountries through
Gateway Packet Switched Service (GPSS) and has dedicated Internet access through
a direct high speed link to SPRINTNET, USA .
Witth more than 700 micro earth station nodes in all state capitals, district
headquarters and selected commercial centres, NICNET has the widest reach in the
country.
NIC is a premier organization in the field of Information Technology and provides
state-of-the-art solutions to the information management and decision support
requirements of the Government and the corporate sector. NIC provides these facilities
to all those who wish to interact, inform and to be informed on the global information
highway.
INTERNET
1.

Services

Global Electronic Mail

Electronic mail allows a user to send messages electronically to individuals or


group of individuals as long as there are networks connecting them. For many users email is the first real exposure to, and use of Internet. Internet mail makes mail delivery
more reliable. One can also make requests for database searches through electronic mail
and have the results mailed back.
2.

Views and News - USENET

USENET is the Bulletin Board Service of Internet. Electronic BBSs are very
effective ways to share information. The messages in USENET are organ&d into
thousands of topical groups or Newsgroups which cover specific areas of interest.

USENET is read and contributed to, on a daily basis, by millions of people. There are
several ways one can be a USENET user, for example, a user can read lots, ask
242

questions, answer questions, participate in discussions etc.

3.

Remote login (telnet)

The telnet protocol allows an Internet user to login to a remote host from the local
host. Once connected and logged into the remote host, the user can enter data, run
programs, or do any other operation just as if he were logged in directly to the remote
host. While running telnet, the program effectively makes the local computer invisible
during the session on the remote computer.

4.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

The file transfer protocol makes it possible to move a file from one computer to
another, even if each computer has a different operating system and file storage formats.
The files may be data, programs, text - anything that can be stored on line. Users are
required to login to each computer, thus ensuring that they have the right to take and put
files on those computers.

5.

Information Servers - Navigators

Over 1,CKKlnew hosts join Internet each month. While this creates a global
information sea of awesome proportions, it also makes it difficult to find anything
specific on Internet. There are several powerful Internet searching utilities. These
information tracking projects are meant to develop easy methods of discovering,
locating and retrieving information available freely on Internet. Each of these tools
takes a different approach to Internet navigation.
.

Gopher: Gopher can burrow through Internet to find the data one is after.
It is amenu-driven systemattheclientandfacilitatesobtaininginfonnation
in an orderly, logical manner through menus.

Archie: This is a type of a global librarian, that automatically reaches out


to a whole lot of Internet servers and indexes their files, to generate a
single database that can be easily searched.

It is a Hypertext Browser for telnet accessible sites. It


Hytelnet :
assits Internet users in accessing resources such as - library catalouges ,
free-nets , full text databases , electronic books and many other useful
services which can be reached via remote login .

Wide Area Information Server (WAIS): It is a program that can search


243

dozens of databases in one go and is designed to retrieve full text


documents from various sources.
C-WEB

World Wide Web (WWW) : It is the most advanced browsing and searching
system deployed on the Internet based on the hypertext paradigm. WWW allows one to
explore a seemingly unlimited world wide digital WEB of human knowledge.
Powerful freewares like Mosaic and Cello provide an interactive graphical user interface
to the WEB. The Web can make other Internet tools much easier to use and it is poised
to become one of the Internet greats.
The establishment of the most advanced WWW server in the world through BASIS
Web server at C-WEB (Centre for World Wide Web Service over NICNET), the first of
its kind in the country, adds a new dimension to Internet Services over NICNET.
Internet Connectivity
(a)

through NICNET

Mail only connection

The simplest way to get Internet e-mail link is through UUCP connectivity to any
of the NICNET nodes on dial-up. The mail only connections are links that enables
you to send and receive electronic mail and Bulletin Board Services.
Shell account - dial up terminal connection
With the dial-up terminal connection one links to an Internet node of NICNET as
a terminal on the NICNET computer and set up a shell account which uses a UNIX
command line. The Internet access software (telnet,ftp and so on) is run on the NICNET
node.
(b)

(c)

SLIP / PPP - On demand direct connection

A variant of TCP/IP designed for telephone lines is called Serial Line Interface
Protocol (SLIP) or the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). With one of these, a high speed (
9600 baud or preferably 14,400 baud ) Modem connection to an Internet site of NICNET
node, one can have a link that makes ones computer a full Internet participant.
MEDLARS

through NICNET

The National Informatics Centre (NE), New Delhi has been designated as the
Indian MEDLARS Centre (lMC). MEDLARS servicesareprovided by NIC through its
nationwide satellite basedcomputer communication network, NICNET. This network
.

244

is accessible from all 500 district headquarters of NIC. NICNET also provides linkages
to international networks, using which IMC has been directly linked to the National
Library of Medicine and can access all the MEDLARS databases.
One of the most important databases of MEDLARS is MEDLINE which covers
articles from over 3500 journals from 70 countries in the field of general medicine
including nursing, dentistry and preclinical sciences.
MEDLINE data from 1986 onwards is available on a minicomputer at NIC,
NewDelhi. A menu driven bibliographic retrieval software, BRWEARCH
is used to
search this database. This database is directly accessible to NICNET users. MEDLINE
data prior to this as well as information from all other MEDLARS databases is available
on requrest from IMC.
Services offered by IMC
Biomedical Information from all MEDLARS

databases.

Interactive access to selected biomedical databases on Compact Disk.


Online catalogue of Biomedical Journals containing journals holdings of
150 Indian libraries.
Training of users
Using IMCs Services
Access via NICNET: Users can visit the nearest NIC office and submit their
search requests. They can also submit their searches at select medical institutes that have
access to IMC via NICNET.
Searching databases on Compact Discs at NIC, New Delhi: Users can directly
search databases on CD-NET at NIC, New Delhi.
Mailing search requests: Search request forms are available at major medical
libraries or IMC. The forms completed as per instructions can be mailed to IMC.
Searches are processed at IMC and the search results are mailed back to the users.

245

Training

Facilities

Training programmes are regularly conducted for the duration of three to five days
at NIC, New Delhi and selected medical centres in India.
The course contents comprise
Searching the MEDLINE

database using BRS/SEARCH

Searching medical databases on Compact Disks


Searching the Catalogue of Biomedical Journals
Library and Information personnel, practicing doctors, computer specialists and
other end-users are eligible to attend these courses. It is essential for participants to have
a working knowledge of basic computer commands.

Catalouge of Biomedical Journals


To help users locate their required journals, a database of the holdings of over one
hundred and fifty biomedical libraries in India has been created.
This database can be searched interactively from any NICNET node.
In case certain journals are not available at the users local lib-,
m&
of specific articles are obtained from:
r.L?*+?cc\;ies
.-

the jo~umals,

National Medical Library


Ansari Nagar, New Delhi- 110 029.
Indian National Scientific and Documentation Centre,
14, Satsang Vihar Marg, Institutional Area,
New Delhi - 110 067.
Major Medical Libraries.
Journals not available in the country are being obtained at the rate of $12 per article

from:
National Library of Medcine,
National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, USA.
246

Annexure-8
Library

Software Requirements as projected in the Report of the INFLIBNET


Inter-Agency Working Group

When the Inter-agency working group on Information and Library Network setup
by the UGC, of which the author/consultant was a member, designed INFLIBNET,
careful attention was given to enumerate in detail the requirements of the library
Software Platform and Library Application Software packages and development. In
view of the thorough going excercise carried out, we reproduce below their
recommendations.
Desirable features of a Library Software platform recommended by the Report of
the INFLIBNET Inter-Aency Working Group. (Source: Inter-Agency Working Group
Report on INFLJBNET, dated December 1988)
1.
It is desirable that the package be an intergated one, to support a) library
automation and b) database construction and information retrieval. Should support a
phased implementation, according to particular library priorities.
2.

Should not be tied to a specific hardware system.

3
Should be adaptable to varying local library requirements(eq.
acquisition procedures).
4
Should be compatible with relevant Indian and. international
standards.

circulation,

bibliographic

5
Should be supported with clearly written, well illustrated manuals -(user/
programmer/system manager levels), online helps/ tutorials. The package usage should
be transferred to the user through adequate user training programmes at different stages.
6
Should be user friendly - i.e.predominantly menu-driven.However, support for
different user levels (novice/expert) is desirable. User modification of menu and
messages should be possible.
For libraries with a collection size of more than 25,CKKlvolumes, the package
7
should be multi-user, for simultaneous read, add and modify, through two or more
terminals.

247

The response time, i.e. the time elapsed between user selection of a menu option/
8
issuing a command and the system response should be preferably less than 5 seconds,but
should not exceed 8- 10 seconds. Response time should be independent of database size.
Should handle bibliographic dataconsistingof textual, variable field, subfield and
9
record lengths. Should be possible to specify identifiers and indicators for fields and
subfields. Should not impose any limits for logical field and logical record lengths.
10 Should support data security through passwords at system, subsystem, file, record
and field levels for read, write and update functions.
11 Should have adequate data backup/recovery facilities due topower,disk, processor
failure.
12 Should provide higher-level language interface to the database for the user to
write any special routines to manipulate the database.
13 Database set-up facilities. The user should be able to definel)the data elements
comprising a logical record and their attributes, and 2) the searchable data elements/
subfields.
14 User should be able to create one or more
modification.

worksheets for data entry and

15

Should provide facilities for database reorganisation and database recreation.

16

Should facilitate file building through,


- keyboard input
- downloading (online search)

- screen oriented input/editing


- batch. input (eg. a file created using a word processor, offline data
entry file)
- editing of records

248

- help facilities while input/update.


17

Indexing (inversion)
-

18

facilities

after entry o f each record


at user option
indexing options
free text (stop lists)
free text (demarcators)
subfields
verifications on thesaurus/authority files.

Provision for thesaurus, authority file maintenance.

19 Provision for indexing/inversion


database set-up.
20

of a field/sub-

field not considered during

Should facilitate system output through


- field selection for output
- output formatting ability (print/display)
- ease of formatting
- output on magnetic media (tape,diskette)
- generation of catalogue cards, bibliographies etc.

21

Should facilitate search through


- Boolean logic
- single term search and subsequent coordination
- multiple term search
- parenthetical grouping of terms comparison searching (=, >, <, etc.)
set building truncation searching (left,right)
- adjacency search
- wild card,
- field directed searching

22

Import/export of data through standard exchange format.

23

It is desirable that the package functions on a Local Area Network.

APPLICATION

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
THE NETWORK
RC

SIC

Network switching, resource


management, maintenance

MIS, personnel, payroll,


finance monitoring,
inventory control

LEVELS IN

UL/R&DC

CUIIJ-DL

- Catalogue entry

- Retrospective conversion

- Database of projects,
specialists, institutions

- Downloading

Software Required for

NC

AT VARIOUS

Management & Administration,

Data Prenaration

- Uploading

- Authority files

- Bibliographic entry for


Indian database

- Data exchange

Y
-

- Catalogue production

250

- Union catalogue entry, updating -

Searchinaetieval
- Union catalogue

- Local catalogue

- Database of projects,
specialists, institutions
- International databases Retrospective

- International databases
current

- Indian bibliographic databases -

- Authority files

L-

Services
- Selective Dissemination
of Information

- Current awareness
- Inter-library loan

Y
Y

- Collection development

- Shared cataloguing

- Electronic mail

- Bulletin board

- File transfer

251

- Document delivery
(Through FAX)

Y
Y

- Tele-conferencing

- Tele-facsimile

- Acquisition

- Circulation

- Serials control

- Cataloguing

- Budget control

Librarv Automation

Training
- Tutorials for cataloguing,
searching, library automation,
network access, etc.

Text Processing
- Report generation

- Text editing

- Desk-top publishing

Jnterfaces
- for CD-ROM

- for file transfers

- for terminal usage

Y
252

Y
Y

Note:

y : Yes
NC : National Centre
RC : Regional Centre
SIC : Sectoral Information Centre
UL :University Library
R&DC : Research & Development Centre Library
CL/UDL : Library of College/Department of University.

National Centre
The- main functions of the National Centre are network switching, training and
administration. There will be no library -related bibliographic databases at the National
Centre.
Network management
This software will handle the functions of network, switching, analysis of the
traffic and generation of related statistics. This handles only the communication part
and is not related to the actual access of databases.
The Network Management System is the main network controlling system. It
communicates with the network software at the Regional Centres. This software
performs the functions of switching.At the same time, it computes the various statistics
regarding the network traffic.
The analysis of data carried out here pertains to the inter - regional centre, traffic
which goes through the National Centre.The Regional Centres would be performing
similar analysis of the traffic within the region. The results of that analysis are reported
to the National Centre. The nationwide network traffic analysis which is done, should
incorporate this reported analysis of the Regional Centres as well.
Training Packages
To enforce uniformity and standardisation across the network, it is essential to
create a central training facility, preferably at the National Centre, to train existing/ new
staff in the participating libraries. Some of the training packages that will be required are:
terminal usage (electronic mail, bulletin board, file transfer, etc.)
online tutorials/simulation

packages forlibrary automation, cataloguing, online


253

searching, interlibrary loan, catalogue search,


installation, administration, etc.
-

hardware/software

configuration,

telefacsimile
data preparation
retrospective conversion
network usage, etc. (eg. accessing other nodes in the network)

Text processing and report generation software systems like DTP (Desk-toppublishing), for publishing training documents, standards and guidelines for network
usage.
MIS (personnel, payroll,.financial,

etc.).

Regional Centres
The software requirements at the Regional Centres are:
Union catalogue software
Software for searching and updating other regional centre catalogues
Software for searching bibliographic databases in sectoral information centres
Database of projects/institutions/specialists
Data exchange software for downloading (bibliographic, catalogue, projects,
institutions, specialists)
Catalogue pro$tction(cards,com,

mag. tape, floppy, CD-ROM, print)

Retrospective conversion software (to generate a participating libraryscatalogue


on tapes, floppy, etc based on search keys like ISBN, ISSN, and author/ title sent
by the library on floppy/tape)
Collection development software providingdata related to selection and
procurement of publications (e.g. usage data, supplier address, ILL, etc.)

Training packages(similar to the National Centre)

254

Textprocessing and report generation software systems like DTP


Software forcreation/searching/maintenance of authority files for subjectheadings
series, corporate/personal names, etc. (union catalogue, database of projects,
institutions and specialists)

Sectoral Information Centres


Sectoral Informztion Centres operating at the same level as Regional Centres,
maintain bibliographic databases in specific areas in science and technology, social
sciences, etc. Examples of such centres are UGC Information Centres(Science, Social
Science, Humanities, Engineering) NISSATSectoral Centres, NML, IARI, DESIDOC,
etc.
Retrospective bibliographic database (international),
for a few core areas in
science and technology.
Created using updates on magnetic tapes received from
database suppliers (eg. Chemical Abstracts, Physics Abstracts, Biological Abstracts).
To hold information for last 5 years. Software required relates to database creation,
data conversion and loading. Volume of data involved is about 1 to 5 gigabytes per
database for 5 years.
Retrospective bibliographic database (international), for a few core areas in social
sciences and humanities (eg. Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, etc.). Enhancing of data
received on tapes with Indian literature.Software required for database creation,
conversion,loading, data entry and updation.
Retrospective bibliographic database (Indian), to be created from Indian literature
available at Sectoral Centres and/or data received on tapes./floppies from other related
Indian inputting agencies. Software related to creation and updation.
Online search software - menu driven for end users, command driven for
advanced users. Main search features to be supported are given in section 5.2 under
item 21.
S.D.I.(Selective Dissemination of Information
Database of projects/institutions/specialists
Centres.

service), based on user profiles.

related to the-area of the Sector-al

Interface software to make databases on CD-ROMS, available on the network.

Training packages(re1eva.m to the Sectoral Centres),


Text processing and report generation software systems like DTP.
Data -exchange software for downloading
Bibliography,

and unloading.

index, current awareness lists, etc. generation software.

Libraries of Universities/R & D Centres


The software requirements at the university libraries and libraries and information
centres of R & D institutions are :
University catalogue software (creation/search/maintenance).
Regional catalogue search.
Sectoral Centre database search.
Local bibliographic database (creation/search/maintenance).
Local database of projects/institutions/specialists

(creation/search/maintenance).

Local library automation (see Section 5.2, item 7 for features required).
Data exchange software.
Offline data preparation and database updation software.
Software for creation, search and maintenance of authority files for subject, names, etc.
Catalogue production (magnetic tape, floppy, print).
Software for inter-library loan.
CollegdDepartmental

Libraries

Local catalogue, automation, bibliographic database, database of projects,


institutions and specialists.

256

University, regional catalogue search.


Data exchange software, offline data preparation and database updation.
Catalogue production (floppy, print).
Software for inter-library loan,
Subsystem Software Requirements for Library Automation
A library comprises mainly six subsystems, such as administration/planning,
acquisition, serialscontrol, cataloguing,circulation,andreference/information
retrieval.
Although each subsystem performs a particular task, they are inter-related and
interdependent, i.e. one subsystem depending upon the other for input and output. The
major functions for which software is needed in each of these subsystem are considered
here.
1.

Administration/Planning
- Personnel
- Accounting/budgeting
- Scheduling/planning
- Word processing
- Report generation

Reference/Information Services
computer aided instructions, user education, library instruction.
bibliography/index preparation by searching local, university,
regional, sectoral catalogues/bibliographic databases.

Acquisition
Collection of suggestions from users and staff.
Checking for duplicates with the library, catalogue, books under
processing and books on-order file.
257

Prepare list of books for approval by the committee.


Order selected items.
Send reminders for non-supply of items.
Checking of books supplied.
Note the arrival of properly supplied books (accessioning) and reordering the wrong supplies. Cancelling non-supplied items after a
stipulated period and t-e-ordering them.
Maintain book fund statistics and accounts.
Additionally,

provision can be made in the system to:


hold orders until funds become available.
re-order from a second supplier if the first cannot supply the document.
compute supplier performance measures like
Average length of time taken to supply books.
Average discount given.
convert value of the foreign currency into local currency.

Cataloguing
Inputting complete details of new documents (bibliographic and indexing
elements).
Maintain the database of master file of bibliographic records and index
files. Carry out functions like add, delete and modify.
Generate various lists like bibliographies (by author, subjects etc.), list of
additions, indexes (KWIC type).
Provide searching of the database by various access points.
Generate book form or card form of the selected records.
258

Generate outputs in various catalogue formats like ISBD (M), cataloguing


rules like AACR.
Integrate with other subsystems - Circulation, Acquisition, and
Reference/IR
5

Serials Control
-

Inputing serials data


Ordering new serials.
Renewing presently subscribed serials.
Cancellation of presently subscribed titles.
Accessioning of individual issues as and when the issues are received.
Sending reminders.
Selective follow-up of missing issues.
Preparation of various lists like
list of periodicals received/cancelled during a specified period.
list of periodicals subscribed/exchange/gift.
list of holdings (with their status - on shelf, binding, circulation, etc)
by subject, title, etc.
- Keeping track of the amount spent on subscription, binding, etc.
- Estimation of the budget for the next academic/financial year.
- Binding control.

6. Circulation
-

Record issue and return of books.


Identify over due items and generate reminder notices.
Calculate fines to be paid on overdue items.
Place reservations on books that have been issued.
Search bibliographic records to find out circulation status of a given
term.
Generate management reports lik
list of items not circulated over a specified period.
list of delinquent borrowers.
list of titles or subjects in great demand.
statistical analysis of materials by type of material, class no.,
patron/category users,reservation, ILL, etc.

259

Annexure-9
NIC Value Added BASIS Plus & TECHLIB

Plus

Initial standardization at the local level has been mainly around the CDS/ISIS
anbd LIBSYS packages. Currently, NICs large purchase clout has reduced the price per
copy of BASIS Plus based TECHLIB from the market retain price of Rs. 180,000 ($
6000) to Rs. 58,000 ($1800) thereby giving a highly sophsitcated software at very low
price to the Indian Libraries connected to NICNET. MC is working with ID1 of USA2
for value addition over this software through R&D at MC for meeting the specialized
requirements of the Indian Universities. IN view of this new beneficial development, a
brief outline of BASIS Plus and TECHLIB Plus is given below based on an MC
brochure..
1.

BASISPLUS

Product

Features

1.1 Relational Structure


BASISplus is a fully relational DBMS in which all data access and modifications
are performed via the relational capabilities of the product. It enforces rules for entity and
referential integrity and supports the domains and parameter sets.
1.2 Client Server Architecture
The BASISplus architecture is based upon the client server model, in which client
processes access textbases by making requests to a transaction processing engine (the
server). The transaction processing server is multithreaded, serving numerous clients
simultaneously to provide on line update and retrieval. Distributed access to textbases
in a network is provided by the Network Access Method (NAM), which establishes a link
from the remote user to a thread on the transaction processor at the textbase node.
1.3 Three types of Documents
Conventional,
This product manages three types of documents or records:
Continuous and Sectioned. A single textbase may have numerous conventional,
continuous and sectioned documents.
Conventional documents typically store transaction-oriented information where
fields contain relatively short data comprised of character and numeric information. A
conventional record may contain upto 16,000 bytes of data stored in multiple fields and
260

supports many data types, including integer, real, double precision, packed decimal,

logical, character and complex.


Continuous documents contain a text stream field such as a newspaper article, a
transcript or a contract. This text-stream may contain up to 128 million characters. The
other fields in a continuous record support all conventional data types and serve as
document level attributes such as author, date and subject. A memo is an example of a
continuous document. The body of the memo is stored as a whole in the text stream field.
Sectioned documents are used to divide lengthy text into chapters or sections. The
sectioned document has section level fields in addition to the document level fields. The
section level fields serve as attributes for each section of the document. Text stream
fields at the section level contain the free form text for the section. BASISplus
automatically generates a TOC(Table of Contents) for sectioned documents. Each
section of a sectioned document may be up to 128 million characters.
1.4 Active Data Dictionary
BASISplus contains an active data dictionary, which itself is a BASISplus textbase.
All textbase components are defined in the data die tionary by the text base designer. The
data dictionary is consulted by all programs accessing the textbase and by thetransactionprocessing engine. The data dictionary features full screen as well as statement mode
textbase definition. The textbase definition may be reproduced in statement form for
portability between machine environments.
The data dictionary allows centralised validation and enforcement of entity and
referential integrity constrains to prevent inadvertent corruption of the information
resource. Validation language includes features such asconditional language, arithmetic
and boolean and string manipulation functions.
1.5 Security Features
Major security features of BASISplus includes :
*

Requiring user ID and Password log on to the system

Assigning users to views that control information access

Assigning data security to Views, Record Occurrences and Elements

Assigning textbase privileges to users

261

Data Encryption

1.6 Recovery Features


Recovery features include complete backup and restore capabilities as well as two
step transactions logging and before-and-after image joumaling.
The DB A can set up the system so that the kernel is in read-on1 y mode while backups
are being done.
1.7 BASISPLUS

Data Types

A major strength of BASISplus lies in its explicit support of a wide variety of


data types. In addition to text stream data type, which holds document text, BASISplus
supports the following data types for structured data elements such as Signed Integer,
Packed Decimal, Approximate, Real, Double Precision, Complex, Logical, Character,
Byte String, Cell and Soundex.
1.8 Structured

Retrieval Capabilities

BASISplus can perform retrieval on structured data using traditional techniques.


In addition,
extended capabilities of these techniques is provided as shown in the
following structured retrieval examples:
-

Boolean searches for information

Range searches for numeric and textual information

Comparison searches for numeric data using operands


equal, less than or equal, greater than or equal,
less than, greater than, or not equal - compound
searches where a user wants to find a document that
meets defined search criteria in two or more fields

Date Retrievals for dates entered in as search


criteria in any format

262

1.9 Full Text Retrieval Capabilities


1.9.1

Control based Retrieval

BASISplus has the ability to handle documents with varying structures including
conventional (Condensed alphanumeric), Continuous (Long text) and Sectioned (Book
model). The product can handle compound documents containing text, images,
graphics, wordprocessing and spreadsheets. The content based retrieval techniques

allow :
* Term , Stem, phrase and range searching
* Boolean Logic
* Efficient result sets
* Case Sensitivity
* Plural Control
* Soundex
* Help functions
1.9.2

Concept based Retrieval

BASISplus includes a thesaurus manager to improve retrieval. The BASISplus


thesaurus, implemented as a BASISplus textbase, can be a corporate wide information
resource that is shared by multiple textbase applications. A single application textbase
can use more than one thesaurus. It enables not only concept based searching but also
provides all of the ANSI-standard thesaurus relationships. Thesaurus administration is
carried out with full screen panels.
Functions of the BASISplus thesaurus include
*
Synonym Identification. This is used to retrieve all documents containing
synonyms.
*
Controlled Vocabulary. This is used to ensure that
all terms used
as descriptors are derived from a masterlist stored in the thesaurus
*

Concept Hierarchies. These are used to identify


to a hierarchy of concepts.

Alternative LanguageSearching. This is usedto searchin an alternative


language by mapping alternate language terms to primary language

words as belonging

terms. For example, a textbasecan be searchedin French, even though


the documents are in English.
2.

BASISPLUS

2.1 BASISPLUS

Modules
Kernel or Database Manager (DM)

The BASISplus Kernel controls all user/database interaction and functions as


the central control point for concurrent user processes. Although a single Kernel can
handle all requests at most organizations, multiple Kernels for different databases can
be installed on one or more computers to promote better system throughput. The
BASISplus Kernel is multi-threaded and serves many clients simultaneously to provide
online update and fast, efficient retrieval. Client programs and the Kernel can be
tuned to best fit particular hardware configurations. BASISplus provides the system
tools for controlling, configuring, and networking
administrator with powerful
BASISplus databases.
The Database Manager functions as the system control center and is the transactionprocessing engine that administers textbase changes, monitoring and joumaling.
2.2 Fundamental

Query & Manipulation

(FQM)

Fundamental Query and Manipulation (FQM) is an interactive module to query,


update and maintain any BASISplus textbase. It enables end users to view and update
the textbase. It contains the Data Manipulation Language, Procedural Language,
Screens for full screen retrieval, display and data entry and statistical and computational
functions (available to the procedural language). This may be used as an interactive
query language or embedded within C programs.
In a typical 90s business environment, documents are created, stored,
modified, displayed and printed in many different formats. Converters allow documents
written in one format to be converted or transformed to another.
Converter technology, combined with powerful relational text management is
the key to successful communication in the global workplace. In essence, it allows users
to work in their preferred environments knowing they can easily share their work across
departments, companies, or oceans.

With the converters,BASISPLUS usersall over the organization can createand


revise documents using their favourite document authoring tools - without sacrificing

264

the benefit of full BASISPLUS

document management.

The converters transform revisable form documents generated by word


processors and compound document editors into structured documents
within
BASISPLUS. Once under the control of BASISPLUS, documents can be queried,
viewed, modified, and combined with other documents. These documents can be shared
across the whole organization and are governed by the full management, distribution,
security and integration capabilities inherent in BASISPLUS.

5 TECHLIBPLUS

Product Overview

5.1 Patron Access


With TECHLIBPLUS, computer-novice patrons can easily
information with fullscreen searching and context-sensitive help.
patrons and staff can use powerful search commands, for the highest
precision. Patrons can search by author, title, subject, keywords, call
comments or table of contents, and can access:
- Sounds like

access catalog
More experienced
degree of research
number, abstract,

searching

- Up-to-the-second

item status

- Multiple, brief and full title displays


- Item Check-Out, Hold, and Print options
- Customer-definable
- Information
- Full-text
5.2 Cataloguing

search fields

in other databases
and image handling capabilities

and Maintenauce

the Cataloging/Maintenance
module, staff can retrieve, add, update, and
With
delete catalog records in the database using fill-in-the-blank screens.Library staff can
perform the various functions such as:

- Entering and editing bibliographic data for all material types


265

- Maintaining patrons and vendors data


- Processing global changes
- Validating data
5.3 MARC

Management

The MARC interface loads data from bibliographic utilities, such as OCLC and
RLIN, that use standard MARC record formats. Library staff can perform the various
functions such as:
- Load and store MARC

data

- Produce MARC output


- Select which MARC fields to use
5.4 Circulation
The Circulation module helps staff control the use and monitor the availability
of library materials. Library staff can perform the various functions such as:
- Perform fast check-out,
- Renew at check-out, and check-in
- Process batch renewals
- Generate automatic due dates
- Generate indefinite

due dates

- Block and override check-outs


- Get hold notification at check-in
- Generate notices and reports

266

55 Serials
The Serials module lets staff manage periodicals that are received in the library.
Library staff can perform the various functions such as:
- Use a single screen for processing
- Check-in single and special issue items
- Use batch check-in
- Predict issue availability
- Create custom routing
- Generate automatic claims
- Generate slips, lists, statistics, and reports
5.6 Acquisitions
Order and receiving processing is automated with
Library staff can perform the various functions such as:

the Acquisitions

module.

- Perform pre-order searches


- Process standard order formats
- Process non-standard order formats
- Receive by item or invoice
- Process invoices and payments
- Submit electronic and hardcopy orders
6.

Application

Opportunities

A few typical applications include :

267
,----_-

__...
.___^_..l_
ix-

-.. .-.-..-.
___

Legal Depositions
Technical Reports Automation
Product Specifications
Regulatory Compliance
Policy & Procedure Automation
Litigation Support & Law Reference
Newspaper/Magazine full text database
Correspondence tracking
Records Automation
Proposal Management
Financial Accounting
Customer Service Automation
Maintenance Procedure Automation
Technical Documentation
Library Automation
Multimedia Applications
Business Decision
Land records
Credit Management
Safety Data Analysis
Bibliographic Database
Portfolio Management
Electronic Publishing
Patent Information System
Health Management Systems
Real Time System
Crime Records
OLTP Applications
Parliament Questions/Answers
Pharmaceutical Applications

8. System requirements
i) BASISPLUS Server
a. Hardware platform

: Intel 80X86, Pentium, or above.

b. Operating System

: UNIX SVR 4.0 or above.

c. Main Memory

: Minimum 16 MB RAM.
268

d. Disk Space

: 120 MB - 170 MB.

e. Media

: 150 MB Cartridge

ii)BASISPLUS

Client

a. Hardware platform

: Intel 80386, or above.

b. Windows

: MSWINDOWS

c. Main Memory

: Minimum 4 MB RAM,
8 MB preferred

d. Disk Space

: 16 MB -20 MB.

e. Network and Shared


File Service.

: TCP/IP - PC-NFS

3.1 or above.

BASIS WEB Servier Benefits


BASIS WEB server provides new powerful tools for use on WWW, while also
improving some existing tools.
Addition

of BASIS plus capabilities to the INTERNET

tool set

Some highlights of BASIS Plus features in the areas of searching, displaying and
data management are described below:
Searching
The amount of information available on the INTERNET is staggering, and it is
growing by leaps and bounds. With such a large amount of data, it is necessary to have
sophsiticated tools that make searching for information for efficient and accurate.
Although WWW and Gopher have searching capabilities, they are in practice primitive
compared to the BASIS Plus FIND command which offers the following:
Phrase searching - searches for a specified list of terns
Proximity searching - searches for a list of terms within a particular
portion of text such as a sentence, paragraph or section
269

Intelligent Search Assistants - provides suggestions on possible terms


to search for.
Relevancy ranking - sorts retrieved documents according to the matches
found in each.
Display:
Skimming through retrieved documents is simple with BASIS Plus hit-to-hit
scrolling feature. With a click of the mouse, one instantly scroll to the text containing
the next or prior hit. Hits are words in the document text that match ones search terms.
BASIS plus highlights all the hits so that one can see at a glance the mostrelevant portions
of the text. One can also display the next, prior, first and last document in the retrieved
group of documents with a click of the mouse.
Data Management

and Validation:

For information providers, BASIS Plus consolidates all data in an easily located
repository as opposed to having the data scattered all over the system. In addition, BASIS
Plus manages this data to preserve its integrity during updates. One can be sure that the
information retrieved from the database is always valid.
Making URLs Easier and More Powerful
When defining a hypertext link, one must know the address of the file to which one
wants the link to point. BASIS WEBserver eliminates this requirement by allowing to
specify an URL that contains a BASIS plus FIND command to retrieve the document.
One no longer have to be bothered with remembering the addesses of files or updating
the URLs when the files are moved. As information is loaded and updated into BASIS
Plus databases, these URLs sustain living links that will always return up&ate
information.
In addition, with a FIND command for an URL, the link can point to numerous
relevant documents. In fact, the link taps into the power of the BASIS plus engine to
retrieve all the pertinent documents on a subject. Thus, it is not necessary to know a
specific relevant file, let alone an address, to create hypertext links. Since these URLs
can be queries to BASIS WEB servers at other sites, the wealth of information becomes
more manageable and easier to access.

270

Transferring

Large Documents Piece by Piece

When one accesses a document via a standard WEB server, it transfers an entire
copy of the document to the desktop computer. This canbe undesirable when the
document is very large. The BASIS WEBserver resolves this problem by transferring
only the document piece currently displayed.
BASIS Plus Access via WEB Browsers
For existing BASIS Plus sites, the BASIS WEB server provides the opportunity
to use any of the many available WEB browsers as the interface for their BASIS plus
databases. In other words, one can use a single, familiar interface for all the information
gathering on the INTERNET - including the information in BASIS Plus databases.
Because WEB Browsers support numerous platforms they may great tools for corporate
wide information services. As the WEB continues to grow in popularity, more and better
WEB browsers will be developed.

271
--

-,..-.

_. .--_._-

Annexure-

FlowChartsof AutomotionStepsRecmded

10

by he INFUBNET
Inter-Agency
WqrkingGroup

of an Informationat-dlibrary Netwod)
( Source:Reportof theInter-Agency
WorkingGroup Development

Start

New

Document
Information
Books, Serials, NBM

cl

Search local
Catalogue
( Interactive
)

bvnload

RC

a
cdEi%ue
i
Catalogue
document
using
standard
format

updot
local
Catalogue

1. FLOW CHART FOR AUTOMATION OF CATALOGUING SERVICE


272

QFOWld

SW

*0
QFCUnd

Skp

Utlrati&d
nqu**

Smp

2. FLOW CHART FOR AUTOMA.~

0s*

OF CATALOGUE/DATAfMSE SEARCH

273

Y
c

0
1

3. FLOW CHART FOR AUTOMATION OF BOOK PROCESSING/PREPARATION

4. FLOW CHART FOR AUTOMATlON OF INTER-LIBRARYLOAN REQUESTS

APaputoboObainad.

5. FLOW CHART FOR AUTOMATION OF DOCUMENT THROUGH FAX

6. FLOW CHART FOR AUDudlON

OF COUECtlON

DNnoPMENT

DIRECTORY
OF
ACRONYMS

DIRECTORY

OF ACRONYMS

A&I

Abstracting and Indexing

AALDI

Association of Agricultural Librarians & Documentationists of India

AASSREC

Association of Asian Social Sciences Research Councils

ACS

Asynchronous Communication System

ADNET

Ahmedabad Network

ADONIS

Article Delivery Over Network Information Service

AGRIS

Agricultural

AGROVOC

Indexing Tool for AGRIS

AIOCD

All India Organization of Chemists & Druggists

APINESS

Asia Pacific Information Network in Social Sciences

ARIC

Agricultural

ASTINFO

Regional Network for the Exchange of Information

ATIRS

Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association

BANNET

Bangalore Library Network

BHEL

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited

BIS

Bureau of Indian Standarads

BONET

Bombay Library Network

BRS

Bibliographical

BTIS

Bio-Technology

Information System (FAO)

Research Information Centre

Retrieval Services (USA)


Information System

279

C-WEB

Centre for World Wide Web Service over NICNET

CAD/CAM

Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing

CALIBNET

Calcutta Information and Library Network

CBT

Computer Based Tutor

cc

Current Contents

cc

Colon Classification

ccc

Classification Catalogue Code

ccrI-T

International Consultative Committee for Telephones and Telegraph

CDC

Control Data Corporation

CDL

Centralized Department Library

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access

CDRI

Central Drug Research Institute

CDROM

Compact Disc Read only Memory

CDS

Computerized Documentation System

CENDIT

Centre for Development of Instructional Technology

CFIRI

Central Food Technological Research Institute

CGIN

Chemical Information Network

CHIN

Chemcial Information Network

I CIL

ah6

Current Leather Literature


Counectionless Network Layer Service

CLRI

Central Leather Research Institute

CMFRI

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute

CMTIKMTRI

Central Machine Tools Research Institute

CNLS

Correctionless Network Layer Service

CONPOLIS

Committee on National Policy on Library and Information System

CONS

Connection Oriented Network Layer Service

CSIR

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research

CTIC

Central Technical Information Centre

CUG

Closed User Group

DAE

Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India

DBT

Department of Bio Technology

DCA

Diploma in Computer Applications

DDC

Dewey Decimal Classification

DDN-NIC

DDN Network Information Centre

DELNET

Delhi Library Network

DESIDOC

Defence Science Information & Documentation Centre, New Delhi

DEVINSA

Development Information Network on South Asia

DEVSIS

Development Science Information System

DIALOG

Lockheed Online Information Retrieval System

DIC

Distributed Information Centre

281

DLA

Delhi Library Association

DM

Database Manager

DNS

Domain Name System

DOCFINDER

Document Locating Software of DRTC

DOD

Department of 3cean Development

DOE

Department of Electronics, Government of India

DOT

Department of Telecommunications

DPS

Document Preparation System

DRDO

Defence Research and Development Organization

DRTC

Documentation Research and Training Centre

DSIR

Department of Scientific & Industrial Research

DST

Department of Science & Technology

DTE

Data Terminal Equipment

ECIL

Electronics Corporation of India Ltd

ED1

Electronic Data Interchange

EMS

Electronic Message System

ENVIS

Environmental Information System

ERNET

Education & Research Network

. ESA
FA0

European Space Agency


Food and Agricultural Organization

282

FAX

Facsimile

FID

International Federation of Documentation

FQM

Fundamental Query & Manipulation

FRI

Forest Research Institute

FSTA

Food Science and Technology Abstracts


File Transfer Protocol

GATT

General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

GB

Gigabyte

GIIS

Germplasm Introdcution information System

GILA

Government of India Library Association

GPSS

Gateway Packet Switched Service

GRIP

Genetic Resource Information Project

HMT

Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd

HYLIBNET

Hyderabad Library Network

IAB

Internet Architecture Board

IAEA

International Atomic Energy Agency

IARI

Indian Agricultural Research Institute

IASLIC

Indian Association of Special Libraries & Information Centres

IBM

International Business Machines Inc.

ICAR

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

283

ICL

International Computers Limited

ICLISR

Indian Council of Library & Information Science Research

ICMR

Indian Council of Medical Research

ICRISAT

International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics

ICSSR

Indian Conncil of Social Science Research

IDMA

Indian Drug Manufacturers Association

IDU

Indoor Unit

IFIS

International Food Information Service

IFLA

International Federation of Science Associations

IFRI

Imperial Forest Research Institute

IGNCA

Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts

IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University

IIM

Indian Institue of Management

IIP

Inter-Governmental Informatics Programme of UNESCO

11s

Industrial Inquiry Service of INTIB

IIT

Indian Institute of Technology

ILA

Indian Library Association

INB

Indian National Bibliography

. INDONET
INET

Datacom Network of CMC Ltd


Datacom Network of DOT

284

INFLIBNET

Information and Library Network

INIS

International Nuclear Information System

INSAT

Indian Satellite

INSDOC

Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre

INSPEC

Information Services in Physics, Electronics & Computing

INTERNET

An International Network

INTIB

International Technology Information Board

IOC

Inter Governmental Oceanographic Commission

IODE

International Oceanographic Data Exchange

IP

Internet Protocol

IPAG

Information, Planning and Ananysis Group

IRPTC

International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals

IRTC

Industrial Toxicslogical Research Institute at Lucknow

ISA

Indian Science Abstracts

ISDN

Intergrated Services Digital Network

ISDS

International Serials Data System

ISIS

Integrated Set of Information Systems

IS0

International Standards Organization

ISOC

Internet Society

ISONET

International Standards Information Network

285

ISSN

International Standard Serial Number

IT

Information Technology

ITI

Indian Telephone Industries

ITU

International Telecommunication

IV&V

Information Dissemination and Processing

JOCLAI

Joint Council of Library Associations of India

KAULIBNET

Karnataka State University Library Network

KBPS

Kilo bits per second

L&IS

Library & Information Science

LAN

Local Area Network

LIC

Local Information Centre

LNB

Low Noise Block Counter

MAILNET

Mangalore Library Network

MAN

Metropolitan Area Network

MARC

Machine Readable Catalog

MB

Megabyte

MBPS

Mega bits per second

MCA

Master of Computer Applications

MECON

Mechanical Engineering Consultants

MEDLINE

MEDLARS

Online

286

Union

MHRD

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

MSDOS

Microsoft Disk Operating System

MX

Mail Exchange

NADCLSI

National Agricultural Documentation Centre Library System of India

NAL

National Aerospace Laboratry

NASDOC

National Social Science Documentation Centre

NATIS

National Information System

NBPGR

National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource

NC

National Centre

NCC

Network Control Centre

NCERT

National Council of Educational Research & Training Centre, New Delhi

NCL

National Chemical Laboratory, Pune

NCSI

National Centre for Science Information

NCST

National Centre for Software Technology

NEHU

North Eastern Hill University

NIC

National Informatics Centre

NICFOS

National Information Centre for Food Science

NICHEM

National Informatics Centre for Chemicals and Allied Industries

NICLAI

National Information Centre for Leather and Associated Industries

NICMAP

National Information Centre for Machine Tools and Production

287
-._

..----_-.-

.__I.d_-

-.___-

NICNET

NIC Network

NICTAS

National Information Centre for Textile and Allied Industries


National Institute of Health and Family Welfare

. NIMHANS

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science

NIO

National Institute of Oceanography

NISDB

National Information System and Databank

NISIET

National Institute of Small Industry Extension and Training

NISSAT

National Information System for Science and Technology

NISTADS

National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies

NLB

National Library Board

NLFIC

National Forest Library & Information Centre

NLM

National Library of Medicine at Bathesda

NRSA

National Remote Sensing Agency

NSC

National Science Library

NSF

National Science Foundation, USA

NSFNET

NSF Network

NSL

National ScienceLibrary, INSDOC

NTIS

National Technical Information Service (USA)

NUCSI

National Union Catalogue of Scientific Serials in India

OCLE

Online Computer Library Centre

288

OCR

Optical Character Recognisation

ODC

Oxford Decimal System of Classification

OLTP

Online Transaction Protocol

OPAC

Online Public Access Catalog

OPPI

Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India

OS1

Open System Interconnection

PAD

Packet Assembler and Disassembler

PGI

General Information Programme of UNESCO

POPIN

Population Information Network

PPP

Point to Point Protocol

PRL

Physcial Research Laboratory

PSE

Packet Switching Exchange

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network

PUNENET

Pune Network

RC

Regional Centre

RCC

Regional Computer Centre

RENNIC

Research and Education Network of NIC

RINSCA

Regional Information Network for South and Central Asia of UNESCO

RO-VSAT

Receiver Only VSAT

RRRLF

Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation

289

SAARC

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

SAC

Space Application Centre

SAIL

Steel Authority of India Limited

SASMIRA

Silk and Art Silk Mills Research Association

SC1

Science Citation Index

SD1

Selective Dissemination of Information

SENDOC

Small Enterprises National Documentation Centre

SGML

Standard General&d

SIC

Sectoral Information Centre

SIRNET

Scientific and Industrial Network

SLIP

Serial Line Interface Protocol

SMIC

Sorghum and Millets Information Centre

SPIN

Inter-Governmental Conference on Stratepics and Policies in


Informatics (1978)

SSDC

Social Science Documentation Centre

SSMA

Spread Spectrum Multiple Access

STD

Subscribe Trunk Dialling

STIS

Science and Technology Information System

TAC

Technical Advisory Committee

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TDMA

Time Division Multiple Access

Markup Language

290

TERI

Tata Energy Research Institute

TIB

Technology Information Bank

TIFR

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

TIUG

Textile Information Users Group

TYMNET

Network operated by Timeshare Inc

UDC

Universal Decimal Classification

UGC

University Grants Commission

UGC- IC

UGC Information Centre

UGC/SIC

UGC Science Information Centre

UL

University Library

UNBIS

UN Bibliographic

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNEP

United Nations Environmental Programme

UNDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

UNIFY

Relational Database Management Software

UNIMARC

Universal MARC Format

UNISIST

World Science Information System, UNESCO

UUCP

Unix -Unix Protocol

VECC

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

VINITI

All Union Institute of S&T Information

Information System

VSAT

Very Small Aperture Terminal

VSL

Vikram Sarabhai Library, KIM (Ahmedabad)

VSNL

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited

WAN

Wide Area Network

WHO

World Health Organization

WILL

Wireless in Local Loop

WIPO

World Intellectual Property Organisation


World Wide Web

Yes

292

ANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON
THE INDIAN LIBRARY MOVEMENT
& MODERNIZATION
I.

BOOKS AND REPORTS ON HISTORY & POLICY

The evolution of a National Policy, though has not led to a de-jure framework, has
however, given a de-facto set of guidelines. For a proper comprehension of the status,
the reader is referred to the following reports:
1.

S.R. Ranganathan, Post-war Reconstruction


India, Madras, 1944.

of Libraries in

2.

S.R. Ranganathan, Library Development Plan: Thirty Year


Programme for India, Delhi University, Delhi, 1950.
(These two classic reports are available for reference in the
Library of DRTC, Bangalore).

3.

Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, Model


Public Libraries Bill, 1961.

4.

Ministry of Education, Govenment of India, New Delhi, Report


of the Advisory Committee for Libraries, 1961

5.

Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi, Report of the Working Group on Modemization of Library Services
and Informatics, July 1984 (Chairman: N. Seshagiri; Member
Secretary: Prof. P.B. Mangla)

6.

Department of Culture, Government of India, New Delhi, The


National Policy on Library and Information System - A Presentation, 1986.

7.

S.R. Ranganathan and A. Neelameghan, Public Library System, published by Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library
Science, Bangalore, 1972.

8.

B.P. Barua, Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation - Objectives and Implementation, in Souvenir Published by Bengal
Library Association, IASLIC, Calcutta, 1988.
295
-~-

_ .IIvp-

-----. I--,- -...^.-.---

_..---

9.

The Proceedings of the XXXVII All India Library Conference


held in IIT, Madras, Dec. 4-7.1991 was on the theme National
Information Policies and Programmes, published in 1991 at
New Delhi by the Indian Library Association (Number of pages
: 463). This is a fundamental document on the policy framework
with a large number of good papers devoted to policy aspects of
the Library System and its Modemization. Typical papers, some
of which are referred in the Text, are by:
9
ii)
iii)
iv)
v>
vi)

II.

B.P. Barua, pp. 5-14


K. Vijayalakshmi, pp. 22-27
N.V. Sathyanarayana, pp. 71-91
P.S.G. Kumar, pp. 384-392
M.K. Mohandas & K.C. Shet, pp. 408-412
M. Srinath & K. Nithyanandam, pp. 413418

BOOKS & CONFERENCE


MODERNIZATION

PROCEEDINGS

ON OR DEALING

WITH

Only a few books have been published which touch upon modemizaion
Libraries in India. The more representative ones are the following:
10.

S.P. Agarwal, Development of Library Services in India, Concept Publ., New Delhi, 1989.

11.

R.K. Sharma & B.P. Tripathi (ed.), Informtion Handling in


Libraries in the 21st Century, Ess Ess Publns., New Delhi, 1989.

12.

R. Subbaiah, Agricultural
Publ., New Delhi, 1988.

13.

H.K. Kaul, Library Networks - An Indian Experience, Virgo


Publ., New Delhi, 1992.

14.

N. Seshagiri, Globalized Computer-Communication for Asia


and the Pacific, ROSTSCWUNESCO, New Delhi, 1994.

15.

B. Guha (ed.), The Library and Information Science Horizon,


Allied Publ., New Delhi, 1986.

Libraryship

296

in India, Metropolitan

of

16.

Document No. UNESCO/CON/NET/IGNCA/93


Published by
ROSTSCA/UNESCO, New Delhi & IGNCA, New Delhi 1993.

Three major conferences were held in India dealing with various issues concerning
modemization. Many of the papers in these proceedings deal with the specific problems
of modemization of libraries in India.
17.

C.P. Vashishth (ed.), Proceedings of the XXX111 All India


Library Conference on the theme Modemization in Libraries*,
held at Tiruchirapalli Dec. 28-3 1,1987 and published by Indian
Library Association, New Delhi, 1988 (477 pages). (Papers by
B. Saibaba pp. 299-304 and S.P. Agarwal, et&, pp. 349-356 are
referred in the main text).

18.

C.P. Vashishth (ed.), Proceedings of the XXXIX All India


Library Conference on the theme, Standardization in Library
and Information Work and Services, held at University of
Poona, Pune, Nov. 7-10, 1989, and published by Indian Library
Association, New Delhi, 1989 (426 pages).

19.

S.S. Murthy, et.al. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on the theme, Bibliographic Databases and Networks,
held under the auspices of DESIDOC 8~.AGLIS, New Delhi,
Febr. 22-25,1989, and published by Tata McGraw Hill Publ. Co.
Ltd., New Delhi, 1990 (Papers by A. Lahiri, etal., pp. 1-41 to l.66, and V.M. Podshibyakin, pp. 2-41 to 2-50, are referred in the
main text.

20.

C.V. Subbarao, et.al (eds.), Proceedings of the XXXX All India


Library Conference on the theme, Preparing Libraries for the
Twenty First Century, held at Goa University, Goa, Jan 5-8,
1995, and published by Indian Library Association, New Delhi,
1995 (597 pages).

A nu mber of other conferences were held in India which indirectly contributed to


the understanding of the problems of modemization using Computers and ComputerCommunication Networks. Some of these areas are outlined below:
21.

N. Seshagiri, I. Ravichandra Rao, N.V. Satyanarayana (eds.),


Proceedings of the International Conference oon the theme,
297

Database Production and Distribution, held at Bangalore, 28


Nov. - 1 Dec. 1993 under the auspices of INFOTEX 93, and
published by Tata McGraw Hill Co. Ltd., New Delhi, 1993.
(Papers by N.M. Malwad, pp. 126-138 and N. Kapila, pp. 403413, are referred in the main text).

III.

22.

N. Seshagiri, A. Akopov, R.A. Schware (Eds.), Proceedings of


the International Conference on the theme, Globalization of
Computer & Communication held at Bombay, India, in Nov.
1993, under the auspices of INFOCOM 93, and published by
Tata McGraw Hill Co. Ltd., New Delhi, 1993.

23.

P.K. Gupta and U. Pawan (ed.), Procedings of the Conference on


the theme, Library and Information Science : Current Trends in
India, held at Jaipur in 1986 and published by RBSA. (Paper by
P.S.G. Kumar, pp. 35-40, referred in the main text).

PERIODICALS PUBLISHED IN INDIA DEALING


MODERNIZATION
OF LIBRARIES IN INDIA

WITH PAPERS ON

Research papers and reviews on topics related to modemization appear in a few


L&IS journals published in India. A Journal with quality level comparable to some of
the good international L&IS journals is Library Science - with a Slant toDocumentation
and Information Studies, or, more popularly known as Library Science, is published
under the sponsorship of the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science,
Bangalore, by the Editor, Institute of Information Studies, Bangalore, India. Current
editors are A. Neelameghan and M.A. Gopinath. Some of thepapersreferred toor having
a bearing on the main text are given below:

24.

Prem Singh, Vol. 28, Nov. 4, pp. 137-149, 1991

25.

S. Chandhok, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 66-86, June 1994

26.

N. Laxman Rao, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 146- 15 1, Dec. 1993

27.

M.A. Gopinath, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 17-24, March 1993

28.

R.S.R. Varalakshmi, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 91-110, June 1994

29.

S.Deshmukh &H. Mehta, Vol. 30,NO.4,pp. 160-172,Dec.1993

298

30.

K.K. Manjunatha, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 150-159, Dec. 1993

31.

Y.P. Dubey, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 82-86, June 1991

32.

M.V. Palaniyandy & I.K. Ravichandra Rao, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp.
183-189, Dec. 1992

33.

B.M. Meera, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 59-65, June 1994

34.

A Jambhekar&N.

Mehta,Vol. 28, No.4,pp. 160-164,Dec. 1991

There are few newsletters and bulletins issued from Organizations and Associations which give a broad perspective of modemization, especially achievements, plans
and projects. Four of the more important ones are listed below:

IV.

35.

NISSAT Newsletter issued from the DSIR, New Delhi (Quarterly)

36.

INFORMATICS - Quarterly Newsletter of National Informatics


Centre, New Delhi.

37.

ILA Bulletin issued by Indian Library Association, New Delhi.

38.

IASLIC Bulletin Issued by the Indian Association for Science


Libraries and Information Centres, Calcutta.

Meta-Information

& Source Books

39.

P. Dhyani, Directory of Information Services and Computer


Application - Indian Libraries, University Book House Pvt. Ltd.,
Jaipur, 1994.

40.

UGC, Development of an Information and Library Network Report of the Inter Agency Working Group, publshed by UGC,
New Delhi, Dec. 1988 (Chairman: Prof. Yash Pal). (This report
of the Inter Agency Committee of which the author was a member
is repeatedly referred and quoted in the main text).

41.

B.M. Gupta, etal. (eds.), Handbook of Libraries, Archives and


Information Centres in India, Volumes I toXIII, AdityaPrakashan,
New Delhi. (This is the richest source of primary information. It
gives information on various sectoral libraries as well as problems of transition to modemization, especially in Vol. VII.
Several articles referred have a direct bearing on the themes of the
main text.)
299

For further contact


Readers of this report who would like to have further information or clarification
on any of the points dealt with in this report may contact the author at the following
address:
Dr. N. Seshagiri
Director General, National Informatics Centre &
Special Secretary, Planning Commission,
A-Block, CGO Complex,
Lodi Road, New Delhi-l 10 003
India
Telephone: 9 1- 11-4361504
91-11-4361447
Telex: 031-61274 NICS IN
FAX: 91-1 l-4364873
INTERNET EMAIL: nsg@dg.nic.in
UUNET EMAIL: uunet!nicnet!dg!nsg

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