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Fwd: [sss-global] THE FORGOTTEN BOOK READING HABIT
by Padmanabha Vyasamoorthy 10 Dec '12

10 Dec '12

I am reproducing an article on reading that impressed me. As many of us are librarians stocking good literature and fiction, I feel it is our duty not to let this reading habit among our customers to die. Dr P Vyasamoorthy, 30 Gruhalakshmi Colony Secunderabad 500015 Ph 040-27846631 / 9490804278. How to read books and alienate friends *Jairaj Singh, Hindustan Times* December 09, 2012 Of late, I have been finding reading books a little futile and irksome. The more I read, the more I seem to forget, and only now has it is begun to hurt somewhere deep inside. Each time I start a new book, I feel like I'm holding a fistful of sand, and with each page I turn, I can't help but let its fragile content slip through the grasp of memory. When the book finally draws to an end, I'm left with bits of dust and crumbs. I don't know why I'm still reading books. A few weeks ago, I finally found Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated (2002), a book I've been looking for the longest, in a bookstore that vehemently denied of having it on its shelves and stock. For some inexplicable reason, it's one of those few novels I've read, which became an almost instant favourite long before I read its first page. Has this ever happened to you? After I was turned down by Fact & Fiction and told matter-of-factly to hunt for a cheaper edition, I set myself on an adventure to look for the book across the city's bookstores only to be confronted with a cruel and unfortunate reality that I have been ominously harping about in recent times. Bookstores in the city are on the verge of ruin. The future is not far when you won't be left with much choice on what to read. Perhaps, it's to do with the loss of my best friend (we used to share books we enjoyed since Mayo), I found Everything is Illuminated a very sad and moving tale. The story is about a young American Jew (shares the same name as the author) who travels to Ukraine with a yellowing photograph in search of a woman believed to have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. He is accompanied by a local, Alex, who is his age, very fond of American pop culture, and a very terrible translator, Alex's melancholic grandfather, who is the designated driver of the journey and is convinced he's blind, and Sammy Davis Jr Jr, the driver's "deranged seeing-eye bitch", out on a quixotic journey that will cast an indelible impression on the rest of their lives. Told in three narrative strands, loosely set in magic realism, and etched in wit, war, sex and pain, I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes when I read the novel. The book took me incomprehensibly long to read. Since it was the cheaper edition, it has a very fine print, and thus hard to read. But it helped traveling with the book to the hills. If you're ever looking for closure in life, and hold sadness in your heart, then I would advise you to take a book to the mountains. Another book I picked up was Raymond Carver's Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, a collection of short stories by one of America's finest short story writers. The beauty of Carver lies in his ability to be simple and precise as he freely moves between compassion, sadness and humility tucked in careful folds of ordinary life. He has a rich deep working class poet's voice, but not in the lyrical way; he adds heft to composition. Not for a minute will your eyes stray from his stories because they are so neat, precise and concise. Anyone who has ever toyed with the idea of writing a short story must read him. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? was written at a very harsh period in Carver's life. Around the time this collection of short stories was released, his first, he almost died of alcoholism, and had to settle with a life of sobriety. Perhaps this transition of strife and chaos permeates through in his stories, making this collection all the more endearing. Reading books is becoming increasingly dull in this age of instant messaging, social media, Wikipedia, smartphones, TV shows and films. It takes some inane commitment to develop a habit of reading, and it's only going to grow harder. Why do we read books? To be entertained, stimulated, to learn, or just visit worlds we never knew existed? By not reading books and killing the culture, we're making way for a rudderless world with no balanced view and perspective. Speaking on the pleasures of reading, one of the most celebrated writers of our times, Ian McEwan, who I met many years ago on a cold sunny afternoon in Jaipur, in a recent interview to The New York Times said, "Perhaps the greatest reading pleasure has an element of self-annihilation. To be so engrossed that you barely know you exist." So, why do I read books? I enjoy stories. It's not always how little you remember or forget from a book that counts. It's the dust and crumbs you hold on to that make a difference. ========== -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Centenary Photography Competition
by Dr.D.P Prathap 08 Dec '12

08 Dec '12

Kindly arrange to distribute through LIS forum: ================================ *Centenary Photography Competition * Commemorating its centenary, the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore is organizing a photography competition open to all Indian citizens living in India. The theme for the contest is ‘*Sugarcane’*. Entry is free. Individual digital photographs must be the competitor’s own work, and cannot be older than 10 years. Entrants can upload up to three images related to the theme. There will be three winners with five consolation prizes. *Practical information:* · Deadline for submissions: 12 hrs IST on* 15 December 2012* · Photographs and entry forms must be sent by email to * sbiphotocontest(a)gmail.com* · Information about the competition is available at* * http://www.sugarcane100.blogspot.in , www.sugarcane.res.in & www.caneinfo.nic.in Contact the Chairman, Publicity committee, SBI-Centenary, at sbicentenary(a)gmail.com if anything needs to be clarified. ====================== -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Invitation for DELNET-Daisy Forum Programme at IIC Annexe on December 15, 2012
by Dr Sangeeta Kaul 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Dear Professional Colleagues We would appreciate if you may kindly send us the confirmation to attend the programme at the earliest possible. ========================================================================== DELNET-Developing Library Network & DAISY Forum of India cordially invite you and your colleagues to a panel discussion on Transcending the Boundaries of Vision : Managing Digital Content in the Mainstream Libraries for the Print Disabled Panelists Mr Dipendra Manocha, President, Daisy Forum of India Mr Ashim Bhattacharya, National Library, Kolkata Dr H K Kaul, Director, DELNET Mr Hiroshi Kawamura, Vice-President, Assistive Technology Development Organisation (Japan) and immediate Past President, Daisy Consortium on Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at Lecture Room I (Ground Floor) India International Centre Annexe (Next to World Bank) Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003 Tea: 6:00 p.m. Tea : 6:00 RSVP : 26742222 ========================================================================== Dr Sangeeta Kaul Network Manager DELNET-Developing Library Network Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus Nelson Mandela Road Vasant Kunj New Delhi-110070 INDIA Tel: 91-11-26742222, 26741266, 9810329992 (M) Fax: 91-11-26741122 Email: sangs(a)delnet.ren.nic.in, sangskaul2003(a)yahoo.co.in ========================================================== -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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9th International CALIBER 2013 to be held Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, Ahmedabad on 21-23 March, 2013
by Dinesh Ranjan 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

*9th International CALIBER 2013* *Information and Library Network Centre, Ahmedabad* *21-23 March, 2013* It is our immense pleasure to inform you that the Information and Library Network Centre (INFLIBNET), Ahmedabad is organising CALIBER 2013 a three day International Convention during 21-23 March 2013 *About CALIBER * Convention on Automation of Libraries in Education and Research Institutions (CALIBER) is an annual convention, organised by INFLIBNET Centre in collaboration with different Universities. CALIBER 2013 is 18thCALIBER in the series and 9 th International CALIBER which will be held in INFLIBNET Centre, INFOCITY, Gandhinagar, Gujarat during 21-23 March 2013. *CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS* CALIBER 2013 offers a unique opportunity to the library and information professionals, teachers, IT professionals, consultants and users involved in automation and networking of libraries as well as information providers to come together and interact on the subjects of mutual interest. It is a focused event that addresses latest trends on an important theme and sub themes. CALIBER brings together practitioners and academicians in the field of library and information science and computer science from across the world. Leading experts, IT gurus, and vendors from around the globe participate in the event. CALIBER has proved to be a forum for renowned and trend-setting speakers to stimulate strategic discussions among librarians, information specialists, publishers from all over the country and beyond. The theme of the 9th International CALIBER is "*Library Vision 2020: Moving Towards the Future* *Sub Themes* The conference will discuss all aspects of library and information services and technologies in the electronic environment, open access and e-learning and other futuristic technologies. The main theme will be divided into three sub-themes as detailed below, but not necessarily limited to: *Subtheme 1 : Migration towards future*. · Decision technology, mobile technologies and service science. · Collection and assets management. *· *Data discovery tools, technics for linking of richer-deeper data for semantic web. ** · Next generation service delivery models. · Integrated physical and digital spaces: "e-everything". · Changeover to newer metadata standards, metadata crosswalks: technologies and case studies. · Content modelling for semantic and social web. · Evolving professional roles * * *Subtheme 2: Collaborative Library Services * · New paradigms in networks and collaborations in libraries. · Collaborative acquisition and access management. · Collaboration systems and technologies. · Cloud based library services. · ILL and document delivery systems in digital environment. · Collaborative learning systems. · Impact of collaborative services : case studies. *Subtheme 3: Open Access and Open Content * · Collection Library to Creation Library. · New generation of open source software: Impact on Library Services. · Open learning resources and learning content management System. · Multimedia enriched e-learning systems. · Standards and IPR issues. · Societal and cultural issues. · National and international projects on e-Learning and scholarly content generation. · New Trends and developments. · SCORM & Tin Can API : Implementation Case studies *Who should participate?* Library and Information Science Professionals Professionals from IT and Knowledge sectors Policy makers and Knowledge seekers Educationists and Academicians Researchers, Students and distance learners E-publishers/ Vendors Content Managers /Technology Managers/ Knowledge Managers Government Officials/Planners /Media experts. *Call for Papers* Programme Committee solicits high quality research and technical papers, case studies, technology updates, etc. related to the theme and sub-themes of the conference. The paper submitted should have been neither published anywhere not kept under consideration for publication. All papers will go through a process of review and accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings. Correspondence will be made with the principal author. The Programme Committee will have the right to edit the papers. The papers should be submitted in electronic version as mentioned below: · Soft copy as e-mail attachment to:caliber2013@inflibnet.ac.inSoft copy submit through online *Important Dates* Receipt of full paper: 31st January 2013 Intimation to Authors: 10th February 2013 The Event: March 21-23, 2013 *Guidelines for paper submission * *Electronic Submission * We strongly encourage you to send the final, revised version of your article electronically, Online <http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/caliber2011/ocs/> or by email caliber2013(a)inflibnet.ac.in. Author(s) are requested to use following format: *Format of Manuscript * 1. All papers should be typed on Microsoft Word-version. 2. Paper size should be A4, Portrait of size 8.5" x 11" with Margins: 1” (top & bottom); 1.5” (left & right) 3. All text should be typed in Arial or Times New Roman Font with size 12 and single-spaced. 4. Headings and subheadings must be in Bold font, left justified and numbered according to Level of heading as below: 1. First Level Heading 1.1 Second Level Heading 1.1.1 Third Level Heading 5. Header & Footer of font size 8. 6. Use double space after the headings, before starting the next paragraph. 7. Page Break can be given to give a logical end to a page. 8. The main title of your paper must not exceed 50 characters. This includes letters, spaces and punctuation. 9. Title should be followed by name, affiliation and address of the Author(s) 10. An abstract of length not more than 250 words should be supplied. 11. Few keywords must be given after the abstract. 12. Size of the paper to be kept within 5000 words. 13. All papers must be accompanied by one passport size color photograph together with a brief CV. 14. Illustrations such as photographs, charts, graphs, drawings, and diagrams should be labelled, so that they correspond with their mention in the text (e.g. Table-1, Figure-2, Diagram-3). Regards, -- Dinesh Ranjan Pradhan Scientific Technical Officer (LS) INFLIBNET Centre (An IUC of UGC) -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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IATLIS General Body Meeting on 27 December 2012 at DRTC, Bangalore
by Mailing List Admin 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

HPS Kalra hpskalra(a)gmail.com Thu Dec 6 15:02:18 IST 2012 Dear life member of IATLIS, The Annual general meeting of the Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Information Science (IATLIS) will be held on 27 December 2012 at DRTC, Bangalore. Details are given in the enclosed notice. HPS Kalra General Secretary, IATLIS. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Information Science C/o Department of Library and Information Science Punjabi University, Patiala No: IATLIS/GBM/2012 Date: 28-11-2012. The 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association will be held on Thursday, 27 December 2012 at 4.00 p.m. at the venue of the XXIX National Conference of the Association, Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, 8th Mile, Mysore Road, Bangalore to transact the following agenda: Agenda 1. To confirm the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 27 November 2011 at Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. 2. To adopt Annual Report for the period December 2011 November 2012 3. To adopt Audited Statement of Accounts for the period 1 April 2011 31 March 2012. 4. To discuss any other matter with the permission of the Chair. Presence of the members is earnestly solicited. General Secretary ------------------------------------------------------

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Invitation for DELNET-Daisy Forum Programme at IIC Annexe on December 15, 2012
by Mailing List Admin 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Dr Sangeeta Kaul sangs(a)delnet.ren.nic.in Fri Dec 7 20:09:13 IST 2012 Dear Professional Colleagues We would appreciate if you may kindly send us the confirmation to attend the programme at the earliest possible. ========================================================================== DELNET-Developing Library Network & DAISY Forum of India cordially invite you and your colleagues to a panel discussion on Transcending the Boundaries of Vision : Managing Digital Content in the Mainstream Libraries for the Print Disabled Panelists Mr Dipendra Manocha, President, Daisy Forum of India Mr Ashim Bhattacharya, National Library, Kolkata Dr H K Kaul, Director, DELNET Mr Hiroshi Kawamura, Vice-President, Assistive Technology Development Organisation (Japan) and immediate Past President, Daisy Consortium on Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at Lecture Room I (Ground Floor) India International Centre Annexe (Next to World Bank) Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003 Tea: 6:00 p.m. Tea : 6:00 RSVP : 26742222 ========================================================================== Dr Sangeeta Kaul Network Manager DELNET-Developing Library Network Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus Nelson Mandela Road Vasant Kunj New Delhi-110070 INDIA Tel: 91-11-26742222, 26741266, 9810329992 (M) Fax: 91-11-26741122 Email: sangs at delnet.ren.nic.in, sangskaul2003 at yahoo.co.in ==========================================================

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Beall~Rs List of Predatory Publishers 2013
by Mailing List Admin 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2012 21:51:01 -0800 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <subbiah.arunachalam(a)gmail.com> Bealls List of Predatory Publishers 2013 By Jeffrey Beall Released December 4, 2012 The gold open-access model has given rise to a great many new online publishers. Many of these publishers are corrupt and exist only to make money off the author processing charges that are billed to authors upon acceptance of their scientific manuscripts. There are two lists below. The first includes questionable, scholarly open-access publishers. Each of these publishers has a portfolio that ranges from just a few to hundreds of individual journal titles. The second list includes individual journals that do not publish under the platform of any publisher they are essentially independent, questionable journals. In both cases, we recommend that researchers, scientists, and academics avoid doing business with these publishers and journals. Scholars should avoid sending article submissions to them, serving on their editorial boards or reviewing papers for them, or advertising in them. Also, tenure and promotion committees should give extra scrutiny to articles published in these journals, for many of them include instances of author misconduct. There are still many high-quality journals available for scholars to publish in, including many that do not charge author processing fees. An additional option is author self-archiving of articles in discipline-specific and institutional repositories. The author is grateful to the many colleagues who have shared information about potential predatory publishers. Last years list included 23 publishers, and this years has over 225, evidence of the rapid growth in the number of predatory journals and publishers. This list will be updated throughout the year at the blog *Scholarly Open Access*, http://scholarlyoa.com. The criteria for inclusion in the lists can be found here<http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/11/30/criteria-for-determining-predatory-open-a…>. The authors email address is: jeffrey.beall(a)ucdenver.edu. A PDF version of this document is available here<http://scholarlyoa.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/2013-lists1.pdf> . http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2013/

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A good academic discussion on Koha and NewGenLib
by Rabishankar Giri 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Dear Sir, I have recently sent my observations on the article mentioned below to the editor of Electronic Library. Subsequently, the author has sent the reply to the Editor which was forwarded to me by the editor. I hope that the discussion will enlighten us about the two OSS. The copy of the discussion has been pasted without any modifications. Regards, RS Giri Open Source Integrated Library Management Systems: Comparative Analysis of Koha and NewGenLib/ Manisha Singh and Gareema Sanaman, A comment Rabishankar Giri * * Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, GGS Indraprastha University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi -110006, India. E-mail: rsgiri11(a)gmail.com Singh and Sanaman’s recent article (2012) on the comparative evaluation of two Open Source ILMS viz. Koha and NewGenLib makes space for debate. Response: There is no need for debate as the article was written in 2010 and was accepted in 2011. Mr. Giri has published his latest studies in the time period of 2011-2012. So as the technology changes every day, new improvised versions of software are developed and implemented. There may be slight difference in updated and lower versions. The two open source software have been compared previously. A white paper by Haravu (2009) compares both these software, but have been missed by the authors. In addition to this prominent work, there are a number of many other papers on NewGenLib which also if reviewed would have given a different perspective. Response: our article on comparative evaluation of two Open Source ILMS viz. Koha and NewGenLib includes more additional features, characteristics and provides specific information about both the software. And it is not possible to review entire literature and include in the paper while writing the study. Major important documents and relevant articles were reviewed by both the authors before writing review of literature and preparation of checklist. Some errors, perhaps due to oversight, that have crept in need to be corrected. On page. 813, the author has mentioned that NewGenLib was developed in 2007, but the fact is that NewGenLib version 1 is released in 2005 and on Jan. 9, 2008, it was declared as OSS under GNU GPL 3 (Wikepedia). Response: I would like to mention that Wikipedia is not an authentic source of information. NewGenlib is the product of a 4-year collaboration between the Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM) and Verus Solutions Pvt. Limited (VSPL), both based in Hyderabad, India. Toward the end of 2007 a business decision was taken to release NewGenLib under the GNU General Public License (GPL). “NewGenLib was developed in 2007” mentioned in the article is used to inform about its development as open source software for the first time. So, if needed the information about the release of first version of software (2008) can be added for clarifying the doubts. In the methodology (Sec. 5, pg. 814) , views/ opinions of professionals of two libraries viz. Delhi Public Library (DPL) using Koha, and Central Library, University of Delhi (CLUD) using NewGenLib have been taken into account. As per our best of knowledge, Central Library, University of Delhi is using Troodon, a proprietary software for Library Management, for more than one year (http://dulsopac.du.ac.in/) and DPL is using KOHA for more than three years. It may be that CLUD did some experiment with NewGenLib for sometime but recent interaction with the professionals from DU Library reveals that they did not experiment with NewGenLib in recent times. Even if we assume that Central Library, University of Delhi done a pilot study on NewGenLib, scaling opinion in Likert’s system will differ substantially because DPL is using the system for at least three years and its professionals got habituated with the process and naturally everything in their software seems to be easierwhereas professionals attached with initial pilot phase of experimentation of NewGenLib in CLUD will feel less habituated. Thus, it attracts a debate in the use of five point scaling system while giving weightage to the opinions where two systems are not at par. It is also to be noted that even DPL is not using all modules of Koha regularly, except acquisition, cataloguing, Circulation, Administration. Thus, the evaluation process based on the two sites, i.e., the Delhi Public Library that has not explored all features and modules of Koha and Delhi University Library that used NewGenLib for testing purpose only. Response: I want to inform the person that article is not only written on the basis of professional personal views and opinions. Article has been written after the thorough study of the software through important sources such as software manuals, relevant articles and software websites. I would also like to add to the knowledge that while I was conducting my study I have personally visited Central Library, DU where the work over library data was under progress using NewGenLib. Later if it has been discontinued, that’s not my responsibility to give reason behind the personal issues of the library. And again I would like to add more for DPL using Koha as I already had mentioned that not only one specific source has been used for writing the article. Visiting DPL and also CRL was the part of the study for gathering more and more information about the study. I have not used rating scale to compare the libraries using the software. It is used as an evaluation tool for the individual software at its own basis irrespective of the libraries. In the software evaluation section (Sec. 4, pg. 814), the authors say, “reference tools which compare the software features and functionality as a whole; reference statistical data available; verification through checklists which is a comprehensive list of questions or list of items to be noted, checked, or remembered and enables to clarify and standardize the evaluation and comparison process and directs the evaluator to the right things.” And “The software packages were evaluated and compared using the checklist which was prepared after thorough study and review of related literature, software reference tools and reference statistical data available” The author has neither referred to the standard reference tools, reference statistical data and checklists available nor provided comprehensive list of questionnaires. Response: I have not used the word Questionnaire anywhere in my study. And Checklist has been prepared personally by the efforts of both the authors after work hand and studies from the software manuals, documentation available, consulting sources and software websites. Checklist has not been copied from anywhere and it is presented in the form of the tables given in our article. And the entire points used in the checklist can be cross-checked while visiting to websites of the software used and their documentation and also by reading the articles used in the review. Again on same page the authors said, “On the basis of qualitative and quantitative results obtained from various sources and their satisfaction in meeting the requirements through the software, all the selected major and minor components or elements were rated for the comparison and various items were signed for their availability (√) and non-availability (×) in the software.” But authors did not mentioned the various sources from where they have derived the quantitative and qualitative results. If, it is from CUDL and DPL, CUDL is not using NewGenLib regularly, so there is hardly any question of satisfaction level of professionals at different levels of implementation and the other one DPL has partially exploited the Koha. Response: I have already mentioned in above responses related to various sources and have clearly written that data from Central Library, Delhi University and DPL, was only one of the source to know more about the software. On page 815, the authors mentioned “Further Koha is more compatible with international metadata and interoperability standards in comparison to NewGenLib which supports very few of them which are later discussed in the paper under formats and standards implementation.” Although the author’s mention that standards implementation are later discussed in the paper, it is found that they make general statements, e.g., in Table 1, under interoperability they give a score of 4 and 3 to Koha and Newgenlib respectively without justifying and/or specifying what interoperability standards are being supported or not supported. But, it is found that NewGenLib supports major international standards for better interoperability (Giri, 2012, 2011) and also compliant to Zotero which has been overlooked by the authors. Response: Kindly Read the article carefully, as the Table VI clearly explains the standards supported by the software. “Koha is more user friendly in terms of installation whereas NewGenLib.” This finding is in stark contrast with the findings reported by Giri from different workshop/training participants (Giri, 2012). It is to be noted that most Koha experts advises its installation on linux platform which is comparatively difficult than Windows platform. Whereas, most of NewgenLib installation is on Windows platform as found from the NewGenLib forum discussion. Response: Findings may vary from personal experience and individual point of view. Similarly, under Granularity, they provide scores to the two software without spelling out what they mean by granularity. In the absence of specific criteria on which the scores for granularity are based, score card is not convincing. If granularity means breaking main module into different smaller parts/submodules for user convenience, our three years experience of using NewGenLib tells that it takes into account very minute details as that of Koha. In several areas, like Budget Management, NewGenLib stands ahead of Koha as it has a well defined budget management system including carry forwarding unspent budget of previous financial year or in patron management, upgrading patron from one course to another by forcing change in patron id. If granularity means as author mentioned “Koha has granularity which describes various types of access permissions given to selected people who use the site and help an administrator to maintain control over who is allowed to edit and/or publish on a site whereas it is missing in NewGenLib software”, then the author has put less attention in NewGenLib and the statement is grossly inaccurate. NewGenLib has different level of permission in very minute level, who can use any module or sub module/specific function in module through Patron category's privileged matrices. Response: I have thoroughly studied the concept and have mentioned specifically about granularity. There is possibility of difference in opinion because of work hand over different versions. Since the article was written in 2010 and with sources available at that time. On page 815, the authors have stated that ”Koha is highly flexible as consultations and library can be used at terminals without any hard disk or specialized hardware which is not possible in NewGenLib.” This statement is inaccurate as NewGenLib can also be used with dumb terminals like Koha. In Page no. 816/817, under the Table II, the authors have pointed out that Koha is using Zebra search engine and mentioned no search engine for NewGenLib. Also it has been mentioned in 6.4 database features “NewGenLib database is searchable through CQL using bath and Dublin core profiles where in Koha has sophisticated zebra search engine”. The authors has provided very much inaccurate information and it is to be noted that NewGenLib is using Lucene / Solr for indexing/searching (Giri, 2011, 2012). Zebra is open source Index data software which has hardly any community around it whereas Lucene Solr is most active open source indexing software project from Apache. Many other successful open source projects like Vufind is using Lucene Solr project. Koha community is also shifting to Lucene/Solr (http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Switch_to_Solr_RFC, http://lists.katipo.co.nz/pipermail/koha/2010-November/026306.html) Biblibre(one of Koha Vendor) has argued for using Lucene/Solr for Koha. (http://drupal.biblibre.com/en/blog/entry/solr-developments-for-koha) Response: I agree with the person with statement made above about the search engine. But I would like to clear that I have taken Zebra Search Engine as a feature of ILMS. It can be edited and corrected by stating Search Engine as a general feature in Table II and than giving the name of both search engines used independently through explanation. S.No. General Feature Koha NewGenLib 10 Search Engine ✔ ✔ Total Features 23 27 Explanation: There are various features common in both Koha and NewGenLib…………………………….Whereas in NewGenLib there is non-availability of Z39.50 client and server for data interchange; Z39.50 Copy Cataloguing, Engine, RSS feed for new acquisition/ search updates, LDAP Authentication and vice-versa are in Koha. Search Engine used in both software are different as Koha uses Zebra as search engine whereas NewGenlib uses Lucene and Solr (NewGenLib 2012 c) soon Koha will also have Solr (ACKU 2012). Reference can be added in online version as: ACKU, Koha online catalogue, ACKU, viewed 1 December 2012, <http://178.79.186.94/>. NewGenLib 2012c, Technology used, NewGenlib, viewed 1 December 2012, < http://www.slideshare.net/newgenlib/newgenlib-30-presentation>. Similarly, in the same table, under database backup, Koha is marked as ‘Easy’ and NewGenLib as ‘More easy’. Such general statements without substantiation gives biased views. Response: Explanation is clearly given below the table. Statement to be edited for database searchable feature: NewGenLib database is searchable through CQL using bath and Dublin core profiles and with Lucene and Solr (NewGenLib 2012 c) whereas Koha has sophisticated zebra search engine. Similarly, the author has mentioned there is no provision for binding management in Koha which is very much incorrect. Response: This is part of Circulation module. Please kindly read more about it as Information given about binding management is correct. Haravu, L J. (2009), “Comparison of two open source integrated Library Systems (ILS):Koha (version. 3.0) and NewGenLib (version. 2.2 beta)” , Available at www.verussolutions.biz/files/Whitepaper2.doc (accessed 20 August 2012) Under Toolkit, against NewGenLib there is J2SDK. This is not a toolkit but an application development environment. Version 3.0.4 of NewGenLib uses a few open source kits like JMARC, Jasper (for report generation). Response: Article was written over Version 3.0 in 2010 and toolkit here refers to the environment to run the program, which is correctly mentioned and is of true knowledge. In the active developments status, the author has given Koha score 5 for newgenlib 1 , but in General features of ILMS author pointed “Koha is also less frequently upgraded and is lacking in modifying, improving and enhancing its features quality from technology view point”. The statements and points given are contradictory and it is to be noted that new features of Koha is released every six months and every month they release bugfix also (Koha Wiki). In case of NewGenlib they release major updates with bugfixes in every three months (Giri, 2012). So, the score card is confusing. However, it is convincing that Koha has wider user as well as developer base across the globe and thus reporting bugs as well as bugfixes are expected to be quick in comparison to NewGenlib where Verus Solution is the sole developer. Response: There is difference in the Characteristics and General features of both software. The person has misunderstood. In Table I Koha have active development status with frequent upgrades which means that Koha is developing its features and characteristics within its old technology and Table II it is defined in term of latest technology development. On page 818 of the paper, the author’s write, “NewGenLib user interface supports few international and local Indian languages.” . But, it has also mentioned that Koha (40 languages) have multilingual support through I18N/L10N whereas NewGenLib (51 languages) through only I18N - Look and feel standard. A correct statement would be that NewGenLib supports all Unicode 4.0 complaint languages. NewGenLib also allows the use of Google transliterate functionality to enable data entry in any Unicode language in Roman script. Corrections can then be made to the entered transliterated text. Response: As NewGenLib is developed in India, so it supports few Indian Languages. And the article is written with objectivity. And Statement made “Koha (40 languages) have multilingual support through I18N/L10N whereas NewGenLib (51 languages) through only I18N - Look and feel standard” is in its correct form. On page 819 of the paper, the authors stated that “Koha, data backup created cannot be used platform independently i.e. backup taken on windows cannot be used or run on Linux and vice versa”. This is an incorrect statement because if backup is taken as .sql file how it will depend on operating system. Response: The information provided in the Article under Table IV for data backup is correct. There are three main components of Koha that must be considered when backing up and restoring: the database, the Koha file system, and the operating system customizations for the system. Refer: http://www.kohadocs.org/Backups and Restoring.html On page 820, under Acquisition Modules function, the sub-functions including background functions (e.g., Acquisitions administration) are given scores without defining what the parameter means. Similarly, on page 821, Table 6, the article uses scores for functions without defining these sufficiently clearly. The author has also mentoned that in Koha “Printing of Catalogue module in AACR2 format is not possible”. This statement is also not the correct one . Response: It is very clear from the explanation given below Table V for Acquisition. And the analysis was done thoroughly on the basis of functionality of software before giving them scores. In Koha “Printing of Catalogue module in AACR2 format is not possible is correct. Kindly read Manual of Koha for more clarification. On page 822, under Circulation functions, the authors depart from the method used to evaluate the two software for Acquistions function, which was to assign a score of 1 to 5 for each sub-function. In evaluating the Circulation function, the authors, use just Yes or No marks. They revert back to the rating of sub-functions in the Serial module (Table 8). Once again the author’s assign scores (1 to 5) for the OPAC/WebOPAC functionality (Table 9, page 824). In other words, the paper has not been consistent in evaluating the functional modules. Response: It is already mentioned that various methods have been used to evaluate the different functionalities as per the availability of Data. Conclusion The paper would have been useful if it had compared the view/opinions of professionals of libraries using most of the functionalities of the two open ILMS for at least a while. Reference Giri, Rabishankar and Sengar, DS. (2011), “Use of open source software in the learning resource centre of Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology: a case study”, Annals of Library and Information Studies, Vol. 58 No.1, pp. 41-48., available at: http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/11555 (accessed 28 November 2011). Haravu, L J. (2009), “Comparison of two open source integrated Library Systems (ILS):Koha (version. 3.0) and NewGenLib (version. 2.2 beta)” , Available at www.verussolutions.biz/files/Whitepaper2.doc (accessed 20 August 2012) Giri,Rabishankar(2012),"NewGenLib 3: An Integrated Open Source Library Management System that Makes your Library Visible in Web", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 29 Iss: 10 (Date online 15/10/2012) Downloaded on: 16-11-2012 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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SIS Fellowship Conferred on Prof C.K.Ramaiah
by Uma Gudivada 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Prof C.K.Ramaiah, Head, Dept of Lib Inf Sci, Pondicherry Central University has been conferred the SIS Fellowship at the recent SIS Conference held at NIT Silchar on 26 Nov 2012, as per a press release from the university. http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/sites/default/files/director30112012.pdf Congratulations ! G.Uma Devi Hyderabad -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Request for an article
by ddp 07 Dec '12

07 Dec '12

Dear Moderator, Kindly arrange to publish my request for an article on LIS forum. Thanks. Dear Professionals, one of our faculty member needs following article for reference. Newcombe, Nora S. & Frick Andrea (2010). Early Education for Spatial Intelligence : Why, What and How. "Mind, Brain and Education", Volume 4, Issue 3, pages 102-111, September 2010. (Blackwell Publishing) If it is accessible to any of you, kindly send me the soft copy. Regards. D. D. Prdnekar Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research V. N. Purav Marg, Mankhurd Mumbai 400 088. Te.No. : 022-25072337 / 25072303 E-Mail : library(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in / ddp(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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