- LIS-Forum - ncsi.iisc.ernet.in

Book Tome
by Padmanabha Vyasamoorthy 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Here is a good personal library management software. bookTome bookTome, a book management system, can help catalog and manage your library or personal book collection. Its features include: Add and edit books manually or using web services; sort and organise your books by author, series or reading status; display books - view books by author or series, as well as by the reading status; search your books with free-form text searching and links; and print out book lists, book information; and keep track of books that you want to read with the wish list. The 2.95 MB bookTome, version 1.20 (29th Nov, 2008), for Windows XP / Vista, can be downloaded at http://booktome.shanemca.com/downloads/bookTome.exe Dr P Vyasamoorthy Link to me through: http://vyasa-kaaranam-ketkadey.blogspot.com/ http://societyforservingseniors.satyamcsr.org/ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

International conference on Freedom in Computing, Development and Culture
by Vimal Kumar 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

2nd International conference on Freedom in Computing, Development and Culture" start on 9 December 2008 at Mascot Convention Center, Thiruvananthapuram. Three day conference is end on December 12. Seat availability is 400, online registration facility is available. Seats will be based on First-Come First-Served mode. Organizers of this event are Kerala State IT Mission and SPACE, the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment. Celebrities in free software movement attend this conference and lots of related programs are the highlights of this conference. Main attraction among speakers are Eben Moglen, Jimmy Wales, Richard Matthew Stallman, Subbiah Arunachalam, and Adam Arvidsson. Other sweet session of this conference are Linux install fest, Open Movie Fest and display of Malayalam Computing, General Word Processing Applications, Scientific Computing, Games and Educational Software, Open Hardware and Computing for Disabled. Various interesting topics are take place for speech and discussion; ethical economy, Free Software in E-Governance, open access, software patents, FOSS in Agriculture and Fisheries, Free Software Education and Research. More details available at http://fsfs.in/ -- Vimal Kumar V. Asst. Librarian Asian School of Business Technopark, Trivandrum-695 581 Web: www.asb.edu.in/vimal/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I have learnt" -Patrick White -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

Post Graduate Diploma in Location Guidance
by Ratneshwar Bhavsar 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Dear Professionals, I am a librarian in Sinhgad Institute in Management College in Pune. I want to do the "Post Graduate Diploma in Location Guidance". Do you have any idea, information or knowledge about this course then please tell me. I want direct students that how to choose career, educational field by which they can get success in their life. For doing this I think Post Graduate Diploma in Location Guidance this course help me. Thanking you in advance. Ratneshwar C Bhavsar Librarian SIBACA, Lonavala Dist Pune Mobile No. 9372579948 -- -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

Koha for Malyalam Catalogues
by Rajan 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Dear All, Koha is a good choice for libraries in Kerala. But the possibility of using Koha for creating catalogue of Malayalam books (due to its Unicode compliance) has not been explored much because of poor knowledge of most of the librarians about Unicode, it seems. Dr P Mukhopadhyay ( University of Burdwan), a prominent practitioner of Koha, clarifies that Koha can be used for creating searchable catalogue of books in Malayalam, if we use utf-8 encoding for character set and the mysql supports utf-8 as native character set. Kindly inform me, if anyone is using Koha 2.2.9 on Windows for Malayalam catalogue preparation. Regards, K Rajasekharan Kerala Institute of Local Administration Thrissur -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

Re: [LIS-Forum] biased towards their candidate in filling vacancies:Hinders to the growth of corporate librarian
by Mailing List Admin 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 23:06:50 -0800 (PST) From: jaya khare <i_amacquarian(a)yahoo.com> � i am going through all the forums seriously� specially atanu garai� and appreciate his observation towards this situation ,what i found as a research scholar (Mphil) and professional ,�is LIS education on one side and successful corporate librarian another side. All the advertisements gets published to fill up the vacancies but gets fill up without any announcement that is one point. � � Another �People are so biased in india that they prefer their candidates and all other qualified professionals records go to the dustbin� everyday� and biased towards their candidate on job too , i am really unable to understand .� � � Unless and until we deal with this situation , we will never be�successful in bringing quality in Librarianship profession. � Nidhi.k Mlisc,Mphil(pursuing) s p university, Anand Gujarat 09974168052 --- On Wed, 12/3/08, Mailing List Admin <mailman(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in> wrote: From: Mailing List Admin <mailman(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in> Subject: Re: [LIS-Forum] Training for corporate librarianship To: lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 12:23 AM Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 20:17:49 +0530 From: atanu garai <atanugarai.lists(a)gmail.com> Dear Professors, I am very glad to interact with you all again, as I always look for opportunities to ask questions to teachers. Let me be very honest here. I will of course agree to what is said regarding the imminent need for improving the quality of intake and output of LIS incumbents. There is no doubt about it. But, this is just one side of the coin. [truncated]

1 0

Just Published: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009 - Overcoming inequality:why governance matters
by Puna Das 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2009 - Overcoming inequality:why governance matters Despite much progress since 2000, millions of children, youth and adults still lack access to good quality education and the benefits it brings. This inequality of opportunity is undermining progress towards achieving Education for All by 2015. Who are these individuals and groups? What are the obstacles they face? How can governance policies help break the cycle of disadvantage and poverty? What policies work? Is education reform integrated into the bigger picture? Is the international community making good on its commitments? Download Press release: http://www.unesco.org/education/gmr2009/press/GMR2009_pressrelease_EN.pdf Download Summary Report: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001776/177609e.pdf Download the Full Report: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001776/177683E.pdf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anup Kumar Das New Delhi, India http://www.anup-jnu.blogspot.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

vacancy of Librarian
by Manoj Verma 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

Librarian at Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute Of Technology, Krishnadevarayanagar, Hunasamaranahalli, Via : Yelahanka, Bangalore – 562157<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lisjob/~3/h45oZWqKuOM/librarian-at-sir-m-vis…> For more details please visit: http://www.sirmvit.edu -- MANOJ KUMAR M.Sc.(Phys), MLISc,M.PHIL.(LIS), ADCA,UGC-NET(June & Dec.2006) -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

Article request
by ramesh chander 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

Dear Colleagues, I need an article which one of our IISc research scholar needs for his research work. If any one has access to it, please send me the same. The details of the article are High-Temperature Heat Content and Entropies of Cerium Dioxide and Columbium Dioxide,Authors: E.G. King, A.U. Christensen, , Rep. Invest., vol. 5789, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1961, p. 1. -- With Regards, Romesh Chander Sharma National Center for Science Information(NCSI), Indian Institue of Science, Bangalore-560012, -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

1 0

Re: [LIS-Forum] Training for corporate librarianship
by Mailing List Admin 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 20:17:49 +0530 From: atanu garai <atanugarai.lists(a)gmail.com> Dear Professors, I am very glad to interact with you all again, as I always look for opportunities to ask questions to teachers. Let me be very honest here. I will of course agree to what is said regarding the imminent need for improving the quality of intake and output of LIS incumbents. There is no doubt about it. But, this is just one side of the coin. The other side is equally dark and grim and I have serious doubts that even if we are successful in bringing out quality graduates, Indian companies are very unlikely to take them (practice in North America and Europe is very different). Let me explain. First and foremost, the heads of these institutes (say, HR heads - who corporate librarians most often report to, e.g. http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/pipermail/lis-forum/2006-July/004325.html) have little to no idea of library and librarian. Lets do little bit of survey of Terms of Reference of job advertisements of posts relevant to corporate world (knowledge manager, librarians etc.). Case Study 1: Knowledge Management Officer. This advt is posted in naukri.com on 20 Nov. It says: Client of XYZ HR agency "Job Description: 1.Conceptualizing and implementing the knowledge management processes - both for physical library and virtual knowledge base. 2. Designing & Implementing project based knowledge sharing system ensuring optimum utilization. Desired Candidate Profile: 1. Engineer / Commerce graduate 2.Should be fluent in English and well versed with usage of computers 3. Experience in working with libraries will be added advantage Company Profile: It's India's top maritime and port consultant. It provides Business Research, Consulting, Information and Data services to Ports, Shipping, Logistics and other maritime industry." So, presumably this posting is released by a HR company, which has sufficient knowledge and expertise in this domain, with MBAs in HR and aware of the requirements of "Conceptualizing and implementing the knowledge management processes - both for physical library and virtual knowledge base". For the development of library, they need either an engineer or a commerce graduate, a person who known English and usage of computer (Librarians dont know either for sure) and experience in working with libraries will be advantage (as if, engineers generally work in libraries). Case study 2: Librarian (Client of XYZ HR agencies) "Job Description: should be a Bachelor in Library science/MBA. Preferably from a law institue,law firm or worked earlier in some legal deparment. Preferably a male candidate Desired Candidate Profile: should be a Bachelor in Library science/MBA Preferably from a law institue,law firm or worked earlier in some legal deparment. Preferably a male candidate Company Profile: Leading Law Firm based in Delhi" This is not very clear if the recruitment agency wants to say a Bachelor in Library Science equals to an MBA or, an MBA or BLIB will be required. Also, the gender bias in the advertisement is does not go well. Additionally, one can read the article written by T D Wilson, The nonsense of 'knowledge management' - http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper144.html, which is a gem in this regard. Secondly, I do not believe the concept of traditional sense of library as a physical building go well with corporate (or for that matter any other fast paced working environment) working culture. Information has to reside within the grasp of people, not in a distant location where you need to go and come back with your piece of information. Some authors have already written on this issue. Thirdly, since the HR managers do now know what to do with the librarians, they have already started recruiting MBAs (not the librarians with MBAs, but plain MBAs), so abundantly available in Indian market. Drive past the Delhi and Jaipur highway, and you can actually get an MBA degree from the roadside MBA dhabas in lieu of few thousand rupees and don't forget to get it signed from the head of the institute. The current issue of CACM actually gave a dim picture of India's tryst with ICT education as well ( http://mags.acm.org/communications/current) "In addition, while the Indian IT exports industry has a severe need for students to have "soft qualifications" (such as proficiency in spoken and written English and the ability to manage projects efficiently), this education system does not provide any such courses. Hence, it is not surprising that a recent study by the strategy consulting firm McKinsey and Company (www.mckinsey.com/mgi) indicated only 25% of engineering graduates would have the requisite qualifications to be employed in the Indian IT exports industry." (http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1409360.1409369) The immediate strategy will be therefore to educate these HR people about LIS and perhaps few well-drafted TOR for various positions and roles related to corporate world could be sent to all these firms, so that they know they dont have to curse their brains next time. Best regards Atanu Garai

1 0

Re: [LIS-Forum] LIS EDUCATION VIS-A-VIS CORPORATE LIBRARIANS
by T. Shahab 02 Dec '08

02 Dec '08

Dear Moderator, As Mr. Sadasivan has very correctly highlighted, the expectations from a prospective librarian are many fold and if we are able to acknowledge and fulfill these we will able to add to the glory of the profession. But this will require a re-engineering of our academic curriculum as well as great emphasis on the apprenticeship programme. Regards TANWIR ________________________________ From: lis-forum-bounces(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in [mailto:lis-forum-bounces@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in] On Behalf Of Sadasivan KP Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 3:44 PM To: lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Subject: [LIS-Forum] LIS EDUCATION VIS-A-VIS CORPORATE LIBRARIANS Dear All, This is in response to the recent postings on the above subject matter. The Problems 1. There is a widening gap between the demand and supply of really competent LIS professionals in our country, irrespective of the nature of institutions where they are expected to perform. Corporate sector is undoubtedly one such area with tremendous job potential. 2. But sadly, majority of the products of LIS Schools are mediocre in nature ! Few exceptions are always there from any School or most of the products are OK from a very very few Schools. 3. There are several factors contributing to this lamentable situation. They include : (a) Poor standard of the students joining for the LIS Course (b) Out of date Syllabus followed in the LIS Schools (c) Inadequate infrastructure facilities in the Schools (d) Incompetent Teachers or Teachers who do not bother to update their knowledge base (e) Reluctance of LIS Schools for proper interactive programmes with performing libraries & librarians (f) Poor communication skills and leadership qualities among the students (g) Lack of commitment of students in accepting LIS as a good profession. They, instead, consider it as a short cut to get a job. Etc., etc. Well, the above listing is only selective. The Solutions 3. The solutions are partly embedded in the problems listed above. But still, let me repeat a few : (a) There is an immediate need for restructuring the LIS Syllabus uniformly across the country. The exercise should not just be confined to NCSI or NISCAIR or DRTC or a handful of Universities, like, University of Mysore, Madras University, etc. Rather, these front-runners (and other stake holders too) should think of initiating a dialogue for a commonly acceptable quality/standard syllabus for all Schools in the country, in the larger interest of the profession. (b) Poor communication skills & leadership qualities of students constitute a major issue. Unless this is effectively resolved, we are not going to succeed in generating competent professionals. The course-ware , the methods of teaching and grading of results/scores should not, at all ignore these factors. Not much seriousness is attributed to the so called 'Soft Skill Development' among our young professionals at present. (c) Making them IT-savvy is another essential ingredient. (d) How to attract really brilliant students to this course is another big question. Career prospects is perhaps one aspect. We must evolve a proper assessment of the market-needs of our professionals. Then mould them appropriately, by complying with other curriculum-related issues (discussed earlier). An explicit outcome should be a mechanism for Assured Placement after their course of study. 4. We, the professionals by and large are lured to concentrate in segmented areas as part of our modernization. It could be anything like CDS/ISIS, WINISIS, Digital Libraries with its fragmented approaches, IR, Webopac, OAI, E-Print, DSpace, etc., if we examine the chronological events. But what is lacking is a Total Framework encompassing all these segments and much more, so as to make it as a body of knowledge for LIS Education & Practice. This has to be planned and designed at a fairly 'higher level' so as to implement the same uniformly and mandatorily as learning modules in the academic programmes. 5. Now, the question of Corporate Librarians.The existing teaching-learning practices and the curriculum contents should invariably be changed to suit the special needs of the sector, which is diffrent from the conventional systems. Rigorous training in soft-skill development and management practices, etc., are needed for moulding them to perform proactively in the newgen LIS domain. Be it 'old bottle or new bottle', it has to be filled with 'new wine' . 6. But who will bell the cat? Possibly a selfless 'Think Tank Group' should evolve for initiating the task. Even a 'Social Network' for the purpose can trigger the operation. Then it will assume the inertial strength required for the 'take off'. 7. A mandatory mechanism for LIS domain, like Medical Council of India in the Health Education Sector, Bar Council of India in the Legal Sector, AICTE for Engineering / Technical Education, etc., has to be evolved for a proper co-ordination to ensure quality education. 8. Responsible Professional Societies in LIS in India including IATLIS cannot shy away from this crisis situation. 9.Certain recommendations of NKC may also be examined in this context. The Time Targets Well, an overnight solution is not possible. What is proposed is a long term strategy. But the time factor should not be stretched to infinity, if we really want to salvage our profession and give it an impressive and acceptable shape. It is high time to evolve strategies for revamping the LIS Education / Profession in India so as to Seek the comments of our esteemed LIS Forum Members. SADASIVAN KP Former Head, Library & Informatics and Former Consultant (ICT) NIIST (CSIR), Trivadrum Poor management and communication skills among the students/products. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed to be clean. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

2 1