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Indian Initiatives ignored by "Working Group on Open Access and Open Educational Resources"
by Sukhdev Singh 14 Sep '07

14 Sep '07

Dear Friends, I happen to visit Knowledge Commission Website < http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/ > yesterday. There I came come across a report submitted by "Working Group on Open Access and Open Educational Resources" < http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/downloads/documents/wg_open_course.pdf > It talks of two things – Open Educational Resources and Open Access. While I am happy that it mentions that India has done well in regard to Open Access. However I am disappointed with its annexures. These annexures provide exhaustive lists of various resources, but fail to mention any resource from India. It mentions PubMed (From NLM of US) but ignores IndMED – http://indmed.nic.in - the Indian bibliographic database indexing Indian Medical Journals and providing access without any restriction. Even the 38 full text journals available from medIND – http://medind.nic.in are ignored. It lists Bioline - an Open Access repository but fails to mention OpenMED@NIC - http://openmed.nic.in and other 24 Indian Open Access Repositories. It mentions Open Access publishers like BioMED but ignores Indian Open Access publishers like MedKnow. Interestingly it lists subscription-based service from Science Direct but fails mention work being done by Informatics, especially OpenJGate. Does not even talk of Vidyanidhi project – perhaps the first modern Digital Library concept from India. This Document lists Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam as one of its members – however it appears Prof. Arunachalam himself is ignorant of this report (Check out his reply to discussion on this topic at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oadl/) Then, should we believe that the report has been written by some Post Graduate student without consulting the working group member 'experts'? Well we have an example of "Mashelkar committee on Patent Law" which had to be withdrawn when it was found to be a case of plagiarism < http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/22/stories/2007022206751200.htm >. I hope this is not the case here. Perhaps the Open Access concept has not been understood as yet. --Sukhdev Singh. http://www.sukhdevsingh.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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KM India - The Knowledge Summit
by Aman Jha 14 Sep '07

14 Sep '07

Dear Forum Members, I am delighted to inform you that Confederation of Indian Industry (CII ) is holding KM India - the Knowledge Summit, scheduled for 14th - 16th November, 2007 in New Delhi, India. This initiative is intended to support India's emergence as a knowledge superpower, in a connected global economy. KM India is an endeavor undertaken to create a more robust Indian knowledge ecosystem that generates economic value through the effective harnessing of knowledge and intellectual capital. Along with this we are hosting the Indian Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) Awards ceremony, which recognizes the best Indian organizations in KM based on an annual study conducted by Know Network. Shri Kapil Sibal , Minister of Science and Technology and Ocean Development would be preceding at the ceremony as the Chief Guest. Confirmations for participation include eminent achievers like Ashok Soota, Chairman & MD Mindtree Consulting; Sunil Bharti Mittal, President, CII & Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises; Rory Chase, MD Teleos; Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, Zensar; Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor , IIT - Chennai , Dr. R Natarajan, former director, IIT - Chennai; Patrick Lambe, President Information and Knowledge Management Society, Singapore; Christian Bason, Innovation Manager MindLab; Raj Datta, GM - Knowledge Management, Mindtree Consulting; Dr JK Suresh, KM Head, Infosys; and many others. We are hopeful that Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India will inaugurate this Summit on 14th November. We would be happy to answer any queries from your end; you may please contact me or my colleague, Mansi Sharma at kmindia(a)ciionline.org. Please visit our website www.kmindia.in for more information on this summit. Best regards, Aman Jha Librarian Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Plot No 249-F, Udyog Vihar, Phase IV Sector 18, Gurgaon - 122015 (Haryana) Tel : 0124 4014060-67 Fax : 0124 4014080 Email : aman.jha(a)ciionline.org Web : www.cii.in; www.mycii.org/library DISCLAIMER:The information in this message may be privileged. If you have received it by mistake please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete the message from your system. Any unauthorised use or dissemination of this message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Any information in this message that does not relate to official business shall be understood to be neither given nor endorsed by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Reach us via our unique Membership Helpline: 00-91-11-435 46244 / 00-99104 46244 (Monday-Saturday: 0900-1700 hrs) -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Library on the lake" opens to public
by YS Rao 14 Sep '07

14 Sep '07

Dear LISc Professionals, Greetings to all.... Library built on water opened to the public on Tuesday in eastern China's metropolis of Shanghai, giving people the pleasure of reading with great scenery..... (source:CRIENGLISH.com) Please click the following URL http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/30/content_6629693.htm -- Y. Srinivasa Rao Assistant Librarian NIT Rourkela-769008 Orissa Ph. 0661-2462101 (O) Ph. 0661-2463102 (R) -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Librarywala.com
by Padmanabha Vyasamoorthy 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

Please see the message forwarded. Mumbai members of Lis-forum may comment on this. How can this group be successful given the geographic area they reach out being so large? What could be the secret of this (excellent) home delivery mode of books? Vyasamoorthy, P ========================== Meet the librarywalas Posted by: "karmayog.org - ganesh" info(a)karmayog.org Date: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:41 am ((PDT)) Meet the librarywalas Move over dabbawalas, now six friends provide books at your doorstep. All you have to do is log on and subscribe, to choose from the 8700 titles available By: Varun Singh Librarywala.com is a website for book lovers who cannot afford to buy all the books that are written but want to read all of them. This website was launched on August 1 by a set of six friends who missed reading books because they lacked money to buy them. The six good souls (at least for the bookworms) are Hiten Turakhia (29), Amit Gala (30), Hiten Dedhiya (27), Dhairyasheel Pawar (27), Shibanarayan Rath (27) and Kunal Gala (23). How they thought of it The six entrepreneurs who are family friends had a common hobby of reading books. Due to lack of money they missed reading books that they wanted to. They started chipping in money in small amounts and collected money for buying the books. Hiten Turakhia, who sits at the office in Wadala says, "There was a time when all of us wanted a management book but it was too costly. Dhairyasheel and Hiten decided to chip in money and buy the book. So in this way we bought our first book around ten years ago." He adds, "This helped us to save money and also enabled us to read as many books as we could but then till the time the book reached the last person in the group, some of its pages were torn and the books were in a poor state." After this they all planned to come out with something that is cheap but is of help, so the six friends started this website. The making of the website took them a period of eight months. Librarywala.com As the name suggests, it's a library where one is required to register himself to become a member, pay a membership fee of Rs 499 and a refundable deposit of Rs 499. The member can choose books from the collection of 8,700 books available. The next step is to select a plan. There are three plans - a basic plan for Rs 199, classic plan for Rs 299 and children plan for Rs 199. Under the basic plan, a member can select six books for one month and can take two books at a time. Classic plan provides a member with three books at one time and a maximum of 12 books. Under the Children's plan, kids can take two books at one time and a maximum 10 books in a month. The procedure is easy. A member has to queue the book as per his priority on the site and the delivery boys of librarywala.com will deliver the books at the doorsteps of the members. Currently there are 230 members in a span of one month out of which 110 are permanent whereas the remaining have filled the first form. All the six founders are from different fields of education. Some are MBA's, while the others are IT professionals and one is a chartered accountant. The website reaches people residing up till Dahisar in the western suburbs, Thane in the central, and till Panvel in Navi Mumbai. Hiten Turakhia states that the reason behind starting this website is to increase the ratio of the readers and also to stop piracy of books. The website The website is well maintained and updated on a daily basis. It has a search engine which makes it easy to find books, the listings have a snap shot of the cover, the author and the name of the publishers, a description of the book is given alongwith the ratings and the status of whether it's available or in circulation. The books are segregated into management, religious, self-help, children, health, biography, fiction, non-fiction and films. Rohan Samant a member of librarywala.com says, "I came to know about this website through my friend who saw their delivery bikes on the roads. I immediately became a member and till now have read eight books including Umberto Eco and Agatha Christi. I found it convenient as I don't have to go all the way to a library or a store to get a book." Devendra Naik another member of the website says, "The best thing about this library is I get the books delivered at my home and within a span of one month I have read books worth Rs 5,000 rupees for just Rs 299." Publication : Mid-day; Section : Worlds worth; Pg : 13; Date : 9/9/07 -- Dr P Vyasamoorthy, Society for Serving Seniors 30, Gruhalakshmi Colony, Secunderabad 500015 Phone 27846631 / 94908 04278 http://societyforservingseniors.satyamcsr.org -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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FREED.IN 2007 - Freedom from Technology and Software [An event of free and open source software (FOSS) enthusiasts]
by Susmita Chakraborty 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

FREED.IN 2007 - Freedom from Technology and Software [An event for free and open source software (FOSS) enthusiasts] Organized by School of Information Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indian Linux Users Group- Delhi (ILUG-D) Dates: 28-29 September 2007 Venue: School of Information Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University campus FREED.IN is a leading community event in the Indian subcontinent and the developing world. FREED.IN promotes freedom and personal privacy in software, technology and other related fields. The annual event makes free and open source software (FOSS) more visible to the world, and shares its excitement with everybody. FREED.IN helps nurture the community and enables networking within and outside the community in a fun environment. The event strives towards seeding of new projects. Visit Conference website for more details: http://freed.in/ or http://conf.freed.in/index.php/freed/freed/ or http://www.jnu.ac.in/Seminar/freed.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ms. Susmita Chakraborty Kolkata, India Email: susmitachakraborty94[at]gmail[dot]com Personal Blog: http://susmitachakraborty.blogspot.com/ Please support: MANAS - a society for mentally disturbed persons their family and friends http://www.geocities.com/manas_teghari/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Article about Computer-related Eye-strain in India Today
by Mukesh Anand 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

Dear Members', An article is published about Computer related Eye-Strain OR Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) Watch those eyes / Damayanti Datta : Computer users, take heed. Cell phone lovers, beware. Those modern gadgets that rule our lives also play havoc with our vision. But how to cope?Some tips to fight CVS & Drill for eyes and more........ in India Today(English), 17th September, 2007, Page # 52-54, Vol. XXXII, Issue 37 also available at http://www.indiatoday.com/itoday/20070917/health.html For web access, Subscription of India Today (Print) ed. directly from its Publisher is necessary. I am requesting to u all read this article preferably in print.Because most of us are spending more time in front of Computer. Thanx & Regards, Mukesh Anand -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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National Workshop on Preserving Scientific Heritage
by vagiiap＠iiap.res.in 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

Indian Institute of Astrophysics & Indian Institute of Science libraries are planning to organize jointly a National Workshop on Preserving Scientific Heritage during the second half of January 2008. The Objective is to create an awareness of the importance of historical materials available in several organizations in the country and to formulate guidelines for institutions to help them set up the archives. Areas to be covered are - Collection policy - Preservation - Conservation - Display - Digitization - Copyright standards and issues - Cost analysis Scientific Institutions and Universities who are contemplating setting up of an archives or those who have already started work in this area are invited to participate in this workshop. Interested persons are requested to write to Dr.Christina Birdie chris(a)iiap.res.in or Dr. A. Vagiswari vagiiap(a)iiap.res.in. The participation is limited to 50-75 persons and will be by invitation. If interested write to us before September 30 2007. Dr. Vagiswari Indian Institute of Astrophysics Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034, India Phone : 91 - 80 - 25530672 Extn: 203 Fax : 91 - 80 - 25534043 URL : http://www.iiap.res.in/library.htm -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Vacancy at British Council-Mumbai
by Amit Thapar 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational and cultural relations. We are recruiting for the following post based in Mumbai: MANAGER LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICES - 2 POSTS Middle Management (Fixed term contract for one year) The post is responsible for delivering a range of Library Services. The applicants should be a graduate with a minimum of 2 years work experience in a library. How to apply? Please download : a.. Job Description b.. Application Form c.. Brief description of the competencies and skills d.. Guidance on completing application form Completed application forms should be sent to the Head Resources and IT, British Council, Mittal Tower, C Wing, II Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400 021 by 24 September 2007. Only short listed candidates will be informed. www.britishcouncil.org.in -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Re: [LIS-Forum] free full text websites
by Dr.D.P Prathap 13 Sep '07

13 Sep '07

Dear colleagues Please inform FREE FULL TEXT WEBSITES like http://highwire.stanford.edu, http://www.doaj.org covering AGRICULTURE AND PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY. Sincerely Library - Sugarcane Breeding Institute - Coimbatore ============================== (D.PUTHIRA PRATHAP) OFFICER IN-CHARGE, LIBRARY SUGARCANE BREEDING INSTITUTE, COIMBATORE – 641 007. INDIA PHONE: 91-422-2472621; FAX: 91-422-2472923 www.sugarcane-breeding.tn.nic.in sbilibrary(a)gmail.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Worldwide Science Search Gateway and Search Engine
by Shamprasad Pujar 12 Sep '07

12 Sep '07

Dear Members, Following two sources provide federated search services to locate science and technology research scholarship undertaken at various organizations. WorldWideScience: WorldWideScience.org is a global science gatewayaccelerating scientific discovery and progress through a multilateral partnership to enable federated searching of national and international scientific databases. Subsequent versions of WorldWideScience.org will offer access to additional sources as well as enhanced features URL: http://worldwidescience.org Scitopia: Scitopia.org, the free federated search portal to the digital libraries of leading science and technology societies. Enter a term to find targeted, authoritative, timely research now. URL: http://www.scitopia.org/scitopia/ Hope you will find these tools useful for you and your institute or university researchers. Regards, S.M. Pujar University Librarian Shivaji University Vidyanagar KOLHAPUR-416 004 Phone: 0231-2609204 E-mail: smp_lib(a)unishivaji.ac.in -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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