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Open access in India: It is time for concerted action
by Subbiah Arunachalam 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Fellow information scientists and librarians, When Dr T B Rajashekar, the founder of LIS-Forum passed away in June 2005, Prof. N Balakrishnan and I wrote "The best tribute the LIS professionals in this country could pay to Raja is to set up institutional open access archives as soon as possible and fill them with papers, modernize their curricula and teach their students the values practiced by him." See https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/4589.html. Raja was the first in India and one of the earliest in the world to set up an institutional open access repository. Raja's able deputy Dr Francis Jayakanth hosts an annual memorial lecture as well as carries on with the wonderful discussion forum, one of the largest of its kind in the world (with over 6,000 members), and also continues with the IISc's Eprints repository. But the status of OA in the country as a whole is, if I may say that, depressing. According to *Web of Science *data, with only about 30% of papers from India available as open access (as of 2021), India is third from the bottom in a list of about 200 countries in % share of OA documents, just above North Korea (293 papers, 18.8% OA) and French Polynesia (one paper, 0% OA). India, with over 1,37,000 papers in 2021, is seventh in terms of number of papers published. In a country where there are 55,000 higher education institutions (more than 1,170 universities, nearly 43,800 colleges and 11,300 stand-alone institutions) [ https://www.statista.com/statistics/660862/higher-education-institutions-by…] we have less than 150 institutional open access repositories today. According to Manju Naika and Sandeep Pathak in *Nature*, "as of April 2020, the UK-based Directory of Open Access Repositories ( Open DOAR <https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/opendoar/> ) listed 92 such repositories in India. Besides institute-level repositories, India has set up several national ones to promote OA."[https://www.nature.com/articles/nindia.2020.125] Most of these repositories are incomplete; not all papers published by an institution's researchers find their way into the institution's repository. But a large number of LIS graduates and academic and research librarians write papers about open access. There are some bright spots, though. For example, two Indian academic librarians have won international recognition (the EPT award) for making outstanding contributions to the promotion of OA in a developing country [ https://poynder.blogspot.com/2012/01/oa-interviews-francis-jayakanth-of.html and http://www.icrisat.org/newsroom/latest-news/happenings/happenings1609.htm#7 ]. One of them persuaded his institute's Director to mandate OA for all research papers, at a time when there were less than a dozen OA mandates worldwide. Two Secretaries to the Government of India, one heading DSIR and the other heading both DST and DBT, took less than a few seconds to accept the suggestion to make all papers resulting from their funding open access! Their decisions led to the setting up of CSIR Central and Science Central at CSIR-URDIP, Pune, as well as many IRs in the CSIR, DST and DBT laboratories. In the early days of the OA movement, starting from 2000, three great institutions, viz. M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian Institute of Science, and not to forget the then fledgling Centre for Internet & Society, provided invaluable support to the movement. A large number of global experts - including Stevan Harnad, Alma Swan, Barbara Kirsop, Leslie Chan, Leslie Carr, John Willinsky, Abel Packer and others - visited India to promote the culture of OA. Although Peter Suber and Richard Poynder have not visited India, they have done much to promote OA in India (and the world). We even tried and succeeded in persuading the CGIAR management, based on the experience of ICRISAT, Hyderabad, to adopt a system-wide open access policy [ https://poynder.blogspot.com/2010/05/] and thought of strengthening the culture of OA in other emerging economies such as China, Brazil and South Africa. [See Barbara Kirsop, *Current Science*, Vol. 92 (10 Feb 2007), 276-77]. Prof. Balaram wrote many editorials in *Current Science* on the need to adopt OA, especially OA archiving. And yet, as of 2021, *only about 30% of India's papers (as per Web of Science, * *lens.org <http://lens.org> and COKI) are OA. India is third from the bottom in a list of about 200 countries in terms of % of OA publications.* The situation would have been far better had our scientists and scholars self-archived their papers and had our friends in the LIS community put in diligent efforts to set up IRs. People like Prof. ARD Prasad, Dr D K Sahu, the late Dr Rajashekar, Dr Francis Jayakanth and Muthu Madhan have put in much effort in training librarians in setting up such facilities. We have been talking about OA for a long time. It is high time we walk the talk. With warm regards, Arun http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4398-4658 http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-9925-2009 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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(no subject)
by Subbiah Arunachalam 18 Apr '23

18 Apr '23

Friends, This message was received on Twitter from Prof. Diwan S Rawat: "Finally after 10 years of sustained hard work our work on Parkinson got accepted by Nature Communication. The molecule has been taken up by Boston based Pharma industry to develop as a drug for the treatment of Parkinson disease! This is the hybrid molecule consisting aminoquinoline and pyrimidine pharmacophore. Prof Kim from McLean Hospital Boston is our collaborator. This molecule activate Nurr1 receptor that stops death of dopamin neuron, it also stops aggregation of alpha synuclien." We have to wait till the paper appears in Nature Communication to know the details! The authors have to pay more than $10,000 to Springer-Nature as publication charges. They could have made it available to everyone by placing the paper in medRxiv at no cost! Most likely the research was carried out with public funding/taxpayers' money. Arun -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Job Opportunities with Tata Consultancy Services Information Resource Centre (IRC)
by Nagappa Bakkannanavar 17 Apr '23

17 Apr '23

TCS Confidential Job Opportunities with Tata Consultancy Services Information Resource Centre (IRC) TCS IRC invites applications for the "IRC Officer" positions at Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. These are regular positions and selected candidates should be prepared to work in these cities on a long-term basis. Remuneration and benefits are at par with the best in the industry. Job Responsibilities: The job involves assisting in the IRC operations. The responsibilities include handling the IRC services desk, attending to user queries, information services, transactional activities, conducting outreach activities such as floor-walks, book talks, technical processing and other activities. Eligibility and Requirements * Regular & full time Master's in Library & Information Science or any equivalent degree * Consistent academic records Class X onwards with minimum 50% * 0-5 years of experience preferred * Age should not exceed 30 years * Willingness to work in any center within the city with flexible timings * Ability to work both independently and in a team to deliver results in a constantly changing environment * Strong communication, info search, customer service skills * Knowledge of MS Office, Windows, LMS is expected. HTML, SharePoint, Web-page Management will be an advantage. * Willingness to learn and upskill on the job Application & Selection Process * Resume should include Full Name, Date of Birth, Permanent & Current Address, Contact No, Email Id, Educational Qualifications (10th, 12th, UG and PG) with Institute Name, Year of Passing, Percentage of Marks. In addition, please provide Experience (if any) with Name of Employer, Service Period - From & To, Designation, Work Profile in Brief and Annual Salary drawn. * Applications should be submitted to corporate.irc(a)tcs.com<mailto:corporate.irc@tcs.com> * The email subject line should include "TCS IRC Recruitment 2023: <Preferred City Name> - <Applicant's Full Name>" (e.g. TCS IRC Recruitment 2023: Bangalore - Akash Sharma) * Those who have applied in the last 6 months but not shortlisted for interview are not eligible to apply. * Shortlisted candidates will be called for a Written Test followed by an Interview in the city applied for. (Candidates should apply for 1 city only.) * Last date for receiving applications is 30 April 2023. Please note the following: * No other documents / certificates are required along with the application form. * No travel / daily allowances will be given to candidates attending the written test / interview. * Only selected candidates will be informed. About TCS: * Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a part of the Tata Group, is a global leader in IT services, digital and business solutions with a comprehensive industry expertise and a global network of innovation and delivery centers. About TCS IRC: * TCS takes pride in having a unique Corporate Information Resource Centre (IRC) with a large network of about 50 IRCs spread across 14 cities in India, known for its high-quality processes and benchmarks, and an exemplary application of management techniques and tools. TCS IRC is a specialized information and knowledge center, committed to providing services aligned to the organization's business information needs and comprises a wide range of resources (Print + Digital) and services. With Best Regards Dr. Nagappa Veerappa Bakkannanavar Head - Information Resource Centre, Tata Consultancy Services Limited Gopalan Enterprises Pvt Ltd (Global Axis) SEZ, "H" Block, Whitefield, Bangalore - 560066, Karnataka, India Ph:- +91 80 6682 1890 TCS Confidential =====-----=====-----===== Notice: The information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us by reply e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. Thank you -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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The complex politics of e-book lending | The Week
by madhan muthu 17 Apr '23

17 Apr '23

https://theweek.com/talking-point/1022362/the-debate-over-digital-book-lend… Libraries are more than the customer service departments for corporate database products," founder Brewster Kahle said in the statement. "For democracy to thrive at global scale, libraries must be able to sustain their historic role in society — owning, preserving, and lending books." -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Events of IEEE CS, ACM & CSI Chennai during Apr - May 2023
by Mohan Hr 17 Apr '23

17 Apr '23

*Events of IEEE CS, ACM & CSI Chennai during Apr - May 2023* 22nd Apr 2023 at 9.30 am IST. Full Day Seminar -- Virtual Mode ICT Tech Update Seminar on "Metaverse, UI and UX, DP Law and Digital India Act, DevOps & Edge AI" Seasons include: Demystifying Metaverse and Business Value Creation Leveraging It: UI and UX in Application Development; Personal Data Protection Law and Digital India Act; DevOps Practice in Software Development; Edge AI Models for Smart Applications; and Mini ICT Quiz (with cash prizes). Seminar takeaways include: e-certificate of participation, five cash prizes equal to the regn fee paid and one free joint IEEE & IEEE CS student membership of value $11 to the winners in the Quiz. PDF invite at: https://lnkd.in/g7UEhma3 To participate, pl. register through https://lnkd.in/gmzyhXAi For queries if any, please email to ieeecsmds(a)gmail.com or contact seminar coordinator at +91 9841432179 29th Apr 2023 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Optimization- Opportunities for Inter-Disciplinary Innovation" by Dr. Radhika Kulkarni, Former Vice President (Advanced Analytics R&D), SAS Institute Inc. 2022 President of INFORMS. Register at https://bit.ly/3KpS5d9 Other events in Apr 2023: https://bit.ly/apr2023events 6th May 2023 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "Systems Thinking for Profession and Life" by by Dr. L. S. Ganesh, Professor (retired), DoMS, IIT Madras & VC, ICFAI Foundation of Higher Education. Hyderabad and Dr. T. S. Hariharan, Assistant Professor, Bharathidasan Inst. of Management, Trichy. Register at https://bit.ly/3GP1ubD Interesting Reads And Information Stories in IRAI -- 230411: https://lnkd.in/geaC5HKx Stories in IRAI -- 230401: https://lnkd.in/gvSqCZkf Stories in IRAI --230321: https://lnkd.in/gFGYv6mX Stories in IRAI --230311: https://lnkd.in/gfVj4HHa Earlier Posts of IRAI and Archives: https://lnkd.in/ewR3UdD

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Informatics Outstanding LIS Researcher Award 2023
by K.S. Raghavan 16 Apr '23

16 Apr '23

Informatics Outstanding Researcher Award 2023 Informatics India Ltd. instituted an award last year (i.e. in 2022), viz., Informatics Outstanding Researcher Award to be awarded to a researcher from India in the field of Information and Library Sciences is to promote and encourage quality research in this dynamically evolving discipline. The Award carries a prize money of Rs. 1 lakh, a plaque, and a certificate. The cash award is intended to support the international travel of the awardee to attend an approved international conference. The award is presented to the selected candidate during the annual Library Technology Conclave (LTC) that Informatics (India) organizes each year. This year too Informatics had invited applications / nominations for the award. Fourteen applications / nominations were received for the award this year. A committee consisting of the following persons evaluated the applications to select a suitable candidate: 1. Dr. K. S. Raghavan, Former Professor, DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore; Former Dean (Academic), University of Madras, Chennai (Chair) 2. Dr. Michael Shepherd, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Canada 3. Dr. Gangan Prathap, Former Director, NISCAIR (CSIR), New Delhi; Director-Research, Vidya Academy of Science & Technology, Thrissur, Kerala 4. Dr. P. R. Goswami, Former Director, NASSDOC (ICSSR), New Delhi; Former Director (Library and Information), Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi 5. Dr. G. Mahesh, Sr. Principal Scientist, SCDD (Science Communication and Dissemination Directorate), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi. In evaluating and assessing the nominations, the committee considered papers in peer-reviewed journals, peer-reviewed conference publications, book chapters as also metrics such as h-index, i-10 index, CiteScore of the journals in which the papers were published and other relevant factors. After examining the applications and considering all the relevant factors, the committee unanimously recommended that the Informatics (India) Outstanding Researcher Award 2023 be awarded to Dr. Biswanath Dutta, Associate Professor, Documentation Research & Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore. The award was presented to Dr. Biswanath Dutta during the Library Technology Conclave 2023 held recently at the Asoka University, Sonepat, Haryana. K. S. Raghavan Chair K. S. Raghavan Dean (Academic) (Retd.) University of Madras Professor (Retd.) DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute Visiting Scientist (Retd.), Centre for Knowledge Analytics & Ontological Engineering, PES University, Bangalore Visiting Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2015) Visiting Professor, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2003) Senior Fulbright Scholar, University of California at Los Angeles, USA (1987) Member-Secretary, Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science Editor, Journal of Information & Knowledge -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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IRAI -- 230411 -- Interesting Reads And Information -- Seminar & Webinar of IEEE CS, ACM and CSI in Apr 2023
by Mohan Hr 11 Apr '23

11 Apr '23

*IRAI -- 230411 -- Interesting Reads And Information* Read the stories of IRAI -- 230411 at https://lnkd.in/geaC5HKx 11 Pieces of Tech You Really Don't Need Anymore The Fact Check Compliance: 9 Types Of Intelligence: Learn About Quality. New to quality? Browse topics: The Top 11 Tools You Should Master as a UI/UX Designer: What is the metaverse? An explanation and in-depth guide: Future Tools: An useful reference site which maintains a collection of AI tools under different categories: Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2023 by Stanford University - Top Ten Takeaways The Age of AI has begun -- Article by Bill Gates ML Ops *Quiz*. 3G: Japan = 4G: Stockholm = 5G: ------------- (Answer in the next post IRAI -- 230411) Answer to the Quiz in IRAI -- 230401: ChatGPT *Past IRAI Posts * Stories in IRAI - -230411: https://lnkd.in/geaC5HKx Stories in IRAI --230401: https://lnkd.in/gvSqCZkf Stories in IRAI --230321: https://lnkd.in/gFGYv6mX Stories in IRAI --230311: https://lnkd.in/gfVj4HHa Earlier Posts of IRAI and Archives: https://lnkd.in/ewR3UdD *Forthcoming Events* 22nd Apr 2023 at 9.30 am IST. Full day Seminar -- Virtual Mode IEEE CS, ACM and CSI Chennai organise a full day ICT Tech Update Seminar on "Metaverse, UI and UX, DP Law and Digital India Act, DevOps & Edge AI" Seminar seasons include: Demystifying Metaverse and Business Value Creation Leveraging It: UI and UX in Application Development; Personal Data Protection Law and Digital India Act; DevOps Practice in Software Development; Edge AI Models for Smart Applications; and Mini ICT Quiz (with cash prizes). Seminar takeaways include: e-certifcate of participation; cash prizes equal to the regn fee paid to top five; and one free joint IEEE & IEEE CS student membership of value $11 to the top scoring student participant in the Quiz. PDF invite: https://lnkd.in/g7UEhma3 To participate, pl. register through https://in.explara.com/e/ieee-cs-ict-tech-update-seminar For queries if any, please email to ieeecsmds(a)gmail.com or contact seminar coordinator at +91 9841432179 29th Apr 2023 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Optimization- Opportunities for Inter-Disciplinary Innovation" by Dr. Radhika Kulkarni, Former Vice President (Advanced Analytics R&D), SAS Institute Inc. 2022 President of INFORMS. Register at https://bit.ly/3KpS5d9 Other events in Apr 2023: https://bit.ly/apr2023events

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Update on LIS-Forum Discussion List Downtime and Service Restoration
by Francis Jayakanth 11 Apr '23

11 Apr '23

Dear Members, I am writing to inform you that the LIS-Forum discussion list was down for over a month due to a hardware-related issue. During this time, I was also occupied with day-to-day activities at the library, which caused additional delays. We understand that the LIS-Forum discussion list is a vital platform for Indian library professionals, and we regret any inconvenience caused by the downtime. However, I am pleased to inform you that the service is now up and running, and we are working to ensure minimal downtime during such outages in the future. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We value your participation in LIS-Forum and will continue to provide you with a valuable platform for discussion and the exchange of ideas. With best regards, Francis Francis Jayakanth Moderator, LIS-Forum JRD Tata Memorial Library IISc, Bengaluru -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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How much does India collectively pay major journal publishers annually towards subscriptions to journals?
by Subbiah Arunachalam 11 Apr '23

11 Apr '23

Friends, I need some information. Some members of this forum, esp. those who hold senior administrative positions or who are involved in consortia negotiations, may know. How much do Indian institutions collectively pay each one of the major journal publishers [such as Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley] annually, say in 2022, towards journal + database subscriptions? The NIRF data gives info on 'Library spending' as a whole. Here is an example entry: Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Library spending in 2019-20, Rs 181,528,391. Almost all of us in academia and other research-performing institutions know that many 'high-impact-factor' journals published by these publishers are priced high. Most subscriptions to these journals are paid for from public funding, but most of us (including scientists and librarians) do not know how much we pay. Arun http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4398-4658 http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-9925-2009 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Request for E-Book
by Anna Poorani Viswanathan 23 Feb '23

23 Feb '23

Dear All, Our Research work Requires the following E-Book series for Reference. We would appreciate it if anyone who has access could share. Book series : Semantic Web and Beyond ; Computing for Human Experience. Print ISSN : 1559-7474 Series Editor : Ramesh Jain, Amit P. Sheth https://www.springer.com/series/7056 Thank you in advance. Regards Anna Poorani V. Project Technician, French Institute of Pondicherry. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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