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FW: [IFLA-L] Second Call for papers-SILF 2012 (Smart City & Library Service, July 17~19, Shanghai Library)
by Prof. N. Laxman Rao. 23 Jan '12

23 Jan '12

From: IAN JOHNSON (0616285) <i.m.johnson(a)rgu.ac.uk> Subject: FW: [IFLA-L] Second Call for papers-SILF 2012 (Smart City & Library Service, July 17~19, Shanghai Library) To: Date: Monday, 23 January, 2012, 22:18 The 6th Shanghai International Library Forum (SILF 2012) 2nd Call for Papers Smart City & Library Service http://www.libnet.sh.cn/silf2012 July 17th~19th, 2012 Organisation: Shanghai Library Venue: No. 1555 Huaihai (M) Rd., Shanghai, 200031, China Second Call for Papers and Participation The biennial Shanghai International Library Forum (SILF) will hold its sixth gathering from July 17th to 19th, 2012 in Shanghai. Devised to maximize libraries’ functions of distributing knowledge, underpinning social and economic development and promoting human civilization, the SILF offers an opportunity for scholarly communication and professional cooperation among libraries and information institutions in the world. Every two years hundreds of librarians, information scientists and other stakeholders from around the world meet together to propose new ideas and recount success stories. The SILF 2012 will take place in conjunction with the celebration of the 60th birthday of the Shanghai Library. Mrs. Ingrid Parent[a1] , the IFLA President, will address the conference as a keynoter. Theme & Topics The theme of SILF 2012 is “Smart City & Library Service”. This forum, centering on the latest progress, practical experience and future trends related to the theme, will cover keynote speeches, plenary sessions and individual symposia. The forum encourages dialogues in the following contexts: 1. Library as an Infrastructure for Research and Learning 2. Coming of the New Integrated Library System: Supporting Cloud Computing and Mobile Services 3. Enabling Librarians to Proliferate Digital Reading and Preserve Digital Memories 4. Management and Performance Evaluation of a Hybrid Library 5. Library Technical Service with Semantic Technologies 6. The Core Values and Competitiveness of the Physical Library in an Omni-media Age Submission Guidelines Papers to be submitted must be the original work of the author(s) and shall never be published or included in any other proceedings. All papers will be peer-reviewed by the Program Committee. Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings available for the forum. *Abstracts of papers offered for presentation at SILF 2012 will also be considered by the Editors of Libri: international journal of libraries and information services,[a2] and authors of papers on suitable topics will be invited to submit their papers or a revised version for consideration for publication in the journal. Please refer to details of the submission format[a3] . Important Dates l February 15th, 2012: deadline for submission of abstract l April 20th, 2012: deadline for submission of full paper Contacts Mr. CHEN Xuyan (International Cooperation Division, Shanghai Library) Ms. REN Xiapei (Library and Information Sciences Research Institute, Shanghai Library) Tel: +86 21 6445 4500 Fax: +86 21 6445 5006 Email: silf2012(a)libnet.sh.cn Robert Gordon University is the best modern university in the UK (The Times Good University Guide 2011) Robert Gordon University, a Scottish charity registered under charity number SC 013781. This e-mail and any attachment is for authorised use by the intended recipient(s) only. It may contain proprietary material, confidential information and/or be subject to legal privilege. It should not be copied, disclosed to, retained or used by, any other party. If you are not an intended recipient then please promptly delete this e-mail and any attachment and all copies and inform the sender. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Robert Gordon University. Thank you. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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KLA launches Blog on LIS
by faisal sl 23 Jan '12

23 Jan '12

Dear All, Kerala Library Association (KLA) has launched a Blog as a part of its initiatives to reach out a wider reader group. The KLA Weblog (http://klaweblog.wordpress.com) aims at showcasing our activities and project issues of contemporary relevance through live reports, images and RSS feeds. It will feature posts written by Guest Authors on different topics on LIS and serve as a platform for productive discussions. The blog is integrated with KLA's facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kerala-Library-Association-KLA/262073017158007) and Twitter channel (http://twitter.com/klaconnect) You can follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email also. Kindly do visit the Blog at http://klaweblog.wordpress.com/. You are also welcome to become a "follower" on Twitter and express your"Likes" (and “dislikes” too) on the Facebook page. Our ultimate aim is to enhance professionalism with more vibrant and value-added programmes by effectively utilizing the tremendous potential of the NewGen Communication Systems. Thanks and regards S.L.Faisal General Secretary Kerala Library Association (KLA) Moderator, KV Librarians' Network Ph.919447699724 -- 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] UGC-NET: Necessary Changes and Amendments
by Vimal Kumar 23 Jan '12

23 Jan '12

Dear Seena, Very few teaching positions available for Library Science candidates. Conveying interpreting idea in simple manner is a different skill, it has no relation with skill in writing descriptive answers. After qualifying UGC NET candidates do not automatically get teaching skills. I know many library professionals who are acting as good resource persons. They have not acquired UGC NET, but they successfully convey ideas in training programmes. I know many library professionals holding UGC NET with poor professional skills. But many good professionals holding NET in our field. I observed that, two type of groups among library professionals in every academic libraries especially university libraries; NET holders and MLISc holders. NET holders observes others as degraded people. Whenever result of UGC NET announced, winners join with the elite group of NET holders. War between these two groups are very common in every university libraries. Growth of library is freeze or stopped due to group war. It create bad image among academic communities. If library professionals lack teaching skills, inclusion of teaching skills paper in MLISc course is a good idea, All universities in India follows the prescribed syllabus from UGC for MLISc programme. It says that, main aim of UGC NET is quality maintenance. Library Science teachers are UGC NET holders. If they failed to inculcate quality among MLISc students, it means UGC NET examination is a failure. If so, what is the relevance of UGC NET examination? UGC NET is a conventional test, it act as a barrier in front of library science students and working professionals. NET examination is a source of revenue for UGC. Publishers of guide books are also harvesting good profit during examination time. Regards -- Vimal Kumar V. Mahatma Gandhi University Library Kottayam, Kerala- 686 560 Web: http://www.vimalkumar.org Blog: http://linuxhalwa.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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.

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Opportunities in Kerala
by Ratheesh K 22 Jan '12

22 Jan '12

Dear Friends, I feel envy to my colleagues who have UGC NET in Library & Inf. Science in Maharashtra (now they have teaching status with an opportunity to become the Principal of the College....wonderful....). In case of Kerala there is no direct openings for UGC NET holders in government institutions-only promotion, if there is no qualified hand in the lower carder either the post kept vacant...! or it will be given to a non qualified hand.... ! Kindly invite your opinion in the issue.... With warm regards Ratheesh.K M.A.,M.L.I.Sc.,M.Phil. Professional Assistant Grade I University Library CUSAT, Kochi-22,Kerala -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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SNDT Conference summery
by Bhupendra Bansod 21 Jan '12

21 Jan '12

Dear all, UGC Sponsored State Level Conference organized by the SNDT Women’s University Library, Mumbai on January 17 - 18, 2012. Some photographs of the conference. https://picasaweb.google.com/111299673626524694905/ConferenceOnALEE2012?aut… Report of the programme presented by Dr. Madhuri Tikam, General Rapporteur, of conference. ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN THE ELECTRONIC ERA (ALEE 2012) Electronic Resource Development and Access UGC Sponsored State Level Conference Organized by the SNDT Women’s University Library, Mumbai January 17 - 18, 2012 *Report Prepared by Dr. Madhuri Tikam * Good evening everybody. Before I start, let me thank Dr. Sushma Powdwal madam and the organizing committee for giving me this precious opportunity. >From last two days, we had experienced a scholarly exchange of ideas during the UGC Sponsored State Level Conference ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN THE ELECTRONIC ERA *(ALEE 2012) *organized by the SNDT Women’s University Library, Mumbai. The Program was inaugurated on January 17, 2012 with the university song. The Director of the conference- Dr. Powdwal delivered the welcome speech and explained the background of the conference. She conveyed the inability of Honble Governor to attend the session and his best wishes for the event. She also expressed that at the end of the event, the conference should generate a set of resolutions/recommendations to be sent to UGC regarding development and access of e resources. This was followed by the traditional lighting of the lamp by the chief guest and other guests of honour. Dr. Durga Murari, Coordinator of the event compeered the inaugural session and introduced the chief Guest Dr. Jagdish Arora, Director of INFLIBNET.* *The dignitaries released collection of abstracts and CD which followed by the motivating speech of Dr. Arora. In his powerful speech, Dr. Arora, warned the LIS professionals that, in future, with wide spread of e-resources, the library in terms of building and half the LIS staff will be unrequited. The LIS professionals must adopt new services such as information filtration, reach out programs, redesign the present place for new info activities, generating more significant metadata like levels, type of information, etc. license negotiations and consultancy for applied projects. He highlighted importance of the ROI studies and gave best wishes for the conference. Next, *Hon. Madam Vice Chancellor Prof. Vasudha Kamat *delivered the presidential address. She talked about the readiness of the university campus to adopt technology for learn together, create together and share together environment. She appreciated the efforts of the library department and complimented Dr. Powdwal and the organizing committee for organizing the conference at an appropriate topic and showed her readiness to render help for conducting an international conference by the library in future . At the end she appealed the participants to make the conference a simulative exchange of ideas. Dr. Durga Murari delivered the vote of thanks and invited everyone for the delicious high tea. The first plenary session was a Panel Discussion on “Digital Scholarship, Cyber Infrastructure and Academic Libraries”. Dr. Jagdish Arora, Director of INFLIBNET, Prof. Shalini Urs Executive Director of International school of information management, Mysore and Prof. A. R. D. Prasad Head of DRTC were the panelists. Firstly, Dr. Arora – the moderator of the session invited Prof. Urs to give her presentation on the theme concept. She insisted to move beyond books and journals as they share narrow vision of scholarship of the author. She highlighted the “Free-In-Form” nature of the information and stressed on importance of integration of HW, SW and the e-resources for better user services. Next Prof. Prasad talked about Open Data Access initiatives. He pointed out the benefits of open data and suggested that cloud computing is the best solution to store open data. Dr. Arora appreciated the efforts of both the presenters and opened the session for question answers which received a profuse response. Prof. Harsha Parekh, asked Prof. Prasad about current scenario of Open data. Prof. Prasad commented that the concept is strongly adopted in the field of economics. He encouraged today’s librarians to take up data archive projects. Prof. Urs added that making information itself an infrastructure is necessary. Once information becomes infrastructure, it becomes part of a public good. Dr. Medha joshi of Tata memorial hospital asked the panelist about ways to make scholars ready to share information. Prof. Prasad agreed that it is a difficult task and the pace is slow for such initiatives but he assured that we must begin somewhere to reach the destination. Participants asked panelist queries regarding digital preservation cloud computing and federated search. The overall discussion was very informative and was appreciated highly by the participants. The plenary session was followed by lunch and parallel paper presentation sessions on three themes- first, Scholarly Communication & Networking, Second, E-Resources : Collection Development and third E-Resource Management. The first session Scholarly Communication & Networking held at Patkar Hall. Prof. Harsha Parekh, Former University Librarian of SNDT Women’s University chaired the session. Dr. Sachin Vaidya and Ms. Neeta Kamble rapporteured the session. Total 7 papers were presented during the session. 1. In the opening paper “Modern Technology Based Academic Libraries”’ Dr. Harsha Merchant, Faculty of Education, described the potential use of various Web 2.0 services in academic libraries to enhance library services and promote better interaction with the users. 2. Further Mrs. Geetanjali Wani, Mr. Milind Dhage and Mr. Vijay Rahanerevealed various challenges and opportunities faced by academic library professionals in digital environment and suggested ways to deal with the situation. 3. Mr. Vinay Haware’s paper on “Scholarly Communication in Academic Libraries” focused on Open Access publishing and various issues related to the same. He commented that today’s librarian can take up a new role of being publisher of scholarly communication. 4. Dr. Sarika Sawant presented a comparison of the traditional scholarly communication process with open access driven scholarly communication process. 5. At the end Ms. Pratibha Kanojia elaborated the role of N-list in college libraries. The papers generated a brief discussion on validity of the online rating system. 6. *The Maharashtra Librarians Online Study Circle* (MLOSC) a web portal for library professionals at state level having 3786 members till date– an effort worth admiring. In the next paper of the session, Mr. Ajay Kamble and Mr. Bhupendra Bansod the developers and managers of MLOSC explained the Role of MLOSC in Information Sharing among library professionals in Maharashtra. After tea, the session continued with one more paper. 7. Mr. Avinash Humbre from Pune, presented SWOT Analysis of N-LIST Programme. The discussion followed was mainly on usage statistics of Nlist. The session ended with a group photograph of paper presenters. A parallel session was conducted at Committee room on E-resources, Collection Development. Dr. Medha joshi Head, Dept of Lib Sc. of Tata Memorial Hospital was on the chair. Mrs. Ketaki Deshpande and Ms. Ashwini Prabhu were the rapporteurs. While briefing about the theme, Dr. Medha joshi said that all the sources of knowledge may be grey literature, inhouse publication are equally important and analysis of information seeking behavior of the library users is required. The session comprised of seven papers on various aspects of E Resources. 1. *Digitisation is a prominent technique of developing e resources.*Many libraries are joining the bandwagon without much thought. Ms. Sujata Kamble in her paper “Digitization projects: issues and challenges” elaborated the process and made aware about the challenges involved. 2. The next paper under this theme was by Dr. Perin Marolia, who illustrated different modes of accessing Language-Related Information Sources in the electronic environment and emphasized on the importance of the user education programs. Dr. Medha Joshi concluded the session by highlighting the importance of policy. She added that while adopting any technology in library, the librarians should balance all three important aspects i.e. library, end users and publishers. The post tea session in the committee room was devoted to the topic E-Resource Management. Ms. Sushma Karnik Director, American Library chaired the session and Mrs. Vidya Subramanian and Mr. Vinay Haware were the rapporteurs. The session comprised of a single paper by Ms. Shital Shah on Managing Electronic Resources: Opportunities and challenges. She explained issues involved in collection development and management of e-resources and underlined the necessity of appropriate training of librarians. In the concluding remarks Ms. Sushma Karnik added that managing e resources is nothing but making e resources accessible though one single window which covers both print and electronic resources. The evening came to an end with two database presentations done at the Patkar Hall. The first one was by Ms. Smita Mehta of Ebsco and the other one by Mr. Suchit Bisht of ProQuest database. Next day begun with Plenary Session, again a Panel Discussion devoted to most appropriate topic of the time. i.e. Academic Libraries-Vision 2020 at the Patkar Hall. Prof. Harsha Parekh from SNDT, Prof. Uma Kanjilal, from IGNOU and Dr. H. K. Kaul from DELNET were the Panelists. Ms. Maya Samant introduced Prof. Harsha Parekh - the moderator of the session. Ms. Jayashree and Dr. Paudwal introduced Dr. H. K. Kaul and Prof. Uma Kanjilal respectively. Dr. Kaul talked impressively about academic libraries: challenges and knowledge center option for libraries. He said that redundant services and mechanisms of today’s academic libraries finding hard to keep up with the pace of change. The challenges of today’s academic libraries are information growth, budget crunches, copyright issues, technology, fear of obsolesce, changing needs of users, and to maintain relevance. Knowledge center option for libraries offers a solution to these challenges. His survey of various worldwide knowledge centers proved that they reduces efforts, allows sharing information to larger audience, collective brain storming and generation of new knowledge. Prof. Uma Kanjilal in her presentation academic libraries vision 2020, discussed about changing scenario of academic libraries. She asked librarians to change with time, learn required new skills to enhance the relevance of the libraries. Next, Prof. Harsha Parekh shared her visions. Changing scenario in terms of higher education environment, scholarly communication, aggregators, retrieval mechanism and user centric approach is shaking the position of libraries and librarians. Now libraries are changing buildings are becoming information commons. Services will become more personalized and filtered. There is a need to change of mindset and develop technical skills for optimal growth. At end she provoked the librarians to be more active in the field. Prof Parul zaveri from SHPT school of library science shown her curiosity about how LIS school can keep abreast with changing time. Prof Uma said that there’s a severe need in changing the curriculum. Prof parekh added the need of teaching thinking skills alongwith technical skills. Dr. Kaul suggested involving librarians and learners in curriculum development. The concluding questions of Dr. Shubhda Nagarkar from pune university and Ms. Namita from Sophia college triggered a discussion on how to deal with interdisciplinary collaborations, and rapidly changing user expectations. Experts suggested librarians to equip themselves with required soft skills and technical skills to deal with changing scenario efficiently. Mr. Satyanarayan from informatics expressed that for being an effective knowledge subject experts should become qualified librarians. Dr. Kaul suggested that subject expert-librarian tie ups will prove more beneficial. Prof. Uma suggested ways like domain internships, development of special need based curriculum and proper induction programs as a solution. While Prof Parekh concluded the session by proclaiming active participation of librarians in curriculum development and research activities of various faculties to improve overall teaching learning effectiveness. The plenary session was followed by two presentations - one on Slim 21 by Ms. Meera Gaikaiwari from Algorhythms Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And other by Mr. Hemant Shettye on Koha and cloud computing. * * *Post tea, similar to the prior day* parallel paper presentation sessions were held at Ptakar hall and the committee room. The themes covered were Innovative Services at the patkar hall and Information Literacy and E-Resource Usage at the committee room. Session on Innovative Services was chaired by Dr. Maya Avasia and rapporteured by Mr. Ajay Kamble and Mr. Bhupendra Bansod. The session comprised of three papers. * * 1. In the beginning Ms. Kashmira Dhirawani summarized impact of Web 2.0 technologies on libraries and librarians. *2. *Paper by Ms. Varsha Varma and Ms. Manisha Jadhar talked about SNDT Women’s University Pune Branch Library’s efforts to Use Social Media tools *to **provide the right information to the right user at the right time**.*** 3. At the end, Ms. Vinita Jain took an overview of various web 2.0 tools to facilitate information transfer and improve information literacy. This paper followed by discussion and a break for lunch The session continued after lunch comprised of 3 papers. 1. *In the beginning *Mr. Pralhad Jadhav overviewd the concept of Cloud Computing showed how librarians can use the cloud 2. Next paper addressed the case study of Bombay International School. Ms. Chaitali Shirali described how the e library services gave rise to an Eco-friendly Library. 3. Next. Neeta Gundawar presented her findings about various eco-friendly libraries in India and their exclusive services. 4. *Human Computer Interaction has developed* several Usability testing methods to improve the usability and accessibility of information on the web sites. Dr. Shubhada Nagarkar and Dr. Durga Murari discussed usability testing methods and techniques for library websites. 5. Ms. P. Gowri Prasad’s paper “Mind Maps for Managing Information” wrapped up the session. She described the technique of creating mind maps and the benefits of using mind maps in the academic environment. Discussion covered majorly on security issues of cloud computing The first parallel paper presentation session held at Committeee room today was devoted to the topic Information Literacy which was chaired by the Dr. Pratibha Gokhale, University Librarian and head of the LIS Dept. of University of Mumbai. Ms. Ketaki Deshpande and Ms. Ashwini Prabhu were the rapporteures. Five papers altogether were presented during the session. 1. Teaching information literacy to library users is a crucial task of librarians. With digital era the role and techniques of information literacy are changing. Many information literacy initiatives are documented throughout the world. Ms Shobha Kulkarni and Ms Mamta Kumari outlined these efforts in their paper “Information Literacy: A Roadmap for E-resource Management in Academic Libraries”. 2. Mrs. S. A. Kulkarni identified gaps in Information Literacy for the Use of Social Media 3. Ms. Tejaswini Karalkar, with illustrations, emphasized on use of electronic media for Information Literacy and User Orientations 4. At the end, Mrs. Shakuntala Nighot, presented her model for Information Literacy Program particularly for B.Ed. Students. The Discussions generated were mainly on reach out programs, while concluding Dr. Gokhale remarked that TV and radio programs like gyandarshan by UGC, shaley chitravani, etc. were the primitive forms of information literacy. There is need to match the form with the expectations of the today’s users. Post lunch, the second parallel paper presentation session held at Committeee room covered the theme E-Resource Usage. The session was chaired by Dr. S. K. Savanur. Mr. Vinay Haware and Mrs. Vidya Subramanian rapporteured the session. Five papers including three case studies were presented during the session. 1. Ms. Janice Fernandes and Mr. Sandip Chandurkar’s case study of access and usage of electronic resources in Xavier institute of engineering revealed that Computer Engineering students preferred online resources more than print. 2. Ms. Ashwini Prabhu suggested plans to enhance use of e-resources. 3. *the final paper* Federated Search for e-Resources by Dr. Shamkant Deshmukh Ms. Sonia Bhavsar and Mr. Sandeep Bhavsar explained the concept of Federated Search and demarcated the difference between federated search and other search engines. *All in all,* the entire seminar on “ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN THE ELECTRONIC ERA went on smoothly. As wished by the conference director, Dr. Powdwal at the inauguration session, the conference turned into a memorable, highly educational and not to be missed event. Great efforts by the organizing committee. The whole experience was highly appreciated by the participants. -- Bhupendra Bansod, Librarian, PVDT College of Education, SNDT Women's University, Churchgate, Mumbai - 20 Mo. +91 9029092218 -- 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] UGC-NET: Necessary Changes and Amendments
by Vimal Kumar 21 Jan '12

21 Jan '12

Dear Friends, I observed from the discussion that people who already qualified UGC NET do not like to change the pattern of current examination. And they are opposing objective type questions in third paper. In my opinion, evaluation of third paper in current scheme is not serious and it is too weak. The result is number of winners are very low. How can an evaluator read out all answers sheets within minimum time? I dont think all failed candidates are below average standard. In my opinion, total number of papers should be cut down to two. One general paper and second paper should be subject oriented. Regards, -- Vimal Kumar V. Mahatma Gandhi University Library Kottayam, Kerala- 686 560 Web: http://www.vimalkumar.org Blog: http://linuxhalwa.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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.

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urgent requirement
by veeresh hiremath 20 Jan '12

20 Jan '12

Dear All, Our Principal is in urgent requirement of the following article. I request Professionals with access to IEEE to kindly do the needful. Thanking you in anticipation of your help *Digital Object Identifier:* 10.1109/ICNC.2011.6022596<http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICNC.2011.6022596> Thanks and regards Veeresh C. Hiremath, Chief Librarian Agnel Technical Education Complex, Sector 9A, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703 022-41611029 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Library Interns
by Anup Sharma 20 Jan '12

20 Jan '12

Dear Professionals The International Management Institute (IMI)-a premier global management school for its Knowledge Resource Centre wish to engage three Library Interns for various regular library works and digital services such as Development of Institutional Repository, Content Development for Library Portal , Up-gradation of Library webpage and for other Library services @ Rs. 7,000/- pm,. Qualification- Graduate in Library & Information Science and PG Diploma in Computer Applications plus Knowledge & Experience in area of Institutional Repository. Knowledge and experience in Dspace / Greenstone / Eprints and web designing will be required. The period for initial engagement will be One year. The local candidates who are willing to work in the evening shift will be preferred. The interested and qualified candidates may send their Cvs at anupsharma(a)imi.edu; and copy at library(a)imi.edu before 31st Jan, 2012 . Only eligible, shortlisted candidates will be called for Interview. No query will be entertained. best regards Anup Sharma Librarian International Management Institute(IMI) B-10, Quta Institutonal Area New Delhi1110016. www.imi.edu -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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UGC-NET: Necessary Changes and Amendments: Some Thoughts
by Vasanth 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Dear Sir/Madam, This post is in response to M.Das on UGC-NET: Necessary Changes and Amendments posted on 13th Jan and 18th Jan 2012. Madhuryamay Das has brought out some of the very significant issues but CAT and GATE both of these exams have not been very success in producing good number researchers in IIMs and IITs. If we taken into consider the research productivity of IIMs, it is not very significant. One of the major issues with IIMs is that IIMs have not produced many researchers. IIMs are famous because of the highest salary packages offered to its students in campus recruitment by various multinational companies not because of the researchers they have produced despite the fact that IIMs have highly competitive faculty and students. GATE exam is also in similar line. The students getting training from “Kota Schools” are filling up IIT seats. This is what Narayana Murthy of Infosys has said about the IITs “Thanks to the coaching classes today, the quality of students entering IITs has gone lower and lower”. The new format of UGC may lead to increase in coaching classes. Already in second tier city like Mysore, the coaching institutes like BASE and TIME which have been training students appearing for CAT or GATE have started to advertise that they coach candidates appearing for NET or SLET. Objective type questions are best suited for them to train students. Certainly they will have good business here after. Reading whole text of “Five Laws of Library Science” by S.R. Ranganathan would give a different perspective than just remembering “Five Laws of Library Science”. What objective type will help us in remembering “Five Laws of Library Science” not to incite us to read whole text of “Five Laws of Library Science”. We are living in very fast changing world. Many we depend Internet for accessing information. Research data have shown that the nature of non-linearity of text available on the Internet has contributing in cognitive decline of the Internet users. The recent works mainly of Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the way we Think, Read and Remember”, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and another interesting article which has been appeared in EDUCAUSE Review entitled “Individual Knowledge in the Internet” by Larry Sanger, the co-founder of Wikipedia have critical of how the non-linearity of text available on the Internet changing the way we read books either in analog or digital format and turning us as a “skimming machine” instead of engaging in deep reading or critical study. This aspect also provides us different perspective. Madhuryamay Das cited GRE (Graduate Record Examination) as an example. If we see the format of GRE, it did contain a section called “analytical writing” wherein the student has to write an essay on the chosen topic. Delay in declaration of NET exam and transparency issues are also very contentious. Any student who qualify NET exam are not offered job immediately. Delay in NET result in no way has effected any students. Transparency in terms what? Objective type questions are not tamper-proof. There are lots of issues. If UGC has deliberated on this issue in a public domain (with student and academic community) before introducing it, would have been come out with a more robust NET exam pattern. ------------------------- With best wishes Vasantha Raju N -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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The Wikipedia blackout: What changes does it bring about
by Madhurjyamoy Das 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Dear Friends, Wikipedia got shut down for 24 hours in a bid to protest SOPA and PIPA what it calls a threat to free access. The entire fracas started over a proposal of US federal legislations viz. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). What Wikipedia intends probably is to make aware it’s users on the value and significance to open access on Internet, but this move by Wiki sometime looks peevish as Wikipedia is such a service that has become an integral part of our knowledge society and its significance is much more deeper and I believe the way Wikipedia protested is not the right way as it only created inconvenience to the millions of people and user communities. Wikipedia is in itself a huge world of resource which by its very existence could have stood up to ignorance to the parallel legislative developments it feels irrelevant. There are certainly reasons to have concern over the issue as it is almost impossible for the sites to police over all the posts either text or video and determine if there is any violation in terms of copyright. That could probably be the reason that forced Wikipedia to act in such a manner as it is not just like a social networking site but something much more than that. It relies on a network of volunteers to update its website through its open-source platform. With the enactment of SOPA, Wikipedia could be held responsible for any information added to its website. The proposed legislation has provisions that would enforce sites to be closed if they find the accused sites are sharing information with someone else’s copyright. I accept the fact that owner’s right should be protected with given frames of intellectual property, but it is also true, this legislation, if passed by the Congress, is going to dramatically change the way the internet works today. Madhuryamay Das DRTC, ISI-Bangalore. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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