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A small welcoming message at your library entrance.
by kannan satheesan 27 Mar '09

27 Mar '09

Whatever tall claims we have, we should admit one fact-libraries are faced with steep decline in toll. Maybe for an argument anyone can come up with gate register records and issue statistics. But i feel quite sure, serious reading with a widened base is nearing its extinction among the youth in this post Googlian era. In the west, they pay no heed to book loses and librarians wouldn't walk around with rules and canes, maybe that is why libraries still survive there in spite of their very thin digital divide. i admit this is third world, amidst financial crunches and vicious bureaucracy, a librarian may not be able to do himself much. But the same time it should be borne in mind that it is not only the variety of the services and the extend of stock that attracts users and potential users. It is perhaps the ambiance, ergonomics ,the welcoming look of the library and above all the sympathetic behaviour of librarian. Lately, i decided to stick a welcoming message at the entrance of my library and sat with a brief thought, and came up with some thing like this. I would like to share this little piece of thought with one and all, and thanking you in advance if u can add or embellish this with your creativity .. This is your own library.... No one here to ask you, “why are you here?.” You can lay your hands virtually on anything you find here. You need not be here only if you are in search for something specific. And above all,here,you and your questions are always WELCOME. This message ends with a reassuring quote(a quote related with my intitution's motto) motivating the young minds who come in,instilling a feeling that they would fetch/ stumble upon something they need. When we librarians go far with debates on Hi-tech, may be these little things are pushed back to dark. These little things, the guides,the additions list, messages at notice boards etc etc definitely have a severe impact upon users' mind. Right now i expect a bright future for librarians,because at this pace, 10 years from now may be only we librarians would be left with the knowledge of how subjects are interconnected. i am saying this because, google and wikipedia are tools with high PRECISION and they are always accessible, and by using them very often, the upcoming generation is satisfied with a document if they find a specific definition, a formula and most often some key words in it. They are least bothered to know the out of the text book fundamentals and subject interrelations. May be as from job specializtion managers grew up, from subject compartmentalism and precise search and retrieval librarians would sustain and survive in future... Sincierly, Kannan S. Profect Fellow Centre for Earth Science Studies(CESS)Library Trivandrum, Kerala. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Open access conference seeks to free research
by Puna Das 26 Mar '09

26 Mar '09

Open access conference seeks to free research Amulya Gopalakrishnan Posted: Mar 26, 2009 New Delhi: When Newton famously remarked that if he had seen further than others, it was by "standing on the shoulders of giants", he wasn't just being modest. He was stating the simple fact that knowledge builds on previous knowledge, that the back and forth of ideas is vital for scientific achievement. Though the current proprietory publishing model is stacked against scholars, an emerging open access movement across the world aims to free scientific content - and India has big stakes in it. A conference in New Delhi brought together open access evangelists including Prof. John Willinsky of Stanford University, Prof Leslie Chan of the University of Toronto, Prof Surendra Prasad of IIT Delhi, Dr D K Sahu of MedKnow Publications, and Narendra Kumar of CSIR. Now, all research papers published from CSIR labs will be made open access, either by putting the full text on freely available institutional repositories or publishing directly in open access journals. Meanwhile, across the world, MIT has become the first university to throw open all its research papers through the online repository software DSpace. Globally, academic tenure and promotion is traditionally linked to research published in reputed, peer-reviewed journals. These journals are owned by commercial behemoths like Springer and Reed Elsevier, who own stables of journals in various disciplines, and dictate terms to university libraries. But in recent years, journal prices have shot through the roof. Now, after years of weary negotiation, and empowered by new digital infrastructure, universities are teaming up via free institutional repository systems, to pool and circulate their collective research. In India, institutes like NIT Rourkela have adopted super-archives like DSpace for another reason — to showcase their scientific output to global peers. "NIT doesn't have the research legacy of IIT or IISC — they needed the visibility," says NIT director Sunil Kumar Sarangi. Such a knowledge commons is especially valuable to developing countries — for instance, in agricultural research or public health, it is inexcusable that countries which could benefit most from the scientific debate are left out of the loop, simply because of prohibitive pricing (some journals cost up to 20,000 dollars, annually). This only widens the gulf between the state of research here and the US or Europe. Even research produced in India with our taxpayer money is sent to big-name commercial journals and all copyright signed away, putting it out of reach for the Indian scholarly community. But all that could change if open access journals become the norm. S K Sahu, who runs MedKnow publications (over 80 open access journals), also busted claims that content on such journals tends to vanish into the ether after a few years online. Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/open-access-conference-seeks-to-free-rese… ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anup Kumar Das New Delhi, India http://anupkumardas.blogspot.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cricket on your mind? Visit the ultimate cricket website. Enter http://beta.cricket.yahoo.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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We may ban in India but UK Kids will be taught blogging, podcasts, wikipedia and other social media
by Sukhdev Singh 26 Mar '09

26 Mar '09

Checkout out the following blog post- Twitter and social media to be taught at UK primary schools. This news actually the makes the front page of a national newspaper!) - http://sn.im/el3wo It quotes the Guardian newspaper that "Children across the UK will be required to learn the ins and outs of a number of various social media platforms as part of draft plans proposed for the national curriculum". I wonder, should India be banning Social Media like Orkut, Facebook, Twitter etc. or including them in curricula? --Sukhdev Singh. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Sixth-Sense: A wonderful wearable computer...
by Shamprasad Pujar 26 Mar '09

26 Mar '09

Dear Members, Have a look at the wonderful wearable computer named 'Sixth Sense' being developed by an Indian Mr Pranav Mistry working at MIT Media Labs, USA. It looks similar to Microsoft's new technology Surface, but size and cost match that of your mobile. The video of the device demonstrated by his supervisor can be viewed at the following URL address. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/481 Regards, Dr Shamprasad M. Pujar Deputy Librarian Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Gen Vaidya Marg, Film City Road, Goregaon (East) MUMBAI-400 065, India Phone: 91-22-2841 6547 ; 2840 0919 Ext: 547 E-mail: pujar(a)igidr.ac.in Skype: sham.pujar URL: http://www.igidr.ac.in Blog: http://spujar.wordpress.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Vacancy In Central Reference Library , Kolkata
by mukesh jha 26 Mar '09

26 Mar '09

Government of India Central Reference Library (CRL) (Ministry of Culture) Belverde, Kolkata-700027 Applications are invited for filling up posts of Language Sub-Editor in CRL : Language Sub-Editor : 04 posts (UR-2 (Gujarati-1, Telugu-1), OBC-2 (Marathi-1, Malyalam-1), Age : 27 years, relaxation as per rules., Pay Scale : Rs.5500-9000/-, Qualification : Graudate with Bachelor degree in Librarianship or equivalent qualification (b) Proficiency in concerned language i.e. should have studied as a subject upto Matriculation or equivalent standard (c) 2 years experience of work in a reputed Library. How to Apply : Application in plain paper alongwith supporting documents with regards to age, qualifcation etc. should reach the Librarian, Central Reference Library, Kolkata, Ministry of Culture, Belvedere, Alipore, Kolkata-700027 within 30 days. Please visit http://www.crlindia.gov.in to know more Mukesh Kumar Jha M.L.I.Sc (BHU 2008) Trainee (Central Lib BHU) Mob.No.+919654448933 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Information regarding Net papers
by ashok upadhyay 25 Mar '09

25 Mar '09

Subject: Information regarding Net papers Dear Students and Professionals, You can find the Net papers here http://www.freewebs.com/lissetnet/net.html from Ashok Kumar Upadhyay Research Scholar DLIS AMU.,Aligarh e-mail: ashoka143(a)gmail.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.

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Vacancy at ASCI, Hyderabad
by Thapar, Amit 25 Mar '09

25 Mar '09

Associate - Library and Information Services Scale of Pay: Rs.12000-420-18300; gross at the minimum of the scale: Rs.38,186/-p.m. including CPF. Minimum Qualifications: A middle level position in the Library to support its functions. A Masters in Library & Information Science or equivalent qualification is essential. Candidates (around 40 years of age) with proven research skills will be preferred. Experience Requirements: Basic Library operation skills with 10 years experience in a professional position in a reputed organization; Academic orientation with interest and ability to work on projects leading to information products; IT skills, including database creation and retrieval; and familiarity with the recent trends in the internet related information sources. Candidates may visit website: www.asci.org.in for full details and apply within 30 days to registrar(a)asci.org.in http://www.asci.org.in/jobs.asp REgards, amit@urservice -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Library Journal (LJ) Seeks Library of the Year Nominations
by DINESH SIDDAIAH 25 Mar '09

25 Mar '09

Dear Friends, Library Journal (LJ) Seeks Library of the Year Nominations Library Journal seeks role-model libraries to vie for the 2009 LJ/Gale Cengage Learning Library of the Year Award. The $10,000 prize celebrates the library that most profoundly demonstrates: service to the community; creativity and innovation in developing specific community programs or a dramatic increase in usage; and leadership in creating programs that can be emulated by others. Along with the cash award, the winner is featured in the June 15, 2009 LJ* *cover story and honored with a gala reception at the American Library Association Annual Conference. Thanking You, Dinesh -- Dr. Dinesh K. S. MLISc., Ph.D. Selection Grade Librarian, Nagarjuna College of Engineering & Technology, Devanahalli, Bengaluru - 562 110. Ph: +91-9845102382, Email: dinesh.ncet(a)gmail.com Blog: ksdinesh.blogspot.com, Official Blog: libraryofncet.blogspot.com -- 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] Regarding SOUL 2.0 V/s Open Source Software
by Aashish Savant 24 Mar '09

24 Mar '09

I don't think that the debate is around SOUL 2.0 V/S OSS but the larger issue of selection of a Library software solution which is; 1. Technologically and functionally superior 2. Compliant to International Software and Library Standards 3. Has lowest/ Most economical TCO including OS/ Database/ Installation/ Training/ customisation/ Technical Support 4. has demonstrated ability to accomodate and upgrade to evolving Technical and Domain specific standards In case the selection veers to an OSS solution, an important parameter in the selection will be the Service provider, if any. The criteria for selection would primarily be: 1. Experience in the Library Domain. 2. Commitment/ Stakes in the Library Business domain 3. Business Ideology/ Soundness of Revenue model to ascertain continued service support for the product 4. Technical competence in the product support as reflected in the product development/ enhancement contributions and Client referrals Also to understand that not all OSS solutions are better than properiatary solutions but the better OSS solutions will typically attract a large product community following. A large and vibrant product community will also ensure longievity of product life cycle and better technical and functional compliance. The debate on western origin V/S Indian developed s/w products is essentially superflous since a logical extension of this rather Protectionist argument would send us back to the Stone Ages. Reinventing the wheel for the sake of dogmatic patriotism would be a waste of trained resources. A more pragmatic approach would be to participate in a progressive project like KOHA and Localise the necessary features and develop newer ones. We have already made a begining by setting up portal www.kohaindia.org and are committed to devoting technical and functional resources for the same. This would be a contributory project and quite a few senior Librarians and FOSS developers have expressed willingness to work on the same. Adoption of newer technologies and Adherence to international standards is not a luxury but a necessity of the Indian Libraries. Incase the Indian educational and research institutes need to achieve their DUE international standing, Libraries and in turn Library professionals need to embrace the technological change. -- Aashish Savant Director, RDG Microelectronics Pvt Ltd. 203, Blue Rose Industrial Estate, Western Express Highway, Borivli (E), Mumbai 400066. Tel: +91 22 - 65279584/ 6571 9584 email: aashishs(a)rdg.co.in aashish.savant(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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PPTs of National Seminar & Research Conference
by Ajay Kamble 24 Mar '09

24 Mar '09

Dear All, Please find PPTs of National Seminar & Research Conference on "Library : a Temple of Learning & Knowledge House" held at Guru Nanak Institute of management Studies , Matunga Mumbai at www.mlsc.co.nr (A direct link is given on Homepage) <http://www.mlsc.co.nr> This PPT's were sent by Kuljeet G. Kahlon, Librarian, GNIMS. -- Ajay M. Kamble Librarian Annasaheb Vartak Arts, Commerce, Science College, Vasai Road (W), Dist. Thane - 401202 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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