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

The new Unesco report
by Subbiah Arunachalam 05 Nov '05

05 Nov '05

Friends: Here is a 220-page report from UNESCO, Towards Knowledge Societies, well in time for distribution at WSIS, Tunis. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001418/141843e.pdf It talks about the need for open access among other things. Please spread the word. Arun

1 0

Unesco on knowledge societies
by Subbiah Arunachalam 04 Nov '05

04 Nov '05

Improving access to knowledge Knowledge versus information societies: UNESCO report takes stock of the difference, a press release dated yesterday. Excerpt: A UNESCO report launched today urges governments to expand quality education for all, increase community access to information and communication technology, and improve cross-border scientific knowledge-sharing, in an effort to narrow the digital and knowledge divides between the North and South and move towards a smart form of sustainable human development. Towards Knowledge Societies, launched in Paris today by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, also advocates...sharing environmental knowledge and developing statistical tools to measure knowledge and help policy makers define their priorities....The Report, opens a panorama that paints the future in both promising and disquieting tones, says the Director-General, promising because the potential offered by a rational and purposeful use of the new technologies offers real prospects for human and sustainable development and the building of more democratic societies; disquieting for the obstacles and snares along the way are all too real. One of the main obstacles, according to the Report, is the disparity in access to information and communication technology that has become known as the digital divide. Only 11 percent of the worlds population has access to the internet and 90 percent of those connected live in industrialized countries. This digital divide is itself the consequence of a more serious split. The knowledge divide, write the authors, today more than ever, separates countries endowed with powerful research and development potential, highly effective education systems and a range of public learning and cultural facilities, from nations with deficient education systems and research institutions starved of resources, and suffering as a result of the brain drain. Encouraging the development of knowledge societies requires overcoming these gaps, consolidating two pillars of the global information society that are still too unevenly guaranteed access to information for all and freedom of expression....The stakes are high, stresses the Report, for the cost of ignorance is greater than the cost of education and knowledge sharing. It argues in favour of societies that are able to integrate all their members and promote new forms of solidarity involving both present and future generations. Nobody, it states, should be excluded from knowledge societies, where knowledge is a public good, available to each and every individual. (PS: The report itself is not online, at least so far.)

1 0

Re: Shouldn't Indian libraries join either the Open Content
by Subbiah Arunachalam 04 Nov '05

04 Nov '05

Dear Balki: I agree with you. The Digital Library Initiative (in India) should negotiate with Internet Archives (OCA) and Google with the backing of the Government of India. Please talk about these aspects in the session on Open Access at the Science Congress in H'bad. Google's trouble looks to be temporary. Most legal experts in the USA including Lawrence Lessig have opined that the law suits against Google filed by the Authors' Guild and five publishers are rather weak and that the verdict will be in favour of Google (fair use clause). Best wishes. Arun > > Dear Arun: I am right now with Brewster Kale and also the scientists - > Sullivan from Google- > India and China are planning to join the OCA- As you know the Internet > Archives are our partners - they also host the books under the million > books project- > all three of us - The MBP team, Google and OCA realized that we have > complimentary strengths- > We have the great edge because of - > CMU- IISc& Indian Universities, Egypt, Australia and China Universities- a > great research strength- what was displayed today is almost mind boggling > research by the MBP team- The out reach of OCA and the disseminating power > of Google- we have mnearly 170,000 books in India, 500,000 books in China > and 100,000 books between Alexandria and OCa - we are targetting to host 1 > Million books between all of us in a combined portal before next year > annual meeting- ne sinle Million books portal- > > As you know Google's respect for our efforts is very great- regarding all > libraries in India joining the OCA or Google - you must think twice- oogle > is in trouble already- the best is to let the DLI interact through the > government with outsiders instead of every library interacting with > outsiders- the national perspective will be lost- > We had done this before and wasted money like hell- every one holding a > consrtium and talking about diitization- let us not do this again and > waste ovt money- > > Regards > Balki > Dear Balki: >> >> I have a specific question for you, as you are a pioneer and the first >> in >> India to set up both an open access institutional archive for research >> papers (at IISc) and the Million Books Digial Library. >> >> Should not major Indian libraries join the Open Content Alliance >> (promoted >> by Brewster Kahle) and/ or the Google Library? Major western libraries >> are >> joining one or the other, but our libraries have some unique collections >> in the areas of philosophy, religion, literature in our own languages, >> some of them (e.g. Sanskrit and Tamil) older than all the western >> languages, indigenous systems of medicine, etc. >> >> Please take the lead and make our books widely known and read around the >> world. Generations of Indians will begrateful to you! NCSI could be the >> nodal point. I am sure the Knowledge Commission and the Department of >> Culture can be approached for any funds required. Microsoft (USA) has >> pledged to scan 150,000 books. May be you could ask Microsoft (India) >> and >> other IT majors to lend support. >> >> Best wishes. >> >> Arun >> [Subbiah Arunachalam] > >

1 0

Free LiBSUITE RFID Presentation
by Pranaykumar Dhiwar 04 Nov '05

04 Nov '05

Dear Sir/ Madam, We are pleased to inform you that we have recently introduced our LiBSUITE-RFID System for the Library Application. In this regards we are arranging a live demonstration of our products at mentioned venue between 9am to 6pm on 18th November 2005. Event : Free Live Presentation of LiBSUITE® RFID system. Event Date: 18th Nov 2005. (Mumbai) Event Time: 9am to 6pm. (On confirmation) Booking opening dates Between 7th to 17th Nov 2005 Booking Numbers: Ms. Geeta. Soft-Aid Computers Pvt. Ltd. 022- 55988233/34, 25004820/42. Email now on: geetad(a)softaid.co.in. Venue Address: Kohinoor Park Hotel, "Ruby', 4th Floor, Front of Siddhivinayak Temple, Above " Chintamanies Jewelers", Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Dadar (West), Mumbai - 400025. Thanking you and we would appreciate, if you could kindly confirm your arrival for resolving all related queries. Get the best Digital RFID based Library Automation System at an affordable and best price. Sachin G Cell: 09324312153 Dear Sir/ Madam, We are pleased to inform you that we have recently introduced our LiBSUITE-RFID System for the Library Application. In this regards we are arranging a live demonstration of our products at mentioned venue between 9am to 6pm on 18 th November 2005. Event : Free Live Presentation of LiBSUITE ® RFID system. Event Date: 18 th Nov 2005. (Mumbai) Event Time: 9am to 6pm. (On confirmation) Booking opening dates Between 7 th to 17 th Nov 2005 Booking Numbers: Ms. Geeta. Soft-Aid Computers Pvt. Ltd. 022- 55988233/34, 25004820/42. Email now on: mailto:geetad@softaid.co.in geetad(a)softaid.co.in . Venue Address: Kohinoor Park Hotel, Ruby, 4 th Floor, Front of Siddhivinayak Temple, Above Chintamanies Jewelers, Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Dadar (West), Mumbai 400025. Thanking you and we would appreciate, if you could kindly confirm your arrival for resolving all related queries. Get the best Digital RFID based Library Automation System at an affordable and best price. Sachin G Cell: 09324312153

1 0

Microsoft in deal with British Library
by Sreeharsha_Gopalakrishna＠i2.com 04 Nov '05

04 Nov '05

Microsoft on Thursday announced a “strategic partnership” with the British Library that will allow the software group to digitise 25m pages of content - the equivalent of 100,000 books. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b977c208-4cb3-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html Thanks Sreeharsha

1 0

ILO, Geneva Job Offer
by Puna Das 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

________________________________________________ International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Invites Application for the position of 'Library and Information Management Officer/Systems Librarian' For more information, visit: https://erecruit.ilo.org/e-jobs/public/hrd-cl-vac-view.cfm?o_c=2000&jobinfo… ________________________________________________ Anup Kumar Das Information and Communication Society of India New Delhi ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Enjoy this Diwali with Y! India Click here http://in.promos.yahoo.com/fabmall/index.html

1 0

Open Course ware
by Subbiah Arunachalam 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Friends: The institutions listed below have publicly committed to the open publication of their materials in "opencourseware" initiatives, and are devoting resources to support these OCW projects. Incidentally, OCW was started by MIT, Cambridge. Not a single Indian university has joined the Open Course Ware movement! If we have an Alliance of Taxpayers, we can demand our universities to provide free access to their course ware! Arun China Visit the portal page for 156 Chinese-university OCW projects, featuring the following universities a.. Peking University b.. Tsinghua University c.. Zhejiang University d.. Xi'an Jiaotong University e.. Central South University f.. Beijing Jiaotong University g.. Sichuan University h.. Beijing Normal University i.. Dalian University of Technology j.. Central Radio and Television University k.. Shanghai Jiaotong University l.. Nanjing University m.. Jilin University n.. Northwest Polytechnic University o.. Southeast University p.. Sun Yat-Sen University q.. Fudan University r.. Huazhong University of Science and Technology s.. Renmin University of China t.. Huazhong Agricultural University Japan Visit the portal page for the following Japanese-university OCW projects a.. Keio University b.. Kyoto University c.. Tokyo Institute of Technology d.. Osaka University e.. University of Tokyo f.. Waseda University United States a.. Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health b.. Tufts University c.. Utah State University Vietnam a.. Fulbright Economics Teaching Program OCW Friends: The institutions listed below have publicly committed to the open publication of their materials in opencourseware initiatives, and are devoting resources to support these OCW projects. Incidentally, OCW was started by MIT, Cambridge. Not a single Indian university has joined the Open Course Ware movement! If we have an Alliance of Taxpayers, we can demand our universities to provide free access to their course ware! Arun China Visit the portal page for http://cnq.ocw.cn/ 156 Chinese-university OCW projects , featuring the following universities Peking University Tsinghua University Zhejiang University Xi'an Jiaotong University Central South University Beijing Jiaotong University Sichuan University Beijing Normal University Dalian University of Technology Central Radio and Television University Shanghai Jiaotong University Nanjing University Jilin University Northwest Polytechnic University Southeast University Sun Yat-Sen University Fudan University Huazhong University of Science and Technology Renmin University of China Huazhong Agricultural University Japan Visit the portal page for the http://www.jocw.jp/ following Japanese-university OCW projects Keio University Kyoto University Tokyo Institute of Technology Osaka University University of Tokyo Waseda University United States http://ocw.jhsph.edu/ Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health http://ocw.tufts.edu/?WT.mc_id=Link1 Tufts University http://ocw.usu.edu/ Utah State University Vietnam http://ocw.fetp.edu.vn/fetpocw.cfm Fulbright Economics Teaching Program OCW

1 0

request for article
by Yashwant G. Kanade 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Respected Sir, I am in need of the following two papers. If you can help me find it, it would be of very great help. #1 Lack, D 1947. The significance of clutch size, I-II. Ibis, 89, 302-352. #2 Skutch, A.F 1949. Do tropical birds rear as many young as they can nourish? Ibis, 91, 430-435. Thank You Sir. -- R. Yuvaraj, Int. PhD in Biological Sciences, C/O Dr. Renee M Borges, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. 560012 Phone +91-080-22933103

1 0

OA and Copyright are compatible
by Sukhdev Singh 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Dear Friends, I would like put forward a discussion between me and IJP editor on OA-India discussion forum. The comments by Dr. Peter Suber, an active advocate of OA, shows how OA and Copyright can be compatible with other. Please read all the emails. Thanks Sukhdev Singh, NIC. http://openmed.nic.in http://indmed.nic.in http://medind.nic.in ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Peter Suber <peters(a)earlham.edu> Date: Oct 31, 2005 10:09 PM Subject: Re: [oa-india] Re: OA To: Sukhdev Singh <esukhdev(a)gmail.com>, Discussion Group for Open Access Workshop India <oa-india(a)dgroups.org> Cc: harnad(a)uqam.ca, peters(a)earlham.edu Sukhdev's response is correct. But I can elaborate further if that would help. Copyright is only anathema to OA when it is in the hands of someone who will not consent to OA. But when it is in the hands of someone who *will* consent to OA, then copyright is the legal basis of OA. It's the proof that the OA copy is not infringing anyone's rights. OA can be based on the absence of copyright (the public domain) or on copyright-holder consent. It's not limited to the former. For my own writings, I assert both the copyright and my consent to OA in order to answer all doubts about their status. The copyright statement means that I have the standing to authorize OA. The OA statement means that I have done so. In a similar way, Creative Commons licenses depend on copyright and do not bypass or abolish copyright. (Please feel free to forward this message to the OA-India list.) Best wishes, Peter Peter Suber Open Access Project Director, Public Knowledge Research Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College Author, SPARC Open Access Newsletter Editor, Open Access News blog http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/ peter.suber(a)earlham.edu At 05:06 AM 10/28/2005, Sukhdev Singh wrote: >In the copyright statement, "This is an open-access document" is >important. Which means that document can be further be distributed "as >such" along with copy-right notice. > >Please someone correct me if I am wrong. > >CC: harnad(a)uqam.ca and peters(a)earlham.edu for their comments. > >--Sukhdev Singh, NIC. >http://openmed.nic.in > > >On 10/28/05, R.Raveendran <ravee(a)jipmer.edu> wrote: > > Sukhdev > > > > There is a copyright statement at the bottom ("Copyright (c) 2004-2005, > > Peter Suber. This is an open-access document"). I thought copyright is > > anathema to OA and I am surprised the key protagonist of OA could not do > > without copyright!!!!!!! (Perhaps I need more lessons on OA). > > > > By the way, if I want to publish this write up (in toto) in the IJP, should > > I get permission from the copyright owner? > > > > R.Raveendran > > Chief Editor, IJP > > [IJP is a free access journal; not an OA journal] > > > > > > > > At 12:16 PM 10/26/2005, you wrote: > > >I am enclosing the contents of the link by Peter Suber on . Which > > >would be useful for anyone new to OA. Hope others won't mind. > > > > > >--Sukhdev Singh, NIC. http://openmed.nic.in > > > > > >http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/brief.htm > > > > > >A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access > > > by Peter Suber > > > > > > Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, > > >and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it > > >possible is the internet and the consent of the author or > > >copyright-holder. > > > > > > In most fields, scholarly journals do not pay authors, who can > > >therefore consent to OA without losing revenue. In this respect > > >scholars and scientists are very differently situated from most > > >musicians and movie-makers, and controversies about OA to music and > > >movies do not carry over to research literature. > > > > > > OA is entirely compatible with peer review, and all the major OA > > >initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its > > >importance. Just as authors of journal articles donate their labor, so > > >do most journal editors and referees participating in peer review. > > > > > > OA literature is not free to produce, even if it is less expensive > > >to produce than conventionally published literature. The question is > > >not whether scholarly literature can be made costless, but whether > > >there are better ways to pay the bills than by charging readers and > > >creating access barriers. Business models for paying the bills depend > > >on how OA is delivered. > > > > > > There are two primary vehicles for delivering OA to research > > >articles: OA journals and OA archives or repositories. > > > > > > * OA archives or repositories do not perform peer review, but > > >simply make their contents freely available to the world. They may > > >contain unrefereed preprints, refereed postprints, or both. Archives > > >may belong to institutions, such as universities and laboratories, or > > >disciplines, such as physics and economics. Authors may archive their > > >preprints without anyone else's permission, and a majority of journals > > >already permit authors to archive their postprints. When archives > > >comply with the metadata harvesting protocol of the Open Archives > > >Initiative, then they are interoperable and users can find their > > >contents without knowing which archives exist, where they are located, > > >or what they contain. There is now open-source software for building > > >and maintaining OAI-compliant archives and worldwide momentum for > > >using it. The costs of an archive are negligible: some server space > > >and a fraction of the time of a technician. > > > > > > * OA journals perform peer review and then make the approved > > >contents freely available to the world. Their expenses consist of peer > > >review, manuscript preparation, and server space. OA journals pay > > >their bills very much the way broadcast television and radio stations > > >do: those with an interest in disseminating the content pay the > > >production costs upfront so that access can be free of charge for > > >everyone with the right equipment. Sometimes this means that journals > > >have a subsidy from the hosting university or professional society. > > >Sometimes it means that journals charge a processing fee on accepted > > >articles, to be paid by the author or the author's sponsor (employer, > > >funding agency). OA journals that charge processing fees usually waive > > >them in cases of economic hardship. OA journals with institutional > > >subsidies tend to charge no processing fees. OA journals can get by on > > >lower subsidies or fees if they have income from other publications, > > >advertising, priced add-ons, or auxiliary services. Some institutions > > >and consortia arrange fee discounts. Some OA publishers waive the fee > > >for all researchers affiliated with institutions that have purchased > > >an annual membership. There's a lot of room for creativity in finding > > >ways to pay the costs of a peer-reviewed OA journal, and we're far > > >from having exhausted our cleverness and imagination. > > > > > > For a longer introduction, with live links for further reading, > > >see my Open Access Overview, > > >http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm. > > > > > >First put online December 29, 2004. > > > > > >This introduction is also available in Bangla, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, > > >French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish and > > >Ukrainian. I welcome other translations. > > > > > >Peter Suber > > >Open Access Project Director, Public Knowledge > > >Research Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College > > >Senior Researcher, SPARC > > >peters(a)earlham.edu > > > > > >Copyright (c) 2004-2005, Peter Suber. This is an open-access document.

1 0

Shouldn't Indian libraries join either the Open Content Alliance or the Google Library?
by Subbiah Arunachalam 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Dear Balki: I have a specific question for you, as you are a pioneer and the first in India to set up both an open access institutional archive for research papers (at IISc) and the Million Books Digial Library. Should not major Indian libraries join the Open Content Alliance (promoted by Brewster Kahle) and/ or the Google Library? Major western libraries are joining one or the other, but our libraries have some unique collections in the areas of philosophy, religion, literature in our own languages, some of them (e.g. Sanskrit and Tamil) older than all the western languages, indigenous systems of medicine, etc. Please take the lead and make our books widely known and read around the world. Generations of Indians will begrateful to you! NCSI could be the nodal point. I am sure the Knowledge Commission and the Department of Culture can be approached for any funds required. Microsoft (USA) has pledged to scan 150,000 books. May be you could ask Microsoft (India) and other IT majors to lend support. Best wishes. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] Dear Balki: I have a specific question for you, as you are a pioneer and the first in India to set up both an open access institutional archive for research papers (at IISc) and the Million Books Digial Library. Should not major Indian libraries join the Open Content Alliance (promoted by Brewster Kahle) and/ or the Google Library? Major western libraries are joining one or the other, but our libraries have some unique collections in the areas of philosophy, religion, literature in our own languages, some of them (e.g. Sanskrit and Tamil) older than all the western languages, indigenous systems of medicine, etc. Please take the lead and make our books widely known and read around the world. Generations of Indians will begrateful to you! NCSI could be the nodal point. I am sure the Knowledge Commission and the Department of Culture can be approached for any funds required. Microsoft (USA) has pledged to scan 150,000 books. May be you could ask Microsoft (India) and other IT majors to lend support. Best wishes. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam]

1 0