Dear all, This is connection with the issue of 'role of LIS-Forum in disseminating local events and news' There two key issues here- the need for disseminating local news and events and the role of a communication channel Here are my two cents on these two issues. --- As the saying goes, think global, act local; think local and act global Internationalisation goes hand in hand with localization efforts. We need to know the happenings in our own local, regional, national levels before thinking of international. It is because we do not believe and practice in this- in India we often end up recognizing things only when local knowledge has become a global phenomenon (only after it has been exported and then imported - be it Ravishankar, Yoga, ) Today, in the present day World e-communication of List servs, Bulletin boards, blogs and Wikis and others, the demarcation between formal and informal communication has blurred. All communication channels share certain key characteristics and serve certain functions. Some of the key functions of a communication channel include: · Dissemination of information and sharing of ideas and opinions · A forum for discussion, debate, public opinion and a means of consensus building · Community building The LIS Forum has been a pioneer of sorts and has achieved remarkable success in all of the above. It has been a very effective community building forum which is needed especially in a practice oriented and interdisciplinary field such as LIS. It has been serving the LIS community quite admirably since its inception through the efforts of our dear friend late Dr. T.B. Rajashekar and the initial support by NISSAT, DSIR, Government of India. -- Shalini Dr.Shalini R. Urs Director Information and Communication Division & Professor and Chairperson Department of Library and Information Science University of Mysore, Mysore Tele: 91-821-2514699 Fax: 91-821-2519209 Homepage:www.vidyanidhi.org.in/shaliniurs.htm http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum