[http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/11/stories/2010021155720300.htm] Digital Library Portal of the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing launched V. Venkatachalam, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (second from left), at the launch of the digital library portal of AIISH in Mysore on Wednesday. MYSORE: V. Venkatachalam, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Wednesday said that the Ministry was doing its best to overcome manpower shortage that affected national health programmes, including the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD). Scarcity of professionals in the field of speech and hearing was acute and the Ministry was addressing the problem by supporting the initiatives taken up by the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), he said. Launching the Digital Library Portal of the AIISH Library and Information Centre here, Mr. Venkatachalam said the national programmes launched for public health lacked trained professionals. “Manpower is not available to support the initiatives launched under the programmes. Therefore, we have introduced a few initiatives to ensure manpower to implement the programmes,” he said. Promising support and resources to AIISH in carrying forward its activities, he said the Ministry had been supporting its programmes and would continue to do so for its development. Infrastructure at the institute was on par with any other national institute, he said. Lauding AIISH for launching the Digital Library Portal, he said the portal would benefit many as information available in the library could be accessed from anywhere, anytime. He said the portal would also help those pursuing courses under distance education system launched by AIISH to overcome the shortage of speech and hearing professionals. Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore V.G. Talawar said the facilities provided for accessing information digitally should be used effectively. Not many scholars, academics and teachers were making use of the e-journal facility launched by the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) in which over 5,000 journals could be accessed online. “According to some surveys, only 39 per cent are making use of the facility though the journals are available in all disciplines. It is not a good trend. More and more people should make use of information for their academic prospects,” Dr. Talawar said. He urged students, research scholars and therapists to use the portal of AIISH. AIISH Director Vijayalakshmi Basavaraj said the portal was conceived two years ago and could be accessed free of cost. Shortly, the National Medical Library in New Delhi could be accessed through the portal as its approval was awaited. “Once it is done, over 1,532 journals can be accessed from our portal,” she said. Ajish Abraham, head of the Department of Electronics, AIISH, gave an overview of the portal and its benefits. He said the availability of online search allowed users to locate relevant information quickly and reliably, thus enhancing success in their research endeavours. Asha Yathiraj of the library committee of AIISH was present. -- Posted By Engg-Lib-Forum from India to ELF at 2/10/2010 09:19:00 PM -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.