Dear Friends: We solicit your participation in 3-Day Regional Workshop on Greenstone Digital Library Software   Organized by   Department of Library Services Christian Medical College Vellore & Madras Library Association, Chennai February 8 - 10, 2007 at CHTC Auditorium, Christian Medical College – Bagayam Campus   About Christian Medical College , Vellore   The Christian Medical College began in 1918, when Dr. Scudder started training women for the Licentiate Diploma (LMP). Here first batch of medical students achieved a 100 percent pass in the examinations. In 1942, the medical school was raised to the status of a college and 25 students were admitted to the MBBS course. The first men students were admitted to the college in 1947. Permanent affiliation to the University of Madras was obtained in 1950. From 1953 onwards 50 students were admitted, 25 men and 25 women and in 1964 the annual admissions were increased to 60. In 1988, the affiliation of this institution was transferred from the University of Madras to the newly established Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University . In 2001, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission awarded a five star rating to the institution.   The Postgraduate training programmes continue to be added as newer branches of medicine develop. At present, there are postgraduate diploma courses in 11 specialities and postgraduate degree courses in 35 specialities. This institution has been a pioneer in India in the development of higher specialities like cardiology, Thoracic Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Urology, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology and Haematology.   About MALA Chennai   The library movement in the former Madras Presidency originated as part of the national movement for political freedom and social development. The fifth All India Library Conference was held in Madras , along with the Congress session, during the last week of December 1927. As a followup to the deliberations of this conference, through the initiative of Mr. K.V. Krishnanswamy Aiyar and Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, the Madras Library Association (MALA) was founded on 31st January 1928 .   MALA continues to accomplish its library promotional initiatives through lecture- demos, conferences, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, discussion forums….       Introduction   The digital age has ushered in significant changes in the information space in terms of operations, collection development strategies, services, and user preferences. The current information environment unequivocally prompts libraries to leverage on the latest digital technologies towards building practical digital libraries and in setting up dynamic electronic information systems. Digital Libraries (DL) are structured storage environments of digital data with a consistent format for index and content abstraction. Digital libraries do enable the seamless integration of the scholarly electronic information, help in creating and maintaining local digital content, and strengthen the mechanisms and the capacity of the library’s information systems and services. They increase the portability, efficiency of access, flexibility, availability and preservation of digital objects. Open Digital Library (ODL) technologies are gaining attention the world over.   Without proper understanding of the complexities, procedures and practices involved in content building, content management and collection building, individual DLs will remain islands of structure in an unstructured Internet sea. Today’s information / IT professional must be capable of leveraging the new technology to its fullest extent.   Objectives   The objective of the Workshop is to conduct a 3- day rigorous training programme on Digital Libraries using the Open Source Software ‘Greenstone’ at Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore organized in collaboration with Madras Library Association (MALA).   Rationale   Developing world standard digital libraries demand deployment of costly software solutions which are beyond the reach of most of the universities/ institutions in India and those in the Asian region. The Greenstone Digital Library Software (GSDL) is a top of the line and internationally renowned software system for developing digital libraries, promoted by the New Zealand Digital Library project research group at the University of Waikato . Greenstone is developed and distributed in cooperation with UNESCO and the Human Info NGO. It is open source software, issued under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The aim of the software is to empower users, particularly in universities, libraries, and other public service institutions, to build their own digital libraries. More details of the software and example digital libraries built using the software is available at http://www.greenstone.org/ http://www.greenstone.org/ .   Workshop Content   The Workshop has been designed to facilitate the participants in creating state-of-art digital libraries using Greenstone, which include software installation, configuration, customization, digitization and other related workflow operations, content development and management, designing and creating standard metadata sets to describe digital objects and encoding it in standard markup formats.   Pedagogy   The workshop will be conducted at the Christian Medical College Vellore (CMC) which is equipped with world-class lecture rooms and computing laboratories with high speed Internet link. For lab sessions, each participant will be provided a PC supplemented with LCD projected live demos. The pedagogy will be a mix of lectures, discussions, case studies and hands-on sessions. Each participant shall be provided with a CD comprising of the Greenstone Software, faculty presentations, and other related software packages. Extensive hands-on labs will be a hall mark of this programme.   Target Audience   The workshop will be of immense benefit to all those involved in developing and maintaining digital collections such as librarians and information professionals, including software professionals belonging to the academia, Government and NGOs.   Workshop Faculty   Dr M.G. Sreekumar, UNESCO Coordinator, Greenstone Support Network South Asia and Librarian & Head, Center for Development of Digital Libraries (CDDL), IIM, Kozhikode (IIMK).   Ms. K. T. Anuradha, Scientific Officer, NCSI, IISC, Bangalore .   Workshop Coordinators   Dr. A. Amudhavalli, President, MALA & Professor & Head, Dept. of Information Science, University of Madras , Chennai, 600 005. email: mailto:amudha75@yahoo.com amudha75@yahoo.com   &   Mr. V. Newton, Senior Librarian & Head, Dept. of Library Services, CMC Vellore - 632 004. e-mail: mailto:newton@cmcvellore.ac.in newton@cmcvellore.ac.in   Workshop Effect   At the end of the workshop, the participants are expected to be well-versed and confident of developing digital libraries using the Greenstone software.   Follow-up   Follow-up support shall be extended through the CDDL of IIMK.   Registration Fee   A fee of Rs. 1500 ( without accommodation )   or Rs. 2500 (with accommodation) will be charged from the participants.   Workshop Participants   The participants are limited to 30. Selection of candidates will be made as per merit, commitment to DLs and familiarity with IT applications in libraries.   Applications/ nominations should reach the CMC, Vellore , Library Office on or before Jan. 25, 2007 .   Participants, while applying, shall give a brief statement of interest in Greenstone, major objectives of attending the workshop as well as their expectations from the programme.   Dates and Venue   The workshop will be held during February 8 to 10, 2007 at CHTC Auditorium , CMC Bagayam Campus, Vellore ( http://dodd.cmcvellore.ac.in/rwgsdl.htm http://dodd.cmcvellore.ac.in/rwgsdl.htm )   Inquiries or contact   Mr. V. Newton, Senior Librarian & Head CMC Vellore – 632 004, Tamilnadu , INDIA . e-mail: dodd@cmcvellore.ac.in   Ms. R. Gowri, Secretary, MALA e-mail: mailto:gravindranth@hotmail.com gravindranth@hotmail.com   About Vellore   Vellore is a town bisected by the Palar river, one of many tributaries of the life giving Cauvery flowing west to east in south India . Vellore is famous for its historic Fort constructed in the 13th Century, and has the hallmark of grandeur with its double-walled fortress with a massive moat and high gateways that lead to the gigantic Jalakandeswarar temple with its ornate Kalyana Mandapam in the interior. Vellore itself has a place in India 's history of independence, since it is here that the first movement to free India was initiated by the Vellore Sepoy Mutiny some 200 years back, on 9th July 1806 .   LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATION: January 25, 2007       Registration Form   CMC VELLORE – MALA CHENNAI 3-Day Regional Workshop on Greenstone Digital Library Software February 8 – 10, 2007 REGISTRATION FORM Name _______________________________________ _____________________ Residential / Non-residential. Male / Female Address for communication _______________________________________ _______________________________________ ___________________________ _______________________________________ ___________________________ City ________________________________ Pin Tel :(O) ________________ (R) _________________ Fax_________________ Email _______________________________________ _____________________ Name of Institution/Organization ____________________________________ _______________________________________ ___________________________ Designation _______________________________________ _______________ Details of advance paid: D D No. _______________ Drawn in favour of CMC Vellore Association payable at Vellore dated ___________ for Rs _______/- only   Signature of Participant _______________________________________   With best wishes,   Sincerely,   L R Gowri Secretary, MALA     Spice up your IM conversations. 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