Friends: Thanks very much to Mr Tariq Ashraf for his response to my earlier intervention. No one ever achieves anything by finding reasons why things don't or cannot work. When telephones were a luxury in India and getting a telephone connection took years of waiting, a man called Sam Pitroda came from Chicago and changed all that by looking at the problem innovatively. Suddenly cities, towns and villages were flush with STD and ISDN booths and even poor people could call their relatives living in distant lands. A few years before Mr Pitroda came on the scene, there was a dapper little man called Varghese Kurien who came to Gujarat all the way from his native Kerala and looked at farmers getting below optimal returns on their investments on cows and buffalos and he brought them all under the umbrella of a cooperative called Amul and brought great cheer to all of them. Not many people know he was perhaps the first man to introduce modern ICT tools to rural India. Under his leadership Amul introduced a system which would automatically measure the volume, density (for fat content) of milk brought by a farmer, keep a running account so that payments could be made once a month depending on both the volume and the quality of the milk. Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Ratan Tata, Ramadorai and others like them live and work in India and have transformed this country (with poor supply of electricity as Mr Ashraf characterises it) into an IT super power. Yes, we need to produce far more electricity (and clean energy in general) than we do now. But to say that all else should wait till we do that is naive. While some of us should work on improving infrastructre and facilities, there is no harm if others try to improve our research capabilities, our ability to access and use information, etc. It is not a question of "either or". We need to do both. I fully agree development should be holistic. Those of you who have read my writings on the MSSRF programme of ICT-enabled development (the Information Villages, Knowledge Centres, National Virtual Academy, Mission 2007, etc.) will know how strongly I advocate holistic development. Today about a hundred Indian journals are open access journals. There are about 30 open archives (possibly more) and these are located not only in large cities like Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune but also in smaller towns like Rourkela. And I guess - and correct me if I am wrong - that even in Meerut, Moradabad and Muzaffar Nagar, people use Internet, send emails and go to cyber cafes, never mind they have electricity only for six (or whatever nuumber of) hours a day. And if a scientist or scholar needs to access a document he/she can still do so within those few hours if the document is on open access. And Dr D K Sahu of MedKnow Publications has shown the tremendous benefits of journals going open access. Ms Naina Pandita, Sukhdev and colleagues at NIC thought really big: When they set up an archive for biomedical resaerch, they did not want to confine the archive (OpenMED) to only papers from India; they welcomed papes from everywhere. Mr N V Satyanarayana, a Bangalore-based businessman set up a search portal called Open J-Gate for OA papers, which can be used by anyone from any corner of the world. Dr M G Sreekumar of IIMK not only set up an archive but also conducts workshops on setting up archives, use of Greenstone, etc. Dr A R D Prasad of DRTC has won international recognition for his tireless promotion of the culture of OA and in particular the application of DSpace. Dr Shalini Urs has set up a repository for doctoral (and Masters) theses. Dr V Balaji of ICRISAT is active in promoting OA among agricultural universities and research centres not only in India but also worldwide. Two days ago Arun Shourie wrote in Indian Express how we are missing the great opportunity to become the higher education hub of the world. But as Dr S Krishnan of NCL, Pune, points out it is not enough if librarians take interest in promoting OA. Unless scientists and scholars who produce all the research in universities and research labs take interest in uploading their papers in institutional or central archives we cannot ensure long term sustainability of the OA movement. Mr Tariq Ashraf says: "Merely accusing librarians will not do any thing except straining precious bandwidth." I have not accused librarians (or for that matter anyone else). In fact I have not even used the word 'librarian'. All I am doing is to exhort developing country scientists to adopt open access without any further delay. There is indeed nothing to be amazed about. On the contrary all of us should be greatly concerned about the slow pace of OA in India and other developing countries. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] --- tariq22@gmail.com wrote:

is it not little amazing to say that countries in South Asia are reluctant to go for open access.There are several ambitious projects launched both at governmental and non governmental level for open archiving.But things take their own time in countries like ours where even basic infrastructural arrangements are missing. Towns like Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffar Nagar which are hardly 100 Kmeterws away from Delhi do not get power for more than 4- to 6 hours per day. We need to integrate our IT efforts with overall economic development and adopt a holistic approach.Merely accusing librarians will not do any thing except straining precious bandwidth......I hope some of you agree.

Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi-110007 Ph: 27662040 (Direct) 27667725/ 1676 Mobile: 9868335593 Email: tariq22@gmail.com

On 9/14/06, Subbiah Arunachalam wrote:

...

Beyond DRIVER to EDRI

EU project to widen access to European research information, September 13, 2006. The CORDIS announcement of the DRIVER project. (See DRIVER's

...

announcement on Monday.) Excerpt:

A new EU-funded project will lay the foundations of a large-scale, pan-European public infrastructure for research information.

Open-access to research information is vital for researchers. The long-term vision of the DRIVER (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) project is to create an knowledge infrastructure for European researchers, which could include any form of scientific resource, from reports, to research articles, to raw data to other media.

A number of countries and institutions already have repositories and networks which bring together a wide range of research content. A good example of

...

is the DARE Network in the Netherlands. Launched in 2004, DARE networks the digital data collections of all Dutch universities, as well as several related institutions, and allows users to access the information, which is arranged consistently. To date, DARE provides access to more than 75,000 digital records. The organisation behind DARE, SURF (the Dutch higher education and research partnership organisation which networks services, information and communications technology), is a partner in the DRIVER project.

In a similar way, the European Digital Repository Infrastructure will eventually be a virtual network of repositories from across Europe. Initially, the project will focus on linking 51 institutional repositories from the Netherlands, UK, Germany, France and Belgium. This early 'test-bed' version of the European Repository will offer users a number of services, such as search, data collection,

own this profiling

...

and recommendations....

Ultimately, the project partners hope their virtual repository will build up a critical mass of research materials which will represent a powerful demonstration of Europe's research output.

----

Why are countries in the South reluctant to embrace the culture of open access, even though they stand to benefit much more than the European countries? Is it because our scientists and schoalars are not aware of the tremendous benefits of OA or is it because our science leaders do not see the value of OA?

Arun

___________________________________________________________

...

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-- Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi (India )110007 email: tariq22@gmail.com ; Ph: 011-27662040 (Direct) 011-27667725-Ext 1676 Website: http://www.du.ac.in

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Dear Friends, I am fully agreed with Dr Tariq Ashraf. I also visited few libraries at Delhi NCR and other place and found that even they do not have computer in library or if computer is available, internet connectivity is not there. Other side, I also visited at IIT Madras Library and found that the world wide technologies have been implemented like Digital Knowledge Centre, Media Resource Centre, ISO, Smart Card, Comprehensive library website, OPAC with document image & Abstract and RFID with self circulation system is available. Many libraries have been involved in development of Institutional Repository by usingOpen source software. We (JIIT) also have implemented Dspace at our Library, initially it is on LAN but shortly will available on internet. A number of conference, workshop, training program being organized at national & international level to equip the librarian and libraries towards modernization and some sponsor bodies like UGC, AICTE, DST etc. also promoting the libraries with financial support. I think the things are shaping but it will take time. Best regards Sanjay Kataria Learning Resource Centre Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (Deemed University) A-10, Sector-62, Noida (UP) E-mail: sanjay.kataria@jiit.ac.in, lib_scholar@rediffmail.com Ph. 9810503341, 9213650818 tariq22@gmail.com wrote: is it not little amazing to say that countries in South Asia are reluctant to go for open access.There are several ambitious projects launched both at governmental and non governmental level for open archiving.But things take their own time in countries like ours where even basic infrastructural arrangements are missing. Towns like Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffar Nagar which are hardly 100 Kmeterws away from Delhi do not get power for more than 4- to 6 hours per day. We need to integrate our IT efforts with overall economic development and adopt a holistic approach.Merely accusing librarians will not do any thing except straining precious bandwidth......I hope some of you agree. Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi-110007 Ph: 27662040 (Direct) 27667725/ 1676 Mobile: 9868335593 Email: tariq22@gmail.com On 9/14/06, Subbiah Arunachalam wrote:

Beyond DRIVER to EDRI

EU project to widen access to European research information, September 13, 2006. The CORDIS announcement of the DRIVER project. (See DRIVER's own announcement on Monday.) Excerpt:

A new EU-funded project will lay the foundations of a large-scale, pan-European public infrastructure for research information.

Open-access to research information is vital for researchers. The long-term vision of the DRIVER (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) project is to create an knowledge infrastructure for European researchers, which could include any form of scientific resource, from reports, to research articles, to raw data to other media.

A number of countries and institutions already have repositories and networks which bring together a wide range of research content. A good example of this is the DARE Network in the Netherlands. Launched in 2004, DARE networks the digital data collections of all Dutch universities, as well as several related institutions, and allows users to access the information, which is arranged consistently. To date, DARE provides access to more than 75,000 digital records. The organisation behind DARE, SURF (the Dutch higher education and research partnership organisation which networks services, information and communications technology), is a partner in the DRIVER project.

In a similar way, the European Digital Repository Infrastructure will eventually be a virtual network of repositories from across Europe. Initially, the project will focus on linking 51 institutional repositories from the Netherlands, UK, Germany, France and Belgium. This early 'test-bed' version of the European Repository will offer users a number of services, such as search, data collection, profiling and recommendations....

Ultimately, the project partners hope their virtual repository will build up a critical mass of research materials which will represent a powerful demonstration of Europe's research output.

----

Why are countries in the South reluctant to embrace the culture of open access, even though they stand to benefit much more than the European countries? Is it because our scientists and schoalars are not aware of the tremendous benefits of OA or is it because our science leaders do not see the value of OA?

Arun

___________________________________________________________ Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. Get the new Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ LIS-Forum mailing list LIS-Forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum

-- Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi (India )110007 email: tariq22@gmail.com ; Ph: 011-27662040 (Direct) 011-27667725-Ext 1676 Website: http://www.du.ac.in _______________________________________________ LIS-Forum mailing list LIS-Forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates. Dear Friends, I am fully agreed with Dr Tariq Ashraf. I also visited few libraries at Delhi NCR and other place and found that even they do not have computer in library or if computer is available, internet connectivity is not there. Other side, I also visited at IIT Madras Library and found that the world wide technologies have been implemented like Digital Knowledge Centre, Media Resource Centre, ISO, Smart Card, Comprehensive library website, OPAC with document image & Abstract and RFID with self circulation system is available. Many libraries have been involved in development of Institutional Repository by using Open source software. We (JIIT) also have implemented Dspace at our Library, initially it is on LAN but shortly will available on internet.   A number of conference, workshop, training program being organized at national & international level to equip the librarian and libraries towards modernization and some sponsor bodies like UGC, AICTE, DST etc. also promoting the libraries with financial support. I think the things are shaping but it will take time.   Best regards   Sanjay Kataria Learning Resource Centre Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (Deemed University) A-10, Sector-62, Noida (UP) E-mail: sanjay.kataria@jiit.ac.in, lib_scholar@rediffmail.com Ph. 9810503341, 9213650818 tariq22@gmail.com wrote: is it not little amazing to say that countries in South Asia are reluctant to go for open access.There are several ambitious projects launched both at governmental and non governmental level for open archiving.But things take their own time in countries like ours where even basic infrastructural arrangements are missing. Towns like Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffar Nagar which are hardly 100 Kmeterws away from Delhi do not get power for more than 4- to 6 hours per day. We need to integrate our IT efforts with overall economic development and adopt a holistic approach.Merely accusing librarians will not do any thing except straining precious bandwidth......I hope some of you agree. Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi-110007 Ph: 27662040 (Direct) 27667725/ 1676 Mobile: 9868335593 Email: tariq22@gmail.com On 9/14/06, Subbiah Arunachalam wrote:

Beyond DRIVER to EDRI

EU project to widen access to European research information, September 13, 2006. The CORDIS announcement of the DRIVER project. (See DRIVER's own announcement on Monday.) Excerpt:

A new EU-funded project will lay the foundations of a large-scale, pan-European public infrastructure for research information.

Open-access to research information is vital for researchers. The long-term vision of the DRIVER (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) project is to create an knowledge infrastructure for European researchers, which could include any form of scientific resource, from reports, to research articles, to raw data to other media.

A number of countries and institutions already have repositories and networks which bring together a wide range of research content. A good example of this is the DARE Network in the Netherlands. Launched in 2004, DARE networks the digital data collections of all Dutch universities, as well as several related institutions, and allows users to access the information, which is arranged consistently. To date, DARE provides access to more than 75,000 digital records. The organisation behind DARE, SURF (the Dutch higher education and research partnership organisation which networks services, information and communications technology), is a partner in the DRIVER project.

In a similar way, the European Digital Repository Infrastructure will eventually be a virtual network of repositories from across Europe. Initially, the project will focus on linking 51 institutional repositories from the Netherlands, UK, Germany, France and Belgium. This early 'test-bed' version of the European Repository will offer users a number of services, such as search, data collection, profiling and recommendations....

Ultimately, the project partners hope their virtual repository will build up a critical mass of research materials which will represent a powerful demonstration of Europe's research output.

----

Why are countries in the South reluctant to embrace the culture of open access, even though they stand to benefit much more than the European countries? Is it because our scientists and schoalars are not aware of the tremendous benefits of OA or is it because our science leaders do not see the value of OA?

Arun

___________________________________________________________ Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. Get the new Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ LIS-Forum mailing list LIS-Forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum

-- Dr.Tariq Ashraf Deputy Librarian University of Delhi-Delhi (India )110007 email: tariq22@gmail.com ; Ph: 011-27662040 (Direct) 011-27667725-Ext 1676 Website: http://www.du.ac.in _______________________________________________ LIS-Forum mailing list LIS-Forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman8/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt... PC-to-Phone call rates.