Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 07:09:18 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun@mssrf.res.in> Dr Vyasamoorthy has raised a pertinent point and I like his frank expression of his views which might offend at least some of our colleagues in the labs! As it happens often, in ny given situation it is difficult to determine which is the cause and which is the effect. For a pretty long time, we were unable to provide decent infrastructure support to our scientists and doctoral students. It is not only in the provision of information; even in the provision of laboratory infrastructure (equipment, chemicals, reagents, etc.). Doing science under such circumstances, many of our scientists might have lost some of their enthusiasm. I believe that if we provide the proper environment (including facilities), there will be a change for the better. Especially, when there are low-cost options (providing information through open access and Internet, both of which are spreading fast and becoming cheaper), we should give them a try. Giving up is easy, but it can transform our country into a better place to live for us and our children. As a young scientist in a national laboratory, I often found it extremely difficult to be able to attend and speak at international conferences to which I was invited because of the attitude of officers who had the power to permit or disallow my participation in such meetings! But now things have changed. Arun